Chapter 67 – 6. New Family (7)
The sky was thick with the setting sun and the scarlet sunset. Standing on the edge of the window of his office and admiring the enchanting scene, Rome realized his happiness his today. It was n’t enough that he had acquired Orianne, his wife he adored so much, he had obtained the title of baron, which he had never dared to surpass in his previous life, and literally ten thousand gold.
“Sir Dior, the calculation is over.”
Oriane, sitting at her desk and eagerly scribbling her ledger, put the last number to her mouth her. With her neatly braided hair and relatively loose dress, she had a slightly disheveled appearance from being preoccupied with her job her all the time.
“Oops, I’m no longer Sir Dior…”
“It’s okay. Call me whatever you want, Mrs.
A few strands of hair sticking out, the chest bone showing deep through the loose hem of the dress, and even the outline of the underwear clearly visible above the two legs of her.
“I don’t like being called by name because it looks down on me. I’ll think about it later once I’ve decided on a family name. For now, it’s just the two of us, so can I call you Rom-nim?”
“As much as you like.”
“Yeah, thank you.”
The lady, lovely in her unguarded charm her, nodded with a very pretty smile. Just looking at her, it was hard to bear the emotions welling up inside her.
“Recently, the price of gold coins fluctuates frequently. In particular, the price of Rosengart gold coins is gradually rising. So, I calculated all the slips, including the government bonds that came in this time.”
“How are the results?”
“When the total amount is converted into Gallic gold coins, it comes out to about 15,110.”
Marquis Baekryeong’s pocket situation was unprecedentedly booming. Because she had the money in her hands her to feed her estate for free for as little as a year and three months. With this amount, it was not a dream for her to pioneer the snowfield trade route she was expecting, and to start her business plan at the same time, which she had been trying to put off for a while.
“That’s a lot of money. And from my point of view, now would be the right time to buy and sell Rosengart gold coins. Considering the credit rating, I don’t think it’s going to happen easily, but I don’t think it’s overrated.”
“Is there a possibility of facing a liquidity crisis?”
“Right. In that sense, I’d like to cash out the slip right away. Half of it is divided between the Lucerne Chamber of Commerce, the Brullin Commercial Association, and the Britannia Trading Company. We keep the rest here in the safe for use when we need it.”
It seemed like a good idea. Rom shook his head and agreed.
“If you can’t, it’s a safe that will hold thousands of gold coins. It’s literally a thousand gold, so it wouldn’t be strange if people came out with blindfolded eyes. Moreover, after going through the rebellion of Kobin’s gang, I understood. This fortress may be strong against foreign invasion, but it is very vulnerable to internal divisions.”
“It is a contradiction of borders. Rather than making it harder for spies to break in, more effort was put into finding them, which would have given them such malformed weaknesses. It would have been a daily routine to replace scarce supplies with human resources in a frozen land in a barren environment.”
“So I wondered what if I expanded the fort with the money left over from the trade-related budget. After concluding an alliance with Camag, I think this place is worth prospering like Havre and Saint Bouch.”
Lemoang Citadel is a strategic point on the northern border of Gaul. The reason why the dead Margrave Gerard has been able to gain a reputation as a military man is that he refused a comfortable life and stayed on the front line, always preparing for enemy air raids.
“Certainly things have changed now.”
However, it is. Kamag, who was called the barbarian of the kingdom, was no longer their enemy. Naturally, peace came to the border here, and the fortress, which was a breakwater in war, was also preparing to be reborn as a bridgehead for trade.
“However, expansion is something to be considered more carefully. It’s a weakness of all of us that the more we hold in our hands, the more we spend. As for me, I would recommend the repair rather than the extension you mentioned, but how about it?”
“Payment?”
“Now that we know how much we have on hand, let’s calculate our expenses. First, I will tell you in the order you need, so please check it out.”
“Yes, please tell me.”
Rom took a step back from the window and met Oriane’s gaze. She smiled for her dear, her her, and began reciting her expenses one by one according to her plan her. The reconstruction of the frozen land and the plan for prosperity at the same time were the things he struggled with over the course of his two lives.
“The top priority is, of course, the pioneering of snowfield trade routes. Together with Camag, we are selling rare earths from Lemoang in the Near East Beda and Far East Sarhu as our main products. The estimated budget for this is about 8,000 Gaul gold coins.”
“… Yes, when you catch it leisurely.”
The first thing to be deducted was the trade budget. It was an investment that was tantamount to a big gamble for a territory that had been fading away until recently, but paradoxically, therefore, the expected reward was an enormous strategic key.
A successful gamble is never a gamble. Rome, who had already returned back in time, had a way to lead an unlikely pioneer to victory. Even if it wasn’t perfect, it was certain that it would bring about a revival in the north with a high probability.
“Next, mines throughout the territory and development funds to make mining more efficient. It is true that the mining industry in Lemoang is quite prosperous, but it is known that outstanding engineers are extremely rare due to the uniqueness of the environment. So, you will have to spend quite a lot of money to invite them and clean the foundation of the facilities.”
The next priority was the mining budget. This maintenance, which should never be neglected even in order to deceive the eyes of the central government, was expected to cost as much as building a trading corps.
“First of all, we have to consider profitability. About 500 budgets will be required to secure all facilities for stable expansion and mining of the selected mine.”
“Yes, I think it makes sense.”
“It is also necessary to provide support so that the surrounding villages can function at least as close to a small town. No matter how much money you pay to bring someone in, miners and technicians alike will quit school only when the place you live in is in the dark.”
Even if it is difficult to have a blatant entertainment like the red light district, entertainment facilities in a line where the public order is not disturbed to some extent are necessary.
“It is necessary to check traffic within the territory as a whole.”
“To transport mined items safely?”
“By the way, once the pioneering of the snowfield trade route is successful, there will be an unprecedented crowd of people in Marquis Baekryeong. There are also aspects of trying to prepare for it in advance. It wouldn’t cost too much money if we split the roles evenly among the three associations.”
Anyway, drinking, gambling, and prostitution are bound to continue their lives anyway. If it is a vice that cannot be rooted out, it is much more efficient to bring it into the sun and manage it.
“The Brulin Commercial Association, which has a strong presence in the distribution of alcoholic beverages, uses the exclusive rights within the territory to open related facilities such as taverns.”
As famous as the wines of southern Gaul are the beers of Rosengart, Brühllin and Lünebruck.
“As for traffic maintenance, I will seek opinions from the Britannia Trading Company. After the snowfield trade route is developed, it is the people farthest from their home country who desperately need safe roads. Instead, if you offer to order maintenance and new construction exclusively from them, you will be able to agree on a price that is close to cost.”
Britannia, an island country far from the continent, has to go somewhere in the south where the port is functioning without freezing for that reason. Needless to say, they desperately need a solid road, unless the floating port of Lemoang, which Rom is planning, opens someday.
“Finally, let’s open a gambling house in a relatively underdeveloped village at the territory level.”
“Uh, is it legal to gamble in Marquis Command?”
“But you can’t openly hang up a signboard and do business. Most of these establishments have a negative tendency because they also engage in prostitution. Please tell me that the side effects I mentioned are so severe that gambling in the territory is strictly prohibited from now on. I put a clue that it is only allowed in designated places. It would be nice to devise an indirect tax every time you gamble.”
Usually, such establishments are bound to rob customers of their pockets for one reason or another. Even so, safety is not guaranteed, so there is no choice but to accumulate complaints from servants.
“When considering policing, it is difficult to recommend prostitution. In particular, Mindo in the northern part of the country, trained in severe cold, tends to be conservative. Changes that are too drastic can have the opposite effect.”
“So, let go of the reins moderately with alcohol and gambling excluding prostitution?”
“Yes, it is a way to take care of justification and practicality. It will also have the effect of catching entertainment establishments, which have been a headache in the past. It’ll be quiet for a month or two. Anyway, someone else will fill the void.”
Marcel of Lucerne is a merchant who smells her money wonderfully. If so, she will surely start thinking about getting back money at the same time as opening a gambling hall certified by Youngji.
It didn’t matter. Rather, it would have been better to actively encourage it.
‘Well, if it were him, he would try to run the Changgwan himself. It is obvious that they will try to expand by secretly opening a business next to the gambling house. He’s a guy who has the power to get all the spoiled pimps out in the morning, so it’s okay if you close your eyes to him so that it’s easy to control. I can take that as a weakness later and shake it.’
Because he was already in the palm of Rome.
“The total amount of subsidies from each small town is about 700 gold coins, the cost of encouraging the Brulin Commercial Association to have a monopoly on liquor distribution and the opening of taverns is about 100 gold coins, and the cost of road construction through the Britannia Trading Company is about 300 gold coins. Dog, the cost of opening and running a gambling house with the Lucerne Chamber is about 400 gold coins, totaling about 1,500.”
“A rough estimate, it’s about 10,000. Then there are about 5,000 gold coins left.”
5,000 Gallian gold coins was a reasonable amount to expand the fortress. The only problem is that there is no money to be saved after that, so at this point where there is no additional profit, it was a wise choice to focus on the reward without overdoing it like Rome said.
“About 200 gold coins to repair the walls, about 300 gold coins to renovate the town area, about 500 gold coins to build a new stone wall on the side, and about 900 gold coins to renovate the living space.”
“There are about 1,900 in all. There are 3,100 left over.”
After all, he and Orianne had the most important ceremony of his life ahead.
“Finally, one hundred gold coins for a grand and splendid wedding with my beloved Oriane.”
“… !”
“I didn’t catch too little, did I?”
The balance was 3,000 Gallic gold coins.
The engagement with Lemoang’s mother and daughter was a major event.
