Chapter 127 Royal Bank of England
"Your Majesty, please order, as long as I can do it, I promise to resolutely implement it!"
Gritting his teeth, Adler hastily catered to Dao, lest he lose this chance of living.
Staying in the prison, watching all kinds of businessmen with whom he once negotiated were dragged out to be hanged one by one, and he and his family could only endure the torment, fearing that he would be the next one.
Facing the pale little king in front of him, Adler said this carefully, looking at his color from time to time.
"Mr. Adler, you are Jewish!" Edward picked up the teacup, took a sip, and then looked at the timid man in front of him.
"Yes, yes, Your Majesty! I... am indeed a Jew!"
As soon as he heard this question, Adler couldn't help showing a look of panic on his face, and he stuttered a little.
He couldn't help but struggle in his heart. His identity as a Jew brought him endless obstacles and discrimination.
However, his identity is well known and cannot be concealed from the King of England.
"Your Majesty, although I am a Jew, I have lived in England for more than ten years, and I already consider myself an Englishman!"
It seemed that Edward was afraid that he would give up the opportunity because of his identity, so he couldn't help explaining.
"Oh! Mr. Adler, you don't need to explain, I already know your identity!"
Edward was a little amused at his extravagance, and said immediately.
As soon as Edward's words came out, Adler's heart suddenly turned cold, and he almost collapsed. Fortunately, Edward saved him with a word.
"However, Mr. Adler, what I value is your talent, so your Jewish identity is not important!"
As soon as Edward finished speaking, Adler's face immediately showed a colorful color, which made Edward amazed.
"Your Majesty, please tell me! No matter what task you give me, I will do my best to complete it!"
Adler was still a little moved at this time. After all, in the Middle Ages, there were very few monarchs who could abandon his identity and value his talent!
So, for the sake of his own and his family's life, he patted his chest and said excitedly.
"But, my sir, you and your family believe, it's time for a change!"
"I think you should convert to Anglicanism! In this way, you can do things for me!"
Edward was noncommittal about his promise, and slowly drifted out these words from his mouth.
Adler felt as if a mouthful of blood was stuffed in his heart at this moment, extremely uncomfortable.
Sure enough, Edward's move choked Adler, and the atmosphere became dull again.
Adler couldn't make a choice for a while. Is belief important? Or is life important? There was a mess in his brain.
But Edward was too lazy to wait for him, and directly helped him make a choice.
"Come here, take Mr. Adler away and let their family reunite for a while! I'm afraid there will be no chance in the future!"
"This, shit, what a shameless method, what should I do? What should I do!
Adler saw the guards getting closer and closer to him, and he couldn't help but drip cold sweat on his face, feeling his legs cramp.
At the moment when he was about to be taken away, Edward finally heard his own satisfactory answer.
"Your Majesty—I am willing, I am willing to convert, and I am willing to bring my family to convert!"
After saying this, Adler seemed to have collapsed, and he lost all strength.
The guards also let him go under Edward's signal, and Adler sat on the ground with tears and snot mixed on his face, and he didn't know whether to cry or laugh.
"Okay, my sir, cheer up!" Although Edward is from China, he still has some understanding of the Middle Ages.
In ancient China, two countries may go to war because of interests or insulting the monarch and his ancestors.
In the Middle Ages, two people may have different beliefs. When you are shopping, that person will give you a mallet from behind you and let you go to see God.
The same is true between two countries. Faith can make two irrelevant countries enemies.
In one sentence, belief determines everything.
So Edward forced Adler, a Jew, to give up his belief and switch to Anglicanism. This is the same as the ancient Chinese forcing him to change his surname, which is unacceptable.
"Mr. Adler, you made a right idea!"
"In recognition of your conversion, I specially give you a surname—Todd"
"From now on, you can use it as your last name!"
Edward walked over, patted him on the shoulder, and comforted him.
Todd, meaning a person who believes in God, was generally used as a surname in ancient England.
"Okay, Your Majesty, thank you for your surname!" Adler smiled stiffly, and Edward felt uglier than crying.
Backing to his seat, Adler also wiped his face, tidied up his appearance, and regained some banker's looks.
"Mr. Adler, oh no! It's Mr. Todd. I'm quite optimistic about your talent in running a bank!"
Edward flipped through the documents, crossed his legs, and said softly.
According to the records, when he first came to London, Adler had nothing but twenty pounds on his body and a mine mortgaged by Henry VIII.
So, he took the mine as a mortgage from the English merchant and got two hundred pounds, although this was a lot less than the one thousand pounds he lent Henry VIII.
Holding two hundred and twenty pounds, he did not keep the huge sum in his hands this time.
He observed carefully and decided to loan the money out.
Because of England's massive export of fine wool, raising sheep has become a fashion, but according to Adler's observation, he found that only those nobles and gentlemen have the money to expand the scale of sheep raising, while those small gentlemen and Yeomen farmers cannot expand the scale .
From this, Adler saw business opportunities. He lent his two hundred pounds to those little gentlemen and yomanons who had no spare money to expand.
So Adler lent them a loan at 50% annual interest for half a year, and their sheep became mortgages.
During the six months, he could only live in a small hotel, eat black bread, and spend what he had on twenty pounds.
This is very difficult for him, a well-known banker in the Netherlands.
Six months later, his property became three hundred pounds, and after another year, his property became six hundred pounds.
So, he redeemed the mine, used two hundred pounds to open the mine, and two hundred pounds to lend out.
Ten years later, he became an upper class figure in London, his family property has reached tens of thousands of pounds, and he also owns five banks.
That's why Edward removed him from the death list and let him appear in front of his eyes.
"So, I decided to give you an important task!"
Edward's face became serious at this time, he sat up straight, and his voice was a little solemn.
Edward was like this, and Adler sat up straighter, with a serious look on his face.
"My Mr. Todd, as the King of England, I have given you the task of forming the Royal Bank of England. Please be sure to complete it."
"Yes, Your Majesty, I, Adler Todd, will definitely complete the task you assigned!"
Adler straightened his face and replied seriously.
"Just, Your Majesty, do you know that the Royal Bank is different from ordinary banks?"
Looking at Adler with doubts on his face, Edward thought for a while, then said:
"The royal bank I am talking about not only converts the currencies of various countries into pounds at will, but also keeps their gold and silver coins for merchants and individuals.
Moreover, the Royal Bank can also lend money to individuals and merchants! "
"Of course, the most important thing is that it can get my authorization to use gold and silver to mint British pounds!"
"But, Your Majesty, isn't it the business of the Royal Mint to mint pounds?"
When he first heard that the bank he formed had such great power, Adler was actually very happy, but he put forward his own opinions on the contradictions.
"That's the case, but I have decided to merge the Royal Mint into the Royal Bank of England, so there is no conflict!"
Edward took a sip of tea, and slowly uttered a sentence.
But if Sir John, the Minister of Royal Affairs, heard this, there might be another burst of howling.
"So, to complete this task, do you have any other needs? Say it all at once!"
"Well, Your Majesty, I don't know how much money you are going to give me to form the Royal Bank of England?"
Hearing Edward's impatient voice, Adler felt a little scared in his heart, and then, as if afraid of annoying Edward again, he asked softly.
"Eh..." This time it was Edward's turn to be embarrassed, and he didn't even think about using money.
"Let's do this! I'll give you 10,000 pounds. This is a one-time payment, and there will be no more funds in the future!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Upon hearing such a large number, Adler instantly showed a hint of joy on his face. At this moment, he felt Edward's full sense of trust in him, and he seemed to be full of energy.
"Including your five bank stores in London, this is all the resources I will give you!"
"Don't be too happy, I still have demands on you!"
Edward's words made Adler feel a little embarrassed, but he didn't care so much, and said directly.
"You must let the Royal Bank of England have a branch in all counties in England and Wales!"
"Two years, I will give you two years, this is the requirement you must complete!"
"Yes... Your Majesty! I will definitely complete your task!"
After listening to Edward's request, the passion on Adler's face became more intense, and he said loudly with a full voice.
"Okay!! As long as you complete this task, I will knight you!"
Edward stood up, patted Adler who was a little bent over, and said in a seductive voice.
(end of this chapter)