industrial lord

Chapter 648 Flexible moral bottom line

"Wow! I caught a fish!"

Today Frederick contracted a large fish pond and went fishing with Maria.

But Maria was the only one fishing, and a telegram kept Frederick silent for a long time.

By the time Maria had grilled the fish, Frederick still hadn't made up his mind.

"It's time to eat grilled fish." Maria handed over the grilled fish skewered on branches. "What's the matter?"

Frederick handed the telegram to Vanessa who was standing beside him and kept it. He took the grilled fish and said, "Funds are tight now, so they plan to issue a lottery."

Maria said, "Lottery. I heard from Lilu that her hometown would issue lottery tickets to raise money when they didn't have enough money to build city walls and recruit mercenaries to guard the town. Her family won a prize once."

Frederick nodded, having heard all this before, and did not repeat the real cause of his distress.

In this world where there is a supernatural power that can remember mahjong cards by the difference in weight, forget about scratch cards and try another way.

The solution proposed by Psyche is that the lottery winners are determined by the last digit of the serial number, and the draw is held publicly on the 5th of every month in Nanhu Park south of Weissenburg City, and broadcast live at the same time.

This method is simple and easy to count and control the scale.

At the same time, a decree was promulgated to issue lottery licenses and crack down on private lotteries, and informants could be rewarded with half of the stolen money.

Frederick had no objection to issuing lottery tickets himself, but the key was the private lotteries that came from it, which had to be dealt with severely.

However, at the end of the document someone proposed whether to build a casino?
Running a casino is very profitable. The dealer only needs to charge a commission when gamblers exchange chips and he can make money without doing anything.

It is their job to use their extraordinary powers to bully the weak, while the dealer just takes the profit.

Nowadays, the doctrines of various churches prohibit gambling. The courts in many places have regulations that professional gamblers are prohibited from appearing in court as witnesses. If there is a theft case, nearby gamblers are arrested and tried first. However, this does not prevent everyone from nobles to the paupers from enjoying it. The only difference is whether the bet is a manor or eggs.

Frederick himself hated gambling. In his previous life, he had encountered several cases where workers lost their annual income and mobile phones the next day after they were paid before the Chinese New Year. One person was afraid to go home for the Chinese New Year after losing all his money. His family came to the construction site from their hometown on the fourth day of the Chinese New Year and finally found him wandering around the construction site, saying that he had been robbed.

There are no casinos in the Duchy of Wessen, but he has no way of controlling private gambling among the people. He can only make laws that require those who win the stolen money to be returned free of charge when it is used as gambling capital.

He believed that Psyche understood this, but there were still relevant contents in the document, which showed that the call was so loud that Psyche could not stop it.

Other officials must have understood this, but they still put it into documents to show that they were determined to get it.

This was the first time that the will of a senior official went against Frederick's, and it happened suddenly.

Frederick didn't know whether these officials were suddenly struggling financially after several years of affluent life and were not able to adapt, or whether they were being tested by someone with ulterior motives.

Maybe some people think that as long as it can make money, he will agree to it.

Maria noticed that Frederick had made up his mind and was looking at her again, so she asked, "Is there anything you want me to do?"

After taking a bite of the grilled fish, Frederick said, "Write a letter to Cardinal Victor later and ask him to come to the Duchy of Wessen to give a sermon tour on the dangers of gambling."

He was not sure what the people who proposed to set up the casino were thinking, so he did not respond directly but instead made a warning. He did not come forward and let the church speak, so there was still room for maneuver.

Maria agreed immediately, and she felt that this matter was not simple, so she asked, "Does the Ministry of Culture need cooperation?"

The Ministry of Culture supports a group of intellectuals through funding and other means, who can transform into cultural thugs and carry out all-round propaganda when needed.

Frederick thought for a while and said, "Just follow up as usual and see how the situation develops first." "Hmm..."

He thought that some things are better to be relieved than blocked, so it would be better to let those people play horse racing.

Horse racing has a long history and is very popular. Horse betting also has a long history. Many cities hold horse racing competitions during celebrations, and nobles occasionally compete with each other, but there are currently no regular seasons.

In his previous life, Frederick was hit by a truck and came to this world while traveling in Japan. At that time, he learned some things about horse racing and thought he could learn from it.

There are many types of horse racing, including flat racing, obstacle racing, chariot racing and endurance racing. The race distances and venues also vary. Several different types of racecourses can be built throughout the principality to boost the local economy.

Side effects can be limited by, for example, setting a maximum single purchase amount for individuals.

It is easier to deal with the contestants. High prize money and various honors can be used to attract horse-loving nobles from all over the world to participate. Various topics can also be stirred up to hype up the event, and peripheral products can be sold, etc.

Frederick found that he had mastered the skill of "flexible moral bottom line", and he didn't know how much more "flexible" he could be in the future.

There is no way. There are too many places where money needs to be invested and we are really short of money.

"Just think of it as promoting the development of animal husbandry." He comforted himself in his heart.

Maria felt that he was feeling a little conflicted, but she didn't know why, so she could only walk behind him and massage his temples and shoulders.

Frederick patted her hand gently and said, "I'm fine."

The relevant approval was quickly passed by the city of Weissenburg, and because it was related to money, the work was carried out in an orderly manner.

At rest that night, Maria asked Frederick, "Is today's matter still about money?"

Frederick sighed and said, "Yes, the more you earn, the more you spend."

Maria thought for a moment and said, "Then the stamp duty from this year's World Expo can be used as start-up capital, right?"

Because the amount of this stamp duty is uncertain, it is now mainly used for emergencies and is enough to start the process here.

Frederick shook his head and said, "We have already made plans for the money. Half will go into the national treasury, and the other half will be used to renovate the cathedral."

"The renovation work in the cathedral is going on full steam now, and we expect to be able to hold our wedding there next year."

Maria's face turned red and she stammered, "Don't be so anxious."

Frederick smiled, patted her on the back, and said, "We are not in a hurry, but some people are."

"Princess Lola of the Kingdom of Sardinia has already made an appointment to marry us. Dragases has sent a letter from Constantine saying that his son and daughter are ready. Susan's mother intends to let her grandson Amir marry our daughter. There are many nobles in the Rhine Alliance who hope that the future prince or princess will marry our children. Our task is very heavy."

Maria had buried her red face in Frederick's chest without saying a word.

These political marriages were only possible with the children of Frederick and Maria; the children of Frederick and his mistresses were not eligible.

Maria began to change the subject: "I think we need to speed up the research on sea ships and go to the place that Teacher Psyche mentioned to find gold as soon as possible."

This seems to be the fastest way to get gold, but it is difficult to build a ship that quickly.

Frederick said, "We will set out tomorrow. In a few days we will pass by the gold mine and see what the situation is like there."

(End of this chapter)