industrial lord

Chapter 643 Everyone Hopes for Peace

The convoy had a bumpy journey and finally arrived at Baron Sto's territory.

Stoling is very old, but it is mostly mountainous forests. Farmland has been reclaimed along a small river, and there are some terraces planted with potatoes and pumpkins on the nearby hillsides.

It is now the end of the wheat harvest. A light steam engine with dozens of horsepower is pulling an unpowered harvester at the head of the field to harvest the last piece of wheat field.

Many women and children gathered beside the wheat field, and after waiting for Baron Sto's consent, they could go into the field to pick up wheat ears, and they could take half of what they picked up.

Frederick carefully observed through a telescope on a nearby hill and frowned and said, "There are only about 300 people here."

Maria’s father was also a baron, but Baron Eltal’s territory had navigable rivers, copper mines, factories that processed flat glass into mirrors, and a population at least ten times that of this place.

The town below the castle looked large, but the stones of the walls were of different colors in several places, which were repaired after being damaged in the war.

The clothes of the women and children picking up wheat ears were much more tattered than those of the villagers in the iron ore town, and many of them were wearing only strips of cloth.

"This is difficult." Frederick murmured to himself.

Because the iron ore town is located on a major transportation route bordering the Duchy of Wessen and has its own high-tech industry of glass production, it is not very representative in the Bohemian region.

I'm afraid that Stowland is a typical example of this region, with a small population, infrastructure destroyed by war, and ordinary people being very poor.

This means that although the current consumer market here is not large, it is a market with great investment potential that requires great efforts and a long period of time to cultivate.

When Baron Sto saw the convoy on the mountain, he immediately asked Jory to greet them while he went back to prepare.

Frederick, Maria and others followed Jory into the city, but did not stay in the castle, but lived in the church in the town.

The church is the only intact building in the town. Even though there are different sects, local tradition is that the victor will only throw people out of the window, and will not harm the building or other fixed assets that they are preparing to take over.

Many buildings in the town still showed signs of fire. Maria found an arrow stuck in a higher part of a house.

Behind the church there was accommodation for pilgrims, passing monks and travelers. After Frederick stayed there, Sto came to visit.

Sto said to Frederick with an apologetic look: "Fifteen years ago, the army of the Piast Kingdom fought a battle with the army of the Osmaga Empire here, and it has only been repaired in the past two years."

Frederick nodded and said, "Everything will be fine."

Stowe immediately said: "I have to thank the Lord's Elizabeth potatoes, steam engine and shotgun. Without them, I would not have recovered so quickly."

Frederick smiled and said, "It's mainly your own efforts."

He vaguely heard that Sto wanted to reach out, but this time he didn't want to reveal his purpose so early.

The work here still needs to be done step by step and not be too obvious, otherwise it will easily attract some malicious hands.

After some pleasantries, Sto held a banquet here to welcome Frederick and Maria. He did not dare to take them to the shabby castle for fear of being considered contempt.

The main course of the banquet was only roasted half a lamb. The lamb was spread with local spices mashed into a paste and placed on a tray. Some seasonal vegetables were placed underneath and then baked in a bread oven.

The wine is made from wild grapes in the mountains and is a bit sour.

Sto continued apologetically, "My family originally had a vineyard on the mountain, but it has been abandoned due to the war. We can only pick wild grapes to make this kind of wine." Maria replied, "The difficulties are only temporary, and things will get better in the future."

Sto continued to complain, saying that the Osmaga Empire and the Piast Kingdom had been fighting back and forth here for decades, and now both sides had fled, leaving this mess behind. He sold all the gold and silver jewelry in his home in order to buy a steam engine and a hunting rifle.

He finally said, "Why don't you take a look at what I have here that can sell for a good price?"

Frederick said with some embarrassment: "There should be good things in your territory. Even if you sell wood first, then cultivate farmland, and sell grain, meat, and cheese, you can still make a good profit."

"But, from what I've seen, the roads here are not very good and the transportation costs are too high. I'm afraid it won't be very competitive."

Sto also said helplessly: "Yes, in the past when we were fighting, they often destroyed the roads to stop the enemy, and we suffered as a result."

He remembered what Jory had said, that Grand Duke Wessen loved women the most, and road building the second, so he took this topic and said, "My brother Sir Jory is in charge of the commercial affairs of the territory. After calculations, he found that because the roads are too bad, our heavy goods such as stone ore and timber will not be competitive due to the high freight costs, so we can only sell light forest products such as mushrooms."

"I also want to repair the road, but I just don't have the money. The steam engine still has a balance due at the end of the year."

"Besides, road repair is not just my job. Even if the roads in my territory are repaired, the roads in other places outside the territory will be just as bad."

Frederick ate a piece of roasted lamb and nodded, saying, "Yes, one or two sections of road are not very useful. Only when they form a road network can they play the greatest role."

His love for road building was well known to everyone, and Sto had obviously seen through it, but now was not the time to agree.

Sto then tentatively said, "We are also worried. If the road is too easy to walk on, what will we do if someone comes to attack us?"

"So some of our lords here think that their neighbors are too strong and might attack them, so they take the initiative to destroy the road."

"There's nothing we can do about it. We've been scared of fighting for decades."

"To be honest, the last few years have been the most peaceful times for us to sleep in. We are not afraid that the armies of the Osmaga Empire or the Piast Kingdom will attack us one day."

"Oh, I'm really afraid that these days will end."

Frederick pretended not to hear the hidden meaning and never mentioned military-related topics such as selling weapons. He just said: "I learned from Queen Anna that the Osmaga Empire will not touch you for a long time."

"But I don't know about the Piast Kingdom. Our relationship right now is just an ordinary business relationship."

He could hear Sto's fear of war from the conversation just now, so he gave Sto a reassurance.

In the past, there were two major powers eyeing this place, but now there is only one. In theory, this will make people feel more at ease, and it also implies that the demand for weapons is not so strong.

Seeing that he avoided answering some questions, Sto could only sigh and say, "Yes, we are not afraid of those two behemoths."

"Now I am a little worried about my neighbors. I am very weak, and your guards can take down my castle. If any of my neighbors regain their strength in a few years, I will not be able to stop them, and they may go to Weissenburg to find a job to make a living."

He hinted to Frederick that now that the two countries had left, but you were right next to them and had brought so many soldiers with you, it was obvious that you intended to intervene, so he could take sides.

Frederick thought for a moment and said, "Times have changed. This is an era of development and reconciliation. We should focus on seeking consensus for a happier and more comfortable life, seek common ground while reserving differences, and work together for development. We should see the beauty of peace and not resort to war blindly. Everyone hopes for a peaceful life. What do you think, Sto?"

Stowe replied, "Yes, Archduke."

(End of this chapter)