I Became the illegitimate son of a duke

61 – Preparation (1)

“Hey, I’ll say it again—”

“I will never run away and complete my mission. Do not blaspheme the Holy Son and me!!”

“…I got it.”

What are the superiors thinking, just letting these heinous criminals go free?

I can understand roughly how things are going. If this woman causes trouble on the border with the Empire, she must be using that as an excuse to interfere with the Empire.

But isn’t there a possibility that she just runs away without causing trouble? How do you believe in a b*tch like this and let go?

Okay, let’s stop worrying. If it’s black, black is a soldier.

“Then I’ll go.”

“Thank you very much, soldier. Your path will always be filled with light.”

“Okay, thank you.”

The soldier leaves Jeanne on the dark side of the road, saying something that is not in her heart, and Jeanne looks at the soldiers’ backs and prays.

…………

“Where… Are you okay?”

The next morning after sending Jeanne to her border, she heard that a prototype had just come out of the factory.

To be honest, I didn’t expect much of the quality of the prototype, but with this level, I can sell it right away.

“How different is the production compared to ordinary workshops?”

“Each item is different. In many cases, such as drying, where production time cannot be shortened, it was 10% at most, but for items that did not require it, production was 20% higher.”

“…Are all productions up?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

It is more than expected.

To be honest, I expected that the production volume would be less than that of the workshop because the initial factory was built too quickly and the know-how was not accumulated.

But it wasn’t enough to make a product of such reasonable quality that the production volume went up?

As expected, the division of labor—- no, no.

“It seems that the front-line artisans put a lot of effort into it. I’ll have to reward them.”

This is not my work.

I just reminded the artisans of the idea of division of labor, and hired artisans did all the practical work. You can’t sleep alone.

“Yes, Your Highness. Shall I call them?”

“Tell the artisans to come when it’s convenient for them. They must be tired from working all this time, but they won’t like it if I suddenly call them.”

“Okay.”

For artisans who always aim for great quality, this level of quality will only be seen as a low-quality product.

But for me, a duke, to see such a low-grade item myself, I must have gone beyond suffering from the pressure and almost burned myself to death.

Well, seeing that the factory lights were on until late at night every day, that’s why we got these good results.

“Then take this item to the Holy Empire—wait.”

Now, the Holy Empire is in the middle of a civil war with heretics, and even foreign powers have been involved in the civil war.

The merchants who were severely exposed to the threat of plunder were all shutting themselves in a safe place and watching the situation, and I heard from Ines that the situation was pretty bad because the farmers and citizens of the city were all being requisitioned.

‘…How can I sell things to the Empire in this condition?’

In this case, there is no reason to unify domestic coins into coins of the Holy Empire.

Of course, as it is a coin of a powerful country, all the neighboring countries use the coin of the Holy Empire, so it won’t be a complete loss, but it is true that it is a little disappointing.

‘If you can’t sell it to the Holy Empire, first of all, it’s the Carolingian Kingdom or the Albion Kingdom across the sea.’

I can’t go too far as I have a lot of stuff.

The Carolingian Kingdom, which can be reached directly by land, and the Albion Kingdom, which crosses the sea adjacent to the coast, will be the main customers.

‘Or you can just release it in Korea, no, is this the best way?’

Coming to think of it, there was no need to try to sell overseas from the beginning.

If you release factory-made products in Korea, you will naturally push out foreign-made products that have become expensive due to transportation costs and tariffs. Eventually, when the domestic factory-made products are full, they flow out and abroad like water overflowing from a glass. It will flow The private sector will take care of it and sell it abroad.

Until now, factory goods are very inferior compared to artisan goods, so they cannot invade the domain of artisans.

“I’m thinking of releasing these products in Korea. What do you think?”

“Everyone will be very welcome. But if that happens, you won’t be able to make a big profit as the money will eventually circulate in Korea.”

That’s right.

From my point of view, the Duke of Burgon, I can get much more profit from selling products overseas than from selling them domestically.

Aside from being unable to bring in gold and silver and goods from abroad, the gains that can be obtained domestically are limited and the gains must be returned to the domestic market.

If you don’t do that and focus all your wealth on me, the power of the Principality of Burgon will go beyond the floor and plummet through the mantle.

“It’s okay. What if I don’t benefit, the lives of the people will be enriched.”

Even if I earn more money here, I have nowhere to spend it.

No, of course, there are many places where money goes into expansion of factories, salaries of bureaucrats, maintenance of standing army, etc., But among them, the country is so small that it can be said that there is no money for an individual to spend.

No matter how luxuries you try, you can only wear one outfit at a time, eat only three meals a day, and only sleep one pillow at a time, right? Even if it is a country, there is bound to be a limit to the amount of money spent by just one person.

If I had it, it would just rot in the safe, but it’s better to just release it back to society to see it like that.

‘In the first place, that society belongs to me too.’

Now is the era when individuals own the nation.

If the national power increases, it will eventually become my strength, but I cannot blow away the great country by being distracted by the gold pieces in front of my eyes.

“…Yes, indeed.”

“…?”

But Leclerc’s reaction is a bit strange. He speaks in a slightly strange voice, so I looked at him and he has a very impressed expression.

I feel bad, why is he like this again?

…………

“Your Highness, the army of the Carolingian Kingdom has sent a letter requesting to open the way for the Holy Temple.”

It’s easy to die, but it’s hard to lend a way—- this isn’t it.

“I thought it would go all the way round, but luckily it goes through Burgon. Get a toll and send someone to guide you through Burgon.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Also, Carolingian County must pass as many big cities as possible.”

“Is it possible?”

An army is essentially a huge group that only consumes without producing.

It’s not just that the army officers don’t use things and keep collecting them. We don’t produce anything, so we have to conserve things.

Having such a huge group of attrition pass through the city would be a huge boon to the city’s citizens.

It will be a relief from the drought for the merchants who have been greatly intimidated by the aftermath of the war and the war situation of the Holy Empire.

‘It’s the aftermath of the war. Come to think of it, the Carolingian Kingdom is pretty bold.’

If I were the King of Carolingian, I would not have taken part in the war to eliminate heresy in order to get rid of the aftereffects of the war, as well as the money taken as reparations.

Is King Caroling so resourceful that he has already gotten rid of the aftereffects, or is he just an idiot?

No, there’s no way even an idiot could use the military like that. No matter how much the king had the will, the nobles would have been ripped off.

‘The relationship between Caroling and Burgon is very cold.’

Although the relationship with the enemy country has improved a little from being a cold one due to the sending of the royal family as an envoy at the wedding, even empty words cannot be said to be a close relationship.

Above all, the previous agreement did not specify a ceasefire period. No one will say anything about starting a war right away.

If I invade Caroling with the troops out of the country like that, I’ll be able to stop them somehow, but they’re well aware that it’s going to be a lot of trouble.

‘…The information has been leaked.’

A few days ago, regarding the stance on Seonghwang’s request for assistance, he told some of his subordinates that he had no time to worry about foreign affairs as domestic management was more urgent right now.

If the Carolingian kingdom found out that information, it makes sense.

Since they did not participate in a war where they could collect all kinds of loot, they decided that the possibility of the kingdom being invaded was very low even if they sent troops out of the country for the time being.

“Leclerc, I need to create an intelligence agency.”

“It’s an intelligence agency… It still exists, but Your Highness wants a more professional and organized intelligence agency. I will do that.”

Leclerc, who saw me pondering, stood there calmly for a few minutes and then nodded to my sudden words without showing any sign of embarrassment.

As expected, Leclerc likes this kind of thing.

“Brother? We were talking about the Carolingians. Why is it suddenly an intelligence agency?”

At that time, at the word intelligence agency, Chloe tilted her head and expressed her doubts.

Looking at it, it seems that Ines is also curious.

“Ah, it seems the Carolingian kingdom planted a spy in the castle.”

“Yes…? I don’t know if it’s an empire, but there won’t be any spies from Carolingian…”

“No, if the information hadn’t been leaked out, there’s no way Caroling would have been able to use the army like that, because he would have to keep an eye on us.”

“…I see.”

At my repeated explanation, Leclerc, Chloe, and Ines each nodded in agreement.

Leclerc frowned as he pondered what the leaked information might be, and Chloe and Ines, perhaps a little shocked, lowered their heads slightly and made faces full of displeasure.

That’s right. It’s highly likely that the spy saw Chloe and Ines’ every move living in the castle, so of course they’d be offended.

“It’s okay. I’ll catch that spy soon.”

“…Thank you, sir.”

It seems that even with my consolation, the two of them can’t feel better. I’ll give you a gift later to cheer you up a bit.