A High-Stakes Gamble

Bjorn Silver Maple is an elder of the Silver Maple Family Ducal House family, responsible for leading the troops guarding the Silver Maple Forest. He is also Great Elder and once reprimanded Mora for neglecting his duties, indicating a poor relationship with Mora.

Pelei replied with a smile, "Old man Bjorn is just a bit old-fashioned, but he's not stupid. Your opponent this time is not easy to deal with, but this elite force will definitely be of help to you."

"Hmph, at least this old guy has a conscience!"

Mora said irritably, but with a smile on her face.

"Alright, Mora, I have important business to discuss with you so late."

I've already arranged for your share to be delivered to your villa. The old man probably doesn't know. Here's the breakdown."

After saying that Pelei handed Mora a scroll, which Mora took and opened to read.

"What? You're giving me 70%? Didn't we agree to a 50/50 split?"

After reading the scroll, Mora looked at Pelei with some anger.

Pelei quickly crossed his arms and took a few steps back, but before he could get too far, Mora pulled him back, put his right arm on Pelle's shoulder, and pretended to pat his head with his left hand.

Pelei quickly begged for mercy, "You're the boss, and this money was earned in your name, so you should get a bigger share!"

"I said it's half for each of us. I'm the Grand Duke, so you have to listen to me."

After saying that Mora scratched Pelei's hair a few times, turning Pelei's originally stylish middle-parted hair into a bird's nest.

"My hairstyle, I'm going to see Miss Libel tonight!"

Pelei quickly broke free from Mora's right hand and ran to the mirror to try and salvage his hairstyle.

"I think this hairstyle is very nice; perhaps your Miss Libel will like it."

After a while of bickering, the two quieted down.

"Mora, I have another idea. I got permission from the old man to represent him and negotiate with several Great Merchant Guilds to borrow money from them using this batch of grain as collateral."

To borrow as much as possible, I plan to overstate the grain reserves. Those chamber of commerce officials are not easy to deal with, so I'd like to get a permit from you to persuade them to agree."

Mora perked up immediately upon hearing this. He knew Pelei well; he sometimes came up with many imaginative ideas, but none of them were bad.

What kind of permits do you intend to obtain?

"You will be leading the team to the front lines, and you will be the supreme commander of the entire army. I need to obtain permission for your army to have an exclusive escort caravan."

When Duchy's Direct Legion goes to war, it usually brings along a caravan to provide services and sell goods to the legion's soldiers and officers during wartime. After a victory, the caravan can also purchase spoils of war and help the legion's soldiers send letters and items.

This is no small business. A single legion can easily have more than 20,000 men. During wartime, they receive at least double their monthly salary and advance payment. They are all well-off and need alcohol, tobacco, and women to relieve the pressure of war.

Anyone who knows how to do business can make thousands of gold coins in net profit per caravan per month. The longer the war goes on, the more they earn. If they fight for a year or two, they can earn tens of thousands of gold coins.

This time, Mora is leading an even larger army, and the war is expected to last a long time. Many people will probably be eyeing the business of accompanying the army as merchants, since the profits are considerable.

"That's no problem, but you know, I'm also entitled to a share of the profits according to the rules."

"Don't worry, you won't be shortchanged. You can have my share too!"

Hearing Pelei say this, Mora was puzzled. "If you don't want the money, what do you need this license for? Aren't you going to use it to negotiate with those chambers of commerce?"

Pelei shook his finger. "Of course, it's for negotiation, but not with the Chamber of Commerce, but with the Chamber of Commerce executives I'm negotiating with."

You see, the borrower is the Chamber of Commerce, and the one who earns the interest is also the Chamber of Commerce. These managers will at most receive a small share of the interest. Even if it's a loan in gold, the annual interest will not exceed 8,000 gold. They'll be lucky to get a thousand or eight hundred.

Don't you think they earn too little? I want to help them earn more, but I can't just give them money directly; that would be too easy to make mistakes.

These managers actually own some small caravans, which they use to take on small orders from chambers of commerce to make some extra money.

Giving them the permit to let their caravans serve as accompanying military caravans is a huge benefit to them!

This is much better than giving them money directly. Considering this, these managers will definitely lend us money to the fullest extent of their authority.

As for the profit sharing for the military caravan, they know the rules and won't shortchange us.

After listening to Pelei's words, Mora gave him a thumbs up, "As expected of you, that move was really impressive."

But what about you giving me your share?

"Me? I don't earn that kind of money."

Pelei was very pleased with himself.

"I used the money I earned in Blackwater City to do business with most of the independent nobles in the Central Three Counties, pre-ordering all the grain they would sell next year at 10% of the grain price at the beginning of this year, which is estimated to be around 1 ton."

With this, plus the batch of undelivered grain I have this year, I'll have tons of grain in my hands next year, directly accounting for 80% of the commercial grain in the Central Region. At that time, I can lower the price whenever I want.

Before the loan matures next year, I will sell off the grain to crash the grain price in a short period of time, and then instead of repaying the loan, I will simply use the pledged grain as collateral to pay off these chambers of commerce.

If they don't want it, I can just buy the mortgage certificate at a low price and then take the opportunity to reclaim this batch of grain.

"The Civil War will probably just end next year, and the entire duchy will still be short of food. When food prices rise again, this batch of grain I have will make me a fortune."

"You've got some nerve, haven't you? Aren't you worried that those chambers of commerce will force you to pay them back?"

Behind them are nobles and members of the Ducal House; can you stop them?

"Isn't there you? Once you win the Civil War, none of this will be a problem. They wouldn't dare to threaten me, the confidant of Grand Duke Mora who just swept away the rebellious forces in the duchy."

Mora laughed heartily after hearing this. He was very happy that Pelei had so much confidence in him, and of course, he was also very confident himself.

"No problem, Pelei. But you can handle these people, but what if the food shortage isn't as bad as you think?"

"It's very simple. This time I'll go on the expedition with you. When the main force gets there, I'll lead my men to destroy the farmland, at least ruining next year's yield."

It's important to understand that besides the entire Central Region, the Northern Region also accounts for a large portion of the country's grain production. If we lose one grain-producing area, we can control another one. How could grain prices not rise?

Don't worry, I won't keep all of Mora's money for myself; you'll still get 70% of the profits.

"50%. If you don't agree to that, you can forget about the permit!"

Pelei was deeply moved by Mora's resolute attitude and jokingly scolded, "You rascal, alright, 50% or 50%, hurry up and write me the permit."

Mora found paper and pen and wrote down the permission on the spot, then handed it to Pelei.

"Mora, just wait for my good news!"

"Pelei, you're that confident I'll win!"

"It's not that I'm confident. If you lose, I'll be in even worse shape. If we're going to gamble, let's gamble big."