Doctor Amnesiac, but not completely amnesiac

Witt nodded thoughtfully.

Indeed, if the steps in the plan were really carried out, the nobles' business acumen would probably be wasted very quickly - after all, what could you expect from them when they first divided up the pigs that were given as a gift after Senior Brother Vladimir fell?

So the only recourse for these guys is to resort to unconventional tactics.

"This can be done, but we need the support of the military - after all, these guys have an army, and we need to be careful that they won't really fall out with us."

"Don't worry, Grand Duke Nicholas will stand on our side."

Qiao Yelan’s words made Witt’s eyes narrow, but he still suppressed his curiosity.

Because there are more pressing questions to ask.

"You said you could give me an...army. Is that true?"

"Of course it's true, but it's not compiled."

Witt shook his head seriously.

"Organization is not important, what's important is quantity. We are not nobles, and according to imperial law, we cannot have private soldiers. A few dozen or a few hundred guards is fine, but a large number of soldiers will definitely give us something to hold against us."

"Chairman Witte, first of all, I would like to ask you, what is your definition of the army?"

Qiao Yelan asked back.

The Speaker was startled and opened his mouth, but found that he didn't know what to say.

"The training period for a qualified soldier is basically between six months and one year. During this process, they will improve their physical fitness, receive weapons training, combat training, and obedience training."

“So we can think about this from a deconstructionist perspective: Can a large group of able-bodied people, armed with weapons, following orders, trained to fight, be considered an army?”

Witt was confused, but nodded.

"I believe you must know what a factory assembly line is. It is to piece together parts one by one. Only when they are ready to be shipped out of the factory, they are called products. Before that, no one thinks that this is a complete product."

"And the military, it's the same thing."

Qiao Yelan smiled and spread out his hands.

"If we take a large group of people and improve their physical fitness and obedience training, others will not think it is an army - but as long as they are given assault combat training and weapons training, they will be an army, right?"

"And weapons and combat training won't take six months to a year."

The Speaker still had a look of confusion on his face.

Qiao Yelan's words made him grasp something, but it seemed as if he had not grasped it.

"Do you think that a group of workers meet the requirements of [being physically strong] and [obeying orders]?"

Witt looked at Qiao Yelan in a daze.

"You see, although it is called industrial reform in name, it is nothing more than improving production efficiency, setting production standards, and integrating small factories. The factories that belong to each other will remain their factories, and the workers that belong to each other will remain their workers."

"The nobles can capture their own serfs and enlist them in the army. Can't you arm your workers and use them as an army?"

Qiao Yelan's voice was so seductive that it directly opened a new door for this petty bourgeois gentleman.

But behind this door, is it heaven or hell?

That depends on the person.

---------------------------------------------------------

Speaker Witte spent three full days digesting the shock Qiao Yelan brought to him.

Then he resolutely decided to join Qiao Yelan's plan.

Once a consensus was reached on the most crucial part, the rest of the matter naturally just required listening to Qiao Yelan continue to fool people... continue to make promises... and continue to cheat people out of money.

"There is a lot of room for maneuver in the method you mentioned, but the problem is that we don't have enough free people to become workers, and most people would rather farm."

Witt discussed enthusiastically with Qiao Yelan, without any trace of dissatisfaction or neglect.

"Of course I know that there may not be enough workers, and that agriculture cannot be neglected - but look, aren't there still serfs?"

"serf?"

"Yes, why can the royal family still maintain basic industrial production? Isn't it because His Majesty Fyodor still controls the Imperial Ministry of Labor? I think you still remember the predecessor of this department."

Qiao Yelan explained slowly and leisurely.

"As long as we convert as many serfs as possible into freemen, these people have no basic means of production - I mean, they have no seeds, no beasts of burden, no farm tools, no houses. What kind of land do you expect them to cultivate? Aren't they just going to work in factories?"

"But only the nobles still have serfs. The other serfs have long been transformed into freemen by His Majesty Vladimir."

Witt was a little disappointed.

"Then buy it, cheat it, rob it - as for the serf brand, just dig it out directly."

The man said calmly.

"But won't this also be exposed? The nobles will not accept such a trick that only makes things more obvious."

"Have you forgotten what the Imperial Labor Department is like? As long as you insist that this is a registered freeman of the Imperial Labor Department, what can the nobles do?"

Witt slapped his head. How could he forget that Fyodor was on his side this time?

"When the time comes, just pay a head fee to His Majesty. As long as His Majesty can get the money, He doesn't care whether it's serfs or freemen who create wealth for him."

"...But the nobles will eventually react. We can only do this for a while, and then it won't work anymore."

"That's not my business, but honestly, do you think the nobles really care about the serfs?"

Qiao Yelan yawned.

"You know how many serfs His Majesty Vladimir bought and then made them free men. You think those serfs are important, so you treat them like treasures. But in the eyes of the nobles, aren't they just serfs?"

It really is.

Speaker Witte was so concerned that he even forgot that to these nobles, serfs were just like grass, growing out of the ground.

"I have no objection."

"Well, then it's time for you to show some sincerity—"

Qiao Yelan stretched out his hand with a smile.

Speaker Witte's face twitched, and he took out his checkbook and started signing with pain.

This is ten times the number he first gave to Qiao Yelan.

According to Qiao Yelan's request, he divided the money into five checks and handed them to Qiao Yelan.

When Qiao Yelan received the five checks, he nodded with satisfaction, then patted Speaker Witte's shoulder enthusiastically.

"Don't feel that you are at a disadvantage. There were only two of us in the original shares. Didn't I agree that I would only take half of the shares of those who bought in later, and the remaining half would belong to you?"

Witt's expression improved a little. The other party agreed to hand over all of the factory shares of the Civil Service Group to him, and Qiao Yelan would only be involved in the construction of the factory and production line.

Seeing Qiao Yelan put away the check, Witt hesitated, but still spoke again.

"I want to know how you convinced Grand Duke Nicholas."

He was not surprised that Fedor was persuaded. The emperor was now crazy with poverty. As long as Qiao Yelan used money to pave the way, he would be successful.

But it was different for Nicholas. He was a nobleman with a large amount of income and annual financial allocations. Neither the nobles nor himself dared to hinder the other.

What's more, he has become extremely rich in recent years. He actually took advantage of the turmoil in Leithania and broke through an electoral region in a short assault. He took the opportunity to extort a large sum of money and even signed a contract for material compensation to be five years later.

"Money is still money. No one thinks they have too much money."

"How much... would that cost?"

Witt gasped.

It was hard for him to imagine how much money Qiao Yelan had spent to get Nicholas to accept his willingness to withstand the pressure and manipulation from the nobles.

"Twenty percent of the smuggling share."

"Twenty percent?"

The Speaker's eyes widened.

Is this too little?

"Too little?"

Qiao Yelan blinked and looked at Witt with a strange expression.

"That's 20% of the smuggling share between Ursus and Casimir."

what?

Witt's eyes widened.

"No, have you really monopolized the smuggling routes between the two countries? How did you do that? That's between two countries. Do you know how many nobles have connections in the East Casimir Governorate? Do you know how many smuggling routes there are?"

A series of questions were thrown at Qiao Yelan.

No wonder Witt was so shocked. He previously thought that Qiao Yelan was only talking about the smuggling routes in the hands of the other party. He thought that at most there were only a few of them. It would indeed be a threat to have all of them in his hands, but that was all.

"I don't care how many there are, as long as I block them all until only my road is left."

Qiao Yelan had an indifferent expression on his face, obviously thinking that Witt was making a fuss out of nothing.

"...At least we are partners. I also promised not to interfere in the smuggling business, and I promise not to tell anyone."

Witt was very curious.

Qiao Yelan glanced at him with a smile.

"You really want to know?"

"of course."

"Well - I am only suggesting, Your Majesty, that Grand Duke Nicholas and his army group be moved back to the border between Ursus and Casimir."

That's it?

Witt almost blurted it out, but knowing Qiao Yelan's ability, he did not complain at the first time, but began to think seriously.

Does this guy want to convince the emperor to launch an offensive on the Casimir border?

But Ursus is now unable to afford a war, and the other side has no chance of convincing the Emperor and Grand Duke Nicholas.

"Your purpose is..."

"Apply pressure and make Casimir move."

Qiao Yelan shrugged.

Witt frowned. One of the reasons why he didn't like interacting with Qiao Yelan was that he could never see through the other person's behavior and could only wait for him to explain to him.

This is too passive.

"You mean... to make the border situation tense on both sides?"

Once the border becomes tense, all smuggling channels will definitely suffer a devastating blow in an instant, because the armies on both sides will step up their efforts to crack down on this kind of thing - which means that the prices of certain things will skyrocket.

"But Ursus isn't the only trading partner of Casimir?"

"You are right - but just half a year ago, Grand Duke Windermere was seriously ill, and the transfer of power within the duchy was imminent. At this time, no foreign forces were allowed to intervene, not even to borrow the passage."

"That Letania..."

"The Leithanian capital is still being rebuilt, and the electors are still trying to make a move - do you think they have the money?"

Witt stared at Qiao Yelan. He had already realized something, but people always have some hope in life.

On the Ursus side, Nicholas must have accepted the other party's benefits and was willing to let them go -

That leaves Casimir.

"...Can I ask what your connections are on Casimir's side?"

"Oh, I just have an old relationship with His Excellency Cyril Linguang, and by the way, I made some insignificant contributions to the downfall of the former Grand Knight Casimir."

Qiao Yelan showed a hearty smile.

The Speaker's eyes went dark.

Of course, he knew how the previous Grand Knight of Casimir fell - that Casimir's war hero, Cyril Linguang, brought together a large number of Silver Spear Pegasus families and more than two-thirds of the Knights, forced the emperor to abdicate within the Supervisory Committee, and then successfully took power.

If the now famous Grand Duke Nicholas were to arrive at the border between the two countries, Cyril Lingguang on the opposite side would surely come to the fore.

The border situation between the two countries is tense, but there will definitely not be a real fight. Casimir will face a backlog of inventory because all trade routes are blocked, but Ursus will be in a dilemma of commodity shortage...

If a businessman who has connections with the top commanders of both sides stepped forward at this time -