Chapter 7 Downsizing
If Barron is given enough time, he is confident that with a certain amount of original capital, he can earn enough money in the capital market to save the family assets!
But now it seems that I still need to speed up the progress, so the initial amount of original capital is more important.
This is what he is doing now, trying to raise as much funds as he can use.
At this time, there are actually many financial investment opportunities.
For example, international oil prices have started to rise since the end of last year.
Now, the international oil price is around US$25 per barrel. Although there will be ups and downs in the future, it will generally be in an upward channel until mid-July 2008. International oil prices have reached a high point, approaching US$150 per barrel.
It can be said that this is a long-term bullish opportunity, but in the short term, if you want to solve the current funding problem, you need a way that can produce faster results.
"Master Barron, there is something you need to decide."
At this time, the butler Sean said to Barron:
"It's about the arrangement of servants. Now we have three more personal servants at home. In addition, given our current situation, I'm afraid the previous configuration of servants can also be adjusted, which can save a lot of costs..."
< br>Butler Sean refers to the fact that after Barron's father, eldest brother and grandmother passed away, the three personal servants became redundant.
And now there is only one member of the Cavendish family, Barron, which means that he is the only master left in this manor. Therefore, the original number of more than thirty The scale of human servants seems to be too many and can be streamlined.
In the end, as a butler, Sean must give priority to his family.
Mentioning these, we need to talk about some configurations of servants in noble families.
Generally in a traditional aristocratic family, there will be a butler who serves as the head of all servants.
Just like in the Cavendish family, the butler is Sean, who can usually be called the butler directly. He is responsible for coordinating and managing the affairs of the entire family and keeping some more valuable items, such as wine. Cellar and silver tableware...
There will also be a housekeeper who is mainly responsible for managing the maids in the home. In addition to serving as the housekeeper's assistant, she is responsible for directing the organization and cleaning of the home.
In the Cavendish family, the housekeeper is named Riley. She has been the housekeeper of the family since her mother's generation.
Then there is the cook, who is responsible for the affairs of the kitchen. Usually the cook, the male butler and the female housekeeper are all high-level servants.
The cook enjoys supreme rights in the kitchen. For example, at some family banquets, the cook has the right to refuse requests for meals other than the menus set in advance.
Then there are valets and valets. A valet is a servant who accompanies female members to take care of their daily life; a valet is a servant who accompanies male members to take care of their daily life.
As for other male servants and maids, when there are more than two, there will also be certain levels, such as the chief male servant, the first male servant, etc.
So for a family like the Duke of Devonshire, it is very normal for each family member to have his or her own personal servant - even Barron stayed in London most of the time before. , the family arranged a valet Ramos for him.
Now, of course, there is no need to retain the three redundant personal servants, which can also save the manor's expenses.
In addition, the original number of servants of more than thirty people can also be streamlined.
"How was it usually handled before?"
Hearing Barron's question, Butler Sean said: "They will all be laid off. When so many people are no longer needed, The decision is also based on their daily performance, and when we dismiss them, for those servants who have worked hard for the family before, we can help write letters of recommendation for their next customers, which is often very helpful for their future applications. Help."
"Let's proceed like this, Butler Sean, you can decide these things."
Barron waved his hand and said.
“In addition...”
Butler Sean hesitated for a moment:
“Anna, the old lady’s personal housekeeper, is almost sixty years old. I have served the old lady for forty years...I am afraid that at her age, it will be difficult to find another job..."
"We cannot be impersonal towards such people. You can ask her for her opinion. If she still wants to work, then we can provide her with an easier job. If she wants to live a long life, then we can Pay for part of her future living expenses.”
In the beginning, more respectable aristocratic families would provide pensions for servants like Anna who had served the family for most of their lives. However, with the improvement of the entire social security system, their salary already includes this part of the pension. Therefore, what Barron said is to provide the other party with an additional subsidy in addition to the pension.
"You are really so kind, Master Barron, God will bless you."
Originally, the butler Sean was a little worried. Based on his previous knowledge of Master Barron, The other party is likely to be unkind, so after Barron said such words, he did not hesitate to praise him, and he was still very emotional.
“Then look at this asset list, if you don’t sell the jewelry and antiques, how much cash can you get?”
Barron gave the former Sean butler in his hand to He asked as the catalog of assets held directly by his family was handed back to him.
"In my opinion, at most 100,000 pounds of funds can be used..."
Hearing this amount, Barron sighed. Most of his family's assets have been injected into the family trust. Fund, and I believe that the assets and cash portion of the assets originally held directly will inevitably be invested in the "London Star" fraud project...
Now, this part of the assets is, at most, like Sean The steward told him that he had provided 100,000 pounds of funds for Barron to invest.
But with this money, it is very difficult and almost impossible to get back the planned 35 million pounds of funds in the capital market.
Even if Barron has experience in his previous life, for the capital market at this time, he can only remember some key nodes at most. It is impossible to remember all the price trends of investment products. It's impossible.
Seeing Barron's slightly melancholy expression, Butler Sean said:
"Master, are you going to use it to pay inheritance tax? In fact, you can temporarily sell those jewelry and antiques or mortgage them..."
"I am going to invest it, otherwise I will never have the money to pay inheritance tax and bank loans anyway."
"Invest?!"
Butler Sean was shocked when he heard that Barron was ready to invest:
"But Master, investment is risky, and it is very likely that all the money will be lost..."
It can be seen that after the family's investment loss in the "London Star" this time, Butler Sean has a lot of concerns about The word "investment" is also particularly sensitive.
What’s more, in his eyes, how could the young master who only lived and drank so much before be able to invest... Even the master had lost such a large amount of money because of investment. The Vendish family is in such a big crisis!
(End of this chapter)