The doctor suffers from amnesia, but not complete amnesia.

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On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, the Great Yan Dynasty resumed its court session. The court meeting was still filled with trivial matters. The emperor did not raise any proposals regarding the new currency, nor did he mention summoning Qiao Yelan again.

However, Qiao Yelan was not in a hurry. Some things, once known to those in the know, can be implemented—now all that's needed is for them to continue to ferment.

Therefore, it wasn't until Eunuch Wang arrived at the royal villa with His Majesty's orders that Qiao Yelan finally showed a serious expression, something he hadn't done in a long time.

This time, the real crucial moment for the plan.

Upon arriving at the Imperial Study, Qiao Yelan saw the people inside and already had a plan in mind.

Chen Fan and Cai Yan sat upright before the emperor, keeping to themselves and not interfering with each other.

"Your subject Qiao Yelan pays respects to Your Majesty."

"No need for formalities. Now that everyone is here, I've called you all here because I want to ask you one thing—Minister Qiao, should you give your suggestion or should I speak?"

"The minister obeys the order."

Qiao Yelan quickly and briefly explained his plan.

What he wanted was to issue a new currency in Longmen, directly linked to the Great Yan Silver Notes, and to connect with neighboring countries and free city-states, so that this new currency could be used in international trade between them, thereby unleashing the vitality of cross-border commerce.

Cai Yan and Chen Fan listened very attentively—one knew just how capable Qiao Yelan was, and the other knew just how capable the person who proposed this plan was, so neither of them dared to be careless at this moment.

After he finished speaking, the emperor gave them some time to think before asking questions again.

"Prime Minister Cai, what do you think of this proposal?"

"...While I have made some achievements in economics, I am not as knowledgeable as Minister Chen. However, I also know how prosperous our Great Yan Dynasty was after the currency was changed to paper money. In my humble opinion, at first glance, I do not see any major flaws."

Cai Yan's answer was watertight.

The emperor cursed the old fox in his heart, then turned to look at Chen Fan.

"What is Minister Chen's opinion?"

"In my opinion, although the plan proposed by the Director of the Imperial Household Department is rather conservative, it is more step-by-step and less likely to be opposed by other countries, thus posing less of a threat."

Chen Fan's words surprised Qiao Yelan.

What do you mean by me being a bit conservative?

Lord Chen, given our ages, shouldn't you be a conservative?

“Indeed, since Minister Qiao has proposed this plan, why not also listen to Minister Chen’s plan?”

"The minister obeys the order."

Qiao Yelan's expression remained unchanged, but she was filled with doubt.

What is Lord Chen up to?

When Chen Fan presented his viewpoint, Qiao Yelan almost lost her composure.

This ambitious Minister of Revenue actually wanted to simply promote the Great Yan Silver Notes to the world and require all countries to use Great Yan Silver Notes for settlement in international trade.

No, how many kilograms did he drink? Even the Minister of Revenue doesn't have money to buy peanuts.

Can Terra really afford to wield monetary hegemony?

Does it have the load-bearing capacity?

Let's be more practical, shall we?

If you want to play the role of currency hegemony, you either need to have colonies all over the world and rely on colonial resources and markets to keep the economy running, or you need to acquire "sons" all over the world and transfer the risks to your "sons" by stationing military bases and signing unequal treaties.

This is the hidden truth behind monetary hegemony—

Whoever owns the most dogs has the loudest bark.

Does the Great Yan Dynasty have this ability?

The north has been fighting demons for thousands of years, and Originium is a double-edged sword. There's also the Year Beast, a ticking time bomb, plus the sea in the south is bubbling up—so you want to wage another great expedition to the Western world?

Stop kidding me, I'm here to help the poor, not to help you chase your dreams.

Cai Yan remained expressionless, so Qiao Yelan had to step forward at this moment.

"Minister Chen, it seems that something is missing from your plan—I don't recall you mentioning what methods you intend to use to persuade various countries to accept the use of Great Yan Silver Notes for settlement?"

Why are you just making empty promises? Where's the wheat? Where was it planted?

"This part should be handled by the Court of State Ceremonies and the Ministry of War. Diplomatic means and military pressure should be sufficient to accomplish it."

Chen Fan seemed quite confident.

"Your Majesty, I think Minister Chen's plan is a bit too optimistic."

However, it was Cai Yan, not Qiao Yelan, who said these words.

Cai Yan was indeed slightly less professional in economics than Chen Fan, but he was sure he could understand what Chen Fan and Qiao Yelan were saying. So, the moment Qiao Yelan pointed out the problem, he understood it perfectly.

"If all trade between countries in the world is settled using the Great Yan Silver Notes, it means that they must completely open up the exchange between their own currencies and the Great Yan Silver Notes. In other words, the Great Yan Silver Notes can circulate freely within their countries just like their currencies."

"This means they will lose the independence of their currency. If their own currency is to be tied to another country's currency, doesn't that mean they are putting their currency's value completely on the chopping block, at the mercy of others?"

Cai Yan said in a cold voice.

"In my opinion, the only country that can do this right now is the Eastern Kingdom, and the relationship between the Eastern Kingdom and the Great Yan is obvious to other countries—do you think they want to become the next Eastern Kingdom?"

"—So, as I said, this is a matter between the Court of State Ceremonies and the Ministry of War. If other countries are unwilling, then naturally the Ministry of War will have to use force to deter them."

Chen Fan did not back down; instead, he stood tall and confronted Cai Yan head-on.

"Barbarians fear power but do not cherish virtue—isn't the reason why the Eastern Kingdom is willing to do this because it was defeated by Ursus back then and then saved by my Great Yan?"

"Then let's hear from Minister Chen. At the previous court meeting, you clearly said that this year's budget had been capped and there was no money left over. How could you still have the resources to call on the Ministry of War to fight a war? Could it be that you were deceiving the emperor at the previous court meeting?"

Cai Yan's scathing remark completely shut down any further words Chen Fan could say.

You said your Ministry of Revenue is out of money, therefore the Ministry of Revenue is not qualified to issue new expenditures. Only the Emperor can change the budget of the Great Yan Dynasty. If the Emperor says that war is necessary, then the Ministry of Revenue can make changes to the budget again. Who do you think you are, Chen Fan? How dare you shout here that you want to support sending troops to fight?

Chen Fan knelt down with a thud.

"Your Majesty, I have no intention of deceiving you! My plan is solely for the sake of my Great Yan—I beg Your Majesty to make the final decision!"

The emperor was secretly regretting it.

Without a doubt, Chen Fan's theory of monetary hegemony was more favored by the emperor than Qiao Yelan's "petty" plan.

But the emperor knew very well that if this plan were to be implemented, it wouldn't be something that could be done by fighting one or two wars. It would require, like Ursus back then, to beat the whole world into submission, so that everyone would have to always put on a smiling face for him.

So that wasn't just a sum of money; it was a huge sum, even an astronomical amount.

So here's the problem—no money.

I need to execute the plan to make money.

Please provide the funds to implement the plan.

But I don't have the money to carry out the plan.

Then you'll have money if you execute the plan.

It's stuck; I can't move.

"Minister Chen's plan does indeed have many flaws—Da Yan is currently facing numerous problems, many of which are urgent. Therefore, there is truly no spare capacity to execute Minister Chen's plan."

He sighed and finally, with a heavy heart, rejected the plan.

"Minister Qiao, although your plan is a bit too conservative, it does not require many conditions. Your Lungmen Coin plan still has more room for implementation. I hope you will come up with a more detailed plan, discuss it with Prime Minister Cai and Minister Chen, and finally submit a perfect plan to me."

"I accept the decree."

At this moment, Qiao Yelan kept his eyes down and pretended to be a wooden doll, methodically accepting the emperor's words.

Damn it, the longer you stay in the Great Yan court, the more monstrous you become.

— Those two old geezers almost fooled him too.

The emperor would definitely have privately asked both of them about what he had said before; this was something Qiao Yelan could deduce.

Chen Fan's monetary hegemony plan alone is something that cannot be accomplished on the spot—so neither Chen Fan nor Cai Yan are as radical as they appear, nor as frantically aggressive as they seem.

On the contrary, they behaved this way simply because the emperor wanted to see such a scene.

Now, the situation in the court is completely clear. The emperor has dismantled the Cai faction, and Cai Yan has been completely sidelined, becoming a ruthless workaholic. Gao Cheng has been dismissed, and the Ministry of Personnel has won over the hearts of the people. But Chen Fan is still sitting comfortably in the position of Minister of Revenue.

It should be noted that Cai Yan and Chen Fan are currently in the eye of the storm—and are also under the watchful eyes of His Majesty the Emperor.

As someone who had just pledged allegiance to His Majesty and was also a former traitor to the Cai faction, Chen Fan naturally had to prove his "unwavering loyalty" to His Majesty—and let the people in the court know why the Emperor still supported him in this position, so as to keep those who coveted the position of Minister of Revenue in check.

Therefore, it's necessary to submit several memorials that seem fine on the surface but are definitely problematic, to properly counter Cai Yan's argument.

Similarly, Prime Minister Cai, who had almost lost all his supporters, also needed to put on an act of having a "deep grudge" with Chen Fan—otherwise, he worried that the emperor might think he was enduring humiliation and harboring resentment, and might just kill him outright.

Therefore, Chen Fan would inevitably say one thing and do another, finding fault even in the smallest details, in order to temporarily appease the emperor.

Two old fogies, one deliberately revealing a flaw, the other deliberately stirring up trouble—and they hit it off immediately.

So even if I hadn't come, the outcome of today's conversation would have been pretty much the same.

After being pushed over by Wang Zhi, the two of them understood perfectly well—no wonder His Majesty suddenly had this idea; it turned out that Qiao Yelan was the one who pushed this matter.

Cai Yan and Chen Fan, having both directly confronted Qiao Yelan, naturally knew how unfathomable this Junior Supervisor of the Imperial Household was. Furthermore, given that he was now clearly a favorite of the Emperor, he was an even more important figure to win over.

No, I have to take this opportunity to make a good sale.