artificially inflating the copper price

Xiaobai Village. Zhan Xiaobai remained in the administrative courtyard to control the overall situation, while the others were dispatched to carry out tasks. A Fei was responsible for gathering intelligence in Tiger Leopard Village, Jian Ba manipulated the market, Chun Qiu Young Hero led the maintenance of village security and the safety of nearby areas, and Qiu Shui was preparing the grain collection and military deployment for two days later. As for Li A San, he did not understand the tactics between players, and Zhan Xiaobai told him not to overthink it but to focus on making medicine with peace of mind.

One hour later, A Fei rushed back panting and said, "Big Brother, I have dispatched all the spies that can be sent out. The security measures in Tiger Leopard Village are too tight, and I have not heard any valuable intelligence."

"Do you know how high-level their blacksmith shop is?"

"No, outsiders cannot get close. Those who can approach their blacksmith shop are all Black Tiger's confidants. I originally thought of bribing one of them, but I was afraid of alerting the snake and causing Black Tiger to raise his vigilance, so I did not act. Moreover, they have already begun selling weapons externally. The prices are a bit expensive—a +2 iron knife costs fifty to sixty copper coins. Ordinary players cannot afford so much money, and only high-grade players might possibly buy them."

"Um."

Zhan Xiaobai pondered for a moment and said, "A Fei, did you deploy player spies in Tiger Leopard Village before?"

A Fei smiled. "Of course. Such a small matter, could it wait for Big Brother to issue an order? Every neighboring village has our spies. I know everything about their boss, including his several concubines. It's just that Black Tiger's anti-spy awareness is too strong, and the people I arranged cannot infiltrate his confidant circle."

Zhan Xiaobai chuckled. "Fine. You do not need to pay attention to Black Tiger's people; the possibility of bribing them is too low. Find a few clever brothers and observe them for a long time. You will always be able to discover some valuable intelligence. Continue probing."

A Fei responded with a hum, then hurriedly left again.

Not long after, Jian Ba returned.

Zhan Xiaobai saw his smiling face and knew he had good news, smiling and asking, "Jian Ba, is there some good news?"

Jian Ba replied with a beaming smile, "I obtained a decent piece of intelligence from several heavyweight merchant players in the village. Black Tiger invited village leaders and merchants from other villages to discuss bulk weapon purchases, but before the price was settled, most merchant players felt Tiger Leopard Village's offer was too high and hard to make a profit. So no reasonable price agreement has been reached yet. Xiaobai, what should we do now?"

Jian Ba was an expert in commercial confrontations, but he wanted to know how Zhan Xiaobai would handle it.

"Still negotiating?"

Zhan Xiaobai considered it and smiled. "Good, then let's pour oil on the fire. Jian Ba, immediately suspend all external copper coin output projects. All external trade payments will directly use medicine. Accept only copper coins and do not output copper coins."

Jian Ba hesitated. "This move is a bit too ruthless. Cutting off the source will affect a wide range. It might cause protests from certain merchant players."

Zhan Xiaobai said, "Come up with a reason to brush it off, say that the copper coins are depleted and you need to recycle some. They will understand."

Jian Ba chuckled. Even if he did not understand, he would have to understand.

"Our Xiaobai Village controls at least seventy percent of the copper coin flow in this area. Once the source is cut off, there will inevitably be a shortage of copper coins in the market. Tiger Leopard Village's high-quality weapons can only be sold at suppressed prices. Black Tiger must be furious this time... Hey, okay, I'll go do it."

The temporary measures released by Xiaobai Village immediately caused a sensation in the village's trade market. Sensitive players immediately reacted: copper coins would rise and items would be sold cheap. They hurriedly sold off items and recycled copper coins.

...

Tiger Leopard Village.

Black Tiger was negotiating with a group of backbone brothers from the village and merchant players from other villages, estimating a reasonable price for weapons. Tiger Leopard Village did not want to take a loss, and the merchant players wanted to make a profit, so no price had been settled yet.

Suddenly several Tiger Leopard Village player spies rushed over to Black Tiger's side and urgently whispered, "Big Brother, the latest news we just received is that Xiaobai Village suddenly began tightening copper coins fully. A few brothers suspect they are about to make a big move. What should Big Brother do?"

Black Tiger's face changed instantly. With less copper, his weapons would not sell at a high price.

There were many merchant players from other villages present, and Black Tiger did not want them to notice his unease. He forcefully suppressed his shock, smiled, and waved the spies to probe further, then said, "Let me think. My Tiger Leopard Village will make a small concession and reduce the price by five percent on top of the original wholesale price for batch weapon transactions with everyone. This price is already very low."

The merchant players present were not fools. Black Tiger had always insisted on high prices, yet now he was actively reducing them. There must be a reason. They did not agree immediately but instead checked through their channels to find out what had happened. They quickly learned the cause—Xiaobai Village was tightening copper coins.

This discovery made them jump in shock.

"Do you know? Copper coins are going to rise!"

"No, this rise will seriously affect our transactions. Without copper coins circulating in the market, how are we supposed to do business? This is seriously disrupting market order! Let's go to Xiaobai Village and ask for clarification, give us an explanation." Some merchant player with extremely strong sense of justice.

The players beside him shrugged.

"Idiot. Xiaobai is using such ruthless means, definitely targeting someone. If you go question him, you are asking to die."

Black Tiger jumped anxiously. "Alas, let's discuss weapon transactions. ... You say something. I can reduce another three percent, okay!"

Unfortunately, no one paid him any attention.

Now that copper coins were rising, without stability, no merchant player was willing to rashly use copper coins but wanted to observe first and then profit from it.

A merchant player who had come from Xiaobai Village smiled slyly and said, "Tiger Brother, don't be anxious. We definitely will buy weapons from you. Besides you, there is no other place we can buy from, right? But we will do it slowly, and we will definitely negotiate a suitable price. This price, of course, will go down."

The merchant players all laughed approvingly. "That's right." "Exactly, slowly."

Seeing their standard villainous merchant smiles, Black Tiger wanted to strangle them... Ugh, the weapons I painstakingly crafted, am I easy? These bastards actually took advantage of the fire to rob.

Unfortunately, Black Tiger dared not offend them and showed a flattering smile. "Of course... slowly!" He even had the heart to die.