I will be crowned king

Although only a few months have passed, Anson can't help but feel a little nostalgic for the land that is spring-like all year round - if possible, what he wants to be the most is actually at the edge of the world covered by ice and snow. Governor of Port Carindia rather than Port Beluga.

"Thank you for your greetings, and thank you for traveling thousands of miles to come to Ice Dragon Fjord from Hantu so quickly. I thought you would not be able to come until the end of April at the earliest."

Anson chuckled enthusiastically, and the little clerk on the side had quietly stood up and walked to the wine rack nearby to prepare drinks for the two of them.

"By the way, how is Hantu's situation now?"

"It's not very good." When talking about this, Erich, who had just sat down, couldn't help but sigh:

"After the Iser Elf Punishment War ended, although His Majesty Claude I, the original Grand Duke of Thun, planned to use the truce time to rectify the war-torn land, the empire had no intention of giving him any This opportunity.”

"In the second month after the Imperial Expeditionary Force retreated, the 30,000-strong army once again climbed up to the top of the tower and faced off against the Hantu army that had not completely retreated at the border. Although there was a truce agreement, His Majesty Claude did not dare to neglect at all. Do not stop withdrawing troops and start expanding the Huangshibao military base.”

"Despite the trade assistance provided by the Kingdom of Clovis, we are still unable to make ends meet - before I left, His Majesty Claude seemed to be planning to directly mortgage Hantu's coffee trade and borrow money from the church and Clovis to purchase arms."

"The mortgaged coffee trade...has the situation become this serious?" Anson raised his eyebrows in surprise.

As a big country with little industry and rich crops, Hantu actually suffered a lot in its trade relationship with Clovis; and now in order to arm the army, it actually has to mortgage coffee, one of the most profitable commodities. , it can be seen that the Hantu treasury is definitely unable to make ends meet.

"I'm afraid it's more serious than you think... The reduction in production caused by war damage and labor shortage, even if it is mortgaged, the church and the royal family will not agree to lend him any money, not to mention the local arms prices are still soaring." Eli Xi shook his head:

"Unless a quick victory can be achieved or the pressure on the border can be alleviated, it will not take half a year, and in one or two months, this resurgent kingdom will be divided again and fall into civil war."

If this is the case, the situation that he worked so hard to achieve in Hantu will be in vain... Anson took the rum handed over by the little secretary, thanked him lightly and looked at Erich again:

"In this case, doesn't the local government have any plan to deal with it?"

"Yes." Erich replied:

"The Commander-in-Chief of the Southern Army, Major General Ludwig Franz, proposed an ambitious plan: the Southern Army marched to the Wasteland Castle, united with Hantu's troops that had not yet evacuated, directly tore up the meaningless armistice agreement, and marched towards the border. Imperial troops launch a surprise attack."

"Although another 30,000 troops were assembled after the disastrous defeat, according to Major General Ludwig's judgment, it is impossible for the empire to continue to mobilize the troops that confronted Clovis on the Western Front to frighten the Hantu, so I'm afraid they are all nothing. Combat-effective recruits and rear garrison troops.”

"As long as they launch a surprise attack, the Southern Legion can easily annihilate them all, leaving the entire southern part of the empire wide open. The Clovis and Hantu coalition forces don't even need to actually continue to attack. They just need to set up a pincer attack posture from the north and manipulate the southern border. The army will burn, kill and loot, and the empire will collapse without a fight!"

"Sounds like a pretty risky plan." Anson raised his eyebrows:

"I assume the Army didn't agree, right?"

"Your judgment is absolutely correct."

Erich nodded, holding the wine glass in both hands: "The Army believes that Major General Ludwig's plan is too bold, not to mention that breaking the armistice agreement will break the last bit of trust between the two sides. It is very likely to escalate the situation and attack the southern border of the Empire alone. The risk is too high, and it is likely to provoke other principalities within the empire who are still on the sidelines to join the camp against Clovis."

"Major General Ludwig, on the other hand, believes that the Army is unreasonably pedantic. At this point in the war, the so-called trust has long been gone, and the situation has already reached a life-or-death situation. There is no possibility of compromise between the two sides."

"Whether it is a glorious victory or the capture of a few symbolic fortresses or cities, this war can no longer be ended; only by organizing a large-scale war of annihilation and forming an organized army to destroy the empire can we force Faced with unbearable casualties, the other side bowed its knees and begged for peace."

"As soon as the negotiations with the Yser Elves were concluded, Major General Ludwig and the Southern Army were transferred to the main battlefield on the Western Front; but in his own words, this was not to admit a mistake to the army, but to prove it with facts. My judgment is correct."

"I'm afraid it won't be long before there's going to be a big war between Clovis and the Empire."

Erich's expression was worried. As an arms dealer, of course he liked to see this kind of thing; but a high-intensity war that lasted for such a long time also made people worry about whether it would cause more terrible consequences.

The sectarian schism war that lasted for several centuries and almost involved the entire Order World in the flames of war was only sixty years ago.

Anson didn't say much about Erich's worries; in his opinion, at least this time Major General Ludwig's judgment was correct. As long as Clovis and the Empire still have chips to continue this gamble, the war will inevitably happen. Continue to develop in more extreme directions and will never stop here

But in order to prevent the other party from getting distracted by something that no one could do anything about, he could only change the subject as quickly as possible: "How are the preparations for the steel plant and military factory going?"

"So far, it's basically been going well."

Speaking of his own job, Erich immediately became excited: "The initial preparations for the steel plant, especially the procurement of steel-making furnaces and many key equipment, went very poorly; although I was working in the name of the Luen family, , and falsely claimed that it planned to open a steel plant in Beigang, but it still encountered considerable resistance."

"For these equipment, especially advanced equipment and smelting technology such as steam cores, the church and local management are very strict, and they cannot be taken out of the country at all."

Anson nodded slightly, and he was mentally prepared for this.

As the Church of Order that controls core technology, in order to maintain its transcendent status, it has always spared no effort in limiting the spread of technology. Since the birth of the steam core, only the Kingdom of Clovis has been able to truly apply it on a large scale.

As for the local area, it is easier to understand - to be able to fight against an empire that is more than three times its own strength on its own, Clovis relied on the booming steel industry and all other industries that supported its development. How can we easily allow technology to leak out?

"Then how was the problem solved in the end?"

"I directly bought a small steel factory near the border of the central province - it is said to be a factory, but in fact it is almost the same as a workshop. It supplies some crude steel to the surrounding villages, towns and farms, and produces agricultural tools, construction materials and simple firearms. "Erich introduced:

"After buying it, I immediately updated the equipment of the factory. Because it had the guarantee of the Luen family and it was still in the Central Bank of China, the inspection was not so strict; and the old equipment that should have been scrapped was replaced by me. It was secretly loaded into the carriage of the steam train with other goods and hauled all the way to Beigang."

"Oh, just in case, I also attracted a local nobleman and gave him 30% of the shares for free to become a shareholder of the factory. What's interesting is that the nobleman's surname is also Bach, which is exactly the same as yours. ." Erich chuckled.

Um?

The little clerk sitting in the corner was stunned for a moment, then suddenly looked back at Anson on the sofa opposite.

According to my own investigation, although Bach is not a prominent form, the number is definitely not common in the Kingdom of Clovis; and living in the countryside of the central province, and in a wealthy and convenient countryside with steel plants, it should be Just...

Following his nervous gaze, Anson, who was holding the wine glass, did not show any unusual emotions on his face. He just smiled calmly, as if he had heard some interesting rumors:

"continue."

"Compared with steel plants, military factories are much easier." Erich also remained calm, as if he was not surprised at all:

"Relying on the last round of acquisitions and the arms sales to Hantu, August Military Factory already has a complete production line and many skilled workers; it only needs to pay some 'public relations' expenses and have a few drinks with some big shots. , it’s easy to transport them to Northport.”

"After arriving at North Port, with the assistance of the Cecil family, the rest of the matter went smoothly - they even hired a group of the best dock porters, and the tax officials at the port didn't even check the boxes. The goods were taxed directly on a bunch of smelting equipment based on the price of 'textiles'."

At this point, Erich couldn't help laughing: "I have to admit that it is indeed a wise choice for you to win over the Cecil family."

"Now all the equipment, including two hundred skilled workers, has arrived and is on the merchant ship anchored in the port; it also includes a batch of refined salt, some coffee and sugar, plus ten cases of wine and ten cases of rum."

"People from the Cecil family persuaded me to bring it. They patted their chests and told me that as long as I transported it to Beluga Port, I could at least double the profit. Is this true? Because I don't think people here can. So much…cash.”

"Yes, he lied to you." Anson chuckled:

"In fact, those goods can be sold for at least fifteen times the profit in Beluga Port, and can be sold for twenty times in more remote colonies - provided you are willing to accept them to pay with ore, wood and leather, or even slaves... Five newly captured 'beast slaves' are worth less than a bottle of strong liquor."

"That's absolutely acceptable!"

Erich's eyes lit up and he couldn't wait to say: "Now I finally understand why colonial trade can still make so many people happy despite the huge risks and investment!"

It only takes one trip to earn fifteen times the gross profit, and the revenue ratio cannot be described as terrifying!

And this is the simplest point-to-point trade. If a merchant ship departs from the port of the Principality of Adland with a load of tobacco, arrives at North Port and sells part of it in exchange for coffee and sugar, then sells coffee in the three countries of the North Sea to buy salt, and exchanges coffee for the empire. The livestock of the colony went to Beluga Port to sell livestock, salt and sugar at high prices, and they purchased large amounts of coal and iron ore, as well as almost free seafood. Finally, they sailed straight back to North Port, filled the steam train carriages with the ore, and transported it all the way to the central Provincial factories...

No! This is still too slow and the risk is too huge; there should be a simpler, faster and more profitable "game" for colonial trade... Erich looked at Anson eagerly:

"Your Excellency, Commander-in-Chief, it is said that you have the idea of ​​opening a bank in Beluga Port - can you tell me a little bit about it?"

Facing the enthusiastic Erich, Anson, who did not answer him immediately, raised his head and looked at a corner of the smoking room; sensing the sight, the little clerk straightened his back and nodded imperceptibly.

"There is such a thing, but it is just an idea at the moment." Anson responded calmly:

"Beluga Port, as a rapidly developing colony, lacks sufficient funds as a driving force for development; businessmen cannot find a place to raise funds and borrow money, and ordinary people do not have good means of saving."

"But at least at this stage, the time to set up a bank is not yet mature, and the safest way is to attract the Royal Bank and the church to settle in; it is difficult for ordinary private banks to gain everyone's recognition and confidence."

This was of course not Anson's real idea, but opening a bank was still too arrogant anyway; and as the first bank in the colony, it was almost bound to assume a lot of administrative functions, including taxation.

Colonial merchants now have financing methods and no longer need to barter to be exploited by local merchants at low prices, or take the initiative to go to Beigang and be exploited by customs officials. This is almost equivalent to directly touching the royal family's cake - even if the other party has no time to care about it for a while. Even Anson himself didn't think that this kind of thing could be let go lightly in the end.

Although the royal family owes the Luen family a favor due to the procurement incident, unless it is absolutely necessary, Anson feels that it is best to discuss this matter with the royal family, or to find a way to unite more wealthy nobles who are "loyal to the country" to share the responsibility. .

In this way, everyone is loyal and no one is more outstanding than anyone else. It will be difficult for Your Majesty to blame some people for being too loyal.

Erich can completely understand this. Although the Luen family is ancient and glorious, they have remained semi-secluded for various reasons all year round. If you want to open the first colonial bank in Beluga Port, you still need to obtain certain More influential friends.

"Although it is a pity, we can only give up for the time being and regard it as a future plan - within this year, Beluga Port must have its own bank." Anson sighed regretfully, but then changed the topic:

"But I have another business that is sure to be profitable, and I want to leave it to you to handle."

"Oh, what kind of product is that?"

"people!"

Anson, expressionless, spoke out the term clearly.