Chapter 1 Economic Integration

After Ye Tao returned to Yunzhou, although he had to develop photography to an acceptable level within a limited time, he also had to complete the accumulated work as the Yunzhou Pacification Commissioner and the current Northern Frontier Pacification Commissioner. Many issues involved coordination meetings among multiple departments.

Among these issues, the most troublesome was whether to integrate the economies of Yunzhou and Zhenzhou. Compared to Yunzhou, Zhenzhou was indeed quite barren, but both states had great potential. Separated by a mountain range, the two states had very different geological features. Zhenzhou actually had a climate similar to a temperate savanna, with some small-scale sandbars in the northwest, but these sandbars did not seem to be expanding. Zhenzhou also had very rich mineral resources, especially fluorite. Only one fluorite mine of reasonable size had been found in Yunzhou, but when officials from the Yunzhou Pacification Commissioner's office brought prospecting samples to Zhenzhou and began contacting the locals, they suddenly discovered a fluorite mine of considerable size in the southeast of Guiyuan, near Tieling. The locals had no idea what fluorite could be used for, but for Ye's Workshops, it was a precious resource. However, apart from minerals, the Zhenbei Military Command was far behind Yunzhou in other aspects. The inability to be self-sufficient in salt and tea was only a minor problem. After all, the Zhenbei Military Command did not have a large population, and the resources for salt and tea dedicated to Yunzhou were very abundant. Yunzhou's reserves were enough for both states to consume for a while, and Tan Xiaopei would naturally make proper arrangements after that. However, the inability to be self-sufficient in grain was a problem for Yunzhou, as Yunzhou's grain production had just become self-sufficient with a slight surplus. Could Yunzhou bear the burden of Zhenzhou? Relevant calculations were underway, and the consensus was to bear it for the time being, but Zhenzhou's agriculture needed to be developed as soon as possible. There was no problem with developing Zhenzhou, but Zhenzhou had always been the Zhenbei Military Command, the front line for resisting attacks from the northern barbarians, and a "remote and evil military prefecture" in the eyes of the Xiling people and the rest of the world. The population was quite small. To develop agriculture, more people were needed. Where would these people come from? Zhenzhou was also suitable for grazing. Although the horses produced in Zhenzhou were not very good, they were still adequate as draft horses, but again, it was a matter of population. Unlike Yunzhou, which did not need many Veteran Farms, the Zhenbei Military Command's Veteran Farms would have a greater need for defense, and the soldiers in Zhenzhou were different from those in Yunzhou, with less knowledge and skills in basic production. It would take at least three years for the Veteran Farms to develop.

Naturally, this decision had to be made by Tan Weixin. After all, she was the chief administrator of Yunzhou and now the entire Northern Frontier. After careful calculation, Tan Weixin finally decided to integrate the economies of Yunzhou and Zhenzhou in stages over three years. Indeed, a major reason for this was to conduct more extensive trials as a reference for Tan Xiaopei's decision on whether to promote the Yunzhou model, but an equally important reason was that economic synchronization would allow Dongping to firmly control Zhenzhou, preventing this newly acquired state, which had always belonged to Xiling, from becoming disloyal. Yunzhou could and should bear this burden. The first step was to establish the Yunzhou Bank and formally reform the currency system of the two states.

The reason why the branch operating in Zhenzhou was also called Yunzhou Bank was naturally because Ye Tao and Tan Weixin now had greater power. Even if they named the bank the Dongping Central Bank, Tan Xiaopei would probably agree. However, allowing local power to grow too large was a taboo, especially with this de facto economic independence. Although Ye Tao and Tan Weixin were indeed fearless, they felt it was best not to create unnecessary trouble for themselves. The Yunzhou Bank was officially established in both regions and immediately launched inter-bank clearing services, remittances, and transfers between the two regions. Yunzhou Bank's own communication system ensured high-speed connectivity between the two regions. Remittances from Guiyi to Ningyuan took five days to arrive, which was incredibly fast in this time.

Those services that had always been mythologized, such as FedEx and DHL, also followed suit and launched cargo routes from Guiyi to Ningyuan in less than a month after the war had subsided. Routes from Guiyi to various parts of Zhenzhou were also being laid out. At this time, although it was clear that Xiling was caught off guard by Yunzhou's sudden attack and could not spare much force to counterattack Zhenzhou, at least ten battalions were still deployed in a state of combat readiness south of Zhenzhou.

However, the government agency established before the Zhenzhou General Governor's Office was the Third Civil Affairs Department. From the beginning of his tenure, Chen Kai took strong action. He turned a blind eye to the corruption that occurred before the capture of Zhenzhou, even if he found it. But now, Yunzhou had begun to distribute a considerable amount of materials to improve the lives of the soldiers and civilians in Zhenzhou, as well as a large amount of severance pay and resettlement fees to the former soldiers of the Zhenbei Military Command. Chen Kai arrested anyone who dared to lay a hand on these things without any leniency. Since Zhenzhou was still under military control, Chen Kai was very confident in his ability to act. Even if they were members of powerful clans, as long as Chen Kai said he wanted to arrest them, the army would definitely dig three feet into the ground to capture them. Yunzhou was also becoming increasingly skilled in surprise arrests.

Subsequently, Chen Kai intervened in some cases of forced mergers and acquisitions, greatly打击 (dǎ jī - cracked down) on the arrogance of the powerful families. In Tan Weixin's more fashionable words, this was called protecting small and medium-sized investors to standardize market pricing mechanisms. Chen Kai knew that Tan Weixin's statement made sense. The key to the success of the Yunzhou Development Fund, the predecessor of the Yunzhou Bank, in making various investments in Yunzhou was a fair and just environment. If officials, wealthy merchants, and aristocratic families could arbitrarily disrupt this market pricing mechanism through coercion and enticement, the loans from the Yunzhou Development Fund to those small and medium-sized businesses could be completely lost. Perhaps some people would consider that some merchants had loans from the Yunzhou Development Fund and would be wary of the Yunzhou Development Fund's powerful backing, but in this way, the Yunzhou Development Fund was likely to be seen as a protective umbrella, resulting in a large number of unnecessary loans, which would be equivalent to paying protection fees to the Yunzhou Development Fund in the form of interest... This was also not a situation that everyone wanted to see.

Since the Yunzhou Bank was responsible for currency issuance and management, if it did not make an example from the beginning, it would be even more difficult to manage things well in the future when its energy was dispersed.

However, what was a bank? Whether in Yunzhou or Zhenzhou, even the Dongping upper echelons who had read Tan Weixin's countless explanatory documents were still confused. When the Yunzhou Bank opened, only a few people, including Tan Weixin, Ye Tao, Guan Yinhang, and Shi Wei, really understood what a bank was.

Because the war between Dongping and Northern Liao was still ongoing, and although its forces were limited, the Xiling side had gathered 100,000 troops in Taizhou. Even the northern tribes were eyeing Zhenzhou, which had limited forces. Only the arrogant advance of the Yunzhou tribes on Benlang Plain dispelled the idea, and they sent envoys to discuss trade matters. Given the situation of the country and the regions, the opening of the Yunzhou Bank was not convenient to celebrate grandly. At the end of September, the Yunzhou Bank simultaneously opened five branches in Yunzhou: the Ningyuan Head Office, the Thunder Cliff Branch, the Suiyuan Branch, the Dongjiaji Branch, and the Gondor Branch. The Gondor Branch was opened in a renovated bunker not far from the construction site of Gondor City, mainly to handle various economic and financial needs in the urban construction in real time. As for the Thunder Cliff Branch, Ye Tao could not resist the urge to spoof it, making the location and architectural style somewhat similar to the Thunder Bluff bank in Warcraft.

Tan Weixin and Ye Tao had been preparing for the Yunzhou Bank's currency issuance business for a long time, and it was initially used in the military system in Yunzhou. The silver coins issued by the Yunzhou Bank were valued at half a *liang* (tael) of pure silver, with an actual weight of half a *liang*, containing more than 80% silver. The front of the silver coin featured the denomination of half a *liang*, the name of the Yunzhou Bank, and intricate creeping grass patterns, while the back featured a pattern of Gondor City, which was exquisitely beautiful. Before the first batch of silver coins was issued as military pay, the General Staff Department had specifically asked which officers and soldiers were unwilling to accept silver coins as pay and could continue to receive silver bullion. After all, silver bullion and silver coins were expected to circulate in the market simultaneously for a long time, which did not cause any hindrance. However, once the silver coins were issued, those who said they wanted to receive silver bullion regretted it. The silver coins were simply works of art and were too beautiful. However, soldiers could exchange them for the same value at the Yunzhou Bank's offices at any time, which had no impact. They just envied their companions for the few days they could not get their hands on them.

All franchise stores and directly affiliated institutions under the brands of Ye's Workshops, including IKEA, as well as parts of all industries under the Inner Treasury in Yunzhou, simultaneously announced that they would accept silver coins issued by the Yunzhou Bank as a means of payment from that day forward. The people of Yunzhou had strong confidence in Ye Tao, Tan Weixin, and the entire Yunzhou governing body, and accepted the issuance of silver coins calmly but with hope. Many common people obtained a silver coin through relatives and friends serving in the military to admire, which made some interested people smack their tongues in amazement. Had Yunzhou become so wealthy in such a short period of time? Did so many families have spare money to exchange for silver coins to play with? In most parts of Northern Liao, Xiling, and even Chunan, it was a bit difficult for ordinary people to be able to readily take out half a *liang* of silver.

Unexpectedly, this need for collection and appreciation greatly violated the original intention of the Yunzhou Bank to issue silver coins to increase circulation. By the beginning of October, the Yunzhou Bank immediately launched a full exchange service in Yunzhou and Guiyi City in Zhenzhou. Exchanges exceeding five hundred *liang* required reservations and registration, with ten days' notice in advance. Under this measure and the effective regulation and management measures of the current Northern Frontier Pacification Commissioner's Office, silver coins became popular by the end of the year and played an important role in various transactions. The total amount of silver coins in circulation in the market exceeded 14 million *liang*. Due to the cost of minting silver coins, even including transportation, materials, labor, equipment research and development, and wear and tear, it was less than 20% of the value of the silver coins. In fact, in the process of continuous exchange of silver coins, the financial strength of the Yunzhou Bank expanded dramatically.