Chapter 399 Then no one will help
Frederick once thought that there were so many Helvetic people who had built railways, so the people there were no strangers to railways and should be able to accept them.
But he didn't expect that those people did tell their families and fellow villagers about the railway after they returned, and they even exaggerated.
“When the whistle blows, gold coins flow”, “Wherever the train can go, stones can be sold as gold”, not only Scarface spoke passionately, but even the bearded man also said it with passion. Mysteriously, Duke Wesson is planning to build an underground railway to transport gold back to the castle's underground vault.
The corner of Frederick's mouth twitched, as if he had indeed mentioned the concept of the subway when he was inspecting Oak City and chatting with people a few years ago, but it was also said in a joking tone, and there was no need for it now.
He asked with some curiosity: "Since the noble gentlemen all know the benefits of the railway, why don't they build it?"
The answer to this question was the young man sitting opposite him reading: "You must know about engineering The cost needs to be calculated based on the cost of the human resources machine.”
Frederick nodded, this was something he proposed.
The little brother continued: "The labor cost is not a problem, the machinery cost can be rented, but the material cost of the rails is too expensive."
Frederick understood.
The rails used for railway construction in Wessen are all purchased directly from factories. There are no middlemen to make the difference, and they are not announced to the public. Even Scarface, who has been building railways for eight years, does not know the price.
For those veterans of road construction, identifying the quality of steel is a basic skill. They put the price of a good sword hammered out by a blacksmith on the rails, and naturally they came up with a very outrageous price.
Frederick thought for a while, and the price of the railway tracks was not a secret. Not only the nearby Principality of Mainz and the Principality of Bain, but also people on the Citrus Island in the inland sea knew about it.
He added 30% to the price of the rails sold to the Principality of Mainz, and then told them as if nothing had happened.
“So cheap?” Hua Huzi couldn’t believe it, “Did you mistake the gold coins for silver coins?”
Frederick smiled and said: "This is a bulk transaction. It's not about buying one or two. It's a minimum order of 10 kilometers or more, so it's naturally cheaper."
Hua Hu must have thought it made sense.
After finishing another piece of cream sandwich biscuit, Scarface said excitedly: "Please come to our place, Count Sylvain will definitely welcome you!"
Frederick recalled After looking at the information previously provided by the Grand Duke of Mainz, the territory of the Sylvan family is in the mountainous area to the north. The rivers are rapid and there are many reefs that cannot be transported by water. The only way to get in and out is through mountain roads.
This is a bit difficult. The planned railway is only built in the gentle valley area, and the branch line only reaches the foot of the mountain. The cost is not high, but it will be very troublesome to enter the mountain.
There, Scarface calculated how many roads there were from the castle to the outside, how many roads needed to be widened, how much labor and materials were needed, how much it cost to rent machinery, and finally concluded that Duke Sylvan now only needs to eat grass every day and not buy new ones. For clothes, you can come up with this amount of money in ten years.
Frederick glanced at him. This man's calculations were very accurate and his thinking was clear. I'm afraid he was not an ordinary person.
The flowery beard on the side said: "Count Sforza where I live is also in the mountains. Snow wool is rich there, which is the best wool in the world. I heard that Duke Wesson's sweaters are all It is woven with it.”
“The roads there are not easy to walk on. There are many bears along the way. Smaller caravans will be eaten by bears on the road. It will be safe if there is a steam car.”
Frederick recalled the information about Count Sforza. This man was a tyrant in the southern mountainous area. He had some mines in his territory, a relatively developed handicraft industry, and he spoke very loudly.
There are even rumors that he is one of the contenders for the throne this year.
Frederick nodded, this kind of local boss needs to pay a visit.
He asked the little brother opposite: "Do you also want to live on the railway in your hometown?"
The little brother replied: "My home is on the east bank of Lake Leman in the west. I had some money, so my parents sent me to study at Weisenberg University a few years ago. "
"I didn't have any magic skills, so I went to the School of Architecture and Engineering."
Frederick nodded. It turned out to be the civil engineering boy, and he felt a little better.
The little brother added: "I have some doubts. The Helvetia Federation is rarely invaded by foreign enemies due to terrain reasons. After the railway is built, the terrain advantage disappears, and foreign enemies can enter through the railway."
"If the war breaks out, my family's property will be burned to the ground, so we have to consider this issue."
Frederick nodded, this is indeed a very real problem.
"I have this opinion on this matter." Since the other party is a college student, he said more profoundly, "Duke Wesson said that war is a continuation of politics, and the basis of politics is economics. We can start from Economically speaking.”
"To put it bluntly, the Helvetia Federation has nothing economically worth fighting for from its neighboring countries. The only products available at the recent World Expo were cheese and some magic crystals from the mountains." "Hell Among the neighbors of the Viti Federation, the Kingdom of Gaul has vast farmland in the north, the Kingdom of Sardinia benefits from inland sea trade, and the Osmaga Empire is only adjacent to the White Mountains. Their focus has never been on the west. The Rhine League is staring at As for the homeland east of the Elbe River, no country would want to invade the Helvetia Federation. It would be a loss-making business."
After he finished speaking, the seat fell into silence.
The guy opposite sighed and said: "Your words are indeed hurtful, but they are all true."
"But there is nothing wrong with cheese. I only sell cheese. It’s very good. You can try it when you get there.”
Frederick smiled and nodded.
Hua Beard shook his head and said: "I don't quite understand the truth. I have fought many wars in my life, and I have seen many nobles use inexplicable reasons to launch wars. Some are to get a night with socialites, and some are He just felt that the other party’s gaze offended him.”
Frederick nodded. There were indeed many such situations, but they were all small-scale conflicts, and few lives were lost. Their group of mercenaries. It's mostly just a show, and it's far different from wars between countries.
He said: "I have seen the map. The places where the Helvetia Federation can access the railway are only the east and west sides of Lake Constance and the southern shore of Lake Leman. Not far from the water are the White Mountains and the terrain is narrow. ”
The three men nodded.
Frederick continued: "From a military point of view, as long as a group of fortresses are built in a dangerous place and a small fleet of some size is maintained on the lake, the enemy can be kept out."
"As long as the Helvetia Federation builds itself into a hedgehog, the surrounding countries will have no interest in it."
Scarface said with a smile: "That's true, hedgehogs are full of thorns. There is not much meat, and the wolf and fox are not willing to eat it unless they are too hungry."
The boy opposite said again: "But this can't solve some problems. I wrote in a letter from home, The situation in the country is very bad this year. Some people want to help the Kingdom of Gaul, and some people want to help the Kingdom of Sardinia. If they fight, my family's property will be over."
Frederick smiled disdainfully. , said: "How much money did they give? Has the Kingdom of Gaul promised to return the city of Leman on the other side of Lake Leman? Has the Kingdom of Sardinia made any proposal to return Mount Bray? This is not even necessary sincerity." Will you sacrifice your life for them? ”
The three people felt that their hearts had been stabbed. Both places were lost within a few decades. Leman City was the gate to the west and Bray Mountain was the window to the south. After losing it, the Helvetic Federation could only Locked in the mountains and lakes.
Frederick took out a pack of roasted pine nuts from his pocket and invited them to eat, but none of the three people took action.
His action this time is to cut off the hands stretched out by the Kingdom of Gaul and the Kingdom of Sardinia. Revealing the scars is a good way to make both sides lose.
"Alas..." Hua Beard sighed, "Then what should I do? Neither side can afford to offend me."
Frederick shrugged and said: "Then It’s simple. They are actually afraid that the Helvetia Federation will help each other. As long as the Helvetia Federation announces that no one will help them, that will be fine.”
Scarface asked him: "What should we do if someone comes to attack us?"
"That's easy." Frederick said, "As long as you sign an agreement with the four neighboring countries, saying that others will attack you in the future. When I don't help your enemies, you come to help us when we are beaten. No matter which neighboring country wants to fight the Helvetia Federation alone, it needs to consider the attitudes of the other three countries."
"In this way. It’s easy to handle. As long as the Helvetia Federation is not stupid enough to anger all the neighboring countries at once, or stupidly pull out the hedgehog’s thorns, no one will come.”
“Of course. "There is probably a price to pay for this kind of thing."
While saying this, Frederick had been paying attention to the expressions of these three people. One of them was a veteran, one was a middle-aged man who was good at calculations, and the other was a calculating man. They are young intellectuals who can represent the views of a large number of people.
If these three people did not object, he planned to let the Archduke of Mainz's secret network spread these remarks after arriving in the Helvetia Federation.
"Hi..." Hua Beard suddenly shook his head, "These are the things that gentlemen care about. Let's drink."
"That's right." Scarface looked at the front of the car. , "Why hasn't that cart come here yet? I'll go ahead and buy a few bottles of wine."
After he finished speaking, he stood up and left. The little brother also stood up and said, "I'll buy some." "It's wine."
Hua Beard also stood up and left, and said at the same time: "Oh, I asked for a drink, how can I let them buy it?"
Soon after, the three of them came over with a small cart selling goods. They each had two bottles of beer (that's all there was left in the cart), and a plate each of braised pork head meat, braised pig offal, braised tofu skin and pickled cucumbers. I also got a few long toothpicks to stick in and eat them, totaling a hundred and a few copper coins.
The three of them planned to share the cost equally, but Frederick insisted on sharing it equally.
In the end, Scarface made the final calculation. Everyone had just eaten Frederick's cream sandwich biscuits, and the three of them had thirty coppers each. Frederick made up the last change.
(End of this chapter)