Western goods began to flow into Great Liang from the reign of Emperor Wu. There were carefully crafted little trinkets and playthings such as glazed lamps and glasses. Unfortunately, it was not at all long-lasting, they only stayed fresh and new for a few years. Because the inflowing Western artifacts, although were very refined, many of them required to run on Ziliujin. The moment they landed in Central Plains, they had indirectly fueled the rampaging Ziliujin black markets.

Emperor Wu felt that if it kept going on like this, the country would soon fall. In order to strictly control the private use of Ziliujin in the common folks, he prepared both soft and hard tactics. He had issued four decrees in one day, and thoroughly investigated the private use of Ziliujin - all of the offenders were slain upon arrest - their acts were treated the same as rebellion, so there would be no tolerance. They had to first put on a high-pressure approach to preserve the lifeline of this country.

Later, Ling Shu Institute took the lead and gathered a large number of Mechanics from the common folks, assigned them to quickly work overtime to imitate loads of Western goods with similar functions but powered instead by coal and winding mechanisms.

The hard knife had tightened the way out of Ziliujin, and the soft knife directly cut off the market of Western goods. Even if one owned Ziliujin, who was not willing to use a cheaper fuel as an alternative? In addition, the designs of these Western products were tacky, and in the eyes of the Central Plains people, they were not quite up to their taste.

The genuine Western goods were quickly replaced by imitations, and the merchants’ products were not able to sell in Central Plains.

Instead, delicately-made goods like silk were highly favored in Western countries.

Gu Yun said: "Perhaps I have thought too much."

Shen Yi was silent for a moment: "How did His Majesty react to this?"

Gu Yun’s lips curled up to reveal a bitter smile. He said: “His Majesty had absolutely no fear. He feels that as long as the Black Iron Camp is keeping guard of the Northwest, Great Liang will be invulnerable. Even I wasn't aware that I have such grand abilities, how could my head not hurt over this?"

Shen Yi asked: "His Majesty said that in front of you?"

Gu Yun smiled in pain: "Not only did he say so, he even gifted me a fox fur coat.”

Marshal Gu had the bad habit of only wearing a single layer of clothing all year round, this was well-known even among all the officers in the imperial court. It was only when met with blizzards while stationed out in the border that he would add a few more layers. The Emperor now gifted him with proper winter clothing, it would be hard not to see the intent hidden in his words.

Shen Yi fell silent.