Chapter 51: Things Are Not as They Used to Be

Liu Yu spoke with excitement, giving his answer: “The gold franc.”
Liu Da Muaiban and Lian Jincheng were shocked by this answer and stared wide-eyed. After a long while, Liu Da Muaiban grabbed his hair tightly and said, “This is truly a highly profitable business. Let’s find a place to discuss it—no need to cook.”

The gold franc Liu Yu mentioned wasn’t real gold coins but franc banknotes in circulation. At that time, the franc was still on a gold standard, with one franc equivalent to 0.2903225 grams of gold—genuine gold and silver.

As soon as he sat down, Liu Da Muaiban began discussing the gold franc banknotes without even drinking tea, sweating profusely. “I’ve handled millions, if not eighty thousand, of gold franc banknotes at the Oriental Bank of Commerce. I know exactly how difficult this is! We’re not afraid of the challenges—if we have the conditions, we’ll go for it; if not, we’ll create them.”

He continued, “It’s indeed very difficult. The paper and ink are special, printed in France itself. I’ve been in this business for years and have the most experience distinguishing genuine from fake ones.”

He then took out a gold franc banknote and placed it on the table to demonstrate the basic anti-counterfeiting features—numbers, color gradients, watermarks—all of which were among the highest standards of anti-counterfeiting for that era. “But I’m confident. It’s difficult, but the key issue is that no one else sees its potential.”

According to him, up to now, the Oriental Bank of Commerce had never accepted fake francs in the Far East, and the anti-counterfeiting measures of the franc itself were quite inferior to those of other Western currencies. “I dare say that if we print five million high-quality francs, the Oriental Bank of Commerce will accept them.”

While working at the Oriental Bank of Commerce, he hadn’t considered this idea. Even if he had, he wouldn’t have dared to do it. But now that he was outside, his perspective had broadened. “Damn it! Those Frenchmen will make more money from this than I will. Why should I bear the blame? Let’s get started right away—recruit people!”

He temporarily set aside the idea of forging the bank’s metal coins. Liu Yu had to remind him, “Let’s make multiple preparations. We need to mint brass coins, copper coins, and silver coins too, but our focus should still be on the gold francs.”

“Agreed! Agreed! Agreed!” Liu Da Muaiban agreed readily. “These copper coins for circulation in Cochinchina are indeed very profitable. To be honest with Director Liu, I’m already all set—masters to mint coins, complete machinery. Once we use the machines to produce coins, it’ll be faster than pouring water.”

This time, the French were issuing copper coins worth about 1% or 2% of a piastre, which was clearly an overvaluation. After all, it took a thousand copper coins to get one piastre. The Oriental Bank of Commerce aimed to achieve ten times the profit through this bold move.

Yet this bold move turned out to be a failure in history. The bank’s currency issuance quickly became a disaster. By the second year, in 1880, these silver and copper coins were forced into use.

But compared to these silver and copper coins, franc banknotes were a surefire profit source. After all, minting metal coins required costs such as copper and white lead, whereas printing banknotes only needed overcoming technical challenges—once the ink and paper were ready, as many could be printed as desired. Such prospects even tempted Jin Cheng, who stood up solemnly and said, “Liu Da Maiban, you can agree to let me get involved in this business first.” Liu Da Maiban cursed inwardly, “I agreed to the copper coin business!” But since he couldn’t afford to anger this local boss, he could only say, “Let’s all get rich together. For the technical aspects, we still need to rely on Jin Cheng.” “Amen!” Over there, Liu Yu also knew that the key to producing counterfeit money lay in breaking through technical barriers. In this era, without color copiers, they had to find ways to recruit talent: “Ink, paper, printing techniques… and also the serial numbers on the francs—roughly these are the key people needed.” Jin Cheng also volunteered, “I can produce concentrated sulfuric acid by tonight, and nitric acid by tomorrow. I’ll give guidance on nitrocellulose later; you can find some people to work on it then. This time, I’ll go to Hong Kong with Liu Da Maiban to buy more useful equipment. I’ll cover the cost myself.” Jin Cheng was quite skilled in technology, especially in chemistry. He thought repeating previous experiments wouldn’t take much effort: “I’ll definitely bring back the best equipment and won’t let Liu Da Maiban suffer losses.” He had seen the banknote printer producing paper money continuously. Better than Liu Yu, he knew that due to the French presence, there were at least tens of millions of French francs in all of Vietnam, and it was also a very popular currency in other parts of the Far East. But European counterfeiters hadn’t yet expanded their operations to the Far East, and local Asians often lacked the skill to replicate such currency. Once the printer started working, they could print as many francs as they wanted. Liu Yu was also indulged in the idea of a sea of francs: “No need for you to spend money. Since you’ve done so much hard work to produce sulfuric acid, how about this? Go to my father-in-law and get four thousand francs. Buy whatever experimental equipment you want—don’t worry about the price.” Liu Da Maiban also smiled and said, “I have a complete set of machines for making copper coins, along with some experts in replicating copper and silver coins. I gathered them after being fired from my company. I’ll send them all to Shanxi.” As long as they had the machines, they could use them to make copper coins as well as other military supplies. Liu Yu was still concerned about the technical challenges: “Will they only know how to replicate metal coins? Have they never tried printing paper money? Hire more people; my apprentices can also go and help.” The three villains became more and more enthusiastic as they discussed it. Everyone realized that as long as they overcame the technical and manufacturing hurdles, money would flow in endlessly. Liu Da Maiban already spoke up, “I’ll cover the initial costs.” Jin Cheng wasn’t polite either: “I’ll be responsible for the technology. I can give some guidance on the experiments, which will help those kids make rapid progress.”

The most crucial factor was Liu Yu: “Don’t worry! I may not have much else, but first, I have land; second, I have soldiers. I’ll set up the printing factory in the old camp and assign a platoon of soldiers to guard it—no one can get in.” Banknotes weren’t as heavy as copper or silver coins; a shipload of fake francs would be enough for them to live lavishly for a lifetime. But for now, everything was still in the planning stage. Liu Yu added, “By the way, I’ll contribute another three thousand francs as initial expenses.” With the fake currency factory located under Liu Yu’s control, it was the safest option. At present, Liu Yu held absolute authority in Shanxi Province—neither the French nor the Vietnamese dared to provoke him. Printing fake money here was the safest approach. Once everything was agreed upon, everyone divided the tasks and threw themselves into this highly profitable business. “Six thousand francs? Why such a large expense at once?” Jiang Ningxue said to Liu Yu, holding the account book. “We should be more cautious with spending.” “It’s just the initial costs,” Liu Yu replied. “It’s a small amount.” Jiang Ningxue wasn’t aware of how much such a project would cost; she merely said, “We’ll have more expenses in the future.” Liu Yu closed his eyes. “How much will it cost to expand the army?” The battle at the Red River outpost revealed the severe shortage of troops in the Xi Liu Camp. Controlling the entire province of Shanxi with just two infantry companies was indeed stretching resources too far. Although various remedies had been tried, such as using the Hua Jian Sect to absorb Catholic believers and training regime personnel for future use, expanding the army was urgent. Initially, Sima Tai and the others planned to expand the Xi Liu Camp into a larger unit with four infantry companies. But Liu Yu felt that expanding from two to four companies would be too drastic, leading to a shortage of officers and affecting the existing training. Therefore, he decided to keep the original two infantry companies unchanged and instead establish direct units under the Xi Liu Camp. According to his budget, once Liu Suiyun’s infantry platoon returned to full strength, new units would be formed. Under the Xi Liu Camp, there would be five platoons: a medical platoon, an artillery platoon, an engineering platoon, a logistics platoon, and a communications platoon. All these units would be smaller than the original infantry platoons. Platoon leaders and squad leaders would be promoted from the veterans of the Xi Liu Camp, with one or two more veterans added to each squad as core members. Prisoners from the Huang Qi Army and Li Yangcai’s forces would also be recruited and trained quickly to boost combat effectiveness. Any shortages in these units would be filled by prisoners as well. The medical platoon was the most urgent to establish. In the battle at the Red River outpost, over twenty people were injured, but the troops could only use combat soldiers to care for them—sometimes two combat soldiers were needed for one injured person. Fortunately, Luo Yanqiu came to assist. Now, Liu Yu had hired a Western doctor and three traditional Chinese medicine doctors, and trained several medical soldiers. Each platoon also had two stretcher teams. Based on Liu Yu’s estimates and experience from the Red River outpost battle, as long as the number of combat casualties didn’t exceed fifty, the rescue mission could be completed smoothly. The artillery platoon was the focus of Liu Yu’s expansion efforts—it was the only direct platoon that reached the full strength of an infantry platoon. It included some experienced gunners. Although their artillery was weak, Liu Yu placed great hopes on it.

The engineer platoon and the logistics platoon are both relatively weak units. However, with these two platoons handling transportation and fortification tasks, the combat troops can be freed up. They can be used for defense as well as providing cover on the flanks. If a full-scale battle is decided upon, they too will be sent in to fight to the end.

The communications platoon is also crucial. During the battle at the Red River outpost, communication failures nearly occurred. After reflecting on this, it was decided to establish a communications platoon. However, due to a shortage of communication equipment, Liu Yu considered purchasing some from Hong Kong.

Yet the expenses for these five direct subordinate platoons are substantial. Jiang Ningxue kept muttering, “My father has calculated it. Although there’s a slight surplus now, once the Left Camp returns, at least 700 taels of silver will be needed each month to cover expenses.”

Liu Yu responded, and she continued, “Moreover, our new unit also requires that amount each month. We currently have 36,000 taels of silver, which will be exhausted in two years.”

Liu Yu reminded her, “You’ve underestimated the startup costs. The five direct subordinate platoons will require at least 1,500 taels as capital.”

Jiang Ningxue brought up Lian Jincheng again, “I know Lian Jincheng is capable, but he’s too careless. Ah Yu, just look—how much time has he wasted on us? Now, as soon as Jieken provided a sniper scope, he immediately came up with sulfuric acid. When it comes to doing business with Liu the merchant, what he said would take months was completed in just one and a half days.”

Liu Yu understood. Jiang Ningxue was ostensibly talking about money, but she was actually concerned about him. He also felt increasingly unfamiliar with Lian Jincheng, yet he couldn’t do without him—this was truly a dilemma.

But then he thought of the francs produced by the printing machine: “What’s there to worry about? If the francs we print this time succeed, I can decide how many to print.”

Jiang Ningxue, on the other hand, was worried about Liu Yu’s finances: “Who knows if this will work? I thought Lian Jincheng was fine the first time I met him, but the more I see him, the less I trust him. He’s unreliable!”

She also thought the idea of printing francs was good, but investing 6,000 francs upfront meant even greater expenses later, possibly draining the entire resources of the Xiliu Camp. Besides, according to what Liu Yu had explained to her, counterfeiting francs was a project that would only bear fruit in the long term—there was no hope of breaking even in one or two years. “Also, Ah Yu, we produced quite a lot in Haiyang last time, but time is still long. Continuing to spend like this while only counting on those francs that might appear someday isn’t a solution.”

She knew the current surplus depended on two things: the Left Camp led by Wu Fengdian hadn’t returned yet, and Liu Yu’s efforts to expand the army hadn’t materialized. “From what you say, war with the French is inevitable sooner or later. We need to save some funds for that time.”

“Mm,” Liu Yu was also anxious about this. “I estimate it will be in four years. By then, our Xiliu Camp needs to expand into a camp with four regiments. It’s unclear whether we’ll be able to print francs by then.”

Forging francs definitely belongs to the highest level of high technology, and the technical capabilities of Liuliuying along with Liu the merchant are still far too weak. Even if given ten years instead of four, Liu Yu isn’t entirely confident.

But he had no choice but to take this risk. He confessed to Jiang Ningxue, “I estimate that before going to war with the French, we need to prepare at least 50,000 taels of silver for military use, so I’ll have a solid foundation for the war.”

Although 50,000 taels of silver might not seem like much, actual warfare would consume it like water. “I really hope Liu the merchant and the others can manage to raise it; that way, we’ll be in a much better position.”

Apart from the matter involving Luo Yanqiu, he confessed everything to Jiang Ningxue. “Time really is of the essence!”

Four infantry companies and several direct platoons would need to be organized by at least 1882, and by 1883, the Sino-French War would already have broken out—too late.

Yet the resources under Liu Yu’s control were always insufficient.

This time, sulfuric acid was finally produced, followed by nitric acid and nitrocellulose. But as Liu Yu had predicted, the production volume couldn’t keep up at all.

The method taught by Jin Cheng was indeed for small-scale laboratory production and was completely unsuitable for large-scale industrial use. Liu Yu was very satisfied with the effectiveness of nitrocellulose, but production was hindered by sulfuric acid.

The title of “the mother of industry” for sulfuric acid wasn’t just a figure of speech. Right now, not to mention production, even the various chemical experiments conducted by apprentices required sulfuric acid, which consumed almost all of it. Moreover, nitrocellulose itself needed extensive testing to obtain reliable data. If nitroglycerin and other products were considered as well, Liu Yu doubted he could choose just one among several essential military products.

Liu Yu felt as if he were playing StarCraft, desperately trying to accumulate gas mines to build an army, but just a few technological upgrades took up most of the gas mines, leaving him struggling to produce even a single tank.

He already realized that producing nitrocellulose explosives this year was already a stroke of luck. Whatever could be produced would be enough to assess its combat performance. Next year, small-scale trials could be conducted, and the following year, full efforts could be devoted to producing explosives, so that by the time of the Sino-French War, he might have enough for a few major battles.

However, sulfuric acid was needed not only for nitrocellulose and various chemical experiments. According to Liu Yu’s estimates, no matter how high the technology level rose, overcoming the challenge of sulfuric acid production was a must first.

Accumulate. That was the only word he could use to describe his situation—everything had to be accumulated.

He felt that with just four infantry companies and five direct platoons, it was impossible to confront the established French empire, not even with the addition of all the Black Flag Army troops. It was like playing StarCraft—spending the first five minutes hiding in the bathroom before starting to develop.

The French had three companies in Tonkin, one in Annam, and in Cochinchina, they had 3,000 French troops along with numerous colonial forces ready to reinforce immediately. These were just the existing forces. Once the war escalated, the French could easily deploy tens of thousands of troops in Tonkin, not to mention the colonial forces.

But now, Liu Yu didn’t even know where the equipment for four infantry companies was. He couldn’t revert to the old method of using fully loaded rifles, and even with the issued revolvers, he couldn’t arm a force of around a thousand men, let alone equip the entire Black Flag Army. At the thought of this, he couldn’t help but sigh slightly. He was full of confidence in the future, but there were indeed too many difficulties ahead that he had to overcome with his own hands. “Ayu! Don’t overwork yourself!” Jiang Ningxue rubbed Liu Yu’s shoulders. “We’re doing well now; don’t exhaust yourself too much.” Liu Yu lay gently in Jiang Ningxue’s arms, as if floating on clouds. “Ningxue, I feel like I’m just one step away from my goal, so I must keep striving.” Yes, since he had already traveled to this time and place, what obstacles could possibly stop him? He was willing to share his true thoughts with Jiang Ningxue: “I think I want to achieve something great. When we were in Haiyang, things were so difficult, but we still made it through.” Now they already had hundreds of rifles, three hundred battle-hardened soldiers, their own territory, and the Black Flag Army as their backing. Even with countless obstacles ahead, Liu Yu felt he could overcome them. Jiang Ningxue smiled softly; her laughter was melodious, like silver bells. “Ayu, if I say I’ll save up a fortune for you, would you believe it?” Liu Yu nodded. “I believe you.” He truly did. He remembered many years ago, when the father of this body had just died and no one took care of him. It was Jiang Ningxue who took his hand and said, “Ayu, let’s go home.” She had already prepared enough food for Liu Yu—many sock pockets. Every day when cooking, she would take a handful of rice from them and gradually accumulate it, resulting in many sock pockets full of food under the bed. That memory quietly returned to Liu Yu’s mind. He thought that Jiang Ningxue must also be secretly saving money like she did back then—a savings pot that would grow on its own, gradually increasing the happiness of the two of them. He opened his eyes and smiled at Jiang Ningxue, his smile as pure as melting first snow. “Ningxue…” He stood up, found a pen and paper on the table, picked up the pen, and said, “Ningxue, this is for you.” Jiang Ningxue stretched her graceful neck to take a look. She turned the paper handed to her by Liu Yu and saw three sincere words. “I’m sorry…”