"In other words, other than wine, the Westeros don't have any good products. Isn't this considered poor?"
"This …" Baylor was stunned. "This isn't considered poor, right? It can only be said that the local specialties are different. Qingting Island's golden wine is unique in this world and is in short supply. "
"Sir, do you know about the trade deficit?" Danny asked curiously.
"What's that?" Baylor was confused.
"Treat the Westeros as a whole. The gold royals that come in every year minus the gold royals that go out, if there's a surplus, it means that the seven countries have earned money from world trade. If it's negative, it means that the king is losing money. I call it the 'trade deficit'."
"Oh …"
Other than the brainless nobles, Garland, Baylor, Garth, Perestan and the others who understood her looked at Danny in surprise.
"I didn't expect Miss Leila to be so knowledgeable as well as skilled in martial arts," Count Garland praised sincerely.
The Westeros also had customs. Little Finger Petyr made a name for himself by increasing customs revenue and was even promoted to the position of Minister of Finance.
However, the customs in this world only had one mission — to collect taxes, crack down on smugglers, and increase taxes for the king as much as possible.
Adjusting tariffs, controlling the trade deficit, and adjusting the domestic industrial structure were not the tasks of the Minister of Finance. In other words, the nobles of the seven countries didn't even have the awareness to do so.
"How does the trade deficit affect the Westeros?" the old professor asked nervously.
"It doesn't affect them in the short term. Sea trade goods are luxury goods that ordinary people can't use. The gold and silver accumulated by the nobles for thousands of years isn't worth much. It's not much of a difference to the country if it's piled up in the cellar and exchanged for high-end goods. "
"This woman is crazy. She said that gold and silver are worthless." Someone sneered.
Needless to say, there were many people who agreed with him. Even Baylor and the old professor were confused.
"Winter is coming. I believe that with the Tyrell family's wealth, they should be able to take out two million gold royals, right?" Danny looked at Count Garland.
"This …" Garland was in a difficult position. His family could take out four million gold royals, let alone two million. However, everyone knew that the person on the Iron Throne had a hard time and was short of money. If he knew that his family had …
"Sure." He suddenly understood. High Court was the richest in the Seven Kingdoms, and even Tywin had lent the Iron Throne three million gold royals. If he said that Tywin did not even have two million gold royals, who would believe him?
Danny nodded and asked, "According to the current price of wheat in the old town, two million gold royals can buy enough food for two million people for ten years."
One gold royal = 23520 copper coins. Two copper coins for a roasted sausage (pure meat sausage) and a cup of ale. That's not expensive, is it?
(Original setting)
The price difference between meat and grain in this world was not as exaggerated as in modern society, but under normal circumstances, one gold royal should be able to buy ten tons of wheat.
"Lannister should be able to take out another one or two million gold royals. If we calculate the winter as five years, wouldn't this amount of money be enough to save all the people in the Westeros?"
"No," Baylor shook his head. "If you buy so much food, the price will probably increase by ten times."
Danny nodded. She scanned the crowd and asked, "Do you understand now? The difference between ten times and the normal price represents the devaluation of the gold in your hands.
Just buying and selling wheat once can devalue the gold to one-tenth of its original value, or even a few tenths. Do you still think that gold and silver are valuable? "
"This …" The crowd was at a loss. They wanted to refute, but they could not find a reason to.
The old professor was also a little confused, but he quickly recovered and changed the topic. "What are you trying to say? Didn't you say that the Westeros are poor? "
"Well, let's continue."
"The trade deficit does not affect the Westeros in the short term, but after hundreds of years, the Seven Kingdoms have lost too much gold, so much so that the Iron Throne has to borrow money from the Iron Treasury of Braavos and the bankers of Myr, Pentos and other cities.
King Robert's extravagant spending is one of the reasons why the Iron Throne is short of money, but he has spent nearly ten million gold royals in fourteen years (in addition to the six million in foreign debt, there are also millions of gold royals left by the Mad King, and the treasury itself has income).
Then, may I ask my lords, did the ten million gold royals that King Robert spent go into your family's treasury? "
"No, my family has been paying out for more than ten years. We have no income at all." The Earl of Green Apple was confused.
"Sigh, my family too. We have to spend money to fight wars and participate in tournaments!" The Earl of Highland City nodded.
"The expenses have been high these few years. Although my family did not lose money, there is no income either." Dicken was confused.
"Really? My family can't make ends meet either. We even borrowed money from the Iron Treasury three years ago. What's going on?" The Earl of Nightsong City was shocked.
"I also borrowed money."
"Me too …"
"You all borrowed money? Now I can relax, hahaha … "
"This …" Baylor was also confused. "Everyone is spending money, but Miss Leila is right. King Robert definitely spent ten million gold royals in the past fourteen years. Where did such a large sum of money go?"
"Is someone secretly getting rich? Professor, do you know what's going on? "The nobles could not help but look at the only expert on the scene.
Professor Perestan was quietly pulling the long necklace on his neck, trying to hide the gold chain that represented economics at the back of his collar. His action was seen by everyone.
Awkwardly, the scene fell into a suffocating silence.
"Ugh …" The old man's cheeks were red, and he was so embarrassed that he almost cried.
"Professor Perestan mainly studies history." Baylor touched his nose and helped the professor out. "Maybe it's like what Miss Leila said. The trade deficit has been lost to other countries?"
"More than ten million in fourteen years? Including all of us, how much money have we lost? "
"Hehe, now you know why I said the Westeros are poor?" Danny smiled casually, as if it was none of her business.
To be honest, when she was rebuilding the trade system at Slaver's Bay, she guessed that the Westeros might be in a constant trade deficit. She also guessed that Robert's extravagance would accelerate the loss of gold. However, she did not expect that most of the nobles in the seven countries would be emptied.
Danny could not help but think of the era when the Jews, led by Rothschild, controlled the economic lifeline of Europe.
Perhaps, the moneylenders in Braavos were equivalent to the Jewish bigwigs in the other world?
"Then what should we do? Closing the customs will only benefit the smugglers, but it will not cut off the trade deficit you mentioned. "Garland said with a serious expression.
"I have a plan that can solve this problem once and for all. Do you want to know?" Danny said mysteriously.
"What plan?" Everyone looked at her.
"Everyone will take a loan from the Braavos Iron Treasury. Borrow as much money as possible. The nobles of the seven countries will borrow together."
"What do you mean?"
"Reneging on the debt!" Danny smiled evilly. "The Westeros also have their own specialties, knights! It can be said that the knights of the seven countries are the most powerful in the world. Twenty thousand Dothraki Roaring Warriors could not take down Kohor, but ten thousand Golden Mercenaries could take over Kohor in one wave. Do you understand? "
Yes, Kohor had fallen before.
The story of three thousand Immaculate Warriors protecting Kohor had been passed down for hundreds of years. It seemed to give the nobles of Kohor the illusion that as long as they were protected by the Immaculate Warriors, no one could touch them.
Decades ago, the exiled knights of Westeros formed the Golden Mercenaries. Kohor hired them to fight for territory in the plains of the Rohn River. The Golden Mercenaries asked for a high price, but they were capable and completed the mission easily.
In the end, the nobles of Kohor wanted to renege on the debt and refused to pay the balance — similar to how some unscrupulous businessmen dealt with migrant workers.
Unfortunately, the Golden Mercenaries were not migrant workers. They defeated the Kohor Iron Cavalry and thousands of Immaculate Warriors and took down Kohor City in one day and one night.
However, the founder of the Golden Mercenaries, "Cold Iron" Igor Riverman (one of the illegitimate sons of the Dragon Family who started the Black Fire Rebellion), was very principled. In order to make a name for himself, he did not ransack or burn the city. After he received his commission and compensation, he took the initiative to leave Kohor.
Yes, the motto of the Golden Mercenaries was "Their word is gold." They never broke their promises and were famous for their reputation and combat power.
Excluding the ordinary cavalry, the Golden Mercenaries only had 500 True Knights equipped with three horses and one attendant.
Not to mention the Seven Kingdoms, just the High Court alone could gather thousands of True Knights. With thousands of True Knights leading tens of thousands of cavalrymen, who would dare to come and demand payment?
"Isn't this a little too dishonorable?" Garland's mouth was wide open and he was dumbfounded.
Judging from her appearance, this woman was beautiful and gentle, but inside, she was completely different from her appearance. She was strong and strong, and her martial arts were superb. Even men could not compare to her. Deep inside, although she was very intelligent, she was also very shameless and cunning.
It was a little scary!
"Yes, if we really do that, the reputation of the Westeros will definitely be destroyed. Even the local bankers will not dare to lend money to the nobles anymore." Bishop Peter was so nervous that his nose was sweating.
The Church's bank still had millions of gold royals (the Iron Throne alone had borrowed a million gold royals) outside. If everyone followed suit, wouldn't they go bankrupt?
"I'm just saying. It's up to you." Danny waved her hand and said casually.
"However," she then returned to the previous topic, "you should understand, right? The Dragon Queen occupies the rich Slave Bay. There is almost no winter there, the land is fertile, and the four seasons are like summer. It is also close to the Great Maritime Trade Route, and there is agriculture and commerce.
Especially in terms of popular sentiment, the newly liberated free people all call her 'Misha'.
Do you know what 'Misha' is?
'Mother' in the Gujiskali language. From this, you can see how popular she is in Slave Bay.
If it were you, would you be willing to leave such a rich and friendly blessed land and return to this poor, cold, and broken country where the people do not support her? "
"That makes sense!" Even the stupid knight with the turnip on his shoulder understood and agreed with him.
"Is she really not coming back?" Perestan murmured.
"Not necessarily." Danny shook her head and said uncertainly, "When she defeats the allied army, not to mention unifying the continent of Ursos, she will at least take down the city-states that declared war on her, such as Reese and Terosi.
At that time, she will have a strong army and is only a narrow sea away from the Westeros. She will come back with millions of troops to show off. It is normal for you to be jealous and hate her. "
"Millions of troops to show off?" The nobles' mouths twitched, and their expressions were extremely complicated.
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