industrial lord

Chapter 650: Don’t Let Him Get the Gold
The latest big news in Londinium is the construction of the first railway from the port to the territories of twenty-eight families who own coal mines.

All the homeless people in the city were arrested and sent to work on construction sites, so that residents had to wash and groom themselves before going out to avoid being caught by mistake.

Summer is a rare season of good weather, and Prince Charles invited a group of guests to his country estate to hunt rabbits, foxes and wild ducks together.

Charlie shot two rabbits and a wild duck this morning. He asked his attendants to send the wild duck back to the palace for his father as soon as possible, and then had the rabbit roasted.

The shade of the trees by the river is a nice place to rest. We spread out a carpet, set out tea sets and pastries, and feel the cool breeze blowing with moisture. It is very comfortable.

The attendants brought the roasted rabbit meat on a silver plate and then left, leaving only the Crown Prince and the Minister of Finance under the shade of the tree.

Count Duval stabbed a piece of rabbit meat with a dagger and ate it, then asked Charles: "Is there anything wrong with your Highness?"

He always felt that the prince asked him to go hunting today because he had something to discuss.

Charlie slowly put the roasted rabbit and vegetables on a piece of bread, then sandwiched it with another piece of bread. After taking a bite, he said, "I think the Wesson bag is the greatest invention in the last hundred years."

"Its greatness lies in seeing its essence, which is to see clearly the political manipulation of Grand Duke Weissen."

Count Duval speared a slice of canned apple with his dagger and ate it, waiting for what was to come.

Charlie said as he ate: "The essence of Wesson bread is that it can be varied. Any food can be sandwiched between the two slices of bread, it can be a fried egg or smoked whale meat."

“It’s delicious, there’s something for everyone, and everyone loves it.”

"But, is there something else hidden underneath this?"

Count Duval asked in surprise, "You mean there is poison in it?"

Charlie finished eating the two slices of bread with the roasted rabbit meat in his hand, and then asked him, "Recently, the Wesson Science Institute Medical School published a report that some families are born with allergies to certain foods. In mild cases, the whole body will itch, and in severe cases, it can lead to death."

"There was a very strange case where a family in the south of the Kingdom of Sardinia was allergic to wheat, and several family members died as a result."

"Will you stop eating bread because of this?"

Count Duval smiled and shook his head and said, "It's not that I'm allergic, so I won't stop eating bread."

"Yes." Charlie nodded. "The cleverness of Grand Duke Wesson is that the things in Wesson's bag are delicacies to some people, but poison to others."

For a moment, Count Duval was unsure of what His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was going to say.

Charlie used a fork to pick up a slice of canned orange, and after eating it, he said, "Grand Duke Wesson is now on vacation in Bohemia. I don't believe he went to that shabby place just for vacation."

"Now there is news that the cities of the Duchy of Wessen are going to become partner cities with the cities of Bohemia, which further confirms my guess."

"We can analyze the following news together."

"First, there have been gold mines in Bohemia since ancient times."

"Secondly, some time ago, there was a rumor among the upper echelons of the Principality of Weisen that there were hundreds of tons of gold in a distant place."

"Third, the Duchy of Wessen is short of precious metal currency. When we went there, we used the meal tickets from the steel mill to buy things. Recently, Wessen coupons have been issued."

"Fourth, Grand Duke Wessen went to the Bohemian region."

Count Duval took a deep breath when he heard this and said in surprise, "That is to say, the Bohemian region has a treasure trove of hundreds of tons of gold, or at least a large vein of gold. That's why Grand Duke Wesson went there for vacation!"

Charlie nodded.

As the saying goes, seeing others making a lot of money is more painful than losing money yourself. Count Duval's face turned unsightly.

Charlie poured himself a cup of tea, took a sip and said, "This time, the partner city that Grand Duke Wesson is promoting is the Wesson bag that contains poison."

"He used the towns of the Duchy of Wessen to exert influence at every point, and then his favorite thing was to build railways."

"Wherever the railway is built, the Wesson Army can quickly appear there."

"The Wesson Army is now engaged in a war on two fronts and has no time to spare. The time to spare is when the place will be named Wesson." "The town there has been destroyed by decades of war. It's like a starving person. At this time, someone gives him a delicious Wesson bun. Even if he knows that it contains poison that will take effect in a long time, he will starve to death if he doesn't eat it, so he will eventually eat it."

"Of course, for some people, becoming a part of the Principality of Wessen is the best thing. In their eyes, it is not poison at all, but a tonic."

"When Grand Duke Wessen controls the Bohemian region, he can bring back those hundreds of tons of gold without any hassle."

Count Duval did some calculations in his mind and sighed, "Even if there is only one hundred tons of gold, that would be more than fourteen million pounds, equivalent to our income for several decades. It is indeed worth investing a large amount of money in such a huge project."

He felt even more upset.

"We can't let him get this gold!" Count Duval stood up from the carpet and paced back and forth on the grass, "At least not easily."

"The strength of Grand Duke Wessen means the strength of the Rhine Confederation."

"Many people initially thought that the Duchy of Wessen and the Kingdom of Gaul would confront each other in the Kingdom of Tarago, but the Wessen Army really only went to fight the pagans. This shows that the marriage between the Rhine Alliance and the Kingdom of Gaul is effective and solid, and the Rhine Alliance royal family can control the Grand Duke of Wessen."

"The Kingdom of Gaul is now building coastal defense fortifications on the south bank of the Sleeve Channel. It is obvious that they are targeting us."

"The war in the Tarago Kingdom has always been a civil war. If the situation becomes stalemate, one side will probably give in to the other side."

"If the Kingdom of Gaul withdraws its hand at this time, and the Rhine Alliance joins forces..."

He didn't dare think about it anymore.

Charlie smiled and said, “Why don’t you write a letter to ask the relative who sells thermos cups in Weissenburg City, if I surrender to the Weissen Army, can I keep the basic royal dignity?”

Count Duval shrugged and said, "He probably doesn't know."

It is normal for a large family to have branches in different countries. When they went to Weissenburg to attend the World Expo last year, they stayed at the house of the "Thermos Cup King". Charlie was just joking.

Charles thought for a moment and said, "What do you think? We should take advantage of the fact that the Kingdom of Gaul is weak and give them a hard time?"

Count Duval shook his head and said, "They are just transferring their troops to the Kingdom of Tarago. They are not annihilated, so they can transfer their troops back."

"We can only tear off a piece of meat if we unite with the Rhine Alliance, the Kingdom of Lisenburg, the Kingdom of Sardinia, and the Kingdom of Tarago."

Charlie nodded and fell into deep thought.

Count Duval did not disturb him, but sat on the carpet and continued to eat.

After about an hour, Charles asked, "How about we convince old Louis that the four kingdoms are plotting against the Kingdom of Gaul?"

Count Duval thought for a moment and said, "Why not let little Louis take the lead."

Charlie nodded. God knew what was going on. Everyone could see that there was a rift between old Louis and his son.

He then asked, "Can you financially support me to take an army to the Kingdom of Tarago and fight alongside the Wesson Army?"

Count Duval's face suddenly darkened.

Charlie ignored it and continued, “Don’t worry, there are other places to spend money.”

"We can't let Grand Duke Wesson take over the Bohemian region easily. We should give the Piast Kingdom a huge loan and let them cause trouble. We will get a share after we find the gold. This investment is worth it."

"Our country's safety depends on the ocean. We must increase investment in the navy and support new maritime talents like Sir Clifford."

"The Grand Duke of Wessen's railway cannot cross the Sleeve Channel, so the royal family must also have its own railway."

"We still have a lot of things we need to have. We need to learn from the Duchy of Wessen, establish a Royal Scientific Society, and build steam engines and various machines ourselves."

All these will cost a lot of money. The Minister of Finance's heart rate suddenly exceeded 100. He thought to himself, no wonder the prince wanted to ask him to come today. All the things he said before were to pave the way for these expenses.

(End of this chapter)