Chapter 245 Foreigners who came to invest
A spring rain came unexpectedly, silently nourishing the earth. Life was restored between heaven and earth, and the seemingly withered garden was shrouded in tender green overnight.
There is a fountain in the center of the flower wall labyrinth of Ganquan Palace. After the weather cleared, Frederick asked his servant to bring a lounge chair there to enjoy the warm spring sunshine.
Frederick thought he could calm down after some discordant noises came out from within the Osmaga Empire, but he never expected that the plan to build a railway would spread faster and more than his romantic affairs. Hotspot.
The role of railways has been shown in Wesson. Each steam train is full of carriages, and the carriages are filled with goods, providing a relatively cheap transportation method for places without waterways. Many The road section paid for itself in the first year.
In particular, Wesson's two recent military operations both transported troops and logistical supplies to designated locations via railways in the shortest possible time.
It’s just that the area of Weisen State is too small, and it still doesn’t have a name. If it were enlarged to the entire Osmaga Empire, the role it would play would be very terrifying.
The senior officials of the Osmaga Empire did not make any statement for a while, but someone from the family of a high-ranking official came to inquire about the situation.
Frederick said to the Chancellor's twin granddaughters: "The biggest advantages of railway transportation are that it is cheap, has little impact from weather, and is directly killed by wild animals. Build railways and roads that can transport goods of the same weight at the same time. Railways The investment is actually lower. The railway can also promote the economic development of the areas along the way, and can transport trees and ore more cheaply."
He also said to the youngest daughter of the Minister of War: "The railway. It is the most convenient to transport troops and supplies. It can transport many people at once and it is fast.”
Over the next few days, almost all the senior officials of the Osmaga Empire came to inquire, and Frederick explained that his waist ached a little.
It’s just that after this, there was no sound in the imperial court, either there was no interest, or it entered a stage of closed-door consultation.
To build a railway, the most troublesome thing is the political issue. Because of the land ownership issue, the landowners along the way have to agree to the railway passing through their territory.
Frederick was not in a hurry, it was the best thing to do, and he would not be the one who would suffer the most if it failed.
During this period, the girl with disabled hands decided to try her luck in Wesson. Frederick did not let her enter the gate, which would damage the girl's reputation. He just asked the servant to take out the money bag and letter of introduction. Go give it to her.
In the morning, three days before the Wesson fleet passed through the city of Wien, Mary came to see Frederick again, and happened to meet a young man visiting Frederick at the gate.
Frederick set out tea and snacks in the pavilion by the spring, and entertained the guests with Mary.
This man named Eugene came from the Kingdom of Gaul, and his parents had high status, but he was very unhappy there, so he came to Frederick.
He also had two letters of recommendation in his hand. One was written by Armand, who sent money to Frederick many years ago, and the other letter of recommendation was written by Armand's sister, Philip. Françoise, Terry's pen pal.
There are some relatives among the top leaders of various countries. Eugene wanted to go out and work hard, so the two brothers and sisters recommended him to come to Frederick.
After reading the letter, Frederick said to Eugene: "With the current system of the Wesson Army, no matter who you are, if you want to become an officer, you must first enter the Wesson Military Academy to study. Only the first place in each class can directly become Officers, the rest of the cadets still need to practice in the army for one year. If you want to develop in the army, I can use the principal's privileges to let you enter without examination, but the graduation standards will not change."
Press Wesson. In the state system, the platoon leader began to be regarded as an officer, but he was not yet a noble at this time and only enjoyed the political treatment of some knights. The company commander began to be canonized as a knight, but there was no fiefdom at the beginning. He would only get a manor when his service years were up or he had performed meritorious services. All officers' fiefdoms are only inherited for three generations after their death. If the old man dies and his grandson has no ability, then leave. But officers' salaries are very high, and they can lease land for a long period of time, with lease terms ranging from 99 years to 499 years.
Frederick did not intend to establish public land ownership based on existing productivity. In his territory, his own land accounted for 90%, and the remaining 10% would be used for enfeoffment after dismantling it. and long-term rent, in order to maintain his strength far beyond other vassals.
This makes the competition among officers in the army very fierce. Just the threshold of becoming a platoon leader from an ordinary soldier makes a butcher read a book every day when he has free time.
Eugene knew something about this and replied very confidently: "I know something about the policies of your army. I fully agree with this approach. I am also willing to enter the military academy and am confident that I will graduate with first place."
"Oh?" Frederick looked at him with interest, took a sip of tea and asked him: "How much do you know about our army?"
Eugene was somewhat He said happily: "I fully agree with your military's strict discipline, strict training, emphasis on logistics, and caring for soldiers. I also do the same in the military, but I seem to be out of tune with other officers."
Then He said with righteous indignation: "I improved the food of my army. Each person had an extra onion, a piece of cheese and a sausage every day. Other officers thought that what I did would make their soldiers dissatisfied and undermine the unity of the army. , just because I did not embezzle from military rations like them."
"Instead, they wrote an anonymous letter to His Majesty Louis, accusing me of embezzling military rations. Fortunately, your Majesty is wise and knows that my family is rich. I have never been short of money since I was a child, so I ignored it.”
"I asked my soldiers to train every other day, and then they wrote anonymous letters, because other officers only trained once every five days or even ten days. The reason they used this time was that I colluded with the Lisenberg people to make the army elite. Too exhausted to fight.”
“You should know the result. The Lisenbergs launched a major counterattack and attacked us at night. We were all driven to the port.”
“ At that time, only my army was still organized, and it took advantage of the terrain to block the pass outside the city for a while. In the end, if the mage group and Armand's people hadn't happened to change the defense and rushed over as soon as they got off the boat, I would have died there. "
Mary listened quietly and finally poured Eugene a cup of tea herself.
She had heard about this war that took place a year ago. The Kingdom of Lisenberg defeated the field legions of the Kingdom of Gaul starting with a night attack. In just half a month, they recovered all the lost territory and captured Countless onions.
The only bright spot of the Gallic army in this war was that someone blocked the main force of Lisenberg's army outside the port for three days and three nights. No one in the broken troops behind them came back to support them, but scrambled to grab the ship and leave.
In the end, it was not until an army that changed defense happened to land and then went to support that all the defeated troops were able to evacuate.
They all survived on the battlefield. Mary knew how difficult it was to die alone at that time, which was almost like committing suicide.
Frederick just listened expressionlessly. He knew more than Mary and even more than Eugene.
(End of this chapter)