industrial lord

Chapter 564: New Pie

There are many things in the world that can be done but cannot be said.

The church's doctrine requires priests not to pursue pleasure, but in reality it is just talk, as everything they enjoy is "donated" by believers.

However, they still have to put on a show. The priests will definitely say that they have no money, but the white gloves they "guarantee" have money.

Valentine left, and the news of the bond he discussed with Frederick that day quickly spread, attracting the interest of countless businessmen.

Lola immediately went to Frederick to ask about the situation. After leaving, she immediately packed up and rushed back to the capital. At the same time, a more shocking new news came out.

At this time, Fontana's caravan arrived, bringing stories of Frederick's various miracles along the way.

These stories have been brought in by merchants in recent times. This time, eyewitnesses have arrived to complete Frederick's deeds of "passing through five cities and performing six miracles" from beginning to end.

There was a radio station in Bern, and the news quickly spread to major cities in the Kingdom of Sardinia and even crossed the White Mountains back to the Rhine Confederation.

Frederick followed them as he had more important things to do right now.

"Old Shark" Aleppe has become familiar with Frederick these days. Knowing that Frederick doesn't care about hierarchy, he couldn't help but complain: "Our Freedom Society is a killer organization. I didn't expect that we would become intelligence dealers."

Frederick was studying a map in his study and said, "Being a killer only makes a few bucks, but being a commercial intelligence spy can make a lot more money. One piece of information can be sold to several companies."

Aleppe responded: "We are the big boss's knife, and this cannot be changed."

Frederick just nodded. If he guessed correctly, the big boss behind the Freedom Society was the royal family of the Kingdom of Sardinia, otherwise Lola would not have met him without guards that night.

He studied the map of the northern and western coastal areas of the Kingdom of Sardinia for a long time and made a decision in his mind.

"Okay," he said to Aleppo, "I've decided where to build the shipyard. You can keep these materials."

In order to build momentum for the special bonds, he tipped off Lola that he could use part of the investment to build a shipyard in the Kingdom of Sardinia that would specialize in producing ships that did not require sails.

The steam inland ships of the Principality of Wesson are famous. At the end of last year, a steam fishing boat appeared on the inland sea. It belonged to a knight on the Cyclops Island. The Flying Tulip had docked at many ports in the Kingdom of Sardinia a long time ago. Two flat-top steam ships also went out to sea from time to time. People who make a living by the sea are no strangers to this.

Someone has calculated the transportation cost of this type of ship. Without being affected by wind direction and with the advantage of speed, the cost is a dimensionality reduction blow to existing sea transportation.

Someone has calculated the approximate number of ships on the inland seas. Even if only half of the ships are replaced, the shipyard will be a goose that lays golden eggs.

Frederick and Lola agreed that the shipyard would give the royal family of the Kingdom of Sardinia a 40% stake, without using cash, only land and the title of "royal family" as investment.

With such a shipyard as a guarantee, no one would doubt Frederick's ability to repay the special bonds he sold.

Aleppe quietly put away the documents on the table.

He did not ask Frederick where he had chosen, but reminded him: "Sir, the largest shipyard in the Kingdom of Sardinia is in the hands of the Venetians. Now you are snatching food from their mouths, so be careful that they do something radical."

Frederick smiled and asked, "Are you worried that they will assassinate me?"

Aleppe replied: "It is not ruled out."

"Although your guarding skills are far superior to mine, assassination is not just a matter of using a knife."

When he first met Frederick ten years ago, he wanted to play a trick on him, but he was scared half to death by the elemental puppet that Psyche gave Frederick. Until now, he still thought it was a real person.

Frederick nodded when he heard him say this: "Indeed, I have to be more careful next time."

"So adults should be careful when picking flowers, and beware of poisonous flowers," Aleppo continued. "They are dangerous. The lipstick on their lips may be deadly poison."

Everyone knew Frederick's reputation, and Aleppo knew that he could not stop this, so he could only remind him.

These days he was busy gathering information and thinking about serious matters and had no time to think about these things.

As you socialize more, you will naturally have more opportunities.

Aleppe added: "You may have seen in books and plays that some assassins and spies have been lurking for more than ten years or even decades, and no one knows their true identity. This kind of thing does exist."

Frederick is a person who is willing to listen to the opinions and suggestions of professionals.

Things are different now. In the past, we didn’t touch other people’s cakes, and everyone lived in harmony and made money, so there was no danger.

Now it was different. As soon as Frederick arrived in the Kingdom of Sardinia, the Venetians savagely stomped on the soles of his shoes with their faces.

The two sides have become enemies and there is no possibility of compromise unless one side surrenders.

Frederick felt that his life was more important and he could not act recklessly as he had done before.

Aleppe finally said, "But don't worry, sir. Those merchants always bully the weak and fear the strong. They will behave themselves if you give them a slap on the face and a little sweetness."

Frederick narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "If you have any information about middle-level merchants in Venice, give me a copy."

Aleppe asked in confusion: "Middle-level businessman?"

He had limited knowledge of the business terminology of the Duchy of Wessen and had no idea what kind of businessmen the "middle class" were.

Frederick explained: "It's the kind of people who have a lot of industry, but are still a long way from the top, and the top can't kill them easily."

He thought for a moment and added: "It's best to be ambitious."

Aleppo had seen many conspiracies and intrigues, so he immediately asked cautiously: "Are you trying to divide the merchant community in Venice?"

Frederick saw that he reacted quickly, and after thinking for a while, he said, "Aleppo, I may have some property in the Kingdom of Sardinia in the future. How about you help me manage it?"

Aleppo said calmly, "Your Excellency is joking."

Frederick said nothing more; the future of Aleppo was not in his own hands.

When Aleppo left, Frederick asked him to spread the news of his decision on the location of the shipyard to create some publicity.

Frederick also walked out of the study and took a walk in the forest path of the manor, while thinking about his plan to divide the Venetian merchants.

This plan is not just his own business. It requires cooperation from multiple countries to ensure that there are attractive enough baits, and that these baits can attract the intended target without being intercepted, yet not be too obvious.

As the sun was setting in the afternoon, Frederick said to the two maids who had been following him, "Get ready. I'm going to the telegraph station in the city."

One of the maids responded and left immediately to prepare the carriage.

Frederick had some ideas in his mind and decided to draw a fragrant scallion pancake that could be eaten.

(End of this chapter)