Taxes are only within machine gun range!

Chapter 238 Great Minds Think Alike

Guatemala City.

President Arsú looked at the mountain of reports piled up on his desk and felt his scalp tingle.

"Milton didn't even move many tanks, and his two strongest fighter jets were ready to drop a couple of bombs on the presidential palace at any moment. And even that, the useless Mexicans couldn't hold out?"

"2000 of them were wiped out?!"

Those were drug dealers, a whole 2000 of them, led by several small bosses, or even high-ranking ones.

Nobody knows how much gold and silver jewelry these people have buried in their accounts and basements, or how many green papers with Franklin's ugly face printed on them...

The finance minister standing next to Arsu also looked angry: "Exactly! We tied down a large number of Milton's tanks here and spent countless amounts of money to cripple his food supply, and what was the result?"

"Milton seized so much loot and so much money, hasn't all our efforts over this period of time been completely wasted?!"

"Everyone in Quetzaltenango has to buy food from the Milton government now, and the food stores are noticeably more crowded than before. We were so close to success, but it's all the fault of the Chiapas state government, all the fault of that useless CJNG!"

"An incompetent friend is more dangerous than a powerful enemy!"

"..."

The finance minister's rebuke of Mexico actually made Arsu's expression soften slightly.

Even without news from Mexico, Arsu felt that his funds were really running out.

Grain prices in Milton's territory were indeed rising steadily, and everything was going according to plan. It seemed that the Milton regime's economy was a dilapidated building that could collapse at the slightest kick...

But it just wouldn't fall!
Now that there's something going on in Mexico, they can actually find someone to take the blame.

After skillfully flattering the president, the finance minister asked, "Mr. President, what do we do now? Should we stop? Milton robbed a bunch of drug dealers; he can probably hold out a little longer..."

Arsu's face showed a struggle; he really wanted to give up and stop fighting this so-called food war.

However, the government, which was already facing financial difficulties, incurred a large amount of debt for this food war, and much of the budget was inexplicably "wasted" at various stages... This can be described as adding insult to injury for the government.

If we give up now, we'll really be wiped out.

The total amount of grain has long exceeded the normal market demand. The current high market price is only because Arsu is buying up large quantities and stockpiling, artificially creating a shortage.

If these grains, which far exceed market demand, are sold off all at once in an attempt to recoup costs, grain prices will inevitably plummet.

How do we use the recovered money to pay off the debts?

If all else fails, Arsu could forcibly print money, but he bought grain from Milton at a high price and had been holding it for so long, only to slink back at a low price in the end. Wouldn't that make him look incredibly stupid?
what to do……

Arsu has already sent his men to try to seek help from allies and other partners. If all else fails, he will have no choice but to give up.

While Arsu was struggling with his decision, Deputy Foreign Minister Koch walked in—he was also one of the officials sent out to seek help.

"Your Excellency, we have re-established contact with the CIA."

Arsu waved his hand: "What do those good-for-nothings think they can do to Milton? What can they possibly do to Milton? And how much aid can they possibly give us?"

After the CIA's disgraceful blunder and heavy casualties, Arsu's "invincible" illusion about them vanished completely.

Even though the turmoil within the CIA has subsided, many people no longer feel the same fear and awe when they mention the CIA.

“They said…” Koch began, “that there is a way to help us get out of our current predicament and allow us to continue the food war.”

Arsu immediately perked up: "What do you mean? They got more funding... Wait a minute, the Senate and House are now controlled by Republicans, and the CIA is all Democrats. How could they get that much funding?"

“No, they can’t give us much money,” Koch shook his head. “But they can give us a batch of machines.”

Arsu became interested: "Oh? What kind of machine? With this machine, we can make more money?"

"With this machine, we can produce 'money' directly!" Koch was clearly excited. "You know, counterfeit $100 bills are rampant in the Middle East right now. The United States plans to upgrade the anti-counterfeiting measures for banknotes in the next two years, and some of the retired machines can be donated to us..."

The emergence of "super dollars" in the Middle East has triggered a major crisis of confidence, with at least 10 billion of these counterfeit "super dollars" being printed!
They are almost identical to genuine banknotes, using the same printing equipment, technology, processes, and paper as the U.S. Mint has used since 1990 to print genuine dollars—not only is the surface printing exactly the same, but the banknotes even use anti-counterfeiting marks and fibers, and even have the same serial numbers!

Just this year, back in 1994, Clinton met face-to-face with Syrian President Assad, asking the Syrian government to assist in solving the case, but to no avail.

Therefore, the United States decided to simply upgrade its currency.

Thus, the old technology could be transferred to the Guatemalan government through the CIA's efforts...

Of course, this technology will be regulated—it can be used to print counterfeit Milton "border currency," but it absolutely cannot be used to print counterfeit US dollars.

Arsu was overjoyed: "Printing counterfeit money, printing Milton's counterfeit money, using counterfeit money to buy food, can also disrupt his market and shatter the locals' confidence in the currency. Brilliant! No wonder it's the CIA, they can come up with such a good idea."

When will they be able to deliver the machines?

No money to buy food? Then print other people's money to buy it—a highly profitable venture! How clever!

Koch chuckled: "They'll arrive today... Heh heh, I didn't expect these Americans, who are usually so inefficient, to act so quickly this time. It seems Milton has really angered the CIA."

"Any other news?" Arsu nodded in satisfaction. "I heard the CIA is currently rebuilding its intelligence network in Milton's territory. How's that going?"

"Not yet... but Milton is currently making a big fuss about his victory, announcing that he has seized a large amount of cash and claiming that he will immediately purchase six tanks to strengthen his military forces," Koch said nonchalantly. "I think Milton's gains may not be as great as we imagine... only six tanks?"

“I don’t know. Milton is a master at setting up smokescreens.” Arsu didn’t want to guess like a child without any information. “Since there’s a better way, there’s no need to go through all that trouble.”

"By the way, what about our allies? Have they responded to our plea for help?"

In order to fight Milton, Arsu formed an alliance with warlords in other places, and when he sought help this time, he naturally turned to them as well.

Koch replied:
"The other two companies gave us loans with negative interest rates..."

"The Ubico family is rather... well, Eunice bought some grain directly from us at a high price, and then it seems she sold it to Milton at a low price. Anyway, it's just a roundabout way of doing things, as if she didn't want to offend either side."

Arsu sneered: "Heh... They're really going to sit on the fence to the end. Do they think Milton will share the spoils after the victory by sitting on the fence at a time like this? Ridiculous! Forget it, let's ignore them, as long as they don't stab us in the back."

"Let's get to our own work!"

"Yes!"

With the government's assistance, the shipment imported from the United States arrived quickly and was then transported to a small valley.

Since it was printing counterfeit money, such an obvious crime couldn't be directly implicated by official bodies like the CIA and the Guatemalan government. So, Arsu temporarily found a group of speculators and gangsters to take the blame.

CIA agents and government officials, on the other hand, remained anonymous, acting as managers of the printing plant.

The CIA truly hated Milton. Within a few days, electricity, materials, fuel... everything was ready. They provided what the Guatemalan government didn't have, and the CIA handled what they could, and even what they couldn't.

Within a few days, a small counterfeit money printing factory was fully established.

The first batch of counterfeit "border region currency" banknotes was also processed overnight and made its dazzling debut.

President Arsú even concealed his whereabouts and personally took a helicopter to the valley, arriving at this simple little factory.

However, the factory was rudimentary, yet the banknotes it printed were exquisitely crafted.

"Where's the goods? Let me see them."

With Arsu's arrival, the gangs were naturally cleared out, and those who came to greet him were all senior members of the special task force for this operation.

An official quickly stepped forward and handed Arsu a genuine 100-yuan border region currency note and a newly printed counterfeit note together.

"Your Excellency, this is genuine currency, and this is counterfeit currency. Would you like to take a look?"

Arsu picked up the two banknotes and compared them carefully for a long, long time, but he really couldn't see any difference.

Or rather, they are essentially the same; using American banknote printing technology to print counterfeit money results in counterfeit money that is actually genuine.

Not to mention the naked eye, even a banknote detector might not be able to detect the problem.

Perhaps only the most skilled counterfeit detection experts, with the help of various instruments and after spending a great deal of time, can find the slightest differences between counterfeit and genuine banknotes.

"Good!" Arsu was very satisfied. "Milton has been winning too much lately, it's time to teach him a lesson! As soon as this batch of counterfeit money enters the market, his food supply and economy will both collapse!"

"Ha ha ha ha……"

"Remember, don't involve us. Milton loves to use his media to spread fake news."

“Everyone involved in printing counterfeit money claimed to be a member of the ‘Red Tea Gang’.”

After explaining, Arsu happily took both the real and fake banknotes onto the helicopter, placed them on the table, and examined them closely, feeling quite pleased with himself.

"..."

……

Vevetnango.

Milton had just instructed Flora to fly to the port to receive the batch of self-propelled howitzers that were claimed to be tanks and to train the artillery when another phone call came in.

As soon as the call was answered, a standard Mandarin voice came from the other end. "Mr. Milton?"

"Comrade..." Milton smoothly ingratiated himself, "How's the matter with the printing press I mentioned? Any progress?"

Jin Kang was held captive for several seconds before he sighed and said, "The railway construction is no problem, but the printing press is, in principle, not an option."

“Metalworking, I understand. If it’s not feasible in principle, then it is,” Milton said bluntly. “How exactly do you need my cooperation?”

"Haha..." Jin Kang laughed in anger, "You said you were going to print your own 'border region currency,' but what you really want to do is obvious to everyone."

“This is no joke. No decision has been made yet, and even if a decision is made, it may be a very long time from now—six months, a year, or even until the railway construction is completed. I don’t think you can afford to wait that long.”

Ah, what a pity...

Milton knew that nothing he said would make a difference, and was about to say a few polite words and urge the construction team to come over as soon as possible before hanging up when there was a loud knock on the office door.

Jin Kang immediately said, "I'm not in a hurry here, you should take care of your business first."

"Okay, I'll call you back in a bit."

Milton hung up the phone and let the people outside in.

The person who came in was Luz, and he didn't look too good: "Boss, our intelligence agents found this thing in Guatemala City."

As he spoke, he placed a banknote on the table.

It was a 100-yuan "border region currency".

Milton looked it over and said with some doubt, "Isn't this our currency? People in Guatemala City are using our money now? That's a good thing!"

Lutz shook his head vigorously: "It's a counterfeit bill. When the intelligence officer found it, he thought it was too new, and we haven't imported any new banknotes recently, so he found it a bit suspicious... and sent it to our professionals."

"Finally, in the lab, a tiny difference between this banknote and the real one was discovered."

"With the naked eye and ordinary money detectors, it's impossible to distinguish between real and fake!"

Milton frowned: "It's counterfeit money..."

Before the words were even finished, a notification appeared on the panel indicating that prohibited items had entered the country.

[Level 1 Contraband Found: Counterfeit Currency (Currency: Guatemalan Border Territory)]

These are indeed counterfeit banknotes, and a batch of them is being tried to enter the market!

Milton was well aware of the dangers of this thing: "We must stop its flow as soon as possible. I designed this banknote, and I have a way to tell the difference between real and fake at a glance... But the production cost of this thing is too low, so blocking it is unlikely to be effective. We must eradicate the problem at its source."

Even if counterfeit money doesn't enter the occupied territory, its mere existence will still have a negative impact.

Lutz was a bit troubled: "Boss, that's the problem... We still don't know how this batch of counterfeit money came about. Was it done secretly by a criminal group, or... or was it an enemy attack?"

Milton barely hesitated: "A criminal organization? How long has it been since we issued real money? What criminal organization could have the technology and materials to counterfeit banknotes so well in such a short time? It's practically real!"

"Without a powerful force pulling the strings behind the scenes, it would be impossible for any gang or criminal organization to accomplish this so efficiently."

"Without a second thought, this is an attack by the enemy against me."

Luz clenched his fist: "...That's despicable! Who is it, the drug traffickers from Mexico? Or the Alsu government?"

“It’s possible.” Milton shook his head. “But since it was first discovered in Guatemala City, it’s most likely that Arsu was behind it.”

"There may be American help behind this. As far as I know, they are planning to change the money printing technology, and the CIA may well monetize the old technology."

Moreover, the Arsu government is currently facing financial difficulties and does indeed have the motivation to take shortcuts.

It can only be said that "great minds think alike." Milton thought of using counterfeit money to cause damage, and the CIA thought of it too, and they were very capable of taking action.

Luz said indignantly, "Arsu... if he wanted to target us, why would he allow counterfeit Border Region currency to circulate in his own occupied territory?"

“He certainly wouldn’t do that,” Milton explained. “But do you think his men wouldn’t? The whole of Latin America is being hit by the financial crisis right now, everything is depreciating like Sogchar, but our money is holding up... The counterfeit money is so realistic that it can be used as real money. Wouldn’t those men let this money be ‘damaged’ a little bit?”

"Boss, what should we do?"

Milton thought about it carefully, and suddenly his eyes lit up.

"Wait, this is my chance!"

Luz looked a little confused: "What opportunity?"

"Don't rush to arrest anyone. For now, just keep an eye on those using counterfeit money and let as many people in as possible!" Milton quickly gave the order. "Send some men to collect the counterfeit money, let the first batch of counterfeiters make a small fortune, and lure the bigger fish in..."

"Once the big fish come in, I'll take them all down in one fell swoop and make them return all the profits they've made. At the same time, I'll make the big fish confess where those counterfeit money printing machines are located!"

"Perfect timing. We lack machinery, technology, and materials, so let's reluctantly send a special forces unit to temporarily safeguard these printing presses for Arsu."

"And then...it was my turn to print counterfeit money!"

Arsu isn't printing counterfeit money; he's a real transport captain. He buys whatever Milton needs!

Luz froze on the spot.

"what?"

"Stop 'ah'ing, go and do it!"

As Lutz strode out of the office, Milton picked up the phone on the table and called Kingcon.

Jin Kang's voice came through: "Finished talking?"

“Yes, good news.” Milton’s voice was filled with undisguised joy. “You don’t need to worry anymore. I’ve found a supplier for the printing press, and one that delivers very quickly.”

Jin Kang was a little confused: "You could count the number of people with this kind of technology on your fingers. Where did you find it? Is it reliable?"

Printing banknotes is not like printing books. In fact, one could say that modern banknotes represent the pinnacle of micro-engineering. Anti-counterfeiting technology is composed of a complex system of various interdisciplinary technologies, requiring top-level technical expertise in both materials and processes. It is far more complex than simply "printing a piece of paper."

The monopolistic production of special materials, the involvement of various industrial chains, the combination of dozens of anti-counterfeiting techniques, and the full-chain monitoring of various equipment and materials...

Printing money is extremely difficult!

“Absolutely reliable.” Milton didn’t explain further. “Now my needs have changed a little. I need more robust anti-counterfeiting technology because counterfeit money has appeared on the market. I need to upgrade my currency. That shouldn’t be too much to ask, right?”

After listening to this information-packed statement, Jin Kang thought for a long time before responding in a strange tone: "This is indeed not excessive, and there is no need to go through any complicated procedures."

This warlord, who seems completely out of place in Latin America and speaks fluent Mandarin like a native speaker, is he trying to steal someone else's money-printing machine?
If you can't find a seller, just rob them directly. That's really warlord-like.

"Good!" This was the answer Milton had been waiting for. "Then get ready and wait for my good news in a few days."

Jin Kang rubbed his forehead: "Okay, I'll wait for your good news..."

Because of Milton's incident, the engineering team gained some understanding of Guatemala, a small country that many people had never heard of before, and collected recent news.

This "good news" is probably another big news story.

Milton hung up the phone and then contacted Brandon.

"Didn't a few CIA agents come to my territory a while ago? How have they been doing lately? I have a big operation to carry out, so I need to keep a close eye on them and make sure they don't cause any trouble."

Brandon immediately replied, “They went to Malacan, visited Central Park, and checked out our ‘Museum of the Kings’…and then, and then, uh, they went to Quetzaltenango overnight and have been very well-behaved ever since, not making any moves.”

"very good."

Brandon was very curious: "By the way... Boss, what kind of big move are you talking about?"

Mexico's military operation is waiting for an opportunity. The front lines in Guatemala are currently at a stalemate, so what major moves can be made?
“Didn’t I tell you before that we were going to print some counterfeit money to turn Arsu’s Gachal into worthless paper?” Milton spoke quickly. “As far as I know, Arsu imported a batch of these printing presses himself. I just couldn’t buy one, so I borrowed his.”

Brandon: "...Boss, this is... a robbery, isn't it?"

"Enough talk, get the drones here, and send some of the most elite soldiers." Milton quickly gave the orders. "Also, tell Flora to come back as soon as she's had enough of touching the barrels of the self-propelled howitzers. This urgent mission needs her."

"Everyone, get moving!"

"The code name for this operation will be 'Printer'!"

"Roger that!"

After arranging everything, Milton picked up the firearms, bulletproof vests, and other equipment he kept in his office, boarded the helicopter, and flew towards the border.

This "printer" operation is too important; he wants to personally oversee it!

……

Note 1: Hafez al-Assad in 1994 is not the Bashar al-Assad who just stepped down. He was Bashar al-Assad's former president and also his father.

P.S.: I've corrected an error in the previous text. Central South University was established in 2000; the Changsha Railway Institute in 1994 should be the one before the merger.

(End of this chapter)