I Will Be The Crowned King

Although it has only been a few short months, but at the edge of the world covered in ice and snow, Anson can't help but feel a little nostalgic for the land that is like spring all year round - if possible, what he most wants to be is Governor of Port Carindia instead of Moby Dick.

"Thank you for your greetings, and thank you for being able to travel thousands of miles from Hantu to Binglong Fjord so quickly. I thought you wouldn't come until the end of April at the earliest."

An Sen chuckled enthusiastically, and the little secretary on the side had quietly got up and walked to the wine rack next to him to prepare drinks for the two of them.

"Speaking of which, how is Hantu's situation now?"

"Not very good." Speaking of this, Erich, who had just sat down, couldn't help sighing:

"After the war of punishment of the Elf Elves, although His Majesty Claude I, the original Grand Duke Thun planned to use the truce time to rectify the riddled vast soil damaged by the war, the empire did not plan to give him any money at all. this opportunity."

"In the second month of the retreat of the Imperial Expeditionary Force, the 30,000-strong army once again stood on the top of the tower and confronted 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 to expand the military base of the deserted stone castle."

"Despite the trade aid provided by the Kingdom of Clovis, I still cannot make ends meet-before I left, His Majesty Claude seemed to intend to directly mortgage the coffee trade of Hantu and borrow money from the church and Clovis to buy arms."

"The mortgage coffee trade...is the situation serious enough?" Anson raised his brows in surprise.

As a big country with few industries and abundant crops, Hantu is actually quite disadvantaged in its trade relationship with Clovis; and now, in order to arm the army, one of the most profitable commodities, coffee, is mortgaged. , it can be seen that the Hantu treasury is definitely not making ends meet.

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

"Unless the battle can be resolved quickly or the pressure on the border can be eased, it will not take half a year, and in a month or two, this revived kingdom will be divided again and plunged into civil war."

If this is really the case, the situation that I finally managed to fight with all my strength in Han soil would be a waste... Anson took the rum handed over by the little secretary, thanked him lightly, and looked at Erich again:

"Since this is the case, doesn't the mainland have any plans to deal with it?"

"Yes." Erich replied:

"The commander-in-chief of the Southern Corps, Major General Ludwig Franz, proposed an ambitious plan: the Southern Corps marched to Barrenstone Castle, united with the troops that had not yet evacuated from Hantu, directly tore up the meaningless armistice agreement, and sent to the frontier. The imperial army launched a surprise attack."

"Although another 30,000 troops have been assembled after the fiasco, according to Major General Ludwig's judgment, it is impossible for the empire to continue to send troops to confront Clovis on the western front to shock Hantu, so I'm afraid it's nothing. Combatant recruits and rear garrison troops."

"As long as a surprise attack is launched, the southern legion can easily wipe them all out, and the entire southern part of the empire will open up empty doors; Clovis and the Hantu coalition don't even need to really continue to attack, just put on a stance of attacking from the north, and they will be in the southern border. Soldiers burn, kill and loot, and the empire will collapse without a fight!"

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

"I guess the Army definitely 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, and it is very likely to expand the situation. The risk is too high, and it is likely to provoke other duchies within the empire, which are still on the sidelines, to join the camp against Clovis."

"And Major General Ludwig thinks that the Army is too pedantic to understand. At this point in the war, the so-called trust has already disappeared, and the situation has already reached the point of life and death. 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, it is impossible to end the war; only by organizing a large-scale war of annihilation and an organized army to destroy the empire can force The other party bowed his knees and begged for peace in the face of unbearable casualties."

"As soon as the negotiation with the Iser elf was over, 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 an admission of wrong to the Army, but to prove it with facts. Your judgment is correct."

"I'm afraid it won't be long before Clovis and the Empire will have a war."

Erich's expression was worried. As an arms dealer, of course he liked 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 dire consequences.

The war of sectarian division that lasted for centuries and almost brought the entire world of order into the flames of war was only sixty years ago.

Regarding Erich's worries, Anson didn't say much; 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 carry on the gamble, the war will inevitably end. Continue in more extreme directions and never stop there

But in order to prevent the other party from paying attention to this kind of thing that everyone can do nothing, he can only change the topic as soon as possible: "How is the preparation work for the steel factory and the military factory going?"

"So far, everything has been going smoothly."

Speaking of his own job, Erich immediately became excited: "In the beginning, the preparatory work for the steel plant, especially the purchase of the steelmaking furnace and many key equipment, went very poorly; although I was in the name of the Rune family , and lied that it was planning to open a steel plant in Beigang, but it still encountered a lot of resistance."

"For these equipment, especially advanced equipment such as steam cores and smelting technology, the church and local management are very strict, and it is impossible to take them out of the country at all."

An Sen nodded slightly, he was also mentally prepared for this.

As the Church of Order that controls the core technology, it has always spared no effort in restricting the spread of technology in order to maintain its detached status; since the birth of the Steam Core, only the Kingdom of Clovis can really be applied on a large scale.

As for the mainland, it is better to understand - to be able to fight an empire that is more than three times his own strength by himself, Clovis relies on the booming steel industry and all other industries that are fundamentally supported by it. How could it be so easy to let technology flow out.

"Then how was the final problem solved?"

"I directly bought a small steel factory close to the central and provincial borders - it's a factory, but it's actually similar to a large and small workshop, supplying some crude steel to the surrounding villages and farms, producing farm implements, building materials and simple firearms. "Erich introduced:

"After I bought it, I immediately updated the equipment for this factory. Because of the guarantee of the Luen family and the fact that it is still in the Central Bank of China, the investigation is not so strict; and the old equipment that should have been scrapped was taken by me. It was secretly loaded into the carriage of the steam train with other goods and pulled all the way to the North Port."

"Oh, just in case, I also wooed a local noble and gave him 30% of the shares to become a shareholder of the factory; the interesting thing is that the noble family is also surnamed Bach, which is exactly the same as your surname. ." Erich chuckled.

Um?

The little secretary sitting in the corner was stunned for a moment, then turned back suddenly to look at An Sen on the opposite sofa.

According to my own investigation, although Bach is not a prominent form, the number of Bach is definitely not common in the Kingdom of Clovis; and living in the countryside of the Central Province, and having a steel factory in a wealthy and convenient countryside, should be just...

Following his nervous gaze, Anson, who was holding the wine glass, did not show any abnormal emotions, but just smiled plainly, as if he had heard some interesting rumors:

"continue."

"Compared with steel factories, military factories are much easier." Erich also kept his face unchanged, as if he was not surprised at all:

"Relying on the last round of acquisitions and arms sales to Hantu, the August Arms Factory already has a complete production line and many skilled workers; it only needs to pay some 'public relations' fees and accompany some big people for a few drinks , they can easily be transported to Northport."

"After arriving at North Port, with the assistance of the Cecil family, the rest of the matter was logical - they even hired a group of the best dock porters, and the tax officials at the port didn't even check the boxes at all. Goods, taxed a bunch of smelting equipment directly at the price of 'textiles'."

Speaking of which, 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 the two hundred skilled workers, has arrived, in the merchant ships moored 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 take it with me. They patted my chest and told me that as long as it was shipped to Beluga Port, I could at least double my profit. Is this true? Because I don't think people here can have it. So much... cash."

"That's right, he lied to you." An Sen chuckled:

"In fact, those goods sell for at least fifteen times the profit in Beluga Harbor, and twenty times as much in the more remote colonies—provided you're willing to accept that they pay for ore, wood and leather, even slaves... The five 'beast slaves' just caught are not as valuable as a bottle of spirits."

"This is absolutely acceptable!"

Erich, who was so bright in front of his eyes, couldn't wait to say, "I finally understand why the trade risks and investment in the colonies are huge, but they still keep so many people happy!"

You can earn 15 times the gross profit with just one trip. The profit ratio is simply indescribable!

And this is the simplest point-to-point trade. If a merchant ship is loaded with tobacco from the port of the Duchy of Adland, it arrives at the North Port and sells some of it for coffee and sugar, and then sells coffee in the Three Kingdoms of the North Sea to buy salt, and exchange coffee for the empire. The livestock of the colony went to Beluga Port to sell livestock, salt and sugar at high prices, purchased large amounts of coal, iron ore, and seafood for almost no money, and finally returned to Beigang in a straight line, filled the carriage of the steam train with the ore, and transported it all the way to the center Provincial factories...

Do not! This is still too slow, and the risks are too great; there should be a simpler and faster profitable "play" 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 - is it convenient to reveal one or two?"

Facing the enthusiastic Erich, Anson, who didn't answer him immediately, looked up to a corner of the smoking room; the little secretary who felt his sight straightened his back and nodded indistinctly.

"There is such a thing, but it's just an idea at the moment." An Sen responded indifferently:

"Beluga Harbor, as a rapidly developing colony, lacks sufficient funds as a driving force for development; businessmen cannot find a place to finance and borrow, and ordinary people have no good means of saving."

"But at least the time to set up a bank is not ripe at this stage, 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 approval and confidence."

Of course this wasn't Anson's real idea, but the idea of ​​starting a bank was too much of a fanfare anyway; and as the colony's first bank, it would almost certainly take on quite a few administrative functions, including taxation.

Colonial merchants have financing means, so they no longer need to be exploited by local merchants by barter~www.readwn.com~ or take the initiative to go to Beigang to be exploited by customs officials, which is almost equivalent to directly touching the cake of the royal family - even if the other party There will be no time to take care of himself for a while, and Anson doesn't think this kind of thing can be let go lightly in the end.

Although the purchase incident made the royal family owe an adult to the Rune family, but unless absolutely necessary, Anson felt that it was best to discuss this matter with the royal family, or to find a way to unite more "loyal to the country" wealthy nobles to share the responsibility together. .

In this way, everyone is loyal, and no one is more prominent than the other, and it is difficult for Your Majesty to blame some people for being too loyal.

Erich can also fully understand this point. Although the Rune family is old and glorious, after all, it has maintained a semi-reclusive state all the year round for various reasons; if you want to open the first colonial bank in Beluga Port, you still need to obtain certain more influential friends.

"Although it's a pity, I can only give it 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 the conversation changed:

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

"Oh, what kind of product is that?"

"people!"

The expressionless Anson spit out the term clearly.

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