The five heads of the region gathered once more.
It was the second day after Claude led Thundercrash to the royal capital. As promised, Blancarte sent all the councilors and officers, as well as the deacons from the royal capital office and the disarmed guards to the camp of Thundercrash 4th Folk.
Claude, on the other hand, refused to go to the royal court to meet with King Fredley, much to Blancarte's regret.
Among those who attended the meeting were Chancellor Bennett and President Henderman. Like Bolonik, the two of them were unscathed during their imprisonment.
Skri, on the other hand, had a scar on his face and a bandage on his left hand. Like most of the officers, he had suffered quite a bit.
Due to his refusal to comply with some unreasonable demands, he was tortured two days before he was captured. Fortunately, the prime minister intervened early enough to prevent his injuries from worsening.
Claude tossed a folder onto the table. "Take a look. This is the compensation agreement His Majesty sent to us from Blancarte."
The folder was tossed in front of President Henderman. He flipped it open and read it aloud with a delighted expression. "The Minsheng Bank is allowed to open a branch in the kingdom. You will have to pay a million crowns as management fee to the national bank every year.
As long as you have a deposit of ten million crowns in the national bank, you will be allowed to issue notes worth up to twenty million crowns in the kingdom. The design of the notes must be approved by the kingdom's treasury.
"The Minsheng Bank is allowed to set up a joint venture to operate in the kingdom. The Aueran Royal Railway Company will be established. The kingdom will provide the land for 40% of the shares while the region will provide the capital, manpower, and technology for 60% of the shares. The railway will be built and operated throughout the kingdom for a period of 50 years.
"Once the 50-year period is up, the kingdom will buy back all the shares.
This time, we will grant a 50% discount on the promotion fees and land selection fees for the overseas autonomous regions. Those who were injured in this conflict will be exempted from the land selection fees. This is to express the King and Queen's apologies to everyone and for not being strict enough. Once again, we sincerely ask for everyone's understanding … "
"I'm sorry, but Prime Minister Blancarte is a tough negotiator. We only managed to come up with these three terms after an entire night of discussion," Claude said.
Chairman Bennett and Chairman Henderman were both delighted. "It's amazing that we were able to reach these three agreements," Chairman Bennett said excitedly. "The kingdom only allowed us to set up a branch in Whitestag, but now we can set up branches in the capital cities and towns of the other prefectures. This means that we can issue our notes in the kingdom as well."
Claude took out a cigar from the box on the table and lit it. "Actually, the kingdom isn't losing out. Didn't you see that Minsheng Bank has to pay a million crowns as management fees?
This was equivalent to the National Bank opening another branch system.
I remember Viscount Gooditch mentioning that the bank's branches in the kingdom didn't even make a million crowns a year.
In addition to the management fee from the Overseas Minsheng Bank, the Kingdom's Ministry of Finance actually wanted to introduce our low-denomination banknotes to replace the metal currency.
After all, there's not much profit to be made from these low-denomination banknotes and there's also the risk of losing money.
That's why Prime Minister Blancarte had the Overseas Minsheng Bank pay a deposit of ten million crowns and issue twenty million crowns in low-denomination banknotes to test the waters of the kingdom. "
Chairman Henderman asked, "But the banknotes written here aren't the ones we issue in the region, right? Do we need to design a new design and anti-counterfeiting label?"
Claude nodded. "That's right. The low-denomination banknotes in the kingdom will need to be redesigned and marked.
Prime Minister Blancarte probably decided to use these banknotes to replace the low-denomination metal currency in the kingdom. However, that won't stop our banknotes from circulating in the kingdom.
The only difference is that the national bank won't recognize our banknotes, only the new ones. "
Chairman Bennett said with relief, "That's fine. It doesn't matter if the national bank doesn't recognize our banknotes as long as our Overseas Minsheng Bank does.
As long as we set up branches in the various prefectures of the kingdom, I believe we'll be able to surpass the national bank and become the number one bank in Aueras. "
Chairman Henderman pointed at the second line on the document and smiled. "I didn't think the royal court would hand over the railway to us as compensation. That's quite a show of sincerity.
I remember the first time the royal court asked us to hand over the railway and train manufacturing technology to them for free, saying it was to support the kingdom's railway construction, but we refused.
The second time was when they wanted to buy the railway and train production technology from us, but they only offered three hundred thousand crowns and were chased away by us again … "
Skri smiled. "Looks like they've learned their lesson. They know that railways and trains aren't something that can be done just by talking about it.
Take our railway company for example. Even though we've made quite a bit of profit from our operations, we still invest a large sum of money into improving the technology. The locomotives we use now are already the fifth generation of steam engines.
Without our participation, the kingdom would have to invest a large amount of money into the research and development of steam locomotives.
Now that we're operating it together, we've saved a lot of time and money.
All the royal court has to do is give up some land to get a railway line that covers the entire kingdom. They'll also get 40% of the profits from us for the next 50 years. It's a really good deal. "
"Prime Minister Blancarte is a smart man. He knows how to cooperate and share, and he also knows how to compromise."
We've done some calculations before. If we build a railway line that covers all the prefectures in the kingdom, we'll get at least 3 million crowns in profit every year.
The total investment for the railway line that covered the kingdom's northern prefectures was around 20 million crowns, and that didn't include the land needed for the construction of the railway.
Blancarte said that the construction of the railway line and the operation of the railway company were all in the hands of the noble houses.
However, due to the fact that they couldn't get the railway and train manufacturing technology from the region, the plan to build a railway line in the kingdom could only exist on paper.
Now that the noble houses have shifted their attention to their inherited lands, the royal court has regained control over the railway construction. That's why they're able to come to an agreement with us.
If we have enough labor, we can build a few operational railways within two years. We can build them as we operate them, and we can build all the railway lines in the kingdom within seven to eight years.
I estimate that it'll take 15 to 20 years to recoup the investment. The remaining 30 years will be the net profit.
So, I suggest that the Minsheng Bank issue bonds to raise the 20 million crowns needed for the construction.
The bonds can be transferred or held on to for a yearly dividend. They can also be passed down to their descendants. When the 50 years are up, they can be sold to the kingdom for the capital and interest. "
"Not a bad idea."
Bennett said approvingly, "Marshal Claude made a good suggestion. I think we should set the value of the debt at a hundred crowns and let the citizens of the autonomous region buy it.
Each household can only buy one bond and it'll be recorded into the owner's bank account. The annual dividends and profits will be transferred to that account.
As for us nobles and councilors, we shouldn't get our hands on the bonds.
How should I put it? I think it's about time we let the citizens of the region get some of the profits from the war.
We're eating the meat, but we should let others have some of the soup. "
A debt worth 100 crowns and 20 million crowns for the railway construction would benefit 200,000 households. It would be a great help in rallying the people of the region.
The region's economy was developing rapidly and the citizens were getting richer by the day. Families with more than 100 crowns in savings could be found everywhere.
Depositing the gold coins in the bank would only earn him a meager amount of interest. However, if he bought the railway bonds, he might be able to double the 100 crowns in a decade or so.
Claude knew that Bennett's suggestion was mainly to appease the citizens of the region.
After all, all the councilors had become honorary nobles of the kingdom. As long as they paid the promotion fee and land selection fee, they'd be able to inherit their family's land in the eastern part of Freia.
If news of this spread to the region, the citizens would feel abandoned. It might even be used by those with ulterior motives. It might even cause a commotion and call for a new election of councilors.
So, they had to let the citizens feel at ease and show that the councilors hadn't forgotten about the interests of the citizens even after becoming nobles of the kingdom.
The railway bonds were the best choice at the moment. A hundred crowns would benefit two hundred thousand households …
Everyone present tacitly skipped over the topic of railways, tacitly agreeing to Bennett's suggestion.
Next up was the final compensation. The promotion fee and land selection fee would be 50% off. That was already half the price of a conferment order.
Apart from the nobles with the Stellin royal bloodline and a few nobles who had contributed greatly to the kingdom, such as Prince Frederick who ascended the throne, they were all exempted. Apart from that, the lowest known discount was given to them.
On top of that, the councilors and promoted officers who were injured during the conflict that night were also exempted from the land selection fee.
Even General Skri smiled and said that he had been tortured and injured, but because of that, he had been exempted from the land selection fee of two hundred thousand crowns. He felt that the beating had been worth it.
The injured councilors and officers were all very satisfied with the sincerity of the king and the queen's apology.
Chairman Bennett and Chairman Henderman were also very satisfied with the discount and treatment given to the injured by His Majesty.
Just as Blancarte had revealed to Claude, the nobles in the royal court had been adamantly against the councilors and promoted officers receiving the same preferential treatment as them. But when the queen sent the palace guards to capture the councilors and officers and took away the huge sum of 30,000,000 crowns and sealed off the royal office, all the noise in the royal court disappeared.
This was especially so after the news that Thundercrash was marching towards the capital. The nobles and ministers of the royal court were thrown into chaos. Some people began to accuse others of discriminating against the representatives and honorary nobles of the autonomous region, and that they should have been given the same preferential treatment.
Some of the nobles even took a leave of absence from the royal capital to prevent the situation from worsening and affecting them. There were also some honorary nobles who spread rumors and accused the king of not handling the matter properly.
Truth be told, if it wasn't for Queen Christy's impetuous instigation of the palace guards to clash with the councilors, the king wouldn't have an excuse to give the councilors any preferential treatment.
That conflict actually gave both sides a way out. The king compensated the councilors with preferential treatment and the councilors were glad that they didn't make a fool out of themselves and received a 50/50 discount.
Claude could only smile bitterly in his heart. He was thankful that he didn't go to war in the royal capital. If the injured councilors and promoted officers could forget about the conflict they had with Queen Christy and the injuries they suffered at the hands of the palace guards, Claude wouldn't have any reason to stand up for them and take revenge on the king and queen.
Just like the night before, when Maria came to visit Claude in the middle of the night.
Claude knew the reason for her visit. She was there to plead on behalf of her daughter.
Maria, on the other hand, was aware of Claude's current status. He was the sole ruler of the region's military and the ever-victorious marshal of the kingdom. He had the power to influence or even destroy the entire kingdom.
Nobody could've imagined that the master-disciple pair they met in the tiny town of Whitestag would undergo such a drastic change. It was as if their identities had been flipped.
Back then, Maria was a noble lady that Claude looked up to and the adopted sister of the late king, Stellin.
The current Maria was the queen's mother and her status hadn't changed much.
Claude, on the other hand, had grown from a naive youth to an invincible marshal who could decide the future of Aueras and the fate of the Stellin royal family.
When the two met again, they didn't mention Claude's reason for leading Thundercrash to the royal capital. Instead, they reminisced about the time they first met in Whitestag.
Maria was very concerned about Angelina's condition. When she heard that she was already a mother, she couldn't help but sigh at how quickly time passed. The obedient little girl from back then had also become a mother.
She sighed at how fate played tricks on people. She had wanted to make Angelina her disciple and even her daughter-in-law, but her precious son ruined everything.
Maria didn't mention her daughter, Queen Christy, nor did she plead for Claude. She only left behind a thick notebook before she left and asked Claude to give it to his sister.
This thick notebook was filled with Maria's insights and research reports as a high-level pharmacist. It could be said to be a priceless treasure.
Claude couldn't tell Maria that her sister had been led astray by him, turning from a novice herbalist to a firearms expert.
Maria said that her sister, Anna, was the most talented apothecary she had ever seen. That was why she had left her notebook, which contained her lifetime's worth of research, to her in hopes that Anna could improve further in apothecary studies in the future …
Since the councilors and military representatives didn't intend to pursue Queen Christy's responsibility, Claude didn't bother to mention it.
Even for Maria's sake, Claude would let Queen Christy off this time.
Hendman closed his eyes and calculated for a moment. He furrowed his brows. "Even if His Majesty gave us a fifty percent discount and waived the land selection fees for the injured representatives, our thirty million crowns still isn't enough to pay for everyone's promotion and land selection fees.
I've calculated that we're still short of seventeen million crowns. "
"Why don't we just say we don't have the money? Take the thirty million crowns or not. Ask them to give us another ten percent discount," Bennett said shamelessly.
Claude was so angry that he laughed. "Turn to this page. Blancarte wrote two more requests. He wants us to provide the kingdom with new rifles and an armoured fleet to make up for the difference of 16.4 million crowns.
I have to make it clear that these two requests were agreed to by Marshal Bolonik. "
Bolonik, who had been silent all this while, blushed. "Y-yes, I agreed to it.
"The kingdom's military industry has already manufactured the same rifles as ours. A few shipbuilders have also joined forces to develop the armoured warships and have made great progress.
However, the price they quoted to the ministry of the army is too ridiculous. One rifle costs forty-five crowns and one thale for a bullet.
One armoured warship costs six hundred and eighty thousand crowns.
"I feel that rather than letting the kingdom's military industry, which is controlled by the old noble families, earn the money, it's better for us to do it.
"That's why I agreed to His Imperial Majesty and Prime Minister Blancarte's request. We will provide the kingdom with four hundred thousand new rifles and forty million bullets.
We will also build an armoured fleet of sixteen armoured warships for the kingdom. We can use this to make up for the remaining ten million crowns we lack for promotion and land selection fees. "