Chapter 313 Secret Agent

Any pioneer will be looked at with strange eyes.

There are even many malicious people who will do something for various reasons.

Count Andre is just a court earl, and his royal status can't bring him much help.

When he set up a factory on the coast of the Griffin Kingdom, he was destined to be hostile.

When the first batch of mechanically woven yarn came off the production line, this hostility began to boil.

The advancement of steam machinery is beyond doubt, and the machines brought back by Count Andre can generate great economic benefits.

This is destined by the productivity revolution, and it will naturally touch the interests of the old nobles.

The factory needs a large number of workers, and the products produced will also squeeze the market.

Obviously, Count Andre's products have no competitiveness abroad, but they are killing all over the country.

If he continues like this, he may be able to rise all the way and write a business legend.

But the reality is not a storybook novel. When the business competition fails, others will not honestly abide by the so-called business ethics.

Rules are things that are beneficial to me. Otherwise, they are just a piece of waste paper.

The king couldn't stand the pressure, and he only needed to replace one person in charge, and nothing else changed.

The factory could still generate profits, but the expansion needed to take into account the interests of the nobles.

So with a piece of paper, Count Andre, who had been on the rise recently, was dismissed from his post.

Except for some industries under his own name, he almost lost all power.

The world soon let him know what snobbery was. The day before, there were many guests, but now there were so few beggars in front of the door.

Day after day, the nobles could allow the factory to exist, provided that it was under their control.

Andre, a guy who pursues innovation, is undoubtedly a thorn in their eyes.

Of course, his industry will be viciously suppressed.

In a closed market, your products cannot be sold just because they are of good quality and low price.

In this dilemma, Andre was even discouraged.

It was at this time that someone came to visit quietly.

Andre received the guest who visited him in the study.

The other party came to him through some business relationships, which is not surprising. During the few months when he was in power, he had contact with many foreign businessmen.

Andre thought that the other party didn't know his situation yet. In the era when information was not well developed, this was normal.

"Sorry, Mr. Peter, you should have seen my current situation. I'm afraid I can't help you."

Mr. Peter looked about 30 years old, dressed very low-key, and looked like a small businessman.

Facing Andre, the former celebrity, he smiled and said, "No, Count, we have all seen your ability, but the corrupt nobles maliciously suppressed you, but I think I can provide you with a little help."

Andre's eyes became sharp. After all, he was a powerful character. These few months of wasting did not make him lose his sharpness.

"Who are you? A spy from the Northern Principality or which kingdom?"

"Don't be hostile to us. I was introduced by your old friend, President Delong. I believe you know him. We just want to help any individual or group that supports academic progress without any political purpose." Mr. Peter said.

Of course, these are all nonsense, just high-sounding excuses.

Andre sneered, but he resisted the urge to turn against the king. After being abandoned by the king, his loyalty had been wasted.

Seeing that Andre did not move, Peter continued: "We can provide you with some machinery and technical support, and we can also purchase the goods produced by your factory. All we ask for is a little bit... to promote academic progress, I believe you should be able to do it."

Andre did not believe it. The so-called promotion of academic progress sounded too fake.

The nobles are very proficient in similar means.

It's nothing more than finding a condition that you can easily agree to, but once you get on the boat, it's not so easy to get off.

Step by step, you fall into it, and there are means to achieve it.

If it were half a year ago, he would definitely arrest Peter without hesitation and hand him over to the king for trial.

But now...Andre fell into a long silence.

"Haha...I didn't expect that I still have value. I promised you to promote academic progress, right...I hope you will do what you say."

Andre raised his head. He still had feelings for this country, but he was no longer loyal to the king.

No matter what these people want to do, break this rotten shackle first, at worst you will be buried with them.

"A wise choice, Count." Mr. Peter stood up and smiled very happily.

………

Beep beep!!!

The whistle of the steamship is very unique, and half of the Degen Port can hear the continuous whistle.

An ironclad ship sailed into the port. It did not stay in the military port, but borrowed the commercial berth here.

The big words "Empire" were particularly dazzling in the sun.

Some scars on the hull show that it has experienced countless battles, which is a symbol of glory.

It has been almost two years since it was launched, and this first-generation ironclad ship has quickly gone to the grave of elimination.

Frequent battles have made it spend half of its time in the dock for repairs.

Even if the engineers tried their best, the speed of the battleship began to decline, and the entire hull structure was affected.

However, as a price, the white-skinned warships sank one by one.

From the initial frontier position to the current unbreakable fortress, the Empire has made great contributions to Gem Harbor.

Lawrence stood on the deck. There were some large cargo ships on the berths around him, which were even larger than the warships under his feet.

Because the military berths were filled with the ironclad ships that had recently returned, he, the last commander to arrive, could only dock at the commercial berths.

The merchant ship next to him was unloading, and the mechanical crane grabbed the container and moved it easily.

Looking at the mark on the container, Lawrence recalled.

"This is the emblem of the Griffin Kingdom. Are their goods exported to the mainland?"

As we all know, the Northern Principality is the largest dumper of goods. Where are there foreign goods dumped in reverse?

His subordinates did not understand this either, and could only guess: "Maybe some primary processed materials?"

After thinking about it, this reason was more reliable.

Lawrence quickly put this question behind him.

The winter of the fourth year of the Principality has arrived. The new 4,000-class warship in the military shipyard has been launched for sea trials. According to the previous plan, it is assigned to the colonial fleet.

However, this warship is the five-year budget of the Principality. In addition, there is an annual budget of one million gold coins and up to seven warships of various levels.

But there is only this one main battleship.