A plot of land was demarcated in the rural area of Port Mpande. A simple plot of land about an acre. The Corporal of the district was informed, and he watched his Commando set foot upon the barren land.
Grass and a couple of bushes grew on the land. The Zulu and Xhosa once used it for their cattle to graze. Here he is, using the land for crop cultivation. Now whilst he wanted to experience what it’s like for the everyday man. He didn’t want to get too deep.
He had no interest in owning a farm unlike the many who often read books where the main protagonist goes to a new world to start a farm. They probably never mentioned the part that without the lack of modern fertilizer, they would have to collect their excrement and shovel them over the crops. And as a modern man, he didn’t want to do that. And those novels never got too deep into farming, abstracting the process entirely to focus on the protagonists’ love interests.
Mentally taking an overview of the land, he could see the land being boxed by two fences. Each of the fences belonged to a different farm. First, he needed an estate to serve as his residence. Because he was a Boer he couldn’t have an aristocrat’s mansion, as these farmers wouldn’t like ostentatious displays of wealth. A simple cottage would serve fine, and it can be expanded according to his needs.
The rest of the land will be divided into plots. Assuming an acre of land, it will be 4046.86 metres squared. Dividing them into six plots of land, it will be approximately 675 metres squared each. Also assuming that the small house would take a single acre, the rest will be used for farming.
An idea came to his head. If he was a European aristocrat, he could lease out each plot to farmers. But considering that he was in Elfrica, and not in Europe, where land is already taken up by landowners, he doesn’t think there will be any takers.
Most important was to get someone to manage this estate for him. The traditional Boer options were a Khoikhoi servant, a wife, or a slave if he wanted to be knifed in his sleep.
The servant was out because as Commando, he served as a role model of sorts. Having a servant would encourage the other farmers to have one, which he didn’t want. The elves will be equals, who will be able to own their land to cultivate crops on. Why would they want to labour for the Boers if they have their farms?
A wife was a bad option. He didn’t even know why this thought came to him. Must be contamination from the Boers around him.
Finally, the slave was the best option if he was a Japanese light novel protagonist. They for some reason instantly fall in love with their master who bought them. Perhaps their masters bought mentally damaged slaves…
Jan decided to contract someone to do it for him. The traditional Boer would build everything by hand. Hell, he heard that Sarel build his homestead all by himself. With the help of the administration, he could get them to help construct it for him. They can also help contract someone to manage his estate for him in his stead.
Taking a scan of the land, he left to the surprise of the Boers around him, who all expected him to get to work. Chop down some trees, harvest their lumber, and begin constructing. If maybe he had cheat or whatnot, then maybe he would do something like that. But he had gold! He could pay someone to do it for him! Power of Money!
A letter was delivered by one of Potgieter’s men. Rubbing his hand in glee, he took a scan of the parchment.
Dear Jan,
The ‘tobacco’ has been delivered as requested. The Boers in Zoutpansberg don’t realize that their usual tobacco has been mixed with opium. One even smoke some in my face as they studied the shipment. It might take some time for the effects you wish to happen to set in. I will write to you in the next month or so if they’re any changes in their behaviour.
Yours sincerely,
Hendrik Potgieter
Jan put the paper away. It was expected that it would take some time for the opium addiction to seek in, but with the construction of his farm underway, he hoped the addiction would seek in so he could start planting some opium. Unlike the other Boers who farm for subsistence, he was farming entirely for profit.
Then again, there was no need to count on the people in Zoutpansberg getting addicted to opium. Opium had high demand. And demand was low cause the British were currently fighting the First Opium War. Merchants who were lining up to dump opium into China were waiting around, wondering what to do with their entire shipment. Of course, some were shipping them across the land in today’s Golden Triangle region, Myanmar, Thailand and Laos.
That was why he could rely on buying opium for the cheap for now. But once the war is done, and the British seized Hong Kong, prices of opium would shoot up due to the pent-up Chinese demand from the war. At that time, hopefully, he should have grown his opium so he could join the British in dumping them onto the Chinese market for money.
Opium has uses other than getting people addicted to it. There is no denying it has medicinal properties in pain relief, like all other drugs. Procuring some local stocks for his men to deal with whatever medical conditions they had would surely boost their standard of living.
The issue was he didn’t want them to get addicted to it. Drugs destroy families. Everyone knows about its absurd withdrawal effects that make it almost impossible for someone to quit. He would be fine if a small minority used it to deal with their medical conditions. But for everyone to use it to deal with their withdrawal? Hell no!
Some might say it is immoral to make money off opium. Such people should learn economics and even if they didn’t grow opium, someone else will fulfil the demand. He is only profiting off the current situation, and if it was uneconomical to grow opium, he would burn the opium fields so that the ashes would serve as fertilizer for the next crops. Morality was already questionable in this era. He was a Boer, should he kill himself along with every other human in South Elfrica because they were occupying the natives’ land? Their forefathers were here hundreds of years already, weren’t they as native as the natives?
Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
The Natalia Securities Exchange started with a simple small office filled with Boer bureaucrats. Every day, new hires came through the door, mostly elves, either Zulu or Xhosa. They were given a short stint in Elfrikaans and English before being given papers and sent to either Zululand or Xhosa land. There they became salespeople to the various chiefs, enticing them to lend their cattle out to the Exchange.
The Chiefs always asked a single question, “Why should they?”
Then, they’ll reply, “You get more cattle in return,”
Elves in South Elfrica practice segmentation. Once an elf becomes old enough, they will leave their parents' homestead and settle in another land, forming a small tribe with their small group of followers. The Chief of a tribe has the most cattle. They will lend out their cattle to the followers, who will be expected to return the cattle. This way, their followers will become attached to the chief while also being able to receive nutrition from the cattle’s milk.
The Natalia Securities Exchange cut out the loyalty and attachment the followers had for their chiefs. The Chiefs wondered what the point was even. For profit? More cattle are nice, but even if they had more cattle, they wondered if this business could even ensure the cattle could be returned to them.
The salesperson would present a list of signatures made by various chiefs backing the initiative. The Chiefs would then nod, seeing familiar names on the list. Whilst they were suspicious, they made light overtures and were willing to invest a couple of cattle into the initiative. If anything went wrong, they’ll look up the Chiefs on the paper and demand compensation.
Whilst these elves were promoting the exchange to their chiefs, fellow Boers were sent to the towns around the vicinity of Pietermaritzburg to convince the Commandoes to let the Exchange set up shop.
Unlike the elves, they got the concept very easily.
They could loan cattle to the Exchange, who would loan them to others. The NSE would act as an intermediary and ensure the cattle will be returned.
Which led to the question of how was the NSE going to guard the cattle they lent.
The Boer salesperson would present a piece of parchment also containing the list of Elfrican chiefs.
“The Commando of Port Mpande would repossess any debts owed.”
And like the Elfrican Chiefs, they decided to dip their toes in the initiative. After all, the Commando back in Port Mpande was a rising star in the Republic, it was best to get in his good graces. It was only a couple of cattle; they looted thousands from the Zulu.
With cattle ready to be loaned out, borrowers need to be sought out. The NSE set up a booth right by the outskirts of Pietermaritzburg and waited for the numerous wagons to pass through. These wagons contained families trekking away from the Cape Colony. They took whatever they could bring along with them. That meant any cattle was left behind. If they brought it along with them, it could be easily stolen by the local elves.
A sign read ‘Free Cattle’ in Elfrikaans. A picture of a cow that seemed to be drawn by a kid sat next to it. Some eyes were captured, but since most of them couldn’t read the words, most of them passed by.
The Boer sitting by the booth grumbled about being assigned this shitty job. His other partner, another Boer said that maybe they should change tactics.
He began hollering that they had free cattle to give out, and wagons started stopping by the booth. The patriarch of the wagon approached the booth and would inquire about the free cattle.
“We have some of them in Pietermaritzburg’s kraal. If you want them, then you’ll need to sign this and this. You ought to also tell us where you’re settling. Once that is done, we can hand the cattle over to you.”
Now, it was obvious there were many loopholes in the strategy. Nothing is stopping them from running. That was why a fixed address was required. These men had nothing. Giving them cattle tied them to the land, and thus they’re not able to trek away.
So, the Boers at the booth could only tell them to find a good spot to claim in the nearby town before coming over to the booth. They repeated this for the entire day.
It was misleading advertising, so what? It works.
The next day, families who settled in the towns around Pietermaritzburg showed up at their booth to claim the free cattle. It was an endless line of people all wanting some free cattle.
To the first person in line, they pulled out a prepared contract.
“It is free. But there are terms you must abide by.”
“Isn’t this a loan!” The person at the front grumbled, and everyone else in line also grumble with him.
“We are offering you cattle. And since you all are great farmers, you can easily pay back the loan. All we are two cattle for every one that is loaned. Of course, that means if you want to breed the cattle to pay back the loan, then you ought to borrow two cattle, a bull and a cow. Or, you could work hard and hope that the harvest on your land is good. You might only be able to buy one or two with your pitiful harvest. But I’m offering two off the back, and you can breed them and profit over the long run. This will jumpstart your farm, anyway I looked at it.”
Some of the Boers who didn’t like debt and loans left. The remaining stayed, thinking about the opportunity it offered them. It was a loan, but cattle can be bred. Over a couple of years, they should easily be able to pay back the loan. Then, they can keep the remaining cattle they bred. It was a simple deal.
The first man in line immediately the contract, borrowing two cattle to get started on his farm. They handed him two numbers and directed him to Pietermaritzburg’s kraal. The reason why they demanded the Boer’s farm location was, so they know whose cattle they ought to land. And of course, it was the Commando’s cattle. Specifically, the one that the farmer followed.
By the end of the day, they lent out all the cattle to those who would make good loans. They lived in the same town or district their Veldkornet or Commando lived. Their superior’s cattle were used to finance the loan.
The remaining loans were considered risky. Either the Commando or Veldkornet in the district didn’t support the NSE, or the place they stayed at made debt collection difficult. There was also the matter of the elven chiefs’ cattle. It was highly unlikely it will be lent to other elves since the elves’ chiefs provide the cattle to them. They could lend it to lone wanderers or those who planned to settle into new lands, but these are ultra-risky loans.
To counteract this, the NSE also formed a new division. The debt collection division. For some reason, they mainly hired Zulus and Xhosas. Once they were given guns and orders to track the borrowers deemed risky, they would harass the borrowers once every year or so to remind them about the loan. Horses were procured so that they could go from town to town to harass the borrowers. Western clothing that made them look like half-elf from a distance also helped so that they wouldn’t be harassed for looking like an elf.
Plus, if they see an elf acting as a Boer by riding on horseback with their trusty gun by their side, the Boers in town would be scared. And that is bad for business, so they were advised to act as half-elves. In doing so, they were also taught Elfrikaans.
With that in mind, the men at the booth carefully evaluated every borrower. They even did stringent background checks, asking about their time in the Cape Colony. Any gaps or holes in the explanation of their histories had any loans to them immediately denied. Most of these men were illiterate, so it was hard for them to carry out the explanation. It most likely played a role in filtering many of the men, leaving those who could give a coherent and believable backstory.
They were then asked if they had any plans of trekking away or moving to another town soon. The men could only reply that it depends based on the next harvesting season.
The Boers noted that down and wrote in their notes that their elven debt collectors should be dispatched during or before harvesting season so that they can ensure the borrowers won’t flee.
They filtered it down and gave the men loans. In their hands, were notes made about risky borrowers. For their duty, they wrote up a report on every borrower and had them sent to HQ back in Port Mpande.
The NSE workers in Port Mpande processed the report and sent them to every loaner who lent the cattle to give them an exact profile of the men they were lending to. Many Commandoes and Veldkornets were surprised that many loanees were situated either right in their towns and districts respectively. The Elven Chiefs could only deal with reports that they couldn’t comprehend, so they complained to the NSE.
The Natalia Securities Exchange quickly apologised and had Xhosa and Zulu bureaucrats write up the reports to Elven chiefs.
And with that, the first-ever transactions by the Natalia Securities Exchange were carried out.