Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 157, Section 156: The Route Changes, India's History in China, The Gold and Silver Conspiracy

The Boeing 247 took off again, bound for Delhi.

Along the way, no one had any interest in appreciating the scenery below; people frequently went to the restroom, looking depressed.

Zhao Jiu even swore, "I will never eat a meal here again. Never."

After a grueling flight that lasted for more than four hours, the plane finally landed at Delhi Airport.

Since it was a transit airport, there was no need to stay overnight, so apart from Fang Wen and Shao Sichen, no one else disembarked.

They preferred to eat the food they brought on the plane rather than risk trying it again.

Fang Wenze and Shao Sishen talked outside the plane.

"Shao Sishen, do you know anyone in Delhi?" Fang Wen asked with concern. Although he didn't interfere in everything his subordinates did, he was still a little worried about Shao Sishen coming here alone.

"Don't worry, General Manager, the British Indian government has generally agreed to our Taishan Airlines' international routes. This is only beneficial to them. I'm here to represent the company and make a statement so we can proceed with further negotiations. By the way, General Manager, is this your first time flying from Delhi to Kabul? Be careful," Shao Sichen replied.

Fang Wen nodded: "I'll be careful. I'll take off once the Boeing people bring the passengers. Take care."

The two were talking when, before long, two groups of people arrived.

One group came to pick up Shao Sishen to go to the British Indian government for talks. Shao Sishen got into the car and left.

The other group consisted of a salesman from Boeing and a local resident.

The Boeing salesman was able to come here thanks to Fang Wen. If Fang Wen hadn't been piloting Boeing's P-26 series fighter jets on long-haul flights between Asia and Europe, the newly established British Indian Air Force wouldn't have placed an order.

I just don't know if this salesperson will be able to collect the remaining payment.

Fang Wen smiled and shook hands with the other party. After exchanging pleasantries, the other party introduced the person next to him.

“Vanderka Chandra, who works for the British Indian Treasury, was representing the British Indian government at the global economic conference in London.”

Fang Wen smiled and replied in English: "Hello, it's an honor to have you join this Asia-Europe tour."

“I am also very happy. This is my first time leaving this land, and I’m sure there will be many interesting things to do on the journey,” Vandeka Chandra replied, pressing his palms together and bowing.

His skin was fair and his behavior was very polite. Fang Wen suspected that he was either a Brahmin or a Kshatriya, but it was not appropriate to ask such a question.

After the negotiations were completed, Fang Wen opened the cabin door and let Vandeka Chandra board the plane, while he checked whether the fuel tank and auxiliary fuel tank were full.

After completing the basic checks, Fang Wen boarded the plane, communicated with the ground staff using hand gestures, and then piloted the plane into the air.

As the plane ascends into the sky, flight attendant Cheng Dayou begins her duties, making tea for the passengers and explaining the upcoming journey.

"The next landing point for this long-haul flight is Kabul."

"Why fly to Kabul? Isn't it Karachi? The travelogue of flying through Eurasia mentions Karachi as the route," Gu Xingzuo asked in surprise.

Flight attendant Cheng Dayou was at a loss for words when asked this question.

Fang Wen, in the cockpit, picked up the microphone and explained, "It's nearly 2000 kilometers from Karachi to Tehran. This plane needs to make a stopover to get there. Last time, I temporarily stopped the Shrike at the ruins of an ancient city because of the plane's small size. That's definitely not possible now. Therefore, the route has been changed to Delhi to Kabul."

Fang Wen's explanation made the three passengers realize the truth, and they took out a map to check where Kabul was.

After reviewing the data, they discovered that the route from Delhi to Kabul and then to Tehran was actually shorter than the Delhi-Karachi-Tehran route, so they didn't say anything more.

But this flight change is not such a simple matter.

The reality is that the royal family in Kabul has a very good relationship with the Commonwealth. They were able to ascend the throne by borrowing troops from British India. When they heard about Taishan Airlines' international flights, they took the initiative to request that the route be changed to pass through their territory.

They also promised that, if agreed, the existing airport would be expanded immediately and various preferential policies would be provided.

Fang Wen also studied the matter for a long time before deciding to change the flight route.

After all, going through Kabul is much more convenient.

The incident on the route passed quickly, and everyone's attention shifted to the journey on the new route.

This was a new experience for everyone on board, unlike anything Fang Wen described in his "Eurasian Flight Travelogue".

This time, the tour guide was changed.

That was the new passenger, Vandeka Chandra.

He spoke to Fang Wen in English, and Fang Wen then relayed his words.

In his description, the river below is called the Indus River, the cradle of Indian civilization.

The riverbanks are fertile alluvial plains, the richest land in the area.

In the future, this place will be called Pakistan, but the name of the Indus River will remain unchanged.

Flying upstream along the Indus River, we passed by a large, ancient city.

Its name is Lahore.

Upon hearing this, Bai Zeshan, who was reading a book, interjected.

"This should be the capital of the Mughal Empire, a branch of the Mongol Empire."

"Really?" Gu Xingzuo and Dai Shimao stood up and looked out the window.

Fang Wen couldn't help but look down.

The entire city is one color, the color of the desert, full of exotic style.

Bai Zeshan hadn't finished speaking when he said, "I've read the ancient books written by Xuanzang. He passed through here when he traveled west to obtain Buddhist scriptures."

Zhao Jiu didn't believe it: "What is Tang Sanzang doing here? Did he take the wrong path? He has Sun Wukong protecting him."

Zhao Jiu thought Tang Sanzang wouldn't get lost, since he had Sun Wukong with him.

Fang Wen smiled and said, "Bai Zeshan, then tell me what Xuanzang wrote in the book?"

Bai Zeshan recalled, then said, "The *Great Tang Records on the Western Regions* states: 'Northwest of Udukahanda city, traveling more than twenty li, one arrives at the town of Brahmaputra. This is the place where the sage Pravda was born. Pravdaputra is an Indian scholar mentioned by Xuanzang, and Brahmaputra is where Lahore is located today.'"

What he said was completely different from the Journey to the West storytelling that Zhao Jiu had heard.

I did gain some knowledge that I don't know what use it is.

The discussion on this matter ended there, but it sparked Vanderka Chandra's great interest in Chinese culture.

Vandeka Chandra never imagined that the lost Indian civilization would be rediscovered in Chinese scriptures.

He spoke with Bai Zeshan, who understood English, and asked about ancient Indian events.

Bai Zeshan knew little about this, only about the city-states of ancient India and the customs and traditions mentioned in the scriptures.

This has already greatly benefited Vanderka Chandra.

As a result, his relationship with the other passengers on the plane improved significantly.

This person is very talkative; even if you ignore him, he can still talk a lot.

Since Fang Wen had some free time while piloting the plane, we decided to let him be our source of amusement and let him translate on the spot.

This person then explained their entire situation.

He was born in 1909 into an intellectual family in British India.

He was exceptionally intelligent from a young age and had a strong interest in economics and mathematics. He demonstrated outstanding mathematical ability in his youth and thus became a mathematics teacher.

Later, when British India opened up civil service positions to native Indians, he passed the exam and became a junior clerk in the Ministry of Finance.

This work has continued until now, because local Indian political parties are becoming increasingly agitated, and the British Indian government is gradually loosening its control over local employees, preparing to use Indians to manage Indians.

In this situation, he was promoted and sent to Britain to participate in the World Economic Conference as a representative of the British Indian Treasury.

Hearing him say this, Fang Wen became somewhat interested in the World Economic Conference. "What does the World Economic Conference discuss?" he asked.

Vanderka Chandra replied, "The main discussion is about the impact of the economic crisis and how to deal with it. It may involve tariffs in various countries, as well as foreign exchange rates."

"Foreign exchange rates?" Fang Wen suddenly became even more interested.

He was constantly exchanging silver dollars for US dollars, and he needed to be prepared in advance if there were any problems with the exchange rate.

“Yes.” Vanderka Chandra enjoyed having people listen to him talk about economics, and he was very talkative. “The meeting will cover reducing tariffs and removing foreign exchange controls. But these things are not easy to get approved by the countries. I mean, the United States is absolutely unwilling. They have been controlling the exchange rate and constantly increasing tariffs.”

When Vanderka Chandra mentioned the United States, Fang Wen became even more nervous, wondering if any actions the US might take regarding foreign exchange would affect his currency exchange.

He called out, "Dayou, make tea for Mr. Vandeka, black tea, they like black tea."

Flight attendant Cheng Dayou quickly brewed tea and brought it over, handing it to Vanderka Chandra, who was leaning against the cockpit door.

Fang Wen then asked, "I have a question. Will the United States make any changes to its exchange rate?"

“Definitely, and it’s already underway,” Vandeka Chandra replied.

He analyzed the situation from the perspective of a professional government finance officer, and Fang Wen listened very attentively.

This is a conversation that ordinary people cannot access, yet it is extremely important to the local dialect.

Fang Wen learned this from Vandeka Chandra.

The Roosevelt administration announced a halt to gold exports on March 10, 1933.

The reason for halting gold exports is that the United States is still in the midst of an economic depression this year, with a severe economic downturn and soaring unemployment.

In order to stabilize the domestic economy, the Roosevelt administration decided to take a series of measures to stimulate the economy.

One of the key measures was halting gold exports.

By restricting gold exports, governments can control domestic gold reserves, thereby stabilizing the dollar exchange rate and reducing volatility in financial markets.

But a month later.

The Roosevelt administration then announced that it would abandon the gold standard.

Fang Wen exclaimed in surprise: "Did the United States abandon the gold standard in April?"

“Yes,” Vanderka Chandra replied.

No one in this era understands the importance of the gold standard for monetary stability better than Fang Wen.

Because he experienced too much unlimited money issuance in the future.

The gold standard is a monetary system in which gold is the base currency, and each unit of currency is equivalent to a certain weight of gold (i.e., the gold content of the currency). Under the gold standard, the exchange rate between countries is determined by the ratio of the gold content of their respective currencies—the gold parity.

Therefore, the value of a currency based on the gold standard is very stable, as it is directly linked to the precious metal gold.

Similarly, China's silver standard was relatively stable because the gold-silver ratio was stable.

If the Roosevelt administration abandoned the gold standard, it would mean that the government was ready to print money at full capacity.

A large influx of banknotes into society means that the US dollar will depreciate significantly in a short period of time.

Damn!

Fang Wen cursed inwardly.

Because of the Great Wall resistance and the company's development, he focused his attention on the domestic situation and did not expect the changes in the international situation.

He forgot about the economic stimulus plan of the Roosevelt administration across the ocean.

The so-called government-led economic stimulus plan is nothing more than providing a large amount of money for various infrastructure projects.

This tactic was first used by Roosevelt and produced excellent results. It has since been regarded by governments around the world as a panacea for dealing with economic crises.

However, such economic stimulus measures are not friendly to the Chinese people.

He had a large amount of US dollars in his hands, and he had to spend them as soon as possible.

At the same time, it is necessary to notify the domestic authorities to temporarily suspend the exchange of silver dollars for US dollars.

We should wait until the rate of dollar depreciation slows down before continuing.

It is likely that silver dollars, based on the silver standard, will remain very strong for a considerable period of time.

But why did the silver dollar system in China suddenly disappear in the future?

It turned into gold yuan notes.

Fang Wen instantly understood the reason.

In the future, all the silver dollars will be collected and replaced with US dollars.

However, the people did not benefit from this, because they exchanged their silver dollars for gold yuan notes, which then began a rapid devaluation process.

Isn't this plundering the wealth of all the Chinese people?

Where those dollars went is self-evident.

Fang Wen felt a chill run down his spine; so that's how those people operated!
The Boeing 247 flew over Lahore and then passed through another ancient city, Islamabad.

The terrain then began to rise, entering the Afghan Plateau.

Compared to the Indus Plain, the elevation has increased by at least 1000 meters.

The aircraft did not gain altitude as a result, causing its flight altitude to drop to around 3000 meters.

The plateau terrain here is mountainous with little water and extremely barren.

Even the capital city is the same.

Large tracts of bungalows are built on the mountains and in the valleys; that is Kabul.

Fang Wen maneuvered the plane, circling in the air, until he found the only airport located in the valley.

He turned on his radio and communicated with the ground on international aviation frequencies.

"Calling ground control, Taishan Airlines Flight 03 requests landing."

After three consecutive calls, radio waves were transmitted.

"Call received, landing approved."

The plane adjusted its course and landed on the runway at Kabul Airport.

The track here doesn't need any construction; it's originally hard ground, so all we need to do is sweep away the stones.

Fang Wen noticed the situation at the airport the moment he landed.

Perhaps there was no airport here before, and this was built specifically for them.

He also saw a troop of cavalry running parallel to the planes along the airport runway, with the cavalrymen drawing their sabers and raising them as a signal.

It wasn't hostility, but rather some kind of welcoming ceremony.

After Fang Wen parked the plane, he said, "Everyone, don't get off the plane yet. Let's wait and see."

After a while, a cavalryman came over, dismounted, and stood at the cabin door, knocking on it.

Flight attendant Cheng Da asked nervously, "General Manager, should I open the door?"

(End of this chapter)