Chapter 157 : Farhad Francis
Chapter 157: Farhad Francis
The rewards given to the few children who had acted bravely were just right. Although the Alliance had long established a four-tiered education system of primary, junior high, senior high, and university, in the past, graduating from junior high was already enough to survive in society; those who continued were essentially on the path of the elite.
Though the Alliance made primary and junior high schools free, reduced tuition for high schools, and subsidized universities, that did not mean there were no expenses—only that the government’s subsidies offset much of the cost.
Especially in universities, the Seris Alliance University adopted an inclusive teaching model. Beyond its own academic system, it also published a vast collection of treasured works from academies across the continents.
It was not something one could obtain merely through talk—or by force.
The Alliance’s most direct approach was to pay. For every book sold, they paid the original academy corresponding patent fees and annual royalties.
If money did not work, they used fame. The publications printed by the Seris Alliance carried the original authors’ names, and once reorganized into textbooks, their fame would be bound to the Alliance.
In essence, it was another form of establishing a legacy. As long as the Alliance existed, their names would endure with it. That temptation was no less powerful than wealth.
Because the volume was immense, the Alliance government could not possibly make all education completely free. To open that floodgate would bring an unbearable financial burden in the future. Thus, universities implemented a subsidy system.
Every university student regularly received an allowance from the Central Bank, which they could use both for living expenses and to purchase one or two categories of textbooks of their choice.
This was where the Alliance’s full exemption for those girls became useful. As long as they wished, they could learn anything they wanted—without ever worrying about money.
Children with good character deserved a better education, and granting them this privilege was the most fitting reward.
As for monetary rewards, there was no need for the Alliance Central to provide them. The local state governments were not blind; in addition to visiting and encouraging them, they would naturally give material rewards as well.
On her way back, Mitia took a detour to the old manor. She chatted with her mother for a while, played with Doubao—who had been sent back to the manor to give birth—and only then went to rest in the study with Anna, who had hurried over.
She had already sent a private message explaining the situation to Anna, asking her to bring along the Intelligence Department’s files from within Suria.
During the journey, she had been pondering how to handle that batch of counterfeit coins. Should they use them to buy resources from the Mitria Diocese? But how much could that actually buy?
Whatever they bought would need to be transported. Space Rings existed, yes, but their capacity was not vast—having one with even a hundred square meters of space was exceedingly rare. Moreover, collecting and transporting raw materials still took time.
Even the dullest government would grow suspicious if such a large amount of silver suddenly entered circulation within a short period. Besides, there was no guarantee it could go completely undetected. Moving the goods would also risk exposing the mastermind.
Exchange fake for real? Before the coins entered the market, the Seris Federation could still distinguish genuine ones. Once counterfeit coins began circulating, it would be nearly impossible to tell them apart unless they melted them down for testing.
So, using the money directly was not a good idea. She needed a subtler, more invisible method to turn those fake coins into something of greater value~
A plan began to take shape in her mind. Perhaps this time, she needed to personally train a financial expert~
Two months later...
A luxurious carriage, caked with dust from travel, arrived in the royal capital of the Dmitria Church—Ichamein—drawing the attention of many passersby. They wondered which noble from which nation had come to visit.
Yes, the Church did have a king. Besides the royal capital, there was also a Holy City. However, a king’s coronation was only valid once acknowledged by the Pontiff.
The Church itself did not involve much in the governance of the nation. It focused on three things: listening to divine oracles, attracting believers, and expanding externally.
Matters of livelihood and administration were handled by the king and nobles, who also commanded traditional armies to govern the Church’s territories.
John Rawls lifted a corner of the carriage curtain to glance outside and found they had arrived. Despite his calm nature, a wave of nervousness rose within him.
The carriage was one of the more high-end models sold by the Kingdom of Suria. Combining the industrial strengths of the Seris Alliance with traditional craftsmanship, it featured lavish decorations beloved by nobles, while its interior had been entirely redesigned.
Four fine horses pulled the first two-wheeled servant coach, which was linked by a coupling lock to the four-wheeled main carriage behind it. Its chassis used a spring suspension system, the wheels were fitted with rubber tires and light-alloy rims—sturdy yet far lighter than wood—and inscribed with magic arrays for further weight reduction.
The four-wheeled carriage’s interior was spacious, exquisitely arranged, luxurious, and comfortable—most importantly, outrageously expensive. It was highly fashionable among high nobles across nations.
Nobles, after all, disliked the motorcars from the Seris Alliance.
On their rough roads, those dark, unadorned machines offered poor comfort and looked utterly plain—like something only peasants would use.
After selecting the right operative, the Seris Alliance had invested enormous manpower and resources to establish two communication networks—from Sera’s capital to Suria, and then to Ichamein.
One consisted of radio equipment for encrypted text transmissions, and the other of a long-distance communication system made from combined magic arrays—capable of visual two-way conversation.
Mitia had spent three months giving the operative an intensive crash course in finance. John’s outward persona for gathering intelligence was that of a newly risen economic expert from the Kingdom of Suria.
Of course, that identity had been constructed by the Alliance. His job was to boast; the Alliance handled the actual results. As long as he helped others make profits, he could even claim to be the “God of Economics,” and people would believe him.
But the reason he had been assigned that role was because he indeed possessed a certain natural talent in economics. Otherwise, the Alliance would not have chosen him.
Besides the crash training, Bratt—who had been accidentally recruited by Mitia earlier—used his own identity as a prince to subtly bolster John’s reputation, paving the way for this trip to Ichamein.
And his, or rather, the Seris Alliance’s target—was the Grand Duke in charge of managing the Church’s finances in Dmitria: Farhad Francis.
It was well-known that the rise of the Seris Alliance had begun from what was once the Church’s rear territory—the Subcontinent. The emergence of Seris was not merely the birth of another nation.
Before the Alliance appeared, the entire Subcontinent had been the Church’s dumping ground for products and a cheap source of raw materials. The logic of low-cost imports and high-priced exports needed no explanation; anyone understood the principle of buying low and selling high.
So, before Seris rose, the Church had lived comfortably. But the rise of Seris delivered a fatal blow to that cycle.
First, their faith regions turned red, then they were absorbed and integrated; their spiritual dominance was driven out. Afterwards, the Kingdom of Ovinia and other kingdoms were defeated and annexed one after another. In practical terms, the Church was expelled overseas.
They lost vast faith territories, over a hundred million believers, suffered repeated military defeats, and saw their invincible fleets destroyed. Their former export market became an industrial power exporting goods to others, while they themselves were reduced to raw material suppliers.
This reversal—from father to son—was not only a humiliation of faith, but also a devastating blow to the Church’s internal economy. The small workshops were crushed by industrial goods, and the raw materials they exported brought back only the Alliance’s paper currency.
Though nobles were not much affected, the Church nation’s precious metal reserves dwindled alarmingly.
They were forced to purchase Seris cruisers by paying with low-priced raw materials in exchange for gold and silver coins. But since the raw materials fetched low prices, the crisis could hardly be alleviated.
And Grand Duke Farhad Francis was the unlucky one who rose to power precisely in such a desperate environment—to save the Church Kingdom’s economy.