Due to the limitations of time and vision, Fatty Shi only saw issuing gold coins as a way to expand his family's power and influence, which made Loriste feel very regretful. However, he could not be blamed for this. Compared to Loriste's previous world, all the gold coins issued by the countries on the Galinthea Continent used the same formula and the same amount of gold. The value was reflected in the weight, and the profit from casting gold coins depended on the ratio of materials used. This caused the financial industry on the continent to be very backward.
Merchants were after profits. Loriste remembered that in his previous life, when he was a small handicraft factory manager, he had attended a few financial expert classes. The history of finance could be traced back to the Middle Ages. At that time, the Jews who had lost their homes were wandering around Europe, and they had keenly noticed the differences and profits in the exchange of gold coins between the various kingdoms. That was why the Jews were known as a mercantile people. The reason why they were known as a mercantile people was that their earliest businesses were usury, gold coin exchange, and grocery stores. It was these three businesses that allowed them to accumulate wealth over a thousand years and influence the economic development of the entire world.
The Galinthea Continent was different from the Middle Ages in Loriste's previous world. The Serkin Temple, which was in charge of wealth and commerce, took over some of the functions of the Jews, and in some aspects, they did better than the Jews. For example, they used the temple's credibility to value property, real estate, and collectibles, notarize and endorse all kinds of commercial contracts, issue gold yuan certificates to replace gold coins, and provide loans to lords, merchant guilds, and countries. In a way, the Serkin Temple already had some of the functions of a modern bank.
However, compared to modern banks, the Serkin Goddess Shrine did not have a deposit-taking service. Its customers were all large merchant guilds, lords, and countries that had the ability to repay their debts. It had little interest in private businesses, and at most, it would help merchants on long journeys exchange for gold yuan certificates so that they could carry them around. Because of this, the Serkin Temple was unable to expand its influence. Other than merchants, it did not have much faith among the commoners. For example, after the civil war broke out in the Krisen Empire, the Serkin Temple retreated from the entire empire. Even now, the closest Serkin Temple to the North was still in Morent City of the Merchant Alliance.
Now that Fatty Shi had suggested issuing the family's own gold coins, Laurist's idea was to set up a family bank and have it issue gold coins to support the new mines and workshops in the family's territory with loans. It would also allow individuals to deposit and withdraw money. What was beneficial to the Norton family was that no matter what workshop or workshop was set up in the family's territory, the Norton family would naturally own 30% of the shares. Loriste felt that after setting up a bank, he could use loans to reduce the pressure and burden of these private enterprises, which would be beneficial to production and competition. In addition, with the bank conducting financial audits, the risk of fraud and fraud could be avoided.
Most importantly, Laurist hoped that the finances of the family's territory would be under his control. He wanted to use the bank to reduce the financial burden of the family's development and military operations. It was the habit of the people of the Galinthia Continent to hide their accumulated gold coins and bury them for a rainy day. There were close to 1.5 million people in the Norton family's territory. According to Chief Steward Spear's estimation, the people in the Fengle Plains, which was the first to be developed, should be the first to become rich. Every family had at least 10 gold coins worth of wealth, which was also one of the reasons why Chief Steward Spear wanted to increase taxes.
The Norton Family had armed and destroyed the Haneabada Kingdom. They had obtained 27 million Gold Fords from this slave country, and the Laurist Family had spent more than 10 million Gold Fords in the following two to three years. According to Laurist's experience in his previous life, investing such a large sum of money would very likely cause an economic crisis in the family's territory. Unfortunately, the family's territory was not affected. There were two reasons for this. One was that the people didn't need much money. They just needed to eat, wear, and have a place to live. The second reason was that the people who earned money all hid the gold coins and didn't spend them. So, no matter how much Laurist invested, it was like throwing it into a bottomless pit, without a trace of response.
Laurist took a piece of kraft paper and wrote the word "bank" on it. He hoped that these administrative matters in the family's territory could be settled within this year. Next year, he would lead the attack on the Iberian Kingdom and deal with Grand Duke Fisablun. At that time, all the development and management of the family's territory would be handed over to Fatty Shi. So, he had to write down his ideas clearly before handing them over to Fatty Shi.
November passed by in a busy meeting. Fatty Shi was amazed by Laurist's proposal to open a bank. He then proposed to put a statue of the Goddess of Sikkim in the bank and let the bank replace the role of the Sikkim Shrine. This was Fatty Shi's bad taste. He wanted to see what kind of expression the Goddess of Sikkim Shrine would have when they found out that the north was rich and came to submit an application to set up a shrine. At the same time, they found out that the bank had replaced the role of the shrine …
Laurist finalized the list of nobles. This time, the family was going to confer nobles to a total of two viscounts and twelve barons. Unexpectedly, the two who were conferred the title of viscount were Master Sid and Master Fallin. The reason for the conferment was very simple. Without the two of them, the family wouldn't be able to have Sid's steel armor, war chariots, steel crossbows, and thunder catapults. This was the most basic condition for the Norton family's invincible armed forces, and the biggest reason for the small number of casualties after so many battles. It was said that when he received the conferment order, Master Sid cried like a seven or eight-year-old child. He knelt down and swore that the Sid family would be loyal to the Norton family for generations and would never go back on their word.
As for Master Fallin, he was so excited that he fainted. When he woke up, he asked his son to slap him to see if he was dreaming. Among the twelve who were conferred the title of barons, the six Golden Knights who had followed Laurist since the beginning, Bofinger, Ferocious Tiger Roth, Iron Mask Malek, Sharpshooter Jost, White-haired Beruk, and Mercenary Freya were unsurprisingly included in the list. Next were Head Steward Hansk, Head Steward Spear, and Head Steward Cordan. These three were the stewards of the Norton family's Maple Forest Manor. They had served the Norton family loyally for many years, and after Loriste had returned to the family to inherit the title and territory, the three of them had put their talents to good use and made great contributions to the development of the family's territory.
The last three candidates to be conferred the title of baron caused some controversy. The first was Fatty Shi. As the chief knight of the Norton family, being conferred the title of baron was a matter of course. However, compared to Ell, Terman, and Yuri, who were by Laurist's side, people felt that his promotion was a little too fast. The second was Master Julien. His reason was also due to technical reasons. However, as a master in refining steel, his results were not as obvious as Master Sid and Master Fallin's. There was much discussion. The third was Baron Camorra. His conferment was the most controversial.
Baron Camorra was originally conferred the title of baron by the former Grand Duke of the Northern Lands, Luckins. However, after offending the Grand Duke, he was thrown into the water dungeon and stripped of his noble status. After saving him, Laurist valued his talent and allowed him to serve the family. Baron Camorra started from the bottom as a clerk. After gaining the appreciation of Steward Cordan, he was slowly promoted to the top. Finally, he was appointed by Laurist to be the head steward of the family's most secretive weapons production base, the Furnace Castle, and the person in charge of military logistics. Ever since he took up the post, the Norton family's military equipment had never had any problems, and they had greatly reduced the wastage and production costs. It was only then that Laurist stood his ground and conferred him the title of baron.
After receiving the conferment order, Baron Camorra also locked himself in his room and cried for a long time. Then, he packed up and went to visit a noble called Baron Gisdel, who had been conferred the title of one of the seventeen nobles in Monolith Castle. This was because Baron Gisdel had a widowed sister and brought a seven-year-old son to live with her brother. Baron Camorra's trip was to propose to this lady. Now that he had become a baron, he had finally decided to continue the Camorra surname and establish a family.
Other than these fourteen newly conferred nobles, the lords of the Northern Lands who had their territories wiped out by Laurist and were under house arrest in Monolith Castle would also be conferred the title of Delamuk Province. Not only would their titles be reduced, but they would also become vassals of the Norton family. In other words, the Norton family would become their superior lords. Just like Count Spencer, he was now Viscount Spencer and would be loyal to Laurist in the future …
For these seventeen nobles, it was a mixture of sorrow and joy. The eight barons who were originally just barons were very happy. How could the Northern Lands compare to Delamuk Province? Delamuk was the most famous granary of the former Crisen Empire. Their territories would only be better if they were conferred there. A beautiful life was already calling for them. The other nine nobles were helpless. From Earl to Viscount, and from Viscount to Baron, the difference in status was huge. But no matter what, the Norton family had taken good care of them. They were lucky to be able to keep their territory even though they had chosen the wrong side of the throne. Who asked them to stand on the side of the dead second prince?
After confirming the names of the transferred lords and the newly conferred nobles, Laurist conferred the title of six honorary barons. The first was Hickford, who was the governor of the Haneabada Islands. As a governor, being conferred the title of an honorary noble meant that when he left his position as governor, there was a high chance that he would be promoted to a noble as long as he did not make any mistakes.
The second was Old Man Barlek. Actually, Laurist wanted to confer the title of a noble on him, but he was unanimously opposed by his retainers. The reason was that Old Man Barlek's original position in the family was only the person in charge of a small copper mine. His position was much lower than the three stewards. Although he was appointed by Laurist to be the person in charge of all the mines in the family, his contributions were still lacking compared to the three stewards. It was just like building a house. Old Man Barlek laid the foundation, while the three stewards built the walls. People often praised the height and beauty of a house, but they forgot that a house without a foundation was not sturdy.
The third was Master Siroba. This talented architect who was originally forced by Laurist to work for the Norton family had become the chief person in charge of all the Norton family's projects. He was now immersed in the Norton family's series of large-scale projects, and was extremely obsessed with using his name to name the projects he was in charge of, such as Siroba Levee, Siroba Fortress, Siroba Avenue, etc. Although most of the names would soon be changed, he still enjoyed it. The newly completed fort and lighthouse on the Oxhorn Cliff in Oxhorn Bay were named Siroba Fort and Siroba Lighthouse. In the end, it was Laurist who made the decision. The fort would be called Oxhorn Cliff Fort, and the lighthouse Siroba Lighthouse …
The fourth was the dean of Nicol Academy, Laurist's lover, Miss Tracy. However, she refused the title of Baron, and requested to be a Knight like her adoptive mother. For the nobles of the Galinthia Continent, a Knight was just an honorary title. Like the title of Knight, obtaining the title of Knight meant that one had become a quasi-noble, and could be treated as a noble.
The fifth and sixth recipients of the title of Baron were the two Master Swordsmen of the Norton family, Ingelek and Seuss. Master Seuss had hopes of becoming a noble, but Ingelek did not. This old man, who had already been promoted to a Master Swordsman, was very satisfied with his current life, and was too lazy to move. After returning from the Haneabada Archipelago, he was only willing to accept the task of guarding Monolith Castle, unlike Master Swordsman Seuss, who was willing to run around for the family.
After signing these orders, Lollister could be considered to have concluded a major matter. Although the orders had already been issued, the official date would be January 1st next year. On New Year's Day, Laurist would hold a grand celebration banquet at Monolith Castle. One reason was to celebrate the new year, and the other was for the vassal families. As the new Duke of the Northern Lands, Laurist would be like the other Grand Dukes. He would hold a New Year's banquet every winter, and gather all the vassal families and vassal lords to celebrate.
The newly appointed territories were all in the Delamuk province, but these newly promoted nobles would not return to their families' territories, as they still held important positions in the Norton family. Other than the Godly Archer Joost, who indifferently entrusted his territory to the family and only took an annual income, the other newly appointed nobles would hand over their territories to their families or relatives to manage. They would continue to work hard in the family, and prepare to make greater contributions in order to obtain higher titles and territories …
Apart from the establishment of the bank and the appointment orders, Laurist's only task was to propose the development of property. Spear had once proposed to increase taxes to cover the excessive development costs of the family due to the wealth of her subjects, but Laurist had rejected the proposal. Even if he had not seen a pig run, he had eaten pork. With his previous life's experience, Laurist could come up with countless ways to get the subjects to willingly fork out money to pay for the family.
First, Laurist's suggestion was the development of property. There were seven towns in Fengle Plain and eight in Xingan Plain. These were the earliest areas to be developed in the family's territory. In the past six or seven years, the population of these towns had increased significantly. More young laborers from the surrounding villages had gone to work in the new factories in the towns. This was much more profitable than farming at home, so many privately built houses had appeared in the original towns. It could not be helped. The earliest houses in the towns were all built according to the same specifications and allocated to each family. Now that there were too many people and not enough houses, everyone had to think of their own ways.
Logically speaking, the land and houses in these towns all belonged to the Norton family. Spear's first idea was to collect rent or management fees from these houses, which could also be considered a form of tax increase. However, Laurist felt that they had wasted all these years living here. If he collected money now, he would only be cursed and humiliated the family.
Therefore, Laurist decided to develop property in fifteen towns in Fengle Plain and Xingan Plain. He would tear down the original shabby houses and develop them into garden-like residential communities and villas for the rich. He would expand the scope of the towns, improve the town's public facilities, and improve the town's administrative structure. He would rebuild Fengle Plain first, and then Xingan Plain.
All the funds for the development and reconstruction came from the presale. Taking Beiye Town as an example, Laurist asked the engineering department in charge of Master Siroba to build a model of Beiye Town with plaster and wood, as well as the drawings of the various residential communities, and put them in the public places of Beiye Town for people to see. It was very easy to own a house in the rebuilt Beiye Town. All they had to do was pay a third of the deposit, and two years later, they would have their own beautiful and warm home.
The residents of Beiye Town were skeptical. Although the houses on the model and drawings were beautiful and nice, they could not help but hesitate when they thought that they would only be built two years later. Although the houses were shabby now, they were free to live in, and there was no need to spend money to buy them … Laurist's solution was very simple. He found a few hundred people to pretend that they were from another town, and because Beiye Town was the first town to be developed and rebuilt, they decided to buy a house here first … With more people, the atmosphere became tense. The original residents of Beiye Town were also anxious. How could they let outsiders buy all the houses? Where would they live? They got hot-headed, went home, and dug out the buried gold coins and squeezed in …
Laurist told Chief Steward Spear, "See? Now all their money is in our family's hands, and we're generous enough to let them buy in arrears. It doesn't matter if they don't have gold coins. In the next few years, they have to work like cattle and horses for our family to get a house, and they have to pay land tax of 3% to 5% of the market price of the house every year. Although the house is his, the land is our family's. If he can't pay the land tax that year, we can kick him out and sell the house to pay the tax. The next owner of the house has to continue to pay the tax. This is the right way to collect taxes … "
Chief Steward Spear was full of admiration.
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