Pioneer Lord: Starting From Daily Intelligence-Chapter 342 - 154: 20,000 Golden Crown Loan and the Creation of the Mercenary Base
"On the contrary, as far as I know, many wealthy farm owners and workshop owners are willing to provide you with a loan to gain greater influence in the Territory. I am here this time to negotiate on their behalf."
Hearing this, Su Li couldn’t help but laugh and said, "You truly are steadfast in your pursuit of materialism. Whoever offers you benefits, you help implement their demands."
"However, what you mentioned has indeed piqued my interest. The Territory’s merchants and landowners want to give me a loan?"
"Yes." Luo Ou immediately said, "It’s clear that your army’s ratio has already exceeded the carrying capacity of the Territory’s finances. If you want to continue expanding your military and constructing large facilities in the Territory, the finances will certainly be insufficient. The Territory merchants can offer you a considerable loan to help you win this war against the Green Dragon."
Su Li raised an eyebrow and asked, "How much wealth? What’s the loan interest rate?"
"At least 5,000 Golden Crowns, with interest of just 13 Golden Crowns per day."
Su Li laughed and said, "Your interest rate is really exorbitant."
Golden Crowns of interest per day doesn’t seem like much, but in just one year, the interest would exceed their principal! 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦
The Empire’s year is 400 days, and just paying the interest would cost 5,200 Golden Crowns.
An annual interest rate exceeding 100%, this is high usury!
Isn’t this just like the Coin Merchants of the East? Lending to the army for war, and neither the army nor the Emperor can default.
Luo Ou’s thin face showed a sly and satisfied smile. He slightly bowed and said reservedly, "Lord, you know, it’s hardest to collect debts from a Kingdom Knight wielding an army. So it’s only natural that the interest rate is a bit higher."
Su Li also smiled brightly, knowing that an Emperor with the power of life and death is unrivaled in negotiations.
He looked at the two other leaders of the Mercenary Corps and asked, "Do you think I should accept this proposal?"
The two Knights shrugged and said, "This is your Territory’s internal affairs."
"But we think winning is most important. With such a military fund, you could recruit more elite Mercenary Corps and finish off the Green Dragon’s lair earlier. Once you acquire the Dragon Nest Treasure, losing a few hundred Golden Crowns wouldn’t matter, would it?"
"Haha, a few hundred Golden Crowns?" Su Li laughed aloud and said, "Do you have such confidence in me? Ending the war against the Green Dragon in one or two months?"
To be honest, if the cost of a few hundred, even one or two thousand Golden Crowns could swiftly end the war, Su Li wouldn’t hesitate at all.
Given a chance to manage fields, his earnings in one or two months could easily cover these interests.
Every day the war drags on, the Territory loses wealth immeasurably.
Luo Ou decisively seized the topic, continuing, "Of course, the Territory’s merchants are all full of confidence in you. The Green Dragon can never destroy your Territory."
But the Green Dragon can devastate a large portion of the Territory’s wealth, and if the farmlands of Jorn Shallow Bay were burned by monsters, though the Territory may not be destroyed, there would inevitably be a widespread famine.
So Su Li decisively said, "Then you go represent me in negotiations with the merchants. I want at least 20,000 Golden Crowns in the loan, and the interest rate halved."
Luo Ou’s eyes narrowed, focusing on Su Li like a fox, and said, "Lord, this is not an easy task. This negotiation is too unfair to the merchants. They’ve provided four times the loan, and the interest should actually increase by 5 to 8 times. That is, the daily return should be at least 100 to 160 Gold Coins to offset the risk."
Su Li reclined back comfortably against the wide chair back and said, "Luo Ou, it’s time to show your worth. A daily interest of 20 Golden Crowns is enough to entice the merchants. Then go negotiate, and for every 1,000 Golden Crowns that the interest is reduced annually, I’ll give you a reward of 500 Golden Crowns."
Luo Ou immediately straightened up, trembling with excitement, "Haha, I always knew serving you was the right choice. Trust us, Knight Su Li, our Brotherhood will definitely get you a satisfactory result!"
Golden Crowns!
What a substantial amount of wealth.
A caravan braving great risks traveling between the Border Prince’s Territory’s east, west, south, and north might not even earn 500 Golden Crowns in one trip!
Luo Ou felt that this transaction could yield far more than just 500 Golden Crowns.
With 20 Golden Crowns per day, a year’s interest totals 8,000 Golden Crowns.
This profit is definitely enough to tempt most greedy merchants. He could easily continue negotiating downwards, and if he managed to bring it down to 4,000 Golden Crowns, he could earn a vast wealth of 2,000 Golden Crowns!
According to his estimation, the war between Hesse Territory and the Green Dragon wouldn’t last a year, which was also the thought of most people, so the merchants actively lent to Hesse Territory’s Lord, making it a surefire deal.
Even if the war in the Territory ended in three months, their Red Brotherhood could still gain 460 Golden Crowns in wealth.
That’s a scale of wealth they couldn’t earn back by raiding how many times and risking their heads to plunder countless forest bandit tribes.
If they could win this decisive battle with the Territory’s army, the future loot gains combined with this profit, their Red Brotherhood could instantly secure food and drink for a year, and even save up a considerable reward to establish a base in the Hesse Territory.
