Chapter 444 Southern Thousand Valley Free Trade Agreement

Of course, Horn could not directly agree to Gigannon and Cassani's proposal.

He simply shirked the responsibility by saying that "the boss is often just a figurehead", and then convened a cardinals' meeting the next day to discuss the matter with several cardinals.

The merchant and citizen forces within the Salvation Army were naturally very welcome to the assistance from the Franks.

Only when the economy is booming do people like them have a reason to exist; otherwise they can only beg for mercy and accept military orders from the Salvation Army.

Even some military forces are welcome. If they want to defeat Prince Condai, they need more sophisticated weapons and more soldiers.

Because they knew that the military was very expensive, it would be good if the Franks could make up for it.

Another group of people believed that the French would slowly infiltrate the Salvation Army if they got involved, causing everyone to be grateful and lenient.

Of course, most people are die-hard royalists. They support whatever Horn supports, and Horn is right anyway.

This is the aftereffect of Horn's long and arduous journey of doing everything himself. Many members and veterans of the Salvation Army have this mentality.

They have little knowledge and no habit of independent thinking, so they just follow the Holy Grandson.

Since Horn has the final say, most of the participants in the cardinals' conference can only serve as advisory consultants, and the final decision still has to be made by Horn himself.

After three days of meetings, summoning several bankers and obtaining the information collected by Armand, Horn finally made up his mind.

The agreement from the Kingdom of France was a sugar-coated bullet. Horn did not have the ability to swallow the sugar coating and fire back the bullet for the time being, but at least he could spit out the bullet.

But if you want to achieve this, you must work on the agreement between the two parties.

On the fourth day of the meeting, Horn finally summoned Cassani and began a twelve-hour agreement signing process.

In the small study, several people were exchanging sharp words.

Every time Cassani proposed a plan, Horn would say, "That's a good idea, but I'd like to make some minor changes," and then change the plan beyond recognition.

The pile of invalidated support agreements was as thick as bricks, even forcing Casani to leave the meeting several times, doubting whether Horn came with sincerity.

In the end he was relieved. After all, that's how diplomacy works. Everyone serves their own master. If the document was signed quickly and easily, it would most likely be a surrender document.

As the candles flickered, Cassani, Giganon and others, who were exhausted from fighting for the Kingdom of Fran, finally couldn't bear it anymore.

They held a small meeting in another small room and finally reached a consensus on the plan proposed by Horn.

The draft of the "Nanqian Valley Free Trade Agreement" came out steaming, but of course it only finalized the approximate scope.

Specific figures, such as tariffs on different goods, the specific arrival of support funds, etc., will need to be discussed further later.

But the signing process of the agreement was finally over. Seeing that Horn no longer agreed that it was a "good strategy", several French ambassadors finally breathed a sigh of relief.

On the surface, this trade agreement is a private trade treaty signed between merchants from the three counties of the Nanqian Valley (Langsander County, Xiarefu County and Kasha County) and the Royal Chamber of Commerce of the Kingdom of France.

The Thousand River Valley was originally considered the core territory of the church, especially the Leia Church. This kind of private trade treaty would have been disrupted in the past.

But now, except for the two townships in the northwest of Kasha County and the north of Shangruifu, the remaining local churches in the Nanqian Valley have basically been cleared out.

Moreover, among the three counties, Kasha County even borders the Kingdom of France. Although the bordering area happens to be the area where the church's influence remains, they dare not take action against the France people again.

Currently, there is a civil war going on between one king and two princes in the Kingdom of Leia. If they start fighting, no one will protect them.

"Don't leave yet. I've just asked the kitchen to make some hot soup and roasted Saint-Sun duck, which will be perfect as a midnight snack." Catherine looked at Horn who was doing the finishing work with Jiganon, and smiled at several Fran envoys.

Kasani, who was sitting sloppily, straightened his back immediately, and even his stomach growled at the right time: "What is roasted Shengsun duck?"

For the Franks, who are naturally fond of delicious food and fine clothes, their curiosity about new food and new clothes is no less than their desire for new lands.

"This is the roast duck that Your Majesty personally developed. It is made with maltose, dried for half a day, and then baked in a brick oven with fruit wood. It is served with honey and red bread sauce. It is very particular."

"Red bread sauce, I haven't eaten this before." Cassani had been hungry for a whole day, and after hearing what Catherine said, his mouth was watering.

If the agreement had not been signed before, he would definitely not do anything to avoid delaying important matters.

But now that everything is done, that laziness comes back. If the roast duck tastes good and the wine is delicious, what's wrong with giving up a little profit?

"Gigganon, stop looking at me, you're acting like a Leia, so petty."

Taking over Gigannon's position, Casani, who was fed up with the day's discussions, picked up the agreement and said, "Sir Horn, let's read the main agreement first. If it's almost correct, I'll send it out."

Horn, who was still confirming everything, put down the pen in his hand and said, "This is better. Read it." "First, during the signing of the trade agreement, the Franks promise to refuse to accept any proposal to jointly attack the Thousand River Valley with other countries."

"I agree." This is an announcement to the Empire that we, the Franks, are under the protection of these three counties of the Salvation Army.

"Secondly, the Marigold Chamber of Commerce will subscribe to 5 pounds worth of jihad bonds from the Magdeburg Chamber of Commerce in batches within one year. As for the interest rate, I heard that your interest rate is 10%?"

"Yes." Horn nodded and spoke frankly.

Catherine immediately added: "But those are bonds for preparing for war. For these new foreign bonds, we will have someone to calculate the specific interest rates..."

"No need to calculate, just calculate it at 4%. The rich Franks will not look down on such a small amount of interest and dividends." Cassani waved his hand carelessly.

An interest rate of 4% is considered an almost interest-free loan in this empire where usury is prevalent.

“Third, the Megedi Chamber of Commerce and the Fran Royal Chamber of Commerce will jointly establish a Fran Thousand Valley Investment Bank and issue bonds.

We will call on Frankish citizens and nobles to buy the bank's bonds, and the bank will pay interest every year.

But we cannot guarantee how many people will buy it, so one-third of the jihad bonds we buy need to be injected into investment banks as shares.”

"agree."

This bank and the Marigold Chamber of Commerce are the channels through which the Frans provide support to Horn, and they are mainly composed of several local Frans Chambers of Commerce in the Thousand River Valley.

Through this investment bank, a steady stream of funds will flow from the wealthy Kingdom of France to the Papal States of Savior.

“Fourth, France will relocate a group of immigrants, including unemployed and bankrupt craftsmen, citizens with heretical beliefs, laborers without pants exiled by the King of France, and a dozen college students who have radical opinions or have killed people in duels and have to go out to hide.

There are about 10,000 of them, who will enter in five or six batches, mainly trouserless men and bankrupt craftsmen.

The Qianhegu Investment Bank will invest money in these people to build workshops locally. They will open shops within the scope of the Papal State of Salvation and open the border to allow Fran immigrants to enter. "

"I agree, but their identities can no longer be Franks, but locals, and they must be included in the household registration."

"It's acceptable." Casani picked up the pen and made two strokes, "But you can't force them to become citizens."

"of course not."

"Okay, then, the fifth secret clause is that if the Salvation Army expels the Thousand Valley Church, then they will have to join the market of the Kingdom of Fran. The two sides will negotiate to unify tariffs and declare friendly relations with each other. It would be best if it were a marriage."

"Everything else is fine, but marriage is probably not. I am the Pope and cannot marry or have children."

"What are you afraid of?" Casani looked at Horn in surprise. She didn't expect Horn to be so innocent in this regard. "Which pope doesn't have a lot of illegitimate children? Just give her the title of the first mistress. There will be people rushing to take her."

"Let's see when the time comes. Don't discuss things that haven't happened yet." Horn rubbed his temple, really unwilling to continue discussing this topic.

After both parties read through the last few details, such as the delivery time, the principle of mutual respect, and other minor details, the "Agreement" was finally finalized.

As long as Monteyak agrees, it can be signed directly.

"On the day of signing, we will subscribe for 8000 gold pounds at once, of which 2000 gold pounds will be used to offset the half-breastplate and one-handed weapons. Remember to send the blueprints of your armor and swords to the villa where I live."

In order to avoid being recognized, Cassani still had to do some face-saving work.

Otherwise, when the Saviors go to the battlefield wearing the standard Fran half-armor, even the Leians will know that it is the Frans who are causing trouble.

Although they can guess it now, they have no evidence, and standard armor is a bit too much.

Casani looked at the monk who was re-copying and asked Horn with a smile, "I'll ask you one last time. Are you sure you don't want to allow the Chamber of Commerce to move in directly? They are willing to provide you with a one-time donation of more than 2 gold pounds and give you a personal income of 900 gold pounds every year."

"Of course I am willing to allow all chambers of commerce to move in, but that will have to wait until the Savior Army completely defeats the Thousand Valley Church and becomes independent. By then, I will establish a stock exchange and ensure that you make a lot of money."

"I'm waiting for that day."

After confirming the signing of the agreement, Gigannon hurriedly took the draft agreement to find Montejac.

Before leaving, he left Horn with a piece of good news, which was that it had been confirmed that Prince Kongdai had led his troops back to Feiliu Castle.

This means that the situation has basically stabilized.

After fighting for many days, many soldiers were tired and missed home. Just as the nobles in Gouhu Township had been almost cleared out, Horn prepared to return to Jeanne d'Arc.

In mid-August, leaving behind a dozen officers to train and recruit local soldiers, Horn, with two legions, led the first batch of 8 immigrants and headed for Happy Home.

(End of this chapter)