All for the Children

In Nagaril, the High Priest are definitely the richest, but also the most low-key group of people.

Every year there are many religious festivals and events. When these festivals arrive, people begin to prepare Goldware and send them to nearby temples for blessings.

Poor families can't afford fine Goldware, but they can't not give it as a gift—if they want to be born into a good family, then the annual festivals are the time to show it off. People may not be rich, but they can't be without it, even if it's just a piece of tableware painted with gold lacquer.

Sometimes, some rituals would guide people by saying that the reason why the rich get richer and the powerful become more secure is because the Goldware they offer in sacrifice are more in line with the will of the gods.

This has also created another local phenomenon that foreigners can never understand: during major religious festivals, some fanatical religious families will sell their children, wives, and houses to raise gold to make a Goldware to offer as a sacrifice to the gods in order to express their piety.

Such incidents have become less common in recent years, and the arrival of foreigners has indeed brought about some changes, but this phenomenon still exists in society, especially among the elderly, who do this when they are about to lose their power within the family.

After selling everything they could control to buy Goldware to offer as sacrifices to the gods, they began to wander. Among the elderly people who were homeless on the streets, many were like this, except for those who had been driven out by their children.

Their purpose in doing this was to please the gods so that they could be reborn into a better family after death.

The religious fervor of the entire population turned temples in every region into huge gold-collecting institutions. From gold lacquer to gold-plated objects to pure Goldware, a huge number of these items flowed into temples around the world every year.

The temple would entrust this part to certain people, or simply handle it itself, refining the gold and melting it down into Gold Ingot or cakes.

Because they lack specialized tools, their processes are not very refined, and there are unscrupulous merchants who add things to Goldware, the purity of these items is not very high.

The most commonly added substance is copper, and if handled properly, it's not easy for a group of priests who have never taken a chemistry class to detect it.

Lin Qi shook his head, threw the gold ingots back onto the small gold mountain, walked to the side of the gold mountain, and looked at the Gold Bar bars and ingots full of holes, his eyes momentarily dazed.

The price of gold in the Federal is currently stable and not very high. Thanks to the continuous decline in the financial and economic situation in recent years, the prices of precious metals such as silver and gold have been steadily increasing. The price of gold has risen to 37 yuan per ounce, while the price of silver has unexpectedly risen to 1.7 yuan per ounce. Cents are not included in the statistics.

One ton equals more than 32,500 ounces, and the price of a ton of pure gold has exceeded 1.3 million.

Looking at all this gold, Lin Qi silently calculated in his mind that there was at least tens of millions of dollars in wealth piled up here!

But it has a greater visual impact than ten million dollars in front of people. Gold has been a captivating commodity ever since it was discovered! Lin Qi gave what he considered a reasonable price, "Between one and fifteen million Federal Sol."

He had expected the High Priest to modestly express how wealthy he was, but to Lin Qi's surprise, the High Priest was also stunned.

"This... so much?" The High Priest seemed somewhat bewildered by the number. "The number in my mind is... a little less than what you're saying."

He originally intended to say no less, thinking it might only be around three to five million. Of course, this was also related to the behavior of Preton Merchant House over the years; their gold buyback prices were not in line with international gold prices.

At the same time, Nagaril actually has rich gold Mineral Deposit, which is why the High Priest thought these things wouldn't be too expensive.

Lin Qi nodded. He picked up a Gold Bar at random. Because the mold was not clean enough during the casting process, the solution itself contained a lot of impurities, which formed a ring of pores on the back of the gold bar. These pores ranged in size from as small as soybeans to as large as a finger, which actually reduced the value of the gold bar by visual inspection.

"Transportation, re-refining, labor costs—these additional expenses must be deducted from its value, along with security costs and bank insurance."

"It would be easy for something to go wrong if so much gold were kept in a private collection. It can only be stored in a bank's vault, and that also incurs costs."

With a clatter, he threw the Gold Bar back. Watching the Gold Bar and coins slip away, Lin Qi sighed, "These people are fucking rich!"

Of course, this is normal. This is a characteristic of underdeveloped countries, where wealth and power are more concentrated in the hands of a very small number of people than in developed countries. This is also one of the manifestations of an unreasonable social structure.

The more mature and advanced the overall social structure and mechanisms, the more evenly wealth should be distributed among different classes. The ideal social structure is one where the top and bottom classes are equal in terms of wealth and social obligations, and power is emphasized based on the division of labor.

The more a society develops in this direction, the more advanced it becomes. But Nagaril is different now. The high concentration of wealth and power only leads to the slow death of the society. The rulers firmly control power and wealth, which is equivalent to depriving ordinary people of their desires.

Ordinary people who cannot obtain material and spiritual advancement and enjoyment such as wealth, power, and status through labor or other means will lose the motivation to strive.

They would rather lie in sewage and wait for death than stand up, find a job to fill their stomachs, though the lack of job opportunities is another matter entirely.

Regardless, with so much gold piled up here, looking at it, Lin Qi's thoughts drifted away from the ragged people outside waiting to be reborn into a better family.

"Are you sure you want to hand these things over to me?" Lin Qi asked repeatedly.

The High Priest hesitated for a moment. He really hadn't expected that the gold would be worth so much money. But he hesitated for only a short while before nodding vigorously. "Yes, it's all in your hands."

Lin Qi nodded. "I will arrange for someone to handle these things as soon as possible. Also, I will definitely keep my promise to you, considering our friendship and the money!"

He said these words in a very unrefined way, but this unrefined way was approved by the High Priest.

"I've heard that the Federal is a country that values contracts. Perhaps we could sign some contracts to make these things more perfect?"

He hadn't originally planned to do this. If the gold could only be exchanged for a few million Federal Sol, Lin Qi would take a share, his sons would take a share, and in the end, each son would only receive about a million Federal Sol.

But since he had too much of it, he had to add some restrictions, because sometimes too much money can cost a person their life.

After walking out of the High Priest's back garden, Lin Qi and the High Priest reached a general agreement: Lin Qi would use the money to establish a foundation, with shares held by Lin Qi and the High Priest's children, essentially giving Lin Qi a portion of the money for free.

The foundation will be managed by Blackstone Capital. Sixty percent of its annual revenue will be reintegrated into the foundation as capital, while the remaining forty percent will be distributed as dividends according to equity allocation.

The agreement stipulates a ten-year term during which no one may cash out their shares. Cashing out will only be permitted after ten years, at which point the trusteeship will end.

In short, the High Priest's children have ten years to adapt to that society. After ten years, when they have fully integrated into the Federal society and become Federal citizens, they will be able to receive the money that truly belongs to them and have complete control over it.

Before that, they had to listen to Lin Qi.

After Lin Qi left, the High Priest summoned all his children and told them his decision.

When he announced his decision, his children, including Rui Ka, couldn't help but offer different opinions, essentially saying that the High Priest didn't need to do this.

Faced with these children arguing and demanding more autonomy and control, the High Priest became even more certain of his own ideas.

Once the noise subsided, he smiled and shook his head, skillfully replacing the incense burner with a new wick as he softly asked, "Have you finished talking?"

One sentence from Wei, which had been building up for a long time, made the children regret their impulsiveness. They all lowered their heads and dared not speak again.

After the High Priest finished setting up his incense, he sat cross-legged on the bed again and began to share his thoughts.

"Preton is very powerful. He knows a large group of powerful pirates, and it is said that these pirates are backed by the Royal Navy of Gefra. It is with this power that he firmly controls the import and export trade of Nagaril."

"We all hate him, but we can't live without him. It's a sad situation, kids."

"Whether it's me, Drag, or those idiots in the Central Government, they can't do anything about Preton. In fact, if Preton is unhappy, we can go back to primitive society in just a few months."

"But such a powerful person, someone we couldn't fight, was easily dealt with by the Federal!"

It would seem absurd for a High Priest with a mystical air to suddenly start talking about such serious and solemn things, but none of the people in the room thought so.

"You are unfamiliar with the Federal. They can easily find a reason to take everything you have and then make you disappear from people's sight. No one will care about you barbarians from a barbaric society. You need someone to provide you with shelter in order to survive."

"Lin Qi is a good choice. I've heard that he has a good relationship with the King of the Federal ...the President, which is enough for him to guarantee your safety. No one will kill you because they covet your wealth."

The High Priest looked at the children and sighed silently. In fact, he had added another layer of protection for these children: himself.

He had two reasons for not choosing to go to the Federal with these children.

First, he wants to use his power to gain some more benefits, such as the succession of the High Priest. At that time, the priests and chief priests of the various temples below will go crazy, and a large amount of gold will be gathered in his hands, giving him a second sum of money.

Secondly, as long as he remains the High Priest and still has influence, he will have value to be exploited.

In order to make better use of his power and influence, the Federal will take good care of him and his family until Federal deem him worthless, at which point they will discard him.

All of this is for the children.