industrial lord

Chapter 636: Look to the World

It was drizzling and a little chilly, and the air conditioner on the wall was whirring to provide heat.

Frederick was lying on the sofa in the study, frowning.

"Meow~"

Someone was lying on his chest, making cute noises.

Frederick reached out his hand, gently stroked the charcoal-black hair, and asked softly, "Where did this kitten come from?"

Maria reached out her hand, gently smoothed Frederick's brows, and asked, "Have you encountered any problems?"

Frederick put his arm around her waist, sighed and said, "Yes, it's a very troublesome problem. If something goes wrong, we can only live on Elizabeth potatoes."

Maria exclaimed: "Is it that serious?!"

Frederick nodded.

When he came back, he went to Wesson Bank to find out how much cash he had left and learned that his liquidity was very tight, and there was something he didn't expect to happen so soon.

The industry and commerce of the Principality of Wessen have been advancing in great strides, and trade is booming, but recently, with a large amount of loans used for foreign investment, a shortage of precious metal currency has begun to appear.

It stands to reason that paper money should have come into play by now. There were already bills of exchange and checks on the market that served the function of paper money. Even meal tickets from large factories and schools such as heavy machinery plants, textile mills, shipyards, Weissenberg University, and Oak City Theological Seminary could be used as paper money in their surroundings.

However, the Principality of Wessen has no large-scale mines, especially gold and silver mines, and is extremely dependent on imports for food and energy. Under such circumstances, the rash issuance of paper money without reliable reserves and resources is likely to cause financial turmoil.

Frederick explained these principles to Maria in detail so that she could have a general idea of ​​them.

Maria nodded, understanding, and then said, "So, what we need to do next is to occupy places with gold mines?"

Frederick was silent for a moment, then nodded.

“Wait a minute!” Maria jumped up and ran to the bookcase next to her to look for something. As she searched, she said, “The latest mineral map was issued internally at the end of last year. I remember putting it here.”

It took her two minutes to get a map from the cabinet, then she sat on Frederick's lap and opened the map.

The Land Resources Department of the Principality of Wessen is led by the famous mineralogist Georg Bauer. The department not only conducts exploration within the principality, but also conducts exploration for allies and neighbors free of charge.

Frederick held Maria's waist and rested his chin on her shoulder, and they looked at the map together.

Various minerals were marked in different colors on the map. Maria searched for a long time and said depressedly, "The nearest gold mine that is not occupied by major powers or allies is in Bohemia."

There are many gold mines of all sizes on the map, but they have basically all been developed and occupied. The only exception is the Bohemian region, where the mining area has been severely damaged due to years of war and is currently out of production.

The Bohemian region borders the eastern part of the Duchy of Wessen and has been a focus of contention between the Osmagian Empire and the Piast Kingdom in recent decades.

At present, the Osmagian Empire has abandoned this area due to internal chaos and shifted its strategic direction to the east, and acquiesced to Frederick's action.

After being defeated by Frederick on the Elbe River, the Piast Kingdom carried out internal reforms on the one hand, and on the other hand turned its attention to more prosperous places such as the Principality of Jellgarod in the east to recover, temporarily abandoning the Bohemian region that had been devastated by decades of war.

Nowadays, there is no unified government there. The local nobles are all ruling their own territories. And because the two forces are intertwined, they will listen to whoever has more power.

Because of years of war, the local economy has either collapsed or is on the verge of collapse. There are now nearly 10,000 people working in various parts of the Principality of Wessen. Father Arms, the Minister of Education of the Principality of Wessen, comes from there.

Maria looked at the map and continued, "This place is very large. We can't occupy it all now."

The Duchy of Wessen covers an area of ​​3.4 square kilometers, and the entire Bohemian region covers an area of ​​approximately 5 square kilometers.

Now that the war in the north is continuing, many people have fled their hometowns. Some have gone to Lukang, and more have come to the Principality of Wessen with the help of the church. It is estimated that the population will reach 200 million this year.

Bohemia has been in war for many years, and its population has dwindled. Its area is about 1.5 times that of the Duchy of Wessen, and its population is estimated to be less than . The Duchy of Wessen is also short of labor, and its interior has not yet been fully developed, so there is no way it can swallow up Bohemia.

Frederick thought for a moment and said, "The situation there is very complicated, not just military and political."

"Their language, culture, art and lifestyle are unique, so the Osmaga Empire and the Piast Kingdom have never been able to form effective rule."

Maria said thoughtfully: "Then we can influence them culturally in various ways, so that the people there can identify with us. We can use this as a handle to win over the locals, which will make it easier to rule in the future."

Frederick nodded with satisfaction.

Maria is now the Minister of Culture of the Principality of Wessen. She can consider things within the scope of her responsibilities, which means she is qualified.

Frederick said: "This matter cannot be rushed, it needs to be done slowly, it may take 10 to 20 years, and we can't be too deliberate."

Maria nodded, her black eyes looking at the gold mines on the map, her gaze becoming sharp.

The issue of currency shortage still needs to be dealt with, and paper money will eventually have to be put on the agenda.

For such an important matter, we naturally have to consult the country's top experts.

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"You want to print gold yuan notes?!" Psyche was shocked. "Oh, by the way, I promised Xiao Li's daughter that I would give her a pair of penguins. This matter has been delayed for so many years, and I can't delay it any longer."

As she spoke, she began to pack up the valuables around her, completely ignoring the fact that this was Frederick's living room, and she looked like she was about to run away with the bucket.

Maria was used to the fact that the two of them often said things that no one could understand, but that didn't stop her from smiling and helping to bring the ivory clock over.

Frederick smiled and said, "Do you see any hair on the top of my head?"

Psyche took the clock and said seriously, "Who knows if your hair was glued on?"

Maria pulled Frederick's hair and said, "It's real hair."

Frederick smiled, stopped joking, and said, "Now that precious metal currencies are beginning to be in short supply, it is imperative to issue paper money."

Psyche sat down and asked him, "So what are you going to use as an anchor, a tractor?"

Frederick replied: "I am prepared to formulate a series of policies to reduce the outflow of gold and increase gold reserves."

Psyche sighed, shook her head and said, "You are still short-sighted."

"Don't just look at your neighbors, look at the world!"

Frederick could not object.

But with the current transportation and communication methods, for ordinary people, neighbors are the whole world of their lives, and places farther away are like Mars.

Frederick pinched his chin and said, "You mean to let me go to the New World?"

Psyche said helplessly: "Have you forgotten that there is a continent to the south?"

"Last time I told you that where there are bauxite mines, there is also a lot of gold."

"You can use your expertise to marry a hundred or eighty of Uncle Hei's daughters. I estimate you can cheat hundreds of tons of gold back."

When Maria heard that there were hundreds of tons of gold, her eyes lit up. She pushed Frederick's arm and asked, "When are you going?"

(End of this chapter)