Ch.35Currency Reform (1)

*Bzzzz* *Bzzzz* *Bzzzzzz*

“…Master.”

“Uh, uhh… Chloe, good m…orning?”

Chloe, dressed neatly as always, came to wake me up early in the morning… but something seems a bit off.

She’s facing forward while only rolling her eyes downward to look at me.

That appearance somehow gives me chills. The whites of her eyes are showing above her irises, making them look like sanpaku eyes.

What on earth—

“Sss… Sssss…”

“—Ah.”

Though the cicadas’ cries outside were loud enough to drown out all other sounds, they couldn’t quite mask Ines’s gentle breathing as she slept.

Only then did I recall the many events of last night, and soon realized why Chloe was reacting this way.

The two of us—that is, Ines and I lying in bed—were completely naked, embracing each other.

Without even a blanket.

“…This is the first time Master has made the blanket wet overnight.”

Chloe says this while crouching down and poking at the blanket that had fallen to the floor.

“…”

…What?

As Chloe crouched down, allowing me to see her face more clearly, I finally noticed something strange.

The usual Chloe would have made a huge fuss seeing this situation… but the current Chloe is unusually calm.

Moreover, there isn’t a trace of sadness in her expression. Though affection, anger, and jealousy are clearly visible.

“Did you… break your promise first?”

“Huh?”

Chloe, holding the soaked and now unusable blanket in her arms, smiles at me and says this before walking out.

Promise…?

I felt like something terrible would happen if I just stayed still and did nothing, but I couldn’t go after Chloe because Ines was still embracing me in her sleep.

……….

“Did you have a pleasant night?”

“…LeClerc.”

LeClerc looks at me with eyes like a grandfather watching his grandson after his wedding night.

…Rumors spread too quickly around here.

The servants and attendants living in the castle had already found out, but I didn’t expect even LeClerc, who had just entered the castle, to notice.

“Oh, I was just joking since you just had your wedding ceremony yesterday… Congratulations.”

Seeing my reaction, LeClerc acts slightly surprised and hastily brushes off his comment.

…LeClerc has never once made a joke until now.

“Stop with the nonsense and get to work.”

“Yes, I shall do so.”

Though slightly annoyed, I decided not to engage in further personal conversation with LeClerc, as it would only tire me out.

After hearing my order, LeClerc bows his head and leaves the office. If there’s anything to report or matters requiring my approval, he’ll return with the necessary documents.

*Thud*—

The heavy wooden door closes firmly, making the ceiling vibrate, leaving only three people in the office.

Me, Chloe, and Ines.

Just the three of us.

Time passes with no one speaking a word.

……….

“Have some tea while you work.”

Finally, a human voice fills the office that had been dominated only by the sound of pen scratching on paper.

After what happened last night and this morning, no one had dared to speak first, but Chloe boldly breaks that silence.

Chloe places a cup of tea on the desk with a bright smile.

“Th-thank you, I’ll enjoy it.”

Hmm…?

It tastes a bit different from usual.

It’s still delicious, but slightly saltier with more umami flavor.

“This is different today? It’s delicious.”

“Yes, yesss…”

Though Chloe had been in a terrible mood this morning, there’s no trace of that now.

She’s smiling with flushed cheeks.

Well… I’m glad her mood has improved, but this uneasy feeling—

*Knock knock*—

The sense of discomfort that had been creeping up vanishes like fog at the sound of knocking.

“Come in.”

“Excuse me.”

“Yes, Luca. What brings you here?”

After I grant permission to enter, Luca opens the door, appears, and bows his head politely in greeting.

Since the administrative reforms aren’t completely finished and there’s much to do, Luca doesn’t have many reasons to come here. Even if something came up, he would usually send an attendant to relay his opinions.

‘So why did he come personally…?’

What’s that?

There’s a sack gripped in Luca’s right hand.

It looks quite heavy and slightly bumpy. What could it be?

“Please take a look at this.”

“What is it?”

As if to immediately satisfy my curiosity, Luca, with a serious expression, hands me the sack while opening it to show me what’s inside.

The sack was filled with silver and gold coins.

……….

“So, you’re saying there are too many types of coins in circulation?”

“That’s correct.”

The coins from the sack are now arranged by type on my desk.

“The Duchy of Burgundy, bordering many countries, inevitably has to circulate many types of currency domestically. Even with borders closed due to political issues.”

“Right, large-scale movement might be restricted, but it’s impossible to completely block individuals or small merchant groups. That’s just not realistic.”

Until recently, the Duchy of Burgundy was withering away due to the border blockade policies of the Kingdom and the Empire. The coastal regions did trade with other foreign countries via the sea, but since the Bar region was territory of the Kingdom at that time, Dijon couldn’t benefit from it.

Still, people could come and go in small to medium scales. If even that had been blocked, the Duchy of Burgundy would have collapsed before I took this position.

Luca nods slightly and continues speaking while pointing at each coin on the desk.

“A gold coin minted by the Carolingian Kingdom 100 years ago, a gold coin recently minted by the Przemyslid Kingdom of the Holy Empire, a silver coin minted by the Kingdom of Albion across the sea 50 years ago, a gold coin minted by the Duchy of Lombardy 30 years ago, the Holy Empire’s—”

Luca, a former financial advisor to the Commercial Republic, identifies the origin and minting year of each coin.

It’s almost miraculous memory, but for Luca, this seems to be nothing special.

“—and finally, a silver coin minted by our Republic of Veneto 40 years ago. What do you think?”

“…If all these coins had equal value, you wouldn’t have come to me, would you?”

“Precisely. Farmers are less affected as they pay taxes in grain, but city dwellers, merchants, and nobles are not so fortunate.”

I understand what Luca is trying to say.

If the tax is one gold coin, it would be advantageous for taxpayers to use gold coins of lower value.

“The countries belonging to the Holy Empire have coins of identical purity despite different appearances, so that’s fine, but other countries are problematic. For example… this.”

Luca picks up a silver coin from the Carolingian Kingdom and shows it to me.

“This silver coin was minted in the Carolingian Kingdom 30 years ago. At that time, the Carolingian Kingdom was struggling financially because they had to pay reparations to the Duchy of Burgundy.”

That’s right, my grandfather extorted not only territory but also a lot of money from the Carolingian Kingdom.

“There are various ways to solve financial difficulties, but the easiest and quickest method, despite its side effects, is—”

“…Lowering the purity of gold and silver coins.”

“Yes, the Carolingian Kingdom chose that method.”

“Haaa…”

The method Luca mentioned was common on Earth too.

One reason why powerful nations’ currencies like the dollar, euro, or yen are used in international transactions is this.

“Low-purity currency brings many problems, but if only low-value currency circulates in the market, since value is relative, the problems aren’t that severe. That’s why the Carolingian Kingdom minted silver coins of lower purity.”

*Screech*—

Luca places the Carolingian Kingdom’s coin between tongs, crushes it, and continues speaking.

Zimbabwe would be a great counterexample to Luca’s argument, but that involved paper money, while Luca is talking about physical gold and silver coins of moderately lower value, so they can’t be perfectly equated.

“But Burgundy is different. There are two solutions to this problem. The first is compromise. If we can’t resolve the imbalance between gold and silver coins, we could measure and organize the values of coins minted in the Kingdom of Albion, the Duchy of Lombardy, the Republic of Veneto, and others, and create a reference table.”

“…Wouldn’t that be difficult?”

It’s obviously just tedious work with minimal benefit.

Assuming we deliver tables of gold and silver coin values to each tax office, we’d first need to melt down each coin to verify its purity, and tax collectors would have to check each coin to calculate values and confirm if taxes were paid correctly.

Tax collectors’ workload would inevitably increase, requiring more personnel.

“Yes, which is why I recommend the second method. Minting Burgundy’s own coins.”

“Hmm…”

As expected.

The Duchy of Burgundy has been borrowing other countries’ coins until now.

It would require more effort than the first option, but minting our own coins would bring great benefits.

We could control an economy that’s been swayed by other countries, exert influence on them in return, reduce administrative burden, and stimulate commerce.

Above all, the Duchy of Burgundy is about the size of five ordinary duchies combined, so continuing to borrow others’ coins doesn’t look good.

“…It’s appealing, Luca, but do you know why the Duchy of Burgundy hasn’t minted its own coins?”

“Yes, because Burgundy has no gold or silver mines.”

That’s right. This is the problem.

Many people before must have noticed the issues with borrowing other coins.

But what good is noticing when there are no gold or silver mines to implement a solution?

Modern nations solved this problem with alloy coins or paper money, but in the underdeveloped medieval society, such things are impossible.

Promissory notes could serve as transaction mediums, but widely used paper money and promissory notes are entirely different matters.

“But there is a way. Gold and silver don’t have to be dug from the ground, do they?”

“…?”

While I’m internally uncertain, Luca confidently speaks while looking at the pile of gold and silver on the desk.