Long Live Money in Anime Crossover

Most of the world's wealth has become ownerless, and most transactions have become illegal. If Luoyang has enough power, it can rightfully take the wealth that originally belonged to the powerful families and warlords, and it will also win the support and trust of the people.

Moreover, as long as the emperor has enough money, he can properly appease all the people and quickly stabilize the situation in China. At that time, the emperor will become the true emperor, winning the hearts of the people, the wealth of the world, and the land of the world.

As long as you have money...

What is money?

Money is a certificate of transaction; in essence, it is a transaction. That's what Mo Mo just said, but for ordinary people, money is simply paper currency that they can trust.

The right to issue paper money... lies in the hands of the emperor, and as long as the emperor controls the wealth of powerful families and warlords, the issuance of paper money can be temporarily carried out with impunity!

In other words, an emperor who holds the moral high ground and the legitimacy of the cause, and who wields an unmatched fist, can print paper money with the approval of the people. He can then use this legitimate paper money to appease the people and buy up the wealth held by powerful families and warlords.

They exchanged the assets in their hands for sheets of paper.

This kind of transaction...

Having understood everything, Gao Hai looked at Mo Mo as if he were a ghost. If things really proceeded according to Mo Mo's plan, countless powerful families and warlords in the Chinese Federation would be utterly wiped out!

They couldn't defeat Luoyang in war, and they were at a disadvantage in terms of reason and law. Moreover, if these local forces wanted to avoid or mitigate the emperor's pursuit of them after the defeat on the battlefield, they would have to give up the benefits they had been offering.

This time, Momo's method for getting them to relinquish their profits was to exchange all their existing assets—land, minerals, industry, commerce, personnel, and so on—for paper money.

Gao Hai was unaware of the concept of "overthrowing landlords and distributing land," but now he clearly understood what Mo Mo was planning. These powerful warlord families, having lost all capital and possessing only paper money, were, at best, wealthy old men, despite still retaining some wealth.

These powerful warlord families, who have been able to threaten the central government and entrenched in local areas for countless years, are probably nearing their end.

And all of this is what Momo is doing now.

What a terrible man!

Gao Hai let out a deep breath. Now he fully realized Mo Mo's expertise and strength in money matters. He believed that he was completely powerless to compete with Mo Mo in this area.

Some things... you just have to admit they're true!

"However, Momo, you haven't answered my question yet. Local powerful families and warlords also have a certain amount of paper money. What if they use this paper money to amass wealth? Also, don't forget, if word gets out about this situation in the Chinese Empire, a huge number of unscrupulous merchants will flock in from around the world to buy up the assets of the Chinese Empire. How should we deal with that?"

This time, Gao Hai was genuinely asking a question, not provoking him. However, although he was asking, he already sensed that Mo Mo had a solution in mind.

As expected, Mo Mo said, "What Lord Gao just said is very true. Spilled water cannot be gathered up again, and a broken mirror cannot be mended. Although the paper money I have is still usable, the entire system is riddled with holes and in ruins. Moreover, the current paper money system is closely related to the data in the bank, and since we do not intend to restore the data, the current paper money is naturally no longer usable."

Gao Hai frowned and said, "You mean..."

Mo Mo smiled slightly and took out a new banknote, which instantly attracted the attention of the Emperor and Gao Hai.

Momo didn't keep the two hanging any longer. Instead, the world handed over the banknote to the old emperor, so that the old emperor and Gao Hai could observe it together.

"This is……"

The emperor looked at this red banknote, which was completely different from the previous banknotes. In the center of the banknote was the emperor's portrait. Although he still looked thin, the artists had transformed it into a kind and benevolent image.

"Renminbi (RMB)".

"RMB?"

"That's right, I named it Renminbi, which is a paper currency used by the Chinese people themselves. Moreover, compared to previous paper currencies, the current Renminbi is explicitly stated to be issued and printed only by the central government, and it has many anti-counterfeiting measures, making it of better quality than before."

Momo continued, "However, more importantly, I hope the Emperor will allow the immediate issuance and printing of entirely new banknotes, and immediately abolish the legality of the previous banknotes, prohibiting their circulation. At the same time, I want to declare that any transactions and agreements based on the old banknotes are illegal and unprotected."

"Regarding the disposal of old banknotes, anyone or any force can apply to banks throughout the country for an equivalent exchange of banknotes. Whether local banks are qualified to issue new banknotes will be determined by the central government. In addition, from this moment on, foreign exchange settlements of the Chinese Federation will also be based on the new banknotes. The act of settling old banknotes with foreign exchange will not be protected by the laws of the Chinese Empire."

After speaking, Mo Mo pointed to the banknotes and said, "I wonder if Your Majesty has any opinions on my suggestions?"

The old emperor and Gao Hai were once again in a state of confusion. They pondered and analyzed each sentence carefully before they understood what Mo Mo was trying to do.

If Momo were to do as he says, then the power of local warlord families would lose not only the legitimacy of their physical assets, but also the legitimacy of their paper money.

If they wanted to legitimize what they possessed, they would have to exchange large quantities of paper money in Luoyang for the central government's currency. However, the local and central governments had completely broken off relations, and it was uncertain whether the central government would punish the local forces for treason, let alone exchange paper money for them.

Furthermore, local banks, and the entire financial and commercial system, would completely lose their legitimacy if they didn't exchange paper money. The public would immediately lose all trust in banks and commercial finance; a transaction system without credibility—can it still be called a transaction?

It can be said that the local forces have been driven to a dead end by Mo Mo's multi-pronged approach. Their only options are to completely side with the central government and surrender all their interests to it, or to completely break away from the central government, pursue independence and self-governance, and become a state within a state.

The former type will likely become a wealthy man, but his family's foundation is gone. The latter type, on the other hand, will inevitably face the army from the central government and continue the war against it to the end.

In the past, perhaps no one would have taken the 30,000 Imperial Guards of the Central Government seriously. But now, these 30,000 Imperial Guards have silently wiped out the 300,000-strong army of the Thirteen Routes overnight. Such strength would probably terrify the local forces.

Faced with this situation, what choices should local authorities make?

The old emperor smiled and shook his head, saying, "If we really do that, I'm afraid there will definitely be wars in the local areas. Do you think our Luoyang's military strength can keep up?"

"Rest assured, Your Majesty, we have plenty of time. The local authorities would never dare to attack Luoyang again, so we have time to develop slowly and develop weapons that can bring us victory."

"Locally, if they do not agree with the central government's strategy and lose their legitimacy, they will immediately experience the loneliness of being abandoned by everyone, unless they completely militarize the entire territory and force the people to work at gunpoint."

Mo Mo slightly raised his chin and said, "But how can such a regime last long? Faced with this evil warlord rule, our central army has the moral high ground and the greater good. What reason do we have not to be invincible?"

Hearing Mo Mo's words, the old emperor laughed and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, Your Majesty, the greater good of the world, haha, the greater good of the world!"

……

Mo Mo also left the palace. After his explanation, the old emperor and Gao Hai had lost all their temper. The development and construction of Luoyang, as well as related economic issues, were basically left to Mo Mo.

Unfortunately, it seems that no one but Momo can understand and implement all of this. Therefore, the development of Luoyang will continue to follow Momo's plan.

The only thing that surprised Mo Mo was that the Emperor did not approve of Mo Mo's design for the RMB banknotes. He decided not to use his own portrait, but instead planned to use the portrait of the adorable seven-year-old girl, Jiang Lihua, to be printed on the 100-yuan banknotes and distributed throughout China.

Mo Mo knew exactly what the Emperor was thinking.

The old emperor wanted to expand Jiang Lihua's influence, to let the whole world know about his child, the next emperor, Jiang Lihua. He had given up hope for himself, but hoped that the world would know and accept Jiang Lihua's existence as soon as possible.

Momo had no objection to this; in fact, he found it quite amusing.

In the future, the banknotes held by the people of the Chinese Federation will all be printed with the adorable portrait of Jiang Lihua. Will this lead to the large-scale emergence of a species called "lolicon" in the Chinese Federation, or even the entire world of Code Geass?

Author's Note:

First update

125 troops advance on Xingyang

The battle of Luoyang has ended, but the chaos caused by this war will not simply subside.

As Momo said, after a brief period of chaos, basic urban order was quickly restored in various places, and electricity, water, and production began to slowly recover.

After a day and a night of despair, as if they were on an isolated island, the people in the city finally saw a glimmer of hope for returning to their normal lives. Communication and transportation began to gradually resume, and basic urban supplies were about to return to normal.

However, just as people were about to breathe a sigh of relief, they suddenly realized that some things could never be restored.

First and foremost, there are the banks.

The bank remained closed from beginning to end, which initially baffled everyone who wanted to use the bank for financial transactions, and then they roared in anger.

Without bank support, there's no cash on hand, no transactions, and naturally, no flow of goods. A city that seemed poised to restore order was abruptly halted by funding issues; how could banks not become the target of complaints?

Secondly, there is the broadcasting and communications industry.

Although the broadcasting and communications industry was also delayed by more than a decade or two under Momo's information warfare offensive, and regressed from the information age to the manual age, basic communication and news functions should theoretically still be guaranteed.

At the very least, if television programs can't be made, shouldn't we use the radio to announce what happened and reassure the public? Isn't that a basic thing?

Even though radio broadcasting is completely paralyzed for some reason, at least we can use the most primitive method: posting big-character posters at the entrances of local governments at all levels to let everyone know what happened, and then spreading the word to appease the people. Wouldn't that work?

However, all the places in the Chinese Empire that could speak out remained strangely silent, as if they were afraid to say something, afraid of saying the wrong thing, or as if they were waiting for some news.

What news are we waiting for?

The people, who had come to their senses from the chaos and stagnation of the city, suddenly realized that there was still a major event in the process of development!

Thirteen armies, totaling 300,000 troops, marched into Luoyang to defend the emperor, aiming to rescue him from the clutches of the powerful eunuch Gao Hai and the so-called brilliant strategist, and to restore the entire Chinese empire to its original orthodox form.

But now, what's the outcome of the war over there? Why is there suddenly no news?

Everyone sensed something strange, but the entire Chinese Empire was currently in a state of shutdown and chaos. All the banks were on strike, causing the circulation of goods in the cities to return to the traditional model of bartering or even using gold and silver as currency.

No one knew exactly what had happened at the bank, but everyone sensed that a hidden storm was about to be revealed.

Sure enough, three days later, an explosive piece of news began to spread.

The message didn't come from Luoyang, but from Xingyang, which is more than 100 kilometers away from Luoyang.

Moreover, the content of the news was so unbelievable that many people doubted whether it was true.

The first point of the news was that the Thirteen-Route Allied Army, with 300,000 troops, had lost.

Not only did they lose, but they lost miserably, and could even be described as being completely wiped out!

Three hundred thousand troops entered the Luoyang Military Region. On the first day of their advance, they were full of momentum, and Luoyang was within sight. But by nightfall, something happened, and the three hundred thousand troops were all defeated silently. No one knew what had happened.

Even after the 300,000-strong army was defeated, not a single scattered soldier escaped from the Luoyang military region. It was as if Luoyang had turned into a gaping maw at night, swallowing up the entire 300,000-strong army overnight.

The outcome of this war was completely outside the scope of any war outcome in the world; no one could understand what could enable 30,000 troops to wipe out 300,000 troops overnight.

This news was met with disdain from the very beginning, with people dismissing it as a fabrication.

However, the news that followed was astonishing.

There is still no news about the 300,000 troops attacking Luoyang, but an army clearly originating from Luoyang, codenamed the Zhu Jin Army, led by a Western female general named Artoria Pendragon, actually launched a direct attack from the Luoyang Military Region, heading straight for Xingyang.

At that time, there were still some garrison troops left behind by the various allied forces in Xingyang, but they were completely powerless against this force of only a few thousand men and were utterly defeated.

Xingyang, the capital of Henan Province, has become an occupied territory of the Luoyang Military Region, marking the first time in many years that the Luoyang Military Region has taken the initiative to mobilize troops outside the province.

However, some people remain skeptical of this news. If the news is true, wouldn't it prove that the 300,000-strong army was indeed defeated by Luoyang?

No one can explain why the troops attacking Luoyang failed so miserably!

However, the subsequent changes in Xingyang completely shattered the illusions held by those who had been able to obtain information from Xingyang.

Xingyang was not only occupied by the troops of the Luoyang Military Region, but this also restored Luoyang's external communication and network connections. Immediately, the old emperor gave his second speech to the outside world.

The content of the speech need not be detailed, but it consisted of a passionate address followed by the announcement of the great victory at Luoyang. He also denounced the crimes of the local authorities and declared that all local powers would be severely punished, pointing out that they had all committed crimes against the state.

Treason is a crime punishable by death, and it also implicates family and friends. All those involved must undergo rigorous investigation before they can be cleared of suspicion.

Although it is certainly not the ancient form of execution that involved the extermination of nine generations of one's family, if someone is accused of such a crime, and their relatives and friends are investigated but still cannot clear their names of suspicion, they will almost certainly be convicted and severely punished.

Such a statement is practically a declaration of war against the local authorities.

This shocked everyone. Even if Luoyang won against an army of 300,000, it must have been a Pyrrhic victory, right? What gave Luoyang the confidence and strength to declare war on the local forces and completely break off relations?

No one understood Luoyang's confidence and strength, but after the old emperor's speech, Gao Hai, who had risen from eunuch to prime minister, issued a series of decrees and policies on behalf of the emperor, which was like dropping a deep-water bomb into the frigid situation of the Chinese Federation.

First, Gao Hai announced that the Chinese Empire had suffered an unprecedented virus and cyber attack, which had serious consequences and caused enormous losses to the entire Chinese Empire.

After a formal condemnation of the unknown mastermind, Gao Hai solemnly announced the losses suffered by the Chinese Empire, solemnly declaring that the banking industry had been severely damaged and that all other industries had been greatly affected.