lerbook #710 - Defense of the 20th Dinar
#710 - Defense of the 20th Dinar
It was early morning on December 15th in the Imperial Calendar year 1447.
Maguire, with the latest issue of "The Masthead" newspaper tucked under his arm, entered the tea restaurant next to the Branding City Exchange.
As soon as he sat down, a familiar waiter skillfully delivered a cup of black tea and an exchange form.
Maguire, however, was in no hurry to look at it. He leaned back in the velvet-cushioned seat, his gaze fixed on the outside through the expensive glass windows.
The exchange, converted from a knight's castle, stood among the low-rise houses on the street, with two or three beggars huddled in the corners of the walls.
The "T" shaped intersection in front of the exchange was quiet, with rows of roadside trees swaying their branches.
The sea breeze blew down the leaves, and the bare branches waved, as if paying tribute to Maguire.
Sure enough, he was the first to arrive.
Although it made no difference whether he arrived early or late before the exchange opened, Maguire was still proud of his diligence.
The other big tycoons and family heads usually didn't get up until noon, but he came here every day at five o'clock to gather information.
Have you ever seen Branding City at five in the morning?
This kind of diligence was the biggest reason why Maguire and his son were able to transform from bankrupt barons into the commercial tycoons they are today.
From acquiring the first sugar workshop to becoming the largest sugar monopoly tycoon in Branding City today, how much bloodshed has been experienced.
Perhaps Maguire can now say that it was just a little wind and frost, but how many of his contemporaries were buried in mass graves at that time?
Of course, this also relied on the mutual support of the old Windmill Land Lye remnants. If it weren't for the support of His Majesty the King, where would they be today's market?
You need to know that the main reason why Maguire and others can become tycoons is by selling white sugar to the Lye Kingdom.
Otherwise, where would such a large market share come from?
The price is that Maguire and other commercial nobles have to use money to control the city council and the city hall, forcing them to share Lye's commercial tax and pay the city redemption fee on time.
Slowly taking a sip of black tea, Maguire showed an elegant smile: "Waiter, come here, take this gold pound, exchange it for dinars, and distribute it to those beggars.
The New Year's Festival is coming soon, and I don't want to see anyone starving to death at this time."
"You are so compassionate."
After exchanging the gold pound for a bag of dinars, Maguire watched the waiter leave and approach the beggars, but his eyes narrowed.
It was only around five o'clock, but a dozen carriages rushed in, chasing each other, with the horses of the rear carriage almost sticking their heads into the wheels of the front carriage.
A dozen carriages drifted collectively in front of the exchange, and before they even came to a complete stop, disheveled brokers jumped out of the carriages like dumplings.
Some fell, some sprained their ankles, but they still rushed towards the exchange firmly and in a panic.
What happened?
Maguire put the teacup to his mouth, but was attracted by this scene and didn't drink it for a long time.
After the carriages took the lead, he could hear the chaotic and rumbling footsteps from the corner of the street.
Like a flood bypassing the mountain pass, thousands of muddy flood-like citizens appeared in Maguire's sight.
They pushed and shoved each other, knees against knee bends, foreheads bumping against the back of heads, sweat flowing from one person's neck to another's arm.
The noisy sound was like dozens of bands beating gongs and drums in his ears, and speculators wearing coarse cloth, woolen short shirts, and feathered brocade screamed and clutched the contracts and agreements in their hands.
Looking at the two long lines of people running from both sides of the street, Maguire's expression gradually became serious.
If it were just a few brokers, it could be said to be a small fluctuation, but with so many people, there must be a big storm.
Especially after he saw the head of the Forell family was also among them, he was even more shocked and stood up.
Picking up the napkin on his thigh and wiping his mouth indiscriminately, Maguire threw a gold pound on the table and turned to trot towards the door.
As soon as he reached the door, he saw his own broker arrive, and he immediately grabbed his collar: "What's going on?"
"Mr. Maguire, something big has happened. Yesterday, 48,000 dans of refined white sugar landed in Waterdam City, and the opening price has fallen to 29 dinars..."
The moment he heard "48,000 dans of refined white sugar landed," Maguire couldn't hear a word of what followed.
The blood color on his dignified and luxurious face gradually faded, leaving only paleness.
Maguire is a big tycoon, and his losses are much more terrifying than Van Mell's.
Not to mention the white sugar stockpiled in the warehouse, the current futures contracts on the market are enough to make him lose tens of thousands of gold pounds.
Forty-eight thousand dans of white sugar, this is almost the amount of Windmill Land's market in a year. To maintain the price of white sugar, the tycoons need to spend millions of gold pounds to buy it.
This is millions of gold pounds!
How many millions of gold pounds does the Lye royal family earn in a year?
But even if they can raise millions of liquid funds, it will be too late to stop the trend of sugar price losses.
The price of white sugar will drop by at least 40%!
At that time, the capital chain will break, the workshops and docks will not be able to start work, and they will be forcibly confiscated.
What Maguire is most afraid of is not this. The influx of these low-priced white sugar will definitely occupy the market share of local sugar workshops.
These sugar workshops are Maguire's source of wealth.
If he loses in futures, he loses. He just has to live a tight life for a few days.
If the white sugar market share is taken, he will really be beaten back to his original form.
His sugar workshop uses the most advanced drip method to make sugar, and the monthly output is less than 20 dans.
How did they manage to produce 48,000 dans of white sugar?
"This is malicious dumping, this is malicious dumping!" Maguire roared, his hands trembling, and he couldn't even stand steady. "We're going to the city hall, call the court to adjudicate."
"Mr. Maguire, let's quickly cut our losses and reduce the damage," the broker said anxiously, "This batch of white sugar is being distributed by the Eyre Chamber of Commerce, how can the judge speak for us?"
Maguire immediately realized that this was a trap set by the Eyre people!
Grasping the broker's wrist tightly, Maguire ordered fiercely: "You go buy back the contracts, as fast as possible, as many as possible, and tell people to watch the dock. I'm going to find other families."
Although his expression was firm, he kept making the sound of teeth clashing in his mouth as he spoke.
…………
As more than a dozen bodies jumped off the building under the clock tower of Waterdam City, the year-end white sugar market in Windmill Land officially opened.
For three days, the tycoons desperately sniped, stabilizing the price of white sugar at around 28 dinars.
But the Eyre merchants are not vegetarians either.
This time, the Eyre people set their sights on the tycoons' warehouses, docks, and workshops.
From the fourth day, the Eyre people and the nobles of Red Leaf Hill officially entered the market.
The people in the exchange surged back and forth, crying, howling, and screaming. The noisy sounds mixed together, and no one could hear whether to buy or sell.
The brokers wailed, "Don't be afraid, this is just a technical adjustment," but the price of white sugar still fell at a rate of almost half a dinar per hour.
In "The Masthead," the Stormwind family publicly published articles for several days in a row, calling on citizens to defend the price of white sugar, to fight the 20-dinar defense war, and to adhere to the 20-dinar bottom line.
It was a pity that the Stormwind family suddenly took three large ships of gold, silver, and soft goods to Fran just one day after the 20-dinar defense war began.
The price of white sugar immediately plummeted.
On the second day after the price of white sugar fell below 20 dinars, many corpses in gorgeous clothes appeared under the clock tower.
However, this is not the most frightening thing for sugar workshop owners and speculators, because what they are most afraid of is a message from a merchant.
In Gold Silver Flower Port in the Kingdom of Fran, someone saw five merchant ships flying the banner of the Thousand River Valley Trading Company sailing out to sea.
Most of the speculators' September contracts are settled at the end of the year. If five more ships of white sugar come at this time, everyone will be dead.
In the Windmill Land Exchange, where rumors were flying all over the sky, panic grew wildly, so they once again thought of the rational and neutral newspaper "Yilin," which was "related" to Thousand River Valley.
The originally deserted "Yilin" newspaper office became the second most lively place in Waterdam City.
People gathered in front of the three-story building. Those who came early and had money could still occupy a seat in the tea restaurant, and those who came late could only squat under the eaves.
It was a pity that the gate of the "Yilin" newspaper office was tightly locked.
The only message the gatekeeper could give was: The printing room was set on fire and burned down, and it would be difficult to publish before it was repaired.
There was only one thought in the minds of these people waiting for the newspaper office to open: Where did Rufeier go?