What frustrated Iron Bank the most was that this Dragon Queen was so composed, she didn't seem like a last princess burdened with national and personal vendettas. She trained a new army and developed the economy, adopting a steady, pragmatic approach, cultivating the land before conquering the world. And this kind of powerful ruler was exactly what Iron Bank wanted to avoid.
They preferred monarchs like the Second Deer, driven by short-term gains, willing to make any compromise for the Iron Throne, and desperately needing large loans. Daenerys, however, was completely different from those extravagant nobles. She invested heavily in city and military development, improved the tax system, and revitalized commerce. She quickly achieved self-sufficiency; she didn't borrow money!
A newly risen monarch—if you don't lend me money, aren't you looking down on my Iron Treasury? Besides, Daenerys has a well-known characteristic: she never hires any mercenaries. She even ordered all mercenaries in the city to change professions. Those who refused were sent to labor camps…
A monarch with immense potential, unwavering stability, and rapid development is someone the Iron Throne absolutely does not want to see. For countless years, they have manipulated world affairs and instigated numerous wars, many times to eliminate such individuals. They are in the business of large-scale trade, selling nations. But a true great ruler will end the chaos, and then their business will be over.
Almost all the keyholders (equivalent to shareholders of the Iron Vault) agreed that they must impose sanctions on Daenerys.
The initial proposal was to kill Daenerys. However, this decision was rejected. The Iron Throne had stood for so many years, which showed they had some skill. Their advisors devised a plan to transform Daenerys into the kind of monarch they needed. And the first condition of this plan was that Lu Xuan had to be killed.
The Iron Vault had known about Lu Xuan for a long time, but not in detail, since Lu Xuan met Daenerys in the Red Wasteland, which wasn't within the Iron Vault's territory. So they activated a long-planted spy and finally obtained all the information about Lu Xuan.
That's when the plan to ensure Lu Xuan's death came about. Their think tank discovered that the original Daenerys was simply a kind girl who had awakened the Dragon King's bloodline, but was inherently indecisive and lacked assertiveness. This kind of person becoming a ruler was exactly what they wanted to see.
But after meeting Lu Xuan, she changed. This mysterious man named Lu Xuan became Daenerys's teacher and completely transformed her into a true queen. The various urban developments and even the training of the army in Astapor were all orchestrated by him.
While Faceless Men were expensive, it wasn't a problem for the Iron Vault. They quickly approved the proposal, hired a Faceless Man, and killed Lu Xuan.
Then came a three-month wait. They were waiting for certain things to unfold. For example, troop training had stalled. Various problems arose in city construction. Most importantly, Astapo's market was attacked. Prices skyrocketed, merchants withdrew, and the entire market was in chaos. It was in this situation that the Iron Treasury's delegation arrived.
"Teacher, the messengers from the Iron Treasury have arrived. I suspect they will use various pretexts to try and induce me to take out a loan, or even threaten me directly. I'm not sure how to deal with this."
"It doesn't matter. Just treat it like you're receiving a regular delegation. Go along with what they want. If they offer to lend you money, then go for it and ask for an astronomical figure, the bigger the better."
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Chapter 273 Exorbitant Prices
Tychu Nestorus was an emissary of the Iron Bank. This was his first direct encounter with Daenerys. Although he had learned about Daenerys from various sources, he was still taken aback by her unique aura upon first meeting her.
After studying under Lu Xuan and developing her bloodline potential, learning swordsmanship and magic, Daenerys no longer possessed the demeanor of a frail young girl. She now exuded confidence and power. This was a unique aura stemming from a combination of her status, position, and personal martial prowess.
"Your Majesty the Dragon Queen, I have come to pay my respects on behalf of the Iron Treasury..."
............
Three months later, Lu Xuan stepped out of his secluded palace for the first time. Now that the enemy had revealed themselves, he no longer needed to feign death. His immediate priority was to find the traitor within Daenerys's inner circle.
There must be a mole; otherwise, the other side wouldn't have targeted him. But Lu Xuan needed more information to determine who it was.
He stepped out of his palace, his spiritual power fully unleashed. Like radar, it scanned the surrounding area for hundreds of meters. This was a technique he had developed, based on the magic taught by the Dragon Soul and incorporating some of his own Taoist spells.
In a short while, every single leaf in the entire courtyard was under Lu Xuan's control. He stood quietly in place for about ten minutes. Then, Lu Xuan opened his eyes and walked out of the courtyard.
In the drawing room, Tychu stared blankly at Daenerys. Just now, Daenerys had decided to borrow money from the Iron Treasury. But her offer was a whopping one hundred million gold dragons.
"Forgive my bluntness, Your Majesty, but do you know what one hundred million gold dragons means? That's equivalent to two hundred million gold coins. According to our data, it would take about twenty years for the entire market value of Astapor to generate two hundred million gold coins' worth of economic value. And based on your set tax rate of one-tenth, it would take two hundred years to accumulate two hundred million gold coins. But this is just the principal; we haven't even started discussing interest yet."
"Astapo, a single city, naturally cannot afford a loan of one hundred million gold. But I will not stay in this city for long. Soon I will raise an army and bring Meereen and Yunkai into my territory. By then, it will probably only take seventy years to pay off the loan."
But this is not the end. For I will eventually return to Westeros and make the Seven Kingdoms submit to me, and then…”
"Excuse my bluntness, but the seven kingdoms currently owe the Iron Treasury a total of 12 million gold. So even if you conquer the seven kingdoms, it probably won't help your ability to repay the debt."
"..." Daenerys was speechless. She had learned of Westeros's mess through various channels, but only through hearsay. The Iron Bank clearly had a much deeper understanding. They had even concluded that most of the loans to the Seven Kingdoms were unrecoverable. That's why they approached Daenerys. In fact, one of their conditions for agreeing to the loans was that after Daenerys conquered the Seven Kingdoms, she would acknowledge and repay all of their loans.
After a pause, Daenerys continued.
"I simply can't believe you'd compare me to other borrowers. You know..."
“Your Majesty, in our eyes, every customer is the same.”
With a loud bang, a ball of flame ignited in front of Taichu.
"Were all your previous clients capable of these things? Were all your previous clients the last Dragon Aspect of the Targaryens? Did all your previous clients possess four dragons?"
"..." Now it was Tychu's turn to be speechless. Daenerys was right; she truly was a unique being in this world. She possessed limitless potential, perhaps even the ability to change the world.
In fact, some within the Iron Bank even suggested killing Daenerys now to prevent her from causing too much turmoil and affecting the Iron Bank's business. But ultimately, greed prevailed. They decided to invest in Daenerys for even greater returns.
"Potential does not guarantee future achievements..."
"Is that so? Then why did you come to see me at this time? Because your investment itself is potential. You know very well that I won't stay in this city for long. I will eventually go out and amaze the world. At that time, you will get whatever returns you want."
Business negotiations? Basically, it's all about bragging. Nothing else matters, just getting the money in hand first. Daenerys is well-versed in the various techniques Lu Xuan taught her. She constantly talks about sweeping across the world and being the only one who matters. It seems she already has victory in her grasp.
Taichu was well aware that Daenerys was just making empty promises. However, the awkward thing was that Daenerys was right about one thing: the Iron Bank truly valued Daenerys's potential. And the scenarios she described might indeed come true. However, one hundred million gold dragons was simply outrageous. With that amount of money, Daenerys wouldn't even need to fight; she could simply throw money around and have all the nobles of the Seven Kingdoms kneel at her feet.
“Your Majesty, one hundred million gold coins is far too much. Even though I am not the final decision-maker, I am certain that this amount will not be approved.”
"Really? Very well, ninety million gold coins."
Negotiations? Asking for the moon, settling for less? Daenerys has plenty of time. Her army is still training. Her supplies are far from sufficient. So, she doesn't mind waiting. But the Iron Bank doesn't have that advantage.
It's like investing in stocks. You're bullish on a new stock. Naturally, you want to buy it as soon as possible when its price is at its lowest. Because as time goes on, its price may rise, and your costs will naturally increase accordingly.
Ninety million was clearly still above Tychu's desired figure. He wouldn't budge. So Daenerys lowered the number to eighty million, then seventy million, and then Daenerys also refused to budge. The two sides entered a wrangling phase.
Daenerys roughly estimated that, aside from Tychu's maximum, the figure would be below 20 million goldlongs. This number was already terrifying. Keep in mind that the Westeros royal family's capital reserves were a negative 5 million goldlongs...
.............
In the courtyard, Lu Xuan silently entered the garden. A round-faced girl approached from the opposite direction. She had slightly dark skin and a pair of golden eyes.
"A slave-born maid, fluent in multiple languages, even knowledgeable of the history of the ancient Gith Empire. She adapted quickly to court life and was even able to assist Daenerys with various political affairs. Language can be considered a talent. But other things cannot be compensated for by talent alone. Missandei, can you tell me how you learned these things as a slave?"