Chapter 340: Redemption of Jihad Bonds

When the news of the great victory at Moncruz reached the whole of Kush Territory, the whole territory was plunged into a joyful atmosphere.

Minister of Truth Madeleine specially arranged several carriages to post notices and commendation lists in villages along the road.

Looking down from the sky, next to the bulletin board of almost every hundred-household district, there is a literate person reading out the list.

Every time a monk's name was read, his family members would proudly stand up, pat their chests and say to the villagers and relatives around them, "My son/brother/grandson!"

For the rural areas which were isolated from news, it was the first time that they received news so quickly, and it was also a novel experience.

On the other hand, in the Empire, for some lords’ subjects, they didn’t know when the war was coming, and they didn’t know when the war was over.

Even when they were killed by the invading enemies, they didn’t know why?
Compared to the casual chats after dinner in the countryside, the atmosphere in the city is more lively.

In Joan of Arc, people spontaneously bought colorful flags and hung them on the eaves. If a businessman came at this time, he would probably think it was a festival.

Especially the workshop owners and bond buyers who made their fortunes from this battle, when they saw the wounded soldiers returning, they really wanted to kneel on the ground and kowtow to them.

You know, after this battle, the value of the bonds they purchased will triple to quintuple, which means a profit of 300% to 500%!
When Horn was clearing out his bad assets, he invited specialized merchants to evaluate them and then sold them at the average market price.

但用债券的话，可以1块钱当3块钱甚至5块钱花，那不就是打了个3折甚至是2折吗？

Moreover, the so-called "bad assets" are not really bad, but assets and real estate that are poorly managed by the Salvation Army.

As long as we replace them with people who know the business, profits will increase immediately.

The rest of the things that the Papal Palace can manage, such as furniture workshops, houses and dyeing factories...are all run by people hired by Horn.

However, compared with the past, the workers in these workshops now live much better than before.

Under the restrictions of the Labor Law, their maximum wages are capped and there is a labor shortage everywhere because the income from being a laborer is not as good as paying taxes and farming.

However, after Horn came to power, he abolished the wage restrictions of the Labor Law and abolished the Fugitive Slave Law to remove restrictions on labor.

Of course, since the land was divided, everyone decided to farm, and the labor market was still relatively short, so the workers generally received a wage increase.

A bricklayer's daily wage is almost 1 dinar, nearly double what it used to be.

In addition, Horn also implemented the Labor Safety Law to force workshop owners to pay the workers' families one year's salary as a pension when the workers died in the workplace.

You know, if this happened in the past, the more conscientious workshop owners would give some funeral expenses and hush money, while the unscrupulous ones would ask the family of the deceased for lost wages.

Currently, Horn has summoned many workshop owners and a number of religious scholars from Kasha County to discuss this matter.

This event attracted widespread attention among the labor community, but among citizens and craftsmen, the most popular event was the auction of church property.

The auction will be conducted in the form of a sealed auction, starting at 9:00 a.m. and ending at 12:00 noon.

When the clock tower struck twelve noon, the brothers Palak and Grocian walked out of the auction with satisfaction.

In this auction, they not only won the fish pond, but also picked up two horses and farm tools.

Walking out of the door of the Holy See Bank, Palak looked at the people passing by and waved proudly to everyone who walked out.

"Friends, I suggest that we celebrate the victory of the Salvation Army here in advance, how about that?"

"Victory! Victory! Victory!" people passing by responded.

Turning around, Palak looked at Grosien, who was carefully holding the box and walking along the edge of the street, and shook his head helplessly.

"Don't worry!" Palak stepped forward and patted the box. "The Papal States, the Salvation Army, and we each have a copy of the deed. The names of the fish pond owners are both ours. What's the use of the deed if it's stolen?"

"It will cost a lot of money to replace it." Grosien said distressedly.

Palak turned his head and was about to speak when he saw a familiar figure in the crowd.

Without paying any attention to Grothien, Palak rushed out, knocking aside many people and grabbing the man's sleeve. The face under the hood looked up in surprise, and it was Squier who had not been seen for a long time.

At this time, Grothien held the box and squeezed through the crowd and rushed over: "Pallak, why are you running, you... Squier?"

Palak looked at him with a fake smile: "Oh, we meet here. Are you going to play dice? I'm waiting for you to play a few rounds with me."

"Hahaha, yeah, long time no see." Squier used his muscles to force out a ferocious smile. "I'm not playing dice, I'm running errands and delivering mail."

Unlike Grosien, Palak is a vengeful person and will not easily let go of this troublemaker who has been causing trouble again and again.

Seeing that Squier was about to run away, he grabbed Squier's wrist with his backhand: "Don't go, I have good news to tell you."

"What, what news?"

"We just bought the monastery's fish pond for 1050 dinars! What a close call! The second highest price was only 30 dinars lower than ours. The fish pond almost fell into the hands of someone else."

The method Horn adopted was the Vickrey auction method. Simply put, it was a blind bid auction and then sold at the second highest price.

For example, Grosien bid 1100 dinars, the highest price in the venue, and won the fish pond.

The second highest price was 1050 dinars, so even though Grosien bought it for 1100 dinars, he only had to pay 1050 dinars.

In addition to redeeming old bonds to facilitate the issuance of new bonds, Horn also sold these real estate properties in the hope that these poorly managed assets could be properly managed.

Using the Vickrey auction method, from the perspective of game theory, the optimal strategy is to bid according to one's true valuation, which can allocate resources most reasonably.

Unless someone makes private contacts before bidding, but if anyone dares to do so, don't blame the gendarmerie for coming to your door.

Looking at the small box that Grothien was holding tightly in his arms, Squier's face turned horribly ugly: "God bless you! You are so lucky."

"This is all thanks to you!" Palak patted Squier's shoulder heavily, "If you hadn't helped us fill out the forms, how could we have taken over this fish pond!"

Squier clenched his teeth, a surge of blood called jealousy rushed to his forehead, and he felt something stuck in his throat, making it impossible for him to speak.

"Hey, I heard that you work as a copyist, and you only make two or three dinars a week, running errands and copying books every day. How about you come and work for me?"

Although he said so, Palak would never really let him be an assistant.

The two of them have a grudge against each other, so how can I feel at ease? Saying this is just a mockery of Squier.

Of course Squier knew it in his heart, but he could do nothing even though he had gritted his teeth.

At this moment, he wished he could turn back time and slap his past self twice.

If I had known earlier, I shouldn't have informed the Knight Master of the matter. If I had known earlier, I shouldn't have filled out the wrong information on Grosien's application form. If I had known earlier...

Damn it, Holy Lord, why do you let your devout believers fall to the point of being bullied by the untouchables!
The more Squier thought about it, the sadder and angrier he became, and his whole body began to tremble uncontrollably.

"Giggle-"

Palack heard a gurgling sound coming from Squier's throat, and then Squier opened his mouth and shouted, "Ah!"

Then he closed his eyes and fell to the ground with a grim face.

Palak was so scared that he jumped three steps away. Seeing that Squier was silent, he picked up a branch and poked Squier in the face.

Palak breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Squier's breath blowing the leaves on the branches.

At this moment, people who had just come out of the Apostolic Bank noticed that there was something exciting to watch, so they all linked their arms, stood on tiptoe, and looked over here.

Seeing people gathering around him, Palak quickly explained: "Everyone saw it, I didn't touch him, he fell down by himself!"

After shouting twice to distance himself from the matter, he saw several night watchmen in black running over. Fearing that he would get into trouble, Palak quickly grabbed Grothien and fled the scene.

(End of this chapter)