Fatty Shrade cast a probing look at Steward Spell, who sat upright with a dignified expression in the study's single armchair, and wondered to himself whether something had gone wrong again to make
"The situation is this," Lorist said, getting straight to the point. "Steward Spell mentioned that you once instructed him to stop spending Imperial old man head gold coins within the family territories and to only stockpile them without spending. We've already accumulated over eight million of them. After destroying the Madras Duchy this time, we seized nearly ten million more Imperial old man head gold coins, and we also discovered that the Grand Duke of Madras had originally intended to use these coins to privately mint Gold Forde. Unfortunately, he died before he could accomplish that goal. We've brought you here to ask whether we could privately mint Gold Forde ourselves — after all, a three-to-one exchange rate is far too punishing..."
"Your Grace, the documents regarding the Grand Duke of Madras's plan to privately mint Gold Forde are in my possession," Fatty Shrade said after a moment's thought. "I've been considering how to handle those Imperial old man head gold coins as well, but I haven't come up with a satisfactory plan yet, which is why I haven't brought the matter to you. In my personal opinion, privately minting Gold Forde is not a good idea."
"Why not? Gold Forde has already become the most widely circulated, universally accepted, and most trusted currency on the Galentea Continent. Look at all those countries surrounding the Commercial Alliance — even though they've imposed the strictest guards and precautions against the Alliance, Gold Forde is still what circulates in their domestic markets. As long as we melt these Imperial old man head coins into Gold Forde, we can spend them right away."
"Your Grace, do you know which chamber of commerce in the Commercial Alliance issues the Gold Forde?" Fatty Shrade waited for Lorist to shake his head before continuing. "The Gold Forde is issued by the Two-Headed Dragon Commerce — the largest chamber of commerce in the Alliance and the leader of the Seven Giants. The Two-Headed Dragon Commerce takes sixty percent of the profits, the other six giant chambers each take five percent, and the remaining ten percent covers the Alliance's daily administrative expenses."
"Because the material composition ratio of all gold coins is the same, and every batch must pass inspection with gold assaying liquid before leaving the mint, the Two-Headed Dragon Commerce's profit model for issuing Gold Forde relies on the wastage rate. In other words, to mint one hundred Gold Forde, you need to prepare one hundred and ten portions of materials. The leftover materials after minting constitute the profit. The Two-Headed Dragon Commerce basically issues ten million Gold Forde per year, with a peak of thirty million in its best year."
"However, the ten percent wastage rate applies only to internal issuance within the Commercial Alliance. In reality, the profit from issuing ten million Gold Forde a year isn't that high — only about eight percent. After deducting dividends, labor, facility, and mold costs, the true net profit from issuing ten million Gold Forde amounts to only two or three hundred thousand Gold Forde. What really makes the Two-Headed Dragon Commerce rich is external processing — minting Gold Forde for other countries."
"The wastage rate for external processing is thirty percent, which can be reduced to twenty-five percent for countries with close relations. Your Grace, do you remember the Qigeda Kingdom? Marquis Rofi Fosta of the Qigeda Kingdom once escorted a shipment of gold and silver to
The Qigeda Kingdom... Marquis Rofi Fosta... That middle-aged nobleman escorting a girl who looked like an elf in the moonlight, a golden badge with a firebird emblem pinned to his chest... A long-buried memory surged to the surface, and Lorist's expression grew distant.
Fatty Shrade, ever perceptive, held his tongue and gestured for Shuard, who stood in the corner, to fetch him a bottle of fruit wine.
A good while passed before Lorist returned to his senses, by which time Fatty Shrade was already pouring himself a second cup.
"How do you know all this in such detail?" Lorist's voice came out a little hoarse.
"Back then, I had a foolish brother who got his heart broken — his sweetheart ran off with this Marquis Fosta. So I went out of my way to investigate, only to discover that this Marquis was wealthy and powerful, far beyond anything I could handle. I couldn't help my brother at all. That was my greatest regret. But at the same time, I did learn about the Two-Headed Dragon Commerce's external minting operations and grew rather curious, so I dug deeper. I found out about the tricks in the Imperial old man head gold coin exchange rates and originally planned to make some money through arbitrage. But then I discovered that every buyer and exchanger of Imperial old man head coins was connected to the Two-Headed Dragon Commerce, so I gave up the idea."
Lorist burst out laughing. "You really are a failure — couldn't pull off either one."
Fatty Shrade said, "It was all pointless. That Marquis was a
Lorist picked up the wine bottle, dispensed with the cup entirely, and clinked the bottle's neck directly against Fatty Shrade's glass. "To our years and youth at Dawn Academy..."
He tilted his head back and gulped down mouthful after mouthful.
Steward Spell, sitting upright in his armchair, shook his head helplessly. His young Duke couldn't care less about maintaining the dignity expected of the Northland's Grand Duke. This wasn't some village tavern where farmers and mercenaries drank — how could he drink like that?
"What kind of casting method does the Commercial Alliance use to mint Gold Forde, to achieve annual outputs of over ten million, even thirty million coins?"
Lorist recalled that the countries on the Galentea Continent used the plaster mold method for minting gold coins. First, the coin's design was engraved onto a metal plate. Then soft plaster boards were pressed to create the coin's thickness and the impressions of both faces. Once the plaster hardened, the two halves were joined together and molten gold was poured in. After cooling, the plaster was smashed open and the coin was trimmed and inspected — that was how a single gold coin was completed. But this method had a high defect rate, and in terms of labor, cost, and material wastage, it was extremely uneconomical.
"Your Grace, the Two-Headed Dragon Commerce uses the metal mold method. They have a proprietary alloy kept secret from outsiders, which they use to cast three-part molds — a base plate, a middle plate, and a top plate. Once fitted together, molten gold is poured directly in, then water is applied to accelerate cooling. The base and top plates are removed, and the middle plate is gently tapped with a wooden mallet. The finished Gold Forde drop out, requiring only simple trimming. A single mold can produce one hundred Gold Forde per pour, and a minting factory has dozens of molds. If needed, they can produce nearly a million Gold Forde in a single day."
"I once accompanied Dean Levins on a tour of the Two-Headed Dragon Commerce's minting factory — they don't mind inviting people of distinction to visit. According to a Two-Headed Dragon Commerce steward who accompanied us on the tour, their metal mold minting method is the most advanced on the Galentea Continent. While other countries spend one point three to one point five times the face value to mint a single gold coin, they keep costs below one point one times. That's the main reason surrounding nations keep outsourcing their coin minting to the Commercial Alliance, and the Alliance has used this to expand the Gold Forde's reach, gradually making it the continent's universal currency."
Lorist looked up. "You're saying we don't need to privately mint Gold Forde ourselves — we can just commission the Two-Headed Dragon Commerce to do it?"
Fatty Shrade pondered for a moment, then shook his head. "Your Grace, I wouldn't recommend that. The Grand Duke of Madras's biggest reason for wanting to privately mint Gold Forde was that he couldn't transport his accumulated Imperial old man head gold coins to the Commercial Alliance — the roads were blocked, so even if he wanted to exchange them, he couldn't. He also turned to private minting because the three-to-one exchange rate was too punishing. The steward in charge of the operation confessed that the gold and silver craftsmen the Grand Duke had recruited spent ages trying but still couldn't get the coin die molds right."
"Privately minting Gold Forde sounds simple, but it's actually incredibly difficult. Although the material composition of the coins is the same, the characteristics of this particular formula produce coins with clear designs and excellent wear resistance. That means privately minted Gold Forde must look exactly like the ones issued by the Commercial Alliance — the positions of the designs on the obverse and reverse must match perfectly, without the slightest deviation. And that is precisely the hardest part of private minting. Because the Two-Headed Dragon Commerce's minting factory uses the metal mold method, every Gold Forde that leaves the factory is identical. Without an identical alloy die mold, private minters are forced to use the plaster mold method."
"The first batch of coins produced with the plaster mold might resemble Gold Forde closely enough, but as minting continues, problems like blurred lines and misaligned obverse-reverse designs will appear, making it easy to identify them as counterfeits. This requires constant mold adjustments, driving up labor and costs significantly. And once detected, the standard practice across the countries of the continent is that even if the counterfeit coins pass the gold assaying test, their value is automatically halved — making the whole endeavor far more loss than gain."
"The Grand Duke of Madras had no choice but to try private minting. Our
"Still..." Fatty Shrade hesitated.
"Is something wrong?" Lorist found it puzzling. If outsourcing to the Two-Headed Dragon Commerce was better than private minting, why was Fatty Shrade holding back?
"Your Grace, the issue is how we define our position. In terms of our relationship with the Peterson Commerce, we're friendly and cooperative commercial partners. But we fly the Andinak Kingdom's banner, and the current Andinak Kingdom is under the
"The Commercial Alliance today is no longer the one we knew from our days at Dawn Academy. I've found that the Alliance, having adopted a lordly system, is even more unscrupulous than those feudal kingdoms and duchies. Your last encounter in Morant City proved as much. Additionally, I have reservations about the Peterson Commerce. They still owe our family nearly five hundred thousand Gold Forde in outstanding debts. Although they repay a portion each year, for a trading house's credibility, this is deeply disappointing."
"I've already instructed the family to limit our annual dealings with the Peterson Commerce to fur transactions only, excluding all other areas, until they pay off their debts in full. They keep citing the difficulty of trade routes being blockaded by surrounding nations, but the Glass War ended years ago, and the Alliance's relations with those countries still haven't improved. That forces one to question their sincerity. Under these circumstances, I don't believe handing over our accumulated Imperial old man head gold coins for recasting into Gold Forde would be a good idea."
Though he wasn't afraid of the Commercial Alliance coveting these coins, avoiding extra trouble was better than inviting it. If something did go wrong, it would mean a direct confrontation with the Alliance. With the Norton Family's powerful military behind them, the Alliance would come to regret its greed — but on their side, it would be an expensive expeditionary campaign. Even if they won, it would leave them severely weakened. And the one who'd benefit most would be the Second Prince, who would sit back and reap the rewards with a smug smile...
"So should we keep stockpiling these Imperial old man head coins and wait for a while..." Lorist stopped tapping his fingers on the table.
"Your Grace, what I've been thinking about lately is whether our family should issue its own gold coin," Fatty Shrade said.
"Our own gold coin?" Lorist, Steward Spell in his armchair, and Shuard standing by the wall all stared in surprise. Fatty Shrade's imagination was running rather wild.
"Yes, Your Grace. Our family territories currently have a population of one point three million. Once the territorial exchange is complete, the entire Northland will belong to our family. Developing the southern and eastern regions could accommodate at least seven more Fengle Plains' worth of settlements. With sufficient immigration, the Northland could easily reach three million people — more than some kingdoms and duchies. We could absolutely issue our own gold coin under the Norton Family. Call it the Wrath Bear coin, and have it circulate throughout the Northland and the territories of our three allies. As long as we mandate that all transactions use Wrath Bear coins, given enough time, we could drive Gold Forde out of our sphere of influence..."
"All right, stop dreaming." Lorist laughed at the enthusiastic, spittle-flying Fatty Shrade. "Issuing our own family coins doesn't match reality right now. First, the Second Prince would never permit a family-issued coin to appear within the Andinak Kingdom — it's a matter of royal prestige. Second, our territories don't have gold mines. Without a steady output, we can't meet gradually expanding market demand, which is a fatal weakness for any issuing authority. Third, what casting method would you use? The plaster mold method?"
"No, Your Grace." Fatty Shrade answered very seriously. "We wouldn't be issuing coins right away. The Second Prince can be left alone for now — in the coming years, his concerns will be dealing with the Commercial Alliance and the Four Central Duchies. He might even thank us for replacing Imperial old man head coins and Gold Forde with our own currency."
"As for gold mines, I've thought about that too. Once the family secures the entire Northland, Master Hyde will organize a team of professional prospectors to survey the whole region. The eastern Northland — the former Kenmes family territory — once had a small gold mine. Though it's been mostly depleted, Master Hyde believes there must still be gold veins in the area. It wouldn't make sense for a small gold mine to exist in isolation."
"Furthermore, even without finding a gold mine, the Imperial old man head gold coins we've accumulated, along with the horse-hoof gold and the gold dust paid by Count Kenmes, would be enough for us to issue over twenty million coins at the same weight and value as Gold Forde. That many coins would be more than sufficient to handle transactions and circulation within our family territories and sphere of influence. If we truly face a shortage, we can urgently acquire gold mines or directly recast Gold Forde into our family's coins."
"Finally, regarding the casting method — I hope we can use the same metal mold method as the Two-Headed Dragon Commerce. I went specifically to consult Master Yulian at the Dark Iron Refining Workshop, and Master Yulian is willing to experiment with developing such an alloy. Once we have that alloy, we can create metal stamping plates, and then we'll be able to produce large quantities of Wrath Bear coins with minimal wastage, just like the Two-Headed Dragon Commerce's minting factory."
Hearing about minting coins with minimal wastage, even Steward Spell rose to his feet. "Your Grace, I support Knight Shrade's proposal. Our family should issue its own gold coins."
Lorist sat in silent thought for a while, then slowly nodded. "Shrade, write up a proposal with your ideas. I'll look into the matter further, and we'll hold a meeting to discuss it later. That's all for today."
"Yes, Your Grace."
...(To be continued.)