Chapter 348 War is not only on the battlefield
“Why do we fight?”
Knights who yearn for honor polish their swords, lords who seek profit polish their armor, and mercenaries who are hungry and cold take Picking up a spear, the numb farmer resisted the pitchfork under the whip and left his hometown to go to the battlefield. Facing the oncoming murderers, some people raised their shields...
War has different meanings for different people, which is directly related to Their morale, in turn, affects their combat effectiveness.
In Wesson, people generally believed that the war was started by the Franconian Archduke to prevent his son from being executed. Some people believed that the war could be avoided.
For many people, the most important thing is the firewood, oil, salt, cheese, vinegar and tea in front of them. The war has nothing to do with their own interests. The psychological distance is very far. It is just a topic for conversation after dinner. Victory or defeat has nothing to do with them.
No matter which world we live in, people are so realistic. They hang up when things don’t concern them, as if they were sitting in the audience watching the performance on the stage. There is an invisible but real wall between the two. The high wall of existence.
Now there is a group of people who find that this wall has been broken. They are no longer sitting in the audience, but have unknowingly stepped onto the stage and become a member of the actors. The drama is good or bad. It's about your own pocketbook.
The interview with Duke Wesson published on the front page of "White Stork Times" is like a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen, turning an originally inconspicuous flame into a fire that boils the entire land. flame.
……
"We don't want war,
but if,
the enemy comes to destroy the tranquility,
be ready for peace and happiness,
enter the battle of cruel justice ,
We respond to offense with offense!
The White Mountains to the North Sea,
How strong our camp is!
Friends, friends,
Hold your weapons tightly,
Friends, friends,
The teams are lined up!
For the children,
Laughter in the sun,
For freedom, for the family,
Get ready to fight! "
...
Dozens of people were singing a chorus on the stage, and hundreds of people in the square joined in the chorus. Fatih's hands in the crowd were trembling, and inexplicable fear condensed into The huge boulder weighed on his heart, and he was not so scared when his eldest brother's scimitar cut through his breastplate in the final battle to seize the throne.
The emperor from a distant foreign country looked at the dozen people around him in disbelief. .
They are both factory owners in Wesson and partners of Fatih. During this time, they played pool and bowling together while discussing business, and went to the shooting range to test their marksmanship and try new things. I also went to watch the most popular pole dance recommended by Richard Nall.
These usually polite gentlemen seemed to have drunk a violent potion at this moment, waving expensive wallets with two or three gold florins each, containing checks for tens or even hundreds of florins, whenever there was a gap in the crowd. Just push forward.
Next to these bosses wearing white shirts and formal jackets, there was a large group of workers holding Kreuz silver coins and wearing cheap blue blacksmith uniforms, but their enthusiasm was no less than those of the bosses.
The enthusiastic crowd around reminded Fatih of a past incident that his grandfather had mentioned to him. When his mother-in-law was just two or three years old, the family was besieged by the enemy for more than half a year with twenty times the force. The enemy continued to attack for a long time. Bu Po clamored to break the city without sealing the sword for half a month.
At that time, the soldiers and civilians in the city were already exhausted, there was not much food left, and there was only a thin line between the city and the city.
But the news that the enemy was going to massacre the city made everyone feel the same hatred. Late at night, all those who could afford weapons rushed out of the city like crazy, causing the enemy to blow up their camp in the middle of the night, killing each other, and countless people fled. Finally, the city Rescue.
Fatih remembered what his grandfather said back then, that crazy and united people can defeat enemies ten times or even dozens of times on the battlefield. He couldn't understand what it was like at the time, but now he understands.
He suddenly thought of a line he heard when he went to the theater a few days ago - destroying people's wealth is like killing their parents. The Principality of Franconia and the Alliance of Legens prevented the Wesson people from making money, so they became a public enemy.
He also thought that perhaps it was precisely because the Franconian Principality and the Regens Alliance had set up trade barriers that blocked the sales of Wesson's factory products. At this time, he had brought a huge market, so these factory owners Only then did he favor himself as a pagan.
Wesson State’s army is already very strong. With such civilian support, its strength will be even higher. This is just the beginning. If the enemy is replaced by another country, such as the Ghazi Empire...
The emperor slowly walked to the front row with the crowd in fear.
A row of long tables was placed in front of the stage next to the construction site of Germain Cathedral on the side of the square. City defense troops, militiamen and police tried their best to maintain order and prevent the situation from getting out of control.
Behind the desk, the tellers of Wesson Bank were busy, collecting money with one hand and delivering goods with the other.
This is one of the sales points selling the 1034 Wesson Special Bonds. Similar sales points are available in every city. The situation in other cities is the same as here. At the Wesson-Bockner Shipyard in Willibird City, Zobel took advantage of the lunch break and rode his bicycle to the city square with a dozen or so workers while chewing on Wesson bags.
The order of Willibird City is much better than that of Weissenburg City, mainly because of its small population, and it is a wood and cable processing base. It quickly used various wooden shelves and The ropes made a few passages for people to line up.
The queue was dozens of meters long, and by the time I got there, I had already gone to work in the afternoon.
But this was not a problem for the workers. There was an old man in one team who was about to arrive. Zobel and the others ran over amidst the curses of the crowd and handed over their savings that they had saved for two or three years. Jules runs a noodle shop in the dormitory area of the shipyard.
Jules used to be the butler of Earl Rees. During the "Six Days of Defense", Earl Rees became Metzger's first stepping stone. After the war, he arranged for the surrender of the Reese Territory and took Reese with him. The only surviving foolish son of the family left the original territory and lived in the small farm that originally belonged to Mrs. Reese's natal family.
Later the shipyard was expanded and the farmland was expropriated. Jules took the initiative to replace a row of facade buildings on the roadside in front of the factory. He started a catering business in one of the facades. The stupid son of the Reese family relied on Living on rent.
Jules, a "remnant of the former dynasty", has always lived a cautious life, but because of this he has gained a good reputation and is deeply trusted by the workers.
Zobel and others left after giving the money to Jules and had to go to work in the afternoon.
The total amount of special bonds issued for the war this time is 150,000 florins, which is equivalent to 5 years of income of the royal family of the Rhine League. 30,000 florins are 1-year bonds with an annual interest rate of 4%; the remaining 12 Ten Florin is a 5-year bond with an annual interest rate of 6%.
We are still using heavy metal currency, which has almost no depreciation and no inflationary pressure. The law generally stipulates that the maximum interest rate for private loans is 10%. For a long time, the local land rent yield has been around 5%. The annual bond interest rate fluctuates slightly above and below this figure.
From an investment perspective, this bond is a good project.
Nowadays, Weisen State's economic development momentum is strong, the army is strong, and the lords are in good spirits. There will be no situation where the government goes bankrupt and cannot repay the principal. Even if there is a temporary problem, you can still delay the repayment of the principal and only pay interest. Wait until the situation improves.
But brokerage profits are not the reason why the sales floor is booming.
The Physiocratic Theory has been spread for thousands of years in inland areas far away from the ocean, and has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
The landowning class headed by princes and nobles in the inland areas live a pastoral life. The territories are basically self-sufficient. In the eyes of them and the sponsored scholars, land and agricultural output are the most important, and handicraft industry is the most important. It is a subsidiary of agriculture.
In the eyes of the landlord class, businessmen are just porters driving donkeys around. They have no rights at all. Heavy taxation and even killing people and stealing goods are commonplace.
Even in Wesson, businessmen still have an inferiority mentality in such a cultural atmosphere, so much so that Frederick discovered the obstruction of exports when he looked at the export data. The businessmen all admitted failure and did not People take the initiative to bring it up.
Factory owners' status was better than that of merchants but limited. They positioned themselves as handicraftsmen based on tradition and were quite respected among the common people, but in the eyes of the landlords, they were no different from tenant farmers.
As for workers, their status is no different from that of farmers or weeds on the roadside.
Now Duke Wesson tells everyone that this war is for businessmen, factory owners and workers, and the purpose is to solve their problem of difficulty in making money.
“This battle is for me?!”
Many people couldn’t believe it at first, and they read the news several times before confirming that Duke Wesson was really fighting for himself. People fight.
"It turns out he really has me in his heart!"
The industrial and commercial people suddenly found that their status was not low.
They have made a lot of money in recent years. After having enough food and clothing, they began to seek respect and demand. There are only a few members of parliament, and most people are still the same as before.
At this time Duke Wesson gave a signal, a breakthrough, and the passion accumulated in his heart was instantly released, forming a torrent.
This is your own war. Since you can't take up arms and go to the front line, you should participate in it in any way you can. One of them is to buy additional bonds issued because of the war.
Frederick was cracking eggs in the kitchen when he listened to the report on the bond sales. The "Night Witches" who were about to start operations were the darlings of Wesson's army and were under the direct command of him, the commander of the Air Force, but he had to use them if he wanted to accompany the airship. Cake bribes girls.
(End of this chapter)