City of Grasse.
The sky is always gloomy, and a large number of factories are located in the suburbs, using child labor and the like arbitrarily. The emerging capitalists are trying every means to squeeze workers, and they are sparing no effort to reduce costs.
Such a sweatshop is said to be an adult who will never survive five years after entering it, but it is also them that together created Insman's glorious grand occasion.
In the city center, there are many Gothic buildings like spiers, and a huge clock tower chimes the time.
There is always a rush of people of all kinds on the streets. Black bowler hats, gray coats, and a civilized stick formed the mainstream clothing of gentlemen at this time.
A gorgeous carriage pulled by two black horses drove across the classical-style bridge.
Donald opened the window and what he saw was a river full of black garbage, smelly, and obviously seriously polluted. He couldn't help but frown.
As a marine warlock, he hated such a place, especially such an act that harmed the water source.
It's a pity that he is just a newly famous economist. Even if he comes out to criticize, he will not have much effect at all, because this is the trend of the times.
The carriage continued to move forward and stopped in front of a gorgeous palace-like manor.
Birds are singing, flowers are fragrant, and servants are flocking.
All of this gave Donald a strong sense of trance, as if he had gone from hell to heaven in one fell swoop.
"Is it Mr. Donald?"
A butler in a tuxedo opened the car door himself and bowed slightly: "Your Excellency, the Duke has been waiting for a long time!"
This is the residence of the Duke of Ham.
At this time, Insman's kingdom was officially ruled by the royal family, but in fact a large part of the power was concentrated in the hands of the Parliament and the Prime Minister.
Of course, as a king, he also has great power. The king's power and the power of the prime minister are in a delicate balance.
The Duke of Ham family not only has royal blood, but is also an evergreen tree in the political arena. It has produced several prime ministers and has countless political allies. It is the top noble of Insman.
Such a big noble wanted to see Donald, so Donald naturally had no choice but to come obediently.
On a lawn, Donald met the contemporary Duke of Ham.
This is a platinum-haired, energetic old man, currently wearing a loose silk robe, enjoying afternoon tea leisurely.
"Mr. Donald... I have admired your name for a long time. I have the honor to read your "The Wealth of Nations". Many of the views in it are really impressive!"
After seeing Donald, the Duke took the initiative to stand up and greet him: "Pour a cup of black tea for my guest. I have a new pastry chef here. The food he makes is very good. Try it!"
"Thanks!"
Donald expressed his gratitude reservedly and took the exquisite porcelain teacup.
The porcelain here comes from the Eastern Continent, with the color of glass and enamel, and is as exquisite as a work of art.
The black tea comes from another large colony of Insman - the Kingdom of Qilan.
And sugar cubes, a product of tropical plantations.
"Best wishes to the great Insman..."
All of this seems to be telling the rise of a powerful country. Insman seems to be taking advantage of this east wind of great navigation to become the king of the world!
"Blessings to our Queen!"
Duke Ham smiled and took a sip of black tea: "Mr. Donald, do you know what I mean by inviting you here?"
"certainly!"
Donald stood up and bowed again: "I am honored to be the personal advisor of the Duke!"
"That's great... There have been a lot of annoying things recently. With your help, I can feel much more relaxed... "
The Duke smiled and handed over a newspaper.
Donald took it cautiously, knowing that this was the test.
He composed himself and looked at the first page.
The fragrance of the ink spreads out, but does not stick to your hands at all. The huge title on it is extremely conspicuous - "Atrocity! Dearborn Port was sacked by pirates!!!"
Under the title, there is also a black and white photo. Although it is a bit blurry, a large number of ruins and corpses can be vaguely seen.
"... It is reported that the Port of Dearborn was attacked by pirates this time, accompanied by citizen riots. The Royal Navy has sailed to the Port of Dearborn to calm the situation... According to the loss statistics, more than a thousand civilians were killed or injured, Dearborn The Viscount Bourne family was wiped out... Affected by this, on the stock exchange today, the stocks of several companies that had trade dealings with Dearborn plummeted... "
"Pirates, damn pirates again!"
Duke Ham held his forehead and sighed: "Let's see... what a mess our seemingly glorious country has become? Hehe... Citizens are rioting. Who doesn't know that the most common people in Dearborn Port are pirates! That one Viscount, he shot himself in the foot, but... Insman's majesty is not allowed to be blasphemed. No matter what, the pirates who killed the noble Insman must pay the price!"
"I wonder which group of pirates did this?"
Donald calmed down and asked.
"It seems to be a newly rising group of pirates. The leader is nicknamed 'The Trickster'. He is an extraordinary person. His abilities seem to be very complex and he has displayed many strange methods..."
Under today's communication conditions, we can still know this much information, which is enough to show that this Duke is not simple.
"... Several financial groups whose interests have been damaged have joined forces to promote and form a resolution to arrest this pirate. The amount is... ten thousand gold galleons!"
Donald nodded, knowing that this trickster would probably become famous.
After all, it's rare for pirates to get such a huge bounty right out of the gate.
"Frequent piracy is only one aspect, and on the other hand, it is other countries' efforts to catch up..."
Duke Ham continued: "Our country has gained huge wealth in maritime trade, which has long aroused the covetousness of other countries on the Offal continent. For example, Sissel has continuously expanded the scale of the shipyard. He said that in the next three years, he will build an ace fleet with hundreds of warships and over 10,000 sailors!"
"At the same time, various countries are also relaxing restrictions and encouraging private capital to go overseas...their maritime capitalists will be our Insman merchants' biggest rivals in the future!"
…
The Duke seemed to be old and spoke a little garrulously, but his meaning was very clear.
Donald was silent for a moment, then thought of Fang Yuan's previous revelation, and couldn't help but said: "Pirates and foreign countries, these seem to be two issues, but in fact, they are just two aspects of the same issue, both surrounding the hegemony of the ocean! The real world King, I only need one!”
"That's right, and it can only be us, Insman!"
Duke Ham said without hesitation.
"To be honest... We, Insman, are an island country with a unique location and previous accumulation. It is also very difficult for other countries to catch up with us. Moreover, don't the major shipyards still have those trump cards? "
Donald blinked.
"Despite this, even if we have an invincible fleet, maintenance and upkeep are still a big problem. We can't do business with warships, nor can we block all the oceans!"
Duke Ham said that if Donald only had this level, he would undoubtedly be disappointed.
"Yes, so we need to crack down on piracy, and incidentally crack down on merchant ships from various countries..."
Donald whistled playfully: "But God favors Insman, our position is really good, like an unsinkable ship guarding the offshore waters of the Offal continent... If my memory is correct, Insman’s own nationals account for a very important proportion of pirates active in offshore waters and even in the Nightmare Sea, right?”
"really!"
Because it is an island country, going to sea has formed a tradition. A large number of fishermen are used to making a living at sea, and they don't mind making a little extra money.
"In fact, not only the fishermen, but also the bankrupt nobles seem to have joined some not-so-good businesses..."
Donald smiled sarcastically: "Then things are simple. How about the pirate licenses we issue to our own countries? As long as they don't rob our own ships, but only rob ships of other countries, their interests can be protected in Insman." !”
"license?"
Duke Ham was a little dizzy: "You mean... we negotiate a peace with the pirates? No... no..."
"Pirates in the ocean are inherently a powerful force. If we can conquer some of them, it will be very beneficial to our expansion!" Donald said firmly: "And we can use them to block other countries' maritime development, even if they fail. Don’t feel bad either! At critical moments, we can also recruit these forces to join the naval battle... Even after the pirates get old or want to be good, we can also collect taxes from them in exchange for the power of amnesty... "
This was the case in Britain in Fangyuan's previous life.
However, the British navy at that time was not powerful, and it was only an expedient measure to deal with Spain, a maritime power.
In this world, Insman, who has the world's largest navy, can still choose to do this in order to combat the development of the navigation industry in other countries!
Although the starting points are different, the ultimate interests are the same.
Therefore, even if Duke Ham shook his head repeatedly, Donald was very confident.
"Okay... I think this idea needs to be discussed carefully..." Duke Ham said uncertainly: "Well... Mr. Donald, I would like to invite you to have dinner with me, how about it?"
The butler holding the teapot next to him shook his hand. He knew that the people who could be invited to dinner by the Duke were even more intimate. He couldn't help but take a high look at the economist.
"That's my pleasure!" Donald smiled and bowed.
"If... I'm just saying if..." Duke Ham asked slowly: "The license suggestion is implemented, what do you think it should be called?"
"Private License, I think this official name is very good!"
Donald suggested: "And those pirate ships that have obtained privateering licenses can receive partial support from our navy. Maybe we can call them... royal pirates?!"