Chapter 5: The Banker in Her Boudoir: Slave, Accountant, or...?
Early Monday morning, before dawn, the market near the Rialto Bridge in Venice was already bustling with activity and noise.
Tata, a news clerk and part-time trader, was chatting with a fishmonger she knew. She listened to them share news from the docks that a spice ship belonging to the Bianchi Company had been plundered by Genoese pirates, while also eavesdropping on the butcher next door talking about the swine fever outbreak in the Veneto countryside. She pulled five sourdi from her purse to buy some bread, three grosso to buy a large T-bone steak, fifteen sourdi for fresh squid, and seven sourdi for fresh asparagus and chicory.
Carrying bags of groceries, she crossed the street and returned to the back door of Lilith's house kitchen. She handed the day's groceries to Ivanka, sat down for a few sips of water, and then hurriedly ran back to the market to wait for the spice stalls, fabric stalls, and small bank to open for the main event of her day.
Meanwhile, Ivanka, the maid in charge of all the household chores, had already prepared breakfast for her mistress and was busily preparing lunch for the entire house. The T-bone steak was cut in half, and a small piece of filet mignon was reserved for the mistress, stored in a dark cupboard to be seared in butter to medium-rare before the meal, served with garlic, sea salt, and expensive black pepper. The tendons and sirloin were cut into small pieces and stewed in a large pot with onions and carrots, making a large pot of food for the servants.
Cecilia is Lilith's most trusted confidante and deputy, a junior leader to the staff, and also the cashier and risk control specialist in charge of the slush fund and every actual expenditure.
After assigning tasks to her subordinates, she returned to Lilith's bedroom door, waiting for the mistress to wake up and assist her with washing and grooming. After dressing and having breakfast, Lilith would go to the office hall on the second floor to greet everyone.
By this time, Tata had brought back the latest currency and commodity prices, and once again went out to chat with washerwomen and tavern clerks in the streets and alleys, gathering more interesting information. If she could find silk, spices, or even jewelry that merchants were eager to get rid of at low prices in the market, she also had the authority to bid for them, and then pay them after returning and claiming cash from Cecilia.
As the person in charge, Lilith's most important daily task was to sit at her desk in the bedroom, read letters, and write replies. Cecilia carried a thick stack of letters from her mailbox to the desk, first roughly filtering out the unimportant ones, and then sorting them by priority for Lilith's review.
The second-floor office was a spacious hall with three tables, originally belonging to Cecilia, Tata, and Sherlock. Since the newly arrived Heinrich had nowhere to sit, Tata's chair, which had been empty for years, was moved in so he could sit next to Sherlock.
The blond boy hoped that the chief accountant, Sherlock, would assign him some tasks or teach him anything related to bookkeeping, but the old Jewish man just buried himself in his work, either writing something or fiddling with the abacus, without even glancing at Heinrich.
Is there anything I can do to help you?
"Make ten copies of this document. Only keep the table columns; leave the numbers blank. Wait, can you even write?" Sherlock adjusted his glasses, speaking with some impatience.
"Yes, I can do arithmetic and geometry."
Can you do accounting?
"...I can learn."
"Let's finish copying it first."
Heinrich had no choice but to bury himself in copying, even though he couldn't understand a word of what the columns on the report meant. After copying ten reports, Sherlock immediately assigned him new work: copying, copying, copying, until the sun was almost setting. Sherlock packed his briefcase on time to go home, while Heinrich remained at his desk, still copying.
"So you can not only speak beautifully, but also write beautifully."
It was Lilith's voice. Heinrich looked up and met his mistress's smiling, grey-green eyes. Cecilia wasn't following behind her, and Heinrich felt a strange sense of relief.
"How does it feel to work for me?" Lilith smiled, pushed the files aside, sat down on the desk, and sat opposite Heinrich with her back to the light. "What has Sherlock taught you?"
"He taught me how to copy, but he charged me three ducats a month for tuition," Heinrich said with a wry smile.
Lilith glanced at Heinrich's handwriting; it was neat, tidy, and the strokes were fluid, definitely not the work of someone who had just learned to write.
“It’s alright, Cecilia will deduct the expense from your salary,” Lilith told him gleefully.
"salary?"
"Didn't she tell you? You get paid. Once you've saved enough, you can buy your freedom from me and become a free person. Tata, Ivanka, Cecilia, they were all slaves I bought. Although they're still working for me, they're already free. Now they're off work and enjoying their free time."
Heinrich was quite surprised. In the homes of most nobles and wealthy merchants in Germany, slaves were considered property, not employees. Their living expenses were covered by their masters, and apart from extra rewards during festivals, they did not receive "wages" like free men. For the first eighteen years of his life, he had enjoyed the service of servants day and night, yet he had never considered paying them "wages" based on their working hours.
No wonder they responded to Cecilia's orders with such composure. Freedom meant not being controlled by others; working for Lilith was entirely voluntary, and they naturally didn't have to endure the hardship of being dependent on others, and could legitimately express their thoughts and needs. For nobles, this seemed to be an inherent right, something they were born to enjoy, but for slaves, it was a lifelong luxury they could only dream of.
How much salary do I get?
“Three ducats a month, minus three ducats, equals zero ducats.” Lilith couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “Don’t worry, if you learn quickly, I won’t allow Sherlock to charge you tuition next month. Although he seems a bit stingy, he’s a trustworthy and reliable person who keeps his promises when it matters. My mother received a lot of help from him when she was alive.”
"Your mother..."
“My mother was a croupier in a casino,” Lilith said without hesitation. “She taught me how to do accounting, in a way that was smarter than the bankers in Venice.”
Just as Heinrich was about to continue questioning, the bell at the main gate suddenly rang. Lilith blinked, ran to the window, glanced down at the gondola moored on the canal outside, and saw who was sitting there. Then she quickly beckoned Heinrich to come downstairs with her.
"Do you want to know how Lilith, the loan shark, makes money?" she suddenly stood on tiptoe and whispered in Heinrich's ear, "When the guests come, watch how I handle them."
The visitor was a well-dressed middle-aged noblewoman. Her dress was made of fine wool, but it was clear that she had been wearing it for many years. Lilith did not recognize her, but she still opened the door for her and invited the lady to sit down and relax in the reception room on the first floor, filling her glass with fine wine.
“My name is Fiona Bianchi. I was introduced by the Marquise Sofia. She told me that you can…buy jewelry on credit here.” Mrs. Bianchi’s tone was somewhat hesitant, as if she was quite embarrassed by her lack of funds.
“Oh, yes, Mrs. Bianchi, I am Liliana Schmidl, you can just call me Lilian. Everyone has times when they are short of money, especially us women, who are always subject to our husbands, fathers, and even brothers, and have no say in our own lives.” Lilith smiled wryly as she grasped the noblewoman’s hand and looked at her with understanding eyes.
Bianchi. Heinrich keenly realized that the company that owned the spice ship that Tata had mentioned that morning, which had been plundered by pirates, happened to be called Bianchi.
"I heard your husband has recently passed away..." Mrs. Bianchi glanced around at the mourning decorations.
“Yes, he died in a tragic pirate raid.” Lilith feigned sadness and sighed to herself. “Let’s not talk about such unpleasant things. Please tell me, how can I help you?”
“I need… a necklace.” The woman looked away somewhat guiltily. “There’s a family banquet at my mother’s house this weekend. All my sisters are married better than me, and it makes me feel ashamed among them…”
“This is outrageous!” Lilith feigned anger. “A beautiful lady needs jewelry to complement her beauty. I do have a collection of all kinds of jewelry, which will surely be of great help to you in your time of need. Heinrich, go to the bedroom and fetch the jewelry box from my dressing table.”
Heinrich then noticed that Lilith was wearing the ruby ring he had given her, but not the emerald necklace.
“But sister, as your younger sister, I must remind you,” Lily whispered in the lady’s ear after Heinrich had walked away, “be careful with overspending.”
“My husband owns three spice-carrying ships, charging merchants for their transport.” Fine beads of sweat seemed to appear on the woman’s forehead. “One will arrive in three months, and another in six months, fully loaded with Moluccan pepper from Alexandria. Once the ships arrive, I’m sure I’ll be able to pay off the debts…”
Lilith hesitated for a moment, her intentions unreadable. Just then, Heinrich came downstairs with a jewelry box, thoughtfully bringing a small mirror. She first unlocked the box, revealing a dazzling array of gems that refracted brilliant light. However, none of them could compare to the emerald necklace hanging in the very center, which captivated the lady's gaze.
"This emerald is absolutely gorgeous..."
"I'm sorry, this is my engagement gift from my husband, this is the only one that won't do."
“Oh, I’m so sorry, let me look at something else… What do you think of this gold necklace…” She took a fancy to a heavy pure gold chain with an enamel-painted design of the Virgin Mary holding the Christ Child on the pendant, and the outer ring of gold trim decorated with tiny garnets.
Heinrich glanced at it and noticed that it was the same necklace Tata had bought at the market that afternoon for 40 ducats. It was clearly not Lilith's preferred style, but it seemed quite popular with older ladies. Most importantly, gold jewelry had a unique commodity characteristic—even the worst pieces could be melted down and exchanged for solid gold, making it the easiest type of jewelry to resell for cash.
“Oh, of course. You look beautiful in it.” Lilith smiled as she placed the necklace around the lady’s neck, then held up a mirror for her to admire her reflection in the gold jewelry. “I just wonder if it fits your budget?”
“I currently have 20 Ducatis in cash.”
“20…” Lilith blinked, pondered for a moment, “I consider you my older sister, so I’ll tell you the truth. If you were to buy this chain at the market, it would cost at least 60 ducats. Even if you bought it today and didn’t want it tomorrow, you could take it back and get 55 ducats in cash immediately… but you only have 20…”
"What if it's in three installments? We'll use the arrival time of my husband's ship as the deadline, with the first installment due in three months and the second in six months." The lady's tone was somewhat hesitant.
“Sister, you were introduced by Sophia, so I can’t refuse you. How about this, let’s consider it as making friends.” Lilith grasped the other’s hand again, unsurprisingly finding it covered in cold sweat. “The 60 Ducati will be paid in three installments. You can pay me 20 today, but I need relevant documents from your husband’s fleet as proof of guarantee. Is that alright?”
"Of course! I'll go home right now and get the documents you requested..."
"If you don't want this necklace anymore in the future, you can go to a stall with a green tablecloth in the Rialto Market. The little girl in charge there is named Tata. She's a very honest girl, and she'll give you the best buyback price."
“Thank you, Mrs. Schmidl.” The lady grasped Lilith’s hand solemnly, her eyes almost brimming with tears of emotion. “I swear on the honor of myself and my husband’s family, I will repay your debt on time.”
“It’s my pleasure.” Lilith smiled sweetly and gave the lady a friendly hug.
A note from the author:
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The monetary system of Venice in this article is as follows:
Ducat (gold coin) ≈ 60 Grosso (silver coin) ≈ 720 Suldi (silver coin)
1 Grosso ≈ 12 Surdi
It references the monetary system of Venice during the Renaissance, but with some simplifications and modifications. According to historical records, 100 ducats could buy a small villa with a garden, and 1000 ducats were enough to build a magnificent palace.
Heinrich was bought by Lilith for 50 ducats, which was considered a medium to high price for slaves at the time.
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