New Stormwind City, 13 days after the release of Affirmative Action.
Varian frowned and sat on his chair. The house robe he was wearing had been torn open, and the edge of the purple robe was stained with shocking blood.
Of course, this is not the blood of His Majesty the King.
At the edge of Varian's desk, the body of an attendant with a broken neck was lying there. Several guards were quickly cleaning up the somewhat scattered room, while Master Shaw, the leader of MI7, frowned.
He carefully observed the special-shaped dagger in his hand. This thing was the murder weapon used by this disguised assassin to assassinate His Majesty the King.
But it was obvious that this assassin, like his employer, had underestimated Varian's incredible fighting skills. The assassinated king was not injured, but the assassin lost his life less than 5 seconds after taking action.
own little life.
"How many assassinations is this this month?"
Varian allowed the attendant to put on a new robe for him, picked up a cup of tea, and asked:
"How many people did you arrest?"
Facing His Majesty the King's question, Shore blinked:
"There were 37 assassins who were captured during the plotting stage, 16 who infiltrated the palace and were captured, and those who actually entered your office, including this unlucky guy, there are 5. It seems that you really scared them, my
Your Majesty...even if they use such extremely despicable methods, they still urgently need to get rid of you."
"But if my life is taken away by an assassin so easily, I will be laughed to death, Shore."
Varian leaned back in his chair, stretched his body, rubbed his forehead, and whispered:
"But the desperate actions of those nobles to jump over the wall shows that our recent actions are effective. Xiaoer, they are scared. This is actually a good thing. By the way, has the situation in the border counties improved?"
"Um"
The master assassin of MI7 packed the poisoned dagger, nodded, and said to his king in a serious tone:
"According to the reports from our "eyes" planted among the civilians, the inspection work of the first batch of tax collectors dispatched went very smoothly. The people who have been oppressed by those villains for a long time are very willing to cooperate with the work of the tax collectors, and the first batch of tax collectors
The surveyed land has begun to be gradually redistributed to the refugees who need it. Overall, your reputation in the eyes of the people at this time is almost as good as that of Emperor Lothar."
"No! Compared with my adoptive father, I am still far behind."
Varian shook his head. He did not feel happy because of the flattery of his subordinates. Every time he saw the thick documents on his desk, he would feel a sense of urgency.
Varian is very clear that the current stable situation within the Kingdom of Stormwind is not perfect. The "big incident" he personally caused is only slowly calming down on the surface, but in fact, there are many problems both at home and abroad.
The forces of willing are lurking, and all it takes is one mistake on his part, and the good situation in front of him may be completely overturned.
He must re-establish a new political system in the kingdom in the shortest possible time and truly stabilize the domestic situation before those careerists act.
At least the people who have gained freedom must stand unswervingly on his side...
"Redistribution of land, combating the remnants of the aristocracy, and issuing and enforcing new tax laws are the three most important things at the moment. Shore, I know you don't like using agents who protect the people for this kind of secret police.
In matters of affairs, there are too few forces at hand that I can trust now."
Varian said to the assassin master in front of him in a gentle tone:
"You are the strength I can rely on. I hope you can cooperate with the Storm Council to complete these three things before the Dark Portal begins in the spring of 2018."
Facing the king's "low profile", Shore did not hesitate for too long. He nodded silently and left the king's office with the information he had collected. He was one of Varian's most trusted ministers.
, Shore was well aware of the pressure the king was under during this period, so he did not add any more obstacles to Varian.
Just after Shaw left, the new Minister of Industrial Affairs of Stormwind Kingdom, Mekkatorque, who was wearing a black and white dress, took a document and walked into the king's office that still smelled of blood. This
The dwarf nimbly sat on the high-backed chair, and then handed the document in his hand to Varian.
"Your Majesty, this is the 18-year industrial plan for Dark Portal that I spent a week making."
The dwarf clung to his white beard proudly, and he said to Varian who opened the file:
"I know you are very anxious and wish your country could become an industrialized country overnight, but this cannot be rushed. Your Majesty Varian, this kind of thing must be done step by step, but if my plan can be implemented smoothly,
Then in the next year, your treasury will have a lot more money that you can freely use, which is the beginning of a country’s healthy economic development.”
"Um?"
Varian didn't pay attention to the dwarf's boasting. He only looked at the first page of the plan and frowned deeply:
"Mr. Mekkatorque, you said here that the Kingdom of Stormwind will build several small food factories and simple handicraft assembly lines in the city in the middle of 2018, but you didn't write it clearly..."
The king raised his head and looked at the dwarf in front of him doubtfully:
“To whom are these food and primary industrial products produced going to be sold?”
Varian moved his fingers and said to the dwarf with some regret:
"Mr. Mekkatorque, you may not understand the real living standards of the people in my country. I can say this, even if you label the handicraft products we produce, such as cloth, as "cheaper than dirt"
, my people may not necessarily buy it...You have to understand that this country has just got rid of the control of greedy people, and my people have almost no decent property in their hands...They can't afford such things at all."
"No! Varian, you underestimate my wisdom!"
Mekkatorque straightened his tie. He simply stood on the chair, put one hand on the table, and gestured to Varian with the other:
"After I was rescued by you from the Federation, I knew what you wanted me to do for you... The industrialization of the Federation burst out terrifying power within a few years, and the Dark Blade Undead armed with this power could easily
It defeated your empire, and you also want to learn such power. This is what I want to do, and I have always dreamed of completing the industrialization process of a backward country with my own hands. I have been thinking about this issue in the past few years!"
"And this!"
Mekkatorque pointed to his documents and said confidently:
"This is the final result of my thinking! Let me explain it to you, Varian."
"First of all, your people do not have the desire to consume. My King, the reason why they do not consume is because they do not have enough money in their hands, and being unable to satisfy their desire to consume will make them feel unhappy, so proceed
The first step in industrial reform is to make your people feel that their lives are better than before... In other words, you need to let them make money!"
"The food factories and handicraft assembly lines I opened in the first batch are not the most profitable industries, but they are definitely one of the industries with the highest investment and profit profits. I recruit your people into the food factories and assembly lines to get them off the land.
, let them earn enough money to support themselves, and once the production capacity of the food factory's assembly line reaches scale, only half of it can meet the daily needs of your citizens!"
"Where's the other half?"
A glimmer of light flashed in the blue eyes of the eloquent dwarf:
"The other half! It's the profit, Varian. I've done many social surveys. In the Razor Highlands of the Barrens, the quilboar civilization there has to drive out many of its own tribe every year in order to ensure the survival of the tribe.
..What they lack is enough food. The other half, or the remaining one-third of the production capacity of our factory is prepared for civilizations like the wild boars that have not yet entered a complete national system."
"Well, that sounds reasonable."
Varian rubbed his chin and asked:
"But they don't have the money either..."
"We don't need money! Genius!"
The dwarf knocked on the table with some dissatisfaction:
"We need industrial supplies from the Razor Highlands! Those ores, herbs and other gadgets, or simply the poor jingling quilboars themselves. After transporting them back, our handicraft assembly line can start working. Those mines
There is also enough cheap quilboar labor in the field, and then the products are taken back and sold to those quilboars again, or simply thrown to the goblins of the Steamwheedle Consortium... They always have a way to sell these goods
go out."
"The main purpose of this back and forth is not to make money, Varian. It is to create a blueprint for our country's manufacturing industry and allow domestic free trade to flow. According to the federal experience, if it is purely done by the country, such things as industrialization
Yes, it is very slow. You must absorb private capital into this large-scale industrialization process. Once the first batch of businessmen are born among the people, the domestic economy will come alive."
"If the few years of living in the Federation have given me any inspiration, then I will tell you, Varian, the most important thing I learned there is: the development of technology is always related to the development of business.
connected.”
Mekkatorque used the simplest words possible to describe the relationship between industrialization and economic development to Varian, the gladiator. The dwarf was so thirsty that he immediately brought herbal tea to the Minister of Industry.
Varian was thinking about these things according to Mekkatorque's thinking. He was not stupid. After briefly understanding the meaning of the dwarf, he rubbed his forehead and said to Mekkatorque:
"I probably understand what you mean, but the previous system of the Kingdom of Stormwind did not value the value of merchants, so there are few big merchants in my country. How about... let's find cooperation with the goblins first? The Hotsand Consortium has recently
They seem to be very interested in our industrial affairs, and they have sent several waves of envoys."
"Cooperation? No! Varian!"
Mekkatorque snorted disdainfully:
"You were deceived, Your Majesty. Those goblins don't want to cooperate with you at all. They just want to turn your country into a dumping ground for their commercial products and use some rubbish products to take away the last cent from your people's pockets.
Qian, believe me, Varian, maybe on the battlefield, 100 goblins are no match for you, but when it comes to doing business, 100 of you tied together are no match for one goblin."
"However, in the early stage of the reform of the Kingdom of Stormwind, it is not impossible to cooperate with the goblins."
The dwarf scratched his head, and the smooth scalp reflected the sunlight outside the window. After a moment, Mekkatorque moved his fingers, and the cunning dwarf said to Varian:
"The golden route in the South China Sea has always been in the hands of the goblins. If we can insert this route, it will definitely be very beneficial to our country's economic development, so... you might as well tell those goblins like this...
.”
—————————————————————————
That night, the Varians hosted business envoys from the Steamwheedle Consortium in their palace.
This is a private banquet for the king. He only invited a few senators from the Stormwind Parliament to accompany him. However, the significance of this banquet is very important. This means that the royal family of the Stormwind Kingdom is likely to reach some verbal agreement with the Steamwheedle Consortium.
agreement.
In this era, a verbal agreement from a great noble can already solve many, many problems.
"I still remember a few years ago, on the battlefield in the Silithus Desert. I had just returned to Kalimdor at that time."
After some drinking and drinking, Varian looked a little drunk. He held a glass of wine and said to the green-skinned goblin businessman sitting opposite him:
"At that time, I was trekking in the desert with my soldiers. It was very hard, and then a soldier gave me a bottle of soda bought in Gadgetzan. I still remember the wonderful taste."
Having said this, the king laughed:
"Norsenfuge sparkling water, that was the most delicious drink I drank that year. Mr. Northenfolger, I have to give you a toast because of this!"
Marin Northenfogg, this big businessman who started his career in alchemy, was almost flushed at this moment. He stood politely on the chair, raised his glass to the king and queen, and said in a sharp voice:
"I personally admire His Majesty Varian's heroic fighting posture. You are definitely the most powerful hero and the wisest king among humans. Because of this, the Steamwheedle Consortium absolutely spent a lot of money to build a goblin in the Kingdom of Stormwind.
commercial town..."
“How can one town be enough?”
The Speaker of the Storm Parliament and the current Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Stormwind, Duke Aberlock suddenly interrupted Northenfogg's description. He looked at each other with his king, and then said to the goblin merchant with a smile on his face:
"The Stormwind Council attaches great importance to the friendship of the Steamwheedle Consortium, so we decided to build a large port city on the coast of the kingdom, between Steamwheedle Port and Stormwind City, specifically for the development of business by goblin friends. Of course, the tariffs there
It's up to us to take responsibility..."
"this..."
Marin Northenfogg is a qualified businessman. When faced with the "friendship" suddenly thrown out by the Kingdom of Stormwind, he had some concerns. After all, if the Kingdom of Stormwind really extended a port at the end of the route of Steamsand Port,
That means that it will replace part of the position of Steamwheedle Port in the golden waterway of the South China Sea. More importantly, with the existence of this port, the Kingdom of Stormwind can legitimately join the South China Sea trade circle.
However, just when Marin hesitated, Varian suddenly said:
"I personally like Northenfogel's series of sodas and potions, so if Mr. Marin is also willing to build his own factory in that city, I can personally gift you a piece of permanently free commercial land. Of course, my
The country is still very poor, and I don’t have much money to support you, but I can give you some additional small... policy concessions..."
"I believe that an excellent potion brand like Northenfogg will be able to be sold across the entire continent in the future. I think we are born to be best friends. Mr. Marin, what do you think?"