Infinite Reincarnation – Arthur Hurt - Chapter 140



Only Noblemtl

Infinite Reincarnation – Arthur Hurt Chapter 140

26-Noble

“Right? I told you, you’re being dishonest.”

Viana nodded and joined in Sonya’s gossip.

Viana, who was influenced by the talk of the aunties while traveling with her mother, knew well about the duality of people. The auntie who saw all kinds of bad things about her husband would praise him when he earned a lot of money that month. She said that a man’s ability is more important than his looks.

There were more than a few such women. I often saw women who got married only for looks when they were young and then lived hard lives, so I couldn’t help but think that men thought that making money was more important than looks.

Arthur shared a glass of wine with Zarn in silence, away from the gossip of the two women.

“It tastes better than I thought.”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

The expression on the face of the person responding seemed somewhat relieved.

I wonder if it was important to him whether his fiancée-to-be could get along well with her acquaintances?

Just as the friendships and connections that noblewomen made in high society had a close influence on the politics of the nobles, merchants like Jaran also had connections and networks among the ladies.

It wouldn’t be a big problem if you didn’t have one, but it would be a big help if you had one. You could get information that men couldn’t get through word of mouth among women.

“I hope you all get along well in the future.”

Jaran was looking into the future. He hoped that the Park family and the Hurt family would continue to have a good relationship.

As Arthur, it wasn’t bad either. The more companions and allies the better.

“Yes. I ask for your continued support.”

The two clinked their glasses and smiled.

“So, it was the power of love that made you a lady!”

“Hey, stop it!”

Arthur decided to take a sip of his wine and ignore Viana’s plight for a moment.

* * *

While the baby was growing up, Arthur took care of Charlie and did paperwork at home for the launch of the skyrocketing music box.

My head became complicated because I had to give instructions, receive reports, and wrestle with documents, including sending related technologies and prototypes to Tsuraz and maintaining confidentiality.

Wouldn’t it be better to focus on your fingertips, sharpening cogs and turning lathes, to clear your head?

To him, who was already complicated, something happened that made his mind even more complicated: the summons of Countess Tzak.

What are you trying to say this time?

“His Majesty the King is concerned.”

“what…….”

“banking.”

“… … .”

While Arthur was sparing his words, Countess Tzaq spoke.

“I heard you received a lot of investors this time?”

“I understand that the need for it has already been reported.”

The contents of the meeting between Samuel and Zarran on the introduction of Scalon were compiled into a report and delivered to the palace.

Of course, the true intention was hidden, and it was included in the report under the pretext of establishing a private bank to solidify Scalon’s position.

I understand it well and it is content that will be helpful to the country and state affairs, but are you concerned?

Countess Tzak opened her mouth.

“The church is protesting.”

“why?”

Arthur questioned, but inwardly he was convinced that such a thing could happen. The reason Arthur had guessed came out of Countess Tzak’s mouth right away.

“Because gambling is considered a sin in the church.”

If you lend the principal, you should get the principal back, not interest?! How can you earn money by sitting around without doing any work?! Where is this sin?! This was the church’s position.

From the perspective of the traditional church, which values ​​the value of labor, profit without labor was a sin called greed.

Of course, from Arthur’s point of view, it was absurd.

“It’s not like they just had their rice bowls taken away from them?”

It is a well-known fact to those who know that the biggest player in the loan shark business is, ironically, the church. That is because they lend money and receive something other than money as interest.

“… … .”

“… … ?”

Arthur looked puzzled at the gaze of Countess Tzak who was staring at him, and soon she continued speaking.

“I thought that Lord Hurt was a devout believer?”

Ah, so that’s why you looked at it that way.

Arthur made excuses nonchalantly.

“I’m still faithful, but I don’t really want to go to the capital’s church.”

It was true, except for the word faithful. Arthur, who had come to the capital, had looked for a church to attend in order to suck up the religious network. However, the church in the capital was too corrupt and divided.

Are there separate churches for the poor, churches that commoners can attend, and churches only for the rich?

And everyone was greedy for donations. The only difference was the church for the poor, but the priest of that church recommended Arthur to go to a middle-class church instead.

They say that they go to churches like that and ask for a lot of donations so that the poor churches can receive support money to help the poor.

Yes, the church for the poor was a kind of quarantine zone where the poor were kept separately for the church members who hated the poor.

From the perspective of a faithful believer, it was a system that seemed destined to collapse, but every incident had a reason to occur, and this incident of class division in the church was no exception.

Those who do not like the poor muddying the water can go to church with ease, and the church of the poor receives support based on their donations and carries out relief work. The poor can avoid freezing to death or starving to death in the winter without having to beg. Is this a structure that benefits everyone?

Instead, the spirit of the church had to be sacrificed.

Of course, this realistic corruption of the church was not the only reason Arthur did not attend weekend services in the capital. The biggest reason was that the churches for the middle class were too far away from where he lived, and the churches for the bourgeoisie and the aristocracy were closer.

Was this the price that Jaran received for providing Arthur with a well-located house?

In the meantime, I was busy with work, became a semi-noble, and reached a level where I didn’t necessarily need to rely on the power of a religious network, so it became ambiguous to go to church. If I had gone to church, I would have had to keep changing churches as my social status continued to rise.

Countess Tzak interpreted Arthur’s superficial reason for not wanting to go in her own way.

“Yes, the church has become very corrupt.”

That was the reason why she could nod and agree when Arthur said that it was a rice bowl problem.

“But as they have become corrupted, they struggle to maintain their influence in the secular world. Those people are holding them back.”

“What are Your Majesty’s intentions?”

“How is it? Do you want to appease me?”

At present, the king and the church were holding hands through the revival of the church land law. From the king’s point of view, it was regrettable to let go of the church’s hand right away.

Arthur replied.

“I don’t think this is something I can solve on my own. I’ll talk to you after we have a meeting.”

“What do you think?”

Arthur answered Countess Tzaq’s question.

“My opinion is not important. His Majesty wants to appease the Church, so I will find a way to do so.”

“… … Count Hurt is truly loyal.”

Arthur did not respond to Countess Tzak’s sharp remark.

So, Jaran frowned at the news Arthur brought.

“I didn’t have any words… … .”

“I guess you’re asking me to handle it unofficially.”

Banking was officially known as being run by the Mato Company.

So, for the king to send someone to ask Zarran for a solution to this problem would be interpreted as an official matter, and it could also reach the ears of the nobles or neutrals.

It was only natural that they would not stay still, and if they did not stay still, it was only natural that the king would have a headache.

So it was not strange for him to speak to Arthur, who was known as a craftsman, as it would seem like he was secretly passing on a secret message to the grown-up.

The fact that the issuance of Scalonization started in Arthur’s head was known only to the three people present.

“What should I do?”

“It’s simple. Just give the church a stake in the bank.”

“A share for the church too?”

Samuel looked puzzled, but Arthur said,

“We encourage the establishment of private banks funded by religious communities.”

“Is that okay?”

“It’s not much different from what they do anyway. Rather, it will have a positive effect by making them compete with other private banks.”

It was something they could do because they were the central bank that held the power to issue currency. To them, private banks were not competitors but subcontractors who helped expand the pie.

“Do you think they will accept it easily?”

The grown-up expressed his concern.

The money lending business was a long-standing church business. In the private sector, they were practically big shots. For them, the establishment of a bank was a bold declaration that, “From now on, we will try to take away the position of the number one money lending business.”

So, it is not as if there was no thought of wanting to just bankrupt the banking industry. Isn’t the justification also clear in religious terms?

“But if you explain the convenience of banking, it won’t be difficult.”

“The convenience of banking… … .”

“I’m talking about handling bad debts.”

The headache of all loan sharks was bad debts that might or might not be recoverable. Was it a headache even for churches that had hundreds of years of know-how in loan sharking?

In rural areas, they could collect taxes through land or labor, but in cities, it was a really difficult problem, because the poor in cities had absolutely nothing.

Even if they tried to collect the debt through labor, there was no church-owned farmland like in rural areas. But wouldn’t it be impossible for the church to establish a factory like the bourgeois factory owners and exploit the labor force?

Jaran nodded in agreement with Arthur’s explanation and prepared an investment presentation to persuade the church to allow them to establish a bank.

The overall framework was not much different from the briefing session held previously, but since it was a church in name only, there had to be some differences from the previous one.

After the preparations were completed, Arthur met with Countess Tzak again and asked her to meet with the relevant people, saying that he had prepared a presentation to persuade the church to view banking positively.

She seemed doubtful as to whether persuasion was possible, but that didn’t stop her from trying something, so she arranged a meeting.

Meetings with churchmen and priests, including bishops, took place in the evening, in a secret room in the capital’s largest cathedral, the Cathedral of Saint Maron, as the contacts had to be kept secret from other nobles.

As expected of a cathedral exclusive to the nobility and bourgeoisie, the grand scale and the splendid decorations of white marble and gold leaf momentarily took Zan’s breath away, but he quickly came to his senses when Arthur’s elbow poked him in the side.

Jaran’s only attendant was Arthur. Even though it was a secret meeting, Jaran felt uncomfortable going alone, so he brought Arthur along.

Even if an emergency were to occur, Ja-ran was able to rest somewhat at ease, believing that Arthur’s smooth tongue would be able to handle it to some extent.

“It’s called Kratang Emen.”

“I see the bishop.”

Arthur and Zarran bowed politely.

After giving the example, Arthur met Bishop Kratang’s gaze.

Arthur suddenly thought of Father Macron at the sight of his achievement and face. Father Macron’s full name is Macron Emen. And the Kratang Emen in front of him somehow resembled Father Macron. They looked about the same age.

Is it a coincidence? If not a coincidence, are they brothers?