industrial lord

What's the reason behind Chapter 822?
Thick fog engulfed the city of Rendynew.

Thick, wispy fog clung to the church steeple, obscuring the outlines of the cranes at the riverbank docks and immersing the entire city in a hazy, gray mist.

The fog this winter is different from previous years; it has a pungent smell.

Nevertheless, the people who now have access to cheap honeycomb briquettes for heating are genuinely grateful to the Meyer couple.

In Prince Edward's private study, the fireplace was burning brightly.

Flames leaped behind the cast-iron grate, freshly added firewood crackled and popped, and a faint scent of pine resin filled the room.

Edward sat in a high-backed velvet armchair, holding in his hand a full copy of Frederick's public speech from the previous night, which had just been delivered from the intelligence department.

“This Wesson…” Edward shook his head with a helpless smile, “He makes it sound quite plausible.”

As a political being, he habitually believes that those in positions of power have the right to lie to those in positions of power.

He didn't believe that the Duchy of Weisen was large, and that this winter was colder than usual, yet no one had frozen to death.

Across from him, Count Duval, the finance minister, was using a silver knife to peel a red fruit imported from the southern continent.

The blade rotates at a steady speed along the fruit peel, carving out a continuous, thin, red spiral.

"Does Your Highness suspect him of bluffing?" Duval asked without looking up.

“It’s not doubt, it’s certainty,” Edward said confidently, setting the documents aside. “The economic impact of the Battle of Redwheel Village far exceeded our expectations.”

Duval finally finished peeling the fruit.

He gently placed the whole fruit peel on a special silver plate, and the fruit pulp on a porcelain dish made of imported peach blossom stone. He then precisely cut the pulp into eight equal parts with the tip of his knife and placed the dish on the table.

Edward used his silver fork to pick up a piece of fruit and put it in his mouth. He thoroughly enjoyed the slightly cloyingly sweet taste.

“I think the finances of the Duchy of Wessen are like this red fruit,” he said. “After eating this fruit, your urine is blood red, but you have no health problems at all.”

"However, other people don't know the whole story. They only know that you urinated blood, so they assume you are sick."

Duval nodded slightly and said, "Perhaps there are clues in places we haven't noticed, or perhaps the problem can't be hidden and they're creating a hot topic in advance to cover it up."

“I believe Wesson needs to issue bonds on a large scale to borrow money,” Edward concluded. “It’s necessary to boost market confidence before the bond issuance, hence this speech.”

Duval carefully wiped each finger with a napkin, pondering the Crown Prince's conclusion, which he found quite reasonable.

Edward gestured for him to have some fruit as well, and said, "Last time, our fleet made a show of force by heading to the Rhine Alliance and then to the Duchy of Wessen, but Wessen didn't react at all. I've been thinking about this for a long time."

"Now we can understand Wesson's behavior. It's not that he didn't want to react, but that he couldn't react."

“I have a guess. The ship of the Duchy of Wessen was leaking. Originally, it could have slowly pumped water to get through the crisis, but last year’s large-scale crop failure was like a leaky ship hitting a reef, making the hole even bigger.”

The study fell silent, the fireplace flames flickered, and both men were deep in thought.

Duval began, “I had someone analyze the grain import data of the Duchy of Wessen over the past few years.”

"Three years ago, grain imports increased by 18 percent compared to four years ago."

"Two years ago, it increased by 25 percent."

“And last year…” he emphasized, “in the first ten months alone, it had already reached thirty-one percent.”

Edward frowned slightly and asked, "Are they hoarding food?"

The Duchy of Wessen has been importing large quantities of grain, but the increase seems a bit odd. "Not entirely," Duval shook his head slightly. "The Duchy of Wessen is indeed stockpiling grain and sells old grain every year, but the growth isn't that fast."

"Now, there is a place that has become a bottomless pit of food."

After he finished speaking, he used a silver fork to pick up a piece of fruit and ate it.

“Bohemian.” Edward nodded. “Since Wesson is going to play tricks there, he should keep doing it.”

"What was that thing he mentioned in his book again? Oh, sunk costs, it's gotten so big that it can't be stopped."

After the Crown Prince finished speaking, Duval pondered for a moment and said, "Now there is no way out for Wesson. Once aid to Bohemia is stopped, famine will inevitably lead to unrest there, and all the previous investments will be wasted."

"So Wesson had to issue bonds to get through the crisis, which led to this grand speech about winter benefits, promising that every citizen could have a warm winter."

"This can both soothe the anxiety of the domestic population and create the illusion for the outside world that the Principality of Weisen has a sound financial situation and the ability to care for people's livelihoods, thereby boosting investor confidence."

The room fell silent once again.

After a long while, the sound of a bell came from outside the window.

The church bells pierced through the thick fog, their sound deep and lingering, like the song of whales from the deep sea.

Edward looked at the flickering flames in the fireplace and said, "If the speculation is correct, then Wesson's situation is more dangerous than we anticipated."

"He was walking a very thin tightrope. Any accident, such as a cold snap in spring, a border conflict, or even a bread shortage in a town in the country, could cause him to lose his balance and fall into the abyss."

Duval nodded and said, "So he didn't react to our navy's provocations."

"It's not that I'm unwilling, but that I can't."

"The Duchy of Wesen does not have the strength to open a second front at the moment. Even a tough diplomatic rhetoric could expose its weakness."

As the fire grew weaker, he added two new pieces of firewood with iron tongs.

Dry pine wood ignites instantly when exposed to fire, producing a flame that carries a pleasant, resinous fragrance.

After a long pause, Edward spoke up: "I have another concern. A person driven to desperation by hunger is capable of anything."

Duval said with a pained expression, "That's the most dangerous part."

No one doubted Wei Senjun's strength, so they were all afraid that if they encountered financial problems, Wei Senjun would try to rob them.

"What should we do?" Duval asked. "Should we take advantage of his misfortune, or help him through this difficult time?"

Now that we have analyzed the cause of the problem, the next step is to take countermeasures.

In accordance with their usual practice, taking advantage of a disaster will not result in death, and offering help will only ensure that the victim is not killed.

“Let’s not act rashly,” Edward said. “Let the Gauls do the bad stuff.”

"I recently heard about a very interesting Gaul, and I think he is sure to achieve great things."

"Write down what we just said in a memo, and present it as an intelligence report from some department. I'll have someone send it over under some pretext."

“Gallic?” Duval nodded slightly. “They’ve been making quite a few moves lately.”

Edward nodded and said, "Let's add another fire."

(End of this chapter)