69novels Chapter 29 Gold Coins and the "Guardian"
Chapter 29 Gold Coins and the "Guardian"
Tiberius took a deep breath, but as he stuffed his hands into the pile of gold coins, he finally felt a little more at ease, and couldn't help but reveal a genuine, satisfied smile: "No matter what, there are still a lot of gold coins... This is a huge sum of money!"
Upon hearing Tiberius's words, Vito's face immediately showed a "suppressed laughter" expression, as if he had heard an extremely clumsy joke.
"What's wrong, Vito? These are real gold coins. Surely the Reissians can't possibly tax this stuff, can they?" Tiberius couldn't help but ask.
Vito, looking at his innocent expression, finally couldn't hold back and burst out laughing. His laughter was full of schadenfreude and the implication that "you're still too naive."
Then, he slowly walked to an open money box, reached out and grabbed a few of the unique oval-shaped gold coins, weighed them in his hand, and they made a crisp clinking sound.
"Kid," he tilted his head, speaking in a low, sinister tone like someone telling a ghost story, "looks like I'll have to tell you another 'ghost story.' A story about gold coins... You better remember it! So that you don't end up spending most of your life as a mercenary, fighting bloody battles to accumulate a fortune, only to find yourself taking a bag of gold coins to a brothel to deflower twelve girls, only to be thrown out like a stray dog by the pimps after the third one!"
"Come on, Lightning Boy, let me tell you a few more amazing facts to help clear your head!"
He picked up an oval-shaped Rhys coin and showed it to Tiberius: "First, you think this thing is valuable? Yes, it is indeed a gold coin, that's true! But, look! Compared to the gold dragons minted in Westeros, this thing is thinner, it feels light in your hand! Thickness! Look at the thickness, can you feel it? Thinner. The key is the gold content of the coin!" He stretched out his rough fingers and touched the naked woman on the Rhys coin, while taking out a gold dragon and letting Tiberius weigh it in his hand to compare the weight and texture.
"Westero may seem poorer than cities like Essos, but the gold content of our Westeros dragons is at least consistently around 80%. I've heard that the Lannisters and His Majesty Jaehaerys Targaryen's dragons have a gold content of up to 90%! But these official Lannister coins we have..." He chuckled.
"The official standard is 75%! But in reality... hehe, a conscientious mint that produces 70% pure gold coins is truly a blessing from the Lord of Light, R'hllor!"
Then, he pointed to another pile of slightly darker gold coins beside him: "Second, kid, take a good look at these 3,500 gold coins the Hein family gave us. Look at them, listen to them, kid!" He picked one up, squinted at it in the light, and said, "This quality is clearly worse! It's reddish, and it feels much lighter! I bet it's lucky if it's 60% gold! Copper, lead, tin... who knows what else they mixed in?"
“And another,” Vito showed Tiberius, picking at the edge of a gold coin with his fingernail. Tiberius could see that some coins were not perfectly round, but had a small notch; while another Reiss coin had several small holes punched in it.
"Look here, trimming the edges! And here, punching holes! These are all outdated and unethical tricks!"
The so-called "edge trimming" refers to secretly cutting a small piece of gold from the corner of a coin with scissors, which reduces the actual weight and value of the coin.
The purpose of punching holes is to prevent counterfeit gold coins with copper cores and gold skins. This is both a means of identification and a legitimate way to make money.
"And look, it's not just the trimming and punching; see these grayish, rough edges?"
Tiberius touched the edge of the gold coin and it did feel rather sharp.
"The edges are grayish; that's from a file and small scissors." Vito sneered as he tossed the gold coin into the box. "Using files and scissors to scrape off a little gold dust from the edges of the coin adds up to a considerable sum! Judging by its quality, this coin has passed through countless hands, and many people have skimmed off its value! The Hein family's gold coins are truly... generous!"
"So, kid, the value of the Hein family's gold coins is now discounted a little further!"
That wasn't all. Vito picked up a gold coin that was noticeably smaller and waved it in front of Tiberius: "Third, look closely, kid! Most of the money Hein gave us is in these small gold coins, not the standard large, oval-shaped Reiss coins! That means it has to be converted to another fifth of its value! Don't be fooled by the large pile here; it looks like a lot, but in reality… you need to be aware, its value has to be discounted again!"
"Also, let me tell you something else. If a gold coin is privately minted, its price will be a significant drop. Unfortunately, the Hein family's gold coins are clearly 'Hein Publishing'." He pointed to the gold coins in his hand. "They're not the official currency of the Ries government. The brothers won't say anything outwardly when they get them, but they'll inevitably have some doubts, and their actual value will decrease a bit."
"Finally, did you see that? They didn't just give us small gold coins; many of them were fucking semi-solid gold coins! Do you know what semi-solid is? It's a 'hollow shell' gold coin that wasn't fully hammered after casting, has air bubbles on the surface, isn't round enough at the edges, and is too light but too big!"
"Your uncle Jules was ripped off by these worthless gold coins!" Vito said, somewhat annoyed. "When that employer settled accounts, most of what he gave us were these damn dubious, low-quality semi-solid gold coins! Your uncle and I were young back then, we didn't check them carefully, and we almost ruined his newly established reputation as 'trustworthy men' because of this shortfall! To raise the promised pensions and pay for our men, a few of us old buddies had to fight gladiators for a month to settle the debt! Old Tom almost lost his life on the sand!"
"Once we get here, oh wow, another discount! And this time it's a huge discount!"
Finally, he walked to the several large, gold-inlaid mahogany boxes that Lisangzhuo had bestowed upon him, and patted the boxes: "These are from Lord Lisangzhuo. The quality is indeed excellent. They are not semi-solid gold coins, nor are they small gold coins, and there are no excessive impurities. They absolutely meet the official standard of 75%... But!" He picked up one and pointed to the edge.
"The same issues with trimming and punching holes exist!" At this point, Vito, the old mercenary, stroked his chin and speculated, "It's probably the accountants and treasury managers at the governor's mansion who did the tampering themselves!"
He shrugged helplessly, tossing the gold coin back into the box with a crisp sound. "Sigh, although we all tacitly agree, we can only grit our teeth and accept it. Are we really going to confront Lord Lisangzhuo over this little 'loss' and say, 'Sir, your men are corrupt; can you exchange them for pure gold coins?' That's just too unrealistic!"
Vito tossed the gold coins back into the box with a crisp sound, shrugged, and gave him a "this is reality" look: "So, kid, don't just look at all this glittering gold, like it's a mountain of gold and silver that you could eat for a lifetime. Let me tell you, now that we factor in all the damage and impurities, the actual 'huge sum' we'll receive will be significantly reduced!"
"Well, speaking of which, what happened to that bastard who paid his commissions with bad money?" Tiberius suddenly asked.
"Oh, you mean that bastard!" Vito's face instantly turned cold and murderous, a smile of pleasure and cruelty spreading across his lips, revealing teeth stained yellow by tobacco and alcohol.
"His entire family was slaughtered. We chopped off their heads and used them as chamber pots. We pierced his five-year-old son's mouth with a long spear, through his dermatitis. Every man in the family, young and old, was killed!"
"As for the women... ha! After the boss had his fill with the brothers, he sold them all into the lowest brothels to pay off the debts. There was no other way; we were really heavily in debt back then, and everyone was burning with resentment. Old Tom had his fill. The guy was lying on a stretcher, and the boss forced that bastard employer to watch as Old Tom deflowered his eldest daughter, who was about to get married, and his second daughter, who had just come of age. This was compensation for him almost losing his intestines in the gladiatorial arena while saving the boss."
"After all, your uncle is a 'man of his word.' He's earned that reputation, so naturally he keeps his word! The contract stipulated that the consequence of an employer's breach of contract would be 'utter ruin and the extinction of his bloodline.' We brothers have worked so hard, and you're trying to fool us with this? Do you really think we're idiots? If I say I'll kill his whole family, I mean I'll kill his whole family. Losing even one member doesn't count as keeping my word!"