Having a powerful lord as a father figure, what's wrong with just wanting to draw cards?

He took her cold little hand in his and, like many other guests, left the banquet early and boarded the carriage to return home. Silence filled the carriage, and they did not speak a word until they escorted Shia back to her palace, at which point they said "goodnight" to each other.

Walking alone in the palace corridors, the moonlight shone down, but it did not illuminate his path, as if telling him—you have to find your own way.

"Yes, we can't wait for others to come to us; we have to take the initiative."

He cast a wind spell and flew straight back to his bedroom. He pulled out a chair in front of his desk, sat down, and took out a letter, a pen, and ink from the drawer to start writing...

The following evening, Morey, far away in Bloomfield, received an urgent letter from the capital.

"Did that sir send a letter?"

Mei happened to see Morey picking up the letter. She put the tea she brought on the coffee table and leaned in. The distance between them was less than half a meter, and they could even smell each other's scent.

Morey used to blush shyly, but now, like Domi, he's completely uninterested in women, showing no reaction whatsoever. He simply opened the envelope slowly:

"Yes, I guess there's something urgent that needs my attention, just like before."

Morey suddenly felt very tired, but since it was Domi's order, he had to do it even though he was old and frail.

Mei smiled slightly: "This just shows that the adults trust you, so don't let them down."

"That's natural."

In the envelope, Domi's general message was that Morey should temporarily halt the expansion of the Chamber of Commerce and accumulate cash flow, but he didn't specify what the money should be used for; he just told him to save it.

Morey guessed that Domi must have encountered some urgent need for cash.

It's important to understand that with the Four Seasons Chamber of Commerce's reach now extending across the entire continent, it receives hundreds or even thousands of gold dragons and various currencies almost every second, making its earning power practically insane.

If it really takes two or three months to save up as Domi said, then Morey could probably free up at least a billion gold dragons for Domi to squander.

Upon learning of the request, May immediately set about doing it, while Morey began writing a reply...

Morey received the letter in the evening. Now let's rewind to this morning. The major events of last night kept many people in the palace awake. Now is the time to discuss this matter.

Between the thrones, civil and military officials and nobles from the palace arrived on time. Even Domi, as the Minister of Intelligence and Director of the Strategic Deception Bureau, participated in his normal capacity.

When Emperor Burton saw that little Domi was standing among the civil officials, he was taken aback. Fortunately, the Queen, who was sitting next to him, quickly explained the situation to Domi.

During court discussions, the emperor's family would almost always be present. The empress would sit on one side, while the children and other family members would stand on the other side, such as the third prince, the fourth princess, and Shia.

The chubby boy stood closest to the emperor, followed by Mikala, and then the youngest, Shia, stood on the far side.

Domi looked over and, to be honest, they didn't look like a family at all, especially their expressions. The chubby boy looked like the foolish son of a landlord, looking down at the assembled officials with disdain, as if we owed him three or five million.

Mikara, on the other hand, is like a complaining woman, feeling that everything is unfair to her and that nothing goes right for her. When she sees Domi, she will turn her head away in disdain.

It seems that Shia, who always maintains a cool and aloof demeanor in front of outsiders, is the best choice.

Domi was incredibly grateful that Shia's hair color didn't fit in with the family.

Yes, he chose metaphysics over social sciences and genetics, believing that hair color was the dominant factor that determined everything.

Just as he was lost in thought, Emperor Burton finally spoke:

"I believe you all know that the six states of the Central Plains have declared war on us. If you don't know, please say so, and I can tell you right here."

Of course, no one would say they don't know, and even if they truly didn't know, they wouldn't say so.

"Very well, since you all know, I won't waste any more words. Let's get straight to the point. There is only one topic for this court meeting, and that is how to make money."

Simon, standing at the front of the civil officials' line, felt a jolt of surprise. He hadn't expected that even a little kid like Domi could guess the emperor's thoughts.

"The younger generation is truly formidable..."

"Your Excellency, did you say anything?" Fenrir, the Beast Chancellor, asked, feigning interest.

"No, I was just talking to myself. Your Excellency, you need not take it to heart."

……

"Please feel free to speak your mind; any means of raising funds are welcome."

Finally, the topic came up, and then the scene fell into a mysterious awkwardness.

First of all, the military generals were ruled out, not only because they really didn't know anything about this, but also because most of them had gone to the front lines. Only a small group of people were left here to protect the capital, so they couldn't even brainstorm ideas. They simply all shut down.

Then there were the nobles, who were hoping the emperor wouldn't target their wealth. They wanted to say something, but ultimately decided it was best to say less and avoid making a mistake, lest they shoot themselves in the foot.

Finally, there are the civil officials who are specifically responsible for offering advice and suggestions.

However, many civil officials had intricate connections with the nobles, and what if speaking up infringed upon the interests of some nobles? So most civil officials remained silent.

The few civil servants who are allowed to speak 'freely' haven't come up with an answer yet.

This has led to the current awkward situation.

The only sound echoing in the empty throne room was the thumping of Emperor Burton's fingers tapping on the armrests of the throne.

Then His Majesty finally lost his patience, clenched his fist and slammed it on the armrest, letting out a cold laugh:

"What, do you think I've been supporting a bunch of freeloaders? They don't even utter a sound when something serious happens? If that's the case, you can all just quit and go back to your hometowns to farm!"

The courtiers shrank back in fright, suddenly feeling a chill down their spines.

At this moment, Fenrir stepped forward, knelt on one knee before the throne, and placed one hand on his chest:

"Your Majesty, I have something to say..."

"Alright, alright, Prime Minister, please speak freely. It doesn't matter if you say something wrong."

Domi pricked up his ears, wanting to hear what brilliant ideas the prime minister might have, so he could have some advice.

"Your Majesty, I believe that the existing official positions in the empire can be divided into more detailed categories. That way, there will be more positions available. Then, as long as these positions are clearly priced, I think a large number of people will be willing to spend real money to buy these titles that are merely nominal."

"This way, we can obtain a large amount of funds in a short period of time, which is good, but it won't last long. The empire is now fighting a long-term war, and this amount of money is not enough."

But Fenrir wasn't out of ideas, and soon came up with another solution:

“Reduce government spending and levy seigniorage.”

Emperor Burton frowned: "I understand the former, so I'll leave it to you and Simon to carry out. But what about the latter? How exactly is it done?"

"Simply put, it means replacing full-value metal currency with metal currency that is not of sufficient value. The difference in value is called seigniorage. For example, if I use a new currency to replace the gold dragon, we don't need to pay much to mint it, but several of them can have the same purchasing power as a gold dragon."

At this point, anyone with a brain would have seen the glittering business opportunity, and even Emperor Burton's eyes lit up:

"Good! Excellent! Schlieffen, I order you to begin preparations for this immediately, and the rest of you to prepare the corresponding legislation, the sooner the better!"

195. Chapter 192, 191: This is how primitive accumulation of capital occurs.

The massive war machine known as the 'Empire' was fully activated when the Central Plains declared war on it, countless gears turning and smoke billowing...

Under the highest priority, the bills concerning the sale of official positions and seigniorage were successfully enacted three days later. Countless copies were printed and distributed throughout the country, with lower-level administrative departments responsible for informing the public about the contents of the bills.

At the same time, official positions and noble titles began to be sold to the wealthy, landlords, and aristocratic families.

Although they were all minor officials with no real power, what these people needed was a bit of fame; money was secondary.

As a result, the first batch of official titles and ranks were quickly snapped up, which slightly replenished the empty national treasury, but it was still insufficient to cover expenses.

However, compared to before, the current situation at least gives His Majesty the Emperor hope.

After the new coins were minted and officially put into the market, Emperor Burton was overjoyed, making a fortune overnight. He even rewarded Chancellor Schlieffen, who had proposed this brilliant idea, handsomely.

"Seigniorage is not a long-term solution."

In Domi's room, Carlos sneaked in again, and just like last time, he looked very serious.

“I think so too,” Domi nodded in agreement. In fact, this method had appeared as early as the reign of Emperor Wu of Han in his previous life, but the final result was not ideal.

"Bad money drives out good money, and sooner or later the market will experience inflation and eventually collapse..."

Carlos immediately looked at Domi with newfound respect: "As expected of my son, you see things very clearly. Perhaps you are more suited to business than Edward?"

He couldn't help but recall the scene of Domi's first birthday celebration when he was a child. Edward, who should have picked the golden dragon, was clearly more talented in the field, while that good-for-nothing had previously tried to do business with a ten million golden dragon and ended up losing five million...

Domi waved his hand with a wry smile: "I think I'll pass, it's too exhausting..."

"Speaking of which, I've seen the contents of the meeting, and I guess it's no longer necessary now, given the spiritual assimilation of the conquered lands."

"Well, with a formidable enemy at hand, it's good enough if we don't let them rebel. To think that the conquered nations can be further integrated into the empire is wishful thinking."

"So the meeting is over?"

"It hasn't been officially announced as over yet, but it'll be soon. That means I'll have to go back soon. Domi, what about you? Want to go home together?"

Domi calculated the time; he was still waiting for an opportunity and absolutely could not leave the capital at this critical juncture.

"Father, why don't you stay in the capital for a few more days and give me some more time? We can go back together after I finish this matter."

"What's up?"

He shook his head: "I can't say right now."

Carlos smiled slightly, his eyes seemingly seeing through everything: "Alright, the little brat has grown up and learned to hide things. Hurry up, there are still a lot of things waiting for me to deal with in the territory."

While the seigniorage was ruthlessly plundering the wealth of the people in the empire, Domi, aside from his daily work in the intelligence department, spent all his spare time secretly planning a brand new bill, and when he felt the time was ripe, he wrote a letter to Morey...

A week later, the drawbacks of seigniorage began to emerge.

The amount of money circulating in the market increases, but the means of production remain unchanged, which leads to a sharp rise in prices, and inflation reveals its fangs.

This thing has been an unavoidable topic in human society since the invention of currency, and the loaf of bread worth 500,000 marks is a very representative example.

No one would use 500,000 banknotes to buy a loaf of bread, but there are countless 500,000s in the market used to buy bread, which have become worthless.

The finance department staff were not idle; they quickly discovered the problem and promptly reported it to the emperor.

Soon after, the second extraordinary court meeting was convened.

Schlieffen's expression was not good. From a purely objective point of view, it was indeed genius to be able to create a means of accumulating wealth like seigniorage on his own. However, even a genius like him could hardly predict the consequences that it would bring.

However, Emperor Burton did not criticize Schlieffen too harshly, after all, he had already filled the treasury considerably, even at the cost of inflation.

"According to the Ministry of Finance's forecast, the seigniorage will be implemented for another month. Before the seigniorage is discontinued, the Empire will need a new plan to raise military funds."

Burton glanced around, and the courtiers all fell silent. He sighed helplessly, thinking that it made sense. If one wanted to amass wealth, any method would have far-reaching consequences, and it was certainly not something that could be easily come up with on a whim.

Just then, a small figure stepped out from the ranks of civil officials—it was Domi!

"Your Majesty, I have a plan."

"Oh?" Burton looked skeptical. He didn't believe a child could outsmart so many adults, but he let him speak anyway.