Darkstone Code-Chapter 758 - 0756 The move I made, you can’t guess.
Lynch, facing these nobles, spoke confidently without any stage fright. Though he might not be the youngest, he was not far off in age.
In facing those older than him, with higher social status, he never saw them as stronger than himself in any way.
His gaze upon these people was like looking at ordinary people by the roadside, making no distinction, which gave him a special demeanor, an aura, leading others to instinctively take his words seriously.
"For example...", he gestured casually towards the direction of the Imperial Palace, "the power struggle between the Prime Minister and His Majesty actually has nothing to do with people like us."
"Whether it’s the Prime Minister or His Majesty, once they have power, will they share a portion of it with one of you, or even each one of you?"
No answer was needed for this question, everyone knew it was impossible. The Prime Minister or the Emperor would only place their confidants in key positions, definitely not these fringe nobles.
It was the truth, and their expressions turned somewhat grim.
"So, if we isolate this matter, we’re just bystanders. Whether the Prime Minister wins or loses, it doesn’t concern us, so why should we actively choose to stand on his side?"
"He lowers the Gafura Financial Index just because it serves his interests. He wants the Minister of Finance out of the Secretariat, so he needs to create a ’history’. He is not doing it for us to earn more money."
"Therefore, in my view, it doesn’t matter who wins or loses. What matters is who can give us more benefits, tangible benefits."
"Even if we choose to stand on His Majesty’s side!"
He set down his glass, with a face amused by seeing through everything, "The future can’t be eaten as food, only the power in hand can. We shouldn’t act for now, and wait for them to compete fiercely, then they’ll come to win us over." 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂
"At that time, whoever offers a higher price, we’ll stand on their side!"
If the great nobles in the Secretariat knew about Lynch’s views, they’d surely say he has no sense of shame, wavering on such major matters, seeing only self-interest, a sheer opportunist.
However, Lynch wasn’t afraid of them knowing; instead, if they spread his words, it would actually help in later negotiations with the Prime Minister or the Emperor—he could be bought.
After a moment to let everyone think, Lynch spoke again.
As soon as he opened his mouth, the room quieted down again.
"The situation won’t change much next, but there’s something I need you to do...", most of the nobles around showed little resistance in their eyes.
They were nobles and didn’t need to be too smart themselves, as long as there were smart people around.
The enthusiastic young Count nodded vigorously, and Lynch suddenly felt that even if he asked to be his father at that moment, he would agree.
Of course, such a thought was just absurd, like lightning, illuminated for a moment, then vanished.
He regained his focus and carefully instructed, "I need you to take loans from the Royal Bank of Gafura, noble banks potentially linked to the Minister of Finance, and civilian banks."
"I know nobles have privileges and can avoid interest for certain periods. I ask you to borrow as much money as possible, and if they require collateral, give them the collateral."
"Mortgage your houses, cars, everything that can be mortgaged, don’t be afraid."
Lynch glanced at a few seemingly uncomfortable nobles, smiled and reassured them, "I’m not asking you to use that money for anything. All you need to do is borrow it from the banks and then bring it back to your homes."
"Don’t give the money to me, the Prime Minister, or anyone, just keep it at your homes. After a month, return it to the bank."
"We only need to borrow for a month, a month will be enough!"
There was a mischievous glint of Schadenfreude in Lynch’s smiling eyes. Some nobles still did not understand why Lynch was doing this, but they felt it was seemingly acceptable.
If Lynch wanted to embezzle the money, they wouldn’t lend it at all, but Lynch wasn’t using the money, and it would remain under their control, returning it to the bank after a month without interest, leaving them no burden.
Worried about robbery?
Please, this is Gafura’s mainland. It might take the Police Station three to five months to catch a robbery of an ordinary person, but to rob a noble, if the criminal isn’t shot dead on the spot, they might face execution within three to five days.
Touching one noble means touching all nobles, unlike the Federation’s societal form.
In the Federation, capitalists only add insult to injury to other distressed capitalists (not helping them but taking the opportunity to attack and seize wealth), doing nothing is already considered their mercy.
But in Gafura, this cannot happen. Nobles may fight bitterly among themselves, yet no one else can cross the social class to challenge them in any form.
After Lynch’s instructions, everyone quickly left to calculate how much their assets could be mortgaged for, then went to the banks to borrow the money.
Because Lynch didn’t ask everyone to keep the matter confidential, and since the actions of these people couldn’t be concealed at this time—they always have to go to the bank to borrow money, and the bank’s relationships are very complex, at this special time, someone will surely notice the actions of these people.
So, on the afternoon of the second day after they gathered and chatted, the Prime Minister became aware of this matter.
"You mean... Lynch let them go to major banks to take out loans?" The Prime Minister first frowned and put down his pen. These past two days, he was busy forming his own team and hadn’t noticed the movements of Lynch and his group of marginal nobles.
Upon suddenly hearing such news, the first thought that flashed through his mind was that these people intended to take advantage of the power struggle between him and His Majesty the Emperor to make a huge "war fortune."
In that moment, a wave of anger grew within the Prime Minister, thinking that although they indeed intended to drive down the financial index, to so brazenly profit from this seems rather unseemly, doesn’t it?
"I understand...," he responded unhappily. Once he took power, he would certainly bleed these minor nobles dry, making them pay back with interest.
But just as he was about to continue his work, lifting his pen, dropping it on the paper, when an ink drop spread on the paper, he suddenly froze.
"So that’s it?!" His eyes slightly widened, and he understood.
The Prime Minister had adequate political thinking capacity, and in that moment, he suddenly realized that Lynch wasn’t having those minor nobles borrow money to continue shorting the financial index but was instead assisting him!
The idea seemed somewhat unbelievable; how could borrowing money from banks influence the outcome of his power struggle with His Majesty the Emperor?
Yet, in a flash of insight, he realized that Lynch could indeed achieve that.
The more he thought about it, the more excited he became, grasping that flicker of insight and delving deeper, so excited that he couldn’t help but stand up, pacing back and forth before the desk, the more he thought, the clearer Lynch’s intentions became.
The Minister of Finance needed to boost the Gafura Financial Index to stabilize his current power. This way, the Prime Minister and the Emperor wouldn’t continue to spark political conflicts over fiscal control.
To boost the Gafura Financial Index, money was indispensable, and lots of it!
Actually, pushing the index up is simple: it’s all about buying, buying, buying.
No matter how others sell, just keep buying. As long as the prices rise, those jittery small investors, fearful and constantly on edge, will become more daring under the influence of greed.
They won’t continue to sell but will choose to watch, which provides room for the index to rise.
The logic is simple, but the problem is, where does the money come from?
It’s not easy to extract money from the nobles; even the Prime Minister himself knows this well. If the nobles put up money for his power struggle, he not only has to pay them back the money they provided but also compensate them doubly.
Moreover, even if the Minister of Finance manages to hold onto power, his influence in the next five to ten years won’t be good. Most of his close allies would be demoted or punished, key positions filled with other people’s personnel, and he would be sidelined.
The nobles wouldn’t lend him money. If he wanted to boost the stock, he’d have to borrow from banks instead.
He had many assets, some passed down for hundreds of years, along with a large number of artworks, which he could mortgage to banks to borrow money and boost the index.
Once the situation stabilized in the future, he wouldn’t just avoid losses but could profit, and after selling his stocks, repaying the loans, there might even be a surplus.
Of course, that’s the ideal scenario.
But what if it’s not ideal?
For instance... what if the banks run out of money!
Right, if the banks run out of funds, and a large number of nobles are borrowing money from them, dare the banks refuse?
Among them, many nobles are themselves bank shareholders; would the banks disregard even their own shareholders?
Bank money is finite, and as long as funds can’t be gathered domestically in a short time, the Minister of Finance is doomed!
Understanding this point, the Prime Minister slammed his fist hard and immediately picked up the phone to voice his thoughts and demands.
The contents were roughly the same as Lynch’s suggestions. He instructed all nobles on his side to borrow as much as possible from all banks, leaving not a penny for the Minister of Finance!
Without money, let’s see how you raise the index!
And this, in turn, facilitated the Prime Minister’s desire to meet Lynch as soon as possible.
This is a remarkable young man!
