Transmigrated as the Crown Prince

Chapter 379: Operation Hunger (3)

Liverpool is located on the west coast of England on both sides of the estuary of the Mersey River into the Irish Sea. It is one of the important ports in the UK. The water depth of Liverpool Port is about 10 meters, and the water is deep and the waves are calm. It is a natural harbor. Therefore, there are many large and small shipyards, repair yards and large docks in the port.

In a cafe near the port, two middle-aged men sitting in the corner were leisurely drinking coffee and chatting. Because Liverpool was not bombed by the Germans and was a port city, supplies were not so scarce that it was a paradise compared to London.

After the guests next to him left, one of the men in a gray suit looked around to make sure no one noticed them and whispered. "The 'Prince of Wales' is about to be completed and can be put into combat in two months at most. This is the performance data I have heard." He said and handed over a piece of paper stacked several layers from under the table.

Another middle-aged man in a black suit nodded slightly. "Not bad." He said and took out a thick envelope from his arms and handed it over from under the table. "Prices have risen recently, so I got you an extra 1,000 pounds."

Seeing a look of hesitation flash across the face of the man in the gray suit, he asked. "What's wrong? What's the problem?"

The man in the gray suit lowered his voice again. "After you occupy Britain in the future, can you get a job in the government department? It doesn't need to be too important. It just allows me to live leisurely."

The middle-aged man in black suit thought for a while and nodded. "It should be no problem. Our Highness will never mistreat those who serve the empire. I will report your request."

"Thank you." The man in the gray suit thanked him, took the envelope and put it in his arms.

The skyrocketing prices in the UK are not only due to the lack of supplies, but also due to the large amount of counterfeit banknotes flooding into the market.

Counterfeit money is not a product of modern society. As early as 700 years ago in the Yuan Dynasty, some people carved banknote printing plates on bricks for private use, becoming the ancestor of counterfeit banknotes in the East. However, counterfeit banknotes are not just a tool used by criminals to make money. In some special historical periods, they have also become a war weapon used by both sides to attack each other, secretly playing a role in the war.

In 1789, the French bourgeois revolution broke out. As an important era in the history of war, it opened the prelude to the counterfeit banknote financial war in Europe. The royalists collaborated with British spies to manufacture counterfeit currency in an attempt to overthrow the French revolutionary government. By the end of 1794, there were 70 workers in the royalist counterfeiting workshop, and it was estimated that one million levire counterfeit coins could be "produced" in a day. The actual number is much greater than this. In the autumn of 1795, after the exile army landed at Quibelo in northern France, it was immediately wiped out by General Gauss's army. Among the trophies seized by the republicans, there were counterfeit coins totaling 1 billion livres. Counterfeit French currency was produced in large quantities not only in Britain, but also in the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Italy, as well as in certain areas of France temporarily occupied by foreign armed interventionist forces and royalists. Counterfeit currency caused rapid inflation and caused serious political and economic consequences due to the loss of trust in devalued banknotes.

Counterfeit currency was used as a weapon in the secret war and later Napoleon made extensive use of it. When someone showed Napoleon the French currency made in London, he couldn't help but praise the quality of the counterfeit money and instructed it to be used to pay for the military. From 1806 Austrian and British currency was counterfeited in Paris. Dali, an engraver for the military department, was responsible for making the copper plates for the counterfeit coins. Counterfeit coins were printed at the printing house located in its Parle Boulevard, under the supervision of the Ministry of Police and the Secret Office of His Majesty the Emperor. They put the printed counterfeit money into the dust to etch it into the color used in circulation. In 1810, Napoleon ordered his national bank to mass-produce Austrian currency (Zidore bank notes) and Russian rubles. According to Napoleon's instructions, billions of counterfeit Russian rubles were counterfeited in Paris and Dresden, as well as in Warsaw. When Napoleon's army occupied the city of Moscow, the French occupying regime tried to issue a large number of counterfeit coins in Moscow within a short period of time. To this end, a distribution office has been set up near the Boleopa Lachai Cemetery on the outskirts.

In modern wars, in order to disrupt the other party's economy, one of the belligerent countries begins to counterfeit the other party's banknotes in large quantities. In this modern financial war that has seen no smoke, the most famous one is the "Andrew Pound Counterfeit Operation".

At the end of World War II in the original time and space, Germany dispatched a large fleet of aircraft to airdrop fake pounds sterling on the British Isles. The British rushed to pick them up, which resulted in traffic interruptions, factory shutdowns, and panic buying in the market, causing prices to rise sharply. In response, the British government hurriedly took emergency measures and ordered the closure of stores across the country to prevent counterfeit banknotes from flooding the market. It then blocked all international ports and airports and banned travelers from leaving the country to prevent counterfeit banknotes from flowing abroad.

Under Operation Andrew, counterfeit pounds were used to undermine and disrupt the British economy, while also solving the problem of funding sources for foreign intelligence work.

The Germans also set rules for the classification and use of counterfeit banknotes: the best quality and impeccable type, exclusively for Germany's shopping in neutral countries, and distributed on a large scale in neutral countries and allied-occupied areas, but prohibited in countries ruled by Germany Distributed to avoid causing economic chaos in the occupied territories; this type of counterfeit pounds was quickly used by the Germans to purchase goods in neutral countries such as Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, and Turkey; at the same time, this type of counterfeit banknotes was also used by German spy agencies abroad. Funding for senior espionage activities.

The second category of counterfeit banknotes is mainly distributed to Gestapo personnel stationed in occupied areas to buy intelligence and collaborators. For example, in September 1943, Mussolini was arrested and imprisoned by the Italian military government in a secret residence in the Apennine Mountains. The Germans spent 50,000 fake pounds to explore the location, and then sent a paratrooper commando to rescue Mussolini. . This second-class counterfeit banknote was also carried by a large number of agents sent by the German spy department and sneaked into the Allied-occupied areas to buy gold and real foreign exchange on the black market or exchange it for real pounds.

The third type of counterfeit banknotes, which are worse, are kept in stock and used for other purposes, and some are even used in the arms smuggling business. In this way, a large number of counterfeit British pound banknotes pass through the financial centers of Sweden, Switzerland, Portugal and other countries, and are gradually remitted without being noticed at all. Bank of England Head Office.

The middle-aged man in the black suit gave the man in the gray suit "reward" with this kind of counterfeit money.

Yannick also wanted to airdrop large amounts of counterfeit banknotes to the UK to severely damage its economy; however, in order to maintain his "just" image, he had to give up this idea. And he also has a plan. If he can occupy Britain in the future, he will pass the inflation pot to the British government and then issue new currency to reduce the harm of the rebound of these counterfeit banknotes.

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