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#130 - Chapter 17: The River of Money (I)

Although only a dozen or so bandit leaders' heads were hung up, everyone who made a living in the port district knew that hundreds of people had been killed that night.

Without gang management, some chaos arose, such as crossing boundaries to snatch business. Soon, the Port Authority took action, and a large number of security teams were dispatched to maintain order. Then, people with relatively high prestige in various industries were invited to the Port Authority as guests.

Beckett, representing the official side, stepped forward to integrate the various industries, establishing more than a dozen industry associations and formulating relatively strict and fair rules and regulations to manage the practitioners. Official tax officials and administrative officers were responsible for supervision, and the Port Authority's security team was responsible for patrolling and maintaining治安 (public order). This ran for four or five days, and the effect was surprisingly good. Without gang exploitation, whether it was fishermen or porters, everyone who depended on the port for a living saw their income increase.

The security team had arrested many people in the port during this period, including those who fought, cheated, swindled, or stole. Many were sailors from merchant ships, foreign mercenaries, and even more were pickpockets from the city. The mercenaries and sailors naturally had companions who would pay to redeem them, while the thieves were sent to the mines in the west of the city, where they had to mine coal for three months to atone for their sins. The order in the port area was significantly improved, and those foreigners did not dare to cause trouble. The Port Authority's tax revenue increased considerably.

During this time, Earl Adrian was not idle either, taking advantage of the King and Prime Minister's support for him to propose a series of reform plans. He carried out a rectification of his subordinate officials, and those who were truly blind to reason were directly removed, their homes were confiscated, and they were exiled.

A Ministry of Finance was established, and the previous security team was reorganized into the Tax Police Corps, nominally under the direct jurisdiction of the Minister of Finance. Twelve people formed a squad, five squads formed a company, and three companies formed a battalion. The main responsibilities were: first, to protect the important assets of the Ministry of Finance, including the mint and the treasury; second, to assist tax officials in exercising their powers and protect their personal safety; and third, to be responsible for patrolling key areas and escorting cash and other valuables.

A few days later, the shops that had been covered by curtains before had been renovated.

The original shops had been transformed into tower-like buildings, with all the windows being three-finger-wide cross-shaped windows, inlaid with thick glass. There was a door on the left and right of the ground floor, with 'Exit' and 'Entrance' written on them. Two gray-clothed soldiers guarded each side of the gate, oh! They should be called tax police now. The front wall of the building was a huge bulletin board, with a sign at the highest point reading [Ministry of Finance Exchange], and the bulletin board below showing the exchange rates between Westeros currency and various currencies.

On the same day, early in the morning, the Red Keep issued an order: from now on, all consumption in King's Landing, including the buying and selling of goods, official taxes, and customs fees, must use Westeros's legal currency. All foreign merchants must exchange legal currency at the five Ministry of Finance exchange points in the city. At the same time, His Majesty the King, in order to promote the majesty of the dynasty, re-minted new currency, with the same weight as the previous dynasty's coins.………The royal family encourages the people to use the new currency to pay taxes.………The signature is the Lord of the Iron Throne, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Ruler of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm.

This announcement was posted in all public places in King's Landing, and countless residents of the city rushed to watch. Ordinary people were watching, they all wanted to know what the new currency looked like? Merchants were actually the most sensitive group, and they were the first to rush to the exchange points.

The kingdom's newly promulgated decree is actually a disguised form of hegemonic terms. Due to the chaotic currency systems between countries, it is difficult for ordinary people and even merchants to assess the value of each other's currency. Therefore, when local merchants trade with foreign merchants, they can only barter when gold and silver are insufficient. If the goods exchanged are not easy to sell, merchants will also bear the risk of losing money out of thin air.

Now that the exchange rate has official endorsement, it is beneficial to merchants. In addition, Westeros currency exchanges for new currency without any fees.

On the third floor of an upscale tavern on Steel Street, Beckett was holding a glass of wine by the balcony, constantly looking down. Opposite was an exchange point, surrounded by many people, but very few people actually went in. Most people were watching. In the room, Liu Yuan and Adrian were sitting at a round table, chatting about some gossip from the Red Keep.

Beckett walked in and said, "It's been a whole morning, and it seems only a dozen people have gone in. We've bet a lot of money on this, but you don't seem to be worried at all."

Adrian scolded, "Sit down! What's the rush? Besides, it's already successful, what do we have to worry about?"

Beckett opened his mouth wide: "Ah! I didn't see that."

Liu Yuan explained to him: "When our new currency was minted, other metal components were added, making it more beautiful and less prone to wear and tear. Most of the gold dragons and silver stags currently on the market were minted decades ago, some even more than a hundred years ago, and have long been rusted or worn. So there are two types of currency on the market, one is the original old currency, and the other is exquisite and brand-new currency, and the legal value of the two currencies is equal. The normal reaction is to keep the exquisite new currency for storage and take the old currency for trading and circulation. Gradually, there will be fewer and fewer old currencies on the market, and gradually replaced by our money."

Before long, a team of carriages arrived, with the Hightower family's Oldtown bank symbol on them. Many people were surprised that the Oldtown bank of the Hightower family had come.

On the continent of Westeros, if you talk about who is the richest, people will think it is the Lannister family of the West. But the second richest is definitely the Hightower family. They have been operating in Oldtown for thousands of years, not only monopolizing the educational resources of the Citadel. The Oldtown Bank under its banner has used its influence to open branches in several major cities in the Seven Kingdoms.

Silov Hightower is the manager of the Oldtown Bank stationed in King's Landing. He has had good cooperative relations with the Cedi family for many years. This time, he brought currency worth 100,000 gold dragons to exchange, which is already one-third of the reserve of the Oldtown Bank's King's Landing branch.

The Hightower family's guards opened the curtains on the carriages, revealing boxes full of gold and silver coins, without even covering them, exposing them outside, causing bursts of exclamations from the surrounding onlookers.

Then a team of staff in dark blue uniforms came out of the exchange office. There was not a single pocket on their clothes. Four people in a group stepped forward to lift the money boxes and entered the exchange office, where there were also staff to receive them.