The Battlefield Without Gunpowder Smoke

The Great Zhou Royal Stock Exchange.

Located in the heart of the South City Crossroads, this massive building covering tens of thousands of square meters was already packed tight before the first rays of morning sun could pierce the dawn mist.

If anyone were to stand at the three-zhang-tall white marble gates of the exchange and look down, they would surely gasp. The usually aloof dignitaries who rode in eight-bearer palanquins without even parting their curtains, the patriarchs of noble families, the founding aristocrats, and the vastly wealthy merchants had all lost their dignity at this moment.

Ouch! Stop pushing! I am the Attendant of the Ministry of Revenue!!

To hell with your Ministry of Revenue! I am from the Lingnan Earl Estate! If you poke my waist with that broken tablet of yours one more time, I will chop you in half right now!

Move it, you people in front! My shoes! Stop pushing, my shoes!

Tens of thousands of heads bobbed in the massive plaza and trading hall. The stench of sweat, the scent of perfume sachets, and the heavy panting of the crowd mixed together, forcibly turning this late autumn morning into the sweltering heat of midsummer.

In the VIP box on the second floor right in the center of the hall, the current Vice Grand Secretary and leader of the aristocratic civil officials, Zhang Wuji, sat upright in a grand armchair. Holding a cup of premium West Lake Longjing tea, he gently skimmed the tea foam. However, his eyes revealed a sinister coldness that completely contradicted his elegant demeanor.

Elder, our people below are in position. The Right Vice Minister of Revenue, who was also a disciple of the Zhang family, lowered his voice and flattered Zhang Wuji in his ear. The full fifteen million taels of silver gathered from our thirteen underground banks, along with the thirteen million taels in bank notes withdrawn from major merchant guilds, have all been distributed into the hands of two hundred stewards and shopkeepers below. The moment the gong strikes, we can swallow up all the circulating stocks on the market in one bite!

Zhang Wuji sneered, his withered lips curling into a mocking smile.

Your Majesty, oh Your Majesty, you are still too young after all. Zhang Wuji slammed his teacup heavily onto the table, producing a dull thud. He thinks that by creating this stock nonsense and tossing out the profits of the six great royal factories like scraps of meat, he can exchange them for all the silver in the world? Absurd! This world, ultimately, belongs to us noble families. Since he dares to sell the goose that lays the golden eggs, this old man will teach him today what it means to hit a dog with a meat bun—gone forever!

In Zhang Wuji's eyes, the six factories established by the Emperor were definitely profitable. However, the imperial court was desperately short of money, so the Emperor surely wanted to cash out by selling shares. As long as the noble families used their massive financial power to monopolize and buy out all these shares, the future control of these six great factories would nominally belong to the royal family, but in reality, the lion's share of the annual profits would flow straight into the pockets of the aristocrats!

Just as Zhang Wuji was dreaming his grand dreams, a deafening clang of a copper gong suddenly rang out in the hall.

The exchange was officially open for trading!

The hall, which had been as noisy as a vegetable market, fell into a deathly silence in an instant. Tens of thousands of bloodshot eyes all stared in unison at the enormous blackboard at the front of the hall.

Written on it in white chalk were the details of the stocks listed for sale today.

The Royal Family, the Directorate of Ceremonial, and a group of capital military nobles were collectively releasing a fifteen percent stake in the six great factories, totaling nine hundred thousand shares!

And on the other side of the blackboard was written the jaw-dropping initial issue price:

Royal Steel Factory: Thirty taels of silver per share!

Royal Cement Factory: Forty taels of silver per share!

Royal Glass Factory: Seventy-five taels of silver per share!

Royal Coal Factory: Twenty-five taels of silver per share!

Royal Iron Mine: Twenty taels of silver per share!

Looking at these exorbitant prices, the air in the hall seemed to freeze.

This... this expensive? A wealthy silk merchant from Jiangnan swallowed hard, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead as he muttered. Seventy-five taels for one share of the glass factory? To buy a flimsy piece of paper? This is madness! Is this glass factory made of gold?

Yeah! This is too greedy! A sixth-rank capital official nearby echoed, cursing in a low voice. Has His Majesty gone mad for money? Nine hundred thousand shares, at this average price, that is tens of millions of taels of silver! Whoever buys this is a total sucker!

For a moment, the entire hall was abuzz with discussion. Although everyone had come with massive amounts of silver, seeing these outrageous base prices caused the wealthy merchants and lower-to-middle-ranking officials, who had originally been rubbing their hands in anticipation, to all hesitate.

This was real gold and silver! If these factories did not make any money, or if they took a loss, buying these pieces of paper to wipe one's backside would be too rough!

Seeing this scene from the VIP box on the second floor, the smile on Zhang Wuji's lips grew wider.

Do you see? This is human nature. Zhang Wuji stroked his beard smugly. His Majesty set the prices so high that he scared everyone off. Perfect. While they are watching from the sidelines, we will slowly accumulate shares, suppress the price first, and then...

Before Zhang Wuji could finish the word then, the situation in the hall suddenly underwent a bizarre and dramatic change that was completely out of his control!

In a few of the most densely packed corners of the crowd, a dozen men wearing ordinary silk robes who looked like wealthy out-of-town merchants, undercover Jinyiwei agents disguised as shills, suddenly strained their throats and roared out in an incredibly exaggerated and shocked tone.

My heavens! Have you seen the red bulletin board over there?! We are going to be rich! Filthy rich!

This shout, full of vigor, was like a sudden clap of thunder on a clear day, instantly drawing everyone's attention.

What are you yelling about! What red bulletin board?! someone nearby asked in annoyance.

The fat merchant, played by a Jinyiwei agent, was sweating profusely. His eyes were wide as saucers as he frantically waved an internal reference document from the Directorate of Ceremonial that he had accidentally slipped out from the exchange's side door. His voice trembled as if he were having a seizure. This... this is the internal account ledger of the exchange! I just spent a thousand taels of silver to buy this information from a little eunuch! Do you know how much net profit these six great royal factories have made in just two short months?!

How much? the crowd, infected by his crazed expression, unconsciously quickened their breathing.

The Royal Steel Factory, net profit for these two months—seven hundred thousand taels!

Every time the fat merchant read out a number, it was like dropping a bomb into the crowd.

The Royal Cement Factory, net profit—one million taels!

Boom! A gasp of disbelief erupted from the crowd. One million taels in two months? Even robbery was not this fast!

The Royal Glass Factory, net profit—one and a half million taels!!

The Royal Coal Factory, net profit two hundred thousand taels! The Lime Factory two hundred thirty thousand taels! The Iron Mine one hundred sixty thousand taels!

As this string of numbers was smashed into the crowd, the entire tens of thousands of square meters of the hall fell into a bizarre, deathly silence.

Following the deathly silence was the sound of frantic calculations.

"The glass factory made 1.5 million taels in two months... that is 9 million taels a year! If they expand their scale, they will definitely make even more." A Hui merchant, highly skilled with the abacus, stared blankly ahead, his fingers frantically tapping in the empty air. "How many shares are there in total? Based on this profit dividend... with a base price of seventy-five taels per share, in less than three years, no! In less than two years, the dividends alone will cover the initial cost! The rest is pure, unadulterated profit!"

"This is madness! A business with a 9 million tael annual profit, and a share only sells for seventy-five taels? This is not buying stocks, this is picking up gold ingots right off the ground!"

But some still maintained their last shred of rationality, staring dead at the fat merchant. "Are we supposed to just take your word for it? What if you are a scammer! No one is backing these accounts, who would dare believe it!"

Just then, in front of the carved railing on the second floor of the hall, a eunuch wearing a bright red python robe and holding a horsetail whisk slowly appeared, surrounded by a group of sword-bearing guards.

It was none other than the Director of Ceremonies and the Chief Seal-holder of the Stock Exchange, specially dispatched by Wang Hao to hold the fort—Hai Dafu.

Hai Dafu cleared his throat, and his sharp, highly penetrating voice echoed throughout the hall. "I heard what someone was yelling about the accounts down there just now. Hmph, I do not know where you got your internal information, but I will give you the absolute truth today!"

Hai Dafu flicked his whisk and said proudly, "The numbers that man just read are absolutely correct! That is the account book His Majesty personally reviewed last night! The silver of the Great Zhou Royal Bank is piled up right there. If you do not believe it, you can turn left out the door and go home to nurse your children. But His Majesty has opened this path to wealth; whether you are willing to get on board or not depends on your own fate!"

Official endorsement!

The Director Eunuch had personally admitted it!

Boom!

If everyone was just testing the waters a moment ago, then right now, this hall of tens of thousands of square meters instantly turned into a crazy, rationality-devouring asura arena.

Rationality?

In the face of 1.5 million taels of pure profit in two months, rationality did not mean a damn thing!

In the crowd, the fat merchant, who was actually an Embroidered Uniform Guard in disguise, was the first to act. With bloodshot eyes, he rushed toward the trading desk like a bull in heat, fiercely slamming a thick stack of Royal Bank banknotes onto the table.

"I am buying! The Royal Glass Factory! Seventy-five taels, right? Give me ten thousand shares! Whoever dares to snatch them from me, I will kill their whole family!"

"Kid, I recognize you. Kill me if you have the guts. I bid eighty taels per share!"

This roar completely ignited the powder keg named greed in the hearts of everyone present.