King
Chapter 1140 - 1140 176 Cash Crunch_2

1140: Chapter 176, Cash Crunch_2 1140: Chapter 176, Cash Crunch_2 To get through checkpoints, smugglers would often fashion iron ingots into pots, pans, and other household utensils, which they then delivered into the hands of Orcs for subsequent smelting.

“Let’s settle for small batches then!

Send out the order, any caravan that sells us weapons shall receive corresponding tax relief.

Generous rewards bring out brave men.

As long as the profit is sizeable enough, those smugglers will find a way to get us the weapons.

Now is not the time to haggle over profits!”

Butzwieg said resignedly.

Knowing full well they were being targeted, he was powerless to do anything about it.

With the relationship between the Alpha Kingdom and the Orc Empire, blocking them was quite the norm.

At such a crucial juncture in the fight for the Royal Family’s position, he didn’t want to provoke a border conflict and bring trouble upon himself.

…

In the Snow Moon Territory, Hudson, who was closely monitoring the situation on the great plains, sensed the smell of gunpowder.

Under the trend of interests, two major factions had emerged in the Orc Empire.

Unfortunately, these species weren’t the type to engage in conspiracies, blatantly weaving alliances everywhere, almost as if they were afraid the Four Royal Families would otherwise remain oblivious.

While the opposition seemed to be expanding, the situation appeared quite favorable, but the internal contradictions within the group were also intensifying.

Unified by a common interest on a temporary basis, nobody knew what the future held.

Hudson’s intuition told him that the Four Royal Families would inevitably take action to counterstrike.

Whether they would opt for a swift and thunderous method, making an example out of some unlucky soul, or employ political strategies to divide and conquer, remained unclear.

As the Orc Empire was fraught with internal tension, the military pressure on the Near East Region greatly decreased.

The Bimons, caught up in their own internal strife, lacked even the desire to trouble the Kingdom.

This rare period of peace created favorable conditions for development in the Near East.

Some bold nobles had already led settlers to start constructing their domains.

As a leading figure among the Near Eastern Nobles, it was natural for Hudson not to let everyone down; he too developed several pastures.

He’d put aside farming for the time being; in a land vast with sparse population, developing the livestock industry held greater economic value.

Should the situation turn unfavorable, it would also facilitate strategic relocation.

Transforming livestock directly into military provisions wouldn’t result in much loss.

Over time, the once unremarkable Near East Development Bank had leapt into prominence as the brightest youngster.

Originally, it was agreed that the three major branches would run their businesses simultaneously, yet in the end, the Snow Moon Territory Branch was “overwhelmingly full,” with an endless queue of customers awaiting review.

The other two branches had a lukewarm response.

Hudson knew the reason, which was nothing more than the end of the war a year ago; the nobles had already survived the most difficult times.

Perhaps a portion of the nobles were temporarily short on cash, but most had used their connections to gather funds and tide over the difficulties.

Traditional nobles disliked fuss, mostly engaging in ancient agricultural production with few projects requiring investment.

As long as there were no disasters or wars, these major upheavals, they hardly had any need for funds.

Two months into the loan business, the Capital Branch had processed thirty-six deals, issuing loans totaling 200,000 gold coins.

Out of these, thirty-three transactions were with nobles, with only three business loans.

It wasn’t that Capital’s businessmen were all flush with cash, but rather that those in need couldn’t provide the necessary collateral.

Clearly, under the ancient ruling system of noble lords, the development of commerce and manufacturing on the Continent of Aslante was very slow.

Moreover, being a novel entity, banks were naturally met with resistance due to human nature’s instinctive fear of the unfamiliar.

Even those short on cash might not have the courage to apply for a loan.

The Mountain Territory Branch fared a bit better, with a total of 147 loans issued at a grand total of 860,000 gold coins, with clients being purely noble lords.

If one didn’t consider personal networks, this performance was quite impressive.

Unfortunately, the Mountain Territory Branch’s business was attracted by Hudson’s reputation.

Having had dealings together, everyone had sufficient understanding of the Koslow Clan, believing Hudson wouldn’t swindle them for merely 8,000 gold coins.

Even if the bank had traps, everyone, through association, might be able to discuss and resolve subsequent issues with a middleman.

Although the performance of the two branches fell short of expectations, that didn’t mean they weren’t making money.

At the very least, they had a monthly interest income of over 10,000 gold coins on paper, successfully covering the operational costs of the bank.

The Snow Moon Territory Branch had the highest performance, with a total of 314 loans issued, amounting to 1.86 million gold coins.

The number of loan applications still under review was in the hundreds, with almost all the Near Eastern Nobles and the majority of the Northern Territory Lords submitting loan applications to the Near East Development Bank.

It was as if securing a loan equaled earning money; when borrowing, the Noble Lords would take as much as possible, not one would borrow less.

Every one of them was playing the game of applying to the maximum limit; if Hudson had not personally reviewed the clients’ identities, he might have suspected his own bank was facing a “loan rush.”

Out of the over 300 loans, more than one-fifth were borrowed by members of the Koslow Clan.

Unnoticed, the Koslow Clan had already taken root in the Near East and Northern Border.

Of the remaining 200-plus loans, the clients were also all somehow connected to him.

Either they were relatives and old friends, or former comrades-in-arms—the main focus was on business with acquaintances.

The money loaned out flowed like water, yet new deposits were not so optimistic.

In the past two months, the total deposits added to the three branches were merely one million gold coins.

This figure was entirely due to policy guidance.

Thanks to regulations for bulk commodity transfers and payments within domains, merchants flocked to open bank accounts and deposit money.