Lord of Industrialization

At the end of February, the weather suddenly warmed up, and people put on beautiful spring clothes.

In recent years, the city of Weissenburg has continued to expand outwards, and there have been calls to demolish the city wall and replace the wall hangings with street light poles.

As the population grew and the demand for food increased, new agricultural models emerged near cities.

Frederick divided a large piece of land into small farms the size of a football field. He built a small building on a piece of land and rented it to a family. The family could grow vegetables, grow pasture, raise pigs, cattle and sheep, and also raise chickens. Provide non-staple food to the city.

Some farmers with extensive connections have set up "farmhouses", building a wooden house independently and setting aside a piece of land in front of the house, allowing wealthy people in the city to grow their favorite vegetables.

These places are not far from the city. It is very convenient for rich people to visit during holidays. It is also a pleasure to put on a turban and hoe the ground like a farmer, pull out weeds, apply some fertilizer, and finally harvest.

Of course, when they are not here, the farmer will help take care of the field, otherwise the field will only end up with weeds.

On the last day of February, Frederick took Maria and Susan to a small farm. His senior sister Katie rented a small vegetable plot the size of a basketball court from a farmer here and planned to grow asparagus this year.

Katie's son Gio, 4 years old, followed Maria and Susan with a small hoe to dig up the soil. Soon, bug-eating birds would come looking for food.

Maria's three-headed dog crawled on the edge of the field, and there were several thermos cups in a basket next to it.

Katie was preparing flatbread and meat in the kitchen of the cabin, while Frederick and Koehler sat at the dining table picking asparagus seeds.

Koehler said to Frederick: "I used to know a friend when I was in Constantbul. He is now working as a consultant in the home of a count in the forest ocean, and I have been in contact with him in the past two years."

"He came with his lord this time and told me something while drinking with me two days ago."

"This winter, there were a few outsiders walking among many nobles in the forest. They looked like someone's messengers."

"His lord also met with one of them, and the two talked in secret for a long time."

"The content of the conversation is very strange. It sounds like the envoy you sent to persuade the count to join the 'Elbe Convention Organization' that you advocated."

After hearing this, Frederick became confused. He proposed the concept of the "Elbe Convention Organization" last year. It was just a commercial and trade organization and did not involve politics. At that time, he asked everyone to consider and come to a meeting in March to join if they were interested.

Didn't you arrange any envoys to lobby during this period?

He thought of a possibility and asked: "Have those people suggested any benefits that I would give them after joining the organization?"

There was an incident in Weissenburg before. A store claimed that they could give away eggs if they had enough points. However, many people refused to accept the offer once they had enough points. In the end, the store was smashed.

Frederick was worried that someone would pretend to be him and make random promises. After joining the organization and finding out that there were no benefits, there would definitely be trouble.

Koehler told him the information he had found out. Most of the benefits of joining the organization were the same as what he had said before, but there was one thing that was true.

"It is said that after joining the organization, you will build the railway to their territory." Koehler said, "They also used your remarks about being in the Helvetia Federation as an example."

Frederick's brows furrowed, this was indeed not mentioned.

It's not that he didn't think about building railways in the forest and ocean. The problem is that there are too many small nobles in one side. There are 7 counts and 15 powerful barons. In addition, there are dozens of barons whose territories are less than 50 square kilometers. .

The root cause is that for many years, the Osmaga Empire has wanted to exert influence there, but has been too lazy to spend energy to manage it. As long as it is willing to be loyal and pay protection fees every year, it will give a title to it.

This situation is not limited to the forest and ocean areas, but also to the areas controlled by the Osmaga Empire east of the Elbe River.

Building the railway required land acquisition. Frederick himself was the largest landowner in the Principality of Wesson, and the largest landowners in the Osmaga Empire and the Helvetia Federation agreed to build the railway. There was no problem with the land for the railway.

But the land in Forest Ocean belongs to small landowners. If one person disagrees, the railway will have to be empty in the middle. If more people disagree, it will become an ellipsis.

Nowadays, many people regard railways as the code of wealth. Once the road is connected, money will come rushing to them.

But there are also those who are opposed to it. They think that their life was pretty good before the railway. But with the railway, they may not be able to live a better life. On the contrary, others will benefit.

When others get rich, you don't get rich, and in the end you become someone else's wallet.

There are examples around us, namely the State of Wesson, the Principality of Franconia, and the Alliance of Regens. The latter two have not changed much, but the former made a fortune, and the latter two disappeared in the end.

So it doesn't matter if you don't get rich yourself. The most important thing is that your neighbors can't get rich. Anything that helps your neighbors get rich will be opposed.

It's good now that someone is helping, lobbying the landowners there to agree to build the railway.

"Those people have bad intentions." Katie put the meat in the oven and came over to select the seeds they picked out again. "We have been there for hunting. There are only forests there. There are not many mines and railway construction. The only good thing about it is pulling the wood over to make paper for us.”

"I think their purpose is very clear. If you build the railway, it will be a waste of money. If you don't build the railway, you will offend them. You will be the one who suffers."

"How about you do what you did with the queen, agree first and then delay."

On the surface, Frederick agreed to build a palace for Antonia and started preparations in a decent manner. Recently, he invited masters who designed the palace from all over the world, which made everyone known. Rudolph was very satisfied.

Katie helped contact the master in the Kingdom of Sardinia and learned the inside story.

Koehler had a different view than his wife: "The forest ocean area cannot be effectively explored because of the dense forest. Maybe Mr. Bauer can find minerals."

The full name of the Bauer Koehler mentioned is Georg Bauer. He is currently the Minister of Land Resources. A few years ago, he came to Koehler for printing and publishing with the "Encyclopedia of Mining and Metallurgy" he wrote. Koehler immediately recommended him to Philip. Very strong.

Frederick immediately appointed him as director of the Bureau of Land Resources and asked him to prospect for minerals in Wesson.

The result was very sad. There were no mines in Wesen State, but on the contrary, there were some gains when going to the Principality of Mainz and the Principality of Bain to help.

Frederick thought deeply and said: "In the long-term plan, I want to build the railway through the forest and ocean areas all the way to Hanma City."

"But these constructions need to be done step by step. The dough is limited and the cake will break if it is spread too much."

Katie said: "It still has to be delayed."

Frederick said seriously: "How can we call it procrastination? This means that preliminary research must be done carefully."

"You have to be careful." Katie warned. "Someone wanted to assassinate you before, and at the same time, someone was trying to cause trouble for you in other places. Maybe it was the same group of people."

Frederick nodded and had some guesses in his mind, but the suspect was constantly sending money to him, so it was difficult to break his skin.

Katie asked him again: "Are you going out again?"

Frederick replied: "Yes, I want to go to the Helvetia Federation to finalize the railway matter, then go to the Kingdom of Gaul to get the titles in the lowlands, and finally go to the Dark Land in the north and Talk to someone from the Nature Church.”

What the Duke of Wesson needs most now is the market and raw materials, and he has to do business in person.