Fox only half-listened to Owl. How ridiculous. Pay off the jungle's debts to the hill-side goats. Why should they? The goats may bleat all they want, yet whenever he pointed to a sick and dying monkey or squirrel baby, they would relent and loan him more money.
"But the bamboo flowers are growing in abundance, Mr. President," said Owl. "There is more than enough to pay our loan back. Anyway, we have not even paid a single seed for the interest this past five years."
Fox licked his paw clean before saying, "Why can't we just harvest those flowers for ourselves. it is a very easy commodity to sell to the rodents, and the pandas pay a high price for the delicacy."
"Because, sir, the commodity currently goes through a long line of middle-men. The more it changes hands, the less our revenue becomes. If we pay the goats directly with them then we can repay our loan based on the full market price of bamboo flowers. We don't have to worry about discounts or bad debts or late payment.
Squirrel nudged Owl to remind him of the report they had received that morning, but Owl scowled him into a ball of fright. The bird continued, "As per our rendering, after all cost and discounts had been calculated, the jungle treasury only receives 10% of the open market value." Because 50% goes into your pocket and 30% to your cronies, Owl thought to himself.
Fox studied the owl's wide-eyed face before saying, "Well, it cannot be helped because that is how the market works. Anyway those money are used to pay for the administrative fees and supply chain management charges. All the companies involved are privately owned, and the money they earned trickles back into the community in forms of new jobs, and new businesses."
Owl's head sank lower into his down feathers. "I talked with the goat treasurer this morning. She informed me that they are thinking of taking legal action against us."
"Ah..., problems, problems, problems. Leave me alone to think about this."
Once Owl and Squirrel had trudged out of his burrow, a fat rat squeezed out of a hole in the wall.
"Rat, my friend, what do you think I should do?
"Even if the goats win in court, it is going to be a long drawn out battle, and it will not settle their debts immediately. It will also cost them a lot of money. Maybe you should talk to the vultures."
"The vultures? How are those tight-fisted carrion birds going to help?"
"You don't have to ask for help, you can sell the debt to them. They are very good at buying debts."
Fox sat up. "What do you mean? How do I sell debts?"
"Vultures are interested in assets which comes in the form of property and labour. Selling your debt to them is equivalent to selling the country to them. They will love to get full control, and they can do it by using those debts."
"But what about me?"
"You will be paid a large amount of money for using their banking services, and since they will be the ones negotiating with the goats, you won't have to be involved. The only thing you may be asked to do is to persuade the parliament to vote in favor of the sale. As Owl pointed out, our treasury is poor, so this debt will be easy for them to buy over."
"What if I continue as I am?"
"Then you may have to contend with Owl and his little assistant. I think that Owl has begun to put the numbers together and may have figured out where all those fees money went. A few accountants reported to me that Owl has been asking questions. The kind of questions that may lead to your impeachment."
"In that case, I think I do need to talk to the vultures."
Outside the burrow, tired parent birds returned home to underfed chicks and exhausted porcupines dragged their feet over the jungle's compost floor. A hard day's work was barely enough to earn them food to feed a family. Though bamboo flowers bloomed in heavy bunches about the jungle, the government had declared these as public jungle properties hence any animal that took even a fallen bloom without a license would be arrested and sent to the work-camps. The vultures had nothing to loose.
