Chapter 1961 - 533: The Demon King Places a Blood-Drinking Sword in the Hands of the Hero's Brother (Part 3)

Edward could understand the game being played behind all this. Even if he wouldn't personally direct every single battle, he was still sincerely delighted that his "generals" had won him a victory.

Satisfied, he nodded, his fingers lightly tapping on the desktop as he continued to ask.

"Then what about the issuance of the silver pound? I remember that in the previous issuance agreement, it seemed only your Andes Bank signed."

"At the time that was indeed the case. It was the darkest hour before dawn, and only I resolutely chose to stand with you."

Andes smiled, that black humor carrying the distinctive wit of the Campbell people.

"But as expected, once the sun came up, all those who walked off halfway regretted it. Lately my threshold is about to be worn down by them; those presidents are all begging me now, wanting to get back to this table."

Edward laughed along, but his eyes stayed fixed on him.

"And your decision is?"

"Of course, to throw the doors wide open."

Andes inclined his head slightly, reining in that irreverent humor and returning to the deference and humility befitting a subject.

"I am not someone who acts on impulse, and I have never forgotten that printed on those silver pounds is the crest of the Campbell family. If we want this Paper Money to become true 'Gold', Andes Bank alone cannot swallow it; we need the entire financial system of Thunder City to stand behind it."

"You're right. The only thing I would add is: printed on it is not only the Campbell family's crest, but also the toil and sweat of the Campbell people."

Edward tapped his index finger lightly on the table, his gaze turning deep and sharp, and said meaningfully,

"I hope as many of those clever fellows as possible will take part, yet I don't want crude, shoddy Paper Money flooding the market. You may think I'm insatiable, but this is how I see it. I'll speak plainly with the windows thrown open: you're a banker, and I want to hear your view!"

At these words, Andes felt a surge of emotion.

To let the sheep in the pen manage themselves—across the whole Aus Continent, probably only this Your Majesty had the nerve to do such a thing.

However, he did not feel it was a pity; on the contrary, he felt honored to have the chance to stand here, report his work to him, and offer his views regarding the Future.

After all, in this pasture, who isn't an animal?

The Duke was willing to speak from the perspective of a Lion rather than that of a rancher; as the fattest sheep in the entire pasture, he, of course, had to stand on his own position and say the things that were truly useful.

Rather than treating himself like a sheepdog and spouting those correct yet useless empty words.

"Of course, this is not difficult."

Andes nodded with calm assurance and said gladly,

"Not every newspaper has to run its own printing plant; likewise, we don't need to put a money-printing press in every bank. That wouldn't be good for Andes Bank either, because if every bank can print money, people will feel that… perhaps I just slapped my forehead before bed yesterday to decide how many silver pounds to print tomorrow."

At this point, Andes paused.

He did not rush to claim credit for himself; instead, borrowing Prince Colin's words, he laid out on the Duke's desk the concept they had jointly devised while having afternoon tea.

It was truly a breathtaking concept. When Colin spoke that sentence, he had been completely stunned.

"Inspired by Prince Colin, I am now taking the lead with several major banks in Thunder City, planning to jointly contribute capital and hold shares in proportion to establish an institution above ordinary banks—we shall, for the time being, call it the 'Central Bank'."

"Central Bank?" Edward repeated this novel term.

"Yes, the Central Bank."

Andes explained.

"It will not carry out deposit business for ordinary citizens; its only clients will be those licensed commercial banks. Each bank can use its commercial bills, legal silver coin or Gold Coin as collateral to apply for 'loans' from the Central Bank in order to obtain physical silver pounds!"

He stretched out a hand and made a virtual gripping motion in the air, as though turning the valve of a steam engine.

"It will be like a giant throttling valve. In this way, not only will it facilitate the Silver Supervision Commission's oversight and prevent some bank from privately over-issuing Paper Money, we will also hold in our hands a more efficient tool to precisely adjust the flow of water in and out of this reservoir."

"When the market lacks money, we open the sluice and release water. When there is inflation, we close the gate and impound water. Not only that, we can move together on interest rates, advancing and retreating in unison, thereby indirectly regulating the borrowing costs of citizens—encouraging them to consume more when there is overproduction, and to produce more when productive capacity is insufficient."

This was a very simple economic model, yet at the present moment it was still advanced.

After all, in the past, how much currency the Coinage Bureau of each Kingdom minted depended entirely on the precious metals in the Nobles' Vaults and on the conscience of each King.

When times were hard, the conscience of Kings and farmers would slide downhill together, and the value of money would, amid the scramble of the crowd, fall into the dust.

But now they could sit in a little boat, swaying happily along with the rising and falling tide of the Rushing River. They no longer needed, in difficult times, to kick the passenger beside them overboard just to keep the spray from splashing on themselves.

Sometimes all it takes is that final kick, and the boat capsizes.

After all, a boat needs ballast; you can't have everyone sitting on the same side.

Although Edward was not an expert in the financial Domain, when he heard Andes's vivid analogy he immediately grasped the immense value contained within it.