Witch Troupe and the Undead

"In that case, if all the victims die, I'll have the Royal Guard find a few new recruits who need real combat experience to pose as family members of the victims and go in to fight." The princess's words made many people in the scene tremble. This was too cruel. This was leaving no way out. If you won, you would kill one Royal Guard knight and then your whole family would die. If you lost, your whole family would still die. You might as well just kill your whole family. This was too torturous.

“If the Royal Guard isn’t enough, we can use agents from the Military Intelligence Bureau, and also…” Freya counted on her fingers and realized that she had quite a lot of manpower to send in to help the other side.

"By the way, you just mentioned the family annihilation cases. I was wondering why the number of revenge duels has dropped so quickly lately. Are there any suspects in these family annihilation cases?"

There is definitely someone involved; they are all potential stakeholders.

"Knight Commander Williams, go find a squad of new recruits and send gladiatorial requests to each one on this list," the princess said excitedly. "I've been wanting to see how the Imperial Guards fight for ages! It'll be so exciting!"

"..." The advisors felt that the empire was truly blessed by the previous emperors to have such a newborn heir. The old emperor was already quite inhuman when he was young, but this Princess Freya, the future Empress Stoll, was even more inhuman than the old emperor, with a completely new level of human-likeness.

"But they are only suspects, and we have no evidence?"

"Why do I need evidence?" the princess asked, looking bewildered. "I just want to see the Royal Guards fight. If they don't have evidence, they don't have evidence."

"What if they prove they have nothing to do with it?"

"Then add this gladiator match to the remaining people." The princess added an extra heavy chip to the breakdown of the alliance of interests without hesitation, because the later one sells out a teammate, the more likely they are to be sold out by their teammate, and the more serious the consequences will be.

"What if they resist? These are all nobles from the capital, and the power behind them..."

"What does this have to do with me? I'm not the emperor!" the princess retorted. Even if there was a rebellion or war, it was none of her business. In short, she wanted to see rivers of blood flow before her father explicitly stopped her!

One day later, in the emperor's study.

"Regarding the matter of Anta Territory, this will provoke protests from the Duke of Rye Valley, after all..."

"What does this have to do with me?" the princess retorted.

"...But the cleanup afterwards..."

“I’ve already asked the Chamber of Commerce, and they’re willing to fund the reconstruction, in exchange for a franchise for specialty products. I think that’s acceptable.”

"Oh, that's good. The national treasury now needs to pay for the war expenses." Since someone is paying for the reconstruction, the emperor stopped talking. Anyway, he had planned to gradually reduce the power of these local nobles. Now it seems that his daughter will also implement this policy of reducing the power of the princes and centralizing power that has been in place for three generations. So there is no problem. This is a matter of basic principle and the fundamental interests and position of the royal family.

Rather, the more inhuman Freya is on this issue, the more satisfied the emperor will be. This means that she is unlikely to be swayed by the sweet talk of those nobles and will be determined to follow the path of centralized power.

"how much money do you need?"

"Huh?" The princess looked bewildered.

"I mean, send me the specific costs of hiring these merchants and the labor involved, and I'll see where I can squeeze some out for you."

"Why do I have to spend money? Aren't they giving me the money?"

"...Hmm?" The emperor looked at his daughter with a blank expression, and she looked equally bewildered.

"They want to monopolize the reconstruction, the vacant land, and the trading rights, so of course they have to pay me. The mercenaries' money is also paid by the Chamber of Commerce. I can't find that many mercenaries."

"They... want to give you money?" The emperor felt his worldview had been shattered. What did it mean to make these merchants pay for rebuilding the territory and then have them pay you back?

Hmm? There must be some huge profit involved, otherwise those businessmen wouldn't be so enthusiastic!

Of course, this means they broke the restrictions of the aristocratic system. The mountain and forest minerals that were originally aristocratic assets and not allowed to be privately mined and developed at will could now be legitimately taken into their own hands. Moreover, the reconstruction project also meant a large flow of materials, local labor, and legitimate opening of trade routes, excluding competitors.

To monopolize all the commercial profits of a large territory, one would naturally have to pay the princess money upfront. If Roach were here, he would probably suggest that Princess Freya make this public and let these people compete for the bid, perhaps even earning more—it has already been proven on Earth that postwar reconstruction can indeed be profitable, and the profits are extremely huge!

Chapter 234 Prelude to the War for Road Rights

Jinyin Street in Xicheng District of Beijing was once a workshop street where goldsmiths, silversmiths and jewelers gathered. In an era of monetary chaos, it was also a place that served to appraise gold and silver bars and exchange currency. Over time, it evolved into a place that resembled a bank street and a high-end commercial district.

Numerous chambers of commerce have their headquarters or offices here. Rows of five- to six-story stone-grey Baroque-style buildings stand closely together, surrounding "Golden Lion Square," one of the three squares of the capital.

Under the rare winter sunshine, the giant bronze lion statue gleamed like real gold. Several shabby-clothed handymen pushed carts, clearing away the snow piled up at the bottom of the twenty-one steps one by one.

“Hoo~” Burke stood in front of the open window, leaning on his golden cane, and exhaled a long puff of white mist. The cold morning wind made his head, which was throbbing from arguing all night, clear up for a moment. On the reconstruction of Antalya, each merchant guild had its own plans and could not reach an agreement.

On the matter of rebuilding the old bridge over Greystone River, everyone maintained a consistent stance: no money would be contributed. This made Burke feel that being in the same room with these short-sighted idiots whose brains were only filled with gold coins was a suffocating experience.

The short break quickly came to an end. After replenishing their caffeine, the group of merchants gathered again. "Gentlemen," one of them said, "if the bridge isn't repaired, even if we take over Antalya, its products simply won't be able to be transported out!"

“Excuse me, I’m in the grain business, and one of my major clients is Rye Valley County…” A grain merchant rubbed the ring on his knuckles. “There’s no point in me transporting goods from Anta Territory all the way to the capital or Silver Maple County to sell them. On the contrary, it’s more valuable to transport the grain directly to Rye Valley County.”

"They don't have that many gold coins. Most of the time, they have to pay with ore. Do you want to use a carriage to haul that pile of ore to the capital or send it to Luan City for smelting?"

"Oh, that's their business. I only accept gold coins." This is why the other party is willing to pay to rebuild Anta Territory. They have Black Wheat Valley County by the throat, so they can just raise the price of grain. However, because the lord of Anta Territory and other nobles in Black Wheat Valley County belonged to the same feudal lord, he dared not raise the price too much under the orders of the Grand Duke of Black Wheat Valley County. Moreover, he also needed minerals, craftsmen, and recruited soldiers from other territories.

"Don't forget, if we don't build the bridge, everything we're discussing now is just wishful thinking."

"Then I won't lose anything~" The other party was completely in a position that if you are willing to pay to build the bridge, I will get on board and make money. If you are not willing to pay to build the bridge, he is not willing to pay out of his own pocket. After all, if the bridge is built in the end, but we do not win the monopoly of the production of Antalya, wouldn't that be a net loss?

Between long-term and short-term gains, most merchants choose the latter, because without short-term gains, the chamber of commerce simply cannot survive until the long-term investment is recouped. Therefore, in the matter of Antalya, they not only demonstrated a long-term vision and were willing to spend money to rebuild, but also carefully considered every penny of the cost invested and the short-term profit.

“I need to remind everyone of something…” Burke glanced at the wall clock, “If we can’t reach a conclusion, then soon we’ll be going into the octagon to resolve our differences.”

“Well, I do have an idea…” The businessman, who had been silent until now, tapped the table, or rather, this was the opportunity he had been waiting for. “We can contribute this money according to each person’s share of the profits.”

"Heh, what if I don't make any money?" someone immediately objected, and the argument started again until the businessman who made the suggestion slammed his fist on the table once more.

"If none of you are willing to pay, that's fine too. I can pay for it myself, but there's one condition: everyone who uses the bridge and railway has to pay me a toll, based on the weight and frequency of the goods you transport. Those who use it more will pay more. It's fair, isn't it?"

"What if the construction fees have already been collected?"

"The rest is my profit. We are all in business. Would you invest in a business that doesn't make money? In my opinion, this is also a kind of investment. It's okay if you don't want to invest, but if you want to use it, then you have to pay."

The businessmen were silent for a moment, then began to weigh the pros and cons of the matter. They had to admit that the other party was right. They were all in business and investing, and investing was about making a profit, just as doing business was about making money.

If one does not gain much benefit from the Antalya region, then naturally one will have to pay less. If one gains no benefit at all or has a way to bypass the Greystone River line and not use the railway, then one will not have to pay a single penny. It seems quite cost-effective in this respect.

"So what about the fee standard?" The merchants started arguing again, but this time it went smoothly. They eventually agreed to set up a new station on the other side of the bridge as a checkpoint and freight transfer station. At the same time, it was normal for some products from Antalya and Rye Valley to need to be processed nearby and a storage station was required.

A new toll booth will be added at this station to charge for the goods transported by train, based on the number of trips and weight, rather than the value of the goods. This means that transporting heavy commodities such as ore will be very expensive, which makes the ore merchant quite unhappy.

However, considering the pressure and damage that the heavy carriages would put on the bridge, and the fact that a metal bridge rather than a wooden one was needed to support the transport of ore, it is reasonable that you need to pay more money to make an investment.

"...Hmm~" The head of the ore merchants' association considered it for a moment and finally agreed. He was going to consult his subordinates about the feasibility of establishing a smelting plant in Antalty. Transporting ore would definitely be a loss, but building alchemy workshops and smelting plants locally to process it into alloys such as silver alloys would be much cheaper to transport.

And if there were such a factory locally… “Mr. Andrew, please wait a moment.” After the meeting, he stopped the businessman who had made the suggestion. “I have some questions about what you raised earlier…”

Andrew glanced at the ore merchant and immediately understood his meaning. Building a metal bridge would require a large amount of metal materials, and the same would be true for daily maintenance. If the other party smelted ore in Antalty or Blackpine Valley, the cost could be reduced significantly.

"I want 10% of the shares, and a 30% discount on the ore you need," the other party stated directly, "including subsequent maintenance metal requirements."

“That’s too high a price.” Andrew said, “You’re dreaming. This bridge can last at least fifty years. In other words, the discount they offered on the ore price is not even worth 10% of the value of a 50-year leasehold for a toll bridge, not to mention that it can be maintained for far more than fifty years.”

Moreover, if the Antalya territory and the old lines are reopened, the volume of transport will soon increase rapidly. In addition to the existing merchants, other foreign merchants and those with civilian transport needs can also be charged.

"Not high..." The ore merchant clenched his fists in front of him. "Your fees are all based on the premise that the old line can be used, and the biggest problem with using the old line is not the infrastructure, but..."

The rampant train thefts in Rye Valley mean that the higher the value of the goods being transported, the higher the security costs.

This is also why the old line was abandoned. Of course, the new line is also shorter and has lower transportation costs. Even if the old line bridge is repaired, it will be difficult to solve the problem of excessively high transportation costs. However, if the transportation route is changed from Catherfield County to the capital to Anta Territory to the capital, then the transportation costs will be acceptable.

Can you solve this problem?

“I have thousands of miners and more than four hundred mine guards under my command, and if I were to establish a smelter and alchemy workshop in Antalty, I would naturally need to protect my assets from harm.”

"..." Andrew pondered for several minutes before speaking, "Half a percent, I can only give you half a percent of the shares."

“One percent, that’s the bottom line. And don’t forget, Anta Territory is just the beginning. That’s true for you, and it’s true for me too. If you want to continue expanding, you need to repair the entire old line or complete the branch line construction. You need a lot of manpower, metal and materials,” the ore merchant said in a deep voice. “For you, this is not a one-off small business, but it’s the same for me, isn’t it?”

Nothing consumes more basic materials than infrastructure construction, and considering this, a 30% discount on ores and alloys is enough to offset a large portion of the infrastructure costs. The reason why the empire previously faced such difficulties in building railways was not only due to the high costs, but also because the royal family refused to sell railway rights. As a result, merchants naturally charged normal prices, and even raised prices due to the excessive resources consumed.

Now, although they haven't obtained the right to pass through, they have obtained the toll collection rights for the key node, the "bridge." As the railway extends, the revenue from bridge tolls will not only continue to increase, but may even become a stable profit point that can sustain them for decades or even centuries. Therefore, it is worthwhile to provide cheap materials and manpower in exchange for this revenue right.

“Then it’s a pleasure to cooperate.” Andrew finally agreed to the cooperation because what the other party said was right. If the old line were extended, the toll fees would indeed increase significantly. In that case, exchanging 10% of the toll fee revenue for this cheap material supply was entirely worthwhile.

"Repairing the old lines is so expensive!" Freya looked at the price list in front of her and began to regret her impulsive decision. "Couldn't we have asked those merchants to repair it for free?"

"How is that possible? This thing is very expensive!"

“Well…” Freya started working on her not-so-bright brain, “how about I lease this railway to them? That way we won’t have to pay them, and I’ll allow them to charge fees on the railway…”

"You want them to get their hands on the railway company's business?!" The aide was shocked. "Are you crazy? Don't you even know what your royal family's greatest asset is?"

"Of course not, I allow them to establish a railway chamber of commerce as well."

"Isn't that still stealing our business?! Wake up!!!"

"That's right!" the princess clapped her hands. "So, they should give me money every year!"

"Your Highness, this isn't about money..."

This means that private merchants have gotten their hands on the vital artery of railway transportation. As long as the nobles offer enough prices, these railways could be used to transport the nobles' private armies to attack the empire. Not to mention that enemy merchants might also act as spies to find out the empire's military deployments and other information.

"Alright, I've decided on this. As for... how about I set up a separate organization? Let the Military Intelligence Bureau handle potential espionage."

"Your Highness, please think about it again!"

"I've thought about it. This way, we don't need to deal with this pile of files anymore, right?" Freya pointed excitedly at the pile of files on the desktop.

Since we don't need to spend our own money, manpower, or effort to repair railway lines and bridges, nor do we need to worry about subsequent railway expansion, or even manage the business of the railway company that follows, then naturally we don't need to read a single word of these financial allocation documents and related materials. Great!

"What?! That stupid woman... I mean, our noble princess is willing to sell us travel rights?" Andrew swallowed the words "stupid woman" whole. He couldn't care less what others thought, but from today onward, he didn't want anyone in his family to speak ill of His Highness Freya—although her actions were indeed quite stupid, but...

It's a basic business rule not to call your major clients idiots. At the very least, don't call them idiots to their faces. Even if they really are idiots, you should think about it: if they weren't idiots, you wouldn't be making so much money.

"It's not a right-of-way, it's a railway company license that allows us to enter the railway transportation industry."

"That Royal Railway Company..."

“A management fee of 25% of net profit will be charged, and a one-time license fee will be charged every four years.”

In this era, considering the revenue and future impact of railway transportation, charging this price is even considered somewhat cheap.

"However, it is only permitted to be completed on newly constructed railways, and we will have to fund and contribute our labor to build these railways..."

“This…” Andrew rubbed his fingers. In that case, the cost would be too high. However, he immediately thought of the previous agreement with the ore merchants. “It seems that we can’t win this deal on our own. We need to find a way to bring others in as well.”

This can significantly reduce construction costs. For example, if there are enough raw materials from ore merchants, or if Mr. Burke recruits and trains a large number of alchemist apprentices, then the costs of rune inscription and alchemical processing along the railway line can be greatly reduced.

"Moreover, although we did not obtain full right-of-way, we did obtain the right to build railways," Andrew suddenly laughed. The Empire built railways primarily for political and military needs, and secondarily for commercial and economic needs. Now that they have the right to build railways, the new railway lines will be built entirely according to commercial interests.

"However, those nobles are not willing to give up their land easily. This is why the empire had to bypass the nobles' manors when building the railway."

The nobles could tolerate the railway passing through their territory, as it was beneficial to their finances, but they would not tolerate the railway being close to their core strongholds—for one thing, it would be too terrifying if the imperial army could march to their castle overnight.

Furthermore, the imperial court had always held the right to build railways, which naturally displeased them and was one of the reasons for the high cost of imperial railways. But now that merchants were taking over the construction...

“I think the nobles won’t be stingy with land or take out more money to invest in our railway company, especially when the railway lines will extend according to their wishes,” Andrew laughed. Those nobles would not allow railway companies completely controlled by the royal family to build railways at will on their own territories, but they would definitely allow railway companies they control to build railways on their own territories.

"The more roads there are, the greater the transport capacity, and the lower the maintenance cost." Andrew certainly knew that the biggest problem with railways was the monster environment in the wild and the erosion of wild magic.

Conversely, if railway transport and trade are extremely prosperous, then these railway lines themselves will be corrupted by the magic of order. In addition, the nobles have a lot of private soldiers who can serve as patrol cavalry. Presumably, once they taste the benefits of collecting tolls, these knights will protect the railway lines with the same attitude as protecting their own lives.

“Three years. I’m only giving you three years to kick the Royal Railway Company out of this business,” Andrew said to his men. “Those guys know absolutely nothing about running a business association!”

"How do we deal with the exclusion of the Royal Chamber of Commerce by these private chambers of commerce?"

“Lower the price!” Freya said matter-of-factly. “Don’t they have to pay net profit? Use some of that to subsidize our tickets…”

"You mean? Our chamber of commerce doesn't make any money at all?" The emperor was shocked. Or did this guy have some other idea?

"We'll keep the subsidies from them. We don't need to make money from operations. If they make money, we'll get a share, right?"

"..." The emperor thought for a moment and felt that it seemed to be a solution. On the surface, it seemed that the railway rights and licenses were being given up, but in reality, it was like using these people's money to support his own people. Once these guys were even slightly disobedient, he could immediately take their place. After all, the Royal Chamber of Commerce could share the spoils without making a profit.

"How do you ensure they pay up? Or, to put it another way, it's similar to collecting taxes. How do you ensure tax officials honestly collect the taxes? What if they gang up on you and tell you they haven't made any money all year?"

"Why would they continue this business if they're not making money? Why not just give the license to someone who can make money?" Freya said matter-of-factly.

"...Newcomers don't have the financial resources and costs... Oh? You mean..."

"Doesn't the Royal Chamber of Commerce have plenty of spare resources?"

"Oh? You really came up with this?" The emperor looked at Freya in surprise.

"Um... not entirely, it incorporates some of the wisdom of others~" Freya laughed awkwardly. It was obvious that this couldn't have been her idea, or rather, she had only started it, and the rest was completed by her staff.

"Then let's give it a try," the emperor nodded. After the licenses were revoked, newcomers would pay more "pledges of allegiance" to lease idle assets from the Royal Railway Company, such as trains, station construction, ticketing systems, and so on, to quickly establish their own systems.

The net profits they pay are used to maintain these assets in normal times. As long as the definition of this chamber of commerce is not to make money or lose too much, and it exists as a stabilizer from a political and economic perspective, and as a tool for military mobilization when necessary, then as long as the losses are not too great, it is even acceptable to receive a portion of the subsidies from the national treasury every year.

Chapter 225 Armstrong's Revolving Jet Train

Roach sat cross-legged on a recliner, holding a cup of tea, watching the students below suffer terribly. Since he developed the "practice over lecture" method, many professors have found that teaching has become much simpler. Now they only need to focus on the key points that must be taught, and the rest is up to these students to practice.

In Roach's words, unless they are exceptionally talented, most of these people will only ever be ordinary academic alchemists or mystics. Don't expect them to reach the pinnacle of alchemy and mysticism. So, instead of instilling in them things they will never use in their lives, it's better to solidify the parts they will actually use.

Professor Roach teaches his students the same way on Earth: he gives special tutors to those with talent, nurturing them into successors; and he assigns them loads of homework to ensure they pass and get credits. Whether they can find a job after graduation is not Professor Roach's concern.

Or, for those in his major who are being groomed as successors, the rest are unlikely to find jobs related to their field anyway, so they shouldn't waste each other's time. Professor Roach might even suggest that these people consider doing something like live streaming in the future, and use that time to learn something useful in the library, such as ancient makeup and clothing, which are topics that are more relevant and can be promoted using their professional background.

However, things are a bit different in this other world. Even the worst student among them won't have to worry about finding a job. To put it bluntly, even if they go back to their hometown, they can set up their own magic workshop, take on a few adventurer apprentices, and earn some tuition fees—that would be a pretty good way out.