industrial lord

Chapter 538 How did the Rhine Alliance become like this?

The city of Hanma was still gloomy and cold in late April and early May this year, with drizzle from time to time, which was not good weather for going out.

Count Pisto fulfilled his responsibilities as Minister of War, personally went to the Kingdom of Danma for negotiations, and also went to the front line to watch two battles.

Although he is greedy for money, he still has strong business skills.

During this period, Frederick stayed in Hammer City to deal with some logistical issues.

In today's wars, a large part of the logistics is done by merchants accompanying the army. They cooperate with a certain lord to sell food, beer and women, and then sell the spoils.

There was not much Frederick could do. He just regulated the quality of food through decrees, at least to avoid serious non-combat casualties due to food problems.

His headache now is the manpower problem of Wesson’s army.

Now two of the three mobile main divisions are going to be transferred, leaving only one division of mobile strength. If something happens, there will be no one available.

Even if Frederick didn't understand military affairs, he knew that President Chiang's mobile forces in his hometown had all been lost in the three major battles, resulting in the garrison troops in various places after the Crossing the Yangtze River Campaign having only numbers on paper but being unable to organize another large-scale battle.

The problem is that the proportion of young and middle-aged people joining the army in the Principality of Wessen is already very high, and many factories are beginning to experience a labor shortage, making it impossible to form a new army.

When Frederick was having a headache, Rainer Wittelsbach, the heir of the Grand Duke of Bavaria, came to Hammarby.

Last winter, Grand Duke Byrne caught a cold and has not been feeling well. He is already in his eighties or nineties, so this year he has handed over all affairs to Reiner.

Reiner is in his fifties. When he was young, he traveled to places such as the Ghazi Empire and the Dashi Empire. He is quite steady in his work, and Frederick has dealt with him several times.

This time he was in charge of commanding the army of the Duchy of Bavaria, but the first step he had to take was to find Frederick and call him to account.

In the living room, Frederick asked in surprise: "What? Your daughter-in-law instigated your son to invest the money, why did you come to me?"

Reiner put down his teacup and said seriously, "They were fooled by Miss Eltal and threw a large sum of money that was intended to buy your bonds into the swamp in the south."

"Miss Eltal's matter is yours, so who else should I turn to if not you?"

Frederick was confused and finally understood what was going on.

Rainer's daughter-in-law is the granddaughter of the Grand Duke of Mainz, so she naturally has a good relationship with Maria, so the United Fruit Company approached them for sponsorship.

Frederick just shrugged and said, "Maria is an adult, not my appendage. Go find her."

Reiner said helplessly: "Maria has already run away to the south with the money. I can only come to you."

Frederick was stunned. He didn't expect that Maria would go to the south by herself.

He said: "It's good this way. People should travel around and see the world while they are young."

Frederick himself liked to travel around, so naturally he also hoped that Maria could go out more often, broaden her horizons, and not stay in one place all the time.

Seeing him like this, Reiner said, "Then if you give me more bond shares this year, I can give you some useful information."

Frederick was speechless, this was his purpose.

The additional bonds issued by the Principality of Wessen the year before last were repaid on time last year, and the Principality of Wessen does not seem to be on the verge of financial bankruptcy, so many people plan to buy more bonds this year.

Frederick was prepared for this and had made plans last year to issue bonds worth 30 to 60 florins, depending on the sales.

"All right," said Frederick calmly, "I'll give you a share of 5 florins, and you can eat it yourself or share it with others."

In the past two years, the Principality of Bain has taken over some light industrial products industries. These are businesses that make money quickly, and the emerging capitalists have no shortage of money.

Reiner thought about his bottom line and realized it was far from the target, so he said, "Why don't you issue 20 florins of bonds specifically for the construction of the railway."

Frederick was confused. Railway bonds were sold in addition, and the specific amount would be determined based on the construction plan. 20 florins was not a small sum.

Labor is cheap nowadays. The average internal price of one kilometer of railway (including stations) is between 200 and 400 florins, depending on the terrain. 20 florins can build nearly kilometers of railway.

Frederick realized that Reiner came to him mainly for this matter.

Building a railway does not require all the money to be spent at once, but rather it is invested gradually. Reiner can use the annual interest on the bonds to pay part of the money.

假设这条20万弗罗林的铁路需要5年建好，莱纳购买15万弗罗林的5年期年息6%的债券，期间甚至可以用债券支付工程款，最后就是用15万修了20万的铁路。

There is nothing to say about Frederick. Smart people can be found everywhere.

"Go ahead." He leaned back on the sofa and picked up his teacup. "What's the situation with this railway?"

Getting to the point, Reiner said seriously, "I plan to build a holy road from the German Cathedral to the Holy City of Light. Relying on the existing railway network, it will go directly from Mingxing City through the White Mountains to the Holy City of the Kingdom of Sardinia."

Frederick drank his tea calmly, feeling a little surprised and moved.

Putting aside the holy city and the like, if this railway is completed, it will mean that the Rhine Alliance will have a second railway leading to the inland sea.

Reiner continued, "This railway must first pass through the center of the White Mountains of the Osmaga Empire. I have reached an agreement with Queen Anna. At that time, the Osmaga Empire can use the railway from Wayne City to the mountains via the Duchy of Bain."

Frederick nodded. He had previously flown over the White Mountains on a griffin, but the mountain road was difficult to travel on. It would be better to go through the Duchy of Bain on the north side of the mountains rather than crossing mountains and ridges from east to west.

Reiner went on to say: "I have communicated with His Majesty King Francesco of the Kingdom of Sardinia about the railway. He is very interested in this railway, but his only requirement is that it is as far away from Venice as possible."

Frederick curled his lips. It seemed that the merchants in Venice were quite excited.

Reiner concluded: "I have been operating this railway for a year. It relies on the existing trade routes and there is no need to choose a new route. There is no problem in diplomacy either."

Frederick shook his head, and Reiner's heart skipped a beat.

"20 is not enough." Frederick put down his teacup and said, "The part that goes through the White Mountains is too difficult. I estimate that the total cost will be 25. We need to prepare 30 to be enough."

The capacity of the bond market is limited. If there is too much on one side, there will be less on the other side.

Reiner also understood this, so he jokingly said to Frederick: "I have news that there are many sheepdogs of God in the Holy City who are interested in investing in your bonds."

Frederick raised his eyebrows. Those bishops were all very rich. It seemed that he had to go there.

He pinched his chin and said, "Oh, it seems I have to go to the Holy City to pay homage to the saint." Reiner said, "I suggest you go to Venice. Many people want to see you."

Frederick nodded.

At this time, Count Pisto arrived. He seemed to have just entered the city and his shoes were still wet.

He seemed to have a good relationship with Reiner, and he said to him directly: "Reiner, I have something to discuss with Frederick about the Kingdom of Sverrière."

Just as Reiner was about to stand up, Frederick immediately said, "Since this is official business, let's listen to it together."

The maid brought over the tea, and Count Pisto waved his hand, asked for a bottle of happy water and drank it all.

"I met a group of envoys sent by Kosdorf outside the city," said Count Pisto. "They are looking for Frederick. They are just outside the gate."

Frederick raised his eyebrows. Count Pisto called him by his name, which meant that this matter was related to him personally and had nothing to do with state affairs.

Even so, he still had to receive visitors with others. The situation was delicate now, so he had to be careful.

He turned to a maid and said, "Send the messengers in."

Frederick was not afraid of Kosdorf's assassination, mainly because he had just reached a cooperation with the Natural Church. If Kosdorf wanted to kill him, the Natural Church would kill him first.

The messenger brought a letter and a great gift to Frederick.

The messenger didn't know what was in the letter. He handed the thing to Frederick and left.

Frederick, with a frown on his face, asked the butler to settle the dozen women sent by Kosdorf amid the giggles of Rainer and Count Pistor, then opened the golden mailbox and spread the letter on the coffee table for everyone to read together.

"It's boring." Reiner was disappointed after reading the letter. "I thought Kosdorf invited you to divide the Kingdom of Danma."

Count Pisto echoed, "Yeah, I thought he wanted our help to deceive the Kingdom of Danmar or something."

"I didn't expect that. He just asked you not to stop his business."

Reiner smiled and said, "That's understandable. If Frederick said he didn't want to do business with me anymore, I would be anxious too."

"It can be seen that Kosdorf was very thoughtful. He knew what Frederick liked and gave him what he wanted, including two princesses."

Frederick curled his lips. Kosdorf was worried that his trade in iron sand and daily necessities would be stopped because of the war. After hearing that Frederick was in Hamma City, he sent over a dozen armed female slaves and two princesses who were sold to him.

These armed female slaves are carefully selected and trained. They are naturally good-looking and very strong in fighting skills, making them very suitable to be personal guards.

Frederick frowned and asked the two people beside him: "Have you heard of the twin princesses of the Piast Kingdom?"

In the letter, Kosdorf said that the twin princesses sent were the younger sisters of Casimir, the current king of the Piast Kingdom, and were also powerful magicians. After failing in the court struggle, they were sold to the Sverriere Kingdom.

Frederick knew a little about the royal family of the Piast Kingdom, but had never heard of these two men.

Count Pisto recalled for a moment and said, "I heard about them ten years ago. It was said that they both died of illness at the age of six."

Reiner also said: "There is such an incident. I heard from the people of the Osmaga Empire that the Piast Kingdom accused them of murdering the two princesses."

Frederick thought that the death might be fake and there was some hidden story behind it.

Ten years ago, he was busy dealing with the siege from his neighbors, so naturally he hadn't heard about this incident.

"It doesn't matter." He shrugged. "Let them go south. The United Fruit Company should be short of people. It's just right."

Rainer had been to the south before and knew the situation in the swamps. After a moment of silence for the two princesses, he asked Frederick, "What about the others? If you were around at this time, someone would gossip about you."

Frederick had already planned to give those people to Catherine, so he made an excuse: "I recently heard that my father was taken care of by a nobleman when he went fishing before he died, and I plan to send these people over."

Count Pisto nodded and said, "That's good too. When the time comes, other people's troubles will be their own business."

"By the way, there is something I want to mention to you right now."

"People in the north wear animal skins. You know my family owns a sewing needle factory. We've recently started producing strong large needles that can easily pierce animal skins. Can you help me open up sales in the Kingdom of Sverie?"

Reiner said to Count Pisto, "Your in-laws have opened a button factory, so let's go along."

Count Pistor said: "They sell the buttons to Green Island, and now they have no problem selling them."

Reiner said, "You can open up a way first. Who knows, it might be useful someday in the future."

Count Pisto thought it made sense.

Frederick naturally agreed and asked the people from the Dawn Chamber of Commerce to visit him another day.

The three people's conversation today did not avoid a maid in the living room. The maid gave today's record to Frederick for review and sent it back to Cologne.

With the expedition imminent, Rudolf had a lot of work to do, including the movements of his vassals.

He had just met with several young men who wanted to join his order, and when he returned to the office the latest intelligence had arrived.

At first, Rudolf wondered with anticipation, what preparations were these people making for the coming war?

Ideals are full and reality is skinny. Today's intelligence gave him a headache.

The granddaughter of Count Ranke was persuaded by Bell Burke to invest her dowry money in the United Fruit Company. The second was the daughter of Count Delden.
The other day Lord Delden was calculating how many Wesson bonds he could buy with his family's money;

Duke Heger had already decided to buy ten thousand florins of Wesson bonds;

The Duke of Nassau was annoyed by his family because his great-granddaughter wanted to invest in the United Fruit Company, and he himself wanted to buy Wesson bonds...

The more Rudolf looked, the more the blood vessels on his forehead bulged out. When he saw the information about the three people in Hanma City, he slammed his fist on the desk in anger.

Frederick, whom he had high hopes for in the upcoming war, actually left Hammer, saying that he was going to the Kingdom of Sardinia to discuss the sale of bonds.

"The war is about to start, and they are only thinking about how to make money. How did the Rhine Alliance become like this?"

(End of this chapter)