I Became A Black Merchant In Another World-Chapter 398: Money can even summon ghosts (2)

We often compare money to blood.

Just as a person’s body dies when blood stops circulating, because it is not supplied with oxygen, a company or a country cannot engage in economic activity and dies when money is not supplied.

Therefore, when the national economy is at a standstill or is about to slow down, the government responds by increasing the money supply through quantitative easing, like transfusing blood to someone who is lacking blood.

So, what would happen if a huge sum of 700,000 gold coins suddenly disappeared from the Sforza family?

“Are you planning to kill me?!”

Although he inherited the ducal position through inheritance, I guess he didn’t win the ducal position through poker or baduk.

If 700,000 gold coins disappear from the Sforza family, the ducal family will die.

Of course, unlike people who are certain to die if they lose 1 liter of blood at once, a family close to a hereditary corporation and local government does not stop functioning just because a lot of money disappears.

But something worse than death would happen.

Losing a few mines, some of the land, and all sorts of economic interests, or rather, if the Sforza family were to become my vassals, I would feel so sorry that I would want to kick the soles of my shoes.

‘Will a disaster happen that would make Germany envious right after its defeat in World War I?’

“Why should I kill you? I’ll just pressure you to pay back 700,000 gold coins. What power would a mere viscount have to take aim at one of the only two ducal families in the empire? I want to live a long life. That way, I can live comfortably with my wives.”

“Fabio de Rothschild! Are you really going to play a joke with me?” “If you point a knife at the Duke, you will be punished for blasphemy, but how can you apply blasphemy if you follow proper debt collection procedures according to imperial law? This is not a play on words, but a discussion of what is and is not permissible in the empire.”

If you drive someone to suicide, you will be punished for instigating suicide.

If you use your power to make a subordinate choose ‘voluntary death,’ you will be punished for murder by hierarchy, and if you continue to harass them and make them commit suicide, you may be punished for murder depending on the case.

However, even if a loan shark legitimately auctions off all of the assets and forces the debtor into an environment where he or she has no choice but to die, he or she did not use ‘violence’ or ‘swearing’...

The debtor commits suicide? Then the police will investigate, but he or she will usually be released as innocent.

Needless to say, in the Tuscan Empire, where loan sharks are several times more lenient than 21st century Korea, The Duke of Sforza’s expression changed to Munch’s scream.

He froze with his mouth wide open and his eyes wide open.

Yes, I came here on purpose to see this kind of reaction.

It’s just a side effect of the original purpose, but it’s really thrilling to see this kind of reaction.

“It would also be fun to completely destroy your political enemies and their faction.”

The Duke of Sforza knelt down.

In the Tuscan Empire, where even a duke, no, a baron, or even a knight would never kneel before the emperor, the duke would kneel before a mere viscount.

I shouldn’t have such bad and dirty thoughts, but...

‘It’s more humiliating than a bitch who is not a woman but a female, taking off all her clothes and doing a naked doggy.’

At that moment, as soon as that thought came to mind, I suddenly wanted to erase a part of my memory.

If I could buy the moment I didn’t think that with money, I’d be willing to pay 50,000 gold coins.

Ha, when I get home, I’ll ask Erica to play that game just once so that I can overwrite this memory with a good one...

“Sal, just let me live! Please, just let me live! I’ll do anything if you just let me live! If you ask me to give you all my daughters, I’ll give you the countship if you ask me to give you the fiefdom, and if there’s anything else you need, I’ll give you anything... Please, please just let me live!”

If I were a beginner, or a mastermind with a little lack of skill, I’d probably tell him how to live by now.

Having inherited the commercial know-how and wisdom of the British Empire, I’m not satisfied with this.

As a certain apple man once said,

‘stay foolish, stay hungry.’

Yes, I’m not satisfied with this.

“No, your Majesty. If I just collect the debt legally and formally file a complaint with the Imperial Diet and the High Court, it would be possible to make the Sforza Dukes a noble family of the robe. Why do I have to negotiate like that?”

“...... Save, save, please save...”

The Duke’s face turned pale.

He almost looked like a corpse.

That’s right, people should be kind.

If I had sent a sanitary inspector to save the territory from the plague, how could I have mobilized the church to extort money for a small fee?

“Oh, and after thinking about it carefully, the interest on the principal of the Sforza family’s debt is 400,000 gold coins every year. I’m sorry, but instead of collecting 700,000 gold coins in one go, it would be better to collect every single one of the interest coins without fail. And here, the unpaid interest is 1.2 million gold coins, so I’ll add interest to that too. Then, let’s see, you only need to pay about 1 million gold coins every year.”

When a merchant lends money to a noble, it’s actually close to offering money as a ‘bribe.’

The market interest rate is 50%, but lending a noble a 10% loan is considered a private illegal gift in the 21st century.

And they don’t even collect that interest because they want to save face and all.

When the family falls, they take all the money. When the family is healthy, they receive a moderate amount of benefits, and when they have a desire to rise in status or want to take a noble lady as their wife, they end it at the level of receiving a concubine's daughter.

But I don't need to be concerned about the Duke of Sforza like that...

I have the right to receive the full amount of money written on the documents for generations.

"And let's see, in accordance with Article 167, Paragraphs 1, 2, and 3 of the Imperial Commercial Code, I will dispatch an accountant from the Rothschild Company to your family, the debtor, to investigate whether the debt can be repaid."

"Are you trying to completely destroy our family?"

"What problem could there ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) be with someone as upright and innocent as yours? Just undergo an investigation."

By the way, there is no such thing as an upright noble.

That has been proven scientifically, in physics, economics, and so on.

There is a pastor named Stefano Luther in the Holy Empire, who could become a noble whenever he wanted, but who lives with integrity and innocence itself.

He is a walking god-like miracle that Deus himself saved, so let’s exclude him.

I clapped my hands once.

“If it were normal, it would be like this, but isn’t the situation outside the Tuscan Empire too chaotic right now? If Duke Sforza’s family and faction are shaken in such a situation, the empire could be in danger. I will step back.”

Now that the threats, no, gentlemanly conversation is over, let’s get to the point.

“This is a contract. If you just write this, there will be no damage to the family.”

“Really?!”

Duke Sforza read the contract with a big smile.

Every time he read the contract, his pupils trembled and his hands trembled.

That’s probably because the contents written there are roughly like this.

The current Viscount Rothschild and his legitimate successor can directly or indirectly advise the Sforza Dukes and their factions on debt repayment and financial soundness. If they do not accept this advice, the Rothschilds can demand debt repayment.

2. Those belonging to the Sforza Dukes and their factions must receive advice and review from the Rothschilds before proposing bills or various administrative agendas to the Imperial Diet to determine whether they may have a negative economic impact on each family.

3. The Sforza Dukes will not reject reasonable proposals from the Rothschilds (except in cases where they are directly detrimental to the family) and will respond to them as much as possible. This is the minimum they can do to fulfill their obligation to the Rothschilds for suspending compulsory collection and interest accrual on debts. 4. If a problem arises when the merchants licensed by the Rothschild Company and the Counts of Rothschild do business in an area under the influence of the Duke of Sforza, the decision will be made through an agreement between the representative dispatched by the Counts of Rothschild and the judge in charge of the area.

5. This treaty will be valid until the debt is completely repaid, and if the Duke of Sforza violates the above treaty, the Counts of Rothschild will have the authority to prosecute him for default in the Imperial Court.

6. In the name of the Almighty and All-Knowing Deus, the Counts of Rothschild and the Dukes of Sforza will observe this contract until the end of the world.

This contract was created by appropriately squeezing together various unequal treaties that I remember.

Unlike modern contracts, it includes the words human duty and Deus, but this is an appropriate modification to fit the times.

Duke Visconti, who succeeded the Dukes of Sforza.

Even Erica, the youngest daughter of the family, felt sorry for Sforza after seeing this.

She must know very well how evil the contract is.

Still, I believe she will understand since it is her retribution.

“Sign it. If you don’t, I will begin collecting your debt.”

Duke Sforza signed the contract while crying in front of me.

“Let’s get along well from now on.”