Lord of Industrialization

Frederick left Milan and visited the Duchy of Turin, the Duchy of Liguria, Florence and the Golden City. He arrived at the capital of the Kingdom of Sardinia, Diberi, in late August.

This road was later called the "Golden Coin Fountain Road". The Duchy of Turin obtained the vehicle industry, the Duchy of Liguria would build an ironworks by the sea, Florence was preparing to build a paper mill and a printing factory, and the Golden City, the original location of the national treasury, would become a hardware city.

Before leaving the Golden City, Frederick called Aleppo to ask: "Have the Venetians contacted Garlic?"

Aleppo said depressedly: "No."

They thought the Venetians would not ignore this spy and would definitely use her.

As a result, the Venetians did not make any moves along the way, and did not even take the initiative to contact Frederick.

Frederick said: "Then send her away."

He speculated that the Venetians should have judged that both sides had the chips that the other side needed, so they were not in a hurry.

Garlic was sent away. She thought Frederick had sent her to Weissenberg. She was very happy thinking that she was favored.

When she returned to the Kingdom of Sardinia, she was already an old lady. The diary she wrote in the north was compiled into "Grouse Forest Diary" by later generations, which became an important historical material for studying the history, climate, legends, daily life, folk music and Frederick's history in the northern region.

After arriving in Diberli, Frederick stayed in a palace outside the city.

Diberli is adjacent to the Holy City, the headquarters of the Church of Light. The king himself and the Grand Duke of Milan and others would fast and bathe in this palace before going to the Holy City to show their piety.

That said, when Frederick saw the luxurious bath, he knew that the people here knew how to have fun.

He rested in the palace for two days, and then went to Diberli to meet King Francesco.

This was not the first time the two met. Two years ago, when the Duchy of Franconia was in trouble, Frederick was in a hurry to go back and came to Diberli to borrow a griffin.

That time was tight and there was no chance to talk in depth.

In the living room, after the two exchanged pleasantries, Francesco got to the point: "I have a question, and I would like to ask you to solve it."

Frederick replied: "Your Majesty, please ask."

He thought it was about the railway, but Francesco asked: "What do you think of power?"

"I have studied you with many staff members, and I feel... Please allow me to describe it as weird."

"The political power of the Duchy of Wessen is concentrated in your hands and extends to the countryside. Others have no place to intervene."

"I can be sure that your government, where decrees are spread to every corner, is coveted by all kings in the world."

Frederick nodded. Under the current political system, decrees only reach vassals, and vassals of vassals are not their own vassals.

Francisco's decrees can be given to the Grand Duke of Milan, but he can be ignored.

There are some nobles in the Duchy of Wessen now, but they are like painting on a blank sheet of paper, with scattered fiefs, and the largest piece is only two connected villages, which is not a big deal at all.

So the kings of other countries can only envy, unless the country is reshuffled with blood.

Francisco continued, "But you don't seem to be obsessed with power. The various departments in the government have a high degree of autonomy and power."

"I could explain it with my young age before, but I can't explain it now."

"I think this is very dangerous. You are likely to be sidelined by the Supreme Council of Ministers."

Frederick was silent for a while. Someone had raised this question in private.

After organizing his words, he said, "The Supreme Council of Ministers sidelined the Grand Duke. This is one of the functions of my design of this government structure."

Francisco's eyes suddenly became sharp. No ruler has ever put shackles on himself.

If the person who said this was not Frederick, he would think that this person was forced.

Frederick further explained, "The government runs according to the will of the ruler, but I can't ensure that I am always right, let alone that my descendants are as smart as me."

"Of course, I am not alluding to His Majesty Rudolf and His Majesty the late King William. Please don't over-interpret it."

Francisco nodded thoughtfully. It was indeed the case.

There are too many cases in history. If the king is wise, the country will be strong, and if the king is weak, the country will be weak. If the weak king has capable ministers to assist him, the country can also be strong, but there are too few examples of complete trust between the king and the ministers, and many of them often end in tragedy for one of them.

Let alone the current Rhine Alliance, Frederick is also one of the ministers left by the previous king to Rudolf. Before having any ideas about the Rhine Alliance, you must consider what Grand Duke Wessen thinks.

The "North Sea War" currently happening in the north is like this. As soon as the army of the Duchy of Wessen arrived in Hanma City, the Kingdom of Sverie immediately announced that it was only targeting the Kingdom of Danma and had no intention of interfering with the Rhine Alliance.

Francisco does not think that Frederick and Rudolf can live in peace, and one of them will definitely leave in the future.

Frederick continued, "The biggest feature of the government structure I designed is that the power boundaries between the Grand Duke and the departments are clearly defined in the form of law."

"Power is a piece of cake, it is so big, instead of fighting for it, it is better to clearly divide the cake."

"I will completely divide the administration, law and army into three parts, which are independent and mutually restrained."

"The administrative departments are in charge of their own affairs and are not subordinate to each other. The command, personnel and logistics in the army are separated. The courts and procuratorates in the legal system are separated, and the legislative power will be stripped at the appropriate time."

"The departments are like scattered cables, twisted into a strand in my hands."

Francisco's body trembled, as if a new door had been opened.

The struggle between the royal power and local governments in the country has been going back and forth throughout history.

Many people use the method of dividing power, but the boundaries of power are vague, and it is common to change orders from day to night. There are many conflicts that are beyond control due to overlapping power.

If the power of the state is clearly divided in the form of law, it should be possible to reach an agreement with the local nobles and exchange interests at a clear price.

The Kingdom of Sardinia has a tradition of sharing power with local parliaments, and the political forces in the rich northern regions of the country are highly independent, so Francisco would think so, and the kings of other countries would only shake their heads.

Letting local nobles settle in the center of national power seems to dilute the royal power, but after the exchange of interests, the royal power can also sink.

The pros and cons are difficult to weigh for a while, and require in-depth thinking and countless wrangling.

Francisco carefully inquired about the power division of various departments of the government of the Duchy of Wessen, and Frederick gave a more detailed answer.

These are not secrets. Every year, a government department profile is published during the civil service examination so that candidates can sign up with a purpose.

This thing is not cheap, anyway, it's a matter of willingness.

After thinking for a while, Francesco proposed that the prince go to the Duchy of Wessen for inspection, and Frederick agreed.

The political situation of the Kingdom of Sardinia is very different from that of the Duchy of Wessen, so it is naturally impossible to copy it. It is mainly to refer to their ideas.

Next is the issue of the shipyard.

The Duchy of Liguria wanted Frederick to build a shipyard there, but Frederick declined and only agreed to build an iron smelting plant that relies on local and southern sea iron ore.

The impact of the shipyard is too great, so it is better to build it in the royal territory.

The place has also been chosen. Just more than 20 kilometers southwest of Dibaili City, there is a piece of land about 4 kilometers long from east to west and about 3 kilometers wide from north to south. This land is surrounded by the sea on the west and rivers on the other three sides.

From the perspective of economic benefits, this place is indeed not as good as the Duchy of Liguria, which is close to the wood production area, but from a political perspective, it is better to be closer to the king.

Francisco agreed and conferred the land on Frederick.

It's just that the place is easy to irrigate and is full of red eggplants, so it is called "Red Eggplant Island".

According to tradition, Frederick should be called the Red Eggplant Baron in the Kingdom of Sardinia.

Frederick doesn't want to say anything anymore. It's up to you. Now some people say that his red-bottomed yellow double-headed eagle emblem is the color of red eggplants, golden pumpkins and Elizabethan potatoes.

The conferment ceremony was very grand, and the plenipotentiary envoys of the Duchy of Milan, the Duchy of Turin, the Duchy of Liguria, Florence, the Golden City, the City of Venice and the Citrus Island all attended.

After the ceremony, a "Memorandum of Construction of the Weissenburg-Diberli Railway" was signed. Frederick's big pie was based on the opening of this railway, and all parties were willing to buy the bonds used to build the railway.

The plenipotentiary envoy of Venice could not sit still, but after returning to the palace, Frederick fasted and bathed with the help of the nuns sent from the Holy City. On Sunday, August 30, he went to the Holy City to attend the ceremony presided over by Pope Valentine himself, and prayed in the Cathedral of Light for five days.

During these days, Frederick's hands were a little tired from signing contracts for the sale of special bonds.

He knew that these fat sheep in divine robes had money, but he didn't expect them to be so rich, selling bonds worth nearly four million gold coins in total.

So far, the railway funds were not a problem, and a large sum of money was taken out of the hands of the priests. The affairs of the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Church of Light were considered to be completed.

The next thing to do was to check on the United Fruit Company.

Frederick sent a telegram to the United Fruit Company before leaving Weissenburg City, and he did not hide his whereabouts along the way. I believe they knew it a long time ago.