Borrow money
As soon as she entered the hall of the Viscount's mansion, Elena saw Viscount Antoine.
Viscount Antoine has obviously aged a lot.
Elena felt a little emotional. His hair had become whiter than before, and he seemed to have lost weight.
It seems that he is having a really hard time.
But what does this have to do with her? Seeing that he is not doing well, she is quite happy. Who made him scheme against her before, and allowed his nephew to blackmail her, and even caused a border blockade with her? Humph, he deserves it!
Viscount Antoine was originally sitting on a bench waiting, and every little movement of his body revealed a feeling of "sitting on pins and needles". Until he saw Elena, his butt bounced up as if there were springs, and he quickly walked towards Elena.
"Ms. Viscount Field, it's been a long time since we last met. You are still as beautiful and energetic as a graceful lily swaying in the wind." Antoine smiled widely and extended his right hand to Elena, wanting to shake hands with her.
Elena modestly touched his hand with her fingertips and immediately let go: "Long time no see, Viscount Antoine."
There was no need for such fake socializing between her and him.
Viscount Antoine's smile froze again and again, but he still restrained himself and maintained a fake smile.
He wasn't even angry at her perfunctory response, it seemed like he really came for help this time.
Elena understood a little bit.
When nobles meet, they always have to engage in social greetings (business flattery). This is an indispensable social process. Elena is not anxious or happy about it. After all, it is not her who is asking for help, so whoever asks should speak up.
Seeing that the situation was a bit cold, Viscount Antoine could only be patient and shameless and complete the social greeting process on his own.
Feeling that the pleasantries were almost over, Viscount Antoine finally got to the point and stated the purpose of his visit.
"Miss Viscount Field, I've taken the liberty of coming here mainly to ask for your help."
Elena raised an eyebrow.
A frown crossed Viscount Antoine's face. "This time, my territory was struck by an insect plague, causing devastating losses. Large tracts of fertile farmland were completely destroyed. Those damned bugs even broke into the villagers' homes and devoured their stored food. My people, starving, lay down in front of my castle, begging me for a bowl of porridge. It was a truly pitiful sight. Furthermore, after the double insect plague, floods are inevitable, and we haven't prepared anything... We're truly in dire straits."
There were still tears in Viscount Antoine's eyes.
Elena: ...
Viscount Antoine continued to describe the tragic scenes in various parts of the territory. His descriptions were very specific, and it could be heard that he had really seen these scenes with his own eyes and was not just imagining them. Tears continued to flow from his eyes, and his heartfelt expression was sincere.
Elena: ...Uh, is he actually a lord with a conscience?
Elena couldn't stand this scene. A man about the same age as her father was crying in front of her, just asking her to lend a hand to help him and his people... She couldn't bear this kind of pressure.
A lord who is hated but has a basic conscience in treating his people, Elena's impression of Viscount Antoine has changed.
"Okay, okay, don't cry anymore." Elena said sullenly as she stuffed a handkerchief into his mouth. "I'll help you."
Viscount Antoine stared blankly at the handkerchief handed to him. He was stunned for a moment, then looked up suddenly: "Thank you, you are a kind and sincere person."
He took the handkerchief and wiped his nose vigorously.
Elena frowned slightly, turned her eyes away and asked him, "How much do you need?"
Fearing that he would make excessive demands, Elena immediately made amends: "I can lend it to you without interest."
You can borrow money, and you don’t have to pay interest, but as for pure donations, we’ll see how the situation is. Only donate if you are really in dire straits.
Viscount Antoine slowly uttered a number: "500 gold coins, is that okay?"
500 gold coins!
Elena was dumbfounded. He actually dared to bring it up!
Such a huge number, does disaster relief require so much money?
Did he think she was an idiot who didn't know the price of food?
Fortunately, what she said just now was not donation but loan, otherwise it would be a huge loss.
"That's too much." Elena looked at him coldly, then raised her index finger and said ruthlessly, "100 gold coins at most, no more."
100 gold coins was already a lot. Before she traveled through time, the annual tax revenue of Field Territory was less than 100 gold coins. If she lent out 100 gold coins, it would be equivalent to lending out a year's tax revenue.
This was already a huge sum of money. If she had not founded several profitable businesses this year and her assets had not increased several times, it would have been impossible for a viscount to lend so much money.
This Viscount Antoine actually dared to ask her to borrow 500 gold coins. He must have thought she was a fool.
Viscount Antoine opened his mouth, as if about to say something, but finally nodded. "Thank you for your generosity and kindness. 100 gold coins is 100 gold coins, but can you lend it to me for three years? After the insect plague, there's also the flood. My territory won't have much tax revenue this year, and I'm not sure I'll be able to collect much next year either. I'll have to wait until the year after to collect the money and repay you."
This reason is reasonable. Antoine is just an ordinary viscount with limited assets, unlike her who has several lucrative industries. Considering the total failure of grain harvest this year and the reduction of grain production next year, it is reasonable for him to pay back the money the year after next.
Elena hummed and agreed: "Okay, I'll lend it to you for three years."
Viscount Antoine left happily with 100 gold coins.
Elena put the IOU written by Viscount Antoine into the box.
However, unexpectedly, the next day, a messenger came to the Viscount's Mansion and delivered a letter from Earl of Barnett.
In the letter, Earl of Barnett wrote that this year many territories suffered from insect plagues. As the lord, he had the responsibility to take care of his subjects. Therefore, the territories affected by insect plagues could report the specific disaster situation. After verification, they could receive corresponding disaster relief support and also have some taxes reduced or exempted.
That's not bad.
Elena first praised Earl Barnett's move, but then she thought of Viscount Antoine's loan yesterday.
Since he could get disaster relief support from Earl Barnet, did he still need to borrow 100 gold coins from her?
It shouldn't be necessary. Even if you do, you don't need to borrow so much.
Did she borrow too much?
Elena blinked, vaguely feeling that she seemed to have suffered a loss.
Think about it carefully, her 100 gold coins are interest-free. To put it more simply, it is an interest-free loan of 100 gold coins, and it is a long-term loan of up to three years.
Antoine can make more money with this money.
Was she cheated?
Elena's heart skipped a beat.
Yesterday Antoine suddenly came to visit to borrow money, and today the letter of disaster relief from Earl of Barnet arrived. There is such a small time difference... Could it be that Antoine got the news in advance and came to borrow money first?
It's very likely. Otherwise, why would Antoine come to her house without caring about his dignity and cry in front of her? He has no dignity at all.
Elena felt extremely bad when she thought that she might be defrauded of 100 gold coins by Antoine.
People are evil, she is still too naive.
It was also her fault that she was too impatient yesterday and didn't use the fortune-telling method to check it out, otherwise she wouldn't have been fooled.
"Have you figured it out?" Leonard suddenly appeared.
Elena glared at him angrily, not only glared, she also wanted to hit him: “Why didn’t you remind me yesterday?”
Leonard shrugged. "I didn't expect you to be so gullible. Besides, I winked at you, but you didn't see it."
Elena became even angrier, angry that he said she was gullible, and even angrier that he just winked at her without saying anything, and now he was laughing at her.
Elena lifted her skirt and panted at him: "Asshole!"
Before Leonard could say anything, Elena was already jumping up and down in pain.
Damn, how come his legs are harder than steel!
Unfortunately, she was just trying to fight against a rock with an egg.
Leonard squatted down with a mixture of amusement and helplessness, reaching out to catch her foot: "Let me see."
Elena quickly put down her skirt: "No need." Humph
It looked like his anger wasn't going to subside so easily. Leonard shook his head and could only speak out his plan: "Actually, this isn't such a bad thing. You're lending money so easily, and you don't charge interest. You can be generous and publicize this."
Elena frowned.
Leonard looked at her and said, "You've made so much money, anyone with eyes can see it. But before, they could only guess how much money you had, not your exact amount. Now you can use this to tell everyone just how rich you are. Believe me, if even Antoine is willing to lend you money, then many people will come to you to borrow money. Making money from money is the easiest thing."
Elena's frown deepened. Was Leonard asking her to enter the financial industry?
But the financial industry is a game of mathematics, and she is not good at mathematics. The various rules can drive her crazy.
Elena shook her head: "This is too difficult for me."
"What's so difficult about this?" Leonard was surprised. "You can ask them to use the land as collateral. If they can't pay it back, you can take the land away. That way, you can increase the amount of land you own, right?"
Oh, Elena suddenly realized that she was overthinking it. Leonard was not thinking about the financial industry, but land mortgage.
This... you can try it.
Elena regained her confidence.
"And don't you want to be a great lord?" Leonard shot another arrow into Elena's mind.
Elena's eyes widened in surprise.
How did he know that she wanted to buy land and become a great lord?
Leonard smiled. "Every capable noble wants to climb up the social ladder. I believe you do too. You are not someone who is content with being ordinary."
She worked hard to make money, worked hard to get promoted, everything was seen by him. If she didn't have the ambition to move up, she could have chosen to marry a nobleman of equal status and become a lady, instead of relying on herself for everything like she does now.
She strives upward, like a sapling reaching for sunlight, her whole body full of vigorous vitality, which makes him admire her and fascinated by her.
"But," Elena thought for a moment, then hesitated again, "I lent Antoine money interest-free. To be fair, if I lend it to others, it should also be interest-free. But how can I make money with interest-free loans?"
Leonard smiled and said, "Don't worry, he will come back to borrow again. This time you can charge interest."
???
"Why?" Elena was puzzled.
"Because what he really needs is not just 100 gold coins. The 500 gold coins he mentioned at the beginning should be his real need." Leonard said.
Elena gasped: "What did he do? What could possibly cost him 500 gold coins?"
"He's just hedonistic and has no brains," Leonard laughed. "Antoine himself is a brainless, hedonistic person, and so are his wife and son. How can a small estate support his family's extravagance? His coffers would have been empty long ago."
"How do you know?" Elena couldn't help asking.
Leonard pointed to his eyes and said, "Use your eyes to see."
He pointed to his head again: "Think with your brain."
Elena always felt that he was mocking her again.
snort.
Was he mocking her for having no eyes and no brains?
Seeing Elena's expression change, Leonard quickly made amends: "I didn't mean what you said. You are too busy. You can't even take care of your own territory. How can you pay attention to other people's affairs?"
Elena puffed her cheeks and said nothing, but her expression looked better.
Leonard carefully observed Elena's expression and didn't dare to speak.
After waiting for a long time without hearing Leonard's next words, Elena glared at him again: "Go on."
Leonard felt relaxed and just wanted to pay attention to him.
"The weather has been terrible in recent years. It doesn't rain when it should, and it keeps pouring when it shouldn't. Harvests are generally poor. This isn't just a problem in Rosyth County, but across the entire Carlopetto Empire. From my observation, the nobles with brains have become significantly more stingy, while the Antoine family remains the same, haha." Leonard laughed again. "They've probably been running out of money for a long time. This insect plague is just another blow."
Elena's little head started working.
The weather has been bad in recent years, and the harvest has been poor. Antoine has been out of money for a long time. So, was that why he secretly colluded with Eli at that time and wanted to seize power and fight for the inheritance?
Was it because he was short of money that he allowed his nephew to blackmail her?
Unexpectedly, he was taught a lesson by her, and the border closure caused by the extortion dealt a heavy blow to his tax revenue.
Elena couldn't help but laugh happily as she thought about it.
You failed to steal the chicken and ended up losing the rice. You deserve it.
"So Antoine will definitely continue to borrow money to fill his gap, right?" Elena figured it out.
Leonard hummed, "But this loophole is definitely not fixable. Antoine is simply not a capable person."
"When he comes to borrow money again, you can let him use the land as collateral." Elena looked at Leonard.
Leonard nodded. "The first loan can be made for three years, but the second one is only for one year. If he can't pay it back, he can only repay with land."
"When others see that I am willing to lend money to Antoine, who has a bad credit record and has a feud with him, and that I am interest-free for the first time, they will definitely come to me to borrow money," said Elena.
It is a true saying that those who don't take advantage of an opportunity are fools.
“Once you borrow money once, it’s easy to borrow money a second time,” Leonard said. “So in just one or two years, you can harvest a lot of land.”
"Even if I don't have land, I can still earn interest." Elena raised her eyebrows.
Elena looked at Leonard with satisfaction.
The two of them laughed in cahoots.
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