Lord of Industrialization

In the process of promoting the telegraph, the Kingdom of Sardinia responded most actively.

After Frederick came here, he understood that prosperous business cannot be separated from the support of information, and a piece of news is sometimes enough to determine the life and death of a chamber of commerce.

The Dawn Chamber of Commerce, which operates the telegraph station, has also gained a firm foothold in the Kingdom of Sardinia, but the foundation of the outsider is unstable, and in addition to the telegraph station, it only operates the "Ten-day Business News".

This attitude makes the local snakes very satisfied, and everyone lives in peace.

The telegraph station is open all night. In the early morning, the nobles' ball is getting better and better, and an urgent telegram is sent from Milan.

At two o'clock in the morning, the ball is gradually coming to an end. Enrique, the governor of Venice, received news from Milan. It happened that Paolo also attended the ball he held.

There are two most powerful people in Venice, in addition to the governor Enrique, there is also the maritime overlord Paolo.

The political territories of the two are clearly divided, the land belongs to Enrique, and the sea belongs to Paolo.

A few years ago, the main maritime force of the Ghazi Empire, Hedem, was killed by Frederick's joint naval and air forces in the battle to recover Constantinople, and had to retreat to the coast.

Paolo took the opportunity to launch a large-scale attack, captured a large number of islands, monopolized the port operation rights, and occupied a large area of ​​sea.

Enrique seized the opportunity of the Kingdom of Gaul being involved in the civil war of the Kingdom of Tarragona and provided it with a large loan with only symbolic interest in exchange for a license for the Venetians to do business in the southern port of the Kingdom of Gaul.

The two brought huge benefits to the merchants, and their reputation was at its peak for a while.

Just when the Venetians were complacent, they were hit by two clubs.

At sea, Paolo was dreaming of dominating the inland sea, and then the other two maritime overlords came.

The Principality of Wessen and the Osmaga Empire were going to send troops "to the south", and the Ferdinand Port where they boarded the ship was not far from the city of Venice. Naturally, maritime transportation found Frederick's old friend, and this old friend found a new friend.

Hayreddin, who dominated the southern coast of the Inland Sea, came out with his fleet. Pietro, who monopolized the northwest of the Inland Sea, was unhappy that the Venetians had extended their hands to the southern coast of the Kingdom of Gaul, so he accepted Hayreddin's invitation and brought the main fleet.

In addition, there was a newcomer on the sea. The fleet of the Principality of Wessen, led by Lilu, with the Flying Tulip as the flagship, a total of 20 steamships joined the joint fleet.

The joint fleet covered the sky and the sun, leaving only an extremely narrow channel for the Venetian ships.

Paolo sent five ships to test, but a steamship of the Principality of Wessen caught up from behind and crossed the fleet from more than 200 meters away on the sea. The five ships sank inexplicably in full view of everyone.

The rescued people said that they heard a loud noise and vibration from the bottom of the ship without any warning, and the ship opened a huge hole, just like it hit a reef.

Paolo wanted to test again, but no one dared.

The sailors in Venice believed that the fleet of the Duchy of Wessen had brought the devils from the devil army on board. Those devils jumped into the water and swam over without taking a breath in the sea to break through the bottom of the ship, because some people swore that they saw something black go into the water on the ship of the Duchy of Wessen before the accident.

The magician group in the city also refused to go out to sea. It was not a problem for one person to fight ten on land, but fighting those devils who could swim more than 200 meters without taking a breath and then swim back at sea, wasn't that courting death?

Paolo's good words were useless, and he couldn't force them.

The magicians were the masters. If they were forced into a corner, they would simply resign and go to the Duchy of Wessen to find a job.

The jobs there were not life-threatening and the wages were not low. The employers even helped to pay the highest-level pension savings. After retirement, they could get a considerable amount of interest every month, and the principal would be returned when they died.

Paolo could only admit defeat and let the fleet pass through the channel that was given by others.

Life on land was not easy either. Enrique knew it was going to be bad when he learned that the railway plan of the Duchy of Bavaria did not include Venice.

All merchants understood the value of the huge market and products in the north. Once the railway was completed and Venice had nothing to do with it, the commercial focus would shift and the decline of the city would be inevitable.

The "zero-dollar purchase" activities that took place in various places against Venetian merchants not long ago made Enrique even more anxious.

He knew in his heart that he could not recover the losses, so he could only make a positive gesture and file a lawsuit in the local court through legal procedures.

This was just a pretense. The smart ones had already seen through that the local local snakes were behind these things. How could they win by suing the judge in court?

But the pretense must be done, otherwise it would give people the impression that they could not protect their own people. At the least, they would have nothing to do with the next election, and at the worst, they would be impeached immediately.

The most serious thing was that according to intelligence from some channels, the royal family of the Kingdom of Sardinia was going to end.

Enrique thought of the best chance to turn things around was to strive to build a railway to Venice. By then, this city would be the intersection of land and sea between the northern continent and the southern inland sea, and it would definitely be able to develop further.

To this end, he sent a secret envoy to the Duchy of Wessen to persuade Grand Duke Wessen to build a railway to Venice.

In the secret room, Enrique and Paolo carefully studied the intelligence from Milan.

Enrique breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It seems that the envoy and Grand Duke Wessen met halfway."

They always believed that the plan of not connecting the railway to Venice had been approved by Frederick. Now that Frederick's tone was loosened, it must be that the lobbying of the envoy worked.

Paolo frowned and said, "Fira City? It's not impossible. Just expand the port there, and it can also relieve the pressure here."

"But this plan has been discovered, and they will not give up."

After thinking for a moment, Enrique said: "I think Grand Duke Wesen is testing us, the royal family, other principalities, and even the reaction of the Osmaga Empire."

Paolo smiled bitterly and said: "We know without testing, they all want us to die and then hold a banquet."

Intelligence shows that the Duchy of Milan decided to oppose it, and this reaction can represent the reaction of other principalities.

The joint fleet on the sea blocked Venice and the Kingdom of Sardinia at the same time, but the royal family pretended not to see it, and the reaction was self-evident.

Not to mention the Osmaga Empire, Queen Anna's sister, the Protector of the Country, Mary, was seriously injured in the war with Venice and could not give birth. This hatred is great.

Paolo believes that if the coalition forces of Ferdinand Port could conquer Venice by sea and land a while ago, and the royal family would delay to organize reinforcements, and wait for the coalition forces to leave with the spoils before recovering the lost land, each side would get what it needs.

Enrique also smiled helplessly.

He had long seen that eating alone would not end well, but the governor was elected by the merchants, and their greedy appetite must be satisfied, and eventually it developed to the present.

Paolo said: "I think our bottom line is that the railway leads to Fira City, and we must ensure that there is a port with railway access in our control."

"I will go to the Ghazi Empire and cooperate with their new warlord Sema."

"Hedem is on the side of the old warlord. Sema has no maritime trade. I will cooperate with her and we will get what we need."

"Now the old warlord is retreating step by step. There are rumors that Fatih will marry Sema as queen. If you help now, you can get the trading rights of some ports in the Ghazi Empire in the future."

"At that time, we have the market of the Ghazi Empire, and the port is connected to the railway network, so we can be invincible."

After listening, Enrique thought about it and felt that it was feasible.

In the past, the trade between the Ghazi Empire and the north was carried out by sea through the Danube River. If it could go through Fira City or even Venice City, the profit would be enough to cover the loss.

He made a decision: "I will raise funds and provide war loans to Sema, and try to get on this line."

"I think the royal family and other principalities will have to give up some benefits, and the income of the Ghazi Empire can be used to compensate."

It is more difficult to get merchants to give up the meat in their mouths than to kill them. The only way to convince them is to exchange benefits.

Paolo said helplessly: "It seems that this is the only way."

"Now we are facing the threat of Hayreddin and Pietro at sea. I want to support the maritime power of the Ghazi Empire to contain Hayreddin. I will deal with Pietro together with the Kingdom of Gaul."

At this time, Enrique thought of something and said: "I heard that the Kingdom of Kush is going to dig a canal to connect the inland sea and the eastern seas. We will sponsor it with money."

"First, we can ease the relationship with Hayreddin through the royal family. Second, we have the opportunity to go to the eastern seas, even Tianzhu and Taohuashi."

Paolo nodded. This plan is okay.

It is easy for them to make concessions to win over the royal family and other principalities of the Kingdom of Sardinia.

It is not a big problem to split Hayreddin and Pietro. The two sides are not a close alliance, and it is rumored that the young king of the Kingdom of Kush is a little dissatisfied with Hayreddin. This is an opportunity.

The most troublesome thing is the Osmaga Empire. Their Port Ferdinand has been connected to the railway. On the other side, Ferdinand City has a port leading to the Danube, which has the function of connecting to the northern transportation network.

Moreover, Port Ferdinand is very close to Venice and Fira. Although the Osmaga Empire has no maritime fleet, they and Hayreddin have a common ally, Grand Duke Wessen. Hayreddin does not mind opening a branch base in the north.

If this problem is not solved, the royal family of the Kingdom of Sardinia and other principalities will find a lot of excuses, such as security is not guaranteed, who will go to your place when all the ships go to Port Ferdinand, and so on, to refuse to build the railway.

Not to mention that Port Ferdinand is Mary's territory. Mary is the lover of Grand Duke Wessen. She is familiar with her, not with you Venetians.

Enrique and Paolo thought for a long time, and all the proposed plans were rejected.

"There's no other way." Enrique shook his head and said, "We can only start with Grand Duke Wesson and let him lobby Anna and Mary."

Paolo gritted his teeth and said, "Grand Duke Wesson will not help us for no reason. He won't even meet our envoys there."

"I'll spend some money and purchase a large number of steamships. I think he will meet the envoys."

Enrique nodded. It is not uncommon to open the way with large orders in business activities.

After thinking for a while, he said, "I want to use a fish in Milan. I don't ask her to lobby Grand Duke Wesson. It's enough to get the news."