industrial lord

Chapter 762 Please Help Me
"You're finally back."

Count Pistor almost burst into tears when he saw Frederick.

Frederick did not enter Hammam, but went to his farm outside the city and grilled meat skewers over a charcoal fire in his winter house.

He handed Pisto a skewer of grilled beef and said, "Here, let's eat and talk."

Pisto sat down by the charcoal stove, took a skewer of beef, and remarked, "I thought I was going to die this time."

He took a bite of meat and a sip of wine, saying as he ate, "We've suffered a huge loss this time. We couldn't even hold onto the Hongshuiche Village fortress. Our supply line was too long."

"Fortunately, the fortress sold for a good price; the Kingdom of Danma traded it for a castle."

Frederick already knew about this. That place, together with Stork Harbor and Hawthorn Village, formed a triangle, allowing them to support each other, which was quite good.

"Who got that castle?" he asked the crucial question.

According to the rules, Redwaterwheel Village is the territory of the Duchy of Bain. Now, whether this castle is given to the Rhine Alliance or to the Duchy of Bain makes a fundamental difference.

Pistor replied, "Naturally, it's for the Duchy of Bain."

Frederick nodded; in that respect, the Duchy of Bain had made a huge profit.

In this war, apart from the Duchy of Wessen occupying Storkport and the Duchy of Mainz occupying Hawthorn Village, the Rhine Alliance lost everything. Losing lives was not the main problem; the real problem was that they also borrowed a large sum of money, which their heirs had to repay.

This is Frederick's most pressing problem right now.

There are many minor and medium-sized nobles, and those who borrow money are all large-scale merchants. Both of them are the main consumers of the products of the Duchy of Wesen.

Now that the war investment has failed and investors have lost everything, consumption will inevitably decline, the sales volume of the Duchy of Wesen will suffer, and tax revenue will also be affected.

Not to mention the losses incurred by the Duchy of Wesen this time, hiring mercenaries cost them a lot of gold coins, and the port of Stork will not be able to recoup its costs in a short period of time.

Frederick was worried about money when Pisto said, "Many families have lost money this time. Can you help them?"

“Sigh…” Frederick sighed helplessly, “I’ve invested a lot this time, but I’m broke.”

He was speechless. These two were acting like they were some kind of money-giving angels.

Getting married next year will cost a lot of money, and then the "Maria Project" will cost another lot of money. We might end up in a deficit.

Pistor said, "If you don't have enough money, just print it out."

Frederick blinked. Good heavens, aren't you afraid of spending 500,000 "Western dollars" on a single loaf of bread?
He thought about it for a moment and realized that Pisto wasn't afraid at all, because he had no idea that such a thing would happen.

Inspirational articles often say that a crisis is also an opportunity.

Frederick didn't answer immediately, but instead ate his kebabs and began to think carefully.

Pistor felt a little nervous; he carried the weight of everyone's mission and didn't ask for much.

Because war brings huge profits but also great risks, the interest on these debts is very high. Now that they have lost everything and are facing risks, it will be difficult to repay them.

Therefore, most people's idea was to borrow low-interest loans from Frederick to pay off the high-interest old debts and then gradually pay off the low-interest new debts.

As for not repaying the money, don't even think about it. Unless you reach a certain level of strength, the royal family and those landless nobles in the palace will definitely kill you and then divide up your land and property.

"I don't have that much surplus grain either," Frederick's words made Pistor's heart skip a beat.

“But since everyone is in trouble, I still have to help,” Frederick said, and Pistor’s face lit up with a bright smile. That was enough; how much he helped didn’t matter, as long as the creditors believed that the invincible Duke of Wessen was helping them.

Frederick continued, "I don't have that much money to spare right now. The most I can do is help them repay on time. How much I help them repay is how much I'm lending them. I'll just give them a token amount of interest. If they pay it off early, they can borrow less."

Pisto nodded; that was already quite good.

"But there are some problems."

Frederick's words sent Pisto's heart racing like a rollercoaster.

Pistor thought to himself that it was probably a matter of how to repay him.

“I can only give you banknotes,” Frederick said. “Of course, these banknotes can be used to buy things in the Duchy of Wessen, and can also be used and exchanged at post offices and banks throughout the country.”

"If you can persuade Earl Rank and the others to accept paper money when collecting taxes and then exchange it with me, it will be much easier for me."

He planned to use this opportunity to get the Rhine Union to endorse the banknotes he issued.

This is a risky move; if not handled properly, it could lead to a run on deposits in certain areas, triggering a chain reaction that could affect the Duchy of Wesen.

Fortunately, the post office was in Frederick's hands, and with the Dawn Chamber of Commerce as a support, as long as the circulation was controlled and the two sides cooperated, getting through the beginning would not be a problem.

The final issuance volume will depend on how much gold Lilu can bring back next spring.

As for how to repay the money, Frederick said he would repay it slowly and there was no rush.

If we can establish "Big Head Wei's" credibility this time, we'll have made a profit.

Pistor's understanding of paper money was limited to bearer checks, which seemed fine for paying taxes, especially since some places even levied taxes in kind.

“No problem.” He nodded and said, “Let’s talk to Rank properly and decide to treat it as tax deduction in kind.”

After finishing discussing the main topic, the two started chatting casually.

It was mainly Pistos's constant complaining that allowed Frederick to learn many details about the decision-making process.

He knew that Rudolf had made a big mistake in the breakout. At first, he thought that the enemy was too cunning and had seized the loophole, but it turned out that Rudolf had made a foolish mistake.

"How long do you think it will take us to recover?" Pistor asked. "The country is weak now, and I'm worried that our neighbors are no longer good relatives."

After this battle, apart from the Duchy of Wessen turning the tide and the Duchy of Mainz and the Duchy of Bain performing admirably, the weakness of the other noble families was fully exposed.

The Kingdom of Gaul is no pushover; they now control half of the Kingdom of Taragoza. Although they haven't won completely, they've gained quite a bit of benefit. If they see the Rhine Alliance weakened, they might turn around and take a bite out of them.

“We must be wary of the Kingdom of Gaul,” Frederick said in a deep voice. “Don’t be fooled by the title of Duke of Deer Island they gave me. They’ve set a trap to sow discord between me and the Queen. They left half-used poison in the residence they gave me, claiming that the Queen poisoned my friend.”

"This matter is of great importance, so I haven't said anything about it."

Pisto's expression turned serious.

Previously, diplomatic relations between the Rhine Union and the Kingdom of Gaul had reached a new level, and things seemed to be thriving domestically, so no one was worried about this neighbor.

But now, the Rhine Alliance has suffered a crushing defeat and is severely weakened. The balance of power has shifted, and they may have other intentions.

(End of this chapter)