Many of the nobles of the Lemurian Empire are in debt.
　This is not so unusual.

　This is because nobles have a social obligation to live in a suitable house, wear suitable clothes, hold suitable events, and give suitable charity to the citizens in order to maintain their prestige.

　The landowning aristocracy would also need to build irrigation systems in order to increase the productivity of their land.

　When they need a certain amount of money, they borrow money from merchants or other nobles.

　It may seem that borrowing money is a bad thing, but the problem is that it is a debt that cannot be repaid.
　Lemurian aristocrats receive a certain amount of income from their stipend and land, so they are able to pay interest continuously.

　Merchants are willing to lend to them.

　The problem is the unpayable debt.
　The forty-six families of the Pureblood High Elves are in a state of debt.

　If you want to restore their financial health, you must first bail them out of their debt.

　We have to issue a moral decree first. If we don't do something about the debt, we'll never get started.

　Galfis expressed his opinion to Hercule.
　The Galleanos family also has debts, albeit not many. ...... "If possible, I would like to see our debts eliminated as well," the intention is transparent.

　Moral decree. ...... Hmmm ......

　A moral decree.
　In other words, a moral decree.

　However, if this was done, the merchants would start lending sparingly, and the aristocrats might become impoverished.
　However, it was also impossible to ask the nobles to pay the debts they had accumulated so far by themselves.

　It is the responsibility of the family to have accumulated this much debt. ......
　It is not the responsibility of the current head of the family, so it would be a pity to push him away with the theory of self-responsibility.

　It's a bit of a hassle, but we can examine each case individually, ...... write off some of it, and alleviate some of it by having the Julianos family take over .......

　There is such a thing as overpayment of debts.
　This is the case when the interest paid or payable is too huge because the repayment was made over a long period of time.
　In this case, even if the debt is written off, it will not have a significant impact.

　The lender has already made enough money.

　If the amount of the debt is still too large to be repaid by the individual, the Julianos family would have to take over the debt.

　The trouble is that we have to deal with more than several hundred cases, including those of the branch families.

　"Does my house qualify?
　"How am I supposed to know how much money you have overpaid on your house?

　Even Hercule, as expected, does not have a detailed grasp of the Galleanos family's debt situation.
　The only thing he remembers is that the amount of money is quite large.

　The only thing he remembers is that it's a fair amount of money. "And then there's the ...... stipend paid in gold.

　There are three main types of income for aristocrats.

　There are three main types of income for aristocrats. One is monetary income from holding public office.
　The second is income from land management and investment.
　Finally, there is the stipend ...... given to each family.

　In the olden days, the money economy was not widespread, so the payment was in wheat.
　This has remained a tradition until now.

　However, if you only have wheat, your income and expenditure will rise and fall according to changes in prices. ......
　This was a factor in the downfall of some nobles.

　How about a stipend based on the number of children you have instead of a fixed amount ......?
　"That's a good idea, Christos.

　Hercule clapped his hands.

　In order for a nobleman to live as a nobleman, he needs to be educated, and he needs to have a good amount of money to acquire that education.
　In addition, girls must have dresses and men must have formal wear.

　If you wear the same clothes every year, you will be laughed at, so of course you need to change them periodically.

　It is also strange that the stipend of a family with no children is the same as that of a family with three or more children.
　In the first place, the first duty of the Holy 77th Family is to bear children, support the population of the Long-eared People (elves), and reproduce the ruling class.
　If you have many children, it means that you are fulfilling your duty.

　That means we'll have fewer. ......

　Galfis muttered with a sigh.
　The only daughter, Karolina, has married into Hercule, so there are no children in the Galleanos family.

　You need to get Mary a boy as soon as possible. At least two is the minimum duty, three is the minimum contribution.

　Both Galfis and Mary are still young for elves, so there's not much to worry about.

　But the truth is that the stipend and the income from government jobs are not enough, right?　If we don't have some source of income, we'll end up in debt again.
　"Yes, that's the main problem, Lucanos. By the way, your family was successful in that direction, right?　What are you doing?

　Hercule asks Lukanos.
　Lucanos' Lucarios family is financially well off.

　That's also the reason why Hercule left Nia with Lucanos.

　We have land income," he says. We mainly produce wine, and the rest is land rent. We do some money lending to the nobility, but we don't charge interest, and we don't get paid back in the first place.

　In the Lemurian Empire, a nobleman is a landowner.
　In the Lemurian Empire, a nobleman is a landowner. Therefore, land income is the main source of income for nobles.

　However, there are two types of land income in a nutshell.
　However, there are two types of land income: rent income and plantation income.

　Land revenue is a method of renting land to peasants, who are entrusted with the cultivation of the land and receive agricultural products from it.
　Mainly wheat and barley are grown.

　Plantation income is a method in which a nobleman directly manages a plantation, cultivates the land by directly directing slaves and peasants, and obtains the agricultural products from them.
　Mainly grapes and olives are grown.

　And ...... it was the latter type of plantation income that separated the fate of rich nobles like the Lucarios from that of debt-ridden nobles.

　Wheat and barley are easily affected by the weather, and since everyone is growing them, the prices are not high to begin with.
　Their income often drops drastically depending on the weather.

　Therefore, nobles who relied only on land rent were forced to give up their land.

　On the other hand, noble families like the Lucarios, who relied on plantation income as their mainstay, were resilient to bad weather and did not miss the development of the money economy, and on the contrary, succeeded in increasing their assets.



　By the way, where are Galfis and Christos?

　Hercule asks. ......

　"We grow olives," said Galfis.

　And Galfis.

　My family is based on rents, salt fields and fishing rights," said Christos.

　Christos.

　"You're doing more than you think.

　Hercule nodded admiringly.

　But the fallen aristocrats probably don't have more than a cat's nest of land. ......

　If you ask them to try farming now, they have no land to do it.
　But the aristocrats can't do commerce.

　There is no way that the aristocracy can bear to engage in commerce, which is socially and ethically despicable.
　Well, they can't do it anyway because they don't have the money to pay for it.

　I can lend you land and money, but I don't think you'll succeed with that. ......

　If starting a business was a surefire way to succeed, everyone would be starting a business.
　They are reluctant because of the possibility of failure.

　The same is true for land management.

　Now, we are going round and round in circles.
　As the four of us groaned and pondered, ......, Hercule came up with an idea.

　I got an idea.

　Hercule clapped his hands.

　I'm not sure if it's a good idea, but it's a good idea. I've ...... completely lost track of what I've done.

　Hercule's words ......
　I see," said Galfis, Christos and Loukanos.

　Even if you want to spread a particular agricultural ...... product to the country, distributing it to farmers and telling them to grow it will not make them grow it.
　This is because they do not know how to grow it, and even if they do, they do not know if they can sell it.

　And, in fact, they would not sell it at first.

　And in fact, it will not sell at first because no one will understand its taste and usefulness.

　Therefore, Hercule first had slaves and peasants grow these crops on state land, and then sold them exclusively.
　This was because only the state could grow crops without regard to profit.

　Then, little by little, the taste and name spread to the common people. ......
　Now, they are finally in the stage of spreading the cultivation to the whole country.

　At this point, the farms owned by the state are not needed, or rather, they are a hindrance.
　If the private sector and the state were to fight in the market, the state would definitely win due to the difference in capital power, and this would prevent the private sector from growing and spreading throughout the country.

　In other words, they would have to sell off their farms somewhere.

　Hercule came up with the idea of distributing those farms to the fallen nobles.

　"It's a new crop, so there's no rival. There are no rivals because it's a new crop, and the cultivation itself is on track, so if you don't do anything wrong, you won't fail. The nobles will learn the know-how and expand their farms on their own.

　Of course, it won't be for free.
　Of course, it won't be for free, but we can ask them to pay for the land in installments.

　Why didn't I think of something as simple as this?
　After all, human beings are prone to overlooking things, Hercule reflected deeply.

　So, ...... let's say that. The three of you will be responsible for guiding the nobles. If you can, lend them some money. You can even charge interest.
　"Yes!

　The three of them straightened their postures and replied.