Chapter 49: The influence of debt
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POV of Wilhelm
''Then these documents should suffice Lord Hohenzollern?''said a Maester handing me several papyri for me to look over.
''Yes.... house Blackwood had a fairly stable income, with a growth of almost three percent a year in the tax revenue'' I said as I studied the reports of house Blackwood for the last five years.
''How much is the estimated reduction that the war will have affected your lands'' I said looking at Lord Tytos.
''EHH... well... a thirty?'','' said Tytos looking at his Maester.
''Twenty-eight percent, lord Hohenzollern, that is our estimate that could reduce the income of my lord's house due to the inclemency of the war, but we should recover fast because we managed to take plenty of goods from the Brackens'' said the Maester handing another papyrus showing how many small folks they stole and heads of cattle
''I see then a loan to your house would be feasible depending on the amount and the time you want to contract that debt with our lord Tytos'' I said handing back the Blackwood reports.
''We need about eighty thousand golden dragons'' said lord Tytos rather excitedly.
''what will you use the gold for? '' I said as I took out a quill and started to do some calculations.
''I want to rebuild some villages that were burned and improve our livestock operations, work with the Brackens horses, build new mills and erect some bridges to attract trade'' lord Tytos said very expectant for an answer
''How many years do you need the loan for,'' I said staring at the lord.
''Eeh.... five years lord Hohenzollern''said lord Tytos after some thought.
''Well, if we consider everything you have told me is true and under the principle of good faith, I can offer the loan as requested with an interest of twenty-four percent per annum'' I said as I finished using the quill.
The lord walked away with his Maester and they started whispering, but they didn't know that I could hear them quite well if I could concentrate well enough
''It's excellent, the iron bank was offering us almost forty percent for the same terms, you must accept it although you could ask for a better deal'' said the Maester to his lord's hatred.
Lord Blackwood came back to me smiling.
''Lord Hohenzollern, I would like to ask if it is possible to improve a little more the interest you are offering us for the loan?'', asked Lord Blackwood.
I can only do that if you extend the time of the loan, if you ask for the same loan for ten years I can offer you a loan at fifteen percent per annum'' I said keeping my face serious without showing any emotions.
The Maester and lord started nodding, looking at each other
''We are satisfied with the loan lord Hohenzollern'' said lord Tytos
''Well I needed you to sign this which will be made official by king Robert'' I said handing over two papers, one in German and one in common tongue
''Here are included the guarantees for when in the hypothetical case you could not pay I would keep in property certain buildings in your territories, in this case some mills and three bridges, these are a formality because we totally know that the Blackwood house can make the payment of the interests, only that the Prussian custom to the loans obliges it'' I said pointing where lord Blackwood should sign
''Oh...I see...so here and here.....here you have lord Hohenzollern'' said lord Tytos signing both papers
''Well all in order, lord Blackwood, you can go to the warehouses to withdraw the gold, have a wonderful day and remember, you can always trust us as long as you meet our requirements for the loans'' I said shaking lord Tytos' hand.
I handed a copy of the document to lord Tytos who quickly left my office searching for his gold.
''The Westerosis are a fertile field for loans at usurious interest rates, my king'' said Maximilian with a faint smile.
''And what do you expect? there is nothing like usury forbidden by the faith in the seven kingdoms one can accept whatever interest one wants only the lenders are much ruder when it comes to collecting and that is why they demand astronomical interest..... a short-term loan of one moon from the city lenders goes up to one hundred and twenty percent and the iron bank does a similar practice because they have the power to collect their debts in many places''I said while smiling looking at the huge pile of documents where I had managed to lend money to the lords with financial stability but empty pockets.
''But that would not generate some unnecessary friction with the iron bankers, it would be terrible that our ephemeral existence would end too soon before our roots start to germinate receiving interest from the swindled .... sorry, customers'' said Maximilian laughing a little bit.
''The iron bank does not have much of a presence in westeros, they have that motto the Iron Bank will have its due, but it is difficult to exercise it in a feudal society because most of the great lords can borrow and turn a deaf ear, even with the enormous economic capabilities the westerosi political system is a natural barrier to the iron bank's interests so we are only taking the market share they do not want, which is phenomenal, we stand to gain a lot, especially with the Royce's and their copper mines as a guarantee'' I said smiling looking at the deal with the Royce's.
''I understand, but what else will I have to do when I am leading our bank's operations,'' said Maximilian taking a graceful pose as he sat down.
''Well the loans to the westerosis lords is merely to gain political influence, as we will not lend to those who do not have the ability to pay it back, I do not wish to have to personally go with an army backed with the king's peace to collect what they owe me because it would not look good in the eyes of the rest of the lords, we must continue to show our current charter, low-interest loans, many lords became interested in us because of that'' I said pointing to one of our contracts
''But where we will get our profits from will mainly come from short-term loans because it is more feasible to charge quite a lot of interest for those loans, to small folks and merchants are our targets, as we should mainly work with the money deposited''
''You will only have to keep twenty to thirty percent of what we say we have saved and the rest you will have to lend it to whoever meets the requirements to guarantee full payment or to be able to take any mercantile or agrarian operation that interests us'' I said, smiling.
''Later we will see if we can enter the business of maritime and land trade insurance by charging a fee to guarantee the safety of the cargo or a pirate ransom insurance, but first we must reduce a little the levels of danger in the seas, there are pirates everywhere and that is very bad for this business first we must ensure stable sea routes'' I finished while stretching my arms above my head.
''Interesting my lord, I hope I can be up to your expectations and perform my bank duties accordingly'' said Maximilian making movements with his hands to highlight the slight bow he made.
''You will also be our ambassador to the court, I will leave you with an escort of five hundred Teutonic knights to protect the surroundings of the bank and a full Prussian tercio to secure the dwellings on the hill because everything must become a Prussian enclave'' I said his duties to Maximilian who was looking at me attentively.
''Regarding the point of being your royal majesty's ambassador to the Westerosis, I wanted to secure a special privilege for my services, as I consider it will be of much importance in our diplomatic relations if I can make use of that royal right'' Maximilian said with a faint smile.
''What do you wish?, gold?'', I asked the enigmatic diplomat.
''No, no, but in a way I will have to utilize that resource in the same way, the royal privilege of being able to break the dress code established by the Teutonic order for the Prussian nobles, only you my great king can make use of other colors than black and white, but to assimilate me in the Westerosi diplomacy I will have to dress similar to them so that they do not consider me a foreigner for a long time, for that reason, I request your permission and give me this privilege to be able to carry out my functions in a correct way'' said Maximilian getting up from his seat and bowing.
''Maximilian, it is not necessary to use your gift so much here, ha,ha,ha,ha,of course .... let me make you an edict'' I said taking pen and paper.
''Don't forget to be able to wear silk and velvet, with bright colors and jewels, appearances matter a lot, the first impression that a person may have of me will be defined practically in the first moments'' said Maximilian smiling almost at the same way as Aleksanteri.
''Sure, sure, well, here you go just make sure that our interests in the capital are secured because there are some operations of the Finns and you will have to collaborate with them'' I said handing him the decree.
''What will the Finns do in the capital?'', asked Maximilian regaining his composure.
''There is a group that will be assisting you as your personal spies because you will need to know what is planned behind closed doors, but they will only be a minority group, about thirty members, some of the best of our faithful friend, the Finn'' I said explaining other operations that he must consider.
''Well and the other thing will be activities that you will have to take care of, is that they have all the necessary funding, if the leader of the Finns asks you for gold you give it to him, if he asks you for men you give them to him, no questions asked, everything must be fast because they will do crucial jobs in the capital and sporadically, they should bring gold back to you, your duty will be to store it and clean it if necessary'' I said smiling
''What missions are we talking about'', Maximilian asked, intrigued.
''Streng geheim, if you are eager to know more about this mission you should talk to the Finnish commanding officer, he will be your balance to your power, to you know avoid any possible corruption'' I answered quickly.
''I see I understand the situation my king and I will work side by side with our friends the Finns to carry out your will in these lands'' said Maximilian smiling.
A Teutonic knight entered the room.
''My king another group of lords has arrived to discuss a loan'' said the knight.
''All yours Maximilian, take care of reviewing the documents they will give you and offer them a good interest rate if they comply with the financial stability'' I said as I stood up from my chair.
That's how it will be done my king.... let it go''said Maximilian taking a seat in my chair as I left the room.
As I had a meeting with my nobles about internal politics.
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