Chapter 164: The Currency Reform Begins

Step right up and take a look! Don't miss out as you pass by!
The newest crafted goods—leather shoes, wool socks, and leather caps—are making their grand debut!
Promotion lasts for ten days only! Low prices, ten times compensation for any fakes, a rare opportunity, first come, first served!
Wearing them makes your whole body comfortable, full of vitality, and light on your feet! Personally endorsed by His Majesty the Great King! Old Fu has used them and gives them his seal of approval! Top-tier quality guaranteed!
……

On Sunday, when people woke up from their dreams, ready to enjoy a rare holiday, they were surprised to find that squares, roadsides, and even their very doorsteps were occupied by various wooden signs. These signs were covered in Overworld text, and the content of the writing uniformly pointed to three commodities:
Leather shoes, leather caps, and wool socks.

Incredible as it might seem, these products were said to have received the praise and recommendation of His Majesty the King himself!
In this day and age, anything endorsed by His Majesty the King was bound to be good!

Consequently, massive crowds drawn by reputation rushed over with supplies to the Kingdom Exchange to trade for these three products reportedly praised by the king.
The department managing the Kingdom Exchange also received direct orders from the King's Office, specially opening twenty exchange counters and pushing their operational capacity to the absolute limit.
All of this was done to handle the surging crowds rushing to snap up the goods, all driven by the golden brand of His Majesty's name.

"Dear compatriots, please don't crowd, don't panic! To exchange for the three newly launched crafted items, please come over here and trade your supplies for RMB..."

For the smooth development of paper currency, Mo Fangyuan was going all out; he personally stepped down to guide the people in exchanging for the banknotes.
Of course, compared to a professional promotional star, he appeared somewhat less than qualified.
Yet this was out of sheer necessity. According to existing data from the Block Kingdom, if a person of lower prestige were to preside over the conversion work of the paper currency, they might be mobbed to death on the spot by the angry masses, right down to having their experience orbs squeezed dry.

With Mo Fangyuan personally stepping forward, however, things were entirely different. The near-pathological personal cult and blind, trusting allegiance that people held toward him ensured that the currency rollout in the Block Kingdom would remain unaffected by any artificial human factors.
As long as Mo Fangyuan stood openly in the spotlight, no amount of public agitation would result in actual losses.

"Compatriots, do not worry!"
Mo Fangyuan spoke up. Just a single brief sentence of "do not worry" made more than half of the people's concerns regarding the RMB vanish into thin air—a true manifestation of idol charisma.

"RMB exchange will be a long-term special event. During specific promotional windows, everyone can exchange their supplies for RMB, and using RMB to make purchases will grant you a series of welfare benefits, such as priority buying and commodity discounts..."

Idol charisma was merely an auxiliary tool; if people were truly to be willing and eager to accept the RMB, it ultimately depended on the tangible benefits offered.

"Furthermore, any newly crafted items launched in the Block Kingdom can only be purchased with priority using RMB..."

Hearing this, quite a few quick-witted individuals roughly grasped the utility of the RMB and hurriedly rushed to exchange their supplies for the currency while the exchange counters were still uncrowded.

"If you compatriots do not believe me, I can solemnly state to you all in the capacity of the King of the Block Kingdom: as long as the Block Kingdom does not fall, this exchange will go on forever!"

Driven by Mo Fangyuan's words, wave after wave of convinced individuals took action.
As more and more people went to exchange for RMB, the massive crowds were swept along by those who went first, surging toward the currency exchange counters. And with that, Mo Fangyuan's plan was successfully completed.
The rest depended on how the staff of the Kingdom Exchange arranged things and how the situation fermented within society.

"Um... I'll exchange twenty wheat breads for it..."
"Alright, here is twenty RMB in face value. Please keep it safe!"

Some people possessed strong vigilance and still harbored doubts about the intangible RMB held in their hands, daring only to exchange in small amounts. Such people were plentiful, but Mo Fangyuan was not in a flurry.
Time would provide the answer Mo Fangyuan wished to see.

"Little girl, I'd like to exchange for two pairs of shoes and two pairs of socks for my children. How should I trade for them?"
An elderly, gray-haired, hunched-backed woman approached the counter.
Judging by her appearance, she was quite an elderly person, and many in the Block Kingdom recognized her as an extraordinary woman.
Her husband had died early, leaving only her and her two children to struggle for survival in this cruel world. Back then, the young her did not yield; she chose to shoulder the burdens of a family missing its core pillar with her originally fragile shoulders.
Year after year, through bitter hardship and toil, she raised her two children until they were grown. Now they had all established families and careers of their own, and the old woman had truly grown old.
Yet even so, she never forgot to love her children; it was carved into her very bones, impossible to alter.
This story circulated widely throughout the Block Kingdom, and everyone who heard it admired the tenacity of her character.

"Grandma, these few days are special promotional pricing. Shoes are ten RMB, and socks are two RMB. That comes to twenty-four RMB in total."
The cashier at the counter recognized the old grandmother and kindly informed her of the price for the items she wanted.

"Little girl, are these the ones?"
Pulling out a few purple-tinted RMB notes with a face value of twenty, featuring iron pickaxes and iron axes drawn on the surface, the old woman asked with a puzzled expression.
"Yes, but Grandma, you don't need this much... This amount is enough. Take the rest back, you can still use it in the future."

The superiority of currency manifested itself vividly at this moment. Faced with the bustling crowds of people exchanging goods, the process still proceeded in an orderly fashion. Transactions were handled smoothly, and the efficiency was vastly superior to the previous system of bartering.

"This is the superiority of currency, and it will be an irreversible trend of the future!"
Mo Fangyuan said this to Old Fu, who was standing beside him.
No one understood the formidable power contained within currency better than he did.

"Yes, Your Majesty..."
Old Fu observed the crowds continuously trading below, perceiving only that currency made transactions within the Block Kingdom much faster. As for the future trend Mo Fangyuan spoke of, he truly failed to grasp it.

Originally, Mo Fangyuan had intended to summon Lin Ye over as well. After all, apart from himself, she was the one who understood economics best in the entire Block Kingdom.
If possible, Mo Fangyuan wanted to nurture her talents, allowing her to shine brightly in the fields of finance and economics...
It was just that the problem Lin Ye was currently facing was somewhat tricky, giving even Mo Fangyuan a bit of a headache.
It was the romantic issue between her and Iron Nose...

Mo Fangyuan was unclear about what exactly had transpired in the middle. He had only witnessed Iron Nose's prolonged pursuit of Lin Ye, while Lin Ye remained completely oblivious.
Then, after returning this time, Iron Nose had actively confessed his feelings to Lin Ye...
As for what happened afterward, it went without saying.
Mo Fangyuan could only remark that people these days certainly knew how to keep things interesting!