Reborn Dragon Vein Warlock, Genius Beauty Mage

The two parties first chatted nonsense about the weather and magical disasters, and then got down to business. This is the etiquette of the nobles. Although it has no practical meaning, it must be done every time.

Hereditary Honorary Count Mikita d'Este gave a detailed account of the situation in the Lower Iberian Kingdom and his visit as envoy to purchase grain.

For such a major matter, just tell the truth. There is no need to hide anything, otherwise it will be a shame for the kingdom if it is found out later. Besides, in this world of divine arts and magic, who knows which mage next door secretly casts the "detect lie" spell, so lying is even more pointless.

In fact, he was right. Carlottani used "Detect Lies" when he first entered the door, but Count Esther was not a legal professional and could not feel it.

Count Este finally said: "Count Stuart, King Alfonso is very worried about the situation of the refugees and hopes to get help from you."

Christine said: "I am also a noble of the Kingdom of Iberia. It is my duty to share the king's worries. I can sell food."

Count Este was overjoyed after hearing this. He did not expect that the other party would agree so simply. He hurriedly said: "Count Stuart, what a great act of kindness you have done! On behalf of King Alfonso and the nobles of the kingdom, I would like to thank you for your generosity and kindness." kindness!"

Christine certainly has her reasons for doing this. The situation for spring plowing this year is not good, and as the evil disaster continues, the number of refugees will continue to increase, which means that the entire continent will face famine. The church cannot allow its believers to starve to death. If the king cannot solve the problem, the church will take action.

At that time, Kristen would not be able to keep the food in her hands, so she might as well take advantage of this time to sell it at a good price. In fact, it's not just her, but other nobles who have grain in their hands are also like this. It's just that she has too much grain in her hands and needs to find a big customer to sell it.

Christine asked again: "Count Este, how much food does King Alfonso want to buy?"

"The more the merrier, we will buy as much as you can sell."

"Count Esther, you should know what the current price of food is, and you must also know how much food I have. I will sell it to you at the market price. You can tell me the number."

Before the disaster, the price of food, especially rye, was not expensive. But now it has increased twenty times, and the price is still high but there is no market. What King Alfonso wants to buy is not just a pound or two, but enough grain to feed two counties. This will be a sky-high price.

Although the king is very rich, he is just like the boss of a large company. His assets may be tens of billions but he does not have much liquidity. What's more important is that the demonic disaster has been going on for a year and a half now. In order to fight against the demon, we have spent a lot of money, and there are not many gold coins left.

So it is certain that King Alfonso has money to buy food, but it is impossible to say that he has enough money to buy enough food.

The Kingdom of Iberia had already made a plan for this matter. Count Ester said: "Count Stewart, we can pay part of the gold coins and offset the rest with jewelry and art."

Kristine asked: "Offset according to the current market price?"

"Uh." Count Esther was speechless after being asked.

Antiques from prosperous times and gold from troubled times, along with evil disasters, these works of art are worthless at all.

A fountain sculpture by a famous master may be worth hundreds of gold coins, but no one can take it with him when he flees, and no one wants it if he leaves it there. A famous painting may be worth thousands of gold coins, but if its size exceeds two meters and it is difficult to carry it with a belt, who will buy it even if it is taken away? An exquisite necklace may be worth nearly a hundred gold coins, but now it is only worth a few gold coins because it is made of gold.

Of course, King Alfonso hopes to offset it according to the original price. After all, everyone knows that the disaster will be over in two years at most. By then, these jewelry and works of art will have increased in value. In fact, Christine will not lose money.

But this kind of thing must be recognized by both parties. If Christine acquiesces, it will be fine, but now that she has made it clear, the Iberian Kingdom has no choice but to give up this idea.

Don't tell me how valuable these collections of yours are. In short, I only collect gold coins. You can sell the things first and exchange them for gold coins and then come to me to trade.

"Earl Stewart, if you allow it, we can sign a debt agreement and pay you the corresponding interest."

"How many years will it take to pay it off?"

"Three years."

"According to the interest rate of the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce?"

"Uh." Count Esther was speechless again.

The Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce under the Goddess of Wealth Church is the largest lending organization on the mainland. They can borrow no matter how much you borrow, but the corresponding interest rate is very high. After all, the money they loaned was raised privately from other nobles, and they also had to pay interest to others.

If according to this standard, the interest for three years is by no means a small amount, and King Alfonso cannot guarantee that he can pay it back on time.

After the demonic disaster is over, the jewelry and artwork are indeed valuable again. He can sell them to others in exchange for gold coins to repay the debt, but what if he doesn't sell enough? Therefore, the higher the total amount of debt that needs to be repaid, the greater the risk. Once a debt default occurs, the credibility of the Kingdom of Iberia will be ruined.

Of course, the king would not lose money to himself. He just put the money to buy grain in advance.

Buying back grain is definitely not giving it to civilians for free. It is sold to you at market prices. It doesn't matter if you don't have money now. You can pay it back slowly in the future, including interest of course. The price of food is now twenty times higher, and it will definitely fall back after the disaster is over. The common people will probably have to repay this debt throughout their lives.

But the problem is that now King Alfonso can't even afford the advance payment. Apart from the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce, there is no way to borrow such an amount of funds. And if you go to the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce, what's the difference between that and the money you owe Christine? The interest is the same.

Since Christine wanted to sell grain, she would not let the business go to waste, so she said: "Count Este, King Alfonso may have forgotten the simplest method of payment."

Count Este asked in confusion: "The simplest way to pay? What is it?"

"land."

Count d'Este was shocked when he heard this.

Land is the lifeblood of a noble. Unless they are desperate, no noble will sell their land. For nobles, they can die but their land cannot be lost. After all, if they die, the family will still be there, but if the land is gone, the family will collapse.

King Alfonso promised a village in return for which Count d'Este would sacrifice himself. The money spent to buy grain was a huge sum of money, and it would not be a small amount of land in exchange for it. It was absolutely impossible for the king to cede such an area of ​​land.

Christine's proposal of this method was naturally not without purpose. She said: "Count Esther, you can convey my next words to King Alfonso and let him make the decision."