Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

"How much did you lend her?" Catherine's eyes flickered rapidly.

"A thousand ducats."

Upon hearing the figure, Catherine, outraged, walked over to her sister and pinched her sharply on the lower back, "You're not even married, yet you've started keeping a lover? You reckless, bad woman!"

Eileen too was slightly shocked by the amount.

"Stop it!" Anna maintained the polite smile on her face, forcefully tapping her sister on the knee.

"If it weren't for Miss Navarre's funding, this business here today wouldn't exist..." Winters hesitated for a moment, but still used a concept familiar to the Venetians to describe what he was doing, "...this 'business,' so you're actually my original shareholders already."

At these words, Catherine became serious, her emotions gradually subdued, and she put on the mask of "Little Lady Navarre" once again.

She shook her head politely but firmly, "No need, I have an idea of what 'business' you're doing. The Navarre family doesn't deal in business that involves bloodshed. If one day you achieve fame and success, just don't forget that my sister has helped you."

"What are you talking about?" Anna, both anxious and embarrassed, pulled her sister behind her and looked seriously at Winters, "Do you mean that your personal wealth and the funds for this... business are mixed together?"

Winters thought for a moment and answered with a bitter smile, "Something like that."

Catherine spoke up before her sister could, "How can that be allowed? Public accounts, private accounts, how can they be mixed together?"

"Should I keep two sets of books?"

"Of course!" Catherine frowned deeply, "Should the expenses of Navarre Manor still go through the books of Navarre Commerce? There must definitely be two sets of books!"

Not only did Winters fall silent, but Eileen, who had been listening, also seemed thoughtful.

"One set of books or two isn't the main issue." Anna showed the ledger to Winters, "Mr. Michel uses the single-entry bookkeeping system; expenses and income are all recorded together. It's primitive and makes it difficult to reflect the specific value of assets."

"For a Venetian, you don't even understand the double-entry bookkeeping system," Catherine pressed her advantage, relentlessly pursuing Mr. Michel.

In fact, Winters did understand a bit, but he lacked the energy to handle bookkeeping, so he left it all to Pierre.

Anna gently pulled Winters to sit at the table and continued to inquire patiently, "I also saw some very odd items, 'distribution of one draft animal,' 'distribution of one set of plows,' are these given away for free?"

Winters explained, "They're not given for free; they will pay me in grain at harvest time."

Anna, holding her lover's hand, said softly, "I don't understand why you do this, but if it's given away like this now, it shows up as a net loss in the books. A business that keeps losing money, no matter what it is, definitely won't last long."

"Then what should I do?"

Winters Montagne had been raised from childhood strictly as a soldier.

Training soldiers, going into battle—these tasks would never make him feel cowardice or fear. But he was indeed not adept at dealing with the current situation.

And Winters could no longer think straight now because Anna was holding his hand, his head filled with her warmth, his cheeks uncontrollably reddening.

"It could be counted as a loan, that way your assets would still be balanced," Anna, not yet noticing the change in her lover's emotions, explained meticulously, "Even though the net assets on the books would decrease, it's not a straightforward loss."

"But they don't have the money to pay back," Winters replied with effort.

"It's alright, they can pay back slowly. Over twenty years, thirty years, it's not a problem, even if the interest rate is set low. For you, you are going to distribute the resources to everyone anyway. But it needs to be reflected on your balance sheet."

Anna looked tenderly at her lover.

Suddenly, Anna noticed the change in Winters' mood as well, and she let go of his hand as fast as if she had touched a hot iron.

Winters breathed a sigh of relief, coughing lightly a few times.

Eileen and Catherine might have noticed or they might not have, but they kept silent.

Anna picked up pen and paper, beginning to calculate for Winters, "If the debt can be steadily repaid over twenty or thirty years. Even if the annual interest is only 5%, the ultimate interest will exceed the principal. Then, this debt is profitable and it could even be sold. If someone is willing to take it over, you could even use this debt to secure cash."

"This... Wouldn't that make me a tax farmer?" Winters suddenly realized.

"You don't have to use it as collateral; it's just one way to handle the debt," Anna continued methodically, "There's another important asset, land. Land is a key and important asset, why would you give it away for free?"

Winters sighed and briefly explained the situation of the Newly Reclaimed Land and the plight of the famine refugees.

To Winters, with vast wastelands in the Newly Reclaimed Land, why not allow private reclamation? Ultimately, it's a matter of interests.

Because of the interests of the manor owners and the New Reclamation Legion, reclamation was restricted, land prices were driven up, and all landless farmers were indirectly forced to become tenant farmers and laborers.

If private reclamation were allowed, land prices would plummet, and it would be impossible for large manors to recruit laborers and tenant farmers—no farmer doesn't want to own their land.

This situation might not be someone's deliberate action, but it's not surprising that it evolved into the current state of the Newly Reclaimed Land, given those in power chase profit.