Fatty Shi hurried to Lorist's study with a thick file folder. It had been a month since the Duke of Kenmes came to visit. November of the year.
In a small office next to the study, Fatty Shi was very relieved to see his second son, Freid, copying a stack of official documents with a sad face. He coughed twice, and waited until Frey Reid raised his head to look at him before saying: "Go and inform, I'm here to see His Highness..."
Frereide raised his eyebrows listlessly at the door of the study: "Father, go in by yourself. Your Highness has already said that you don't need to report..."
Fatty Shi became angry all of a sudden: "Bastard boy, if you are asked to report it, you should report it. Your Highness is being polite. As a subordinate, you must know the rules and keep your duty. Do you understand? Hurry up!"
Freyrid stood up muttering: "It's unnecessary, why don't you bother others, it seems that you know the rules best..."
Soon, Frereide flashed out from the study and opened the door of the study: "No, Your Highness invites you in..."
Lorist was not the only one in the study. Tagle, who was the chief intelligence officer of the Norton family, stood beside the desk.
"You're here? Let's take a look at these reports from the imperial capital." Lorist pointed to the documents on the table and said to Fatty Shi.
Fatty Shi put down the folder in his hand, picked up a piece of information on the table and read: "Your Majesty has decided to form the Cyclone Army, with a full strength of 45,000 people, to be deployed in Malivia Province. There is already definite evidence It shows that the Ontario Chamber of Commerce obtained a standard fine iron weapon and armor equipment from the Business Alliance, and sold it to His Majesty at a preferential price of raw materials plus 30 gold points. Payment... According to insiders in the palace, His Majesty the King placed an order for 100,000 sets of standard iron equipment from the Commercial Alliance... Your Majesty, is Your Majesty crazy..."
No wonder Fatty Shi raised such doubts, what does the Second Highness want to do? The Commercial Alliance used to be the mortal enemy of the Krissen Empire, but now the Second Highness has placed an order for 100,000 sets of standard refined iron equipment from it. A huge amount of money, not to mention the raw materials to make this equipment...
"What did you see?" Lorist asked.
"I wonder if our Majesty is out of his mind. Now it is a time of peace, but instead he has vigorously strengthened his armaments and invested funds in this bottomless hole. Three million Jinford's funds plus raw materials are exchanged for 100,000 sets. Standard refined iron equipment, has he forgotten that the business alliance was once the greatest enemy of the empire? He is supporting the enemy of the empire!
Also, the Storm Legion lost its reputation because of the incident of caravan robbery. His Majesty the King doesn't think that adding a word of sand can become a new legion, right? The Blizzard Legion is still deployed in Malivia Province. Isn't this intended to replace the White Lion Legion? Could it be that His Majesty is going to let the White Lion Legion be responsible for eliminating bandits in the country, and let the Blizzard Legion be responsible for foreign expeditions in the future? " Fatty Shi doubted.
"If you look at the other documents, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce built a large-scale refinery and forge in Liushuichuan, which carried out preliminary processing and refining of various raw materials and ores, which improved the efficiency of transportation The cost of land transportation. And the three million funds that His Majesty ordered from the Business Alliance for 100,000 sets of refined iron equipment...
It is said that the three million goldford funds were forcibly apportioned to the Ontario Chamber of Commerce by His Majesty the King. Because we increased the purchase price of raw materials and mineral resources, His Majesty lost one million of the income last year and this year, so he Pass this loss on to the Ontario Chamber of Commerce. As for the other million, it is His Majesty's investment in the Ontario Chamber of Commerce. He invested 800,000 Goldfords and asked the Ontario Chamber of Commerce to give a return of 500,000 profits every year. This is really a good deal... "
There was a mocking smile on the corner of Lorist's mouth: "I really admire the business talent of the young master Selig who presided over the Ontario Chamber of Commerce. He not only resisted our family's price war to increase the purchase price of raw materials and mineral resources, It is indeed a remarkable talent to be able to develop the Ontario Chamber of Commerce to its current scale step by step under the greedy and forced apportionment of our Majesty.
I originally thought that increasing the purchase price would reduce the cash flow of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, increase its land transportation costs, and then force our Majesty to pass the loss on to the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, forcing it to disconnect or reduce the access to the Ontario Chamber of Commerce. The trade route scale of the business alliance. But I didn't expect that they would ingeniously use the standard refined iron equipment to satisfy His Majesty's greed, and expand trade with the business alliance to make up for the return of cash.
I have to admit that our family's intention to force the Ontario Chamber of Commerce to submit by raising the purchase price of raw materials and mineral resources has lost its effect. In order to obtain the 100,000 sets of standard refined iron equipment, our King has already ordered the Ontario Chamber of Commerce to obtain the one hundred thousand sets of standard iron equipment. Mining and marketing rights for seven mineral resource areas in three provinces have been awarded to the Ontario Chamber of Commerce... ”
In the past, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce was only involved in sales rights, so the Norton family raised the purchase price of raw materials and mineral resources. The Ontario Chamber of Commerce had to keep up. But now that His Highness the Second Highness has also granted the mining rights of the mineral resource areas of the provinces directly under the Central Government to the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, then the Ontario Chamber of Commerce can mine on its own without the need for external acquisitions. Over time, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce will definitely develop into a commercial giant, and even affect the implementation of the empire's policies. This should be something that a wise king should avoid and be vigilant about...
"Your Highness, what should we do..." Fatty Shi asked, frowning.
"How to deal with it? There is no way..." Lorist shook his head: "We can't control His Majesty's decision. It is his right as the emperor of the empire to do what he wants. As long as our family's interests are not violated, then we can only stand Watching from the sidelines. In fact, in the next few years, our family will not have the energy to meddle in other affairs. Even if we suffer a little dark loss, we can only bear with it.
At present, our family's energy is focused on the Malek defense line in Pan Son Province. This is a major event related to the long-term stability of our family in the next century. It will become the back garden of our Norton family and a good place for our citizens to live and work in peace and contentment. In the future, when the family's power expands to the wild, it will have a solid backing and base. "
Lorist pointed at the several pieces of information that were spread out on the table: "Actually, these pieces of information don't just let us know what happened between His Majesty and the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, what agreement was reached, if we analyze it in depth We can also discover more secrets from it. For example, what do you think of the 100,000 sets of standard iron equipment mentioned here... "
Fatty Shi's complexion changed: "One hundred thousand sets in two years... Your Highness, this shows that the business alliance is likely to use large-scale hydraulic forging machines like our family, otherwise it would be impossible for them to complete this project within two years if they were built by manpower." order, and sell it to His Majesty at such a low price... "
"Yes..." Lorist nodded: "This shows that the strength and vitality of the business alliance have recovered quickly, so they can research and manufacture these hydraulic machines. Now the empire and the business alliance have a close relationship under the liaison of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce. In order to communicate with each other, the restriction on the commercial alliance that we arranged in the past has completely lost its effect. Just like the salt monopoly system implemented by the Peterson Kingdom, it has become a decoration. The Ontario Chamber of Commerce transported rock salt in large quantities to the commercial alliance for sale. The Kingdom of Petersen doesn't dare to control it at all. And the Stormwind Legion that His Majesty is going to form will be deployed in Malivia Province, which is clearly threatening the Kingdom of Petersen not to interfere with the trade between the empire and the business alliance... "
"Your Highness, do you think the business alliance is likely to attack the Kingdom of Petersen in the next few years?" Fatty Shi asked.
"It is possible that if the business alliance wants to revive, it must open the passage to the Faliqiu Plain and regain the Faliqiu Plain and Morant City. The Kingdom of Peterson is the first hurdle in front of them. But judging from the current situation , the business alliance should not be so unwise. If it launches an attack first in the next few years, it will definitely become a thorn in the eyes of all countries in the surrounding area. After all, it has only been a few years since the war in the central and southern regions subsided, and all countries in the surrounding area are wary of it... ..." Lorist replied while looking at the map on the wall.
"Tager, step up the investigation of the commercial alliance, and report back immediately if you find any move or sign that the commercial alliance is preparing for war!" Lorist ordered.
"Yes, Your Highness." Tagle replied.
"Your Highness, it's a pity that we are too far away from the Faliqiu Plain and the Petersen Kingdom. If there is any change there, we will be beyond our reach." Fatty Shi sighed.
"Hehe, it's okay. Don't forget that our family still has a leased land beside Morente City. As long as we help defend Morente City, it doesn't matter even if we lose the Mana Hill Plain. Sometimes I really hope that the Commercial Alliance can raise troops to attack again. , then I am going to mobilize the family's armed forces to completely destroy it, so as to eliminate our worries. Alas, it is a pity, we don't have this chance now." Lorist sighs now, if he didn't care about the casualties of soldiers back then If you work hard, you don't have these troubles now.
The business alliance is indeed a Xiaoqiang who can't be beaten to death, the kind that can be brilliant if given some sunshine, especially now that he is joining hands with His Highness the Second Highness, and under the communication of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, the business is getting bigger and bigger. All affected the layout of the Norton family in the empire. And Lorist couldn't come up with any good countermeasures for a while. After all, business competition cannot be solved by shouting and killing. Using the identity of a sword master to suppress it will only result in inferiority and being laughed at...
Tagle tidied up the information materials on the table, bowed respectfully and retreated. Lorist opened a bottle of blackcurrant fruit wine and poured a glass for Fatty Shi and himself.
Fatty Shi flipped through the thick folder he brought, and drank the fruit wine in the glass in one gulp: "Your Highness, this is a report from the Chief Camorra. To increase the amount of grain purchased next year, at least double the amount of grain purchased this year... "
Lorist shook his head: "Our Majesty is short of money and short-sighted. The grain purchased by Qilin Gang is transported to Morente City for sale, and His Majesty can earn more than one million Jinford from it every year. You write a letter to tell He, the grain market in Morente City is only so big, and there are only so many needs. If you increase the quantity of purchases, the selling price will only drop, and there will be no profit. Reject his request... "
Fatty Shi nodded: "Master Siluoba sent a report from the front line of Pangshan Province. He is not optimistic about the completion of the scheduled project progress plan of the Malek Defense Line this year. The project progress planned for this year is One hundred miles, but the current progress has only been completed for more than sixty miles. The lack of labor is the biggest reason why the project cannot be carried out as planned. We need more young and strong labor... "
Lorist frowned. This is a big problem the family is currently facing. Maybe it is because the life in the family territory is too good. Provinces to carry out engineering work, as long as they can endure hardship and work hard, they can easily find a good job in the Northland. This made the family's original plan to recruit 100,000 young and strong laborers in the North to build the Malek line of defense in Panshan Province fell through...
"Now there are only more than 40,000 laborers working on the front line of the project in Pan Son Province, and more than 30,000 of them are prisoners of the Storm Legion. They were sentenced to five years of hard labor and forced to work by us. In the past year, nearly a thousand casualties were caused, mainly due to poisoning. Morale was low due to the plague and the sneak attack of the mountain barbarian tribes. The remaining 10,000 young and strong laborers were all the people who had settled in Pang Son Province. They knew very well what the completion of the Malek Line of Defense meant to Pun Son Province. So they are the residents who most support the construction of this project, but unfortunately there are not many of them..." Fatty Shi made a further report on the situation.
Lorist tapped his fingers on the table and asked, "Do Maleke and the others have any good suggestions for the lack of labor?"
"Master Bodfinger proposed to increase the remuneration for recruiting labor. With a heavy reward, there must be brave men. He thinks that if the remuneration is doubled, it may be easy to recruit enough young and strong laborers in the family territory to go to Panshan Province to build Malek. defense line, but this proposal was rejected by Director Speer. Director Speer believed that it was impossible for the family to increase the additional expenditure of the Malek Line of Defense. Being able to allocate engineering expenses and war security expenses within the budget was already the family's financial best. hard work...
Lord Malek suggested that the garrison corps of each province should be brought to the front line of Pan Son Province, and that construction should be carried out for half a year every year to make up for the shortage of labor force. However, Mr. Hickerd raised objections to this. He believed that when the three main armies of the family will gather at the front line of Panshan Province, the garrison armies of each province should not be transferred to carry out engineering work. Otherwise, if there is any change, the family The defense of the territory is empty and it is easy for the enemy to drive straight in... "
Fatty Shi looked at the document and reported the opinions and controversies of the senior family members on the issue of lack of labor one by one. After turning over a page of the document, he paused and laughed: "Your Highness, Ross the Tiger made a very interesting suggestion. , He suggested that our family armed forces cooperate with the White Lions to wipe out the provinces with serious banditry in the central part, and then use these captured bandits as labor for the project, which will save money and the trouble of recruiting labor... "
"Well...Tiger Ross is so rare, I finally have a good suggestion." Lorist asked with a smile, "Any other suggestions?"
"Yes..." Fatty Shi replied: "Actually, Master Christon, the director of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, suggested that the family can use the method of compulsory conscription of conscripts to solve the problem of lack of labor. The Nortons have never resorted to this method...”
It is the lord's prerogative to compulsorily enlist the subjects to serve. The lord can decide how much time his subjects spend working for him for nothing each year. Some benevolent lords only let the citizens serve a month of hard labor, and will also provide some food. Some harsh and stingy lords will let the leaders serve as long as half a year of hard labor, and they have to bring their own meals, but the escape rate of the people in such territories is very high. There are not a few territorial nobles like the Norton family who have never used this privilege.
Lorist was silent, and shook his head after a long while: "It is not advisable to force the conscription of the people to serve in the military. The predecessors have never used this power against the people, so I am not going to set this precedent. Let's think of another way."
"Okay, Your Highness. Actually, I think Tiger Ross's proposal is quite feasible..." Fatty Shi said.
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