Volume 2: Empire Chapter 196: Change
Luke was about to move forward, but Steward Morici stepped forward to stop him and said, "Mr. Luke, please recognize that you are a human being. In the Tedega Hills, humans need to unite. Baron Sergei is highly valued by the Duke of Celtic. If you want to develop in the Holy Mountain, only the Baron can help you."
Luke said impatiently, "I am just an adventurer and I am not very interested in developing in the Holy Mountain. You can go back and thank the Baron for his kindness on my behalf."
My title is Marquis. Can a baron just send a steward to invite me?
Sergey wants to see you, but not now.
After Luke finished speaking, he pushed Morici away. How could Morici withstand such force? He leaned back without any reaction and sat on the ground.
This caused the barbarians to burst into laughter.
"Go back and tell Baron Sergei that Luke Hercules is a friend of us Stone Barbarians. We will drink all night at Fekochik's house tonight."
"We're going to drink with Luke Hercules every day these days, so let your Baron wait in the back."
A group of barbarians mocked Manager Morici, and Luke, who was surrounded by them, staggered forward like a victorious general.
When we arrived at the Fekochick home, Mrs. Fekochick had already prepared a grand dinner.
But this dinner was not prepared to celebrate Luke's outstanding performance in the strongman competition. Mrs. Ficochik did not like strongman competitions and thought it was a barbaric game with no fashion sense or aesthetics.
As a sophisticated fashionista, Mrs. Fecochek prefers the popular activities of the upper class in Raging Waves, hosting cocktail parties and doing business.
The dinner was to celebrate a big deal she had just closed, with 80% of the shops on an entire street sold.
This was the largest number of shops purchased at one time since Mrs. Felicia Felicia started buying shops. Although the owners of these shops were Luke, they were named after the Felicia Felicia family.
Mrs. Fecochik was very happy. She drove all the Stone Barbarians out to hold a pool party, then pulled Luke to sit next to her. Her eager eyes made Luke shiver.
Luke pulled his hand out of Mrs. Fecochek's grasp and asked, "Are there any shops that can be acquired tomorrow?"
"Yes!" Mrs. Fecochek answered confidently, "For some reason, many merchants want to sell their shops recently. Tomorrow, I have made an appointment with a merchant on another street to discuss the acquisition. But those greedy humans saw that I acquired so many shops, so they greedily raised the price. Will you continue to buy them?"
Luke said confidently, "Accept it. As long as the premium does not exceed 20% of the market price, we can sign the agreement with cash. If the other party is too greedy, we will skip him. Sooner or later, he will be unable to resist and sell the shop."
Mrs. Fekechik closed 80% of the shops on the street in one afternoon. According to Mrs. Fekechik, most of the merchants selling shops were human.
This shows that it is not just Baron Sergei who is selling shops and workshops, but human merchants have also received inside information that factory restrictions will be lifted soon.
They all want to take advantage of this opportunity and soar to the sky.
For Luke, this is a rare opportunity to buy real estate at a bargain price. No matter what happens in the future, the Holy Mountain will always be the Holy Mountain. It is the political and economic center of the entire Tedega Hills. When the factory ban is lifted, the first impact of industrialization is that a large number of people will gather in the Holy Mountain. At that time, the land price will only rise and not fall.
According to the current land price of the Holy Mountain, even if it is purchased at a 20% premium, it is still a bargain.
Another point is that this acquisition is about shops and workshops. The shops are scattered throughout the entire area of the Holy Mountain and are direct sales channels to the terminal. Small shops have no bargaining power against large factories and can only do business with small capital and small profits. If they are not careful, they will go bankrupt. However, when most of the small shops gather together as a whole, the large factories will have to look at the sales channels.
An excellent channel operator is one who can play both ends.
Moreover, the factory restrictions have been lifted. Humans in the Holy Mountain can build factories, and so can barbarians.
Isn’t it just money?
The thing that Nutao City has the most is money.
Purchasing machines is better and cheaper than that from the Holy Mountain human merchants, purchasing raw materials is better and cheaper, and it is also a global sales channel.
The human merchants of the Holy Mountain think that doing business is too simple. This desperate attempt to raise funds to build a factory is equivalent to putting a knife on their own neck and then giving the handle to others.
Having always been dealing with the small peasant economy, they have not yet experienced the horror of monopoly.
Now Luke is actively investing in the purchase of shops from human merchants, giving them money so that they can more actively push for the lifting of factory restrictions. Once Tedejia Hills opens up its market, it will show its most vulnerable heart.
The Celtic Duke's ruling base in the Tedega Hills will also quickly collapse.
The economic fist knows no territorial boundaries.
Luke was discussing with Mrs. Fecochek how to approach more merchants to discuss acquisitions tomorrow, as if they would feel uncomfortable if they didn't spend the money as soon as possible.
Luke said: Madam, you can talk boldly. We will buy as many shops as you want to sell. I will go to the Holy Mountain Branch of the World Bank to apply for a loan tomorrow. I guarantee that I will have enough money!
Mrs. Fecochek had a very happy chat with Luke.
In the Duke's Castle on the top of the Holy Mountain, the Celtic Duke was summoning several prestigious and wealthy human merchants.
The human merchants, led by Baron Sergei, sat on both sides of the conference table.
On the main seat, the Barbarian Duke, the Celtic Grand Duke, wore a duke's crown, with a look of majesty that was not even angry, and was extremely oppressive.
"I heard that something happened in this year's strongman competition that made you humans extremely happy. A human strongman defeated all the barbarian strongmen and advanced to the finals."
Under the pressure of the Celtic Duke, the human merchants all sat upright and did not bother to take the initiative to talk.
At this time, Baron Sergei replied: "Reporting to the Duke. The name of this human strongman is Luke, an adventurer from the City of Raging Waves. He was hired by the barbarian merchant Fekechik from the City of Raging Waves to deliver a letter and a sum of money to Madam Fekechik."
The Celtic Duke said nothing.
Sergei continued, "The Holy Mountain Adventurer Association confirmed that there was no problem with Luke's status as a B-rank adventurer. He also had another mission related to the Abyss Temple, and he was stranded in the Holy Mountain due to a problem with the handover of the mission."
"That is to say... there is no problem with his identity. He is not a spy of the Secret Service."
Sergey replied: "At least there is no evidence to prove that his identity is problematic."
The Celtic Duke nodded and said, "Let's not worry about his identity for now. Although you are human, you are one of us because you were born in the Tedega Hills. You should know what a strongman competition means to the barbarians. If a human strongman champion appears, it will cause a lot of trouble."
Sergei understood what the Celtic Duke meant.
The war against the Empire left the barbarians with only their superiority over humans, which was their strong physique. If even this sense of superiority was overwhelmed by humans, it would be a huge blow to the barbarians' self-confidence.
Therefore, there must never be a human champion strongman.
But as a human being, Sergei also knew what a human champion strongman meant to the human race living in Tedejia. If the human race wanted to turn things around in the Tedejia Hills and become a race equal to the barbarians, this championship must be retained.
"My Lord Duke, there are not only barbarians in Tedega Hills, but also humans who are loyal to you. Under the pressure of the empire, it would be a waste if the human power in Tedega Hills is not utilized.
A human champion strongman can inspire us even more.”
However, the Celtic Duke is a barbarian after all, and now the majority of the people in the Tedega Hills are also barbarians.
The Duke said in an undeniable tone: “In the coming period, I will issue many decrees, some of which will break traditions and will definitely cause great turmoil.
I don't want another major incident during this period that gets seriously out of control. The barbarians, especially those with traditional ideas, must be appeased! "
Some orders that will break with tradition…
The human businessmen immediately thought of that incident, otherwise there would be no need to convene a meeting of all the big human businessmen.
Baron Sergei sensed the merchants' excitement, and he asked the Duke of Celtic tentatively, "Sir, have you decided to lift the factory ban?"
After waiting for a while, the Duke of Celtic seemed to have overcome his psychological barriers and said, "Although I am reluctant to admit it, the strength of the empire does come entirely from the industrial power behind it.
It may take us a month to raise the supplies they consume in one day. This is not a fair war, and of course there is no fairness in war.
Our secret talks with the Northern Legion have not made any substantial progress, mainly because we cannot provide them with supplies.
I know it’s a little late to lift the factory ban now, but if the factory is opened as soon as possible, my army can be strengthened sooner.”
Seeing that the Duke of Celtic showed a strong inclination, Baron Sergei immediately said, "Your Excellency the Duke! After we, the human merchants, knew that you were going to lift the factory ban, we have been actively raising funds and contacted many overseas factories. As long as you give the order to allow the Holy Mountain to open a factory, we can immediately transport the complete set of machines here.
Whether it is the barbarians or humans in the Tedejia Hills, their physical fitness is much higher than that of the Empire, and they are more hardworking. Our factory can be put into production quickly, and the production capacity will only be higher than that of the Empire's factory!
Your armies will have the same logistical support capabilities as the Empire."
The Celtic Duke knew exactly what these human merchants were doing during this period.
He said: "But the factory will cause a devastating blow to the traditional economy of Tedega Hill. Augustine opened up the industry, which led to the decline of a large number of nobles, and some nobles even starved to death.
I announced the factory ban to prevent the same thing from happening. If I lift it now... a lot of people will be affected.
Many of them are barbarians who are loyal to me.”
The human merchants, who have already burned their boats and are ready to go all out, are absolutely unwilling to see the Celtic Duke back down on this matter.
Encouraged by the looks of the merchants, Baron Sergei mustered up his courage and said, "The strength of the empire proves the correctness of the change! If Your Excellency the Duke hesitates on this matter, he will miss the last chance to turn the situation around.
As long as the factory ban is lifted, you will lose a group of loyal barbarians, but you will gain more loyal humans. Please follow Augustine's example and implement industrial transformation in Tedega Hill. Only in this way can Tedega Hill resist the invasion of the empire, otherwise... otherwise the imperial army will sooner or later attack the Holy Mountain! "
Baron Sergei's words were very strong.
If it were in the past, the Celtic Duke might have broken his neck on the spot, but now he just slammed the table in anger.
The Celtic Duke glared at Sergei, but had to admit that he was right.
If you change you may die, but if you don't change you will definitely die.
"I know you are all waiting for the factory restrictions to be lifted so that you can make a fortune. The closure of countless businesses and workshops will pile up the gold mountains in your warehouses.
You will become the group of people I hate the most, but I have to rely on you. Your status will become higher and higher in Tedega Hills, and many barbarian nobles will have to bow to you, but you must know... I am not Augustine!
I will never allow 'Raging Waves City' and 'Meteor' to appear in my Tedega Hills!"
The emperor of the empire is now recuperating in seclusion, and the empress is supervising the country. After Meteorite entered the imperial capital through the bureaucratic system of Nutao City, he became a powerful official, and even Gabriel, the chief minister of the imperial cabinet, avoided his edge.
To outsiders, the imperial power had been hollowed out by a meteorite.
The reason why Meteorite can and dares to do this is because behind him is the economically powerful Nutao City.
The Celtic Duke was also afraid that the industrial transformation he carried out in Tedega Hill would eventually create a Tedega Hill version of "Raging Waves" and "Meteor".
That was why he specifically targeted these human businessmen who were actively pushing for the lifting of factory restrictions.
Sergei and the human merchants immediately stood up and knelt on one knee.
"I swore an oath to the great Duke of Celtic in the Duke's Castle on the Holy Mountain. Whether we are rich or poor in the future, my descendants and I will be absolutely loyal to the Celtic family.
If we break our oath, the Duke can take away our family honor and all our wealth at any time."
The Duke of Celtic was very satisfied with the attitude of these human merchants. He finally said: "I will announce the lifting of the factory restrictions in the near future and allow your factory to be built as soon as possible.
But that human strongman..."
Sergei, who was kneeling in front of the Duke of Celtic, raised his head and said, "Please rest assured, Your Excellency the Duke! During the period when the factory restrictions are lifted, there must be no trouble in the Holy Mountain. The impact of a human champion strongman is really too great.
In order for the Duke's reform to proceed smoothly and to appease the people of the Holy Mountain, I will get this done."
The Celtic Duke nodded with satisfaction: "Very good! It is a great honor for you humans to have a human strongman qualified to participate in the finals.
Don’t take all the benefits!”
