Published at 25th of January 2023 9:04 pm

Chapter 254: The Establishment of Bank

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“…Before anything else, what’s a bank?”

Eren-san, who seemed exhausted, asked such a question while skillfully using a hand mirror.

…Is there something on his head?

Well, putting that aside for now, since he had gone to the trouble of listening, let me explain.

“To put it simply, let’s establish a place where individuals and organizations can deposit a large amount of money.”

“…It’s definitely not just that.”

“Fufu, as expected of Eren-san. How sharp-witted.”

“…Did you test me?”

Towards him, who looked at me with questionable eyes, I held out four fingers.

While grinning ever so slightly at the skeptical Eren-san, I explained once again.

“There are four roles I want the bank to play.”

“…Four?”

The first was the stable supply of money and price adjustments.

In the current United Kingdom of Barrens, repeated victories and acquisition of new territories had caused prices to continue to rise. As such, moderate inflations could be seen from the document presented by Eren-san earlier.

While the economy was growing upwards, if there was a slightest mistake, it could lead to soaring prices and put pressure on people’s lives.

“I’d say that the existence of a bank is essential to effectively regulate the amount of money.”

The other was the redistribution of wealth. Fundamentally, money tended to gather where there was money—therefore, making the rich became even richer.

In other words, in the current United Kingdom of Barrens; people, goods, and money were rapidly flowing into the capital—The City of Beginnings.

That trend was by no means a bad thing… but if it went too far, it could lead to poverty in rural areas. From a security point of view, it was a least desirable situation.

Hence, the existence of a bank would prove to be useful. Upon soliciting deposits from the wealthy and the middle class of the City of Beginnings, we could invest in rural areas.

By doing so, the money collected in the center could be redistributed to the entire region once again.

One of the objectives was to sustainably maintain a booming economy by creating a circulation for the entire economy of the United Kingdom of Barrens.

The purpose is to stabilize the country—while the other was for debt consolidation.

The United Kingdom of Barrens wasn’t free of debts.

No matter how many wars we had won, we had a large number of reparations to do. Moreover, we had just claimed the ‘Meffy Commercial State’. As such, no matter how much money we had, it wouldn’t be enough to set up a new government structure in the newly acquired territory. Inherently, we already had a certain amount of debt, which couldn’t be repaid immediately.

“Even if it’s only a little, if it’s the amount needed to run the country, then let’s do it.”

Therefore, let’s sort out these debts by having the bank take over and unify the repayment destination.

The last one was to secure war expenses.

Since I was going to start an enjoyable all-out war against El-san from the Absolutely Inviolable Area, I’d need a bank to secure the war costs.

“Well, it can be used for various other purposes, as well.”

“…If we were to set up that bank or whatever, all of that would be achieved?”

“It’s another story about whether or not it’ll succeed, but in general that’s how it usually is.”

“Fumu…”

Players who’d bring in the concept of the real world were often seen here and there, so I thought that it’d be okay.

If it didn’t… Well, I’d worry about it when it happens and reflect on my lack of ability.

“The first bank to be created is the ‘Barrens National Bank’… a bank managed and operated by the government, mainly issuing government bonds and then having a stable supply of money and price adjustments.”

That was the most important facility, as such, it had to be prioritized. Then, I’d have said first bank issues money, or rather banknotes.

Unlike migratory people who could be converted into data, the NPCs in this game world carried around gold and silver coins like a normal person would.

As such, it must’ve required a lot of space to carry and store such things.

The first step would be to issue banknotes called ‘Barrens Banknotes’, claiming that they’d be more convenient and could be exchanged for the same amount of gold, with the aim of collecting gold coins all over the country.

As a matter of course, multiple identical banks would be spread all over the country—mostly in major cities.

“So, you want to collect gold coins?”

“No, it’s not such a scam. Gradually, everyone will forget that what they have is just a paper.”

While it may be possible to put all the collected gold coins into the national treasury, I’d table that for the time being.

As long as the country continued to secure its value, goods could be exchanged with paper, and so was the otherwise. Thus, the assets of the people would remain unchanged.

Soon, they’d come to believe that the paper they were holding was an equivalent of a gold coin, as the word ‘money’ suggested.

“…Then, what are you going to do with such a paper? Is it just for convenient purposes? Will that idea hold water?”

“We’ll tell them that if they keep their assets in the bank, they can earn interest. In short, their assets will increase.”

“…I see, so you’re borrowing money from the people?”

“Well, aren’t you quick to understand? How helpful.”

Even if the amount of assets held per individual was small, if I were to collect the assets of an entire country, it’d be a large amount.

By amassing the assets of each and every citizen, which were equivalent to dust, my end goal would be to create a single, huge, capital…

…After all, once dust piled up, they’d become a mountain.

While the amount may be slightly insufficient to run the country, that wasn’t the reason not to establish a bank.

“Not only the people, the adventurers, the commerce guilds, and noble families would also be using the bank. I’ll ask them to deposit the large amount of property they have.”

“…I see.”

“Next, we’ll ask the other organizations to establish banks.”

“Huh? Are you going to let go of the privilege of seizing the assets of an organization you dislike?”

As expected of Eren-san, has he already thought about seizing someone else’s assets?

“Of course, we’ll place them under the management of the Bank of Barrens, which we manage… Oh, that’s right. Let’s take this opportunity to introduce stocks, as well.”

“Yet another word I don’t understand…”

“Well, I’ll explain about the stocks later, but please make sure that the government holds 51% or more of the stocks of Barrens Bank, and that Barrens Bank holds 51% or more of the stocks of other banks.”

“…Take a note.”

“U, understood!”

While rubbing his eyebrows with a tired expression, Eren-san instructed his subordinate to take a note. Then, I explained the advantages of creating a bank other than the Barrens Bank.

—Or rather, wasn’t that the biggest advantage of creating a bank?

“As for the reason why I want others to establish a bank, it’s for the sake of credit creation.”

“What is that…?”

“Well, if I were to put it simply…”

For example, there was Mr. A.

Mr. A had assets of 50 million yen, and deposited them in Bank X.

Then, Bank X lent Mr. B 40 million out of the 50 million.

Later, Mr. B deposited the 40 million yen he borrowed from Bank Y, and Bank Y lent 30 million yen to Mr. C.

Let’s also assume that Mr. C deposited 30 million yen in Bank Z.

“The amount that is originally 50 million yen will increase on paper to 50 million for Bank X, 40 million for Bank Y, and 30 million for Bank Z, with a total of 120 million.”

“…Isn’t this just a scam!?”

“No, it’s called credit creation. This increases the assets in the country that the government can borrow from the public.”

Before the modern era, national finances were inevitably influenced by tax revenues… As a result, creating a budget that exceeded tax revenues was an impossibility.

While loans could be taken out, not everyone could do it.

However, if a bank was established, it’d be a different story. To borrow and lend money freely and increase the degree of financial problems would no longer be an impossibility.

…Although, conversely, there was still the possibility that debt would swell without limit.

“Haa… Oh, well. I understand the outline, but will people accept it so easily?”

“It’s not about whether they’ll accept or not, but making them accept it.”

Otherwise, why would I teach Eren-san about centralization and divide-and-conquer? Even if there were some risks, when implementing such a large-scale reform, they were effective in silencing fools with authority.

Also, it seemed that Eren-san had forgotten his authority as royalty. That might be fortunate in a sense, but I didn’t want him to forget his greatest power.

“We have no choice but to do something about the uneducated citizens… Eren-san, previously, you were the young master of the underworld, right?”

“…Oh, right. Because of the mountain of paperwork, I kind of forgot about that.”

Eren-san smirked, before lighting up a pipe. While inhaling and exhaling purple smoke, he showed me a ghost of a smile.

“I hold on to the weaknesses of foolish nobles, merchants, and some of the guild’s executives… Therefore, you can leave the rest to me.”

“Fufu, how dependable.”

I felt sure that my surroundings had gulped all at once. More importantly, it seemed that things would go better than I expected.

As I thought, it was the right decision to bring him into the team, since there weren’t many people in the real world who were this talented.

“—Then, what about the church? Unlike nobles and guilds, it’s an organization that is entirely independent from the country. Furthermore, the main headquarters in the central part of the continent certainly won’t be eager to deposit money in a bank. After all, there’s a risk that their assets will be confiscated. Besides, didn’t you kill the bishop?”

In response to Eren-san’s sensible question, I said the words I had prepared in advance.

“—If so, we shall begin the reformation and the industrial revolution.”

After hearing my answer, Eren-san took a deep puff of purple smoke, and exhaled it before replying.

“…Spare me already.”

Unable to comprehend what he was saying, I moved on to the next explanation while tilting my head.

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