Lord of Industrialization

Human power has always been an important resource, both in the agricultural era and in the industrial era.

The key to freeing the serfs on the land is to make it profitable for the landlords.

The "sheep eating people" that Frederick was familiar with was not as simple as enclosing the fields and driving the farmers on the original land into the city.

Before this, the agricultural revolution in Britain greatly increased the yield of crops, providing food security for the subsequent social changes.

At this time, the landlords' management of the land was no longer the same as before, and they would plant what they planted next year. Instead, they were guided by the market and trade and planted what made money.

It was precisely because of the change in agricultural thinking and the increase in demand for wool at that time that the enclosure movement of "changing grain to sheep" emerged.

Today, the Duchy of Mainz and the Duchy of Bavaria have greatly increased their grain production thanks to the good seeds, fertilizers and agricultural machinery of the Duchy of Wessen.

And because the Duchy of Wessen was a bottomless pit of agricultural products, the landlords of the two duchies would naturally not miss the opportunity to make money, and began to plant cash crops on a large scale in addition to grain.

In Frederick's view, some things can be tried.

"Serfs can no longer keep up with the times." Frederick continued to teach his two allies, "Now farming requires fewer and fewer people, and more people means lower efficiency."

"At the same time, the newly built factories need a large number of workers, which requires people to leave the farmland and go into the factory."

Grand Duke of Bain thought and asked: "You mean, drive them out of the farm and send them to the factory?"

Frederick nodded and replied: "Essentially, but there are many ways to operate."

"For example, now the workers have high incomes, and some serfs want to go to the factory. They can be allowed to redeem feudal obligations and then leave the farm."

Grand Duke of Bain frowned.

Grand Duke of Mainz pinched his chin and said: "Redemption? The scale is so large that it is unprecedented."

Grand Duke of Bain said to Frederick seriously: "Feudal obligations are the cornerstone of society. If they are destroyed, our society will collapse."

Grand Duke of Mainz also thought of this and nodded.

Today's countries are all maintained by feudal obligations.

Feudal obligations not only exist between serfs and landlords, but also between small and large landlords, except that labor has become force.

If feudal obligations disappear, how should the relationship between small nobles and large nobles, and between large nobles and the royal family be handled?

This is a problem that must be faced. If it is not solved well, then as Frederick said, there will be war.

Frederick said: "I have been looking for a link to replace feudal obligations, such as taxation."

The two old landlords were shocked and looked at each other.

Frederick has been emphasizing the contract between taxpayers and tax collectors for many years. They did not expect that this was prepared to replace feudal obligations.

The Grand Duke of Bavaria murmured: "Replace land with money?"

The foundation of feudal obligations is land. The vassal is loyal to the lord, and the lord gives land to the vassal.

"Land is also part of wealth." The Grand Duke of Mainz said to him, "Just giving land once and for all, giving gold coins will be troublesome. If there is no money, the vassal will run away."

The Grand Duke of Bavaria nodded.

He had many vassals under him. Why did they pledge allegiance to him? It was all about profit.

Only a very small number of people pledged allegiance to the lord for reasons such as repaying a favor.

Frederick also nodded and continued, "Wealth is a material bond, and in addition, a spiritual bond is also needed."

The Grand Duke of Mainz immediately said, "This is a good point."

He understood what Frederick meant, that is, to engage in nationalism, and Frederick was not born when he had that idea.

The Grand Duke of Bain thought of another question: "What about power?"

The feudal relationship based on land is accompanied by power on land, and the landlord is the local emperor.

If money replaces land, it means losing this part of political power.

Frederick said, "I haven't thought about this yet."

This is the biggest problem of reform. It is absolutely impossible to let some people give up the power in their hands. They want money and power.

Unless there is a war with many people and all the landlords who block the road are killed, they can only compromise with each other.

Moreover, Frederick was not the king now, and he had no right to make big promises in this regard, so he chose to avoid talking about it.

And he also wanted to wait and see how the royal family and local nobles in the Kingdom of Sardinia exchanged interests, so that he could have a reference.

It takes a long time to design the superstructure, because the cost of trial and error is too high. Once there is internal chaos, the surrounding neighbors will come to bite.

In the end, the Grand Duke of Mainz and the Grand Duke of Bavaria decided to try to allow serfs to redeem their freedom in installments under certain conditions.

In this way, the landlords can get a sum of money to invest in factory construction, and then let those who leave the land and gain freedom work in the factory.

For serfs, they are just being exploited from one place to another.

But the personal dependence of the factory is not so strong, and it can be regarded as enjoying a little bit of the sweetness of the progress of the times.

Frederick chatted with the old men here for two days, and then returned to La City.

After returning to his residence, he thought quietly for a few days, reviewing his actions over the years from beginning to end, and evaluating the corresponding results and impacts.

Many things cannot be rushed. Even if he has the knowledge of his previous life and can see a few steps further than others, it does not prove that all decisions are correct.

The key is that the top extraordinary power in this world plays a role in politics similar to nuclear weapons, which changes the political logic.

So Frederick did not dare to carry out reforms in a radical way. He needed to win over and cultivate allies to increase his own strength.

This kind of gradual reform from top to bottom is bound to be incomplete, but Frederick's ability is limited. He knows very well that he can't make everyone listen to him with a tiger body shaking and the king's domineering spirit dissipated.

Everyone has his own thoughts. Unless he is in dire straits, few people can make up their minds to make reforms like a hero cutting off his arm.

What he can do now is to set a good example so that others can see his success and then imitate him.

Even if this road fails, it can give inspiration to future generations.

Perhaps it is because of the distance. This is the first time that Frederick has re-examined himself so deeply in so many years.

When he finished this work, he found that he had written a thick stack of manuscripts unconsciously.

He listed all his decisions in chronological order, and summarized each decision in five parts: significance and necessity, expected goals, implementation plan, completion results and subsequent impact, forming a long table.

When he stuffed the table into the file bag of confidential documents, Maria brought a glass of juice, put it on the desk, and asked, "When are you leaving?"

Frederick said, "A few days later than you."

Maria also has the job of Minister of Culture of the Principality of Wessen, and will return to Wessenburg in two days.

Susan will stay for a while to help build a bacterial laboratory.

Frederick will go to the Kingdom of Tarago. The 3rd Division has been deployed. See if there is anything that needs to be coordinated with the top leaders, and visit one of his students on the way.

He suddenly remembered something, and after drinking the juice, he asked Maria, "Have the Venetians contacted me recently?"

Maria thought about it and said, "No, not even the people who talked business with us."

Frederick shook his head and said, "Then forget about them. We have more important things to do now."

After that, he stood up and picked Maria up.