Chapter 1461: Chapter 14, Goddess of Misfortune

The grain harvest was exceptionally abundant, and while advancing new agricultural techniques, naturally, there was no shortage of celebration banquets.

Compared to past celebration banquets, the Kingdom Government was noticeably more generous this time.

Not only was magical beast meat served at the tables, but even the rarely seen spices were supplied without limits at the banquet.

It was said that His Majesty the King, upon hearing the news of the harvest, was in high spirits and generously contributed spices from the royal treasure.

If Hudson wasn’t aware that the Near East Development Bank distributed a large amount of spices to shareholders during their in-kind dividends, he might have believed it.

In terms of price, these spices were much more expensive than gold. An equal weight of gold couldn’t buy an equal weight of spices, even if the price was multiplied by ten.

There was no way around it, the origin of these spices wasn’t the Continent of Aslante, but from far overseas.

Where exactly they were produced, no one but the Iberia Kingdom, which monopolizes the spice trade, could figure out.

Anyway, those available for sale were all processed into powder, leaving no chance to attempt cultivation.

The most crucial part is that these spices cannot be stored for long; after a year or so, they will deteriorate.

The deliciousness coupled with scarcity made these overseas spices very popular in the circle of continental nobles.

Of course, this didn’t include the “bumpkins” of the Alpha Kingdom.

Except for major nobles, few middle and small nobles consumed these luxuries.

Especially in recent years, everyone’s pockets haven’t been well off, and these luxuries have rarely appeared at banquets.

It’s clear that in-kind dividends are still quite beneficial, directly improving the quality of life for the shareholders.

However, this pleasant mood didn’t last long for Hudson. As a major contributor, he received a “generous reward” from Caesar IV.

A bunch of antique artworks, including relics supposedly over eight thousand years old.

In the Extraordinary World, time isn’t worth much. Nobles casually inherit for hundreds of years, and items from even a few centuries ago cannot be called relics.

Without a millennia’s worth of time sedimentation, they’re just ordinary goods.

Antiques over eight thousand years old, if placed in peaceful times, would definitely be invaluable.

In this current time, they hold only ornamental value.

Theoretically, they remain valuable, but expecting people to spend heavily on them is impossible.

Perhaps on the South Continent, there are some nobles who genuinely appreciate these things, but in the Alpha Kingdom, there aren’t many nobles who can appreciate such things.

If it weren’t for the sake of fitting in, Hudson seriously doubted that Kingdom Aristocrats would shun these things as taking up space.

After all, preserving these antiques also requires consuming manpower, financial resources, and materials.

Hudson wasn’t the only one to receive a reward; a group of high-ranking reformist officials all had gains, except Hudson’s gain was a bit more.

Once the items reached the hands of influential figures, finding buyers naturally wasn’t a problem, and the value also increased.

Of course, selling them was definitely out of the question. These rewards were most valuable not for their own worth, but for the honor bestowed behind them.

As a matter of fact, this world has no waste products; the key is whose hands they are in.

Antique artworks might be slow sellers for the Near East Development Bank. But distributed into shareholders’ hands, they instantly gained value.

In that instant, Hudson understood, perhaps when distributing dividends in the future, there’s no need to honestly give cash.

Don’t sell slow-moving inventory at low prices; just distribute it to shareholders to handle.

Not only would inventory be cleared, reducing ledger loss, but also ensuring substantial dividends were distributed to shareholders each year.

With this new approach, Hudson was suddenly enlightened.

Slow-moving products can be given as dividends, so naturally, overdue debts can be shifted too.

Items with collateral but inconvenient to sell for cash could also be included in dividends and handed over to local shareholders to handle!

According to this new method, it’s estimated that for a long time, the Near East Development Bank’s books will be very clean.

Soon after the banquet started, Hudson was once again surrounded by a crowd of noble ladies.

No help to it, the young elites in the country were now divided into two groups.

One group followed their elders in the Papal State to strive, while the other was the main force of reformists, dispersed in various places to promote reform endeavors.

With the Kingdom decision-makers attending the celebration banquet being a bunch of old timers, Hudson immediately stood out when mingling with them.

As for the various young gentlemen at the banquet, they were directly ignored by this group of noble ladies.

In the Alpha Kingdom, regardless of their level, the second generation without abilities, mere parasites, wouldn’t be welcomed.

Of course, they’re not idle either. If the top-tier noble ladies don’t fancy them, there are plenty of widowed noblewomen who like younger brothers.

Regarding others’ envy and jealousy, Hudson was quite helpless. While others hunted for beauties at the banquet, he himself became the prey when arriving.

In contrast, mingling in the young noble ladies’ circle was relatively safe, at least everyone was quite reserved in front of the crowd.

Those noblewomen’s gazes seemed like they wanted to devour someone.

Especially those who have been married for years but remain childless, their eyes were even more intense. Hudson certainly didn’t want to get involved in “borrowing a seed” affairs.

Unlike the ordinary world, the Extraordinary World had numerous means for detecting bloodlines. Once discovered, it would immediately cause an uproar.

Yet bloodline scandals, once exposed, have never ceased.

These are driven by desperation!

Becoming heirless is a major blow to any noble.