novelraw Chapter 76 A Pack of Dogs Conducts Infrared City Sweep
Chapter 76 A Pack of Dogs Conducts Infrared City Sweep
Holding fake stocks, yet not reporting it to the police.
Chen Daniu immediately understood the gist of it. He figured that the counterfeiting gang was being treated the same way he was, waiting to be caught red-handed and then "double-crossed."
"It's a flatbed printing press!"
"What?"
As expected of a technical expert, Chen Daniu was able to distinguish which stock was fake as soon as he picked it up. He explained, "Real stock certificates and real Hong Kong dollars are printed using intaglio printing machines, so they have a raised feel to the touch."
"Fake stock certificates also have a recessed feel, but that's because they're printed on by hand. They're printed using a flatbed printing press, which doesn't have the overall layered feel of a gravure printing press. You can tell the difference if you compare them carefully."
"Furthermore, genuine stock certificates have embedded metal security threads, while fake ones only have added metal particles to maintain weight. You can easily tell the difference by tearing open a small part..."
"Okay, okay..."
Chen Guanjiang quickly interrupted, "I don't know about the technical aspects. I just want to know if we can find them at all."
Upon hearing this, Chen Daniu resumed his research.
The first thing that can be confirmed is that the counterfeiting gang used an offset printing press combined with hand-carved zinc molds.
During the printing process, the watermark is left blank, and then the watermark and forged signature are manually drawn on. The process involves manual intaglio printing, while the numbers are processed using relief printing, and then filled with scattered metal particles.
What's shocking is that the counterfeiting gang managed to obtain securities-grade paper containing special fibers, instead of ordinary coated paper, which shows that they went to great lengths and spent a lot of money.
Offset printing presses, high-precision zinc plate molds, forged signatures by imitating watermarks, and artificially creating embossed effects—everything points to that familiar memory…
In the 1960s, Zhang Daqian had four unique talents.
The "Ghost Ink Ox," "Lead Knife Liu," "Off Plate Yellow," and "Color Separation" represent the most advanced printing technology in Hong Kong in the past.
Chen Daniu possessed "reversible ink" and initially supplied ink to underground letter-printing stalls. This ink was known as "ghost ink," and he himself was called "Ghost Ink Niu."
Liu Ming's lead type knife produced characters as small as size 6, with over 95% font reproduction accuracy. "Lead Type Knife Liu" represents the pinnacle of contemporary letterpress printing. He was later sentenced to two years in prison for piracy of "The Eagle and the Condor Heroes".
Aside from a few individuals treasured by small printing plants, only "Offset Yellow" Huang Hanwei possesses such drawing skills and expertise in offset printing and engraving zinc mold masters, capable of accomplishing this task.
As for Fen Se Ming, whose real name is Chen Daming, his whereabouts have been unknown since the collapse of Daqian Printing Factory, and this kind of fake stock trading is not within his technical scope.
………………
Chen Guanjiang didn't care about the glorious history of Daqian Printing; he only wanted to capture Huang Hanwei. He asked, "Since you two are from the same school, do you know where his stronghold is?"
"have no idea…"
Chen Daniu snapped out of his daze and continued, "However, fake stocks are made with special fiber paper used in securities trading. If you trace the raw materials, you'll definitely find them, but you have to be very careful."
Anyone who works with inks can spot the flaws, so Huang Hanwei was even more aware of his own shortcomings.
Everything else is fine, but the raw materials for paper are an absolutely unbreakable issue.
There are too many channels for selling stolen goods, and there are only a few types of special paper. You can always find them by following the clues, so Huang Hanwei is particularly vigilant.
Judging from the hand-painted watermark and the serial number 6886, and the fact that it took so long to find the fake stock, it's clear that Huang Hanwei produced it in small batches and used extremely secretive methods to sell it.
Adding metal particle interlayers during the lithographic printing process, and even preferring to leave blank spaces while manually imitating the watermark, makes it impossible to print counterfeit stocks on a large scale due to the laborious nature of this method.
The practice of specifically choosing auspicious numbers like 6 and 8 for printing is also a way of exploiting the psychology of stock market investors.
Under the same circumstances, it would be better to let stocks with unlucky numbers like 4 and 7 flow out, and reduce the liquidity of fake stocks like 6 and 8.
Nowadays, brokerage firms reduce processing time, disregard stock codes, and even seek only a general total number. Some even use clients' stocks for secondary or multiple transactions.
A few fake stocks mixed in are sold off too quickly, and they've changed hands countless times. Compared to the hundreds of thousands of stocks traded every day, it's like finding a needle in a haystack.
Even if it's like finding a needle in a haystack, we can't make a big fuss about it; the only way is to trace it back to the paper's raw materials.
“…………”
After analyzing the situation, Chen Guanjiang was speechless.
The standard paper roll is 297mm x 210mm, with a tolerance of no more than ±2mm. The special fiber paper, which is the same size as a roll of toilet paper, can be specially printed for half a year.
Who knows when the next purchase will be? Checking past purchase records might alert them.
"That's too much effort, watch me!"
Chen Guanjiang ordered the doors and windows to be closed, and then sent over an ultraviolet flashlight, a Nikon camera, a macro lens, and infrared film.
Chen Daniu had no idea what he was doing. He only saw Chen Guanjiang first put two stock charts under an ultraviolet flashlight to heat them up and then quickly take a picture.
The photos after washing are completely black. If you look closely, you will see that the real stock on the left is dark red, while the fake stock on the right has a distinct yellowish-green fluorescent glow.
"Benzidine Yellow? You beast!"
Upon seeing the yellow-green fluorescent light, Chen Guanjiang flew into a rage, uttered a curse, and slammed his hand on the table.
This is a potent carcinogen; prolonged contact with it by hand can lead to lead poisoning and cause hematuria.
Ordinary newspapers, and even ghost money, are unwilling to use this for printing. They only use it to print cheaper leaflets, and they don't care because they are quick to sell.
Most importantly, because of its bright colors but poor lightfastness, it is often used to make children's stickers, and the rate of lead exceeding the standard can reach 32% after children absorb it through their skin.
Huang Hanwei's gang purchased benzidine yellow, but to avoid suspicion, they would not print flyers on a large scale. Instead, they would use it to make children's stickers to confuse the public.
Chen Daniu is working on the "water transfer printing technology," which is a temporary tattoo. The main sales target is these children, and we must not let that monster ruin the market first.
The sound of someone slamming their hand on the office table immediately attracted Tang Yufei and Hao Yuze.
"Blow a chicken!!"
Chen Guanjiang yelled at them, "Call all those bastards here!"
The editors-in-chief and deputy editors-in-chief, unaware of what had happened, hurriedly made phone calls to the newspaper's reporters and paparazzi.
Before long, 36 paparazzi rushed over and crowded the small office.
Chen Guanjiang didn't bother to explain anything and immediately ordered: "Modify the Nikon F2 camera, remove the infrared blocking film, add an infrared filter, and use Kodak high-speed infrared film."
"Everyone, mark out your area. Tonight, under the cover of darkness, take photos of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the outlying islands of the New Territories. Hand in the photos tomorrow morning. HK$1000 per person!"
"Roger that, boss!"
"We will ensure that no corner is overlooked."
“…………”
The reporters and paparazzi were tasked with following Hao Yuze to assign areas, while Tang Yufei was left behind alone.
Chen Guanjiang continued, "When the photos are handed in tomorrow morning, take a look at those that are yellowish-green or light gray, and organize those two colors of photos and give them to me."
"Okay, boss!"
This was the first time Tang Yufei had seen his boss so angry, so he didn't dare to be negligent and quickly went down to make preparations.
Chen Guanjiang knew nothing about ink, paper, printing, embossing, or watermarking, but as a seasoned professional, he had an extremely thorough understanding of the research and application of optics.
When benzidine yellow is photographed with an infrared camera, it exhibits a yellow-green fluorescence when it condenses and a light gray mist when it evaporates.
No matter how discreet Huang Hanwei's actions were, some chemical residue would inevitably remain. All sins will have nowhere to hide under the light, even in the darkness!