Lucius smiled faintly and held up three fingers. "If the interest is reasonable, I am willing to subscribe to three hundred thousand gold coins."
The moment those words were spoken, several finance officials present sucked in a sharp breath. Three hundred thousand gold coins was no small sum. Lucius alone was willing to subscribe to so much, showing that he had considerable confidence in Karl's rule and the nation's future. It also reflected, from another angle, that the business world held an optimistic view of the new regime's prospects.
Karl was somewhat surprised as well, but he did not show much delight. He merely nodded calmly. "Thank you, Mr. Lucius, for your trust. This matter is of great importance. I still need to discuss it in detail with the ministers and formulate a sound plan. Once the plan is finalized, we will make a formal announcement."
After the meeting, Karl kept the financial tycoon Marcus behind for a more in-depth private discussion. Marcus possessed abundant experience in finance and offered many valuable suggestions regarding the practical details of issuing government bonds—such as the denomination of the bonds, how interest should be paid, how the bonds could be transferred and circulated, and how counterfeiting could be prevented. At the same time, he tactfully reminded Karl to beware of unscrupulous people using government bonds for speculation and fraud, and that a comprehensive regulatory system would be needed.
"Lord Karl," Marcus said earnestly, "government bonds are a double-edged sword. Used well, they can relieve an urgent crisis and promote economic development; used poorly, they can overdraw the nation's credit and trigger financial turmoil. I suggest that the first issuance should not be too large. You can begin with five hundred thousand gold coins, set the term at three years, and the annual interest