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Chapter 1147 - 1147 178 First Financing Meeting_3

1147: Chapter 178, First Financing Meeting_3 1147: Chapter 178, First Financing Meeting_3 If the cash crunch crisis continued and everyone used physical goods to offset their taxes, the Kingdom Government would even have surplus grain to sell.

“Baron, the current grain market is not favorable.

Selling your grain at this time would hardly fetch a good price.

Why not store the grain for now and observe the market situation?

The cash crunch is always temporary,”

Rudolf spoke to comfort him.

It was all true, Snow Moon Territory would indeed purchase grain, but only after the prices had drastically fallen.

Right now, the Noble Lords were still holding out, and the market price for grain hadn’t fallen by even ten percent, unlike other commodities, many of which were discounted by seventy to eighty percent.

Selling grain under these circumstances would definitely lead to price cutting.

“Your Excellency, if I had a choice, why would I be in such a hurry?

For some reason, from the end of the war to now, grain prices have always been poor.

I thought the same earlier, that it would be fine just to outlast the cash famine.

Last year, I only sold a small amount of my grain reserves, and the rest is still piled up in the warehouse.

I never expected that this year the situation would be even more severe, as if the grain consumption market had suddenly shrunk!”

Upon hearing Baron Ezekiel, Rudolf silently shook his head.

The decline in the Kingdom’s grain consumption wasn’t due to a reduction in population, but mainly because of the rapid development of fisheries.

Fish is also meat, and as long as the price is cheap enough, it will inevitably have an impact on the grain market.

What’s worse is that even though the price of fish had been reduced, the profits from fishing were still substantial.

The coastal Noble Lords were essentially all vigorously developing fisheries.

As the seafood entered the market, the commoners were ecstatic, finally getting to see meat.

As a result, most cities in the Kingdom saw a decline in grain consumption.

Slight changes won’t impact the market, but combined with the cash famine crisis, the artificially amplified contradictions made the situation different.

The only hope for the agricultural nobles now was the Near East, a major grain consumer, otherwise, they could only keep piling up in their warehouses.

It wasn’t a matter of life and death, and no noble had ever gone bankrupt because of a bountiful grain harvest.

But hoping to finance other endeavors with grain income was a tragedy for the nobles who did rely on this.

“If Baron truly wishes to sell grain, I can help connect you, but the specific price you’ll need to negotiate yourself.

Generally speaking, estate transactions follow the market situation.

The final offered price is likely not going to satisfy you!

If you can accept deferred Gold Tickets, then the price might be slightly negotiable.

You can rest assured about the safety of the Gold Tickets.

The Near East Development Bank issues deferred Gold Tickets that can be used in Mountain Domain to purchase any goods.

The face value is locked with the Gold Coin, so it won’t depreciate.

If unused, once the Gold Tickets expire, you can exchange them for cash at our bank,”

Rudolf slowly explained.

From the outset of his business, Hudson had had the habit of hoarding grain, which had continued until now.

It’s just that times have changed, and Mountain Domain, with its extensive development of farmland, had long achieved self-sufficiency in food.

In Southeastern Province, one significant factor behind the unsold grain was that the largest buyer in the grain market had reduced its grain purchasing since last year.

Even now, buying grain is only for strategic reserves.

This kind of non-urgent purchase generally opts for times when the grain prices are at their lowest.

However, to promote Gold Tickets, a slight concession is acceptable.

Short-term deferred Gold Tickets don’t bring in a large amount of profit, but can help establish the credibility of the Gold Tickets.

Changing people’s habits isn’t something that can be achieved overnight.

Right now, it’s just about getting them to try, and once they have their first experience using Gold Tickets, later usage won’t be so resisted.

Swinging between the gold and silver standard seemed unrealistic, but joining this system was still possible.

…

Over Snow Moon Lake, Hudson was rowing with a group of chamber of commerce officials.

Beyond the lively conversations that occurred upon boarding, the atmosphere quickly became serious.

Everyone was here for the “big business” that Hudson had mentioned, not to waste time with idle chitchat.

“Tom, distribute the documents to the guests!”

Hudson said it nonchalantly.

If he had any choice, he really wouldn’t want to seek financing.

But there was no alternative; Near East Development Bank required a substantial amount of capital.

Initially, Hudson could invest by himself, but if the development reached a later stage, it was a pit he couldn’t fill on his own.

The financing guide was the same for everyone: a beautiful balance sheet plus a tempting story.

Regarding the leakage of business models and the emergence of competitors, Hudson didn’t care at all.

Out here to coax financing, naturally, they would only highlight the positives; who would foolishly note the risks?

If one naively followed and replicated this business model in other areas of the Continent, they could likely make money initially, but the longer term was the question of how they would fail.

In the face of interests, not many could control their greed.

A bank without any legal restraint that ended the barbaric era of financial land-grabbing would certainly create issues; otherwise, Hudson might as well write his name backwards.

As time ticked by, everyone studied the documents seriously.

The further they read, the more shocked their expressions became.

“Marshal Hudson, Near East Development Bank is so profitable; you really don’t need to involve us, right?”

Wolfdeck asked dubiously.

Profitable ventures were never easily given away.

Looking purely at the data on the books, in the past five months, Near East Development Bank’s profits had reached a staggering one hundred forty thousand gold coins, and they were still increasing rapidly.

Based on the current growth rate, by the end of the year, the total profits would exceed three hundred fifty thousand gold coins.

Next year’s profit forecast was even more astounding, estimated to be between eighty thousand and two hundred thousand gold coins—a range so vast it seemed like a joke.

“Mr.

Wolfdeck, Near East Development Bank indeed makes a lot of money, but the Kingdom is experiencing a money shortage!

Under normal circumstances, we would only need to attract deposits and make loans to make huge profits, but unfortunately, depositors also have no money now.

However, difficulties are temporary, and a money shortage in the Kingdom is not exactly big news.

After almost every large-scale war, there is a money shortage to varying degrees; this time, it just affects a broader area.

As long as we get through these difficult years, the path ahead is clear.

Originally, I also wanted to scale back and slow the development of the bank.

But time waits for no one; if we can’t quickly capture the market, competitors will appear.

Many are keeping an eye on Near East Development Bank, including yourselves.

If it weren’t for the unclear profit model, others might have already followed suit.

Money can’t be made by one person alone; rather than diluting profits in competition, it’s better if we join hands together and share the huge profits!”

Hudson pitched earnestly.

Huge profits or not, that was a matter for the future.

The current issue was that Near East Development Bank was about to run out of money for loans.

Either increase the leverage ratio or shrink the loan size—neither of which Hudson desired.