Chapter 129
The political marriage (romance) with Erica is going smoothly, and the Rothschild family is developing rapidly as if sailing with a favorable wind.
Outwardly, it seems our family has no worries at all.
But everyone in this world has their own concerns.
"Sebastian, we're in big trouble. The family finances are on the verge of bankruptcy."
Hearing my words, Sebastian's mouth fell open.
Then he immediately asked with a frightened expression:
"Baron, are you ill? Our family's finances are abundant enough not to worry about money, even if we don't have money rotting away, right?"
As Sebastian said, our family's financial state is very good.
We don't need to borrow money from merchants like other nobles, and we're struggling to build warehouses in hidden places every year because we lack warehouses to pile up the endlessly incoming money.
If I wanted to, I could buy a small barony next to the Rothschild barony with cash.
If you hear talk of financial deficit in our family like this...
'It's normal to think my head has finally gone strange.'
"There's no place with as solid finances as our family except Baron Fugger."
Baron Fugger, a person with a suspicious surname who seems to have a lot of money and be friendly with Jews.
In reality, this gentleman is a 'Judean' hated as much as infidels throughout our Albania continent including the Tuscan Empire.
But he's just someone who essentially bought the baron title with money by lending part of the money earned from usury 100 years ago as war funds to the Emperor three generations ago.
Even now, that family is living well by operating banks and usury.
'They say if it weren't for being of Judean origin and banks and usury, they would have become counts already...'
Conversely, it means they're holding out in the baron position without belonging to any faction until the end, despite having factors that make them as hated as infidels.
"If you're not ill, can you tell me why you said such things to me?"
"His Majesty said he's coming to the wedding."
Hearing my words, Sebastian smiled as if he had the whole world.
It's not even his own wedding, what's so good about the Emperor coming to my wedding?
No, the Emperor coming to our family's wedding means Sebastian's power as the head retainer of the Rothschild baron family strengthens too.
It means the quantity and quality of gifts offered by kind and benevolent people rises vertically.
But soon Sebastian staggered, supporting the back of his neck with his right hand.
As expected of Sebastian, he immediately realized how complicated this problem is without me explaining.
"It's a once-in-a-lifetime honor for His Majesty to attend a mere baron's wedding as a guest. But if His Majesty comes, Duke Sforza and several counts will come together too. Of course, we'll have to greatly expand the scale of the ceremony to match this."
To summarize the situation I'm experiencing in one sentence, it's like the President coming to a mere battalion.
If the President comes, of course monsters like the Minister of Defense, Chief of Staff, and Generals who can overwhelm division commanders with just their presence will flock in droves.
High-ranking people like corps commanders and division commanders come in droves, with some exaggeration.
The feelings of the battalion commander at this time are my feelings.
'I want to die, should I retire?'
I don't feel like dying because I still have to live, but it really makes me feel hopeless.
"That's right, thanks to this the wedding costs have increased 5-fold. Now we have to hold a festival that all Florence citizens can enjoy?"
Nobles of this era put their lives on banquets, ceremonies, especially rituals like weddings.
As a joke, they say in noble families, when the head of the family dies, they're too busy worrying about funeral costs and wailing to feel the sorrow of losing the deceased.
But if you hold a splendid funeral, that family's political power expands.
It's an essential investment to survive as a noble.
The Emperor probably thinks our family's financial situation can handle that scale, and it's his own consideration to help expand my influence.
'I don't need such consideration, I just need to do business well.'
"If we mobilize all the budget we can in our family, we can cover up to 5 times. If we sell businesses and borrow money, up to 10 times."
Just like it's natural to borrow money in installments when buying apartments and cars, nobles can't solve everything for weddings with just their family's money.
Because weddings are the most important event as a human being, and an event to show off the family's power to the people of the territory and other nobles.
So weddings are held twice.
Once in the territory, and once in Florence.
Of course, the wedding held in Florence where the Emperor attends is what puts a big burden on our Rothschild family finances...
Anyway, every time those two weddings are held, at least 'one year's worth of territory budget' evaporates.
How can nobles hold weddings without borrowing money?
But if you economize, you could be disrespected and disadvantaged for decades to come, so you have to spend money while crying.
"First of all, borrowing money is absolutely vetoed. Other noble families are one thing, but if our Rothschild baron family borrows money from other great merchants? They'll use that as an excuse to cut off our family's arms and legs."
I saw this written in the scriptures:
'The borrower becomes the slave of the lender.'
Even nobles become something like slaves who have to make policies for merchants and protect their interests after borrowing money.
But that's taking care of things for their own sustainable safety.
"Spies have been saying lately that other great merchants including the Pereira family are very wary of us. If we borrow even a little money..."
"They'll tear apart our family businesses and freely do things to undermine the trust we've built."
No matter how much I have the Emperor and Duke as my backing, if they ruin businesses as payment for debt and I complain, the probability of them intervening is virtually zero.
'You shouldn't borrow in the first place.'
"And nothing is more important than expanding family business. We need to dominate new markets before anyone else."
It's like that for any business.
The vanguard, the one who starts first can obtain the most money.
The further behind, the less money you can earn, but competition only intensifies.
"Sebastian, don't worry about money. For now, let's focus only on business expansion."
"Yes, understood. But how will you raise the money?"
"We have pockets called Ifriqiya and Nador that produce money."
A miracle unfolds where matchlock guns worth 2-3 silver coins become 1 gold coin when sold to Nador, and 4 gold coins when sold to Ifriqiya.
Although I haven't created the philosopher's stone, gold is reproducing on its own.
Isn't this alchemy?
"Moreover, I need to gradually teach the concept of 'nation' to those Botswana guys in Ifriqiya, and make some villages there too."
To make villages, you need to gather people...
Using the power of voluntary enlistment, I'll move poor people without jobs to colonies and make them 'pioneer fathers'.
And if I make ports where ships can call, and make it possible to supply water and food there?
'We can go out to wider seas.'
Of course, I can indirectly rule those bound by gunpowder by creating new villages.
To pioneer colonies without getting anyone's blood on my hands.
"A wise thought, Baron."
"And I told you to leave the leftover residue squeezed from sugarcane, are you keeping that well?"
"Yes, but what are you going to use the leftovers from making sugar for? I think it would be better to just boil it down more to make sugar."
Though cheaper than spices like pepper, cloves, and nutmeg, sugar is also a precious seasoning that's hard to touch unless you're middle class.
So it's hard to understand using molasses, the sugar residue, for something else.
"I'm going to make alcohol. Very strong alcohol at that."
Rum liquor, or more precisely, rum.
One of the important symbols representing the Age of Discovery, and one of the high-alcohol distilled spirits.
"Where are you going to sell it?"
Strong alcohol actually makes money wherever you sell it.
It doesn't rot easily, gets you drunk quickly, and has a unique flavor and aroma.
But the place where you can sell such strong liquor most expensively is in regions with low civilization levels.
Originally in history, rum made using leftover residue from processing sugarcane grown in South America into sugar played a major role in the triangular trade connecting Africa -> South America -> Europe.
They say this was like a drug to those who didn't even know how to make alcohol well.
'I'm just selling luxury goods.'
"I'm going to sell it together with matchlock guns in Ifriqiya. Give it for free at first, then sell at expensive prices later. So please prepare."
And before leaving, I called Chris to my room.