industrial lord

Chapter 593 Foresight
"Old Zach, two shrimp and Wesson buns, please."

A young customer came to a steamed bun shop in Lacheng and asked the boss to bring the steamed buns with a smile.

Old Zack clumsily cut the bread into two halves, and his wife put in the shrimps and vegetables cooked in boiling water. At this time, the sound of a baby crying was heard from the stroller in the store.

When old Zach came over, Frederick noticed that his eyes were squinting badly, so he asked, "What's wrong with your eyes?"

Old Zach shook his head and said, "I'm old, and my eyes don't work well anymore."

Frederick thought for a moment and said, "Try steaming some fish liver, preferably shark liver, because the liver is the main source of fat."

"Take it once every few days, don't take too much, and stop if you feel dizzy or something like that, and your eyes will get better."

Old Zack didn't take it seriously. He used to make a living on the sea, and sailors knew that eating too much fish liver would cause poisoning.

So he just said politely: "Thank you sir for your advice."

Frederick waved his hand and said, "You're welcome. I haven't thanked you for helping me get in touch with the Cyclops bones three years ago."

Old Zack was stunned. He had mentioned that incident every time he boasted in recent years. The other party was a very important figure.

He narrowed his eyes even more and moved his face closer, trying to see if it was that person.

Frederick waved his hand and said, "Why would I lie to you?"

"Sit down and talk. Tell me what the United Fruit Company is doing these days?"

Old Zack recalled Frederick's voice at that time, confirmed that it was him, and sat down happily.

Now the United Fruit Company is one of the hottest topics in La City, and ordinary people like them often talk about it.

Old Zack's former sailor buddies have a lot of first-hand information, which they often brag about, and it is very valuable for reference.

Frederick listened carefully, confirming some details from time to time.

He got an important piece of information that the Grand Duke of Mainz and the Grand Duke of Bavaria were also on the Cyclops Island.

Frederick thought about it and realized that it was not surprising that the Archduke of Bavaria almost lost his life due to catching a cold in the winter and left the government affairs to his son and went to the south for recuperation.

The Archduke of Mainz came here, probably to help Maria and give her advice.

Not many people knew about this. If Old Zack hadn't been to Weissenberg on a ship before, he wouldn't have known the names of those two people.

Frederick ignored the two of them and integrated the information about the United Fruit Company in his mind.

Maria and her team were quite reliable in their work. They selected several representative places for pilot projects instead of expanding the scope blindly.

The captain that Old Zack used to follow was the one who paid protection money to Hayreddin and was very familiar with the southern coastal areas.

The flood water in those pilot areas is not deep during the rainy season, and there are hills nearby so it cannot be flooded. Camps have been set up there.

Old Zach finally said, "I heard something. Duke Walder is hostile to you and has some bad intentions in private."

Frederick asked for details, and it was nothing more than that the local tyrants couldn't bear to see outsiders coming to make money, but they didn't have the ability, so they privately mentioned that they would seize the land after outsiders had developed it.

Such conflicts are bound to happen, and there will be no shortage of them in the future. Frederick currently has no idea and wants to see how Maria and the others handle it.

After the chat, Frederick gave Old Zack a gold coin as payment for the information.

Then he went to an inconspicuous hotel with enough buns to last him a day.

After arriving at Citrus Island, Frederick first went to visit his master's wife, and then went to the port where he was drugged and forced to work illegally. Some soldiers of the 3rd Division were guarding the logistical supplies there. Then he revisited the place and came to Cyclops Island.

He delayed his trip by four days and sent a telegram to the United Fruit Company, partly because he wanted to conduct a secret investigation and partly because there were some things he had not yet thought through.

Frederick had not yet figured out the future positioning of these lands in the south, whether to develop them as colonies or as his own territories.

The comprehensive development of the South can alleviate the shortage of raw materials in the Principality of Wessen, which requires a large population. However, the population of the Rhine Alliance must first meet the basic needs of the Principality of Wessen, and the South can only use a large number of local people.

A major difference between whether a region is a colony or a territory is whether the region's government is seamlessly connected with the domestic government. Local officials of the local government in a territory can serve in the central government, while local officials in the colony cannot serve in the government of the sovereign. For example, officials of the puppet Manchukuo could not serve as officials in mainland Japan, and Chinese officials of the British Hong Kong government could not serve as officials in mainland Britain.

In today's era, it is common for foreigners like Eugene to hold important positions in foreign governments. There are many people from abroad in the government of the Principality of Wessen, from high-level to grassroots civil servants.

The problem is that Frederick has been promoting nationalist awakening over the years to unite people and break the original feudal vassal relationship.

The Rhine Alliance and the east of the Elbe River are the territories in his future long-term plan, and he even pinched his nose to include the Bohemian region as well. The people in these places are his base, and with the Osmaga Empire backing him up, there is no problem for the people here to enter the government.

If a large number of foreigners from thousands of miles away entered the government system of the Principality of Wessen at this time, the original nationalist theory would be difficult to explain and would cause ideological confusion.

To solve this problem, the version must be upgraded to class narrative. Capitalists will not reduce their exploitation of you just because you are of the same ethnic group.

There are deep political factors behind this matter. If it is not handled properly, the well-developed areas will become harmful abscesses.

The areas that Frederick struggled with most were the places that, from a rational point of view, were appropriate as colonies.

But emotionally, he still couldn't get over the hurdle in his heart.

The compromise is an agent government, but agents will have their own ideas and may end up causing trouble.

There is another important question.

The current population of the Duchy of Wessen cannot support a large army, and the sudden war in the north has left the Wessen army stretched to its limits.

For a long time in the future, Frederick will have to focus on the north and will not be able to spare the time to support the south. If the military force cannot form an effective deterrent, many tasks will be difficult to carry out.

Forget about allies. People join forces for the sake of interests, but they can also turn against each other because of interests. We cannot place all our hopes on our allies.

Maria and her friends were doing a quick and dirty business, but no one considered the deeper issues.

Frederick believed that the Grand Duke of Mainz and the Grand Duke of Bavaria had seen the problem, so they followed him.

This is equivalent to a collective action of the future political backbone of the entire Rhine Alliance. If it goes well, everyone will be happy. If it goes wrong, it will hurt feelings when everyone blames each other. It may change the political landscape in the next few decades.

The more Frederick thought about it, the more headache he got.

(End of this chapter)