industrial lord

Chapter 780 Maritime Affairs
Amidst the complex gazes of the crowd, the Anglo Kingdom's fleet sailed away from Cologne, their attention now focused on their next important target—Wesenberg City.

Many people believe that the Grand Duke of Wessen will surely try to save face on his own turf.

For a time, train tickets to Wesenberg were extremely hard to come by, and everyone wanted to experience the moment of triumph.

However, everyone was disappointed.

Aside from appointing Eugene, the commander of the 3rd Division who had led the destruction of an Anglo-Kingdom transport fleet the previous year, as his plenipotentiary representative to receive the guests from afar, Grand Duke Wessen did nothing else.

For a moment, everyone's heart was filled with disappointment and frustration.

Just then, some observant people discovered that the Grand Duke of Wessen had disappeared; he was nowhere to be seen in the news, and there was no trace of him in Wessenburg either.

Rumors suggest that the much-discussed issue of the Forest Ocean region joining the Duchy of Wesen, despite setbacks in negotiations following the Battle of Redwaterwheel Village, has largely reached a consensus this year. The 16,000 square kilometer Forest Ocean region will be divided into three provinces—El, Sur, and Gra—to join the Duchy of Wesen.

By then, the Duchy of Weisen will have an area of ​​5 square kilometers and a population of over two million.

This rumor suggests that Grand Duke Wessen's current focus is not on the visiting fleet.

However, this does not reduce public anxiety.

When do you plan to light the powder keg?

Beside a small river in the forest, Psyche watched Frederick pull up an empty fishhook and asked a question that only the two of them knew the answer to.

Frederick baited the hook, cast it back into the water, and calmly replied, "I've done all I can. Whether the fire will start depends on whether the wheels of history have rolled to that point."

Only those two people in the world today truly understand what this version of nationalism means.

Frederick had been planning this for so many years, and now he could take advantage of the visit of the Anglo Kingdom's fleet to push things forward.

Psyche walked to the riverbank, picked up the fish basket, and found it empty. He couldn't help but shake his head.

“You should be more proactive.” She put the fish basket back into the water. “You need to know that many people see you as their savior. If you don’t show your support, you will hurt many people’s feelings.”

This time, Psyche immediately saw what Frederick was up to, and she wouldn't be surprised if children started playing "Sinking the Oak" in a while.

But this fire can't just be left ignited and left alone. If it's not guided and fanned further, the public's enthusiasm will quickly turn to ashes, and then it will be difficult to reignite it.

Frederick said, "Many hands make light work; in politics, it's truly good when everyone benefits."

"The warship issue is easy to handle, but the military issue is not so easy to handle."

"The current navy is actually a private army of me and the Adigen family. If it is to be developed, it will no longer be a matter between our two families."

Psyche understood his meaning and said, "So you plan to start with the navy, nationalize the private navy, and thereby control naval power."

"The problem is that in today's political system, the state is both a royal family and a clan."

"The navy is a money-devouring beast. If the national treasury of the Rhine Alliance is used to support it, it will bankrupt the royal family in no time."

Frederick nodded, gave a cold laugh, and said, "And then there's the air force."

If the Rhine Confederation wants to organize a powerful army belonging to the entire country, either the royal family must fund it themselves, or they must change the traditional feudal political relations and the national structure.

The royal family could no longer afford to pay for it themselves; after the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Red Waterwheel Village, their finances were strained, and maintaining the status quo was already a good outcome.

Then there's only one other way.

Frederick had already arranged for the relevant public opinion and ideological theories to be put in place, and with the help of the Anglo-Saxon fleet's visit, it seems to be having some effect so far.

“Reform cannot be rushed,” Frederick said earnestly. “It must be well-planned and prepared, and cannot be subject to back-and-forth.”

This was the first time he had undertaken something so significant, so he was understandably uncertain and could only proceed with extreme caution. Psyche neither approved nor disapproved of his approach, and changed the subject.

"The Wesson Scientific Society has already organized people to start researching the new warship." She said with a look of surprise, "Many people are surprised that the Kingdom of Anglo has such a high level of shipbuilding, capable of building a warship of more than three thousand tons, and are even more surprised by its firepower."

The Anglo-Saxon warships, with their densely packed cannons on the sides, were quite intimidating, so the common people simply believed that the more cannons a ship had, the stronger it was, which deepened their anxieties.

In the Duchy of Weisen, experts also began to debate.

Some people think that we should install three to five layers of cannons like the Anglo-Saxon warships, while others believe that the number of cannons is not as important as their caliber, and that a hundred cannons that are just scratching the surface are not as effective as one cannon that can cause real damage.

This debate has a long history, dating back to when the magic crystal cannon was being loaded onto the ship.

Against this backdrop, the group advocating for the installation of remote-controlled rockets also began to voice their opinions.

"The matter of weapons still needs your decision," Psyche said, leaving the decision of the dispute to Frederick.

Frederick paused for a moment, then suddenly said mysteriously, "More is better, bigger is better!"

“A specter, the specter of multi-turretism, is haunting the skies above the ocean.”

Upon hearing this, Psyche was speechless and didn't want to say anything.

After his outburst, Frederick said, "Fortunately, the shipyards in Hamma and Lukang had prepared large enough dry docks from the beginning, so we can build warships of more than three thousand tons, or even larger."

"But we can't rush things; warships aren't something we can just throw around."

"I suggest taking small steps and making quick progress. Build two of each new ship model, improve them little by little, and scale them up gradually."

The Anglo-Saxon warships thwarted his original plan to launch the fish balls.

Originally, the main warships of the Rhine Alliance were planned to be only 600 tons, but the Kingdom of Anglo, relying on its abundance of good timber, suddenly jumped to over 3000 tons.

Putting aside factors such as firepower, the sheer size of the ship, combined with its ocean-going capabilities and the isolated island location of the Kingdom of Anglo-Saxon, would seriously threaten Frederick's interests on the southern continent.

Therefore, Frederick had to build warships of equal size to counter this threat.

Psyche said, "You'd better specify the role of the warship. Frigates, cruisers, etc., are all different and have different focuses."

Frederick nodded; that was the proper thing to do.

“Oh, right.” He suddenly remembered something and looked at Psyche with a serious expression. “There’s something I think we can do.”

Psyche watched him quietly, waiting for what he would say next.

“A new continent!” Frederick said. “We can contact the Sisterhood of Witches, and I’ll build them a new ship.”

Psyche thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "We should go and take a look there."

"However, you should be mentally prepared. I always feel that things over there might be different from what we expect."

Should we make it public?

Frederick pondered this: the legend of the New World had been circulating among sailors for many years; this was big news that would surely ignite public opinion.

"Don't announce it yet," he finally decided. "Publicly announce that the new ship is for exploring further south of the southern continent."

Psyche nodded and said, "I'll remind you of something: if you want to dominate the seas, you must control the gateways between the inland seas and the open ocean."

Frederick nodded seriously; this was a big problem.

(End of this chapter)