King
Chapter 734 - 734 28 Berkshire Shipyard_3

734: Chapter 28, Berkshire Shipyard_3 734: Chapter 28, Berkshire Shipyard_3 The issue of the repayment tax can be managed for a few years by selling the spoils of war.

With the buffer of a few years, the Koslow Family will stand steady, and it would become more difficult to make them leave.

“Sir, no matter how thrifty the Koslow Family might be, there are certain essential expenses that can’t be avoided.

You seem to forget, their relatives are all over the province.

Among so many relatives, there will always be a few who can’t bear the burden.

They can ignore the neutral nobles, but they can’t avoid caring for their supportive friends and family, can they?

The risk is too high to take direct action against the Koslow Family, but setting traps for these lesser nobles would be much simpler.”

After saying that, both men shared a smile.

Lesser nobles have a low risk resistance to begin with.

If someone deliberately sets traps, they’re bound to run into trouble.

To deal with these minor characters, the Dalton Family doesn’t even need to take direct action.

A simple hint within the rules can cause heavy losses for them.

In the past, they didn’t do this because they had enough advantage, and there was no need to stoop so low.

Plus, with Caesar III watching over everything, they had to be careful not to give the king any ammunition against them.

The gravely ill king’s deterrent force has significantly decreased, so now they can start using some techniques that they didn’t dare to use before.

…

“Your Highness the Crown Prince, I have made a big loss in this deal, you must sell me a few senior craftsmen as compensation!”

Even if Hudson knew that the repayment tax couldn’t be avoided under the circumstances of the Alpha Kingdom not violating the agreement, it didn’t stop him from complaining.

No matter what, the additional repayment tax was the result of serving for the royal family.

If it hadn’t been for this uproar, Earl Piers wouldn’t have volunteered to take responsibility, and the Southeastern Province wouldn’t need to undertake the extra obligations.

Even if they still couldn’t get out of the repayment tax, when it was apportioned to the Koslow family, they would still be able to give a few thousand gold coins less per year.

No big deal if it’s for one or two years, the problem is that this is ongoing, until the debt is fully repaid.

“Don’t worry, your Excellency the Earl, the royal family will certainly fulfil their promise.

Skilled shipbuilders from the shipyard will not be assigned elsewhere.

They will definitely make you satisfied!” Crown Prince Caesar said with a smile.

However, the hint of disdain concealed in his eyes betrayed his inner contempt for Hudson.

He was exasperated with Hudson’s demand about a few craftsmen.

It was a petty mindset that he found distasteful.

You have a shipyard and sailors, so you want to participate in maritime trade?

This is purely a pipe dream!

In the eyes of Crown Prince Caesar, shipbuilding was very simple.

The difficult part was inscribing the ships with a defense magic array.

Without those, if they encountered a magical beast at sea, they face immediate calamity.

The mage team of the Koslow family clearly lacked the strength to inscribe high-level magic formations on the ships, so they would inevitably ask for help from the Magic Association.

Getting ripped off by them was one thing.

The people of the Mage Association were quite cunning and wouldn’t inscribe a high-level defense magic array unless they gave out valuable magical materials.

The stage was all set.

Crown Prince Caesar was ready.

He was just waiting for Hudson to be rejected everywhere and ask the royal family for help, and then he would seize the opportunity to take in a new subordinate.

“Thank you for your care, Your Highness!

I just want to ask which shipyard the royal family is selling, and how much is the price?”

It’s not that Hudson was anxious, it’s just that they now are on the seller’s market.

To be called a large shipyard, it should be able to build large commercial ships, and also has the capacity to produce warships.

Normally, such a shipyard was not for sale.

Even if someone was willing to sell it, even at the cost of falling into a trap, Hudson would have to jump in anyway.

Who expected the shipbuilding technology of the Mountain Domain to be just a little more advanced than that of a canoe?

Making three-plank boats would definitely not be a problem.

If they tried hard, they could even make a five-plank boat.

As for ocean-going merchant ships and warships, perhaps they might be able to figure it out in a hundred years.

“Haha…”

“Since Your Excellency the Earl is one of us, I won’t set an exorbitant price then.

The shipyard that the royal family is selling is located in the Southeastern Province, which is convenient for your relocation.

As for the name, I guess Your Excellency the Earl should have heard about it.

It used to be responsible for the navy’s logistics, but you should know the later story better than me.

The price of the shipyard is 800,000 gold coins.

The 1,700 workers and craftsmen of the shipyard and 300 sailors, along with their 6,800 family members, are included as a gift.”

Upon hearing Crown Prince Caesar’s price, Hudson very much wanted to say: I just want the gift.

Unfortunately, that was impossible.

If he really did that, he would have no friends.

After some hesitation, he still didn’t bargain.

In Hudson’s eyes, this price was already very reasonable, even considered generous.

The shipyard that Crown Prince Caesar referred to was the famous Berkshine Shipyard in the Southeastern Province.

During its peak period, it was one of the three major shipyards in the kingdom.

But as the kingdom’s strategic focus shifted to the continent, the importance of coastal defense continued to decrease.

When the navy’s orders dried up, it had to turn to the civilian market.

However, in recent decades, the Dalton Family’s maritime business has progressed leaps and bounds, gradually monopolizing most of the overseas trade in the Southeastern Province, and they even come up with their own shipyard.

Losing a large number of orders, Berkshine Shipyard began declining day by day.

If it wasn’t for the deterrent of the royal family’s power, it would have been bankrupt by the Dalton Family long ago.

By surviving on miscellaneous orders, Berkshine Shipyard’s performance was very touching.

From the peak period’s annual profit of a hundred thousand gold coins, it sharply decreased to twenty thousand gold coins per year now.

In the struggling years, there’s even a loss.

Continuing with this trend, it was only a matter of time before the Berkshine Shipyard went bankrupt.

Selling it to Hudson at this critical moment was not only considered a political deal, but also due to the fear of the upcoming royal transition period.

The new king might fail to intimidate the local nobles and decide to dispose of risky assets in advance.

“Let’s do it your way, Your Highness!

However, this deal involves a huge amount of money, I can’t raise that much in such a short time.

I wonder if the royal family would accept material objects to offset the price?”

Since he decided to put on a show, he must play the full part.

He just released a signal that he lacks money one moment ago, and then he would purchase the shipyard generously?

Everyone would know something is up.

At this critical moment, Hudson didn’t want to act rashly.

Let the Dalton Family think there’s a financial problem in the Mountain Domain, that’s fine.

He didn’t want them to stir things up in the background and disrupt this deal.

“Rest assured, Your Excellency the Earl, the royal family has always been reasonable.

We’ve always taken good care of our own people.

If you do have financial difficulties, you naturally can offset the payment with tangible goods.

But the items you offset with must be something we need!”

…