I Became A Black Merchant In Another World-Chapter 399: Money can even summon ghosts (3)

If you have a Benz, it is only natural to drive it.

If you have made a great deal for the eternal prosperity of the Duke of Sforza and our Rothschild family (of course, only from my perspective), you should use it.

Otherwise, it is all a loss, a loss.

Therefore, Duke Sforza, who has become my puppet, is currently proposing a policy in the Imperial Diet that is difficult for Nana or Duke Visconti to advocate, but is helpful.

“Your Majesty the Great Emperor, I am truly sorry to inform you, but the clergy of the Tuscan Empire are currently eating away at the Empire.”

It is said that the status of the Deus cult has fallen because the clergy of the Deus cult have been selling indulgences and doing all sorts of bad things to extort money from the saints...

In the Tuscan Empire, the Deus cult is still an area that cannot be touched carelessly.

This is because not only the Emperor, but also all the nobles here, and even the entire nation, believe in the Deus cult.

Even though it has lost its prestige, it is an ideology that everyone agrees on, so if you touch it wrong, you will be beaten to death.

‘The Sforza shield is sweet.’

“How can the clergy be eating away at the empire?”

A smile formed on the emperor’s face.

“The clergy not only regularly collect tithes from the people of the land, but these days, they are even selling indulgences. And in order to sell even one more indulgence, they are even instilling in the serfs an exaggerated fear of purgatory, and some innocent serfs are said to have fallen into deep debt to buy indulgences.”

“Deus, my goodness, are those bastards really human?”

“They even set quotas for various cities and force them to buy indulgences. It would be nice if they used the money collected that way for good purposes, but most of the money collected is used to build cathedrals, allow the clergy to indulge in extravagance, or send money to the Vatican.”

There is no one who does not know that the Holy Empire is burning because of the religious wars caused by indulgences.

So, a person with common sense would think this way.

Since the neighboring country is burning because of indulgences, we should not sell indulgences.

But reality is always more filthy than we think, so everyone thinks this way and lives.

‘If we do a little less than this, we can continue to exploit!’

The clergy keep repeating ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ the same thing in the Tuscan Empire or the Kingdom of Lyon with that beautiful thought.

“Deus, how can this happen? Is there no solution?”

While the Emperor was thinking about how to normalize the clergy who dared to harass his small and precious people, a Viscount sitting next to me asked cautiously.

“Did Viscount Rothschild, the Duke of Sforza, take some kind of drug? Why is he taking the people’s side so much?”

I made a slightly equal treaty, so I cast a spell that would have no choice but to grant my request.

However, the Tuscan Empire still has the system of heresy trials.

If it is revealed that he used magic, no country will be safe.

So I should properly stick my neck out.

“......According to what I heard, His Majesty the Duke of Sforza invested a lot of money in the South Sea Company. He must have been upset thinking about the tithe and the purchase of indulgences on top of that.”

“How much did he have to be ripped off to do that?” ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com

“I don’t know. But isn’t it your own fault? No one threatened you with a knife to invest there.”

“Investment is the result of an individual’s choice. I thought about investing there, but I didn’t put in money because I felt bad for some reason. Oh, it’s horrible just thinking about it.”

“I know it’s okay for me to say this, but you should make investments with a plan.”

When private moneylenders advertise, they often say that investments are planned and loans are planned.

But the people who say that are bad, but the words themselves are not wrong.

If you invest with a plan, you will make a profit, but if you buy random stocks without thinking and lose all your principal, who will take responsibility?

Even though I set a small ‘trap’, those people came running and killed me.

I am a bad person who committed fraud, but those who rushed there because they were greedy for money are also guilty.

“In that sense, can you recommend me one stock?”

“Will it be okay for me to do it bare-handed?”

“Please think about the affection between us.”

“Invest in coal sold by Lismond Trading Company. If you invest about 1,000 gold coins there, you will get about 100 gold coins every month.”

In the past, there were many people in the Visconti Duke’s faction who disliked or were wary of me.

But these days, I sometimes give stock advice by reading the stock market (actually, it's my own plan), and the accuracy rate is over 95%...

Everyone comes to me for advice like this.

After the parliament ends today, the Duke of Visconti will probably come and ask me to open a stock reading room. Should I just tell him to go see Baron Florin?

The conversation between the Duke of Sforza and the Emperor continued.

"Hmm, the clergy are causing problems, so in order to control them, we need to have the power to appoint people?"

"400 years ago, the Holy Empire Emperor Frederick I noticed this problem and tried to take back the clergy's power to appoint people. He eventually backed down after yielding to pressure from the church. However, the power of the church then and now is as different as heaven and earth. If Your Majesty makes the decision, it won't be too difficult to bring back the power to appoint clergy in the Tuscan Empire."

As in any company, those who handle money and those who handle personnel are the strongest.

Because being able to decide who gets promoted is a huge power.

‘I’ll promote you, so hand over the 00 project results to me.’

Of course, in reality, the head of the personnel department can’t do that...

In the Tuscan Empire, if the emperor has the power to appoint clergy, he can collect a portion of the tithes and add them to the imperial treasury.

“Okay, then I’ll order the Ministry of Justice to draft a draft.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

“I’ll close the meeting with this. Once the draft is drafted, we’ll convene the parliament again to review it.”

At that, all the nobles gathered in the parliament dispersed.

Instead of talking to his other associates, Duke Visconti came straight to me.

Why is he acting like that when he knows that every single action he makes in this place has meaning...

If someone sees me, they’ll think I’m the real power behind the throne of this ducal family.

“Count Rothschild.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Did Sforza take some medicine today? Or did he eat something wrong? Can you guess why he’s suddenly talking about returning the appointment of clergy to Your Majesty?”

“I’ve looked into his cash flow, and it seems he’s deeply involved in the South Sea Company investment of the Kingdom of Lyon. He must have suffered a considerable loss there.”

700,000 gold coins disappeared, so it’s definitely not a small loss.

On top of that, I even bought all the bonds and told him, ‘If you don’t listen to me, I’ll make you mysterious.’

He can’t help but be out of his mind.

If he can keep his mind straight after going through that, he’s not a human being, he’s a monster, a monster.

“The Duke of Sforza is also pitiful. Think about it logically. Is there a land somewhere in the world that no one has ever visited? And if someone discovered such a place first, and if there are valuables like cochineal all over the place, why would they invest in it?”

I flinched for a moment.

I thought that the Duke had probably noticed that I was pioneering the New World through the Dou Indica Company.

‘No, if he had really noticed, he would have asked me to eat with him.’

I was so surprised that goosebumps appeared on my left arm.

“Didn’t Your Majesty push Duke Sforza into a corner? That’s why his judgment has become dull. When people are cornered, they tend to say nothing.”

“...... It’s scary when you say that.”

“I’m on Your Majesty’s side, Duke Visconti.”

“It’s fortunate that your legal wife is Erica. Now, if you just give me a great-grandchild, I’ll have no more wishes.”

“You should live a long time.”

“You’ve already lived long enough, and thanks to a great granddaughter and son-in-law like you, the Visconti family has prospered to an unprecedented degree. I have no regrets.”

The Duke smiled as if he was satisfied.

“By the way, would you oppose or support giving Your Majesty the right to appoint clergy?”

“If that bill passes, the Imperial Diet will give Duke Sforza a small subsidy. But if the right to appoint clergy goes to Your Majesty and prevents those bastards from making a fuss over indulgences... that would be more beneficial.”

Duke Visconti nodded after hearing my words.

“I guess that’s why Sforza started rubbing his palms when he saw Your Majesty. He looks like a bastard without a backbone.”