When Percy came to see Sean, Governor Byrne happened to come to inspect.
Byrne has lost a lot of weight, so that his cheekbones are prominent and he looks even more haggard and serious. Over the past month, he has been struggling to cope.
Collecting corpses, treating the wounded, preventing epidemics, suppressing riots, raising food and stabilizing prices, and cracking down on unscrupulous businessmen are all difficult tasks.
It stands to reason that Sean should have come to inspect the disaster relief and reconstruction work in West Poitou that was entrusted to him. However, the subordinates sent there reported one after another that the situation was calm and orderly under the rule of Viscount Connery, so he did not need to pay attention to it at all, so he just
You can focus more of your energy on other remote areas.
A crying child needs milk. Sean is not asking for help for everything. He writes a report once a week, detailing the progress of his work to reassure the Governor. He always complains and asks for supplies at the end of the report, even though he clearly
Know that the chance of getting a positive answer is extremely small.
A month later, Byrne finally took the time to inspect this place, partly to express his apology and gratitude to Sean, and partly because this was the place where he had the least worries. Every official sent here was full of praise for Sean.
, which made him very curious.
After leaving Poitou and heading west, the road in front of us suddenly became flat and wide not far away. The flowers and trees on both sides were planted at fixed intervals, and even the heights were the same.
In the fields, some people were plowing the ridges, and some were cleaning the ditches. The further west you went, the more people were busy on both sides of the road. Through the carriage window, Byrne saw a huge construction site on the right, with crowds of people like ants, and a huge
The reservoir is about to take shape.
"Who originally owned the land there?" Byrne asked.
"Your Excellency, there were originally barren mountains covered with stones and thorns. We used these hills to surround the gap and turned it into a reservoir. It only occupied a small amount of low-lying land. The owner of the place was either killed in the earthquake or encountered a tsunami.
Viscount Connelly said that in the future it can be used for both agricultural irrigation and fish farming." The official in the same car replied.
Land is always a sensitive topic. During this disaster, many more people have lost their land or had to sell their land. These lands are usually auctioned by the government.
Byrne knew that many wealthy people in the city, like scavenging vultures, were preparing to share in this feast. But here, anyone who wants to buy land must obtain the consent of Viscount Connery.
Byrne wants to know more, what will Sean do with these new reservoirs in the future, take them directly for himself? Buy them at a low price? Or something else?
"parking!"
Byrne suddenly stopped the car because he saw Sean was surrounded by a group of farmers, and his escort was driving the farmers away with a riding crop.
Openly besieging nobles is a serious crime.
However, the actual situation was the opposite. The farmers chased Sean and said that they wanted to send him money and grain, but Sean said that he did not need it.
This made Byrne's head feel as if a bull had knocked it over.
It turns out that West Poitou faces the sea to the south and is surrounded by the Rocky Mountains to the north. It is a narrow strip of land consisting of nearly 100,000 hectares of plains, hills and mountains.
In the past, this place belonged to the Connery family.
Since there is no reservoir, annual rainfall and Rocky Mountain stream water are wasted, and field irrigation becomes a big problem in drought years.
All Sean's construction of reservoirs can solve this big problem and occupy very little land, but local farmers who want water must join mutual aid groups.
In principle, this reservoir should be owned by all local farmers, including future aquatic income, provided that each household pays a certain amount of cash or grain of equal value based on the size of the land.
No one had the ability to build such a reservoir before. The most they could do was block the stream, and fights between the upper and lower reaches for water would happen every year.
But Sean can, manpower is readily available and free, and the stones needed to build the dam are all quarried from the Rocky Mountains, and the Rocky Mountains belong to Sean.
Sean just let out some words, and the local farmers "besieged" him.
Farmers are also very good at budgeting, or they can take advantage. Because they only need to pay a small part of the money for food, and the annual aquaculture income from the reservoir will be worth their own efforts in at least two years, not to mention the convenience of irrigation.
With Byrne's appearance, the patrol team following him drove away all the farmers who wanted to get close, just by wearing police uniforms.
"Your Majesty the Governor, welcome!" Sean said. Facing the governor of a province, he only had to nod.
"Nice to meet you, Viscount Connery." Byrne smiled, "I just saw some farmers who seemed to be disrespectful to you?"
"No, no, they are just very enthusiastic." Sean smiled.
"Enthusiasm? What are they going to do?" Byrne asked.
After Sean explained it, Byrne had a deeper understanding of Sean, and the farmer was indeed very enthusiastic.
If you think about it more carefully, this nobleman who was secretly ridiculed as a pick-up in the past may be able to win with one fell swoop this time.
"I think you may also need money and food now, why don't you accept what they offer?" Byrne asked.
"There is a problem here, because there is a lot of land that will become ownerless. I would like to ask the Governor to agree to let me dispose of these lands." Sean said.
Byrne asked calmly: "How are you going to deal with it?"
"I am prepared to transfer the land to the victims according to the land price before the disaster."
"How can the victims afford it?" Bai Enqi asked.
"Instalment payment, they can also pay in the form of labor service. You must know that most of the disaster victims did not originally own the land, they were just tenants. As for a certain piece of land, a hard-working farmer owns it, which is comparable to a privileged person who owns it for the government
Make more contributions.”
Sean's words surprised Byrne. He didn't expect Sean to plan this way instead of paying for it himself. If Sean wanted to buy it, Governor Byrne would definitely agree, and this would be his reward and reward.
"What do you do with the recovered money?" Byrne asked. Normally, these ownerless lands are auctioned by the government, and the auction proceeds go to the government.
"If you agree, 70% will go to the municipal government and 30% will be shared by local owners. This is the price for allowing them to accept outsiders. This can be used for public construction and maintenance." Sean said.
Byrne did not immediately agree, but said something meaningful:
"Viscount, you are the most special nobleman I have ever met."
Byrne gave up the carriage and switched to riding a horse, and walked side by side with Sean in the direction of Vichy Town. There were no clues related to the disaster here, and there was a prosperous scene everywhere.
Byrne remembered that he only pulled grain out to Sean twice, which was not enough for the 25,000 victims. He wanted to know how Sean coped.
But it dawned on him when he saw a simple dock appearing on the east side of Vichy town.
Two medium-sized cargo ships are docked at the newly built pier, unloading grain from the north. This is what Sean asked Captain Alfonso to purchase from the north.
"Your Excellency, the Governor, you need to pay for the food purchased." Sean said inappropriately, "I guarantee it will be at least 20% cheaper than what you can buy."
"If you can buy more, I will pay the bill happily." Byrne said seriously, "Those grain merchants and brokers are all vultures, and my most important job in the past month has been to negotiate with these vultures."
Food prices in Tu have increased by 50% compared to before the disaster, and they threaten to increase by 50% next spring."
"Then you need a price without a middleman making a difference." Sean smiled.
Percy Robinson is also watching the cargo ship unloading. Compared with the precious food now, he is more envious of Sean for building this simple-looking but usable dock in just one month. The building materials and labor are all ready-made and free.
.
Boom, a loud noise brought Percy Robinson back to his senses.
Seeing Sean and the Governor riding over, Percy quickly stepped forward. As he once said in front of Sean, he learned to flatter the Governor in the Holy City, so he complimented the Governor before thinking about business:
"Viscount Connery, how did you come up with the idea of building a road through the Rocky Mountains? You know, our Robinson family owns at least half of it."
"If you want to be rich, build a road first. This road is more important to your Robinson family." Sean said, "If you don't agree, I can stop the engineering team."
Percy shook his head quickly and said: "No, no, we can also gather the victims to do construction from the other side. I just want to ask, you won't set up a card to charge in the future, right?"
Sean was amused by his question, while Governor Byrne took it for granted. The Europa Empire seemed to be a unified whole, but goods from one province had to be sold to another province, and even customs duties had to be paid, not to mention paying for the passage.
Already.
In Sean's previous life, you didn't have to pay to drive on the highway, and there was no money to build the highway? But like Europa, it's outrageous to have to pay tariffs for goods flowing across domestic provinces.
"No, I will not charge, and I also advise you not to do so. The free circulation of goods is the most important thing. In fact, our leaders have gone into a misunderstanding. They only want to share the cake, not make it bigger.
, as long as the cake is bigger, more will be divided. If businessmen want to use this terminal in the future, the government can collect transaction taxes, but there is no need for Rocky Mountain Highway tolls, otherwise businessmen will not come."
Sean actually meant what he said to Byrne.
"Then what can you get?" Percy felt that Sean had the potential to be a saint.
"Me?" Sean shrugged, "The land near the dock belongs to me and the residents of Vichy Town. In the future, there will be warehouses, hotels, taverns, and shops on it. Locally produced goods can also be traded here.
Shipping. And goods from other places can also be transferred through Vichy."
Percy said: "Can the Robinson family get a share of the pie?"
Percy really wants to threaten Sean, such as setting up a checkpoint on the Robinson family's end of the Rocky Mountain Highway in the future.
"Of course, how about one-third of the land? I need you to spend real money." Of course Sean knew the subtext of Percy.
"One-half, no less than this." Percy bargained.
"No, you came a little late. I wrote to Viscount Lincoln and told him, but he hasn't replied yet, so I decided to do it as soon as possible."
"Okay then, this price..."
"Thirty-five thousand louis!"
"Thirty thousand! It can't be more than that."
"make a deal!"
Byrne watched the entire transaction process and found that he could no longer understand Sean.
The heavy burden of 25,000 disaster victims is actually no longer that number. Through this series of magical operations, Sean has not only taken care of the victims, but also made a lot of money for himself and the citizens of Vichy Town.
, there is still a bright future, and it seems that he has not paid anything despite all his efforts. He has also made a noble neighbor, which has benefited the government, and in the end he has been praised by everyone.
This is an atypical nobleman and a genius speculator.