Chapter 1022, The Bank Plan

Translator: Silavin

 

Su Bai had finished his morning exercises early. Now that his body held a Ferocious Beast Crystal, daily training had become an absolute necessity. Without it, there was always an excess of Stamina that had nowhere to go, and having it build up inside him was deeply uncomfortable.

 

Added to that, he was a young man in the full flush of youth, and he always needed to find something else to occupy his attention.

 

“Shaman, you looked quite tired this morning. You’ve worked up quite a sweat.” Yu Ying asked with some concern.

 

“It’s nothing. I just need to rest for a bit. For the next few days, let’s keep breakfast on the lighter side. Some congee and a fried egg will do.” Su Bai sometimes craved something plain and simple. More importantly, his internal heat had been running rather high lately, and he needed something mild to bring it back down.

 

“Understood.” Yu Ying gave a very earnest nod.

 

“Ah’Lan, how is the currency note rollout going?” Su Bai asked as he ate his breakfast.

 

Sha Lan immediately set down the wooden bowl from which she had been eating, and wiped the corners of her mouth where a few grains of wheat clung.

 

She sat up straight and replied: “Shaman, it has been two days since we began promoting the currency notes, and the response so far has been very positive.”

 

Indeed, the people of the Flame Dragon Tribe took to new things quickly. It had not taken long at all for them to accept currency notes entirely.

 

In just two days, the members of the Tribe had exchanged nearly all of their labour values. It could now be said that virtually everyone had a stack of currency notes in hand, and they had all been giving it a go at the Central Market.

 

Every one of them had managed to make a purchase, and the exquisite craftsmanship of the notes had drawn endless admiration.

 

“Shaman, the currency notes truly are beautiful. The patterns on them are so lovely. At first, none of us could bring ourselves to spend them.” Min had just walked in carrying a bowl of tomato and egg soup, and the memory of going to the Central Market to buy wine a couple of days prior suddenly came back to her.

 

The moment she thought of it, her face flushed red. It was for no other reason than that on that particular day, after buying the wine, the two Sisters had got themselves thoroughly drunk.

 

It was no exaggeration whatsoever. Both of them had taken only a small sip and had been completely, utterly intoxicated.

 

Su Bai and the others had been helpless, watching the two Sisters in their bleary, tipsy state with some amusement. In the end, they simply let them rest for a day.

 

“It’s a good thing that people have taken to it so readily. With that in mind, it’s time to think about opening a bank.” Su Bai nodded thoughtfully.

 

He was by no means satisfied with currency notes circulating only within the Flame Dragon Tribe. What he wanted was for them to circulate across every Tribe on the entire continent. That way, the Tribe’s Warriors would find it far more convenient when purchasing things in other Tribes.

 

Or alternatively, it would make things easier for people from other Tribes coming to the Flame Dragon Tribe to buy goods. But above all, what Su Bai most wanted was to control the economic lifeline.

 

Since the currency note system had been invented by him, any future reforms he wished to introduce would also be far more straightforward.

 

“Shaman, what is a bank?” Sha Lan was entirely unfamiliar with the term.

 

“A bank is something like the Central Market, except that everything inside it deals exclusively in currency notes. Everyone can deposit all their currency notes into the bank.”

 

Su Bai took a sip of his wheat congee. “They can withdraw them whenever they like, or leave them deposited when they’re not needed. There’s even interest to be earned. What do you all think of that?”

 

“Shaman, what is interest? And I think most people probably wouldn’t be willing to hand over their currency notes.” Sha Lan continued to voice her uncertainty.

 

“Won’t they think we’re trying to deceive them? They’re perfectly capable of holding onto their own currency notes. Surely they won’t trust us with them.” Yan Hua took a long sip of wheat congee.

 

“It’s simple. I’m not only going to open one sole market within the Flame Dragon Tribe. I intend to open markets in other Tribes as well.” The corners of Su Bai’s mouth curved upward slightly. “With that in mind, do you think the bank becomes important? Oh, and as for interest, when you entrust your currency notes to us for safekeeping and withdraw them after a period of time, the bank will give you a little extra on top. That extra amount is what we call interest.”

 

“I understand now. If that’s how it works, then people should be willing to go along with it. They would deposit their notes, and when they take them out again, they get back everything you put in, plus a little extra on top.” Sha Lan flicked her cat tail. “I think very few people would be able to resist that temptation, especially those who don’t accumulate many labour values each day.”

 

“The Shaman’s idea is great. But, opening a market in other Tribes… I’m afraid that other Tribes won’t be willing to go along with this.” Yan Hua blinked her exquisite scarlet eyes. “Opening a market in another Tribe and then setting up a bank alongside it would certainly be a good thing. Shaman, if I’ve understood you correctly, no matter which bank you deposit your currency notes into, you can withdraw them from any other bank, is that right?”

 

“Your understanding is entirely correct. For instance, if we open a Central Market in the Earth Tiger Tribe and set up a bank there as well, someone who has deposited their currency notes with us could go to that Tribe and withdraw them there.”

 

Su Bai smiled with satisfaction. “Wouldn’t that be far more convenient? By the same token, they could also withdraw currency notes deposited over there, and then come to the Flame Dragon Tribe to withdraw them here as well.”

 

This was something he had been thinking through for a very long time. Only by doing this could currency notes be made to circulate in large quantities, and only then could his plan of having a currency flow across the entire continent be realised.

 

“Shaman is so brilliant. Even so, there’s still the matter of the other Tribes to contend with.”

 

Sha Lan had been thoroughly excited listening to it all, but the moment she thought about the other Tribes, her spirits deflated again.

 

“Other Tribes will never allow it. They won’t permit us to open a market within their territory. They would see it as humiliation.” Yan Hua was similarly unable to muster any cheer. “And we’d have a very difficult time managing a market there as well. If those Tribes decided to cause trouble, I think the market would end up being swallowed up by them.”

 

Both of them were worried about the same issue. The question of management. There was no way other Tribes would allow it.

 

After all, this was the primitive era, and the sense of hierarchy was extraordinarily strong. Beyond that, the prospect of an outside Tribe profiting within their own territory was, without question, a serious affront to their dignity.

 

Most critically of all, they would have no means of overseeing or controlling the market themselves, and that was something they would be deeply averse to.

 

“I’ve been thinking about this as well. But it should be ready to act on by around next year. There’s no need to rush into it right now.” Su Bai smiled calmly.

 

He was well aware that these were problems that needed solving, only that at present there was no means of resolving them.

 

But Su Bai already had a certain confidence about it. By this time next year, when the number of Warriors within the Tribe had grown further and more trained soldiers had been cultivated, what now seemed like an obstacle would no longer be one at all.

 

“En.” The young woman nodded happily.

 

“Ah’Hua, there’s something I need to hand over to you in the coming days. Continue selecting suitable candidates to become soldiers, and begin training them immediately.” Su Bai said with seriousness.

 

Now that there was a plan, it had to be acted on at once. Dragging things out was not his style.

 

“Understood.” Yan Hua turned serious in an instant.