I Became A Black Merchant In Another World-Chapter 273: Discovery of the New World (3)

Ants cannot defeat the big players.

If anyone has even dipped a toe into the stock market or cryptocurrency market, they’ve likely heard this phrase hundreds of times.

When the big players sell coins, the price of the coin plummets like crazy, and when the big players buy stocks, the stock price hits its limit up in an instant.

“Read the intentions of the big players!”

There are even scammers who got rich by holding stock seminars where they babbled nonsense about this, so much so that they became wealthy.

The big players are gods who dominate the stock and coin markets.

“Thank you for gathering here, even though you’re all busy.”

At those words, all the eyes and attention of those who were invited by Duke Visconti to invest with me turned toward me.

“I’ve invited you all here today because I want to unite our efforts and do something good together.”

When we think of doing something good, charitable activities or volunteer work are usually the first things that come to mind.

During election seasons, or when some major disaster occurs, politicians go and donate, help out at the scene, and pretend to be warm-hearted.

However, the nobles here don’t even need to flatter citizens to win votes.

‘They’re probably thinking of something other than charity work or volunteering.’

At a gathering of several nobles, my father-in-law spoke up on behalf of them.

“I doubt the ‘good thing’ you’re talking about is something as cliché as pooling money to donate to the church or help the poor. What exactly are you planning?”

The stock and coin markets are dominated by large players, also known as “big hands.”

Ordinary retail investors get swept up in the big players’ tricks, sometimes losing everything, or they manage to accumulate a bit of money and get closer to becoming rich...

But the best thing, of course, is becoming the big player yourself.

When you become the big player, you no longer have to entrust your fate to someone who might do anything, and you can even play with others.

Of course, most retail investors will never be able to join the big players no matter how hard they try.

But I, and the nobles around me, are people who can move amounts of money that are incomparable to those retail investors.

‘When the big hands gather, that’s the power.’

“Isn’t the misfortune of others our happiness? And conveniently, the Kingdom of Lyon is in a very bad situation due to their defeat in the war with the Holy Empire and the Toscana Empire.”

It was like the IMF crisis in Korea, one of the worst economic crises in the nation’s history.

Fathers were laid off from their jobs, and the remaining family members were saddled with debt, sometimes leading to “extreme choices” to prevent that debt from passing down.

At that time, families were falling apart everywhere, and there was no hope or future in sight for the country.

‘Before the IMF, just a 1:3 job competition for large companies was considered an unprecedented employment crisis.’

The despair that came after hope was brutally harsh.

But even amidst that horrifying pain, there were those who smiled.

Corporate chairmen, the so-called evil forces in the world of those who love the color red, the chaebols and the powerbrokers?

No, it was actually the foreign powers.

“It’s like a patient whose life is on the line due to illness.”

If you give diarrhea medicine to a healthy person, they won’t die.

But what happens if you give diarrhea medicine to someone whose life is hanging by a thread due to illness?

A critically ill patient who is barely holding onto life might die from diarrhea because they use up all their strength.

When Korea weakened, ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) foreign investors rushed to buy up stocks of large and mid-sized companies...

Not long after, when Korea emerged from the IMF crisis, they succeeded in reaping huge profits.

My father-in-law, the little duke, sighed in frustration.

“Are you planning to invade the Kingdom of Lyon, leave the patients behind, and just go into the house to loot everything?”

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

Then I explained the exact same strategy to them as I had explained to Duke Visconti.

In the Kingdom of Lyon, the border region with the Holy Empire is in dire need of massive reconstruction funds and food.

We will first provide the reconstruction funds they need.

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‘So much that the people in the border region won’t be able to handle it.’

Then, we will forcibly trigger inflation...

“The border region with the Holy Empire is also suffering from severe food shortages. If we sell the wheat, barley, and buckwheat we have stored there...”

The Toscana Empire follows a medieval fantasy structure, or more precisely, it operates similarly to a medieval fantasy empire.

The lords receive taxes in the form of grains like wheat and barley from the peasants, who make up the majority of the population in their territories...

So, 50-60% of the food produced in the Toscana Empire has to go through the lords.

They then sell it to merchants to operate their estates.

“We can make huge profits.”

When I lead the trade, we can profit in two stages.

First, we buy looted weapons, armor, and other goods at bargain prices from areas where gold and silver are overvalued due to the war’s aftermath, and then resell them for a profit.

Next, with gold and silver overflowing and the value of currency dropping, we sell overpriced food to sweep up the money.

As a result, the economy of the border region will be set ablaze, as if someone had set it on fire...

But anyway, the Kingdom of Lyon was the one who first attacked us, right?

‘This is still far from enough.’

“I plan to invest half of my family’s entire fortune... No, I intend to invest all the money I can use right now.”

Just like the IMF was a bargain sale for foreign investors, the Kingdom of Lyon floundering in war is the perfect opportunity for me to make a lot of money.

When a golden opportunity is right in front of you, being foolish enough not to take it would make you an idiot.

The King of the Kingdom of Lyon has given us this opportunity by sacrificing himself, telling us to make a fortune—so I must thank him and seize it.

‘For certain investments, I’ll be as bold as possible.’

One of the nobles sitting around the room asked.

“But if we fail in this investment, we’ll lose all the taxes we need to operate our estates.”

Ah, how pitiful and foolish they are.

Right now, the border region of the Kingdom of Lyon looks like this in my eyes.

It’s like a dog carrying a picture of Shin Saimdang, and people are wearing clothes made by Sejong the Great.

However, ignorance is a sin, but it’s not a criminal one.

Yes, if you’re given an opportunity to make money and don’t take it, it’s your own fault.

“You’re free to invest only part of the budget, or even not invest at all, Baron.”

You’ll certainly regret not taking this opportunity to make money, but what can you do?

I’ve created the power, gathered the nobles, and even set up a leading group for them.

It’s quite rare for someone not to follow along.

“But there’s one thing I must ask. No, I’ll ask all of you here.”

I looked at them and grinned.

“Have you ever seen me fail in an investment? Didn’t I make you all huge profits by investing in the Maasai Confederation when I started the Dongindica company?”

I’m sure none of the nobles here have not invested in the Maasai Confederation stocks.

Especially that Baron sitting at the far end...

I’m pretty sure his family name was Florin...?

“Baron Florin, didn’t you invest by putting up some of your land and assets as collateral, with zero interest? And didn’t you manage to pay off all your family’s debts thanks to that?”

Among the nobles, there isn’t a single one without debt.

There’s me, and there’s the Baron Fugger from the Sforza faction.

Apart from these two families, all the other nobles live with debt.

‘But unlike other debtors, they’re not oppressed by their creditors.’

“How much will you invest this time?”

Baron Florin gripped my hand tightly and smiled.

That look in his eyes, that smile... It’s definite.

He’s the kind of man who, for a single big score, would sacrifice not just his family’s foundation, but turn his entire family into a thermometer for checking the water temperature of the Han River.

“We’ll invest everything—every real estate and asset we own, plus some of the land itself, and we’ll borrow money to invest.”

What runs through this man’s veins?

Is he blooded with the spirit of the “pioneers of the American West,” hoping for just one big score? I’m scared.

And then, following him, the little duke came up to me.

“No matter what anyone says, I trust my son-in-law. Apart from the investment my father has made, I will invest all my personal slush fund. My daughter will give birth to a son in two years. You’ll have to build a church in your estate for us.”

The church my father-in-law mentioned isn’t a small town chapel.

It’s likely going to be a huge cathedral, decorated with all sorts of art.

But why is he doing this for me?

I have no intention of opposing the Visconti family for Erika’s sake.

“Thank you, Your Excellency.”

The little duke accepted my gratitude and instructed the nearby butler to bring parchment, a quill, and ink.

“What are you waiting for? Hurry up and write down how much you’re going to invest. If it were anyone else, I’d understand, but our son-in-law never fails.”

At those words, the nobles, in order of their titles, began writing down how much they would invest.

It was a very desirable outcome.