69 Adapt among the locals
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Maximilian von Goslar: the only son of a noble landowning family, his father died in the religious war while he was very young, his mother frightened of the fate that awaited her son, prevented him from training as a knight and surrounded him with foreign diplomats to learn etiquette, the art of diplomacy, administration and subterfuge, Due to his rare talent among the Prussians, he rose quickly among the diplomats until finally being part of the peace negotiations that ended the war. He has no combat experience and enjoys his diplomatic position and is fascinated by brightly colored clothes, slim build, brown hair, green eyes.21 years old,1.90m
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POV of Maximilian von Goslar
At king's landing was the Prussian garrison that was responsible for protecting the new bank that the Prussians had erected to provide interest-bearing loans, which by now had already begun to function because in just the first few months of the bank's operation three extra branches had already been set up.
One in oldtown, the second in the new Prussian capital and the third in the port city on the mander, which facilitated trade for merchants who had decided to open deposit accounts with the Prussians because in any of the Prussian banks you can deposit and withdraw your gold as long as you share certain confidential information.
This had made them extremely popular among the merchants because it was not necessary to carry kilos and kilos of coins if only with a piece of paper they could prove that they had deposited all their gold in one bank and could withdraw it from another, taking the burden off the merchants and the risk of losing it all to thieves.
In addition to exchange services for credit notes where the merchants made exchanges among themselves through credit notes were only numbers had to be exchanged within the bank's accounts.
While the Prussians' star service was savings accounts, offering four percent annual interest to anyone who deposited their coins with them, which caused many people to deposit their money in the hope of making money with little risk and subsequently the Prussians would lend that gold at interest of twenty-four to forty percent to the tide of merchants and lords seeking a meeting with the bank's chief.
Since the vaults of the bank of king's landing were crammed with gold and silver coins of the seven kingdoms and various other coins of foreign merchants who deposited their gold to trade in the Prussian territories because merchants who had an open account in the Prussian banks, the customs officials were more sympathetic and did not force them to check their entire cargo for contraband.
Although the Prussian bank was young at only six months old, it was already comparable to the major banks of essos and if everything went according to the growth plan that Maximilian had devised, in the next two years they should be able to look to the iron bank of bravos as an equal in the struggle to attract customers.
All this allowed the Prussian banks to acquire an enormous amount of capital with which they began to lend to lords and merchants, and the profits enriched the coffers of the Prussian king.
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''I must say this liquor is excellent, it is much stronger than the craft beers that some of our men produce, what am I supposed to do with it'' I said while I poured myself some more whiskey.
''It is an order from his majesty, Herr Maximilian you must make sure that this liquor is presented to King Robert, so that the nobles westerosis know about these liquors and facilitate future sales because if the nobility drink it the lambs of the small folks will follow them'' said the Finnish commander.
''I can't take a barrel to King Robert, it wouldn't look courteous, it wouldn't be according to the etiquette that would be expected in that kind of meeting, we should look for another format of presentation'' I said highlighting the etiquette problems that could happen.
''We got some of Myr's glassblowers to make some bottles for this liquor, so I can assure you that its presentation will be according to your standards Herr Maximilian, your duty is to make the Baratheon drink it and wait for his reaction'' said the Finnish commander opening a box and showing four glass bottles with the liquor inside.
''Well, I took care that at the feast to be held today this liquor will be delivered to him... by the way, did you check my reports, anything you should tell me or any mistakes?'', I said to the Finnish commander while staring at his eyes.
''I checked your accounting, everything in order, I don't know what the hell you did, but collecting twelve million dragons from merchants and citizens of the capital seemed impossible, but you did it, you have full vaults, but are you sure you will be able to lend all that gold?'', said the Finn with an admiring tone.
''For sure, I have more than four hundred meetings for this month to discuss loans with people who meet our requirements, besides my men who are responsible for giving loans of low amounts to artisans and minor merchants, believe me there are more people who need money to start their businesses and as there are no banks, then they all come to us even though many businesses look unstable the ones we lend to are the safest and in the worst-case scenario if they fail I will keep their business and we will make it work'' I said very happy remembering that I have tunnels full of gold and silver.
''Very well, regarding my expenses, will you approve them?'', said the Finn handing me a sheet with expenses.
''You know it's hard for me to approve these expenses, if I don't know what you're going to use it for, two hundred thousand dragons what the hell do you want to do with them?'', I asked after reading the Finn's budgets.
''New businesses, they are emerging, that's all you need to know, we managed to raise almost eighty thousand dragons in this short time, but as the king indicated, our operations must be the most clandestine, I assure you that the king will receive the full report, but... you know we must distrust everyone, nothing personal'' said the Finnish commander.
''Ahhh, well, I will take care of cleaning your gold and make it look like it was obtained from the interest payments of merchants and minor lords, so as not to raise suspicions of increased wealth without a visible source'' I said as I began to write down the numbers in the books.
''Thank you, well, you have your orders, I have mine, I'll take my leave'' said the Finnish commander
'It must be from some illegal source, they are getting plenty of coins every month'.
I arranged some pending matters I had, like negotiating with some merchants from essos who wanted to establish a dyer in the city, to supply the black dye for the tectonic knights.
Finally, from negotiating the loan, I prepared my clothes, since this feast I was planning to miss, since Robert does one of these meetings every week and it is no longer productive to go and talk to the nobles in the court because all the ones we were interested in talking to already have loans with us and there are only those nobles left who can barely keep their expenses and want to borrow without having the capacity to pay it back
I had bought a blue silk suit imitating a military uniform, with several golden ornaments, to stand out in the court of King Robert, since the most common colors are red, yellow and light blue, with this Prussian blue that I had paid a fortune to be made had attracted the attention many times.
Appearances were everything in diplomacy and to appear that the representative of his majesty in the city dressed with more wealth than the richest nobles in the city gave the message that the king wanted, the Prussians are powerful and rich.
With everything ready I prepared my handkerchief and filled it with perfume, preparing myself for the bad smell down the hill.
The Prussian enclave in the city was almost finished, we only needed to finish walling the hill and everything would be ready, to say that there is another fortress inside the city.
We had expelled all the inhabitants from their houses and demolished them, leaving a lot of space for fortifications and houses for the soldiers that followed me, we managed to connect a sewage system with the city system without affecting the tunnels that are used by the Finns to listen to the secrets of the court and we could fight a little the smell of shit and urine that is in our area, but still leaving our area the smell is vomitous.
Our trip was fast, since we did not stop anywhere, we went directly to the castle, there were only the suspicious looks of some citizens who were distrustful of us.
Together with my knights we were received at the castle, I have already made my presence known in the royal court on several occasions and they already seemed to recognize me after several of our interactions.
After some obligatory greetings, I moved through the corridors of the castle looking for the hall where the feast would take place, I needed time to prepare my trap and capture Robert's attention.
Entering the hall I found that there were already several nobles waiting for the arrival of the king for the feast and the dances to begin.
Many eyes were focused on me, but few people dared to try to approach me because during the last months I have gained a reputation for keeping the leeches away.
The fame of talking and talking without saying anything to the point of boring people, is my defense mechanism before the lords who seek a loan, favors and work in the bank because it is known since I gave my accounting books to the master of the coin the great benefits that we manage for the interests of my bank, many lords mouths are watering at the thought of a part of the cake of my king.
I acted as usual, talking for forty minutes without stopping, until the leeches had had enough of directing the conversation to what they wanted, there was only one woman left so stubborn that even a mule would be more docile.
''Lady Tanda, how nice to see you again, I hope the almighty has been kind to you, since our last meeting'' I said with my fake smile.
''Lord Maximilian, I had been worried about you since you did not attend our dinners, I had thought something had happened to you'' said lady Stokeworth.
''Oh... you don't need to worry about me my lady, I only hope you have been able to understand that the duties of my position force me to sometimes have to put leisure aside for the performance of duty, as my position is very important and every decision I make requires significant time for consideration'' I said giving an excuse for missing one of the twenty-eight dinners she has invited me to in the last month.
''I see, so how about a dinner tomorrow to discuss politics'' said the woman with a friendly smile.
'Politics?, you mean introducing me to your youngest daughter, I have work to do, I don't have time for courtship'.
''I would be delighted lady Tanda, but unfortunately, I have several meetings tomorrow and I can't insult such important clients just to enjoy your company, as much as I would like to go, we must try another day.... I have my schedule busy for the following moons, so with the pain of my soul I must refuse such a kind invitation you give me''I said showing a sad face and placing my two hands on my chest
''Then how about today, after the feast, I can have you prepare a pig that you liked so much in our previous one, my daughter Lollys would be overjoyed to continue getting to know the Prussian culture'' said lady Stokeworth taking one of my hands
''Lady Tanda... look over there the king'' I said pointing to king Robert who was entering the hall.
'Saved by divine intervention'
I didn't have time to have something ready to get Robert's attention, but it wasn't something difficult either because i had the perfect tool and his name was Alexander, a knight with over two hundred years of stories that Robert loved and the cherry on the cake he has many fresh stories about his fights against the Dornish horsemen
I didn't want to make it look like I was looking for Robert, Robert was supposed to be looking for us and now my trap was set, and the moment Robert started to move greeting the nobles and set his eyes on Alexander's familiar face, he came straight to us
''Maximilian my good friend, so long time, it is a pleasure to have you back here'' said King Robert placing his arm around my neck.
''I am grateful for your invitation king Robert, my lord sends his regards to the king of the seven kingdoms and regrets not being able to present, but his work keeps him busy, due to this your most loyal lord has not been able to be present, but when he can control the reach of your behalf king Robert, he will be here to celebrate with you'' I said with a big smile.
Robert's attention was focused as expected on the veteran Teutonic knight, who began to recount some of his battles.
Taking advantage of the fact that Robert had emptied his silver cup I saw my opportunity.
I took one of the bottles that was covered with a piece of yellow silk and uncorked it, which generated a loud sound for everyone.
''King Robert would you like to taste a strong Prussian liquor, I assure you that you will find it delicious, you will not be able to compare it with anything like it in the seven kingdoms'' I said keeping my diplomatic smile.
Robert made a movement to empty the last drops of the liquid he had in his silver cup and put it in front of me and quickly poured a little of the liquid
''So little, fill the cup Maximilian,'' Robert said with a smile.
''I recommend your majesty not to, it is very strong, it has much more alcoholic content than normal wine, from now on, you will find the wine is too soft and it is only sweet grape juice'' I said with a smile.
Robert drank it, coughed a little bit because he didn't expect it to burn so much at the first sip and closed his eyes tightly while making a funny face
''Ah...ha, ha,ha, ha,you are right Maximilian...more'' said king Robert placing his cup in front of me again.
''Of course, your majesty, how nice that you liked it because from now on, it is produced in our territories... would you like to place an order?'', I said as I poured a drink for Robert and handed another bottle to Robert's cup bearer.
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