King

The news spread and the front lines quickly boiled over. Legal "robbery" has always been a legend in the kingdom.

There have been rumors from the outside that the Alpha Kingdom has the strictest military discipline.

In fact, it's not that the nobles want strict military discipline, but that the kingdom's situation is special.

The orcs next door are so poor that they only have their lives left. They have always been the only ones to rob the kingdom. How can the kingdom's army rob them?

If you can't get it from the outside, then you can only get it from the inside. We are all our own people. We must unite sincerely to fight against foreign enemies. We must not do anything that undermines unity.

Most of the soldiers in the kingdom will never have the opportunity to participate in robbery in their life. This common skill spread among the Continental Army is extremely rare among the Royal Army.

However, this kind of innate skill has always been self-taught. As long as conditions permit, it can be awakened quickly.

At this moment, the Holy See is in decline, and if there is an opportunity to get a share of the pie, everyone will naturally not let it go.

The only problem is: the head tax set by the royal government is not low. If it is not performed well, it is guaranteed to lose money.

Just thinking of the wealth of the Holy See, everyone's worries disappeared instantly.

After collecting tithes for so many years and selling atonement scrolls for countless years, the huge wealth accumulated could never disappear out of thin air.

Suddenly, Hudson's headquarters became noisy. There are countless noble officers who came to sign up.

Except for a few nobles whose special circumstances made it inconvenient to participate, all the major nobles in the kingdom signed up.

"Marshal, this expedition to the Papal States is a rare opportunity. Are you really not going to participate?"

Marquis Zuel asked with concern.

When it comes to beating up a drowned dog, if one more person participates, there will be one more person to share the spoils. Under normal circumstances, the fewer people participating, the better.

It's just that the Holy See is still the Holy See. Even if it declines, it will still be a broken ship.

With the conflict between the Kingdom and the Holy See, it is very likely that they will become the target of focus, and maybe there will be a fight when they get there.

When it comes to using troops to fight, it is obvious that Hudson is more professional. With such professionals leading the team, not to mention fighting against the Holy See, even if there is a conflict with other countries due to interests later, everyone will not be afraid.

If everyone goes to rob together, the stronger they are, the more loot they can get. Bringing Hudson together to form a team is undoubtedly an act of making the cake bigger.

Even if the Holy See was forced into a hurry and directly let the Holy Land participate in the war, there would still be a "tall man" like Hudson to support it.

"Ha ha……"

“The most indispensable thing in this world is opportunity. If you miss this time, there will be another one.

Although the war has come to an end, the front line is not peaceful. The orcs just retreated temporarily, but that doesn't mean they won't come back.

After a large number of troops are withdrawn, I still need to be on the front line. The Koslow family will not participate in this operation! "

As soon as Hudson finished speaking, everyone looked stunned.

As the newly promoted human marshal, everyone can understand that Hudson cherishes his feathers and does not participate in robbery.

But there is no need to exclude the family when it comes to making a fortune!

Are there still unknown risks in this trip to the Papal States?

The idea just arose and was quickly dismissed by everyone. If there is really a danger, the veteran nobles like them will only have better information.

What's more, this military operation is a joint attack on the Holy See by all the countries in the mainland. Even if the Holy See is at its peak, it cannot withstand the evil hands of so many countries.

Although the kingdom has many conflicts with the Holy See, when it comes to enmity, the Franks are better.

If the Holy See really had a strong counterattack, it would target them first. Only by defeating this leading brother can it be possible to curb this round of carve-up frenzy.

In contrast, Alpha Kingdom is just looking for money. They will leave as soon as they finish grabbing, and they will not stay there for a long time.

After fooling everyone away, Hudson smiled slightly. Just because you can't participate in the "robbery" operation doesn't mean you can't get a share of the pie.

With the Papal State's wealth, spoils of war are definitely indispensable. Apart from a portion of the cash, the rest of the loot needs to be disposed of.

Although the Royal Government has established a professional evaluation department, when it comes to actual work, it is obviously not what the bureaucrats are good at.

If the bureaucracy is really left in charge, no matter how hugely profitable an industry is, it will lose money.

The most important thing is that the Royal Government has no money in its pocket now!

A lot of IOUs have been issued to the Ministry of Finance, but all nobles with some strength are creditors of the royal government.

After years of continuous wars, the nobles of the kingdom were going crazy from poverty. There is no way to collect IOUs during the war. Now that the war is over, who needs a memo from the Ministry of Finance?

Anyone with a little knowledge knows that the Ministry of Finance wants to promote "government bankruptcy" to solve the fiscal hole. Deep down in their hearts, many nobles already had expectations of the bankruptcy of the royal government.

The Royal Government wants to continue developing this business, and finding strong partners is the only option.

Looking across the entire kingdom, apart from the Near East Development Bank, there is no one else that has the strength to spend large sums of cash.

It just so happens that the Near East Development Bank's business territory is wide enough and its tentacles extend to all walks of life. It has an inherent advantage when it comes to handling the spoils of war.

The stolen gold coins are deposited in the bank, and the loot is sold to the bank at a discount. Everyone can continue to travel lightly and continue the great robbery.

The bank has made money by expanding its business, and the royal government can also withdraw a tax from it, a perfect win-win-win situation.

Frankly speaking, Hudson still feels a little guilty. From its establishment to the present, the Near East Development Bank has not paid a penny in taxes to the Royal Government.

With no supervision, no taxation, and completely barbaric growth, it was possible to spread the network to all cities in the kingdom in just a few years.

It has developed so far that one-third of the nobles in the kingdom owe bank loans.

Reason told Hudson that if he continued to play like this, he would be the target of public criticism sooner or later.

It seems to be controlling the lifeblood of the kingdom through economic means, but this is based on the premise that everyone abides by the rules.

You must know that these debtors are not ordinary people. They have private armies of varying sizes in their hands.

If one day these guys feel that the original rules of the game are not good and want to change the gameplay, the situation will immediately be very different.

"Interests move people's hearts." When the interests involved are big enough, even Hudson, the marshal of the kingdom, can't stop everyone's prying eyes.

In recent years, Hudson has been arbitraging through obscure means to raise the bank's operating costs and make profits look less scary. In fact, it is also a way to avoid risks in advance.

In the past, "Near East development" was used as a cover to emphasize high risks to the outside world. Even after earning huge wealth, no one is jealous.

According to the inherent thinking, as long as the orcs invade again, there will be a lot of bad debts in the loans issued in the Near East. What you earn in the past will be lost later.

But with the end of this war, everything changed. Banks' bad debts do appear, but the proportion is very low.

The main source of bad debts is: the nobles of the seven counties who were flooded.

However, the floods destroyed farmland and infrastructure, but the creditor himself is still alive. Debts are only temporarily paid off, not disappearing directly.

Immediately after the incident, Hudson, under pressure from shareholders, ordered the head of the bank to initiate a debt rollover, allowing the affected nobles to defer debt repayments for five years.

Not only the nobles of the seven counties are enjoying the dividends, but the nobles of the entire Near East can also defer debt repayment for one year.

As a price, the Near East Development Bank lost millions of gold coins in direct fund interest alone. The indirect economic losses are even more immeasurable.

Efforts are also rewarded, and the reputation of the bank has been greatly improved. Compared with loan sharks outside, this is a proper conscientious creditor.

The Near East Development Bank is already very eye-catching, but if it buys trophies at a lower price, it will be even easier to attract hatred.

After a brief reflection, Hudson immediately decided to change his routine. It is enough for the bank to issue a loan, there is no need to conduct transactions in person.

Since the Ministry of Finance wants to make profits from it, it naturally has to bear corresponding responsibilities. Just let them do things like low-price acquisitions to attract hatred.

If they don't have money, the bank can provide them with loans and use the loot from the acquisition as collateral.

Later, it was natural for the Royal Government to repay the loan and the bank to sell off the collateral.

After clearing his thoughts, Hudson's mind suddenly became more active. The Near East Development Bank has become a big success, so let’s bring in a few banks with a bad reputation to share the pressure.

It seems that he doesn't need to do this kind of work at all. Currently, no commercial bank in the world has a good reputation.

Limited by their own scale, the operating costs of small banks have always remained high. When running a business, it is inevitable to be eager for quick success.

The main reason is that their profit model is single. The biggest profit point of the Near East Development Bank is not issuing loans, but printing golden tickets.

It’s not that banks didn’t follow suit, but the market didn’t buy it. Forcibly launching your own golden ticket will drive customers away.

At present, the golden tickets of the Near East Development Bank have been distributed in major cities in the northern continent, and have begun to penetrate into the central continent.

"Tom, send someone to deliver this letter to Rudolph. Tell him that he must reach a cooperation agreement with the Ministry of Finance before the army sets off."

…

The top of the holy mountain.

"What, the Five Nations Alliance also wants to send troops to mediate?"

Pius VII asked in disbelief.

The current Papal State is in chaos. The Franks, the Anti-French Alliance, themselves and the Five Nations Alliance are just a table of mahjong.

Considering the relationship between the Holy See and the Five-Nation Alliance, sending troops here at this moment is obviously a weasel paying New Year greetings to the rooster.

It was like four families fighting against each other. The other family defected to the other side, and three families beat them up.

"Yes, Your Majesty!

Bishop Montesson sent news from the Alpha Kingdom that the Five-Nation Alliance formally submitted a mediation letter to us last night. We can't refuse even if we want! "

Ulisse said with a depressed look.

Originally, diplomatic matters had nothing to do with their intelligence organization. Perseveringly, the permanent overseas mission of the Holy See in the Kingdom of Alpha was abolished a few years ago.

In order to quickly send the news back, Bishop Montezon activated the emergency communication channel of the intelligence organization. In exchange for the impromptu summons, they also exposed a stronghold.

Deep down in his heart, Ulisse had already secretly greeted Bishop Montesson's family. If you don’t leave immediately after the meeting and stay there pretending to recover from illness, this will create a problem!

There is no point in complaining. Bishop Montesson and his party have no choice but to stay in the Alpha Kingdom to recuperate.

At the Alliance Council, the Holy See was completely defeated. With such poor diplomatic performance, if they dare to come back at this juncture, they may be torn apart by the passionate young people within the Holy See.

For the Five-Nation Alliance, as long as they are determined to send troops, they will still send troops regardless of whether there is a delegation or not.

Even if the delegation does not receive the note, other organizations or individuals in the Holy See will still receive it.

The worst thing is that the army can be carried with you. Anyway, it is a procedure and will not affect the decision-making.

"snort!

It really looks like we are in decline. All cats and dogs dare to come up and take a bite now!

Tell Alpha Kingdom not to bully others too much! otherwise……"

Half of the threatening words finally stuck in his mouth, and Pius VII's face turned red with anger.

Today is different from the past. The Holy See is no longer the Holy See it once was. If it wants to threaten a big country, the Holy See's current strength simply cannot do it.

When it comes to military strength, the Holy See lags far behind. Even if it is superior to the Alpha Kingdom in terms of high-end power, it will not have any advantage against the entire Five-Nation Alliance.

In this context, speaking loudly means saying the harshest words and receiving the harshest beatings.

"Your Majesty, the current situation is no longer under our control. We should ask the seniors to mediate!

No matter what, we are the spokespersons of the Lord of the Dawn in the human world after all. Do they dare to really destroy us? "

Bishop Asprilla, dressed in red at the side, spoke to persuade.

In fact, this is also the last resort of the Holy See. Even though two new churches have emerged on the mainland, orthodoxy still exists with them.

"Things are not as simple as you think. If we want to use high-end power threats to force countries to withdraw their troops, we simply cannot do it.

Once the rules are broken and the powerful saints from all major forces join forces to retaliate, the situation will become even worse.

As for gods, there is no need to fantasize. There has been no feedback for thousands of years. How can an ordinary internal fight among believers attract the attention of a superior god?

Even the enemies are afraid and dare not take action to destroy the Holy Court. Then we can get rid of those of us and replace them with a group of obedient superiors! "

Pius VII said with a hint of sarcasm.

If you open the history books of the Holy See, you will find that in the power struggles over the past countless years, not just one or two popes died unexpectedly.

If you dare to play like this in the middle of an internal fight, there won't be much psychological pressure if others follow suit.

"Your Majesty, if there is no better way, then prepare to deal with the aftermath!

Transfer what can be transferred, hide what can be hidden, first try to preserve the vitality of the Holy Court as much as possible! After the situation improves, then look for other options! "

Blake persuaded bravely.

…