261 – A side story – After the unification of the Kreutel Empire (3)
A week after attracting large-scale investment from a large merchant company to the Age of Discovery plan.
Lauren, who had succeeded in being promoted to chancellor of the Empire, hurriedly ran into my office carrying a bunch of papers.
No matter how casually me and him have been in many ways since her baronial days, I don’t act recklessly unless it’s a very serious matter.
Something bad happened, damn it.
As he prepared himself for the bad news that was about to be heard, Lauren spoke loudly and quickly.
“The guild that participated in the Age of Discovery plan implemented by His Majesty is short of money and has applied for a loan from His Majesty the Emperor. And it amounts to a whopping 1.2 Million gold coins!”
If you add up 1.2 Million gold coins and all the taxes collected in one county for a year, you get just that amount.
So, in other words, if you count Korea as the sum of all the upper ranks that participated in the national project I proposed, it means that we borrowed a year’s budget for each ‘province’ unit.
Whether in Korea or here, the fact that the government lends that amount of budget to merchants is enough to instill in the public the perception that the country is in crisis, but…
“I see. Therefore?”
If the emperors of other empires reacted calmly and briefly to this situation as if it were not a big deal, the chancellor would have collapsed due to a rise in blood pressure.
It seems to have come a little differently to the Chancellor, who has seen Ciel von Kreuttel overcoming seemingly impossible crises from the time she was only 15 years old until now.
Because he listened to me and put on an expression that said, “Yes, even if the empire is in danger because of this, it will be okay if we find His Majesty the Emperor.”
“According to the analysis of the executives belonging to the Ministry of Finance there. It will take 2 years for the merchant guilds involved in this plan to make profits along the trade routes they have pioneered, and by then they will try to borrow 3 million more gold coins! Do you have any idea how to solve it?”
If you open the imperial treasury, which no one knows except Irina and I, there will be 4.2 Million gold coins left over.
But what if over 4.2 Million gold coins were released to the empire in just two years?
Unlike modern Korea, prices in an empire that does not play with money from high-ranking people such as stock or futures trading will skyrocket.
Of course, even in the midst of this, a guy with an inexhaustible amount of money will have the opportunity to increase his wealth by buying real estate and land from petit bourgeois suffering from inflation.
A person called the emperor of the empire could not open the imperial treasury even after predicting such a situation.
“There are two ways. One is to open my safe and lend them 4.2 Million gold coins at a low interest rate. The other way is to issue stocks so that other nobles or wealthy commoners in the empire can invest their money in the upper ranks. Of course, I recommend the latter. Choosing the former would ruin the lives of the people of the empire.”
“You’re making the nobles support the guild. Certainly, I don’t think it’s a bad idea, as the top guys can get the money they need and the investors can share in the profits. Do you have a specific method?”
“Of course. When you are ready to write it down, tell me.”
Hearing that, Lauren sat down at the small office desk next to mine, grabbed a notebook and pen, and got ready to write.
As soon as I confirmed that, I started speaking slowly and in a clear voice.
“First, I will build a system in which nobles can invest in Nantes, the capital of the empire, as much as the amount they want to borrow from the upper house. Specifically, I plan to divide the investment types into two types. One is that instead of receiving money as an investment, you can share management rights and 50% of the net profits of each upper level. Instead of investing the rest in a single transaction in Ifriqiya, you receive a net profit based on that amount. This division of investment money is called stock.”
“I personally have a company that I have supported since I was young, and to some extent I am sharing the profits from that company. It would be even better if I could get management rights there. But what if you invest in a transaction in Ifriqiya and lose money in the transaction itself, or if the ship you were transporting is sunk?”
“It’s simple. Since you decided to receive profit according to your profit and invested, if you lose money, the money you can get back is deducted from the principal amount depending on the percentage of loss you suffered. If the ship sinks, you won’t get a single penny. Instead, what if the trade in Ifriqiya was successful and the profit doubled or tripled the money entered? Even those who own stocks get back two or three times the amount invested.”
The most terrifying thing about the system of stocks is that, in fact, ‘management rights’ can be bought and sold, so the head of the upper management group must spend enormous effort and money to maintain the position of the largest shareholder.
Perhaps it’s because stocks weren’t introduced yet in this era, Lauren doesn’t seem to think of that either.
But what about those who, like Lauren, don’t just invest with the intention of making more money, but risk their lives for management at the top?
If you look at the letter ‘Kyung’ in management rights, you will know what this means.
If you enter the Age of Exploration and can afford it, you may be able to devour other small and medium-sized companies with one type of stock.
From the point of view of small-scale merchants, it is not a loss because they will earn a lot of money by being under the command of a large-scale merchants, and they bought the heads of large-scale merchants because they were worth buying, so a transaction in which everyone benefits will be made.
Of course, the act of taking over another company at a low price by threatening them should be cracked down.
“Of course, even if I make stocks, wouldn’t nobles and merchants recklessly try something new?”
At that, Lauren nodded.
“Yes. After all, if the investment fails once, the family’s wealth will be empty and gone. Also, it was because some of the scribes under my command invested in a small guild and lost the principal because they wanted to imitate Your Majesty. Some of them have become sons-in-law of merchant families to pay off their debts. Everyone will not want to make a bold investment in an uncertain transaction.”
From Noble mtl dot com
The principle of investment is to not invest with spare money, or to be exact, to the point of ruining one’s life.
If you think about it, you mean that those who became scribes invested their family’s property and became so indebted to merchant families as sons-in-law?
Are they crazy? No. People with common sense wouldn’t have invested like that…
Is it necessary to seriously review the performance appraisal right now?
While thinking about that, Lauren said with a serious expression that she guessed what I was thinking.
“But after that, I have been working hard and alert. In addition, in the performance evaluation, you will be ranked in the middle or upper rank in your rank, so please do not think too badly.”
“Okay. Then, going back to the investment story, I’m thinking of giving privileges to nobles if they invest more than a certain amount with their property.”
“What would you like to offer?”
“I plan to give them the right to receive a new title and part of the territory they have pioneered, depending on the amount invested and success, just as I did to the merchants. Aside from that, aren’t there some nobles who received basic education but couldn’t go to the academy and live a mediocre life?”
Hearing that, Lauren’s expression darkened slightly.
It seems that some of the children of his subordinates whom he cherishes are stuck in the corner of the house because he couldn’t go to the academy…
“I’m thinking of giving them the privilege of dispatching them to the Ifriqiya scribe, regardless of the success of the investment, depending on the amount invested. Of course, as for the minimum education, you have to go through a separate course newly established by the academy.”
Most of the academy graduates would hardly have any intention of going to the remote and uncivilized continent of Ifreikiya, which is not even a province.
Considering the size of the territory to be reclaimed and the number of management personnel required? To put it bluntly, even if you have minimal practical skills, you should send them all away.
Therefore, a separate course should be established in the academy to train managers who will be dispatched to Ifriqiya.
What’s more, when you go there, it just seems like you’re taking on the power of being a ‘secretary’.
In fact, in the first 10 years of pioneering, even the officials dispatched there will suffer from a great crisis due to endemic diseases or various threats.
However, even if they knew that fact, there would be quite a few nobles sent there to earn money for their children and for the future of their families.
“In addition, a certain portion of the salaries of officers and noncommissioned officers are deducted to invest in establishing a base in Ifriqiya. Instead, the next person who wishes to be discharged will be given a village and a title that will become his fief in Ifriqiya in proportion to his years of service and rank. If you don’t want that, you can just get a pension or a small piece of land in the province as you do now.”
In this way, veterans will be able to get new jobs as well as help local stabilization.
Because all of the human resources who survived after serving for a long time are guys full of loyalty to me.
“Finally, I will invest two million gold coins right away. Talk about this among the nobles. ‘The emperor of the Creutel empire will give Ifriqiya to you guys.'”