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Chapter 496 Money shortage
With Hudson's acquiescence, carloads of ordnance were sent to the dock to be loaded and departed.

Since the kingdom's magician group started to clean up the coastal reefs, the smuggling trade has gradually transitioned to the 2.0 era, from the original land smuggling to land and sea.

Compared with traditional land transportation, sea transportation is not only cheaper, but also greatly improved in safety.

It is a customary rule not to attack caravans, but with so many orc tribes, there are always a few who don't follow the rules.

As long as you do it cleanly, the death of a smuggler will be in vain, and no one will stand up for a group of dead people.

The price that needs to be paid is nothing more than the route where accidents often occur, and there will be no more caravans passing by in the future, which is equivalent to an extinct business.

Without a caravan, it would be extremely difficult to purchase supplies. It would be necessary to trade with other orc tribes, and the price would often be higher.

Generally, those who do this kind of thing are small tribes who can't survive.In order to survive, they do everything they can, and they have no time to think about the future.

In contrast, large tribes with stronger risk-resistance capabilities consider more comprehensive issues.For the long-term development of the tribe, it is usually forbidden to rob merchants.

The nimble orc tribes would even take the initiative to cooperate with caravans, open an exchange market on their own territory, attract small nearby tribes to trade, and draw commissions from them.

With the rise of the smuggling trade, in order to facilitate transportation, many smugglers also spontaneously cleared the coastal reefs.

Affected by this, the coastal area, which was not valued by the orcs, suddenly became a place of contention for all ethnic groups.

For their own safety, many smugglers no longer take convoys deep into the inland, but instead choose to transport supplies to coastal areas and directly trade with local tribes.

Some cautious teams even asked to trade at sea.The ship usually stops a few hundred meters along the coast, and after a deal is reached, a small boat is used to transport supplies to land.

In particular, some sensitive commodities have all been diverted to the sea route, and the trade volume of land transportation has shrunk sharply.

As the Beamon clan bordering Xueyue Territory, they naturally became the biggest victims.Originally, he could earn a lot of money just by extracting tolls, but now he can only stare at the scattered caravans in a daze.

As a good neighbor, it stands to reason that there should be trade facilitation.Even if you buy the materials yourself and sell them back, you can make a lot of money.

It's a pity that the Beamon family is suffering just because they are neighbors.Smugglers have no bottom line to seek profit, but they are definitely not fools.

After a little inquiring, you will know Master Hudson's policy towards orcs.Due to the need for long-distance and short-term attack, the Beamon family has never been the object of support.

What ordinary smugglers know, the kingdom intelligence organization knows even more.So much so that the little friends who challenged the four royal families were able to buy armaments at high prices, but the Behemoth clan didn't get any hair.

"What's going on, didn't you ask you to contact the human race caravan?
Could it be that Bimon took advantage of it again, forcing the gang of smugglers to stop doing business! "

Butzweig demanded sharply.

The decline of land trade is also directly related to the policies implemented by the Meng family before.

The Behemoths whose thinking is stuck in the previous era, take it for granted that as long as they occupy the main traffic routes, they can make a lot of money.

After the migration, the Beamon clan directly imposed a 50.00% tax in kind on the caravan, which was later protested by other races in the orc empire and forced to reduce it to 20.00%.

On this basis, Beamon, who is in charge of execution, often asks for a favor fee.

As a smuggler, what you do is to hang your head on your waist.They don't even want to pay Master Hudson's tax, let alone pay Beamon's tax.

High taxes + unsafe routes directly promote the vigorous development of maritime smuggling trade.

After the number of passing caravans decreased, the income of the Beamon family also decreased sharply at a speed visible to the naked eye.

As a last resort, Butzweig could only purge the interior and forbid Beamon from exploiting business travelers in private.

"Patriarch, the situation is different this time. We have contacted the heads of several family caravans, and none of them are in the arms business.

It is said that the Alpha Kingdom has strengthened the control of weapons, and inspections will be carried out every time they leave the customs. Small batches of smuggling are okay, but large quantities cannot be shipped out at all.

Even though we promised huge profits, these guys still didn't pick up.As if this is killing them! "

Elias complained helplessly.

It is too difficult to select a few management talents for a race where all the people are soldiers.

Elias is a tall man pulled out of a short man, responsible for managing the internal government affairs of the Beamon clan, and also supervising foreign trade.

It sounds awesome, but it's actually not that powerful.In the tribal era, each tribe was self-governing, and Elias actually managed the headquarters.

Among the many orc races, the Beamon clan, which used to be the royal family, still ranks high in terms of weapons and equipment.

It's a pity that no matter how thick the foundation is, it can't stand that weapons are consumables.Just daily training, the loss of ordnance is not small.

Losing his royal status, he no longer has his share in the weapons produced within the orc empire, so he can only find a way from the human caravan.

In fact, even if there is a share, it is useless.His own smelting technology is not good enough, and if he wants to build weapons and equipment, he has to smuggle iron ingots from the human race.

In order to pass the checkpoint, smugglers usually turn iron ingots into daily necessities such as pots and pans, and then send them to the orcs for smelting.

"Small batches, small batches!
According to the order, all caravans that sell weapons to us can get corresponding tax relief.

Under the reward, there must be a brave man.

As long as the interests are big enough, those smugglers will find a way to get us weapons.Now is not the time to care about benefits! "

Butzweig said helplessly.

Knowing that he was being targeted, there was nothing he could do.With the relationship between the Alpha Kingdom and the Beastman Empire, it is quite normal to block them.

At the critical moment of fighting for the position of the royal family, he didn't want to provoke a border conflict and cause trouble for himself.

……

Xueyue leader, Hudson, who is closely watching the situation in the prairie, has already sensed the smell of gunpowder.

Under the trend of interests, two camps emerged in the orc empire.It's a pity that these races are not material for conspiracy, and they are linking up with each other with great fanfare, for fear that the four royal families will not find out.

It seems that the team is expanding and the situation is good, but unfortunately the internal conflicts in the group are also intensifying.

Standing together temporarily for the common benefit, no one knows how the future will develop.

Intuition tells Hudson that the four royal families will inevitably take action to fight back.

It is not clear whether it is to use thunderous means to single out the unlucky ones to make an example of others, or to use political means to divide and disintegrate.

The internal situation of the Orc Empire is tense, and the military pressure in the Near East has been greatly reduced.The Behemoths, who were busy with internal strife, didn't even bother to cause trouble for the kingdom.

The rare period of peace created favorable conditions for the development of the Near East.Some bold nobles have brought immigrants to start building fiefdoms.

As the leader of the nobles in the Near East, Hudson naturally couldn't let everyone down, and also developed several pastures.

Forget about farmland for the time being, it is more economically valuable to develop animal husbandry in sparsely populated areas.

In case the situation is not right, it is also convenient for strategic transfer.Directly turning livestock into military rations will not lose much.

After the fermentation of time, the originally inconspicuous Near East Development Bank has become the most eye-catching cub.

It was originally agreed that the three branches would start business at the same time, but the end result was that the Xueyueling branch was "overcrowded", and there was an endless stream of customers queuing up for approval, while the response from the other two branches was mediocre.

Hudson also knew the reason. It was nothing more than a year after the end of the war, and the nobles had already passed the most difficult time.

There may be some nobles who are short of money for emergency, but most of the nobles have raised funds through their personal connections to tide over the difficulties.

Traditional aristocrats don't like to toss, they are all engaged in ancient agricultural production, and there are not many projects that require investment.

As long as there are no catastrophic years, wars, and other major changes, basically there will be no need for funds.

After carrying out the loan business for more than two months, the Wangdu Branch has undertaken a total of 36 transactions and issued a loan of 20 gold coins.

Among them, 33 businesses were all nobles, and only three businesses were merchant loans.

It's not that the merchants in the capital are not short of money, but that those who are short of money cannot provide the corresponding collateral.

Obviously, under the ancient ruling system of aristocrats and lords, the development speed of industry, commerce and manufacturing in the continent of Aslant was very slow.

In addition, banks are new things, and the instinct of human nature is to reject unfamiliar things.Even if you are short of money, you may not dare to come to the door for a loan.

The situation in the Shandi Ling branch was even better, with a total of 140 seven loans issued, with a total amount of 86 gold coins, and the customers were all noble lords.

If you don't consider the network foundation, this performance is already very beautiful.It's a pity that the business of the Shandiling branch is all directed at Hudson's name.

Having dealt with each other, everyone knew enough about the Koslow family to think that Hudson would not cheat them for eight thousand gold coins.

Even if the bank has a scam, everyone is related to each other, and if there is a problem later, you can still find a middleman to make peace.

The performance of the two branches was not as good as expected, but it does not mean that they are not making money. At least there are more than 1 gold coins in interest income per month on the books, which successfully covered the bank's operating costs.

Xueyueling branch has the highest performance, with a total of 310 four loans issued, with a total amount of 180 million gold coins.

There are still hundreds of loans under review. Almost all the nobles in the Near East and most of the lords in the northern border have submitted loan applications to the Near East Development Bank.

It's like earning money when you get a loan. When noble lords borrow money, if they can borrow more, no one will borrow less.

All of them applied for top qualifications. If he hadn't personally reviewed the identity of the customers, Hudson would have wondered whether his bank had encountered a "loan gang".

Of the more than 300 loans, more than one-fifth were taken out by members of the Koslow family.Unknowingly, the Koslow family has taken root in the Near East and northern borders.

For the remaining more than 200 loans, customers can also have a relationship with him.Either it is old relatives and friends, or the old department in the past, the main business is acquaintance business.

The money lent out is flowing like water, but the new deposits are not optimistic.In the past two months, the cumulative increase in deposits in the three major branches was only 100 million gold coins.

Being able to have this number is entirely the result of policy guidance.Thanks to the regulations on the transfer and payment of bulk commodities in the territory, merchants have opened bank accounts to deposit money.

"The business of Wangdu Branch and Shandiling Branch needs to be further explored and expanded, which will be an important basis for the bank to fight against risks.

The situation of Xueyue Ling is special, there is no shortage of loan customers at all, and the focus of follow-up work is to absorb savings.

The Near East is a financial black hole that can swallow any amount of money.The loans we issued in the early stage can only be regarded as trial operations.

With the development of the territory, the funding gap faced by these noble lords will only increase.

Even if the quota of 1000 million gold coins is taken out, it will be swept away by the nobles outside immediately.

At present, the turnover of bank funds is not high enough.From the data point of view, for every loan of [-] gold coins issued, [-] gold coins will be withdrawn within a month.

We have to add more subsidiary businesses and reduce this extraction ratio, preferably within 30%.

As long as the gold coins are piled up in the warehouse, we are not afraid of the risk of a run, and the business can continue to expand.

With the cooperation of the Ministry of Government Affairs, if necessary, it can introduce a hidden favorable policy to guide the smugglers to deposit their money in the bank.

In the future, the tax and budget revenue and expenditure of the territory will also be transferred directly from the bank.

Including the payment of government project funds, you can also choose to transfer money, or settle with a gold ticket, allowing them to withdraw money from the bank by themselves.

For a single account, the daily withdrawal limit is 20 gold coins; for large withdrawals of more than 100 gold coins, make an appointment five days in advance; for huge withdrawals of more than [-] gold coins, notify one month in advance; for withdrawals of more than [-] million gold coins, three months in advance notify.

Rudolph, you have a big task ahead.In addition to ensuring the normal operation of the bank, it is also necessary to maximize the bank's performance as much as possible.

This year's book gross profit, we must achieve 50 gold coins, and the net profit must be guaranteed at 20 gold coins. "

Hudson ordered without changing his expression.

The request was not made by him randomly. As an emerging industry, banking enjoys a lot of dividends of the times.

In addition to the leading business model, the key is that there is no tax.Both the Mountain Territory and the Xueyue Territory belong to Hudson, and whether to collect taxes depends entirely on his mood.

As for the Wangdu branch, the outside world doesn't know how profitable the bank is, and there are many branches operating together, so everyone doesn't know how to distribute the profits.

If it is the business of ordinary people, it is estimated that taxation will be enough.But as Hudson, the marshal of the kingdom, it is also under the banner of raising funds for the development of the Near East, so that the tax department of the royal capital dare not act rashly.

After all, lending out the loan is not profit, it is getting it back.

This kind of long-term, superimposed high-risk business model in the Near East, whether it can make money or not, outsiders simply don't understand.

At present, only three outlets have been opened, mainly due to the lack of talents.As long as the manpower is sufficient, Hudson does not mind laying outlets in every major city in the kingdom.

"Duke, it's easy to increase the bank's book profits, all you need to do is increase the loan amount.

However, it is somewhat difficult to absorb reserves on a large scale.It's not that the smugglers don't buy it, but that they don't have enough cash in their hands.

In the last war, the Orc Empire did not grab enough wealth.In the trade with the kingdom, their currency has been outflowing.

The output of the mine alone is not enough to make up for this hole.The current orc empire has returned to the traditional era of bartering.

The smugglers came back with a full load every time, but what they harvested was real goods, which needed to be transported back to the kingdom for sale.

According to our observations, in the recent period, the prices of many commodities in the Kingdom have declined to varying degrees, especially the special products of the Orc Empire.

Especially in the past two months, many smuggling caravans have returned with cattle, sheep and horses.In the past, they both disdain to sell low-margin goods. "

As soon as Rudolph finished speaking, Jacob went on to add:
"Duke, what Rudolph said is right. The economy of the Orc Empire is indeed in trouble now.

Years of battles have exhausted this ancient empire.If the current situation continues, the future trade prospects may not be optimistic.

The fact that smugglers sell cattle, sheep and livestock is actually caused by our wanting to develop animal husbandry and buying livestock on the market.

It is not only the orc empire that is in trouble, but also the kingdom.

Judging from the collected data, the Ministry of Government Affairs believes that the kingdom's economy has also experienced problems.The Kingdom was also at a disadvantage in trade with the countries of the South.

Coupled with the aftermath of the war, in order to repay international debts, the Kingdom paid a large amount of gold and silver to various countries.

The rapid decline in prices after the war may not only be due to changes in supply and demand, but also because there are not enough gold and silver circulating on the market.

This is reflected everywhere.As a new development zone, Xueyueling's performance is more obvious.

The crisis did not break out, largely due to the emergence of the Near East Development Bank.Whether it is a transfer transaction or the golden tickets we issue, they all play the role of currency to a certain extent.

However, this was limited to New Moon Port. In some remote aristocratic territories of the kingdom, the ancient bartering method also appeared.

Similar money shortage crises often occurred in the history of the kingdom.After almost every orc invasion, there will be accompanying appearances. "

Hearing "money shortage", Hudson frowned instantly.He had been faintly aware of this problem since the last orc invasion.

It's just that the situation at that time was far from as serious as it is now.Even if the kingdom had to repay a huge amount of foreign debt, it would not be paid in one go.

The era that was supposed to restore vitality encountered a continental war.The sky-high price of strategic materials once again led to a large outflow of the kingdom's wealth.

After the war ended, the crisis began to slowly brew.The smuggling trade with the orc empire alleviated the kingdom's money shortage crisis to a certain extent.

With the launch of the Near East development strategy, a large amount of funds were swallowed up by the land of the Near East, and the crisis of "money shortage" hit the kingdom again.

(End of this chapter)