Demoness, where are you Fleeing to?
Chapter 822 - 681

Chapter 822: 681

Despite the urgency of creating a magical puppet body, Lv Qiluo was not in a rush.

Li Xuan methodically proceeded to the military headquarters of the Five Armies, dealing with some urgent military matters that his Second Mind could not handle. Then, he entered the palace to participate in the court discussions at the Taihe Gate.

The political matters discussed today were mostly related to the war in Xi’an and Xiangyang.

Since Li Xuan annihilated tens of thousands of Datan cavalry and captured Tuotuobuhua alive, quelling the rebellion of Prince Yi and the son of Prince Xiang had become a top priority in The Court.

At this time, the atmosphere of war enveloped both inside and outside the Capital City, and an air of solemnity filled the court.

The military headquarters of the Five Armies were urgently gathering troops towards both directions, while the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War were doing their utmost to allocate provisions, medicinal materials, and various military supplies to Henan. Couriers from the Court and local governments constantly traveled back and forth.

Even the forty thousand soldiers of Li Xuan’s Shenji Camp were transferred to Henan after the Jingying troops from the direction of Taiyuan returned to the Capital City.

Two days earlier, Yu Hongchang had issued a decree, ordering County Prince Fenyang, Li Xuan, to bear the seal of "Great General" and take overall command of the warfare in Xiangyang and Xi’an directions.

Everyone realized that a large-scale rebellion quelling battle was imminent. The moment County Prince Fenyang Li Xuan left the capital would mark the start of the Xi’an warfare.

After the court discussions concluded, Li Xuan hurried to Leng Yurou’s workshop on horseback.

When he reached the entrance of the alley named "Fenyang Alley," which belonged to his residence, his eyes lit up. He saw Jiang Hanyun riding on an Earth Dragon, coming from the opposite side.

After making brief eye contact, Jiang Hanyun’s face flushed red. With a swoosh, she turned the Earth Dragon’s head around, and both rider and mount ran away, as if made of light, in the other direction.

"Eh? Don’t go, Hanyun? Yun?"

Li Xuan promptly raised his voice and shouted, "Ever since we became engaged, Yun, you have been avoiding me for more than ten days. How long do you plan to hide? Until our wedding day? Stop! Stop! STOP! Yun, we need to have a serious talk."

But Jiang Hanyun’s mount ran even faster, swiftly reaching the mouth of the alley.

Seeing this, Li Xuan smirked, thinking Jiang Hanyun was too naive!

In terms of escape techniques, even though he was half a step behind Jiang Hanyun, who also mastered the fusion of ice and thunder and Thunder Style, it was his bad luck today that he was riding the Jade Qilin!

Could you, Jiang Hanyun, outrun Light? Even if you could outrun Light, could you surpass Time and the natural order?

While thinking these thoughts, Li Xuan smugly nudged the reins, only for the high-speed Jade Qilin to suddenly halt, screeching to an abrupt stop.

Caught off guard, Li Xuan nearly flew off the saddle.

It was this moment’s delay that allowed Jiang Hanyun to vanish without a trace.

Li Xuan couldn’t help but feel frustrated as he glared at the Jade Qilin beneath him: "You damn beast, why are you always so useless at critical moments! I’ve fed you so many North Sea ice fish for nothing."

At these words, the Jade Qilin seemed to have been incensed, as its whole body began burning with a sacred white light.

Li Xuan had no choice but to leap down from its back, then watched as the leisurely Jade Qilin swished its tail and walked into the nearby Fen Yang Prince Mansion.

However, contrary to Li Xuan’s expectations, as soon as Meng Qingfan stepped into the prince’s mansion and out of Li Xuan’s sight, she didn’t display any smugness or leisure. Instead, she seemed somewhat deflated.

As she walked into the extravagant stable that Li Xuan had built for her, which resembled a small palace, she saw her senior brother Dongfang Liang standing at the entrance with a sword in his arms.

Meng Qingfan glanced at him sideways, then, disregarding his presence, stepped into the stable without acknowledgement.

Nonetheless, Dongfang Liang had no intention of letting Meng Qingfan go. As she passed by, Dongfang Liang spoke with a cold voice, "Junior sister, have you become addicted to being a ’Jade Kylin’? The ’Time Spear’ Meng Qingfan, so willingly serving as someone’s mount?"

Meng Qingfan instantly turned around, and with a gaze as cold as ice and hinting at murderous intent, she looked at Dongfang Liang.

Her senior brother was truly adept at touching a sore spot.

Did he think she wanted this?

The Wenshan Seal made her unable to stray far from Li Xuan, nor could she resist him.

But if she were to reveal her identity directly, it would be better off dead—

Dongfang Liang looked at her with sincere eyes, "Junior sister, you’re so helpless. Even if you serve Li Xuan for ten or twenty years, he will not treat you as a woman.

The heart of the County Prince Fenyang will never have a place for you. You can’t go on like this, junior sister. If you have any pain, you can talk to me; whatever thoughts you have, I can help you with them."

Dongfang Liang felt as if a knife had stabbed his heart.

He thought nothing could be more painful than pushing the person he cherished into the arms of an enemy.

But Dongfang Liang believed it was time to let go.

His junior sister would rather live as a mount to stay by Li Xuan’s side, which showed how deeply she loved Li Xuan.

Dongfang Liang couldn’t bear to see his junior sister love so humbly.

Meng Qingfan’s eyes softened slightly, then she turned her head toward the luxurious stable.

Dongfang Liang, seeing this, felt a trace of joy. He thought, could it be that his junior sister wanted him to follow her inside for a private conversation?

But just as he was about to step inside, a pair of hooves shining like streaming light shot out from within.

"Junior sister?"

Dongfang Liang’s face turned pale with shock. He couldn’t react in time before the hooves struck him in the chest, sending him flying away like a shooting star.

Having kicked Dongfang Liang away, Meng Qingfan let out a light snort, then she walked over to her bed of ’Golden Grass’ and lay down.

This Golden Grass was a unique plant that not only looked like it was made from gold but was also as valuable as gold.

Meng Qingfan lay on top, feeling the softness, warmth, and the fragrant scent, coupled with the great elasticity, it was extremely comfortable.

However, at this moment her brows were tightly furrowed, a contemplative look in her eyes.

Although Dongfang Liang’s words were harsh, they made sense.

Even though Li Xuan had been trying to please her, his "mount," a ’mount’ was ultimately just a ’mount’.

Meng Qingfan thought that this situation must change; she could no longer keep burying her head in the sand.

She had to find a way to free herself without revealing her identity—

※※※※

At this time, across from the Fen Yang Prince Mansion, Li Xuan stood with his hands behind his back, looking at a dark machine in front of him.

It was a ’coin minting press,’ specialized for minting coins.

Coins of a silver-white color were being minted and fell into a basket placed beside the machine.

Li Xuan raised his hand and summoned one into his grasp.

The coin was basically in the style of a Copper Coin; the obverse bore the inscription ’Jingtai Tongbao,’ and the reverse had the clerical script characters for ’one fen.’

The font was clear, and there were patterns in the shapes of rice and wheat.

In the center was a square hole, with neat gear-like edges around it, feeling very light in the hand.

Seeing this, Lv Qiluo couldn’t help but ask curiously, "This coin is silver-white and feels light yet sturdy; it doesn’t seem to be made of silver. What exactly is it made of?"

"It’s made of aluminum, coins made of aluminum," Li Xuan explained as he meticulously examined the details of the coin.

What can I say? Leng Yurou lacks talent in art. But since this is a trial version, it’s forgivable.

Lv Qiluo’s eyes showed a hint of suspicion: "Aluminum? But isn’t aluminum soft? Did you mix it with other metals? Also, do you plan to use aluminum to make coins? That doesn’t seem appropriate. Aluminum powder is expensive, even worth more than gold."

"It’s mixed with about half copper."

Li Xuan nodded slightly. The alloy formula he had Leng Yurou choose was pretty much similar to the modern Chinese fen coins.

"Currently, aluminum powder indeed is expensive, but how should I put it? Lady Lv should be aware, right? Aluminum makes up at least eight percent of the earth’s composition. The reason it’s expensive is due to the refining method. The usual metallurgical methods make it difficult to refine aluminum."

In his era, before Charles Martin Hall invented the ’electrolytic refining method,’ aluminum powder was also incredibly expensive.

However, knowing the principle of electrolysis, refining it is actually quite easy.

Electrolysis requires a lot of electricity, but they have more than enough power available. If the ’Thunder Array’ in this world can power electromagnetic guns, then it is more than adequate for aluminum refining.

Lv Qiluo pondered, "So you intend to replace Copper Coins with these aluminum coins? What’s the necessity for that?"

Li Xuan heard this and smiled slightly, without answering.

He was planning something big, and this was one of the foundations for his future governance.

In the Wanli Era of the Ming Dynasty, why did Zhang Juzheng implement the Single Whip Law? It was because of the various complicated taxes in Ming, such as land tax, poll tax, corvée, and apportioned taxes.

Considering the lack of sufficient Copper Coins among the people, the first emperor of Ming allowed the people to substitute with their own goods: grains, cloth, silk, tea, timber, aloe, and even eggs were acceptable.

This gave officials an opportunity to manipulate and exploit the system, and the total tax revenue of Ming never increased significantly. There were also people who concealed land and population, leading to a declining tax revenue.

Zhang Juzheng then combined all types of taxes together, stipulating how much Silver Coin each household had to pay based on their population and landholdings, and no longer collected goods in kind. This was the ’Single Whip Law.’

It did improve Ming’s tax revenue, but also subjected the people to greater exploitation.

The first emperor of Ming was foresighted. After the implementation of the Single Whip Law, people had to exchange various goods for money from traders to pay the taxes, and the traders took this opportunity to depress the price and even inflate the price of silver, causing many people to live in destitution.

This even accelerated the downfall of Ming to some extent, because it was easier for the government to collect taxes in money, which also made raising taxes easier.

The crux of these problems lay in the term ’shortage of money.’

Ming’s copper was expensive; many people melted down Copper Coins privately. There was also hardly any silver in the country, almost entirely reliant on overseas imports.

Yet wealthy merchants and landlords liked to bury large amounts of Silver Taels and gold underground, causing a lack of currency circulation on the market.

This problem, which was prevalent in Ming, existed in Jin as well, and was even more severe.

Li Xuan thought that he must avoid repeating Zhang Juzheng’s mistake at all costs. He planned to tackle the issue at its root.

Jin lacked copper mines, but aluminum was plentiful.

And copper was valuable and had many uses. For example, in casting cannons, tens of thousands of pounds of copper was needed, and they were even lighter than iron cannons. Or in the case of bronze ware, formal ritual vessels for various occasions were made of bronze.

The Court recycling Copper Coins from the people was a profitable business indeed.

If one were to be even greedier, they could cast Copper Coins into ’one dime’ or ’two dimes’ denominations and release them back into the market, making a tenfold or twentyfold profit.

As Li Xuan pondered this, he saw a metal door beside him open, and Leng Yurou’s figure walked out.

Seeing Li Xuan, she expressed her surprise: "It’s so rare to see you here, young master. What brings you to my workshop?"

—Ever since the palace coup, Li Xuan had not stepped foot into her workshop for nearly half a month.