Super Righteous Player
Chapter 846 - 384: Agents and Guarantors

Chapter 846: Chapter 384: Agents and Guarantors

This banquet was just as Annan had predicted—indeed, it was nothing interesting.

The food was extremely abundant, and the status of those present was also very high. Even the Pope of the Silver Baron was there in person to give a blessing.

But there were not only no entertainment performances at the venue, there wasn’t even any wine—instead, a drink similar to floral tea was served.

It was made with flowers from the royal garden and high-quality tea leaves. It could refresh the mind and spirit, and it had a subtle, elegant fragrance. It was a "noble drink," and many Wizards drank this type of herbal tea.

However, by the standards of a banquet, this drink could be described as quite "unstimulating." But the attendees didn’t say much about it, as most people were aware of the nature of this banquet.

It could be said that even eating wasn’t enjoyable—since all the big figures were around, one had to pay attention to etiquette. Many had even eaten at home before coming, fearing that they might not eat their fill here and may even go home hungry.

And their concerns were undoubtedly justified.

It was rare for so many important figures to gather together, and when nobles and ministers were united... The Eldest Princess immediately seized the opportunity to give a speech.

The theme of her speech was also related to Annan—essentially, it was about "rebuilding friendly diplomatic relations with the Winter Principality and using this opportunity to establish the corresponding rules for the foreign trade industry."

Even from Annan’s point of view, it couldn’t be said that her speech was poor.

In fact, the speech could even be considered substantial—The Eldest Princess, at the meeting, directly presented about five years’ worth of marine trade data when Frostwater Harbor was running properly, as well as the income and employment conditions of the entire northern region centered on Frostwater Harbor for the five years after it had lost its status as an international port.

Although in modern speech-making, this belonged to the normal "PowerPoint-driven" style of presentation, the core was to impress with data.

It’s said that internet company employees from India are especially good at this tactic and often gain a speaking platform by this means, starting a process of cell division... but in this era, the Eldest Princess’s approach was truly avant-garde.

There were no impactful signature lines, nor any highly evocative body language. Even her tone of speech was akin to a leader holding a meeting, somewhat soporific... but even so, those in attendance were still listening very seriously.

Not just out of politeness.

Many more were thinking about whether they could take this opportunity to make some money.

—This was exactly what Annan had thought.

But Annan assumed that the Eldest Princess, with her clear understanding of the nature of her own nobility, would not share any substantial information at the meeting.

Lest this critical intelligence leak prematurely and lead to the nobles tripping each other up—or even covertly opposing the royal family because of their own affected interests, causing great trouble, and possibly dragging out what should have been a settled matter for years.

What he hadn’t expected was... the Eldest Princess didn’t care about such things at all.

After she finished speaking, people were already moved.

And then, the Eldest Princess’s next sentence was about starting the bidding process—she wanted to tender for the most qualified marine company to unify the import and export trades, with the royal family subscribing to half the shares of all shareholders, eventually holding 51% of the total shares, and allowing only shareholders who hold more than 3% after dilution to enter the board of directors.

And after these words were spoken, people immediately started forming groups to discuss the matter. It goes without saying that in the following days, several marine companies with significant backers—comprising nobles, ministers, and even bishops investing—would suddenly appear in the Kingdom of Noah, quickly merging and fighting each other to determine a final winner.

...Truly the nation protected by the Silver Baron.

Annan had not anticipated that the Eldest Princess—who was "most likely to inherit the Kingdom of Noah" on the surface—would react to the matter of rebuilding diplomatic relations with an open tender... and even conduct it right in front of Annan.

This was indeed completely beyond Annan’s expectations.

And this approach was indeed effective—by bringing the matter into the open and formalizing it, it could prevent them from causing trouble. It also facilitated their consolidation of interests.

If this had been done in secret, it would have been led by the royal family, who would face opposition from all the nobles whose interests were blocked, and it would take a long time to determine the actual beneficiaries.

But the Eldest Princess brought it into the open.

Thus, those who opposed it were no longer just "opposing the royal family." They were opposing the entire interest group of the "winning enterprise." They would dare not act rashly.

Eventually, the matter would be completed swiftly—because if it were dragged on, it would no longer be about dragging things out but affecting everyone’s money-making.

Of course, after the restoration of foreign trade, whether the new company would have internal conflicts over the division of profits was no concern of Annan’s.

Since the Eldest Princess herself didn’t care about the royal power being diluted by the nobles, Annan naturally wouldn’t bother to chime in. After all, every family has its own way of life. And this method seemed to be quite suitable for the people of Noah.

...It could only be said that the Eldest Princess had a clear understanding of her nobility and knew how to manage these people.

In the Kingdom of Noah, ministers and officials held "current authority". But they weren’t responsible to the King—or rather, to the Kingdom of Noah itself; they were responsible to the nobles who supported them.

At the beginning of its founding, the Kingdom of Noah was established with the Noah family taking the throne without ever having become kings. They never had any claim to kingship... and the King of Noah was very clear about this.

The political system of the Kingdom of Noah was completely different from that of the Southern United Kingdom.

From the very beginning, the King of Noah delegated some of the powers to the nobility—the Kingdom of Noah actually adopted the "Agent Ruling" system.

This was something Annan realized after returning to Winter and reviewing some confidential documents. Ordinary people of Noah would never come into contact with this level of knowledge.

The official name of this rule is "Surety Election System," it is a semi-public rule.

Simply put, if one wished to run for office, they must pay a large sum of money and have a reputable and respected local as their surety, to serve as a deposit for compensation in case they were found guilty of bribery, negligence, or other reasons that caused substantial loss to the kingdom.

If they could serve their term safely, this deposit would be refunded, and depending on their achievements, they would also receive a generous bonus, estates, horses, armor, and other property.

But if someone reported an official during their term, and the Three-Eyed Crows indeed confirmed the official had caused a loss, they would be dismissed from their post and imprisoned as stated in their employment contract.

The confiscated deposit would then be seized by the royal family and charged double—if the losses were still not covered after the seizure, they would seek compensation from the sureties of that time.

On the other hand, as long as the caused losses were double compensated, the behind-the-scenes "sureties" would not be affected.

So, where did all those "deposits" go?

—They were all with the Iris Bank.