263 – Side War – Preparing for the War of Conquest of Britannia (1)
Office of the governor of the Republic of Benicia.
Gorgeous room with walls made of volcanic marble from Pompeii, office desk, gilded chair and numerous famous paintings.
Antonio Costa, the governor of the Republic of Benicia and the owner of this room, took out and read the report he had already read several times, and exclaimed with exultation as if all his worries accumulated over the years had been resolved.
“Damn it, I finally got a shot at the damn Ciel son of a b*tch! Damn it, thanks to us bowing our heads to the Muslimas and winning exclusive spice export contracts. hahahahaha, even the Croytel guys, the Franchis, the Romanians, the Northern Alliance, and the Britannians said they would buy things like pepper and cloves for five times the price five years ago! Yay, we won!”
I don’t know if someone you don’t know might think it’s a bit strange to see a person who would be the head of a country look so good without a shaved head, re-reading a document he’s read over and over again, holding it in his hand and even dancing.
Any aristocrat in the Republic of Benicia of middle rank or higher, even if it is a member of a family hostile to the governor, would understand the governor’s current feelings.
Since the days of Ciel von Kreuttel as a baron, the Republic of Benicia has started to aggressively sell items such as sugar, steel, weapons, armor, food, and salted herring with the advantages of competitive low prices and stable supply, and have been growing in the market. Gradually slipped away
As a result, the economic and social status enjoyed by Benikea, the center of maritime trade built up by numerous former governors and merchants in a short period of only 15 years, has fallen to the ground…
The Romanian Empire noticed, the French Empire begged to delay the interest, and the Elaine Empire tried to reduce the principal of the debt somehow because of a marriage of convenience.
Because of such a situation, although it is said that we are one step ahead in the spice field, it must be strange that we do not dance shoulder to shoulder as we have found the upper hand in the market for the first time in a while.
“Good. If we gradually find a way to outsmart the Croytel guys in other fields besides spices, light will soon come to Benicia’s maritime trade!”
I was about to continue talking there, but the door to the Governor-General’s office opened with a rattle, and the Governor-General’s secretary in his mid-40s hurriedly entered.
Towards the middle-aged secretary who forgot the courtesy of knocking first when entering a superior’s office, the governor was thinking of craving for it while casting ‘under me, above you’…
Governor Secretary Granz was so happy that he didn’t notice the governor’s thoughts and spoke in a high tone full of joy.
“Rejoice, Your Excellency Governor. The goddamn Creutel Empire ordered 1,000 of our Benikea Karak, and the price was paid in advance, all in pure gold, without bargaining.”
As soon as the governor-general heard those words, the thoughts he had been trying to lash out at, from the secretary’s superior, the head of the secretary, to his superior, the chiefs of the Japanese Government-General’s Department, disappeared all at once.
The place was full of joy for having a competent subordinate who quickly made a necessary and appropriate report even if it went beyond the procedures.
So he even thought that he should take good care of that guy’s performance evaluation during the next promotion screening.
It was something you had to listen to to the end to understand the language of any language, so instead of shouting cheers, smile gently and ask again.
“So how much profit do you get? Will there be enough manpower and lumber at the shipyard?”
“It is worth 120,000 gold coins when converted into gold florin. In addition, manpower was urgently recruited, and the number of carpenters, shipwrights, and blacksmiths was barely met. As for lumber, according to the judgment of the military councilor that there will be no naval battles for the time being, he said that it would be okay to use the entire amount.”
120,000 Florin gold coins, 220,000 gold coins of the Creutel Empire, is enough money to buy a small city and its surroundings without exaggeration.
The Governor-General was astonished at the economic power of the Croytel Empire, which could pay such an enormous amount at once, but was genuinely delighted.
Because no matter how much money Ciel von Kreuttel has, spending that much gold at one time must be a considerable burden on him.
And if you build a ship in Benikia and take it with you, the Croytel Empire is in a position where it can’t aim for hegemony in the Mediterranean, since it is the ones fighting the United Kingdom and France in the North Sea of Europe.
So, I thought that if I invested a huge amount of gold at will, I would be put in a situation where I would have to reduce my investment in other markets in the future, and my market competitiveness would fall.
In other words, looking at the current situation, it is a situation where the emperor of the Croytel Empire is making a big mistake anyway.
For that reason, the Governor-General put everything down and gave the secretary, who had delivered the good news, a pouch containing 20 gold Florin coins.
“No good news! Amazing! Damn Kreutel finally got dementia! Otherwise, there would be no way to order 1,000 ships at once! You who gave me the good news, go away. I’ll take a good look at your performance evaluation.”
At that, the naive secretary in her 40s saluted and quickly disappeared.
And 10 minutes later, this time, the head of the finance department under the Japanese government-general knocked on the door and came in and reported with a happy smile on his face.
“Report! Ciel von Kreuttel bought weapons, artworks, jewels, and other things that remained in our republic’s bad stock, and paid for everything in gold. Thanks to this, I earned about 400,000 gold coins yesterday when converted into gold florin. Old Kreutel must be insane, congratulations. Your Excellency Governor!”
When he heard those words, the governor was overcome with uneasiness and was unable to rejoice.
No, to be precise, everything suddenly went so well that I was overcome with sudden anxiety.
That’s right, it’s a great celebration that a huge amount of gold, equivalent to about half of the annual tax collected by the Republic of Benicia, is pouring in in one day.
When I look back on my life of nearly 60 years, the luck that came unexpectedly has always been an opportunity to bring misfortune.
After 10 minutes, ignoring the administrator who asked for praise and reward with a silent expression and eyes, the governor fell into uneasy thoughts.
The governor suddenly slammed the desk and questioned the magistrate in front of him.
“How much is our current gold reserve?”
“Yes, sir. There are about 5 tons of gold in the vault of the Republic of Benicia right now. In terms of gold florin, that’s about 500,000. But that…”
Hearing that, the governor grabbed him by the back of his neck and said.
“…… Stop the shipyard right now. Say you will refund the money you received and send the gold back. Otherwise, the price of gold will plummet, just as the price of wheat falls in a good year! That’s 600,000 goddamn gold florin coins that have already come in with us.”
I said this, but the governor knows it too.
The fact that the payment has come up means that the shipyard is already buying wood to make 1,000 ships.
Because of the Kreutel special that suddenly came upon many blacksmiths, shipwrights, and carpenters, they must be paid two or three times higher than usual, and they are using them recklessly.
For a few days to a few months, Benikea may experience great prosperity.
The value of gold sleeping in the safes of the Benician Republic’s giants, who keep most of their wealth in gold, will fall like crazy.
Imagining the terrible situation, the governor wrapped his head and started biting his nails while trembling.
“No, f*ck. If you see the price of gold in the market fall, impatient businessmen will come out to sell their gold before it drops further, and if their gold in the vault is released at once, the republic’s economy will surely be ruined. And the blow will be borne by Woori Bank. Damn you, Kreutel dog.”
Hearing these words, the magistrate completely lost the blood from his face when he heard the words of the governor, who perfectly saw through the troubles to come for the Republic of Benicia.
Considering that the kingdom of Creutel swept away all kinds of goods, such as jewels and artworks, which were highly liquid by the standards of this era, except for gold…
His brain, which raised himself to the position of governor, deduced an answer that would avert the worst.
“If you lose credit in a situation where you cannot return money after receiving money, Benikea will have no choice but to perish. So, instead of giving away all the goods we have no choice but to recover as much silver and copper as possible with the gold we received and fill the national finances…”
From Noble mtl dot com
At the time the governor was giving instructions to the administrator.
This time, the lieutenant governor had a very serious expression on his face and almost stormed into the governor’s office as he said with a serious expression.
“The Muslim Empire has declared war on the Republic of Benicia. They seem to be aiming for a naval battle, but what should we do?”
The governor had a gut feeling after hearing that.
Will he keep Benikea’s trust as a merchant for hundreds of years?
Or will you ignore all of that and instead of screwing up the Kreutel Empire, in return you will lose all trust on the continent of Europia and choose certain ruin?
To have to choose between the two.
And he felt so much pressure that at the moment he lost consciousness and collapsed on his desk.
Fortunately, he didn’t die, but anyone who knows his situation will say this.
‘It would have been 10 billion times better for him to die on the spot then.’