industrial lord

Chapter 770 New Pattern
When people reach a certain position, they always want to make great achievements, and Theodore was no exception.

Although the Minister of Agriculture doesn't have much power, the position is a valuable ticket to power, serving as a stepping stone to get things done.

Theodore inquired about the funding gap of the Rhine Alliance, and the amount turned out to be much larger than he had expected, like a heavy boulder pressing down on the country's already fragile finances.

In the manor, the king remained immersed in alcohol.

Inside the palace, the ministers were slacking off, unable to come up with a single practical solution.

In the salon, the nobles whispered among themselves.

On the streets, merchants were filled with anxiety, worried about increased taxes and a market downturn.

Theodore attended another fruitless court meeting, gaining nothing but exhaustion and a dozen cream-filled cookies.

The finances of the Rhine Alliance, from the royal family to the nobility, went from being on the verge of collapse to being on the verge of collapse, and even the Duchy of Wessen was not doing well.

Agriculture, the traditional cornerstone of society, suffered a wheat yield reduction last winter due to its early arrival and late departure, which not only failed to provide new vitality but also became a destabilizing factor.

Back at his lodgings, the housekeeper handed him an invitation.

Despite the nation's difficulties, we will continue to sing and dance.

Discussing state affairs at a banquet is a very fashionable practice.

“Perhaps we need some different ideas,” a calm and confident voice said beside him.

Theodore turned around and saw that the speaker was a middle-aged man dressed in a well-tailored, stylish dark Wesson suit. He exuded competence and shrewdness, with sharp eyes that seemed to see through everything. He was chatting with several court nobles.

After he finished speaking, Theodore smiled and stepped forward to him, saying, "Hozenproz, I didn't expect to see you here."

When Hojenproz saw that it was Theodore, he quickly bowed and replied, "I have come here at the invitation of a friend to look for an opportunity to make a fortune."

Theodore greeted the guests nearby and asked Hojenproz curiously, "Have you found an opportunity?"

The people of the capital were unaware of this, but those who bordered the Duchy of Wessen to the south were very familiar with the name and deeds of Hojenproz.

"The weather is getting colder and there is a huge market for down jackets," said Hojenproz. "I discovered a lot of opportunities during my recent trip back."

Twenty years ago, people around him would have been nervous to hear him say that.

Everyone's eyes lit up immediately. It didn't matter if they didn't recognize Hojenproz; all they needed to know was that he was now one of the factory owners in the Duchy of Wesen.

Theodore listened quietly to Hojenproz's business investigation results, pondering them in his mind. Finally, he asked his butler to invite him to his home the next day.

The following afternoon, Hojenproz arrived on time, and only the host and guest were in the living room.

Theodore gave a polite smile and got straight to the point: "The Rhine Alliance is facing difficulties. I have been racking my brains for a solution and have been trying to emulate the Duchy of Wessen, but I have found that the problem cannot be solved by just a few factories."

"I'd like to hear your opinion on this."

He was taught from a young age that if he didn't understand something, he should ask someone who did. He originally planned to ask Frederick for advice, but Frederick and Maria hadn't returned from their honeymoon yet. So he decided to ask a successful merchant from the Duchy of Wessen first; perhaps he would get some unexpected insights.

Hojenproz listened quietly and nodded gently.

Having been a thief and run a factory for so many years, he understands one thing very well: whether you're doing business or being a thief, if you want to grow big and powerful, you can't do without collusion between officials and businessmen.

Although he achieved some success in the Duchy of Wessen, few nobles outside the territory took him seriously.

Theodore is the future ruler of the Duchy of Mainz. If we can gain his favor, things will be much easier to do later.

Having gained a better understanding, Hojenproz said earnestly, "Your Excellency, your problem is that the wheat fields you see only mean food, while the wheat fields I see are flowing gold, the fuel that drives the machines."

"What do you mean?" Theodore frowned; he hadn't considered this angle before.

Hojenproz replied, "What I mean is that agriculture in the Rhine Alliance is still asleep in its old dreams."

"It needs a revolution, a revolution toward gold-dominated agricultural production."

“Gold coins…dominate agricultural production?” Theodore was puzzled by this unfamiliar combination of words, yet it also felt strangely familiar.

“Exactly.” Hojenproz leaned forward slightly, his tone becoming fervent. “The new agriculture is not simply about selling grain for money, but a completely new way of thinking and organizing.”

"First, the purpose of production must change. It is no longer to fill the granaries, but to make a profit, to sell at the highest price in the market and exchange it for gold coins!" "Second, the land must become a factory for producing agricultural products. What to plant is no longer based on tradition, but guided by profit."

"Most importantly, human relationships must change; they can no longer be serfs or tenant farmers dependent on the land and lords."

"What our factory needs is free labor, so free that they have nothing but the ability to sell their labor for wages to support themselves."

"The owner of the manor is no longer a landlord who collects rent, but an agricultural entrepreneur. He hires these free laborers, pays their wages, and organizes production, with only one goal: to maximize profits."

Theodore listened with a chill down his spine. Although the Duchy of Wessen had been doing many things and many policies had been imitated in other places, upon closer examination beyond the profit motive, he realized that this was almost undermining the very foundation of the landowners!

“This is too radical!” he said, shaking his head. “The earlier redemption of serfs made the nobles realize the problem quickly. With fewer people under their rule, their power also shrank, which is tantamount to shaking their very foundation!”

Previously, nobles in various regions had been developing industries with great fanfare, building factories one after another, and serfs had become "worker mercenaries".

Problems arose as they discovered that once the people under their territory were freed from the constraints of the land, they began to rebel against their rule.

This greatly displeased the traditional old aristocracy.

Hozenproz's eyes gleamed with a repeating light as he said, "Therefore, we need a special path, one that our Duchy of Wesen has researched and tested in the forest and ocean regions—we call it the 'Young Master Manor Model'."

"Young Master?" Theodore was unfamiliar with the term.

Hojenproz nodded and said, "You can understand it as... a new generation of young, idealistic, moral, cultured, and innovative nobles."

"The beauty of this path lies in the fact that it is a reform led by the nobles themselves!"

Curiosity gleamed in Theodore's eyes.

Hojenproz, as if revealing a great secret, lowered his voice and said, "The first step is to issue a decree to completely abolish serfdom in law and grant peasants personal freedom, but if they want to obtain the land they have cultivated for generations, they must pay a huge ransom to the nobles."

Theodore nodded. These things had already been done, but the ransom was paid by Frederick, who had apparently not slept well for several days because of it.

Hojenproz continued, "The result was predictable: most farmers simply couldn't afford it and ultimately had to give up some or even all of their land."

"In this way, the nobles acquired large tracts of contiguous land suitable for large-scale development without spending a single penny!"

Theodore nodded again, understanding. This time, without Frederick's money to buy their freedom, they would have to pay for it themselves.

"The second step was for the nobles—we should now call them 'agricultural factory owners'—to use these concentrated lands to establish large farms," ​​Hojenproz said.

"They hired landless, freed peasants as agricultural workers to cultivate the land."

“Unlike before, the profits and risks of farming and harvesting are all borne by the agricultural factory owners, who pay wages to the farmers.”

"At the same time, the introduction of new farming techniques, fertilizers, agricultural machinery and improved varieties has greatly increased yields."

"The third step is to sell the produced grain as a commodity in the domestic market or even export it."

"The gold coins earned are partly used to pay wages and improve technology, but most of them become profits for the nobles and taxes for the country!"

Hojenproz spoke faster and faster, as if a grand blueprint was unfolding before his eyes: "Your Excellency, think about it! The nobles have acquired far more wealth than they used to collect rent from; they are still the owners of the land, or even wealthier owners!"

"The country has secured ample food supplies and a stable source of tax revenue!"

"Those free laborers who come to the city can also provide workers for factory owners like me!"

"This is a win-win situation!"

Theodore remained silent for a long time, his heart pounding.

The Duchy of Wessen has its own unique circumstances, and there is always a barrier between it and other countries like the Duchy of Mainz when they try to learn from it.

Theodore had been wondering about this, but when Hojenproz mentioned the forest-ocean region, a key question came to mind, and then he understood.

The biggest difference between the Duchy of Wesen and other places is its political system, which has the concentration of power that all rulers dream of, thus enabling the implementation of various policies.

Theodore seemed to see a bright path out of his predicament, even though the path looked thorny and had bottomless abysses on both sides.

But when it comes to politics, there's nothing that can't be discussed.

(End of this chapter)