Homo Sapiens

Before they left the temporary hospital, the security guard at the door reminded them:

”The test reports you’re holding can be used throughout Hongsawaddy, but they’re only valid for one year. When they expire, remember to go to Qingye Hospital to get re-tested. The fee is 100 Jin.”

”100 Jin? The new currency has already been issued?” Fang Xinwu asked curiously.

The guard nodded. ”You can already exchange it at any bank in Mandalay, but if you want to exchange it for Gold, you have to go to Qingye Bank.”

”Thanks.”

Fang Xinwu quickly took his two men to the parking lot to get his SUV.

He went to a bank in downtown Mandalay and found a lot of people waiting in line. Fang Xinwu also had a bank account and savings in Hongsawaddy.

Now that Hongsawaddy was exclusively using the Jin, and since the Jin was pegged to Gold, he naturally wanted to exchange the Myanmar Kyat he had on hand for Jin.

”Hey, isn’t that Brother Fang? You here to exchange for the new currency too?”

A voice sounded from behind him. Fang Xinwu turned and saw it was Zhang Dasheng, whom he had met before at Old Ma’s Sichuan Cuisine Restaurant.

He smiled and replied, ”The new currency can be exchanged for Gold. I don’t want to miss out.”

But Zhang Dasheng shook his head. ”You can indeed exchange it for Gold, but you need to make an appointment with Qingye Bank in advance. They only accept exchanges between 100 grams and 10,000 grams at a time. Anything over 10,000 grams requires an application to Hongsawaddy’s Financial Regulatory Authority. Each person can only exchange a maximum of 120,000 grams of Gold per year.”

’I see. It seems this is to restrict a large-scale outflow of Gold.’

Zhang Dasheng added, ”And that’s not all. The Jin isn’t accepted in currency swaps, and Hongsawaddy’s international trade is conducted exclusively in Jin. However, I’ve heard that corporations can use a fast-track channel to get special large-volume exchanges.”

”Are there any restrictions on taking Gold out of the country?” Fang Xinwu asked.

Zhang Dasheng shook his head. ”No, there aren’t. Qingye Bank has minted a large batch of 100-gram gold coins and stocked them in the banks of various port cities. If you want to take Gold out of the country, they’re even willing to provide a security escort to the border. A friend of mine just went back to his home country yesterday with 10 kilograms of Gold.”

”Sounds like they have a lot of Gold in reserve!”

”At least a hundred tons or so,” Zhang Dasheng said with a smile.

After exchanging all the Myanmar Kyat in his account and on his person into Jin, Fang Xinwu had a total of 830,000 Jin in his account.

He didn’t immediately go to exchange it for Gold. After all, Zhang Dasheng had just said that exchanges required an application and an appointment. Besides, he could also make the exchange at the banks in the port cities, and carrying a large amount of Gold around was both inconvenient and unsafe.

His subordinate, Mao Shuihe, held up a hundred-Jin bill, examining it. He also had a thick stack of smaller bills: fifties, twenties, tens, and the like.

The Jin currently had banknotes in eight denominations: 0.1, 0.5, 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100.

Fang Xinwu also took a look at the hundred-Jin bill in his hand. The note surprisingly had a plastic-like texture. On the front was a star chart of the solar system and the number 100, while the back featured a complex double helix DNA pattern.

The other bills featured Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, Venus, Mercury, Earth, and the Moon on their fronts. The backs, however, were all a uniform double helix DNA sequence pattern, just in different colors.

Fang Xinwu noticed that many of the locals, after exchanging for the new currency, weren’t in a hurry to trade it for Gold.

This was because Hongsawaddy had already announced a strict ban on the use of other foreign currencies and the old Myanmar Kyat within its borders.

Major corporations, including Qingye Group, Hongsawaddy Development Group, and Hongsawaddy Mining Group, had all required their subsidiary businesses to stop accepting foreign currencies and the old Myanmar Kyat.

In other words, it would be extremely difficult to use foreign currency to get your hands on Jin.

In reality, the Hongsawaddy Branch’s covert push for a limited gold standard was a move born of necessity. For one, Hongsawaddy’s currency lacked international purchasing power. It also didn’t have enough industrial or mineral backing to acquire sufficient foreign exchange reserves.

As for the money they had seized, it was only enough to last for the next two or three years.

Furthermore, conducting trade in US Dollars would mean being extorted and obstructed by America, not to mention having to guard against being fleeced. The relationship between America and Hongsawaddy was already extremely poor—they had even been forced to consider moving their capital. Using America’s currency and its international settlement system was simply too risky.

Therefore, the Hongsawaddy Branch decided to go all in, forcefully implementing a limited gold standard. In any case, they could acquire dozens of tons of Gold annually, which was enough to keep the Jin stable in the short term.

In fact, by now, various countries were already aware that Hongsawaddy was implementing a gold standard.

Even America was dismissive of the move. With only one or two hundred tons of Gold reserves, the most Hongsawaddy could do was play in its own little sandbox.

However, no countries or companies were refusing to trade with Hongsawaddy. No one was willing to turn down such a hard currency. After all, Gold was always better than US Dollars churned out by a money printer working overtime.

As long as Hongsawaddy didn’t prohibit the exchange of Jin for Gold, many companies and countries were still willing to accept it, even with the exchange restrictions.

This was especially true for Huaguo. Dongfeng Group signed a contract with Hongsawaddy Mining Group for 20,000 trucks, a truck production line, and a tractor production line, with a total value of 8.6 billion Jin.

In response, Qingye Bank offered to open a special fast-track channel for Dongfeng Group, using a dedicated aircraft to transport the Gold to a designated airport in Huaguo.

Clearly, the allure of Gold was incredibly powerful.

As for foreign purchases of Hongsawaddy’s materials and products, only Jin or direct barter were accepted. Hongsawaddy expressed a complete lack of interest in the fiat currencies of other nations.

Faced with this situation, Huaguo felt somewhat helpless.

They actually wanted to bring the Gold straight back, but if they did, they might not have enough Jin for future transactions with Hongsawaddy’s companies and would have to resort to bartering.

With no other choice, the initial payment of 2.5 billion Jin from Dongfeng Group’s deal was accepted by the Bank of China, which even established a special Jin settlement office to manage the Jin coming from Hongsawaddy.

Fortunately, since the Jin was pegged to Gold, its exchange rate was very easy to calculate. It was based directly on the international price of Gold, which could then be converted to any country’s currency.

In other words, the indirect exchange rate between the Jin and the Huaguo Yuan was about 500 to 346.

The indirect exchange rate between the Jin and the US Dollar was about 500 to 50.

Qingye Bank had issued a total of 50 billion Jin, equivalent to 100 tons of Gold, for the initial replacement of the Myanmar Kyat and for foreign trade.

But in reality, Qingye Bank still had over one hundred and seventy tons of Gold in its reserves that remained untouched.

After deciding to push for the gold standard, the Hongsawaddy Branch had already established numerous golden seaweed farms along the southern coast.

Around March of this year, these seaweed farms would gradually begin production, yielding approximately 3 to 5 tons of Gold each month.

Moreover, the golden seaweed could also be used as a raw material for methane fermentation plants, providing Hongsawaddy with a large supply of methane gas.

To avoid exposing the relationship between Qingye Group and the Homo Sapiens Company, this collaborative project was carried out under the name of the Hongsawaddy Development Group. They partnered with Jade Energy, a subsidiary of the Homo Sapiens Company, to form a joint venture: the Hongsawaddy Jade Energy Branch.

Many outsiders were betting on how long Hongsawaddy’s gold standard could last.

But the executives of the Hongsawaddy Branch knew very well that with a guaranteed minimum monthly issuance of 2 billion Jin, Hongsawaddy’s gold standard would be extremely stable.

Besides, the Jin wasn’t on a full gold standard, but a limited one.

As long as Hongsawaddy could develop enough competitive industries in the future, the value of the Jin would be difficult to shake.

Just as Fang Xinwu was examining the new bill, someone else in the neighboring country of Siam also had their hands on a freshly-minted Jin banknote. Victor had quietly appeared in Bangkok, showing up once again at an estate belonging to the Xu Clan.

Following the sudden deaths of the Xu Brothers, more than half a year of brutal infighting had ensued. During that time, even the father of the Xu Brothers had died suddenly of a brain hemorrhage. In the end, it was Xu Xuexi of the clan’s third branch who had the last laugh.

Unfortunately, after this brutal internal struggle, the Xu Clan was also greatly weakened, and many of its non-core businesses had been carved up by other families.

Now, Xu Xuexi was much more eager and cooperative regarding the collaboration Victor had offered.

”Mr. Victor, please rest assured, Meisha Pharmaceutical is back to normal operations. I’ll arrange for the production of the ’stamps’ as soon as possible.”

Victor, chomping on a cigar, waved his hand dismissively. ”There’s no rush on the ’stamps.’ Things are a little troublesome in the Golden Triangle and Old Street right now. I need you to do something else for me.”

”What is it that you need me to do, Victor?” Xu Xuexi didn’t agree immediately.

”Something very simple. This.” Victor pulled a stack of banknotes from his briefcase.

Xu Xuexi took one look. ”Isn’t this the Jin?”

”This is Gold. Don’t you want to get rich, Mr. Xu?” Victor asked with a smile.

Xu Xuexi picked up a hundred-Jin bill. The familiar plastic texture was similar to Siam’s hundred-baht note. He then asked, somewhat uncertainly, ”Counterfeiting?”

”No! No! We’re just helping them increase circulation a little. As for the Gold we exchange, how about a 70-30 split?”

”This...”

”Don’t worry, my friend. This is Siam. They have no jurisdiction here.”

The devilish temptation made Xu Xuexi quickly abandon his resistance. ”I can cooperate, but I want a 50-50 split.”

But Victor waved his hand. ”My friend, you don’t have many friends in Hongsawaddy. If you can bring in 10 influential partners, then I’ll give you 50-50.”

Hearing this, Xu Xuexi’s brow furrowed. The Xu Clan naturally had friends in Hongsawaddy, but they were only two or three minor factions.

Victor shrugged. ”It seems your friends aren’t numerous enough. In that case, just focus on running the printing press!”

”Hmph... Fine. How much for the first batch?” Xu Xuexi conceded.

”Five billion. That’s a relatively safe number.”

Xu Xuexi was a man of action. He nodded at once. ”I’ll immediately arrange for people to study and replicate it.”