Business Insurance

Translator: Cinder Translations

...

"Oh, you don't know. In the past, it was so difficult for factory owners to recruit workers. Generally, factory owners were city folks, and their factories were near towns. But the people living in the city had their own livelihoods and weren't very willing to work in factories. They had to go to the countryside to recruit, but due to various obstacles from the local power brokers, they couldn't find many people. Now it's different, heh heh."

At this point, Grit looked pleased. "I recently found a few young guys from the countryside to help out, and it feels great. Country folk are good; they're obedient and hardworking. You tell them to do something, and they do it without haggling. They take half the pay and do double the work, unlike city people who are so crafty."

Although Stanford didn't completely agree with his friend's last comment, he didn't intend to argue with him. From this conversation, it seemed that the political status of the landlords in the countryside had become equal to that of ordinary farmers.

But was Earl Grayman really not worried that his radical measures would lead to severe consequences? After all, his army was filled with young officers from landlord families. This thought made Stanford recall a young man on his ship, a weapons officer from the navy assigned to the exploration team. During their long journey at sea, they had chatted a few times, and the young man had complained about something—recent promotions in the army tended to favor those from ordinary families. This young man came from a well-regarded gentry family in his hometown and, feeling hopeless about getting promoted through seniority, had decisively signed up for the overseas exploration team in hopes of earning some merit, which is how he ended up assigned to Stanford.

Perhaps Earl Grayman had been prepared for this? Stanford felt uncertain.

Thus, Stanford and his friend Grit chatted all the way to Alden Town and then parted ways in the town center. At this time, the center of Alden Town had moved to the central area of the new district on the south bank of Lake Weis. Grit went off to attend to his business while Stanford continued toward the lord's residence to meet Earl Grayman.

---

"We haven't faced any active resistance to our new policies in the countryside."

In Paul's office, several key officials from the Administrative Council were present, and a small meeting was underway. Hansel, the head of the Agriculture Department, was reporting the latest situation to Paul.

"However, those whose interests are affected by the new policies—those gentry landlords—are certainly harboring resentment. I've communicated with some of them."

Hansel spoke with concern, "Many say they will faithfully obey the orders from Alden Town, but their words and tone reveal their grievances and even anger."

"Grievances?" Upon hearing Hansel say this, Paul raised his eyelids. "Well, that's reasonable. If the king were to remove Giles and then strip me of my title, I would feel aggrieved too."

"But!" he said firmly, "I do not intend to rescind my orders."

Paul stood up from his chair and paced slowly in the room, as if contemplating.

"I will compensate them in other ways, as long as they are willing to invest their wealth in new industries—starting factories, engaging in trade. I will reduce their taxes and even provide subsidies."

"Oh, I think this is just wishful thinking," Hansel shook his head, expressing his pessimism about Paul's words. "In the past, they could just lie at home and watch silver coins flow into their pockets automatically. Land is a wealth-generating machine that never stops, and they were always guaranteed profit—any loss would be borne by the tenants, and they would simply collect more rent in good years and less in bad years. It was merely a matter of how much."

"But what about doing business? Business requires investment, especially for those landlords who are used to the comfortable rural life. They need to start from scratch to figure out production sites, experienced workers, and supply chains. In such circumstances, who can guarantee they will make a profit? Moreover, the market is too volatile; even seasoned veterans can lose everything with a single misstep. To earn wealth, they need to invest a lot of energy to analyze and study market trends, and even the trends they identify may not hold true in certain special situations. Therefore, compared to the new industries that require exhausting efforts and facing huge risks, I think those gentry prefer the pastoral lifestyle of the past."

"Alas!" After hearing Hansel's analysis, Paul sighed helplessly. The inertia of tradition was too great, and most people were accustomed to choosing the things they could foresee.

"Ah!" Suddenly, he stamped his foot vigorously, and his previously furrowed brow relaxed. "I just thought of a great idea!"

Without waiting for others to inquire, Paul eagerly introduced his new idea.

"I plan to have the bank offer a new service—business insurance!"

Business insurance? Everyone looked puzzled at Paul, having never heard this term before.

"Yes, business insurance," Paul explained. "In summary, it means that before starting a business, you pay a small amount of money to the bank to buy… insurance. If your business doesn't incur a loss, that small amount is kept by the bank. But if your business incurs a loss, then the bank pays you an amount as compensation for your business losses."

Paul didn't know much about insurance before crossing over; he simply explained this new concept according to his understanding.

"That's an innovative idea," said Ford, the head of the Administrative Council. "It could alleviate business people's fear of losing money. But… won't the bank incur losses? Where would we get that much money?"

"Oh, my Ford," Paul explained to Ford and the others, "Let me give you an example. Suppose I set the price of an insurance policy at 10 silver shields. If someone buys my insurance and then experiences a mishap, they can receive 20 silver shields in compensation. Now, if 10 people buy my insurance, I receive 100 silver shields. If 2 of those insured individuals incur losses while the other 8 do not, then I only need to pay 40 silver shields to the two individuals, leaving me with 60 silver shields in hand. Isn't that a profit? And I can take part of those 60 silver shields to invest elsewhere for more profits. If nothing happens, just leaving them in the treasury will only cause them to rust."

Ford asked, "But what if all 10 people incur losses?"

Paul exclaimed exaggeratedly, "Heavens! Surely we wouldn't actually encounter such an extreme situation? Besides, we can design it carefully to ensure that…" Then he suddenly waved his hand. "Never mind, that would go against my original intention."

After discussing Paul's proposal for an insurance business, everyone agreed that it would effectively encourage people to invest in new industries, and so it was decided.

(End of the Chapter)

---

Read (FF) on Pa.treon@CinderTL - c797.

Early Access at $5.

Translated (5) Series, (2K+) Chapters, (2.5M+) Words.