industrial lord

Chapter 646 Partner City
Frederick and Maria's next destination was Budweis, the largest city and military fortress in southern Bohemia, where the Ottoman Empire had operated for many years.

Maria said to Frederick, "This is a great place for the Fishhook Team."

Frederick agreed and said with a smile, "If the Fishhook team came here to play, they would probably lose the game because of being late."

In order to guard against the Winged Hussars of the Piast Kingdom, the Osmagian Empire built countless fish ponds in this area, connected by complex canals, canals, and streams. This not only restricted the opponent's mobility but also provided a large amount of meat.

At the same time, the fish ponds appropriately lowered the local groundwater level, allowing the surrounding swamps to be reclaimed as farmland.

Thanks to this, the area recovered from the war relatively quickly. The smell of smoked fish wafted through almost all the villages, and there was no abandoned land outside the villages.

But when the Osmagian Empire retreated, the army looted before leaving, and to make matters worse, a fire broke out and destroyed the city of Budweis.

The locals did not lose heart and worked hard to resume production.

The day Frederick arrived happened to be the first day that beer was produced by the local brewery after it was rebuilt.

The city of Budweis is currently a privileged autonomous city, and the mayor elected by the citizens, Holeczek, is also the manager of the brewery.

He was ecstatic about the arrival of Grand Duke Wesson. If his beer could make Grand Duke Wesson nod his head, he would become rich in the future.

Frederick welcomed Holecek's invitation and came immediately after hearing the news.

Now that the news of his vacation in Bohemia has spread, many local nobles, mayors, and town heads have come to Budweis to curry favor with him, so naturally they followed him.

The brewery was ready. Several beer barrels were placed on stone piers and more than a dozen long tables were set up in front. There were only two exquisite glass beer cups, and the rest were wooden cups. The girls serving the wine wore the most beautiful dresses and colorful wreaths on their heads.

Holecek introduced his beer to Frederick and Maria: "Our beer is fermented in barrels and stored at low temperatures for 90 days."

"The water used to brew beer comes from the best local artesian springs, the barley is the best barley from the eastern Moravia region, and the hops come from the Most Basin 200 kilometers to the north, where there are coal mines and a special kind of hops."

"The beer recipe is hundreds of years old, but because of decades of war, barley from Moravia and hops from the Most Basin could not be transported here, so production could only be resumed now."

"Thanks to the favor of the God of Light, you came to our city of Budweis just as the beer was brewed."

Frederick said seriously: "Don't worry, things will get better. Keep working hard, and good days are still to come."

The beer barrel was ready. Holecek personally knocked the copper valve into the beer barrel, poured two glasses of beer into the glass, and placed them in front of Frederick and Maria.

The residents of the surrounding city of Budweis were a little nervous. If the beer could become famous, their lives would be better in the future.

Otherwise, you will fall into hell.

Frederick raised the glass and looked closely. The beer was light golden in color, with rich and long-lasting foam, and exuded a sweet aroma of malt with a slight hint of hops.

He took a sip and found it very refreshing, with the sweetness of malt and a slight astringency, and a light taste overall. He chilled it and took a second sip and found that it tasted even better, with a sweet aftertaste in his mouth.

"Very good! It's worth building a railway to transport it back."

Frederick raised his glass with a smile on his face; this beer was just to his taste.

The photographer captured this scene.

The surrounding residents immediately cheered, the girls brought more beer, and the aunts brought grilled fish fillets and fish balls as snacks.

Frederick turned to Alfu and said, "Talk to Holecek later. I'll buy my beer from him from now on."

He then took another big sip.

Holecek's smiling face was as beautiful as a flower. This was the beer that Grand Duke Wessen liked to drink, so he had the confidence to sell it at 20% to 30% more expensive than others.

Others who came to seek opportunities to curry favor with him looked at him enviously. There was nothing they could do. The beer was indeed delicious. What else was there in their own territory?

Holecek saw that Frederick was very happy, so he took the opportunity to say, "Sir, our city of Budweis is still very dilapidated. I'm afraid it will be difficult to complete the task of brewing wine for a while."

"We have another worry. The residents feel very insecure." Frederick knew that he was trying to hit the jackpot, as he had encountered this many times when he went to inspect work in the past.

The city of Budweis is indeed in ruins, and restoring it would require a lot of complicated tasks, not just financial ones.

Once there is the first one, there will be the second, the third, and there will be a large group of people waiting nearby.

Frederick estimated that the investment in Bohemia was a huge number, but the government of the Duchy of Wessen had limited funds available, and originally planned to use it on the construction of infrastructure such as transportation, without considering each city or region.

The principality government has no money, but the local governments do have money.

At this moment, the mayors and town chiefs of the Principality of Wessen shuddered at the same time.

Holecek felt a little nervous when he saw Frederick just drinking silently.

Frederick took another big sip and ate a fish ball before asking, "Is Holecek interested in becoming a partner city with Weissenberg to strengthen industrial, agricultural, and educational cooperation, establish a communication platform, and achieve win-win cooperation?"

Partnership cities have a long history. Independent cities would form alliances with each other to help each other and deal with common enemies. The most famous one is the Guild Alliance.

Holecek was stunned by the good news. For the city of Budwiss, cooperation meant that the city of Weissenberg was helping itself.

But there is no free lunch in the jump, he asked cautiously: "So, what is our price?"

Those envious people nearby were poured a bucket of cold water. Yes, who would be willing to help you without any price?

Frederick smiled and said, "Don't be so nervous."

"Weisenberg will provide you with a loan with nominal interest to help you rebuild the city. They will also build hospitals and schools for you free of charge. They will pay the salaries of doctors and teachers and lead merchants in the city to invest. You just need to treat them equally."

"I can arrange for you to discuss the details with the mayor of Weissenburg and establish a friendly city relationship between the two sides."

People around him suddenly realized that it was just business and nothing serious.

Holecek immediately said, "I can leave anytime!"

Frederick said, "Don't worry, I have some ideas."

He turned around and asked the people from other places: "What do you think of the cooperation model between Weissenburg and Budweis?"

"I can guarantee that this cooperation only involves economy, culture and medical care, not politics or military affairs."

Everyone looked at each other, unable to make up their minds for a moment.

Frederick took a sip of beer and said, "Don't worry, you can think about it slowly."

He calculated the time with his fingers and said to Holecek, "I will go to Boeheim City in a few days and will not stay here for long."

"I will immediately inform the Weissenburg city government by telegram that the mayor may not be able to leave because of the upcoming World Expo, so at least the deputy mayor in charge of the economy will come."

Holecek had heard of the size of Weissenburg. Judging from the population and economy of his place, it would be good to have a district mayor, and a deputy mayor would be overqualified.

Frederick continued to say to the others: "I will ask each town to send a representative, if you are interested, you can make further contact."

"As for partner cities, everyone is happy if we can reach an agreement. If we fail to reach an agreement right away, it's just a matter of business. There will be many opportunities in the future."

Many people began to weigh the pros and cons in their minds.

In terms of foreign cooperation, Frederick still had a good reputation. For example, he made money by participating in the Elbe Pact Organization and never looked like he was being bullied.

Frederick's proposal to establish partner cities was just a new idea. He believed that the entire Duchy of Wessen should contribute to this matter so that both sides could accept it when absorbing and digesting it in the future.

(End of this chapter)