King
Chapter 1133 - 1133 174 Seeing Through

1133: Chapter 174: Seeing Through 1133: Chapter 174: Seeing Through The competition lasted for three days before it concluded, and apart from a few unlucky folks getting injured while dueling, everything went very smoothly and everyone was satisfied.

The elites completed a political performance, onlookers enjoyed the spectacle, and students had the chance to show their faces in front of the VIPs.

As a specially invited guest, Hudson also played a role as an award presenter along with several ministers.

As for His Majesty the King, the most honored guest, he quietly left the venue before the competition ended.

Having suffered a setback before, the Royal Family had learned their lesson and would not allow strangers to get close to the King.

With so many people at the event, no matter how strict the screening was, it was impossible to guarantee that an assassin wouldn’t slip through.

Not just the King, but all the nobility in the Capital had stringent security measures around them.

Only the very few who were strongmen dared to travel alone.

Interestingly, the tighter the security measures, the higher the probability of an assassination attempt.

In contrast, those traveling alone were not targets for the assassins.

For example, Hudson, the Dragon Knight, who often flew around in the sky, had never once encountered an assassination attempt.

Other Eighth-Order Strongmen in the Kingdom also rarely faced assassins.

Nobles with weaker personal power were the usual victims of repeated assassin visits.

Clearly, even assassins chose easier targets.

With the production of the Magic Crystal Cards completed, Hudson embarked on his journey home, satisfied.

His next task was to distribute these Magic Crystal Cards, a process which couldn’t be completed in a short time.

According to the standards set by Hudson, the bank’s customer base was not large, and could even be said to be very small.

To ensure that the free Magic Crystal Cards didn’t become dead cards once they reached the customers, all of them were linked to identities, with only those bought with money having the option to be anonymous.

…

Snow Moon Territory, Duke’s Mansion.

“Duke, here is the latest data from the bank.

After half a month of operation, we’ve issued nearly four hundred Magic Crystal Cards and collected deposits totaling 1.86 million Gold Coins.

The current cardholders are all attracted by your reputation.

They aren’t very concerned with the specific operations of the bank, only a small portion of nobles have inquired about currency exchange and loan services.

The deposit business data mainly comes from income deposits from territories.

If we exclude the deposits from the Manor House, the actual deposit amount is just under 860,000 Gold Coins.

On average, each customer’s deposit is only 2,200 Gold Coins.

According to data analysis, customers who deposit 2,000 Gold Coins are doing it to support you and are unlikely to have a need for loans or currency exchanges in the short term.

Only about one in ten customers will engage in business transactions with us shortly, mainly for remittances and currency exchanges.

As per your instructions, no currency exchange fees will be charged in the first year, making these services a losing business for the time being.

Not considering the cost of the Magic Crystal Cards, we have invested 110,000 Gold Coins in the Near East Development Bank to date.

This includes expenses such as purchasing property, constructing vaults, setting up Magic Formations, staff training, and equipment procurement…

Based on the current situation, the monthly operating costs of the bank will remain between 5,000 and 8,000 Gold Coins.

This is mainly because the Capital Branch requires a large number of security personnel, driving up the security budget.

If business increases and we need to transfer funds between the three main branches, the cost of secure transportation will also rise.

Considering the actual situation, we must initiate loan services as soon as possible to get the money on our books flowing and to start making profits sooner.

After risk assessment, the branch most suitable for launching loan services is the Mountain Territory Branch.

We have been operating in the Southeastern Province for the longest time and are very familiar with potential clients, which allows for effective risk control.

Many middle and small Nobles are facing financial issues due to the war and need funds urgently.

Land income can be used as collateral, and the risk of default is minimal.

With your name, Duke, nobody dares to breach the contract maliciously.

Next is the Capital Branch.

Although it has just begun operations, the Capital caters to the whole country.

There are many Nobles coming and going every day, and there are always some short of funds.

Certain merchants are also potential clients, and as long as they have assets in the Capital to use as collateral, the safety of the loans is secured.

The Snow Moon Territory Branch is in the worst situation.

The current situation in the Near East is unclear, and if the Orcs invade on a large scale, it will be hard for the middle and small Nobles to resist.

However, this branch also has the most potential clients, most Nobles in the territory are lacking in funds.

Just a hint of offering loans would bring customers knocking.

For safety reasons, it’s best not to rush into expanding operations in the Near East for the Snow Moon Territory Branch.

For now, as many Nobles in the Seven Northern Provinces are also short on funds, we can start with business there.

Once the Kingdom’s defensive lines are built and the Near East has a certain capacity to defend itself, it wouldn’t be too late to start lending operations there!” Rudolf said carefully.

As the Minister of Commerce, he had just managed to balance the books when Hudson suddenly appointed him as the President of the Near East Development Bank, and he felt overwhelmed.

It seemed as if all the loss-making projects in the territory had to go through his hands.

He knew that the other projects he had taken over had initially been running at a loss.

While it appeared to be an analysis, he was also subtly advising.

Before this, Hudson had planned to invest one million Gold Coins to provide construction loans to Nobles in the Near East.

However, because of the need for capital to build the bank, the initial investment of one million Gold Coins had been used for infrastructure.