Chapter 776: The Leopard
As soon as Lynch spoke, the Emperor couldn’t continue.
The main reason the Amellian Province lacked development was that the nobility refused to go there. On one hand, Amellia was a leased territory. In this world, there was no concept of a lease becoming permanent after a hundred years.
No matter how long the lease, it would eventually have to be returned.
In other words, if the nobility invested heavily in developing Amellia, then in 120 years—when the lease expired—the region, which by then might even surpass the Gephra mainland economically, would have to be returned to its original owner.
All that time, energy, and wealth would ultimately benefit another country—an enemy of Gephra. It would be aiding the enemy.
Once the land was handed back, would the original country treat Gephran nobles and merchants kindly?
Of course not. They’d be lucky not to be arrested outright. At the very least, the nobles would be expelled.
This meant 120 years of effort would be wasted. Entire noble families investing everything would see it all handed over to someone else. Why would they be interested in answering the Emperor’s call to develop the province?
There had been talk that the Emperor never intended to return the territory—that during the next war, Gephra would seize the entire country and use it as a forward base for global conquest.