Chapter 278: Chapter 250: Master Servant Dialogue

What Butler Kent said was naturally correct, as the ruler of a country, the degree of public support is the most important factor, and the troubles brought about by high public support are naturally negligible.

Moreover, Arthur is not interested in shopping or anything like that, so instead of wasting time shopping, why not pay attention to some national development issues, right?

Without discussing this little episode further, Arthur kept his eyes on Butler Kent and asked with a smile, “Butler Kent, how is the status of the Royal Financial Group?”

The Royal Financial Group makes up the majority of Arthur’s private property, and is also the cornerstone of Arthur maintaining his military power and reputation.

After all, without money, nothing can be accomplished. The role of the Royal Financial Group is to provide Arthur with a steady stream of income, which is converted into military power, prestige and a variety of other things.

“Your Majesty, overall, the development of the Royal Financial Group is going very smoothly. Starting with the Royal Bank, the bank’s business has now expanded to Europe and the United States, with a total of forty-seven branches worldwide,” Butler Kent reported.

“Currently, Royal Bank has over 6,363,200 customers, with a total deposit amount of 143,270,000 Australian dollars, averaging more than 15 Australian dollars per customer. Currently, our loan business has a total of 1,234,200 loans, and the amount of loans distributed is up to 80 million Australian dollars.”

The reason why the Royal Bank has so many customers is because most of the wage expenditures of Australasians rely on the Royal Bank, and the issuance of Australian dollars is jointly carried out by the government’s Currency Management Bureau and the Royal Bank. Therefore, the Royal Bank is the first choice for Australasians to conduct currency business. It is also the most popular and trusted bank because of Arthur’s guarantees and prestige.

Hearing about millions of loans, Arthur was not alarmed at all.

After all, the loan business of the Royal Bank has to be reviewed, loans are only given after it is confirmed that there is enough qualification.

Moreover, in Australasia, Arthur doesn’t have to worry about borrowers absconding at all.

After all, before the loan is granted, the bank will ensure that the borrower has enough assets. If people run away, wouldn’t the houses and properties left behind still be there? The bank won’t suffer a loss.

Taking the current development of Australasia into account, there are opportunities to make money everywhere, and there are already hundreds of foreign companies stationed in Australasia.

Seeing such an opportunity, many people have taken out loans for this reason.

Although the main reason for Arthur to establish the Royal Bank was to facilitate his own funds and to control the finances of Australasia.

But the current Royal Bank has already become a high-profit industry, with an annual income of the Royal Bank reaching millions of Australian dollars, and this is mainly because the business of the Royal Bank is mainly in Australasia itself.

“In addition to the Royal Bank, the development of our arms factories and shipbuilding factories is also going very smoothly. The number of employees in the arms factory has exceeded 8,000, making it the largest factory in Australasia with the capability to manufacture the most weapons. And the number of employees in the shipyard has also exceeded 6,000, making it the largest shipyard currently in Australasia. These two military industries can bring at least 3 million Australian dollars in revenue to the Royal Financial Group every year, and their significance is far greater than the income they generate.” Seeing that Arthur didn’t show any intention to ask, Butler Kent continued his report.

Needless to say, these two military industries are of great importance to Arthur and Australasia.

At present, most of the weapons equipment and warships of Australasia come from these two military industries. This is an important way for Arthur to maintain his military power and is also a significant factor for the rise of Australasia.

For Arthur, the scale of the arms factories and shipyards should not only be large, but also get larger and larger to meet Arthur’s expectations for Australasia.

“At present, the Royal Financial Group owns shares in over a thousand small and medium-sized businesses, personal workshops, and factories. The proportion of the shares varies from one to forty percent. The total value of these shares is over two million Australian dollars. Although these corporations haven’t brought any income to the Royal Financial Group yet, our purpose of investing in them is not profit, but to provide momentum for the development of various industries in Australasia. Looking at it now, at least ten percent of these thousands of businesses will develop to some extent, and maybe some of them will become the Titans of some industries in about ten years,” Kent Butler said with a smile.

The actions of the Royal Financial Group seem more like a lavender plan, to nurture the industry giants of Australasia from scratch.

Even if investing in thousands of businesses won’t consume too much capital, it will be a win for Arthur if a part of these businesses becomes the giants of their industries in the future.

The investment in other businesses can also be considered incidental, as most of the investments in these small and medium-sized businesses are just petty tricks.

“At present, which of these businesses have developed on a larger scale?” Arthur asked.

The Royal Financial Group has been established for several years now, which means some of these businesses have been invested in for several years.

A few years of development should not make having a certain scale difficult, or at least Arthur thinks so.

“Your Majesty, among the businesses we own shares in, most are in the food and light industries, with a small proportion in other industries. The most developed currently are a couple in the food industry in Sydney and Victoria State, the largest scale has reached over nine hundred people, there should be at least a hundred factories with a scale of over a hundred people,” Butler Kent answered.

The Australasian Government also gives these enterprises quite generous subsidies, and coupled with the steady economic development of Australasia, there’s a large amount of local labor in the industrial zones. And therefore, the expansion of these factories’ scale is not difficult.

Especially these food industries, which made a lot of money during the East Asian famine, so their scale has naturally experienced a large expansion.

“The substantial expansion in the number of factories and their scale is partly dependent on leading enterprises like the Benz Car Factory.” Butler Kent explained.

“As Your Majesty knows, Benz Car Factory is currently the largest car production company in the world, and our native main factory is also quite large. Car production involves various kinds of equipment and parts, these parts also provide many survival spaces for downstream small factories. Currently, three businesses we invested in have cooperated with Benz Car Factory to specifically supply Benz Car Factory with quality rubber tires.”

No matter which industrial area, the scale of industry often resembles a complete assembly line, where each factory takes what it needs.

Just like the current industrial zone in Sydney, the leading enterprises are still Arthur’s Arms Factory and the Benz Car Factory.

Let’s not talk about the arms factory for now, the Benz Car Factory has provided many conveniences for the development of the industrial zone.

The scale of the Benz Car Factory is not sufficient to support the production of all automobile parts and equipment, and there is no need to do so.

This has also led to many small factories and workshops that can rely on the parts market of the Benz Car Factory for survival.

In the Sydney industrial area, at least dozens of companies have cooperated with the Benz Car Factory to specifically provide parts such as tires, steering wheels, auto glass, seat belts, instrument panels, and seats for the Benz Car Factory.

After all, the annual production of the Benz Car Factory is as high as several hundred thousand. These orders can fully sustain large numbers of small factories, which is why there are hundreds of large and small factories in the Sydney industrial area to this date.

Benz Car Factory needs steel and parts produced by other factories in the industrial area, and other small factories also need Benz Car Factory’s various part orders.

The annual output value of the Sydney industrial area has exceeded 30 million Australian dollars, and a considerable portion of this can be attributed to the Benz Car Factory.

Arthur simply nodded. He wasn’t surprised by these circumstances.

This situation is very common in the industrial field. After all, no factory can guarantee that it is an all-rounder capable of independently producing all the parts and materials needed for their products.

If special production lines are built for some parts and materials that are not in high demand, not only would it require a lot of time, energy, and money, the resulting cost is often not worth the investment, thereby causing a loss.

This is where the role of these small factories comes to the fore. Because these are small factories, they can focus on producing certain parts and materials. The occasional orders from the Benz Car Factory are enough for their survival for a year and can also provide sufficient raw material and part supplies for Benz Car Factory.

Even Arthur’s Arms Factory has numerous small factories with which it cooperates.

However, because the military industry involves national and royal interests, these small factories are generally controlled by the royal family, even if they only produce wooden gunstocks.

“In addition to these large and small factories, we also own thirty-one mines of various sizes, four oil fields, three hospitals, two universities, one polytechnic school, along with a newspaper company. The Royal Financial Group- our shadow can be found basically everywhere throughout Australasia.” Butler Kent said with a hint of pride.

The success of the Royal Financial Group in achieving its current scale, apart from Arthur’s initial substantial investment, is also largely attributable to the efforts of Butler Kent.

As the former butler of Duke Old Arthur, Butler Kent’s economic capability and vision are naturally beyond doubt. Otherwise, he would not have been in charge of Duke Old Arthur’s private assets.

In addition to help from a large number of economic experts from Europe and Australasia hired by Arthur, the Royal Financial Group’s rapid expansion also seems normal.

At Kent’s slightly proud words, Arthur also smiled slightly and said sincerely: “The current scale of the Royal Financial Group, Butler Kent, can’t be achieved without your contributions. The royal family and I will remember your contributions and those of Minister Kent. The enduring relationship between the Lawrence Family and the royal family!”

Butler Kent and his eldest son, Minister Kent, both come from the Lawrence family. The name was given by Duke Old Arthur, which shows the relationship between the Lawrence family and the royal family.

In fact, the relationship between the nobility and the butler in Europe has a long history. If nothing unexpected happens, Butler Kent’s son will become the butler of Arthur’s descendants, and the next generation will be the same. This is the inseparable relationship between the main family and the servant family.

Because of this relationship, Butler Kent is the most trusted loyal subordinate that Arthur can have, and Minister Kent has also been placed in an important position like the Ministry of Defense by Arthur.

Most of Arthur’s military power is controlled at ease, thanks to Minister Kent’s role in the Ministry of Defence.

Arthur was watched and raised by Butler Kent, and Butler Kent’s loyalty to Arthur is almost unconditional.

After receiving such sincere words from Arthur, Butler Kent was almost in tears, and said emotionally, “Your Majesty, please rest assured that I and the Lawrence family will always stand firmly at Your Majesty’s front. The Lawrence family will always be the servants of the royal family!”

Yes, servant, not a subordinate. Although it seems to be of a much lower status, this relationship is much closer than that of a subordinate. For Arthur, Kent Butler is definitely one of the people he trusts most.