industrial lord

Chapter 651: Friends Are Making a Lot of Money

The summer in Boheim is beautiful, with bright sunshine, shady green trees, and white swans on the river like clouds falling on the water.

But Frederick was not in a good mood.

A few days ago, Maria went to the gold mine with great enthusiasm, which was the purpose of their trip.

However, years of war have brought devastating damage to the mining industry.

Both parties adhere to the principle that if they cannot mine, others cannot mine either. Whoever tries to mine will be attacked by the other party.

The mine was abandoned and later became a place for discarding corpses, filled with bones.

Maria was so frightened by the skulls of several children that she lost her mind. After she came back, she had a high fever and could not eat for two days. Now she has no appetite and does not want to eat.

After entering the city, Frederick did not go anywhere and stayed with Maria in the palace where he was staying.

The only way to treat this disease now is to eat light meals, drink some tranquilizers, and then sleep for a few days.

Frederick added a little more to the treatment: walking around in the garden.

That morning, Maria walked more than a thousand steps in the garden, chatted with Frederick in the pavilion for a while, had some steamed fish and bread for lunch, and then went back to her room to take medicine and rest.

Frederick stayed in the pavilion, and soon Christian came to report on his work.

As the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Christian personally led a team to prepare for the expedition, but the bridge on the road collapsed not long ago, which was a huge mistake at work.

He brought some news today: "Sir, we have heard that the bridge was probably destroyed intentionally."

Frederick said, "I won't pursue the matter of the bridge any further. It seems someone doesn't like me coming here."

Christian said, "The mayor of Boheim, the tax collector, the judge and other great nobles are all from the Kingdom of Piast. Not long after they learned that you were coming, they left the city to vacation in their estates far away."

Frederick shrugged and said, "I didn't expect they were so afraid of me."

The Winged Hussars of the Piast Kingdom were all small and medium-sized nobles. In the Battle of the Elbe, he killed so many of these nobles that almost every family had a funeral. Even if no one died at home, some relatives or friends died.

The people living near the city of Boheim are mainly nobles from the Kingdom of Piast, so it is understandable that they dislike Frederick.

Christian said seriously: "If you walk around the residential area at night, you will know how famous you are."

Frederick shook his head and said, "No, I saw him on the way here."

He was a little speechless. It was fine if a child who didn't eat would be kidnapped by himself, but what the hell was that a man who drank and didn't come home would be kidnapped by himself?

Back to the point, Frederick asked Christian: "What do the small and medium nobles and merchants in the city think of me?"

Christian replied: "The nobles are a little afraid of you. I think it's because of the propaganda the Piast Kingdom has been doing for many years."

“Businessmen are looking forward to the new opportunities you can bring.”

Frederick nodded thoughtfully, realizing that his reputation among various groups was related to whether their interests were relevant.

He thought for a while and said, "Politics is about making the number of enemies smaller and the number of friends larger."

"An important task of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is to make more friends."

"Anyone willing to be friends with us is welcome."

"We won't force anyone who doesn't want to be our friend."

"After Maria recovers in a couple of days, she can invite some guests to hold a salon or tea party. I'll go out and take a look as well."

Christian understood what he meant and immediately said, "I will arrange it in the next two days." Frederick continued, "There are quite a few merchants coming with us this time. We can arrange for them to meet with local merchants and make more friends. I will show up when the time is right."

Christian thought for a moment and said, "I can ask Ms. Bibian to contact a few local businessmen who are kind to us to open up the situation."

Frederick felt that the name Bibian sounded familiar, and after thinking about it, he remembered it.

Bibian is the second daughter of Grand Duke Regens. After the Trade Route War, the name was changed to its current name. The knights of the former Regens Alliance and others formed a chamber of commerce, specializing in business in the Principality of Wessen and Bohemia. His two daughters serve in the Air Force.

Frederick thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Don't go by her, go by yourself."

"This time, we will not take the initiative to contact her."

Christian was a little confused.

In front of him, Frederick called the staff officer of the Supreme Command and mentioned the names of the two air force pilots, asking the Air Force to find a reason to promote their ranks.

Christian figured out the flavor.

The city of Boheim is the heart of the Bohemian region. Its attitude towards Frederick is a weather vane for many fence-sitters. At present, it seems that the internal situation is not solid, and it will take a long time to divide and win over.

At this time, the daughter of a former enemy of Frederick was no longer favored by Frederick, and it was obvious which side she would take in the future.

Christian believes that Bibian is a smart man and can see that he is talking to her from a distance.

The two chatted about the details for a while, and Christian left to discuss with the merchants from the Principality of Wessen.

Frederick was preparing for a lunch break and learned that Maria did not take medicine and rest like yesterday, but asked for some documents and went to the study.

He came to the study and saw Maria flipping through documents and writing furiously at the door, so he did not disturb her.

According to tradition, after the two got married, Maria had the right to manage the territory if Frederick went on a campaign or was away from the territory for a long time. She even had the right to command the army if foreign enemies invaded or Frederick was killed in battle or captured.

Therefore, Frederick allowed Maria to enter the government system of the Duchy of Wessen early and gave her high authority.

Now that Maria was busy, Frederick went fishing by himself in the nearby river and caught a swan in the evening.

After returning, Taro asked in confusion: "Master, didn't you say you were going to catch fish for the young lady? Why did you bring back a swan?"

"Swan meat tastes best when grilled, but it's not bland."

Before Frederick could speak, Ah Fu, who was walking out with him, said seriously, "We didn't find a market that sells live fish, but we have a lot of dried fish."

Frederick curled his lips and didn't respond. Instead, he said, "Everyone must be tired after walking so far. You can arrange for them to take turns to take a day off and travel in the city and the surrounding areas."

"The security here is not as good as at home. I will ask Tony to arrange for the guards to take a vacation together."

"By the way, try to arrange the singles together."

After he finished speaking, he slipped away to see Maria's work.

Maria appeared to have finished her work and was drinking her coffee while looking at what needed to be revised.

Frederick walked behind her, gently rubbed her temples, and asked, "What's the result?"

Maria said: "I have initially developed a plan for assistance."

Frederick didn't expect that she was busy with this. He leaned over to look at the plan in her hand, and just saw the total amount at the bottom. His heart skipped a beat.

(End of this chapter)