This is the official commodity exchange set up by the lion family, commonly known as the "official bank".

The lion king was mercantile and implemented a program of monetary reform within the clan, which inevitably involved the circulation of a series of goods. Grain, cloth, metal, salt...... Although the Lion King is free to operate, as the supreme ruler, he must consider the balanced interests of the entire clan and the daily consumption of goods. This is the significance of opening an official bank. The rulers of the lion clan purchase a large number of various materials at market prices, which are usually used as reserves and put into the market in batches depending on the specific situation, playing a role in balancing prices and stabilizing society.

Taking grain as an example, in floods and droughts, grain production has been reduced on a large scale, and grain prices have risen in the market. In this matter, the government invested a large amount of grain to lower the price of grain, and the common people benefited from it, and naturally they were grateful to the lion king.

There are advantages and disadvantages, and businessmen who hoard and accumulate strange things will naturally inevitably suffer heavy losses under the balance of government and industry. But as far as the overall situation of the lion clan is concerned, there are not many such times, and the operators also have their own judgment, knowing that there are some things that cannot be involved, let alone touching the bottom line of His Majesty's tolerance.

Ah Heng had just walked into the backyard with the convoy, where people came and went, all of whom were businessmen from all over the world who came to trade.

A tall, thin middle-aged man walked up to him. He greeted warmly: "Ah Heng, long time no see." ”

"Hello Lord Changliang." Ah Heng bowed his hand, although he was smiling, the expression on his face was unnatural.

Chang Liang is the head of 100 people in the official bank, responsible for the unified purchase and inspection of goods. There are four more mid-level officials like him here. Although he was puzzled by Ah Heng's state, Chang Liang didn't ask much, he turned around, his eyes fell on the fully loaded carriages, and said with a smile: "What goods did you bring me this time?" ”

"Sackcloth." Ah Heng asked seriously: "Lord Changliang, may I ask if the official bank is still buying it at the price of the last transaction?" ”

Chang nodded brightly. He had a lot of dealings with these small merchants who went back and forth between the various walled cities to buy grain and cloth, and he was well aware of the concerns in each other's hearts. Chang Liang smiled and reached out to pat Ah Heng's shoulder, comforting: "Don't worry, I won't let you suffer." ”

Ah Heng smiled wryly, without acknowledging.

Chang Liang is an enthusiastic person, and of course another reason is that the official bank has acquisition tasks every month. Cloth, for example, is far more important than other materials. If there were no foot merchants to buy cotton and linen cloth from all over the place, the middle and lower commercial officials would have to find their own sources from among the common people, so he had to treat Ah Heng with the usual courtesy.

Among all the northern barbarian tribes, the deer tribe is a special existence. The lion tribe, in particular, has to exchange a large amount of grain with the deer tribe every year for various types of cloth. In previous years, similar businesses were handled by higher-level government firms. But this year is different, the Deer Clan has been annexed by the Dragons. Correspondingly, local officials and banks put the work of absorbing fabrics in the first place.

"Your Majesty has decreed that all transactions between the government and the government must be fair and just, and Tong Su must not be bullied." Chang Liang continued to smile and said, "We've dealt with each other so many times, don't you still believe me? ”

The almost stiff expression on Ah Heng's face loosened slightly, indicating that he was thinking. After a few seconds, Ah Heng seemed to have made up his mind, nodded, turned around and shouted at the guy leading the horse: "Drive the carriage to the warehouse and unload it!" ”

The transaction was smooth, there was no forced buying and selling. Chang Liang did not lie and deceive people, and gave Ah Heng a satisfactory good price.

The two sides counted clearly, Chang Liang took a beast skin money bag from the trader standing inside the counter, smiled and handed it to Ah Heng, who was standing next to him and had been watching: "Take it, it's yours." ”

Ah Heng untied the tether on the seal of the money bag and saw that it was full of shiny silver coins.

There was a little embarrassment on his face, and he was not in a hurry to leave. After coughing vigorously a few times, Ah Heng raised his head, looked at Chang Liang's still smiling face, and said seriously: "Lord Chang Liang, can you exchange these silver coins for silver nuggets?" ”

"What did you say?" Chang Liang didn't react for a while.

"I want silver nuggets, not silver coins." Ah Heng raised his voice and explained quite unnaturally: "I'm sorry for you to help me change it, I want silver nuggets, not money." ”

Chang Liang was puzzled by what he said: "What do you mean by this?" ”

Ah Heng is an honest man, and to put it mildly, he has a very aggrieved temperament and usually doesn't talk much. His cheeks flushed, and he put the money bag in his hand on the counter, and after half a minute, he hesitated and said, "You better help me change it!" I know that there is a new silver nugget in your official treasury, so we will use that to settle the bill. ”

Chang Liang frowned, pressed his hand on the animal skin money bag and tapped it a few times: "Ah Heng, Your Majesty issued an edict a few years ago, all transactions are strictly forbidden to use gold and silver, and can only be settled in the currency prescribed by the laws of our lion clan. You are making such a request now...... It's hard for me, and it's impossible. ”

Ah Heng had already thought of his words: "Since you can't give me silver nuggets, then I won't sell these cloths." Well, I won't make it difficult for you, the money in the bag belongs to you, and I'll go to the warehouse now and bring out the burlap I just put in. ”

"How does this work?" Chang Liang was anxious all of a sudden, and hurriedly dissuaded: "Those linen cloths have been registered in the warehouse, and if you want to leave the warehouse, you must have an order signed by the city lord." This is an official bank, you don't do business with us for a day or two, you should know this rule! ”

"Rules...... Of course I do. ”

Ah Heng lowered his head and was silent, and he could see that his heart was struggling. After a long time, he raised his head, as if making some kind of difficult decision, and shook his head with a wry smile: "Lord Changliang, it's not that I want to make it difficult for you on purpose, but this business is really impossible to do!" ”

"Why?" Changliang didn't think much about it, and asked subconsciously.

Ah Heng raised his hand and pointed to the animal skin money bag on the counter: "This money is fake." ”

"What did you say?" Chang Liang was stunned, then his eyes widened, and his face was a little angry: "What do you mean?" This kind of thing dares to be said nonsense. A Heng ...... You...... You...... I think you're here to find fault! ”

Liuyun City is a big city, and there are many people in the official office, and there are twenty or thirty merchants who come and go. The two people here were in a fierce mood, and their voices became very loud, and the people around them were immediately attracted and stood nearby to watch the excitement.

"I really didn't mean to get you in trouble." Ah Heng is very honest, especially with that honest face, it is difficult for people to associate it with words like "fraud". He plucked up his courage and whispered sneeringly, "I'm not lying, the money is fake." ”

"Fake ......" Changliang was angered by his seemingly weak but actually stubborn attitude, and swallowed the second half of the words that had already reached his mouth. Raising his hand to Ah Heng, Chang Liang, who was gentle and friendly, began to become angry. He pursed his lips, then opened them, nodding his head as if the rhythm was out of control, but instead of approving, he released the anger that grew deeper and stronger in his heart.

"Ah Heng, you can't talk nonsense. I warn you, this is new money shipped in from Roaring City last week. If you look closely, the bag also has the seal and mark of the royal mint. ”

Chang Liang grabbed the money bag, first pointed to the red stamp on the animal skin bag to explain, then took out a few coins from the bag, spread them out in the center of his palm, and shouted: "Keep your eyes open, these coins have the head of His Majesty the Lion King, and they are also engraved with the inscription dedicated to the mint." You let everyone comment on the theory, let everyone say, where is the fake? ”

There were more people around. The trait of "liking to watch the excitement" obviously did not disappear in the long years after the asteroid hit the Earth, but remained in the form of genetic memory. Soon, with Ah Heng and Chang Liang as the core, people gathered together on the three floors inside and outside the three floors, and surrounded the official counter. Even the guards standing guard at the gate turned their eyes to this side, watching the development of events with curiosity and confusion.

Ah Heng behaved very restrainedly. With aggrieved eyes, pursed lips, and the corners of both mouths curved downward, he looked like he was being bullied but didn't dare to fight back, and he might cry at any time. He reached out and took out a silver coin from his money bag, pinched it between the second joint of his thumb and forefinger, and defended it in a tone with a slight cry: "Lord Changliang, I didn't say that this money was not made by the Roaring City Mint. I mean, it's not enough money. It was a silver coin, but it didn't have much silver in it. ”

The audience fell silent.

Chang Liang looked at Ah Heng with stunned eyes, which was very different from the answer and scene he imagined it should be. Ah Heng's basis for the "fake money" is not forgery, but questions the silver content.

The surrounding merchants looked at each other, and saw many complex ingredients in each other's eyes. There are doubts, concerns, indifference and flickering, but more than that, they agree and have a deep understanding of Ah Heng's words just now.

It was as if a boulder had fallen from a high altitude and plunged into a deep pool. The process before touching the surface of the water is silent but very short. In particular, Chang Liang, as an acquisition official, was unable to give a reasonable explanation for Ah Heng's problem...... The merchants gathered around began to erupt. It's like a big splash of water, which quickly turns into an overwhelming wave of discussion.

"He's right, there's no silver in the coin, what's the difference between that and fake money?"

"I know this person, his name is Ah Heng, and he has been doing the business of buying linen and cotton cloth around Broken Gold City and Liuyun City. is a very honest person, what he says should not be false. ”

"I've heard about this money before. Or from the cattle clan...... Oh, it's supposed to be called the Dragons now, it's from them. It seems that the former Rock City Lord used some method to prove that the money did not contain silver without breaking the silver coins. ”

"I've heard about it, too. It seems to be water, and it is weighed. But I don't know exactly what to do. ”

Chang Liang felt that his brain was very messy, he stood in place in a daze, and he didn't know what to say for a while. His heart was full of trepidation, and he tried to argue but suddenly found that he could not find any convincing evidence.

Yes, money cannot be fake. It's the newly minted money from the Royal Mint in Roaring City. There is a red stamp, a production lot number, and a license to use and circulate the batch of currency issued by His Majesty the Lion King.

But who would have thought that there was no silver in all this money?

The discussion from the surroundings gave Ah Heng courage. Honest and even cowardly, he couldn't hold back any longer, snatched the animal skin money bag from Changliang's hand, held it high, and shouted: "I can prove that the money is fake, and I swear to the great lion god: I am not lying, I will let you know that the money is just some broken iron." ”

Chang Liang woke up from the shock, and he hurriedly stepped forward to stop: "Wait, you can't do this...... Ah Heng, you stop for me...... Stop, stop......"

Onlookers shouted one after another.

"Let him do it."

"yes, let me see where the money is."

"Stop the official and keep him out."

"The lion god is above, is there no silver in the money I received from the official bank before? This...... It's horrible. ”

Changliang was stopped outside by a dense crowd.

Someone brought Ah Heng a few basins of water, and someone brought him a balance for measuring from the counter next door. The scene was chaotic, and these things that seemed impossible to do in normal times were actually natural. You must know that this is an official office, there are guards at the door, and there are guards in the courtyard, as long as they say hello casually, they will rush in and forcibly stop them by force.

Chang Liang's mind was very confused, and he watched Ah Heng pour the money in the animal skin bag into the basin, and some water was overflowing. Immediately afterwards, Ah Heng took the satchel on his body and took out some scattered silver pieces. According to him, the weight of these silver bars was equivalent to a hundred silver coins.

Although the steps are reversed, they do not affect the results of the weighing check.

Archimedes was a great man. At least his experimental theories have allowed future generations to gain valuable experience, no longer confused, no longer deceived by others.

Chang Liang is not stupid. When he saw the silver nuggets and coins squeezing different equal amounts of water out of the basins, he already understood that the problem was much more serious than he had imagined. Pale in a panic, he turned around and slipped away from the crowd, running in the direction of the gate.

"Guards! Guard! Come on! He was so anxious that he cried out.

The hall was already full of excitement, and the angry words of the crowd completely overshadowed Chang Liang, and no one heard his shouts as he ran.

"Oh my, there is no silver in the money."

"It's over, all my goods are traded here, and the official bank gives me this kind of money every time. They...... They actually fooled us with a pile of scrap metal? ”

"Oh my God, all the money is fake, what should I do?"

Heng stood on the steps outside the counter. The position here was higher, and his eyes were over everyone's heads, and Ah Heng saw Chang Liang, who was hurrying from a distance outside with a few guards. A look of hideousness crossed his face, and he held a silver coin high above his head, and roared viciously, "What's wrong with us doing business honestly? We worked hard to go from village to village to help the government buy all kinds of goods, and in the end they came up with a bunch of this kind of waste money that no one wanted. ”