The purpose of issuing bonds is to raise funds, but as funds are obtained, pressure also comes along - more than two million gold coins, with an annual interest rate of 9%, which means that Wu Lai needs to pay more than 200,000 gold coins as interest every year, which is undoubtedly a huge sum of money.
Of course, if Wu Lai used the money for his own business, the interest might not be a problem, because although the things he tinkered with could not be said to be very profitable, they were all very profitable.
However, the money raised must be used for the construction of Salt Marsh Town. According to Wu Lai's idea, Salt Marsh Town now needs to undergo a "large-scale resection operation", and this money is the cost and support of this operation.
But this money really does not need to be transported back to Saltmarsh Town - all the materials needed to build Saltmarsh Town can be purchased in Lovington and can only be purchased here.
Wu Lai, who had known this for a long time, naturally knew that purchasing, like construction, could be done quickly but not in a hurry. Therefore, the money could not be spent in a short time - the spending cycle of these more than two million gold coins would run through the entire construction process, that is to say, there would always be a part of the money left idle before the construction was completed.
Idle money also needs to be paid interest, but Wu Lai doesn't want that, so when he was drawing the bond sample, he had already thought about the money house.
"It's really a good era. You can decide whatever you want to do." After thinking about the money shop, Wu Lai felt quite fortunate.
Money houses were new to this world, but not to Wu Lai. He knew how money houses, the prototypes of banks, worked. With more than two million gold coins as a backing, he planned to open a money house that would handle deposits, loans, issue bills, and exchange currencies.
In his plan, this money house would be named "Huitong" and the city of Longvington would become the first location of Huitong Money House.
After listening to Wu Lai's explanation, Wright was stunned for a long time before he came to his senses.
After looking Wu Lai up and down for two or three times, Wright suddenly grinned and said, "Wu Lai, I almost thought you were a god."
"You really came at the right time and can help me." Wu Lai said with a smile.
"No problem!" Wright couldn't help rubbing his hands. "But you come up with something new every now and then, so I can't bear to leave you. How about I leave Assyria and come here to keep you company?"
"How can that be possible? There are so many things to do in Assyria. If you don't go back, the High Priest Saint Lean will skin me alive." Wu Lai shook his head and said, "The initial affairs of opening a bank are complicated. We need to split the work. If you take care of it, I can consider letting you run the Huitong Bank in Assyria in the future. But now you have to be my apprentice. How do you do that?"
"No problem at all, but I won't call you teacher." Wright said with a laugh.
Wu Lai also smiled: "Originally I didn't expect you to call me that. Come, I'll tell you what I need you to do..."
…
Listening to reports about Woolley's movements every day has become a daily routine for George and Job, but this is obviously not a pleasant thing. It has been nine days since the meeting, and Woolley obviously has no intention of leaving Lovington. In the first few days, he sold registered bonds and made a lot of gold coins. In the past few days, he and Wright have been "wandering" in Lovington all day long...
"They should be planning to buy a house. They have been looking at more than a dozen houses in four days," said Jobe.
"What do they want the house for? Are they planning to live in Lovington permanently?" George knocked on the table and said impatiently, "Job, can your people find out more clearly? They just report where they went, where they ate, who they met, etc. all day long. Can you give them something more substantial? For example, what are they doing?"
"How should I know?" Job said, spreading his hands. "Wooleglindal is a sly fellow. You can't know what he wants unless you get into his head."
George was startled, then he sighed heavily...
On the tenth day, Siban Oak arrived in Longvington. Seeing the deep fatigue on his face, Wu Lai felt a little guilty. However, besides Gulu, Siban Oak was the only suitable person around him. If Huitong Money House wanted to run smoothly and well, it needed a loyal confidant to take charge. Otherwise, he would surely be ruined.
"Teacher Xi, thank you for your hard work again." Wu Lai said apologetically.
"What are you talking about, young master? I am so happy to be able to work for you and experience these new things in my lifetime." Siban Oak said with a smile.
"Come in and sit down. I'll ask someone to make you your favorite vegetarian hotpot. We can have a drink and talk, and you can relax at the same time." Wu Lai smiled and held Xiban Ok's arm.
"That's great. To be honest, I really miss the vegetarian hotpot." Sibanok nodded with a smile, and said as he walked, "Master, I have handed over all the unfinished work in Salt Marsh Town to Master Gulu. The training of those workers is also carried out according to your wishes. However, Master Gulu is also very busy, so it is better for you to go back as soon as possible."
"I'll hurry up." Wu Lai nodded.
…
Three days later.
"What? Huitong... Money House?" Qiao Bu was stunned and asked his men, "Does it have anything to do with money?"
"Yes, sir. I have found out everything this time. This Huitong Bank is quite new. They say you can deposit your family's money there and get interest. Also, if you need money for business or buying a house, you can go there to borrow money. Of course, you have to pay interest. Oh, and they also exchange gold and silver coins. They charge very low prices. For every twenty gold coins, they only charge one silver coin as 'water money', and vice versa." The visitor reported, "As soon as it opened in the morning, many people went there to exchange money."
Job frowned and asked, "You mean, it still borrows money from there?"
"Yes, sir."
"Asshole!" Job couldn't help but slam the table. Huitong Money House was doing lending business, which was obviously going against him. You should know that in the city of Lunvington, the interest from usury accounted for a large proportion of Job's income. It was almost the same for George and Hodge. With the three of them working together, any usury of up to ten gold coins in the city of Lunvington could not escape their hands. Over the past few years, not only did they make a lot of money from this business, but they also used it to squeeze out and annex many small citizen families that they disliked. Of course, they also gained the women they liked from these small citizen families.
The Huitong Money House that Wu Lai set up was simply stealing money from their pockets.
"You're trying to snatch food from a tiger's mouth. I'll make sure you don't get away with it!" Job cursed coldly, not bothering to report to George. He waved his sleeves and said, "Quick, take me to see it."
Wu Lai's Huitong Money House was less than a hundred steps away from the temple. The reason for choosing this place was, firstly, for the consideration of money deposit and withdrawal. Anyway, as long as Saint Lean was alive and well, the money Wu Lai got from selling bonds could be kept in the underground shelter of the temple. But now it is no longer called a shelter - after installing two new thick doors and locking them, it became a veritable "vault" with guards and big locks.
Another advantage of choosing this place is transportation. Because it is the location of the temple, there are not many houses around, and the roads are wide and the view is open. Wu Lai chose two corners in the front and back yards of the money house to build wooden arrow towers more than three people high, and the "monitoring system" was completed.
The front yard welcomes guests, the main hall entertains guests, and there is a large window in the left and right side halls. The left hall is used for depositing and exchanging money, and the right hall is used for discussing loans. It is also Xiban Oak's office.
When he jumped off the carriage in front of the gate of Huitong Money House, Job saw the wooden plaque hanging on the lintel at a glance. For some reason, he felt that the golden sign, which was covered with gold foil, was very dazzling, and the more he looked at it, the angrier he became.
Just as he was about to take a step, a neatly dressed doorman came up to him with a smile, bowed to him very respectfully, and said, "I didn't expect that Master Qiao Bu would come to visit us. Please wait a moment. I will immediately notify the head shopkeeper Xiban to come out to greet you."
"No need." Qiao Bu waved his sleeves, but frowned slightly, "Do you know me?"
"Lord Job is highly respected in Lovington. He has given speeches to encourage everyone on many occasions. I get excited every time I listen to his speeches, so I know him." The doorman replied with a smile.
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"I see." Job nodded with a smile. This kind of words was much better than those blatant flattery. At least it made people feel comfortable.
But Job didn't know that the words the gatekeepers said were all taught by Wu Lai in advance. Just last night, Wu Lai called the gatekeepers, the front yard receptionists, the internal and external staff, and the guards together, and explained what to say, what not to say, and how to say it. In the end, he kept four gatekeepers, and then took out a few portraits, pointing them out and saying, "Your posts are at the door, two people in a shift, and you change shifts twice a day. The work is not too hard, right? So, you have to keep your eyes open, especially the ones in the portraits. Once you see them coming, one person will go up and say some flattering words to hold him back, and the other person will immediately report to the chief shopkeeper. Do you understand?"
"Understood!" the four gatekeepers answered in unison.
Of course, among the portraits that Woolley took out were Job, George, and Hodge…
As he walked into the yard, Job's heart suddenly "rippled" and his pace immediately slowed down.
Because he saw two charming women - they looked to be around 25 or 26 years old, which was not considered young, but not only were their clothes gorgeous, but the charm that appeared and disappeared in their every move was also very alluring.
Job was a man, so naturally he had no resistance to this charm, especially when he saw two women coming towards him with smiles, he stopped at once.
"Dear guest, welcome to Huitong Money House. We are the receptionists of the money house. How can we help you?" The two women said in unison. Their voices were so clear and soft that Job felt his whole body soften.
"Well..." Job's eyes swept across the two women's faces and bodies several times, and finally remembered what he was here for. "Oh, I want to borrow money."
"Okay, dear guest, please follow me." One of the women smiled and took Job's arm. Job was startled when he smelled a sweet fragrance, and his heart was moved again...
When the receptionist let go of the hand that was around his arm, Job felt a little disappointed. However, the main hall was right in front of him, and the conversation inside was quite noisy, so it seemed that there would be a lot of people there. He couldn't lose his composure.
"Dear guest, the loan processing is in the right side hall. I wish you a pleasant stay." The receptionist said with a smile, bowed and stepped back. Qiao Bu nodded, calmed down, stepped forward and pushed the door...
At the same time, in front of a carved wooden window on the second floor of the wing on the left side of the front yard, Wu Lai was looking at Job's back with a smile. Who else could be standing side by side with him except the big playboy Wright.
"It seems that this Job is an old pervert." Wu Lai said with a chuckle.
"Don't underestimate these two singers. They have been famous in the Assyrian city for many years. Ordinary men can't resist their charm." Wright said.
"By the way, I haven't asked you why you brought these two women to Lovington. Why? Has your taste changed? Don't you like little girls anymore but like this kind?" Wu Lai asked curiously.
"I was asked to do this. One of my cousins bought the pair of singers last year. However, there has been unrest in our home since then. The singers are slaves. You can imagine how my aunt would tolerate slaves competing for her favor, so she would find opportunities to torment them in various ways. As long as my cousin is not around, they would be punished and dare not resist at all. My cousin felt sorry for their suffering, but was reluctant to sell them. When he heard that I came to Rovington to find you, he asked me to bring them here, saying that if you like them, he would give them to you. If not, let me find a way to find a place for them to settle down in Rovington." Wright said happily.
"Your cousin is quite a romantic man. By the way, since it was a gift for me, why didn't you tell me earlier?" Wu Lai asked.
"I know you won't want it. You are so young, how can you stand them? Having them as your greeters is the best use of their abilities. You just happen to be in need of people. I have already made them civilians and specifically told them to listen to you. So, if you really have any ideas one day, you can tell them directly. I guarantee that you will succeed." Wright said with a sneer.
"Go to hell." Wu Lai shook his head. "You know, I just opened this place and Job came here in a hurry. Is that interesting?"
"Of course it's boring. He doesn't know how uncomfortable it is to stand against you. If you hadn't stopped me, I would have let him have a taste of this a few days ago." Wright curled his lips. He didn't have a good impression of Job. After a pause, he continued, "I'm just a little worried whether your Spanish manager can handle Job."
Wu Lai smiled slightly: "You are worried, but I am not worried at all."