Chapter 43
Chapter 43
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: A Person Who Does People's Work
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Thanks to venturing into banking, insurance, and securities,
we were able to reap several benefits.
The most important one was, of course, the improved cash flow.
The money deposited by customers in the bank is essentially the bank's money, free for the bank to use as it sees fit—that's the "common knowledge" of the financial industry, isn't it?
The insurance business, with its steady influx of cash, went without saying,
and the securities business allowed us to treat various bonds and promissory notes as cash equivalents.
This showed just how much honey the gold keepers, who had monopolized the financial sector, had been sucking dry.
Of course, these "money-handling businesses" fundamentally meant a "decline in prestige,"
but that could easily be resolved by borrowing the names of fallen nobles.
It was like trying to cover the sky with the palm of one's hand,
but honor and prestige were all about these "visible attitudes" in the first place.
Nobles don't refuse to count money either,
and in the end, isn't it a noble's habit to subcontract anything that might tarnish their prestige to their underlings?
The reason nobles throw parties at every opportunity
is ultimately to show off, "I am someone who can afford this level of extravagance."
More worldly and materialistic than anyone else.
That's the reality of the privileged class called "nobles."
Besides, hardly anyone openly snubs the people who lend them money.
They might talk behind their backs, but they bow and scrape in front—that's the way of debtors, isn't it?
"So, how's the swindler doing?"
"Hm. He's doing something, but I'm not sure if he's doing it well. Apparently, he's expanded the risk assessment department from the existing insurance industry to create a 'credit rating company' dedicated solely to evaluating creditworthiness."
"...A credit rating company?"
"Yes. Probably planning some kind of public opinion campaign, true to form for a swindler."
"Is that so?"
A credit rating company?
I seemed to recall hearing something about it when I studied economics in my previous life... What was it again?
I'm no expert in economics.
To begin with, all I studied was that bestseller at the time, Salaryman's Investment Economics: Follow Along and Make Money.
Thanks to that, I knew the concepts of derivatives well,
but things like credit ratings, which small investors didn't need to worry about, were beyond me.
Still, since the word "credit" is in the name, I could trust the swindler with it.
Judging and manipulating credit is a swindler's specialty, isn't it? Leave diagnoses to doctors, medicine to pharmacists, and finance to swindlers—that's putting the right people in the right places.
"Well, having such a company would help with banking and securities operations too. Corporate credit is crucial when issuing loans or evaluating stocks."
"...Isn't the problem that the entity doing the evaluation is a 'swindler'?"
"Because he's a swindler, at least he won't get scammed. He'll spot the money-makers and the easy marks perfectly. In the end, isn't business all about judging people?"
"Hm. I understand."
"You understand intellectually, but your heart isn't convinced, right?"
"Yes."
"Heh. I see."
Say what you will, he's still a swindler.
Even knowing he's the optimal hire in my head, it's only natural to feel instinctive aversion and suspicion.
"I'm sorry for seeming to doubt Your Excellency's judgment."
"No. It's because you suspect and stay vigilant like that, Torsso, that I can trust and rely on you more. How could I trust an adjutant who just stares at my finger?"
"..."
"I'm always grateful. Torss."
"...It's Torsso."
"Right, right."
A few days later,
Torsso brought me a business proposal.
"I plan to build a school."
"A school?"
"Yes. To increase the value of our slaves and expand the variety of industries they can be dispatched to, we will construct a school where slaves must complete mandatory education. To that end, we will fully replace part of their existing labor hours with education time."
"...Is that necessary? Their education level isn't lacking right now, is it?"
To begin with, I had been able to attempt financial education because most slaves had already learned to "read and write."
We were even providing periodic etiquette training through Lady Goldenwood.
That meant they had received a higher level of education than the average commoner.
So, what special advantage would there be in creating a "school" specifically to educate slaves?
"For one, slave education currently relies fundamentally on the slaves' voluntary participation. We've maintained existing labor hours as is, conducting education during free time and providing extra talants as incentives."
"That's true."
"However, many slaves are satisfied just with not going hungry. Slaves like Mophin, who actively earn talants and strive to improve their living standards, are actually the minority."
Indeed, even if I provided educational opportunities and instructors,
not every slave wanted such education.
There are plenty of people in the world who slack off as soon as they can eat.
I intended to respect such choices,
but from the House's perspective, which benefits as slave values rise,
it must be frustrating to just watch those slaves.
"Additionally, creating a school allows us to rapidly build and evaluate vast foundational knowledge and skills."
"Hm."
"By creating timetables to systematically adjust education hours and covering various subjects to identify aptitudes and abilities, we can assign slaves to optimal tasks. Moreover, exams provide objective standards for evaluating performance, greatly improving slave management efficiency."
Indeed, properly timetabling and evaluating via exams
was an extremely efficient method for effectively managing large numbers of people.
Exams can't evaluate everything,
but at least they set minimum standards.
"In the financial education courses, many slaves understood the logic but were weak in arithmetic, and vice versa. Rather than relying solely on individual talents, I judged that now is the time to build basic skills that leverage their aptitudes."
"Listening to you, it does sound reasonable..."
Each of Torsso's points was logical.
It was surprising that he, not I—a modern person with mandatory education—had thought of this first.
That's why it felt off.
I couldn't quite understand.
"Why did you come up with this idea?"
"Why... you ask."
"You were skeptical about educating slaves, Torsso."
After all, this wasn't the kind of approach someone from a pre-modern era, who didn't treat slaves as people, would think of.
What change of heart had there been?
For me, it was welcome news, but curiosity was inevitable.
"...In the past, I thought educating beast-like slaves was a simple waste of resources. I believed lazy, dull slaves wouldn't properly learn anything even if educated, and it would only hinder labor, so increasing labor hours was better."
"Yes. And?"
"But seeing slaves receive education under Your Excellency's orders, develop skills, and improve profitability firsthand, I realized I was wrong."
"Oh ho."
Right.
He realized slaves are human too—
"In the end, to make bigger money, it wasn't enough to simply scale up the goods; we had to improve the quality of the goods themselves."
"What."
"Value creation. Increased quality competitiveness. Going beyond mere market dominance to a position that controls the market itself. That is the only way to make big money in the long term. Businesses dependent on the market are like candles in the wind, but businesses the market depends on are fortresses built on rock. That is the sole path to becoming a true 'great merchant' who dominates wealth, rather than being dominated by it."
Huh.
The conclusion took a weird turn.
"The 'derivatives' Your Excellency created this time also advance beyond time-dependent farm management, creating a new board where profits can be made regardless of whether crop values skyrocket or plummet."
"...Y-Yeah."
"We shouldn't regret reduced labor hours from slaves; we should fear losing opportunities for future big-money ventures. Just as the slave Mophin sensed changing trends and found new income sources, who knows what outstanding abilities another slave might demonstrate?"
"True. You never know what talents slaves might have hidden."
"Creating a system where every slave can maximize their aptitudes—that is the path House Riddle must follow. I'm convinced of it."
The process was a bit strange...
But anyway, the conclusion was to create an environment where slaves could realize their potential.
My ultimate goal was slave independence,
Torsso's was the House's prosperity,
but our short-term goals aligned.
That should be enough for now.
Slave dignity was still ignored,
but at least their "potential" was now acknowledged.
"So, what Your Excellency said in the past about 'investing in people' meant this. Truly impressive."
"Yeah, yeah."
Slaves are goods,
but goods capable of doing proper "people's work."
For now, that's sufficient.
We just need to advance one step at a time like this.