115 Episode 26. Black Label Union (2)
Inside the carriage heading to Black Label.
Rockefeller has a panoramic view of the port city from the window.
The place where numerous ships were lined up was Black Label, the stronghold of the Black Label Union and the largest port city of the Empire.
‘There are a lot of hungry people.’
Most of the ships anchored enough to fill the harbor were trade ships built for trade.
‘If you eat it right, it is said that it is not enough to pay for the cost of drying the ship on the first voyage, so you sit on a cushion.’
For that reason, many people were collecting their souls and investing in trading ships.
‘It’s said that there’s no money to lend here, so it’s very chaotic.’
Despite such a place, there was a good reason why the Lyon Guild had not been able to use its hands so far.
‘If it wasn’t for Ismail, we would have eaten it earlier.’
Another banco coalition called Black Label Union believed only in the power of the Ismail family, which they had behind them, and had monopolized the profits of Black Label alone without any competitor until now.
But that was until today.
‘It won’t be a game in the first place. The old-fashioned way will have no choice but to be eaten up by our way of professionally using interest.’
Rockefeller, who went to Black Label like that, met Ricardo, whom he had sent in advance.
“You have come. I was waiting.”
Ricardo had arrived a few days earlier than Rockefeller to find out where they were going.
The fact that the head of Ismail found a store for the Lyon guild leader had a great meaning in its own way.
‘It seems that the decision has been made.’
Rockefeller soon discovered that he had made some decisions after meeting Ricardo.
It was because there was no way he would have done what he had been told if he had no intention of cutting off the family’s money chain with his own hands.
“Where did you find the store?”
“I looked for a store in Holland to avoid friction with the existing banco vendors.”
“Holland? If it’s Holland… … .”
“It’s pretty close to the port. Seats are not bad, especially since there is a lot of floating population.”
The place where Black Label people went to borrow money was Banco Street called Lanstad.
This is similar to Lyon’s ghetto Nuovo, where numerous banco companies actively engaged in lending.
“Well, maybe it would be better not to see each other face to face.”
As Rockefeller seemed to agree, Ricardo guided Rockefeller to the store he had saved.
“I consider it.”
Rockefeller got off the wagon and looked directly at the store that Ricardo had saved.
It was the right size and the right location.
Rockefeller looked around the store.
“I heard that Black Label is all about the Ismail family. Did you ask for their permission?”
“There was no difficulty in finding it. maybe… … Wasn’t that tacit approval?”
“It’s an tacit approval… … .”
“And when asked about the purpose of the store, he said that he would do banco business here, and he laughed out loud. Perhaps it was because the location was different.”
“I usually do business in Lanstad, so it’s good enough.”
After speaking, Rockefeller looked over the street close to the harbor and crowded with people.
From merchants to sailors and ordinary people.
As Ricardo said, it was an area with a lot of floating population.
And when I looked at the shops that were open around the area, I saw a general store, a clothing store, and a shoe repair shop.
“There are a lot of people on the streets, so there shouldn’t be any difficulties in doing business. Rather, it went well. We’re not even criminals, so there’s no reason to stick to Banco Street.”
At Rockefeller’s words, Ricardo just bowed his head without answering.
“Then let’s put up the signboard and start business.”
Then Ricardo expressed his concern.
I don’t think I’m ready yet, but I was embarrassed to say that I was going to start the business right away.
“Are you saying you want to start a business first when the other guild members haven’t come yet?”
“Yeah, we can’t just wait for them to come. And if I have to sit down first and start doing business, won’t they feel comfortable doing business by my side?”
Ricardo looked at Rockefeller’s wagon.
There was also a wagon on board, and it didn’t look like he had brought much from Lyon.
“To do banco business here… … Isn’t the money you brought too small?”
Usually, you have to have a lot of capital to do business with money.
Wouldn’t that make a business by lending a lot of money?
However, Rockefeller’s response to this was naive, if at all.
“Do you really need to bring a lot of trouble? After all, people like us are people who do business with other people’s money by putting their trust first.”
At those words, Ricardo also felt a lot.
‘Doing business with other people’s money… … How am I supposed to accept this?’
Rockefeller smiled and continued talking to Ricardo.
“First, trust the guild leader’s title and try to push it. If you have the money, you can borrow it from a guild member who will come to you soon, or you can bring it from Lyon. But I don’t think it’s necessary. There is a lot of money floating around here, so I feel like I can do business with that money, right?”
Thus, the sign of the store called ‘Bank of Los Medici’ went up, and Rockefeller and Ricardo started a banco business in a completely new place called Black Label.
People began to be curious about the opening of a banco store where they played money out of nowhere, such as general stores and clothing stores, where there were only everyday stores.
In addition, when the person who opened the store said that he was a well-known guild leader in Lyon, the rumor could spread throughout the Holland area in an instant.
“Hey, did you hear that?”
Bell, who was running a clothing store in Holland, heard strange rumors and started talking to Bob, who was running a shoe store nearby.
“What are you talking about? What are you talking about, making such a fuss?”
“There it is. Not Lanstad, but a banco shop that opened here.”
“Oh, there? Why are you there?”
“Well, I guess they say that if you leave money there, you give the world interest.”
Interest on deposits was very unfamiliar to them, who had been doing business with Black Label Union.
“What? paying interest? why pay interest Aren’t we supposed to pay the original interest?”
“Well, that’s not it. It seems that when we deposit money, we pay interest there. We lent them money, so they pay interest on it.”
Bob was skeptical at the outrageous sound.
“Isn’t that a scam? What interest are you paying? Why pay interest only if you don’t go crazy?”
He continued.
“Originally, if you deposit gold coins in Banco, you will be charged a storage fee. They don’t pay interest.”
“What a scam! Haven’t you heard of who’s doing business there?”
At Bell’s question, Bob started talking about the rumors he had heard.
“At first glance, I heard that it was some kind of guild leader?”
“Yeah, I know.”
“No, are you really the guild leader? I thought he was just a scammer when some crazy guy opened a banco shop here.”
“No, you’re the Lyon guild leader! Don’t you know the Lyon Guild Leader?”
“No, you know. why don’t you know that person I even saw it once before.”
“Is that person doing business here now?”
“Really? But why? No, if you’re the head of the Lyon guild, you can do business in Lyon. Why did you come here?”
“I don’t know. How would I know that?”
“Aren’t you a real scammer?”
“No, the real guild leader is right. This is everything I checked. It seems that many people other than me really came to visit, but I think the guild leader is the real one.”
“Are you the real Lyon guild leader?”
Unable to shake off his doubts, he went straight to the rumored Banco store, saw the owner’s face and left immediately.
Then, he raised his voice to Bell, the owner of the clothing store who had followed him.
“Hey man! I know the guild leader’s face, but it’s not that person. All these people have been deceived, they have been deceived.”
“What? What are you talking about. Hepto and Chris said they were all right.”
“Hey, that must have been the mistake of Hepto and Chris. Guild leaders I know don’t look like that. I’m not that blue-eyed kid.”
“Aren’t you talking about the former guild leader who committed suicide?”
“What? What are you talking about? Did the former guild leader commit suicide?”
“This man! If you’re talking about the former guild leader, I’ve already committed suicide! I have already searched and there is nothing in this world.”
“Oh my God, did that person commit suicide? When?”
“I don’t know exactly, but I think it’s been a while since he committed suicide. Because the guild leader was so good at his job, it seems that the previous guild leader could not overcome his shame and committed suicide. I heard that.”
“okay? But what the hell happened to the Lyon Guild? A blue-eyed guy like that becomes a guild leader.”
“Still, you seem to be doing a very good job. After the change of the guild leader, the income increased significantly.”
“What kind of talent do you have?”
“I don’t know. It’s a Banco thing, how would people like us know?”
“her… … .”
Then he suddenly had a question.
“No, if that person is a real guild leader, what kind of guts do you think you have in business? You can’t do business here unless you’re a Banco dealer belonging to Black Label Union, right?”
“So that’s why you do business over there. I can’t enter Lanstad.”
“What do you mean you want to fight the Black Label Union openly?”
“It would be. Otherwise, someone like the guild leader will come all the way here to do business.”
“haha… … Do you think you have a lot of guts?”
“What does that have to do with us? Anyway, I guess if you deposit money, you pay interest. So it seems that Chris entrusted the money with the intention of earning interest before the guild leader was kicked out.”
“What? Did you leave your money there?”
“Yeah, if you deposit money, you pay interest, so there’s no reason why you shouldn’t, right? To be honest, if I put my money in Ranstad, I only pay storage fees, but who would put my money in Ranstad? Leave it all here.”
As the two chatted, they soon came to think of Rockefeller’s wishes.
“Actually, if you are a guild leader, your trust will be certain. Even if I get kicked out of here, won’t the Lyon Guild take care of the money I left?”
“So Chris must have entrusted the money in the first place. It’s the money I left anyway, so I can find it somehow.”
“under… … So what are you going to do?”
“I’m worried. I’m here to discuss with you what to do.”
“Give the world interest… … Is it too good to miss this?”
“In Lyon, unlike here, everything seems to be charged interest. No, it seems that everyone in Banco that belongs to the Lyon Guild pays interest. It’s completely different from here.”
Their worries did not last long.
Bob, the owner of the shoe store, asked again to see if he had made up his mind.
“Are you really the guild leader?”
“No, that’s right. How many times do I have to tell you And sooner or later, the banco vendors belonging to the Lyon Guild are planning to come over here. There are so many rumors like that.”
“okay? Hmm… … .”
“why? Do you want to give me money?”
“No, if you are certain that you are the guild leader, there is no reason not to entrust it, right? There is no reason to waste money in the yard that pays even interest.”
“That’s it… … right.”
“I’ll just leave it to you for a moment. We’ll see if we pay interest later or not.”
So they took some money and went straight to Rockefeller’s shop.
I went back to the place where Rockefeller was having a conversation with a guest who had already been there.
When I saw the visitor, it was someone they knew.
Because he was an aristocrat who had a fairly large business here in Holland.
“It’s good that I don’t have to go to Lyon. Aren’t you too daring to do business with Prince Rockefeller? The world is so ugly.”
When a customer asked Rockefeller, who gave him a large amount of money that couldn’t even be compared to what the two shopkeepers had brought, Rockefeller responded only with a smile.
“Nowhere in the imperial law prohibits us from doing business here. In that sense, what’s the problem with us doing business here?”
“It’s my money anyway, because your guild guarantees it, so I don’t have to worry about it, but I do worry about it. Isn’t this the Ismail family’s jurisdiction? Prince Rockefeller probably doesn’t know about the Ismail family.”
“It is understandable that Prince Frerick is worried about me.”
Rockefeller then continued, in a confident tone.
“But don’t you think so? Could it be that we are doing business here because we already have the tacit approval of the Ismail family?”
It was a surprisingly convincing statement.
He also began to nod his head, seemingly in agreement.
“If that’s the case… … .”
“Don’t worry too much, I’m going to stay here for a while, so if you need anything, you can come to me anytime.”
“I will support you.”