King-Chapter 1397 - 272: The World as an Enemy_2

Frankly speaking, Hudson still felt a bit uneasy. Since its establishment, the Near East Development Bank hadn’t paid a single penny in taxes to the Kingdom Government.

With no regulation and no taxes, it had grown unchecked and unrestrained, enabling it to establish branches in every city of the kingdom within just a few years.

As of now, one-third of the nobles in the kingdom owed loans to the bank.

Reason told Hudson that if he continued playing this game, he would inevitably become a target sooner or later.

It might appear that he was controlling the lifeblood of the kingdom through economic measures, but this depended on everyone abiding by certain rules.

It’s important to note that these debtors were hardly ordinary people; each of them held private armies of varying scales.

If one day these individuals decided the current rules of the game didn’t suit them and opted to change the way things were played, the situation would shift dramatically.

"Profit stirs the human heart." When profits become large enough, not even Hudson, the Kingdom Marshal, could stop everyone’s covetous gaze.

In recent years, Hudson had been using discreet means to arbitrage and inflate the bank’s operating costs. By showing less impressive profits, he was also taking preemptive measures to mitigate risks.

Previously, the guise of "Near East Development" served as a facade, emphasizing the high risks involved. Even though enormous wealth was generated, no one felt envious or jealous.

Following traditional thinking, as long as the Orcs invaded again, many of the loans disbursed in the Near East Region would turn into bad debts. Whatever was earned earlier would eventually be lost.

However, with the conclusion of this latest war, everything changed. While bad debts indeed occurred, their proportion was surprisingly small.

The main origin of bad debts came from the nobles of the Seven Prefectures who had suffered massive flooding.

Nonetheless, the flood destroyed farmland and infrastructure, not the debtors themselves, who were still alive. The debts couldn’t be repaid temporarily but hadn’t disappeared entirely.

In the immediate aftermath of the events, Hudson faced immense pressure from the shareholders but ordered the bank officials to initiate loan extensions, allowing nobles affected by the disaster a five-year grace period to repay their debts.

It wasn’t just the nobles of the Seven Prefectures who benefited from this; all nobles throughout the Near East Region were permitted a one-year extension to repay their loans.

As a result, the direct interest losses incurred by the Near East Development Bank reached millions of gold coins, while the indirect economic losses were immeasurable.

Yet the sacrifice bore fruit, as the bank’s reputation soared remarkably. Compared to external loan sharks, it stood as a genuinely conscientious creditor.

The Near East Development Bank was already drawing much attention. If it resorted to undervalued acquisitions of war spoils, it would provoke even greater resentment.

After brief contemplation, Hudson decided to change his tactics. Lending money was sufficient; there was no need for the bank to directly involve itself in trading.

Since the Treasury intended to profit from acquisitions, it was only fair that they bore the corresponding responsibilities. Let them handle these resentment-inducing undervalued acquisitions.

If they lacked funds, the bank could offer them loans, using the acquired spoils as collateral.

In the end, if the Kingdom Government failed to repay the loan, the bank could sell off the collateral, which made perfect sense.

As Hudson clarified his thoughts, his mind instantly became livelier. The Near East Development Bank was attracting too much attention, so he decided to create several "poorly reputed" banks to share the burden.

It seemed he wouldn’t need to handle this himself. Currently, none of the commercial banks in the market had good reputations anyway.

Due to their limited size, small banks had consistently high operating costs. Inevitably, their operations veered towards short-term gains.

Their profitability models were too singular. Near East Development Bank’s largest source of profit right now wasn’t issuing loans but printing gold tickets.

While other banks had attempted to follow suit, the market had rejected them. Forcing their gold tickets onto the market only pushed customers toward competitors.

At present, the gold tickets from the Near East Development Bank had spread across major cities in the Northern Continent and were beginning to penetrate into the Central Continent.

"Tom, send someone to deliver this letter to Rudolf. Tell him he must finalize the cooperation agreement with the Treasury before the army sets out."

...

Summit of the Holy Mountain.

"What? The Five Nations Alliance is also sending troops to intervene?"

Shelter VII asked incredulously.

The Papal State had already descended into chaos. With the Frank people, the Anti-French Alliance, their own forces, and now the Five Nations Alliance, it formed the perfect setup for a game of mahjong.

Given the relationship between the clergy and the Five Nations Alliance, the latter sending troops at this moment was clearly akin to a weasel visiting a chicken coop.

This was nothing short of four-party showdown, where their adversary aligned with the other sides to collectively beat them.

"Yes, Your Majesty!

Archbishop Montson has relayed this news from the Alpha Kingdom. The Five Nations Alliance officially submitted their mediation request last night. There’s no room for refusal!"

Ulysses said with a frustrated expression.

Diplomacy normally had little to do with intelligence agencies, but since the clergy’s permanent diplomatic presence in the Alpha Kingdom had been withdrawn years ago, they had no choice.

To quickly return the message, Archbishop Montson activated the emergency communication channel of the intelligence agencies. As a consequence, one secret base was exposed.

Deep down, Ulysses silently cursed Archbishop Montson and his family. After finishing negotiations, he should’ve left immediately instead of pretending to convalesce, which led to this mess!

Complaints were meaningless. Archbishop Montson’s extended stay in the Alpha Kingdom was unavoidable.

In the Alliance Council, the clergy had suffered a complete defeat. Had he dared to return at this pivotal moment, he risked being torn apart by the fervent youth within the clergy.

For the Five Nations Alliance, once they resolved to deploy troops, the presence or absence of a diplomatic delegation was irrelevant; they would deploy forces regardless.

Even if the delegation hadn’t received the official notice, other clerical organizations or individuals would have.

As a final resort, their armies could carry the document themselves. It was just a procedural step and wouldn’t affect their decision-making.

"Hmph!

They really think we’re finished. Now even insignificant creatures dare to bite off a chunk!

Tell the Alpha Kingdom not to push us too far, or else..."

The threatening words stuck in his throat, leaving Shelter VII livid with frustration.

The days of the clergy’s former glory were long gone. They no longer had the strength to issue threats to a major nation.

In terms of military power, the clergy was hopelessly outmatched. Even though their high-level forces surpassed those of the Alpha Kingdom, they stood no chance against the Five Nations Alliance.

Under such circumstances, speaking empty threats would amount to: issuing the harshest warnings while bracing for the harshest consequences.

"Your Majesty, the current situation is already beyond our control. It’ll be best to invite the senior masters within the clergy to mediate!

No matter what, we remain the Lord of the Dawn’s representatives in the mortal world. They wouldn’t truly dare to obliterate us, would they?"

Beside him, Bishop Asprilla, dressed in crimson robes, suggested.

In reality, this was the clergy’s final fallback. Even though two new Churches had emerged on the continent, their legitimacy remained intact as the orthodox.

"Things aren’t as simple as you think. Relying on high-level forces to intimidate and coerce nations into withdrawing troops is far beyond our capability.

If we violate established rules and provoke retaliation from the Sanctuary powerhouses of major factions, the situation will only worsen.

As for the Divine Spirit, don’t even bother dreaming. After thousands of years without any form of response, how could a mere internal conflict among ordinary believers attract the attention of such lofty beings?

Even if our enemies hesitate to annihilate the Holy Court utterly, they could still eliminate us, substituting us with a more obedient group of leaders!"

Shelter VII spoke with a faint sense of sarcasm.

Looking through the clergy’s history, one could discover that throughout countless years of power struggles, several Popes had met tragic "accidental" ends.

When internal conflicts were handled this way, it wasn’t hard to imagine others following suit without hesitation or moral burden.

"Your Majesty, if we can’t devise a better solution, then let’s prepare for the aftermath.

Transfer what can be transferred, hide what can be hidden, and strive to preserve as much of the Holy Court’s vitality as we can. Once the situation improves, we can plan further moves!"

Blake advised cautiously.

...

This content is taken from (f)reewe(b)novel.𝗰𝗼𝐦