Chapter 113 : On Calculating — Who Could Outcalculate the Capitalists~
Chapter 113: On Calculating — Who Could Outcalculate the Capitalists~
Mitia did not mind Bratt’s rudeness; she felt quite pleased at the moment, because just before she had stepped through that door, she had received news that the Royal Capital of Alesia had formally surrendered.
The terms were the same as before: all direct relatives were to be beheaded, collateral branches were to be spared, in exchange for the Guardian of the kingdom staying out of affairs.
Today’s meeting was not a formal diplomatic occasion so much as a private exchange, and thus it was not overly formal. Bratt soon composed himself and began to speak amiably with Mitia.
Bratt had traveled through many countries and had a fairly deep personal understanding of local customs; through him Mitia also came to have a rough impression of the powers across the continent.
Small talk brought them closer, and naturally the conversation turned to the topic of importing industry.
As Coy had said, Mitia — or rather the entire Federation — held a fairly open view on exporting industry, or perhaps everyone’s hearts were simply very black...
Trains? Sell them! He would even give them two for free!
But on the condition that the domestic railway network would be constructed under the guidance of Seris Federation’s technical workers and experts.
If their side’s steel output was insufficient or substandard, they would have to buy finished rails or manganese-alloy steel raw materials from Bratt’s side.
Could they not afford the cost of importing steel by sea to lay tracks nationwide?
No problem! They could invest to build factories within their territory!
“We provide people and technology, you provide money and land, cross-share and share the profits!”
Cars? Sell them! He would even send them a royal-exclusive state car!
However, they would not sell production technology or open a factory; finished vehicles would be shipped by sea and sold through automobile dealerships set up within their territory.
To keep those things running, did their side not have to extract crude oil?
“Why not leave that to us?”
“We provide the technology, you provide the oil fields; we cooperate jointly, and crude oil can be exported to our country and converted into our currency for use.”
“Gas stations are a technical business too — do you want help setting them up? Or shall we form a joint venture? We provide technology, you provide land and workers, and profits are shared!”
“What?!! Your Olyesk Island was rich in rubber?”
Ahem, well, then — the rail matter could be renegotiated. We export manganese and swap it for your rubber! Large quantities get discounts!!!
Bratt’s eyes brightened more and more; he no longer sneaked glances at the Empress’s face and figure, but was dazzled by the grand blueprint Mitia described, seeing nothing but the color of coin in his eyes.
The kingdom Bratt represented had made its fortune through commerce; their noses for business were keener, and they possessed a tremendous driving force for promoting industrialization.
If one compared magic and alchemy, ten Seris could not catch up to these old-established imperial kingdoms; but when it came to industry...
It was as if they could pull competitors onto the same level and then defeat them with their abundant experience.
The word “industry” carried weight like a thousand catties; used well it could strengthen power, used poorly it was like a heavy dose of arsenic.
Mitia intended to give Suria a big gift — in the best sense — to turn it into a dazzling industrial rising star on the main continent, and to push other kingdoms and empires to import industrialization.
By pulling the fuse of industrial contradictions in those countries, she would leave them with no time to bother with the Seris Federation on the subcontinent.
This plan was an open strategy and highly feasible.
Did industrialization bring benefits? Yes — enormous ones!
Merely laying a railway network could make nationwide exchange frequent and easy; concomitantly, the cost of trading goods would fall sharply, bringing far richer returns.
A strong wartime railway network could also allow armies to mobilize rapidly for support; the transportation of supplies was a revolutionary improvement — even if the army’s organization did not change at all, the leap in supply capability could raise its combat effectiveness and sustainability by several grades.
The automobile industry was similar: even if Seris refused to export an entire industrial chain, exporting finished cars alone could massively reduce Suria’s transportation costs.
Industrial machinery could be mass-produced, lowering manufacturing costs, stimulating domestic employment, stabilizing popular sentiment — agricultural produce could simply be imported~
“I have plenty of money!”
Through dumping industrial products, Suria could amass the wealth of surrounding countries, while agricultural goods — ubiquitous everywhere — were hard to sell at a high price as bulk commodities.
“You won’t sell? There are plenty who will!”
Unless neighboring countries formed an alliance to impose a trade blockade on Suria — which, in an age of underdeveloped communications, was a pipe dream.
Merchants were the most sensitive to changes in cost.
However~
These benefits essentially favored Suria as a commercial conglomerate; merchants were the group best at seizing change, and everything was ultimately driven by profit.
For other feudal autocratic states, industrialization was pure arsenic.
Was industry good? Yes! But not for feudal slaveholders.
They monopolized land to control population flow and thereby, in effect, reversed the monopoly of commercial lifelines.
Old nobles had already divided the spoils; when you introduced industrial machines to change productivity, whose positions were you overturning? You were overturning the old nobles’ livelihoods!
The industrial system’s release of productive capacity required large amounts of non-food raw materials and workers — where would those come from? Wouldn’t they be carved out from the old nobles’ holdings?
If you drained populations away, who would plant the land? The nobles owned the most land.
The high nobles who relied on consolidating small in-domain workshops to retail small goods were everywhere — that was an important source of income. If you crushed the small workshops, would they starve?
If farmland was converted to cash crops, what would happen when the kingdom faced famine?
Where would you get land to open factories? Wouldn’t you have to split profits from lands not yet enfeoffed? Which domain could withstand such a heavy cash outlay?~
Don’t say high nobles and great manor lords would actively seek change — under the old order they held the largest shares of profit; even if productivity lagged they didn’t care, since they didn’t have to pay.
Who could say slave-based automation wasn’t industrialization? Whether output was large or small, it was all mine!
Why should I seek change? They hated change itself the most!
Because change was uncontrollable: raw material demands were varied, mineral needs differed, crop types required differed.
They lacked the energy and ability to block and seize every angle; there would always be outliers who broke through and, by expanding productive capacity, rapidly became too big to fail.
“If I don’t grant you land, I can let raw material prices skyrocket; if I don’t release population, I will suppress you.”
Could these newly risen bourgeois capitalists who depended on industry accept being choked by the old powers?
Chaos and war were all but inevitable.
“Don’t go bragging about how great your magicians are. No matter how powerful they are, they were only a small number. If things really came to blows, I wouldn’t wage a large-scale war — I’d wage a guerrilla war with muskets, and you’d be in headaches up to your neck.”
“Your magicians’ status was noble, but a commoner’s life with a gun was worth less than that gun; who could outlast whom?”
When it came to calculating costs, who could outcalculate the capitalists?