King

Similar operations were carried out a decade ago by everyone.

If the conflict becomes more acute, it would merely result in another noble civil war.

The one with more power, who can gather more allies and win on the battlefield, will be the one whose reasoning prevails.

If one war doesn't convince, then fight another.

After several battles, even the fiercest tempers will gradually calm down and reluctantly accept reality.

Conflicts among nobles have relatively limited destructive power.

Once everyone is exhausted from the chaos, the Empire steps in to mediate, and the problem is temporarily resolved.

The greatest hidden danger, the military merit system, can also be addressed through external warfare, preventing a collapse in the short term.

...

Of course, thinking that the Empire's crisis is manageable only applies to those like Hudson who are detached from the game. For the nobles deeply enmeshed in it, they dare not think so.

Especially those in power within the court; if the situation in the Empire deteriorates, all their previously gained political prestige will turn entirely negative.

Solving the problem in time is good, but if the crisis drags on unresolved, they become the most suitable scapegoats.

After all, Caesar V is still a child, temporarily unable to make decisions and bear responsibility for the Empire.

A package of ruin and infamy can only be enjoyed by the ministers in the court.

"Father, how are you so sure the Empire will face problems?

You know these conflicts have always existed. Nothing happened all these years, surely it won't just erupt after the Empire was founded!"

Franz asked, puzzled.

The hidden dangers of the Empire have never been a secret among the major nobles. It's just that the only one taking it seriously now is Hudson.

The other nobles remain relatively optimistic. Regardless, the current situation of the Alpha Empire is much better than when they were getting beaten daily in the past.

"Because the external pressure is gone, everyone's tense nerves are relaxed!

Because the debt leverage of the Near East Development Bank has reached its limit, the overissued gold tickets show signs of devaluation. To maintain the bank's credit, some gold tickets must be withdrawn.

While you were preparing for the ducal ceremony, the bank had already sold off a lot of assets to liquidize. Even branches in small places were sold away.

As of now, the Near East Development Bank has already retrieved gold tickets with a face value of more than eighteen million.

These gold tickets won't circulate again for a while. With so much money disappearing from the market, the Empire's economy can't help but face issues!

The upcoming auction in the territory is actually prepared specifically to address the bank's cash shortage crisis.

The situation is even worse for the small and medium banks. To boost their performance, they dare to take on any business, not earning enough profit, and yet they learn from the Near East Development Bank's massive dividends.

The nobles behind them are too greedy, either distributing high dividends or extracting massive loans from the banks, depleting most commercial banks by the private shareholders.

From the gathered data, over ninety-eight percent of the banks on the continent are now insolvent.

Without regulatory constraints, the banking industry has become a tool for the powerful to plunder. If this continues, don't you think problems will arise?"

As Hudson finished speaking, Franz suddenly understood it all. No wonder his father knew the crisis was about to erupt; their family had a detonator ready.

It makes sense when you think about it, given how fiercely the continental wars were fought. The financially troubled Five Nations Alliance, and yet not one of them declared bankruptcy; that's the allure of debt leverage.

"Father, will the Near East Development Bank be able to hold on?"

Franz asked uncertainly.

Sitting on a golden rice bowl, it's impossible not to reach out. The rapid development of the Snow Moon Duchy in recent years relied on loans from the Near East Development Bank.

The accumulated debt of the Snow Moon Duchy reached hundreds of millions of gold coins. The key is that these loans didn't even require interest payment.

Part of it was obtained through fake accounts for arbitrage, while the other part was through the additional printing of gold tickets.

Lack of effective regulation, in the critical period of territorial development, Hudson couldn't resist the allure of needing funds.

The urgency to withdraw gold tickets now is because the actual amount of circulating gold tickets on the market exceeds the printed amount on the bank's books.

"Don't worry, it's estimated that once the auction concludes, the task of withdrawing the gold tickets will be nearly completed.

Once this pit is filled, as long as the value of the gold tickets is maintained and the bank's credit is stabilized, all problems are no longer problems."

Hudson replied calmly.

However, he only spoke half the truth; if the Near East Development Bank can survive, other banks are doomed.

This auction is also a trigger for the crisis. A large influx of funds into the Snow Moon Duchy is bound to affect other regions.

The current question is which country will go bust first, making it the biggest loser. Lacking means to counter a financial crisis, once this bomb goes off, it will lead to a collapse in banking credit.

...

Time flies, everything unfolded as Hudson predicted, with the largest financial crisis on the Continent of Aslante starting first in the Dante Kingdom.

The trigger was when a major noble's city was sacked by enemy forces, and naturally, the banks within the city suffered. After the enemy retreated, residents rushed to withdraw funds, directly triggering a bank run crisis.

Panic spread rapidly, soon affecting other banks. First, the Dante Kingdom experienced a wave of withdrawals, then the Black Forest Kingdom followed suit, and soon the crisis spread throughout the entire Five Nations Alliance, eventually sweeping across the entire Human World.