I Became A Black Merchant In Another World-Chapter 346: Modernized Colonial System (5)

"As you all know, creating a city from scratch is no easy task. There are issues with capital, administration, and development. But the main reason why most new city developments fail is that it’s difficult to provide proper jobs for the people who will live there."

The Roman Empire was a master of city development.

When they went to war, they fought, and during peacetime, they did more digging and civil engineering work than anything the 21st-century Korean army could even dream of.

Starting from their time as recruits, after nearly 20 years of military service, they were experienced enough to become site managers at any construction project.

Using that experience, many of Europe’s well-known cities, such as Paris and London, were built by Romans, but it was the Roman legions stationed there that helped maintain those cities.

Similarly, many cities in the Toscana Empire were built using the same principle.

"But the new city being developed by the Rothschild family has already solved all those problems."

"How did you solve such a complex issue?"

"My lord, you’re aware that the weapons and armor factories set to open in the new city will employ more than 2,000 workers. If you include their families, at least 6,000 to 7,000 people will settle in the city."

In the 21st century, if you have good access to Seoul, it’s easy to throw up a stake on some vacant land and declare, "This is a new city," and the new city development project will go ahead smoothly.

For the past 20 or 30 years, people who became wealthy overnight from real estate redevelopment in places like Pangyo, Gwacheon, Bundang, and Gangnam are everywhere.

With a car, you can get to Seoul in an hour, an hour and a half, so everyone chooses to live in new cities, which are cheaper than Seoul.

But in the Empire, where people travel by carriage, it’s impossible for people to live in a city unless there are good jobs available.

That’s why countless city developments have failed up to # Nоvеlight # now.

"You don’t need to worry about the capital issue, and the legal issues will be smoothly resolved through close cooperation between our Rothschild family, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Finance, and the local nobility. This project is being carried out with the full honor of the Rothschild family."

"Is that really the case?"

"Do you not trust the word of the steward?"

"No, it’s not that..."

"If you wish, I can show you an oath sealed with the Rothschild family’s seal and notarized by the High Court. My lord would never play games with money."

"Creating a new city has failed so many times that I was just worried for no reason. The Rothschild family wouldn’t do something foolish. I deeply apologize."

"If you continue to doubt, I’ll have to formally protest as the steward of the family, but I will let it slide this time. After all, it’s a place where a lot of money is involved, so it’s understandable that your words got a bit harsh. I don’t think you meant to insult our family."

It was an odd situation where the person receiving the investment was treating the investor like this.

But no one questioned this bizarre scenario.

They couldn’t say anything because the Rothschild family had confidently promised that they’d taken care of all the measures, putting their honor on the line.

"For a worker’s house, it will be five gold coins, and for other housing, please consult with our staff."

"Isn’t that a bit too expensive? A worker’s house in Florence costs only six or seven gold coins!"

"My lord set the price."

"Although it’s a city with guaranteed success, this is too expensive!"

Merchants and various noble family representatives began to protest.

It was understandable because selling a worker’s house for five gold coins was crossing the line.

Setting new city housing prices to match those of other major cities was an unreasonable act.

‘My lord said it, right? Start with an offer of five, and then settle for four.’

Sebastian, pretending to be swayed by their protests, tried to lower the price...

"Five gold coins? That’s incredibly cheap."

At those words, all the investors’ attention was immediately focused on the speaker.

Someone had spoken out of turn and ruined the mood, but the atmosphere quickly shifted when they saw who had spoken.

It was none other than Baron Florin.

"Merchants don’t even know the half of it. How pathetic. What use do the Empire’s merchants have, when they’re so ignorant compared to me?"

The merchants and the attendants couldn’t hide their astonishment.

Had Fabio Rothschild himself said such a thing, the merchants would have been shaking in frustration and cursing him over drinks at home.

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But to hear such words from a noble like Baron Florin?

Baron Florin was a genius of investment, having twice succeeded in investments that involved using his entire domain as collateral.

Before his first success, he was treated like a fool by both nobles and merchants.

But after succeeding twice, he had become a god of investment.

Once was luck; twice was skill.

Baron Florin didn’t respond to any of the murmurs.

He simply smiled.

"Laborers working in weapons and armor factories will earn at least one and a half silver coins a month. With that, taking sixty copper coins for rent wouldn’t be an issue, right?"

One of the merchants nodded and agreed.

"Yes, if you want, you could even get seventy copper coins."

"Let’s keep it clean and settle for sixty copper coins. That way, wouldn’t it make seven silver coins and twenty copper coins in rent every year? In seven years, you’ll recover the principal. Isn’t that better than most stocks?"

The merchants gasped in understanding.

Even when receiving stock dividends, it often takes years to recover the principal, but here, with an investment in Rothschild’s real estate, you could recover the principal in just seven years?

If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.

It only took a little thinking to realize this was an opportunity of a lifetime.

There’s an old saying that real estate never depreciates.

After a little contemplation, they realized that saying was true.

Of course, there was the small incident a few years ago when Fabio created stocks and real estate prices plummeted by half across the nation.

But that was just a one-time accident, and real estate had always been king.

Indeed, the heart of a beast, who had even used his entire fortune and domain as collateral to make a huge investment success.

‘That man never fails.’

With that thought in mind, the merchants and noble family attendants resolved to join in the crazy investment.

If he succeeded twice, why wouldn’t he succeed a third time?

"Steward, can I get a loan?"

Sebastian tilted his head at the question.

"Excuse me?"

"I asked if I could get a loan."

"I’m sure you said loan, but did I misunderstand?"

"Nobles don’t speak nonsense."

"...How much loan do you plan to take for your investment?"

"How much of the current inventory is left?"

"50,000 gold coins worth."

"Good, I’ll pay 20,000 gold coins in cash within the week. The rest, I’ll use my domain as collateral. Please sell it however you like."

Sebastian was stunned.

Not only was it absurd that one person had bought 50,000 gold coins worth of inventory, but what was even more shocking was that Baron Florin was immediately offering his domain as collateral for 30,000 gold coins worth?

"The collateral will be based on 20 years' worth of total tax income from the domain."

"Yes, that sounds good."

"Bring the contract."

Baron Florin immediately signed the contract brought to him by the staff.

"If you have any other investment opportunities, let me know."

"Yes, of course."

With that, Baron Florin whistled and left, igniting the flames in everyone’s hearts.

"Think about it carefully. Even if the price were doubled, you’d still get back the principal in 15 years. If you continue to inherit it, how much money would it generate? You should buy it now, while the opportunity is here. Merchants who don’t want to make money, for heaven’s sake."

The merchants, hearing those words, gained a deep understanding.

Even buying real estate at a higher price than the market value would result in a guaranteed profit in the long run.

Real estate, with benefits comparable to a regular deposit yielding 14% interest annually, was an absurdly good deal.

‘Real estate is divine grace!’

"I’ll have to thank Lord Rothschild for giving me this opportunity to make money. I’ll send plenty of our region’s special products as a token of gratitude."

With that, Baron Florin left the room.

"Steward, when will the next batch be released?"

"We’re in a hurry! Please release the next batch soon!"

Sebastian, though visibly flustered, showed no signs of it.

He simply smiled at them and said, "The batch Baron Florin bought makes up 15% of the total housing. There’s still 85% left."

"85% is still available?"

"And the remaining stock will be sold here again next Tuesday. I’ll see you then."

With that, Sebastian sighed deeply.

Though the situation was going better than expected, it was still a bit overwhelming.

"This is turning out to be a lot more profitable than I thought..."