77 episode 19. Lyon Guild (5)
Bishop Berkis expressed his doubts.
“You want help?”
“yes. If I continue to hold the church property, the guild will start to pressure in some way. First of all, you will be expelled from the guild.”
“I can’t stop you from being kicked out of the guild. It’s not something I can do anything about.”
“I am not asking you to stop the Bishop from being expelled from the guild. I know very well that you cannot stop it.”
“Then how do you ask for help?”
Rockefeller had previously thought.
The idea that if you join hands with one of them, you might start a war with the other.
‘Rather, this may have been the way I was supposed to go.’
As a result of giving up the road to becoming a lord of the frontier, Rockefeller’s current status was no more or less than a commoner.
However, the guild chief of Lyon, who occupies one of Banco’s two coalitions, was not a very neglected position in the Empire.
If I had a car, I was able to invest a lot of money in the empire and the imperial family, and for that reason, I have a deep relationship with the imperial family, so the empire also gave some respect to the guild leader of Lyon.
That was the treatment of nobility.
‘Even aristocrats have their own ranks. The Lyon guild chief is the 4th Viscount among the Empire’s five titles.’
Among the hereditary aristocratic classes, the highest was the duke, and the lowest of the barons was the position of a Viscount.
‘Because a commoner cannot become a duke overnight. Maybe it’s the most realistic rise in status.’
If Rockefeller had driven out the lord of Chester and became lord of Montefeltro, he would probably have had the status of a baron.
‘Even a lord, if the status of the territories is low, the rank must be low.’
Usually, if you own a manor, you get the rank of count, which is the third among the five ranks, and you can become a count only if you have a certain level of status in the territory. He was staying in a lower position than the Viscount Daum.
However, not all lords on the border were treated the same.
When the territory of the frontier was very important, he was called a marquise and was treated as a marquis higher than a count.
This meant that even if it was a land on the edge of the empire, the treatment of those who ruled it would be different depending on its value.
‘So, the land is the lord, and the lord is the land.’
In other words, the territory of Montefeltro had a remarkably low importance in the empire, and for that reason, the lord of Montefeltro had to stay only as a baron.
In fact, the lord of Montefeltro had the status of a baron higher than a knight.
‘If you look at the aristocracy in more detail, there are knights that are lower than the barons, and there are those that are higher than the dukes, but there is no need to think so much.’
anyway.
If he took the position of head of the Lyon Guild, he could become a higher nobleman than the lord of the periphery, and Rockefeller thought of taking over the position.
‘This was something I hadn’t thought of. It was also a position I had to occupy someday if I wanted to dominate the entire empire’s finances.’
Fortunately, the guild leader of the Lyon Guild was not hereditary.
Traditionally, the Lyon guild leader was selected by all banco traders belonging to the Lyon guild gathered in one place, held a meeting and voted.
Therefore, if the various banco operators belonging to the Lyon Guild gave strong support, it was not at all difficult for Rockefeller to take over the position of the guild leader.
‘And I can’t work properly under a guy like that. How are you going to make money when it’s so tight? You’ll never earn it.’
With this thought in mind, Rockefeller continued.
“In order to take for granted the payment of interest based on depositing gold coins, the guild leader here must change his mind. However, when I spoke with Prince Benjamin, it was concluded that as long as he was there, it was absolutely impossible to pay interest on deposits of gold coins. Your Excellency Bishop probably knows this. You must know more about the guild leader here than I do.”
“That would be right. He’s revealing too much money, so he’ll only try to steal gold coins. I’m never a great person to give you something like interest.”
“Then what do you think is the right thing to do, Sir, in this situation?”
Bishop Berkis wrinkled his expression softly.
“So what do you want to say?”
“What I mean here. Benjamin Ball shouldn’t be there.”
However, Benjamin Guildmaster was from the same family as Bishop Berkis.
So Bishop Berkis had no choice but to express his displeasure at those words.
“haha… … Anyway, I’m from the same family. It’s your opinion, I know a little bit about it, but it’s not. Even so, how can I reject someone from the same family? No matter how greedy I am, I can’t do that.”
“Then it would be absolutely impossible to pay interest on deposits of gold coins. They will try to stop them somehow, but if they force the guild to be expelled, how can we keep holding the church property?”
Rockefeller continued speaking to Bishop Berkis, who did not answer.
“And Prince Benjamin is trying to divert the church property to his own banco in some way. That way, you will be charged a gold coin storage fee for depositing gold coins.”
“Hmm… … .”
“Since we are from the same family, I am well aware that it is difficult for the Bishop to judge. But in this situation, you have to think carefully about who is in the best interests of the Bishop.”
At that, Bishop Berkis expressed his doubts.
Something felt strange.
“therefore… … What do you want to say?”
“To be honest. How about I take the place of Prince Benjamin? I’m asking the Bishop. I am always on the side of the Church, and on the side of Your Excellency.”
“what?”
Bishop Berkis looked surprised.
I never thought Rockefeller would say such a thing.
“You now… … .”
“From my point of view, the Bishop seems to have always been dissatisfied with the Lyon Guild. While embracing the church’s property, I dared to think of plundering the gold coin storage fee. What can I say about it, I can’t say that I’m from the same family again. To be honest, wasn’t this how you felt?”
“Hmm… … .”
Bishop Berkis, who was only coughing in vain, reluctantly admitted it.
“To be honest, you are somewhat right. I’ve always had complaints about the guild. But I couldn’t say anything.”
“Is that because the guild leader is from the same family?”
“It’s like that. Otherwise, what is it that I regret to say to him or not to say? I am the church, and the church is me. My words are the will of God.”
“I think so too. Your words are also the will of God.”
“But he also has his own breath because he is a guild leader here. He holds all the money chains here, so what he says is the law here. So I’m secretly watching him.”
“However, the words of one guild leader cannot be higher than the will of God.”
“That’s right. There must be a lot of people like you here, but it really isn’t. Everyone is watching the guild leader.”
“That part is very sad. Everyone should have the same thoughts as me.”
after a moment of silence.
He repeated what Rockefeller had said.
“So that’s what I say. At this point, how about appointing a person who agrees with the Bishop and is loyal to the Church in his place? Wouldn’t it be better for you to have someone loyal to you rather than someone else in your position?”
“Still, we’re from the same family.”
Rockefeller chuckled at that.
“Have you ever benefited from being in the same family? On the contrary, isn’t Prince Benjamin preventing anything that is good for the Church?”
“Hmm… … .”
Bishop Berkis, who continued to shed only a hoarse voice, immediately asked Rockefeller something else with a frown on his face.
“Does that mean you can sit there? Are you not even a goldsmith yet? How can I get a seat at the guild leader since I am not yet a goldsmith?”
“That’s right. I am not yet a goldsmith or anything.”
“I heard that in order to become a goldsmith, you have to be a member of the Lyon Guild or the Black Label Union. I’m not involved in either of them, so before you say that, wouldn’t it be the order to become a goldsmith first?”
“I thought a lot about that. So how about something like this?”
“What do you mean?”
“In the beginning, we did not have a good relationship with the Lyon Guild due to the issue of interest payment, so the path to becoming a goldsmith by joining that guild seems to be blocked. Even Prince Benjamin will not allow me to become a goldsmith unless I withdraw from my interest-giving business.”
“I will.”
“However, it is not certain that I will go to Black Label Union and talk with its representative. They might have a strong resentment against my ideas.”
“Maybe.”
“So I thought about it.”
Bishop Berkis sat still and waited for Rockefeller’s next words.
“In the first place, becoming a goldsmith is only possible with the permission of the imperial family. However, the imperial family is cumbersome to select each goldsmith, so the task has been delegated to the two banco unions. In fact, it is an atmosphere where banco traders belonging to the two alliances are unconditionally recognized as goldsmiths.”
“So what are you going to do?”
“Now that this is the case, I would like to make a proposal to you, Bishop. In the first place, becoming a goldsmith would only end with the permission of the imperial family without the approval of the two banco coalitions. It is not necessary to get approval from the guild chief here.”
Rockefeller continued.
“Your Excellency, please do your best. Then, no matter what I do, I will take the gold coins that you have entrusted to me. Even if our Banco goes bankrupt, we will continue to embrace it.”
As for what he was going to say, it wasn’t too difficult for him.
It was much easier than rejecting someone from the same family.
“Do you need only the permission of the imperial family to become a goldsmith?”
“Yes, there is no need to complicate things, all you need is the permission of the imperial family. And I don’t think it’s too difficult for you to make such a request to the imperial family in your position as a bishop. And since you’re a goldsmith, it’s not a great job, so there’s no reason for the imperial family to reject your request.”
Bishop Berkis was also convinced to some extent, so I began to nod my head alone.
“It is. My breath is not that small, so even the imperial family won’t turn away. No. The moment you turn away, it’s a big deal. Because you said you looked down on me.”
“I will do my best for you, Bishop, so first of all, please make me and my brother Joshua goldsmiths. Then I will solve the problem with the guild leader here.”