Disposing of Non-Performing Assets

Looking at the skeletons on the ground, Hudson was speechless. His order was, "Find the person alive or dead." He never expected that all he would find in the end was a pile of bones.

They've all turned to bones; the identities of the deceased are naturally impossible to define. As the commander-in-chief, Hudson couldn't bring himself to disturb the peace of the dead.

"Take him away and give him a proper burial!"

The investigation into the missing soldier's case has come to an end, but the problem of the Beastfolk' infiltration remains unresolved.

Compared to large-scale enemy infiltration, these small squads are the most troublesome. They can easily hide in a patch of grass and evade the air force from above.

After hesitating for a moment, Hudson added, "Tom, pass down the order to all troops to clear the grass and bushes within five miles of the camp. No grass or trees should be more than five inches above the knee."

It's a clumsy method, but it's the most effective defense. Without cover, if the enemy launches another sneak attack, they'll inevitably expose their presence.

Once exposed, the person can be located in the shortest possible time by tracking their scent.

With the trade fair fast approaching, Hudson really didn't want any unnecessary trouble. What if the Beastfolk infiltrated and caused chaos? Where would he put his reputation then?

In the pitch-black night, dozens of furtive figures crept up to the foot of the city wall.

"Your Highness, the one with the lights on to the left is Blood Moon Castle. As long as we climb over here, we can enter the heart of the Alpha Kingdom without any obstacles."

After listening to his subordinates and glancing at the towering city walls, Prince Butzwig felt a pang of sadness.

These areas originally belonged to the Orc Empire. When he was stationed at the border, the Governor's camp was located behind Blood Moon Castle.

Sadness cannot change the fact that the land has been occupied by humans. Based on past experience, once humans build a city in a place, they rarely manage to take it back.

The last time they seized the Northern Seven Provinces of the Alpha Kingdom, it was at the cost of betraying their allies. If it weren't for that betrayal, they wouldn't be fighting alone.

"Let's find another place. This is a key enemy military location and not suitable as a breakthrough point."

The enemy hasn't occupied this land for long; their defensive line couldn't have been completed so quickly. Following this line, there's bound to be a new breakthrough!

Prince Butzwig said expressionlessly.

As a high-ranking member of the Orc Empire, he was naturally well aware of the extent to which the human defenses had been constructed.

Now he's pretending to know nothing in front of his subordinates and ordering them to search along the defensive line, clearly trying to stall for time.

In politics, one is often not in control of one's own destiny. Prince Butzwig, who volunteered for the task, never dreamed that Alex would "value" him so highly, directly assigning him the crucial mission of assassinating Caesar III.

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Going deep behind enemy lines to carry out sabotage is dangerous enough. Now, sending him to lead a group to assassinate the King is clearly a no-brainer.

When you're under someone's roof, you have to bow your head. Back in the imperial court, he could only grit his teeth and accept the mission. Now that he's out here, he can't be foolish enough to go and die.

If I can't refuse the task, can't I at least stall for time?

For such a critical matter, the Orc Empire certainly wouldn't send just one team of assassins. As long as they could stall until another team succeeded, the mission would be considered complete.

If all else fails, then we'll just have to wait until Alex meets the Beast God. Anyway, deep behind enemy lines, anything can happen.

"Your Highness, the enemy is clearly prepared and just waiting for us to be captured. It would be difficult to keep our escape a secret if we forced our way through at this moment."

Or should I go west, cross the vast grasslands, traverse the icy kingdoms, and detour through the Warhammer Kingdom and the Moxi Duchy before entering the Alpha Kingdom?

Clark then made the suggestion.

This is the longest route, the most difficult route, and also the safest route.

The Ice and Snow World to the west belongs neither to humans nor Beastfolk; it is inhabited mostly by Ancient Remnants and some cold-resistant magical beasts.

Although their numbers are small, these guys are by no means weak.

The formidable strength, coupled with the harsh natural environment that hindered large-scale military operations, made the Ice and Snow World a paradise.

"Good!"

One word revealed Prince Butzwig's true thoughts: Regardless of how the situation develops, escaping to the Ice and Snow World to lay low for now is the best course of action.

Not all assassins were as unwilling as Prince Butzwig; many Beastfolk, too, harbored dreams and crossed the city walls to embark on a new journey.

Those who were lucky managed to infiltrate the Royal Capital safely; the unlucky ones, however, brought about their own demise before they even understood what was happening.

Fortunately, there were many teams responsible for sabotage, which helped to share the pressure; otherwise, their operation would have been exposed before it even officially started.

While the Beastfolk were on the move, other factions were not idle either. In a farmhouse courtyard in the Northlands, a heated argument broke out among the high-ranking members of the July Association.

As the war has progressed to this point, not only has there been no opportunity for revenge, but this dream has become increasingly distant.

The foundations of the Five Great Families of the North are far deeper than they imagined. Apart from leaking information to the Beastfolk and assassinating a duke, they have achieved nothing.

Their various chaotic plans not only failed to make them thrive, but instead made their reputation even worse.

"The Beastfolk are utterly useless. We gave them so many opportunities, and they wasted them all. They deserve to be wiped out!"

A young man said indignantly.

They all gave their all for revenge, only to watch helplessly as the Five Great Families grew ever more prosperous.

If the current situation continues, despite the heavy losses suffered by the kingdom's nobles, the Five Great Families of the North are showing signs of further progress.

"Koren, calm down. Anger won't solve anything; it will only make things more complicated."

The previous series of failures ultimately stemmed from our placing our hopes for revenge on others, hoping that the Beastfolk could help us destroy the Five Great Families.

As it turns out, this approach won't work. To truly destroy the Five Great Families, we must rely on our own strength.

Just now, someone offered a hefty sum to have an assassin organization place a contract with us to assassinate Caesar III!

Upon hearing the news of regicide, everyone's expression changed drastically. They only wanted to kill the Five Great Families of the North, but they had no intention of killing the King as well.

He was, after all, a nobleman's son. No matter how down on his luck he was now, he had still received some family education. He understood very well what regicide meant.

"Chief, this is absolutely unacceptable! We are all sons of noble families of the kingdom; how could we commit such a treasonous act?"

"Chief, the three elders are right, regicide is unacceptable! These people are most likely up to no good and want to kill our July..."

The cacophony of advice turned the old man pale.

Just by relaying the information, without even saying anything about doing it, it has already attracted such strong opposition. If it were actually implemented, who knows what kind of backlash it would trigger.

"Chief, do you mean to find an opportunity to frame the Northern Nobles for this?"

Longxi's words caused a different light to suddenly appear in the eyes of the people who had been vehemently opposing him.

They couldn't commit regicide. But if the Northern Nobles did it, they wouldn't feel any pressure.

The only problem is that such a big deal, even if it's intended to frame someone, isn't so easy to pull off. A slight misstep and they could be implicated.

Once they are associated with regicide, not only will they themselves be doomed, but their entire families will also be implicated.

Even leaving the Alpha Kingdom wouldn't help; the various countries on the continent share a remarkably consistent stance on this issue.

Whoever commits regicide will be hunted down across the entire continent. Throughout countless years of human history, the King assassinated has been extremely limited.

"Good!"

"You are all ignorant and incompetent. I tell you to read more books, but you just won't listen."

Now you can't even understand good or bad words, and you still call yourselves noble children! When did nobles become such uncultured bumpkins?!

The old man reprimanded him sternly.

However, his imposing manner was merely an illusion; deep down, he was equally panicked. Had it not been for his subordinates helping him out, he would never have considered framing the Northern Nobles.

It has nothing to do with intelligence; it's purely a matter of preconceived notions that prevent him from having such a rebellious idea.

Otherwise, there would have been no need to wait until now; it would have been used countless years ago.

Even if the pretense is exposed, one can still sow discord. After all, the relationship between the King and the Northern Nobles is already bad, and adding fuel to the fire will only intensify their conflict.

After this interruption, everyone lowered their heads. They felt no moral guilt whatsoever for framing the Northern Nobles.

"Boss, there are countless assassin organizations on the mainland. But very few dare to take on this kind of job and have the ability to complete the mission."

Although our July Association is also a dark organization, we are ultimately different from them. Among the assassin organizations we have dealt with, none of them meet our requirements!

Moreover, we have no idea who this mysterious person who requested the order is. What if he betrays us after the deal is done?

Longxi said with a worried expression.

As a slave trader who feared neither heaven nor earth, he was truly terrified this time.

Framing someone sounds simple, but this is an extraordinary world with many remarkable investigative methods.

Sometimes even the dead can speak, let alone a group of living people. No matter how the information is leaked, as long as it gets involved, the July Association be finished.

"If they can hide, so can we. Let's find a few pawns among the Five Great Families that we control secretly and have them place orders."

At worst, we can have them take all the bounties with them and deposit them with the Assassin's Guild. As soon as they emerge, we'll silence them!

Let them investigate the Five Great Families! Whether or not the charges actually fall on them, it's enough to make them suffer.

The old man said sarcastically.

Not only the July Association, but around the same time, several Heretical Cult organizations within the Alpha Kingdom also received "sponsorship" from a mysterious person.

The underworld was instantly in an uproar. Accompanied by surging undercurrents, the storm rushed straight toward Caesar III.

Bathed in the autumn sunshine, Hudson warmly welcomed every guest. This was only the third day since the trading platform opened, and the trading volume had already skyrocketed.

Of course, this was just Hudson's guess based on the smiles on everyone's faces.

As a purely non-profit organization, the platform doesn't even charge commissions, so naturally it won't inquire about everyone's specific transaction amounts.

All eleven chambers of commerce that have joined the trading platform are large, powerful chambers of commerce with strong backgrounds, and each one was personally negotiated by Hudson.

We're just making friends; there's absolutely no insider trading involved. At most, it's just friends helping each other out.

This explanation would be even more convincing without those secret contracts. Unfortunately, Hudson remained skeptical of the friendship the merchants spoke of and ultimately chose the secret agreement.

If it were a high-ranking nobleman, a verbal agreement would probably suffice.

After all, Hudson didn't ask for much; he merely stipulated that all materials purchased from major chambers of commerce must be settled at cost price within the next ten years.

To reassure everyone, he even made a promise: all the supplies purchased at cost price would be used only by himself and would not be sold to disrupt the market.

Of course, the supplies here are not just ordinary goods, but also some things that are rarely seen outside the world.

The most important thing in any transaction is a win-win situation. This is undoubtedly a classic example of a resource exchange.

"Your Excellency, are you really going to sell all the bonds you hold?"

Once you become friends, many things become simpler. For example, right now, Hudson is carrying a box of war bonds, asking for help in cashing them out.

"To be honest, I am not optimistic about the Moxi Duchy's ability to repay its debts. The interest rates they promised on the bonds are simply too high."

My 1.28 million bonds alone require an annual interest payment of 160,000 gold coins. Their total debt is more than thirty times that amount.

Preliminary estimates suggest that the annual interest payments they need to make will be no less than six million gold coins.

As far as I know, their annual fiscal revenue before the war was only about six or seven million gold coins.

This is just the interest; there's still the principal to be repaid.

Despite their promise to levy a repayment tax on all the nobles in the country, most of the Moxi Duchy had been turned into battlefields and remained desolate. How could the noble lords possibly pay their taxes?

In the short term, they can manage by borrowing new money to repay old debts, but problems will inevitably arise in the long run.

Of course, if creditors can accept debt deferral, it would actually be a good deal.

Unfortunately, my situation is unique; I need to raise funds for post-war reconstruction in advance. Even though I know that holding these bonds long-term could have yielded a huge profit, I have no choice but to sell them now, even at a loss.

Hudson half-jokingly told them.

The problems facing the Moxi Duchy are all out in the open. The reason this hasn't caused panic among creditors is that there has never been a precedent of a nation defaulting on its debts on the Aslant Continent.

The debt extension proposed by Hudson represents the worst-case scenario that everyone could foresee. Under normal circumstances, once they catch their breath, the Moxi people will continue to fulfill their debt obligations.

He could have chosen not to mention these risks. However, the business representatives present were all shrewd business people, and it was impossible to hide them from them.

Moreover, if the risks are not disclosed, what if these risky assets are held by various chambers of commerce? When the debts default, wouldn't they all hold him responsible?

"Your Excellency, handling these bonds is not difficult. However, the premium cannot be too high, as we must also consider the risks!"

The old man in purple pretended to be troubled and said.

How can there be no risk in doing business?

Compared to private lending, the war bonds of the Moxi Duchy are considered high-quality assets in the capital market.

In the era when gold and silver served as currency, there was almost no inflation, and a stable return of seven or eight percent was enough to entice people to invest.

The best example is the war bonds issued by the Alpha Kingdom, which were snapped up at a 10% interest rate.

"Mr. Gustav, if you are worried about the risks of bonds, you can simply transfer those risks out of the company."

When procuring strategic materials from the coalition, everyone could try using bonds for settlement to gauge the other party's reaction.

Although these are war bonds, the war involving the Moxi people has ended. Backed by the credit of the Moxi Duchy, these bonds can be used as gold coins.

Furthermore, these gold coins are assets that generate their own returns. The highest interest rate among them is as high as 30% per annum.

If you're worried about the risks, take these high-yield bonds to the Moxi Duchy now, and they will definitely not mind making early repayments, or even negotiating a premium repayment.

We're all friends, so there's no need for these formalities. This deal can be broken down into smaller parts; each party only has a few hundred thousand in bonds, not a big transaction.

Everyone used their professional experience to estimate the value of bonds with different interest rates, and I also gave my own estimate, each writing it down on parchment.

"If your average price is higher than my offer, or at least 5% lower, how about we settle on the average price?"

Hudson said with a smile.

Being able to sell his high-risk bonds is already a good thing. Besides, he's selling them at a premium; no matter how much the premium, it's a huge profit for him.

He can hold it long-term, unless he converts it into the Alpha Kingdom bonds. Even if it cannot be redeemed, he can use it to offset taxes.

In fact, this was also the risk he was most worried about. The Moxi nobles also held a considerable amount of war bonds.

After the two-year tax exemption period ends, the Moxi nobles, who are short of money, will most likely use these war bonds to offset the tax payments.

It's impossible for a company to deny the debt it incurred.

Since currencies are all made of gold and silver, even if one wanted to manipulate currency devaluation to reduce debt, it wouldn't be feasible.

When the "repayment tax," which should have been collected to repay debts, turns into a pile of war bonds, that's when the Moxi Duchy's debt collapses.

Furthermore, the longer this crisis drags on, the greater its destructive power becomes. This is because the Moxi Duchy, after the war, needed to maintain sufficient cash flow in its treasury to cope with potential crises.

When rewarding meritorious officials and paying back wages for officials, were all given in bonds?

To outsiders, the Moxi Duchy's debt is over 30 million gold coins, but only they themselves know the true amount.