The Daimyo hesitated, sitting there deep in thought.
Should he really get involved in this business deal?
Because he knew those vermin all too well…
When faced with profit, these vermin would turn into devils, becoming so greedy that they would lose all reason!
As a man in a position of power, the Daimyo truly hated this feeling of losing control.
And this game surrounding the tulip bubble would inevitably spiral out of control, eventually exceeding his ability to manage it and leaving behind nothing but a complete mess.
But…
there was no denying it.
As the initiator and mastermind behind this game, the Daimyo would make an enormous fortune from it, earning so much wealth that money would practically be pouring into his pockets…
Faced with such a colossal fortune, even the Daimyo couldn’t help but feel tempted.
Kazuma sat silently on the sofa, observing the expression on the Daimyo’s face…
He knew this was the moment for him to step in!
He had to give the Daimyo a push!
If they were going to make a fortune, how could they afford to hesitate?
“Your Highness, please hear me out!”
“Anyone who wants to join the tulip game is doing so willingly.
No one is forcing them to enter!”
“Besides, every person capable of participating in this game is someone who already possesses enormous wealth.
Yet they are still so greedy…
Even if they end up losing everything because of it, they will have only themselves to blame.
Lord Makoto once said that when a person’s intelligence and wealth are out of balance, their money will always find its way back into the market through one means or another.”
“Your Highness, surely you don’t want those greedy and foolish people to keep enjoying wealth that doesn’t belong to them, do you?”
As Kazuma spoke, his voice was filled with an almost seductive quality.
In this shinobi world, the people who possessed enormous wealth weren’t the powerful shinobi, but the nobles and merchants…
Yet these people often possessed such immense fortunes not because of their own abilities, but because…
Of course, I’m talking about the shinobi world here.
Being born into the right family was a skill in itself!
Listening to Kazuma’s words, some unpleasant memories surfaced in the Daimyo’s mind.
Kazuma had truly struck a nerve.
The people under his command had become increasingly unruly over the years.
When the Daimyo was young, he had been full of ambition.
He had wanted to accomplish great things in the Land of Fire, clean up the bureaucracy, and reform the tax system.
But after a thousand years, the deeply entrenched nobility had already formed an entire bureaucratic system.
It simply wasn’t something the Daimyo could shake on his own.
Unless he was willing to “invite the wolf into the house” and allow shinobi to interfere in the affairs of the Land of Fire…
Of course, that was absolutely impossible.
He had to guard against the nobles, but he had to guard against shinobi even more.
The nobles merely coveted money and power.
But if the shinobi got involved…
They might actually want to take his life.
The Daimyo would never do something so foolish, turning everything upside down like that.
And even if he did, those nobles would immediately use every means at their disposal to stop him.
Daimyo, you’re not actually very good at swimming, are you?
Regardless…
When he was young, the Daimyo had still managed to force the nobles of that time to restrain themselves considerably.
But now he was old, and he no longer had the energy he once did…
One, two, three…
They had clustered together and entrenched themselves everywhere.
Not only were they unwilling to pay taxes, but they were also dishonest when it came to their accounts.
Sometimes their fraudulent books were such a complete mess that they weren’t merely fooling the people below them—they even dared to muddle things in front of the Daimyo himself!
“These bastards!”
“They’re all thieves!”
“The taxes collected from the Land of Fire are practically being collected for them instead…
Three hundred billion ryo!
You people take two hundred billion, I get one hundred billion, and you still expect me to pretend I don’t know and thank you for it!”
“Do you really think that just because you’re nobles and hereditary retainers, I can’t do anything to you?”
“All that money you’ve embezzled!
That’s my money!”
“It’s mine!
My money!!!”
The Daimyo screamed inwardly, his expression growing darker and darker.
Meanwhile, Kazuma continued chattering beside him, planting the seeds of doubt against those vermin.
“Your Highness, this opportunity only comes once in a thousand years.
That wealth isn’t something they are capable of holding onto!”
“We’re simply following the will of Heaven…”
At the thought of the enormous fortune that could be obtained, the Daimyo’s heart began to burn with desire once more.
The wealth they could seize this time wasn’t going to be a mere few billion ryo.
It could be hundreds of billions, or even a trillion ryo.
“Then it’s decided!”
The Daimyo, who had already been harboring deep resentment toward those vermin, finally made up his mind under the temptation of such immense wealth!
Let’s do it!
Opportunity knocks but once!
This money should have belonged to him in the first place!
“Your Highness…
This is unquestionably the wisest decision you could have made!”
Kazuma showered him with praise from the side, secretly breathing a sigh of relief.
Soon…
After the Daimyo agreed to the tulip bubble scheme, the two began discussing the specifics of the plan.
The tulip scheme only required the Daimyo’s cooperation from the sidelines.
Once that was secured, almost all the remaining difficulties could be ignored.
According to Uchiha Makoto’s carefully designed tulip bubble plan, the first step was for the Daimyo’s daughter to buy a tulip, rapidly spreading tulips’ reputation throughout noble circles.
After that…
They would manipulate the price of tulips.
They would send large numbers of actors to line up in long queues at tulip sales points, creating the illusion that tulips were in extremely short supply.
This would drive up tulip prices, after which they would sell, drive the price higher again, sell again…
repeatedly profiting from the fluctuations.
Naturally, this would require a considerable amount of capital to push the prices upward.
The Akatsuki Village might not be able to shoulder that burden, but the Daimyo would be there to back them up.
At worst…
The nobles’ money would be returned to them in full!
The most crucial part—the trading of contracts—would then follow naturally.
As for the other problems…
Human greed would solve every difficulty for them.
“Good!
Good!
Good!”
The Daimyo said “good” three times in succession.
Uchiha Makoto’s plan could be described as a chain of interlocking schemes, exploiting every dark corner of human nature…
Even he himself, if he harbored enough greed, would undoubtedly participate in this tulip money game and ultimately suffer devastating losses.
“I’m glad Your Highness is satisfied.”
The entire plan had now been discussed.
What remained…
Was the distribution of the profits!
This matter had to be settled in advance.
Even brothers kept clear accounts with each other, let alone when the other party was the Daimyo, a fellow vermin in this business.
Uchiha Makoto had really wanted to split it thirty-seventy.
Yes!
Naturally, the Akatsuki Village would take seventy percent, while the Daimyo would receive thirty percent.
Just ten percent alone would amount to an enormous sum of money!
Unfortunately, that wasn’t realistic.
The situation demanded otherwise.
The Akatsuki Village was still weak.
Not only did it need the Daimyo’s cooperation in carrying out the plan, it also needed the Daimyo’s financial support, and it would need to continue working with him in the future…
Giving the Daimyo only thirty percent was something Uchiha Makoto could only dream about.
Of course…
The Daimyo wouldn’t agree either.
He was providing the money, contributing the effort, and even lending his own authority as Daimyo to promote the scheme…
And he was supposed to take only thirty percent?
Who did you think he was?
Thirty-seventy?
I take seventy!
However…
Uchiha Makoto also had his bottom line.
The tulip plan had been devised entirely by him.
From beginning to end, he was the one putting in the thought and effort to manipulate the market, while the Daimyo only needed to sit back and collect a huge fortune.
There was no way he was going to settle for thirty percent!
The minimum…
Had to be fifty-fifty!