King

Others are holding on, and the Mountain Territory is no exception. Facing the collapse in prices, there is nothing Hudson can do except cut production.

You have to make losing trades, otherwise you will lose the market and it will be difficult to get it back again.

This wave of crisis has come so violently, not only due to overcapacity in the industry, but also because giants have taken the opportunity to reshuffle the industry and strangle their competitors.

Perhaps the order default that triggered this crisis was not just the intention of the major chambers of commerce, but maybe it was also the work of some mining giants.

A certain big noble is both a shareholder of the Chamber of Commerce and a steel giant. This kind of thing is all too common.

Unfortunately, Hudson's rise was too short-lived, and its relationship with major mainland chambers of commerce was limited to one cooperation during the war.

It’s a fair transaction where everyone gets what they need, and no one owes anything to anyone. Naturally, people would not send people over to inform him of these secrets.

Just feel envious. Forming a chamber of commerce is simply out of the question with the Koslow family's current network of contacts.

When interests are involved, a little friendship cannot be achieved at all. Those chambers of commerce all over the mainland have a large number of partners behind them.

Even the heavily protected immigration team was attacked by people. If they went to form a chamber of commerce, wouldn't they be robbed every day?

In fact, the crisis is not limited to the steel industry. After the war, all industries surrounding the war were impacted to varying degrees.

At this moment, the price of steel products has plummeted, which has also affected other industries, such as the coal mining industry, carriage manufacturing and other related industrial chains, which have all ushered in the cold winter.

Fortunately, the industry and commerce in the Alpha Kingdom are underdeveloped and do not account for a large proportion in the kingdom's economy. Most of the employees were serfs dependent on the nobility. Even if an economic crisis broke out, there would be no layoffs or salary cuts.

The impact of the crisis on the lives of people at the bottom is almost zero. However, the cold was still spreading, and the first person to feel the chill was Caesar III.

The nobles who suffered heavy losses in the crisis took bonds issued by the kingdom to offset their taxes. Originally it was just the loss of the noble lords,

"Just for the autumn tax, there are war bonds worth up to 4.5 million gold coins. Are they crazy?"

Caesar III almost roared behind the scenes.

He has been unwell these days, and has handed over many government affairs to his son, and does not pay much attention to the private actions of the nobles.

He had just taken a nap when the people below dug out a big basket for him.

It is theoretically possible to use the war bonds issued by the kingdom to offset taxes. Anyway, for this kind of early redemption, the Kingdom only pays the principal, and the interest on the coupon is directly lost.

Generally speaking, only small nobles with limited financial resources would do this. As long as there is no rush, some war bonds can be redeemed in advance, which is also a relief for the kingdom.

For the orderly operation of the kingdom's finances, and to earn bond interest. The great nobles who hold a large number of kingdom bonds have already reached a tacit agreement to hold the war bonds in their hands for a long time.

Under normal circumstances, as long as the kingdom's credibility does not collapse, there will be only a very small number of nobles holding bonds to offset their taxes.

At most, it is only a few hundred thousand gold coins, which will not exceed 10% of the total tax amount. By paying off this small amount of debt in advance, the Ministry of Finance will grit its teeth and get through it.

But the situation now is obviously different. Affected by the war, Alpha Kingdom's autumn tax this year only received a total of 7 million gold coins, of which more than 4.5 million were war bonds.

It was obvious that several big nobles had broken their tacit agreement and were selling their war bonds. Otherwise, the total amount of taxes contributed by the small nobles would not have been so large.

"Your Majesty, this may be related to the economic turmoil that broke out in the country. After entering the second half of the year, problems appeared in the iron products market, and in November there was a direct price avalanche.

As a result, in December, the crisis spread to the upstream and downstream industrial chains, affecting multiple industries.

Many nobles suffered heavy losses in this crisis. Driven by panic, everyone wanted to keep more cash in their hands, and this scene happened. "

Marquis Delgado explained bravely.

As chancellor, he was a tragedy. Not long after he took office, he caught up with the orc invasion.

It's true that he has a high position and great power, but he has to worry about money every day, and it's hard to get a good night's sleep.

"Why don't you report to me in advance?"

Caesar III asked.

For such an important message, if he had been notified in advance, countermeasures would have been taken long ago and he would never have allowed the situation to develop to this point.

There is room for change until taxes are collected. Now looking at the pile of bonds in the treasury, he is extremely worried.

The loan interest payment will begin after the new year. The creditors outside will only accept gold coins and will not accept a pile of bonds as interest.

If the interest payment cannot be carried out normally and the credibility of the Alpha Kingdom is destroyed, it will be in big trouble.

No one answered, but it could be seen from the eyes that everyone kept glancing at Crown Prince Caesar that this was probably inseparable from his precious son.

"Little Caesar, as the supervisor, shouldn't you give me an explanation?"

Caesar III said quite disappointedly.

Whatever the reason, messing things up is political stain.

If a reasonable explanation cannot be given, Prince Caesar's future will become increasingly difficult.

"Father, you were unconscious at the time, and I didn't dare to disturb your recovery with these troubles, so...so I took matters into my own hands.

In order to make everyone focus on the overall situation, I wrote personal letters to all the great nobles in the kingdom, stating the pros and cons in detail.

I thought they would give me face, but I didn't expect that each of them would go so far. They clearly don't take my royal family seriously! "

Crown Prince Caesar said angrily.

Each one of them promised him well in private, and everything would be done with the overall situation in mind. Unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, a bunch of bonds were sent to offset taxes.

The feeling of being fooled by his subordinates was so infuriating. If he hadn't taken over yet, he would have come back with revenge one by one!

"enough!"

"No matter how wronged you are, what happened now is due to your negligence as a supervisor.

Little Caesar, you are no longer a child, how can you believe what others say so easily?

Go back and read their replies carefully. Who has assured you in the letter that they will not use war bonds to offset taxes?

I will put the overall situation first, that's just a cliché to deal with you. What is really needed is to see what they do, not what they say!

That's all, it's useless to say all this now. The day of your wedding is not far away, so I simply use the wedding as an excuse to invite them to the royal capital to discuss it. "

Caesar III said after sighing.

My son is filial, but he obviously lacks political experience. If there is no problem with his body, he can train his son for another ten or eight years, and he will definitely be able to surpass the average level of the monarch.

It's a pity that his health is not as good as before, and he doesn't have that much time to let Crown Prince Caesar learn ********** step by step. I'm afraid things won't be solved that easily. What happened this time was too sudden, and even the omens were vague beforehand.

If you are not careful, you will be ignored. The traces of human manipulation behind the scenes are too obvious.

A sudden attack at such a time is most likely due to preparation. Even if you call people over, they may not buy it.

After all, according to the laws of the kingdom, the taxes were successfully transported to the royal capital and turned over to the treasury, and they had fulfilled their obligations. "

The Prime Minister, the Grand Duke of Newfoundland, reminded cautiously.

No matter how powerful Caesar III was, facing the nobles of the kingdom, it was still a relationship between the major shareholders and the small and medium shareholders.

Everything must be done within the rules. Anyone who crosses the line will have to bear the consequences of the rules.

Now that they have completed their obligations this year, if the great nobles of the kingdom don't buy it, Caesar III can't do anything to them.

"Don't worry, Prime Minister. I know what they want!

No big noble wants to see the kingdom collapse. The Warcraft Legion's plan has just begun to be implemented, and it has made such a big noise. It is obvious what it wants to do.

Calculating the numbers, the war bonds they used to offset taxes this time happen to be exactly the same as our annual military budget. Do you think there is such a coincidence in the world? "

Caesar III mocked disdainfully.

If you don’t see the naked hints, then there’s no need to play politics.

But being able to see it doesn't mean being able to say it.

As King Caesar III, it doesn't matter if he makes a few sarcastic remarks. If someone else were to speak nonsense here, once word spreads, you will immediately feel the iron fist of a great noble.

"Your Majesty, if they are really here for the Warcraft cubs, do we have to compromise?"

Grand Duke Efiero asked unwillingly.

Everyone wants to increase the strength in their hands. According to the previous agreement, the Warcraft cubs cultivated by the Alpha Kingdom will be divided 50-50 between the kingdom's military and the participating nobles.

It is obvious that when it is difficult for the cake to continue to grow, the nobles are no longer willing to accept this distribution ratio and want to obtain a higher quota.

After all, the threat of the orcs was gone. In the eyes of the nobles, the kingdom had no need to retain a strong standing army.

Although the army has always been indirectly controlled by the great nobles, after the military obtains these Warcraft cubs, a considerable number of them will return to their tribesmen serving in the army.

The power that can be controlled indirectly is ultimately inferior to direct control. Many nobles crowded together, and with everyone restraining each other, the army was always firmly under the control of Caesar III.

Even though this war weakened the king's control over the army, Caesar III still had the most say.

"Then it depends on their determination. If they are determined to weaken the military and strengthen their own military power, no one can stop them!"

As he spoke, a trace of loneliness appeared on Caesar III's eyebrows. It's not that he doesn't want to stay strong, but his body doesn't allow it.

The most important thing is that he can be strong when he is in power. That is because he has made great contributions to the kingdom and his prestige in the country is high enough.

If Crown Prince Caesar takes over, the situation will change fundamentally, and a dispute will inevitably arise.

Perhaps ten or twenty years from now, Crown Prince Caesar, who has mature political skills, can try to compete with the great nobles in the country, but now it is obviously far behind.

For a long time to come, the political pattern of "the decline of royal power and the expansion of the nobility" has almost been finalized, and Caesar III was unable to do anything.

However, with the good foundation of his stay, the power of the royal family is growing rapidly. Even if the royal power declines, it will not decline too much.

When the political wisdom of Crown Prince Caesar matures, the right to speak that was lost in the early stage can be slowly regained later.

This kind of power game will happen every time there is a change of dynasty. Caesar III has seen too many ups and downs.

He thought he could face it calmly, but he didn't expect it to happen to him. He was still unwilling to accept it.

…

The city gate caught fire, affecting the fish in the pond.

Also experiencing an economic crisis, the situation in the Principality of Moxi is obviously much more severe. It's not that the nobles of the Principality of Moxi are more likely to fight among themselves, it's mainly that they lost too many things in the war.

A large area of ​​land north of the royal capital was almost turned into ashes. Very few noble fortresses have survived.

All the major provinces south of the royal capital were also severely damaged. It can almost be said that every family wears mourning and everyone cries bitterly.

The war not only impoverished the principality government, but also emptied the pockets of the nobles.

The already fragile economy collapsed very quickly when it was stimulated in this way. Everyone didn't even have the courage to fight to the death, so they just threw up their hands and admitted defeat.

Looking at the taxes collected, which were almost all war bonds, George felt mixed.

"All the war bonds collected have been destroyed. Now everyone is having a hard time, so let's work together to tide over the difficulties!"

It is rare for a king to be so considerate, and it is inevitable that George will not be considerate even if he wants to. In the first half of the year, gold coins accounted for less than 20% of the taxes.

Once you compromise once, it will be much easier to compromise a second time. If you are destined to borrow something new to pay back something old, then simply borrow more.

"Your Majesty, the situation seems a little bad. Although the construction bonds we issued this time were sold, the time spent was several times longer than before.

The big nobles who were originally keen on buying bonds also stopped this time, and the buyers were mostly small and medium-sized nobles.

According to the intelligence we have collected, the amount of privately traded bonds has been increasing in recent times, as if someone is quietly shipping them.

Not only our bonds, but also the war bonds issued by the Alpha Kingdom, also appear frequently in major auctions.

The only good news is: transaction prices are still strong and there are no signs of collapse yet.

Perhaps they have already sensed the risk, but the amount of bonds they hold is too large and they cannot escape for a while, so they choose to continue to cooperate with us in issuing bonds to postpone the crisis of the collapse. "

Count Renato said worriedly.

It is quite strange to think that as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, he has the heart of the Minister of Finance.

However, when issuing bonds to raise funds, it is necessary to coordinate relations with all parties, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the main force in this work.

As a front-line management department, he almost couldn't sleep well when he looked at the principality's ever-expanding debt figures.

There is nothing wrong with the concept of borrowing the new to repay the old, but the prerequisite for this genius idea to be realized is that there are enough funds outside and are willing to lend them a steady stream.

Once the capital chain is broken and the routine can no longer be played, it will be time for collapse.

"We have no way out. If they notice the problem, we can quickly borrow more before they finish shipping.

If they wait until they complete the risk transfer, someone may be tempted to burst the bubble.

After all, they have gained enough benefits from it. Escape at this time is undoubtedly the best choice. "

George said coldly.

Before choosing to embark on the path of "borrowing new and paying back old", he was prepared for the bubble to burst.

The great nobles were not fools. They knew how to send people to collect information about the Principality of Moxi to estimate their financial income.

Even if there is a certain error in this number, government operations also have costs. When fiscal revenue is lower than interest payments, anyone can easily conclude that the fiscal house is about to go bankrupt.

If you owe too much, you are the boss. Even if they realize that there is a financial problem in the Principality of Moxi, the creditors will not dare to come to collect money in advance, for fear of accidentally detonating this huge debt mine.

In order to protect their own interests, they had to build momentum for the new bonds of the Principality of Moxi, deceive the wrongdoers to take over the deal, and delay the debt thunder; at the same time, they had to sell the bonds in their hands privately to pass on the crisis.

“Your Majesty, if we continue to borrow like this, our debt burden will only become heavier and heavier, and the consequences of bankruptcy will become more terrifying.

It is better to take advantage of the fact that our debt has not yet exploded, communicate with all creditors in advance, and try our best to persuade them to lower the bond interest to ensure normal payment. "

Prime Minister Herceg said fearfully.

He was really scared. As long as I think of the scene of being chased by creditors to collect debts after the debt crisis, I can't help but feel numb.

Who made him the prime minister of the Principality of Moxi?

When it comes time to use force to collect debts, if the creditors don't kill him, who else can they kill?

You can’t go after King George!

Regicide is the first taboo in the Aslant continent. Even if George stood in front of his creditors, no one would dare to take action against him.

"No, at least we can't do this until they sell the bonds in their hands!

The same is a debt default. Money owed to a group of big nobles and money owed to a group of small and medium-sized nobles are two completely different concepts.

Just do as I say, increase the number of bond issuances, and get as much cash back as possible.

We will decide whether to have a showdown after the major forces have recovered from the debt crisis! "

George said seriously.

In order to escape smoothly, he could only conduct this silent transaction. If the major forces involved are not fed first, armed debt collection will be a matter of minutes later.