Lord of Industrialization

When Adele watched several big men helping Shitou put on armor, Frederick was attending a banquet at the Grand Duke of Milan's residence.

This was an informal buffet-style banquet, because everyone had the opportunity to talk, and it is now increasingly accepted by the upper class.

Before the banquet began, Frederick and Grand Duke Edwards of Milan had a private chat in the study.

After talking about the weather and local customs, Edwards asked Frederick: "Do you think Milan is a suitable place to make a fortune?"

Frederick replied: "I only have a superficial understanding of Milan, but I have already felt the enthusiasm of the people here."

He was talking about the response he got from asking the businessmen in the tavern last night if they were willing to make some industrial investments. Edwards thought it was the girls who ran to his residence last night and came out at noon today, with a smile on their faces that could only be understood but not expressed in words.

Frederick pretended not to see it and continued: "The most profitable industries are always the ones that people cannot live without, such as clothes, food, travel and daily necessities."

Edwards agreed and said: "Indeed, these businesses are open to everyone, so many people do them. Everyone seems to make little money, but the profits of the entire industry are very scary."

Frederick said again: "Introducing new industries will lead to a new problem. Have you heard about the burning of Wessen cloth?"

Edwards nodded and said: "I heard that cheap and high-quality Wessen cloth and clothes made weavers and many tailors in the Rhine River Basin bankrupt. This kind of thing also happened in Milan. Now no one in the coastal and riverside areas of the Kingdom of Sardinia weaves their own cloth, and ordinary clothes tailors are not having a good time."

"There were some riots at the time, but they were quickly suppressed."

The gap in strength between ordinary people and landlord armed forces was huge, and there was no possibility of rebellion at all. If it got out of hand, it was basically someone pushing behind the scenes.

In traditional feudal manors, the cloth woven by serfs and tenants was part of the tax revenue and an important source of income for small landowners. The emergence of Wessen cloth damaged the economic interests of small landowners.

But the big landowners sold Wessen cloth, and their fists were bigger, so the situation soon calmed down.

Frederick had learned about this and said, "My philosophy is that everyone should get rich together in harmony."

"The root cause of this kind of unrest is economic problems, and we need to start from the economic aspect to solve it thoroughly."

Edwards asked seriously, "How can we solve it? Please teach me."

Frederick said, "Goods must be sold to generate profits."

Edwards nodded. Milan has a developed business, and there are many cases, and there are many examples of losing a lot of money due to transportation problems.

Frederick continued, "The people who buy goods are not only the rich people such as nobles and merchants, nor are they only the citizens and gentry in the city who have more money, but also the farmers who account for 90% of the population."

"The farmers are very poor. In the past, there was a family in our place whose quilt was hundreds of years old and had become a pile of rags, but they were still used to keep warm in winter."

"If the farmers' income is high, even if a family can afford a new piece of clothing a year, how big do you think the clothing market is?"

Edwards immediately calculated in his mind.

The Kingdom of Sardinia has about 10 million people, 9 million people based on 90% of the agricultural population, and 1.8 million households based on 5 people per household. Even if only one in ten families buys a new piece of clothing every year, that means 180,000 pieces of clothing are sold a year.

Edwards rang the bell at hand, and the butler immediately rushed in with the servants to give him a bottle of blood pressure-lowering potion.

Frederick also wanted to eat this piece of meat, but there was no way. The huge market in the north had made the garment factory run three shifts non-stop. Many families bought sewing machines, and housewives took on piecemeal work at home. The prisoners in the prison who could not repair the road worked two shifts a day and stepped on the sewing machine to make it burn, but the ready-made clothes were still in short supply.

So he has been dividing the garment factory, while holding the upstream materials and machines such as cloth and thread. Those who stepped on the sewing machine really have no energy to make money.

According to Frederick's plan, when the railway is completed in the future, the cotton in the south can be taken to the Principality of Wessen by the railway of Ferdinand Port in the Osmaga Empire. After being woven into cloth, it can be made into clothes in the Kingdom of Sardinia by railway through the White Mountains. Some of these clothes are produced locally, and some are sold to the southern continent.

Edwards sat in a chair with his eyes closed, waiting for his blood pressure to drop. At this time, his butler came to report that it was time for the banquet to start.

"No time." Edwards waved his hand, "We are talking about a business worth tens of thousands of ores a year. If they are hungry, they can eat first, no need to wait."

Frederick smiled and took a sip of tea. He hadn't agreed to anything on his side, but he released the news.

Edwards was smart and quickly asked the key question: "How can farmers buy clothes?"

Frederick smiled, put down the teacup, and replied: "Just now we said that the cloth woven by farmers at home cannot be sold. Why do they weave cloth? The key is that it is difficult to survive by relying on the output of the land."

Edwards said: "Indeed, such problems are more obvious in the mountains in the south. Many people come out to be mercenaries."

The mercenaries of the Kingdom of Sardinia are quite famous. They are good at using crossbows and good at defense.

Frederick knows them well because the Black Claw Gang successfully opened up this market and asked them to replace crossbows with double-barreled shotguns.

"Increasing farmers' income is a big problem." Frederick said, "I won't talk about the issue of taxation. It's over the line."

"In addition to tax reform to increase farmers' income, I also vigorously developed magic fertilizers, improved varieties, intensive farming and magic pest control to increase crop yields."

Edwards said a little depressed: "I originally had a lover who was a necromancer. Although she was not very beautiful, she was very gentle and spoke well."

"As a result, she received a letter from a classmate one day three years ago, and ran to your place to study magic that only kills insects but not plants."

"I heard that she got married there recently."

Frederick didn't expect him to mention this, and just smiled.

It is rumored that there is one stone of necromancers in the world, and the Duchy of Wessen has eight buckets, and there are still two buckets on the way to the Duchy of Wessen.

Frederick said: "I can sell improved varieties, fertilizers and farming machines to the Kingdom of Sardinia to increase the output of agricultural products."

"Our practice has proved that the first thing farmers buy after they have money is clothes."

While promoting the garment factory, he also further promoted seeds, fertilizers and agricultural machinery, which are all high-tech and high-profit industries.

Edwards was familiar with agricultural machinery such as tractors and bought several of them himself.

However, due to the transportation cost, the final increase in profits from improved seeds and fertilizers was limited and they were not very popular in the Kingdom of Sardinia.

Once the railway was opened, it would be easier. The transportation cost would be reduced and the profits would increase, and the final profits would be quite considerable.

Edwards thought quietly for a long time, and finally said sincerely: "I invite you to build a clothing factory in Milan."

"I think it makes sense to increase farmers' income, and I will be responsible for this matter."

Frederick replied: "There is no problem in principle to build a clothing factory, but the specific cooperation method needs to be discussed."

"There are many kinds of clothing. My opinion is to build different factories, each factory produces one kind of clothing, to avoid unnecessary competition."

Edwards agreed.

Frederick continued, "In the first cooperation model, the investors from the Duchy of Milan directly purchase equipment and build their own factories in the Duchy of Wessen. I have no relationship with them except for providing preferential treatment."

"In the second cooperation model, the Duchy of Milan provides land, and I come here to build factories and recruit workers with full capital, but there is no income here except for land use fees, taxes, and workers' wages and taxes."

"In the third cooperation model, I will invest 30% of the value of machinery and equipment, and the rest of the investors can invest in land, funds, etc., and finally distribute dividends according to shares."

"If it is the third model, I have conditions. A fool general can destroy an elite army, and the same is true for factories, so the factory managers must pass the industrial manager qualification certification examination of the Duchy of Wessen."

Edwards did not give an immediate answer. This matter needs to be discussed with others.

Frederick is not in a hurry. Let's go to the banquet first.