The Chrono Admiral

Chapter Six: Buying Counterfeit Currency

Lin Daxin was very nervous during his first flight, especially when the plane took off. He was so scared that he broke out in a sweat and his heart was pounding. It wasn't until the plane had been flying steadily for more than ten minutes that Lin Daxin finally calmed down.

A few hours later, Lin Daxin walked out of Kaohsiung Airport, took a taxi outside the airport, and checked into a five-star hotel that he had booked in Weihai in advance.

As soon as he entered his booked room at the hotel, Lin Daxin picked up the phone and dialed the number given to him by Mr. Wang, the owner of the antique shop.

The call was answered quickly, and a deep voice came from the other end, "Who is this? What do you want?"

Lin Daxin said into the phone, "Hello! I was introduced by Boss Wang from Weihai! I have a business deal to discuss with you! I'm in Kaohsiung right now!"

"Oh! Old Wang introduced you! I see! Where are you now? I'll come see you right away! Let's talk in person!"

Lin Daxin gave his hotel room number and then hung up the phone.

An hour later, Lin Daxin, who was lying in bed watching TV, heard a knock on the door. Lin Daxin got up and opened the door, and then a rather fat middle-aged man in a suit walked into the room.

The slightly overweight middle-aged man nodded to Lin Daxin: "Young man, your surname is Lin, right? My name is Cheng Jianhua. May I ask what kind of business you have, Brother Lin? Old Wang called me yesterday and said that you are a friend in the antique industry! Although we make fakes, our quality and reputation are well-known in the industry!"

While waiting for the auction, Lin Daxin was treated to a meal by Boss Wang. Boss Wang told him that although most of the items in his antique shop were fakes, these fakes were definitely top-quality fakes, and people without deep knowledge and research on antiques could easily be fooled.

Lin Daxin casually asked where he got these fakes.

Mr. Wang proudly said that this was provided by a friend from back then. Now his friend is doing great business in Taiwan. Not to mention these fake antiques, his friend can even make fake banknotes.

What was said in jest was taken seriously by the listener. Upon hearing that they could make counterfeit money, Lin Daxin suddenly had an idea and remembered this friend that Boss Wang had mentioned.

After the four paintings fetched high prices at auction, Lin Daxin asked Boss Wang to introduce him to his friend. Boss Wang had also profited greatly from the auction and now regarded Lin Daxin as a god of wealth. Upon hearing Lin Daxin's request, he agreed to introduce him to his friend without asking any other questions and even gave him a phone number.

This led to Lin Daxin's trip to Taiwan.

Lin Daxin looked at Cheng Jianhua and said, "Mr. Cheng, I need some counterfeit currency from before 1890! And there's a considerable quantity. I wonder if Mr. Cheng can do that?"

Upon hearing Lin Daxin's words, Cheng Jianhua glanced at him. Although he found it strange that Lin Daxin wanted counterfeit currency from before 1890—making counterfeit currency from over 100 years ago wasn't particularly technically difficult with current technology, the price wasn't high, and the profit wasn't much—he still felt obligated to give face to Lin Daxin, who was a long-time client of his. So he confidently replied, "No problem, Brother Lin, which country's counterfeit currency do you need? How many pieces?"

"I need British pounds, US dollars, French francs, Japanese yen, German marks, and Russian rubles from before 1890, and they need to be of 'high' quality, so good they're indistinguishable from the real thing! For example, if I went back to 1890, I could spend this money however I wanted without any trouble! As for the price, we can discuss it!" Lin Daxin made strict demands regarding the counterfeit currency.

"Don't worry, brother. The most important thing in our line of work is to make counterfeits indistinguishable from the real thing. If you want counterfeit currency that is currently in circulation, I can't guarantee that it will be indistinguishable from the real thing. But if you want counterfeit currency from more than 100 years ago, the quality of our products will definitely be guaranteed! I can't say for sure now, but if you really went back to 1890, with today's technology, not to mention ordinary people, even the national banks of various countries at that time would not be able to distinguish the authenticity of our products! So, brother, how many do you need?" Cheng Jianhua was very confident in the technical strength of his counterfeiting group.

Lin Daxin was very excited when he heard Cheng Jianhua say that. He was really going to use the counterfeit money to "spend" in the timeline of 1892!

Although Lin Daxin has obtained a legal identity in the modern world and possesses a large sum of money, there are many things that he simply cannot buy! For example, weapons and warships—these are not things that money can buy!

As for weapons, we might be able to buy some light weapons from abroad, but forget about warships. Besides, even if we bought modern warships back to our own timeline, no one would know how to use them!

Therefore, Lin Daxin planned to use counterfeit currency in his own timeline to buy weapons and warships from abroad, and also to acquire other items. Just in case, Lin Daxin even moved the year of the counterfeit currency forward by two years.

Moreover, Lin Daxin felt that the machines and equipment "made" in the modern era, including the four factories he had his company's purchasing agent procure, were extremely advanced for the Qing Dynasty in 1892. If Lin Daxin were British, he could find enough technicians and workers to study and understand the machines and equipment "made" from the modern era.

Unfortunately, Lin Daxin was a Qing Dynasty person. How many people in the Qing Dynasty in 1892 knew about machinery and equipment? How many technicians and workers could they have? Lin Daxin was rather pessimistic!

Therefore, Lin Daxin decided that in the timeline of 1892, he had to purchase some factories from abroad, hire some foreign technicians, and use these purchased factories and foreign technicians to train Chinese technicians and workers.

Only in this way can we utilize these Chinese technicians and workers to absorb the machinery and equipment that we 'obtained' from modern times.

If these counterfeit coins could be used in the 1892 timeline, they could be used to purchase foreign factories. Meanwhile, the four factories that Lin Daxin had his purchasing agent buy in the modern timeline would be used for factory expansion and technological upgrades in 1892.

"That's great! Brother Cheng, give me 1 million of each of those six types of counterfeit currency first! If the quality is up to standard, I'll order more in bulk!" Lin Daxin said happily.

"One million! Did I hear that right? Brother, what do you need so much for? You're not planning to take it to the bank, are you? Although the quality of our goods is very good, with the current authentication technology, these counterfeit bills won't pass inspection!" Cheng Jianhua didn't expect Lin Daxin to need such a large quantity. He thought Lin Daxin was 'getting' some counterfeit money to swindle some wealthy tycoons on the mainland, but the sheer amount surprised Cheng Jianhua.

"Don't worry, Brother Cheng, I'm not stupid! I can't take this counterfeit money to the bank! I have another use for it!" Lin Daxin was actually planning to take the money to a bank, but not a modern bank, but a bank from 1892.

"Alright! I'll take this job!" Cheng Jianhua didn't press Lin Daxin about what he was going to do with the counterfeit money.

The two quickly agreed on the price of the counterfeit currency: 1 million for each of the six types, and Lin Daxin paid Cheng Jianhua a total of 3 million RMB.

Lin Daxin took out a cash check from his bag, filled out a cash check for 1 million RMB, and handed it to Cheng Jianhua as a deposit.

After verifying the authenticity of the cash check over the phone, Cheng Jianhua told Lin Daxin that he would deliver the six counterfeit currencies in three days, and then left with the cash check issued by Lin Daxin.

Over the next three days, Lin Daxin did not waste any time. He bought a large number of science and technology books and materials in traditional Chinese characters in Kaohsiung City and transported them back to 1892, filling the two side rooms in the backyard of the two-courtyard house.

In mainland China, simplified Chinese characters are now used. So, I brought the materials and books back to 1892 because traditional Chinese characters were used in the Qing Dynasty, which made them useless. It would be better to buy some English materials and books, since there were still quite a few people in the Qing Dynasty who knew English. Now, Taiwan still uses traditional Chinese characters, so Lin Daxin took this opportunity to buy a lot of physical books and materials.

Three days later, Cheng Jianhua swaggered into Lin Daxin's room with two young men carrying two suitcases.

Cheng Jianhua asked the two young men to open their suitcases, which were filled with counterfeit currency that still smelled of ink.

"Brother Lin, what do you think of our craftsmanship? Not bad, right? Without professional equipment, these goods could easily pass for the real thing!" Cheng Jianhua said confidently.

To be honest, Lin Daxin had never seen what these six foreign currencies looked like before 1890. However, seeing Cheng Jianhua's confident demeanor, Lin Daxin pretended to pick up each of the six counterfeit coins, examined them, and then said with satisfaction, "Brother Cheng! Not bad!"

Then Lin Daxin handed Cheng Jianhua a cash check for the remaining 2 million RMB of the counterfeit currency.

After Cheng Jianhua took the cash check and verified its authenticity, he left the room with the two young men. Before leaving, he told Lin Daxin that he should definitely take care of him if he had any business in the future.

The technology required to make these six types of counterfeit currency from before 1890 is not high, and Lin Daxin paid a high price. Cheng Jianhua and his team received 3 million RMB from Lin Daxin, so they should make at least 2.5 million RMB. Cheng Jianhua doesn't care what Lin Daxin does with these counterfeit currencies. As long as Lin Daxin pays, Cheng Jianhua will do business with Lin Daxin!

After Cheng Jianhua and his men left, Lin Daxin locked the 'door' to the room from the inside, and then transported the counterfeit currency from the two suitcases back to his own courtyard house in 1892.