Chapter 139
MLombardy Construction’s office, run by Vilkay.
This year, among the 40-year-old family members, Lemavau Vilkay, a young family member, was talking to Clang Devon, who is usually close to him.
"Is that really that much?"
"She’s a genius."
Clang answered Lemavau’s question with a stern and serious face.
"Do you know how difficult things have been all along this process? But Lady Florentia is..."
"I’ve heard a lot about her being smart since she was young."
"She’s already beyond ’smart’. Don’t you know just from her thoughts on the delivery business?"
"I suppose so."
"But her real weapon is not a smart head."
"Then what?"
"What should I say? Eyes that can see the bigger picture other people can’t."
Clang cursed his poor expressiveness that he couldn’t explain properly
But Lemavau seemed to know what he meant.
"Those who don"t see the forest and only feel the trees in front of them, even those who follow them, are at a loss.
"Those who can’t see the forest and only traces the trees in front of them makes it difficult for those who follow her.”
"Yes! That’s what I mean! The whole time I was working with Lady Florentia, my body was exhausted, but my mind couldn’t be more comfortable!”
Clang slapped his knee and said.
"I asked why she was trying to persuade me without just using her direct authority to order. At that time, there was a word from Lady Florentia to me."
It was Clang with a dreamy face somewhere.
’I have a lot of ways to develop Lombardy, and I don’t want to attract a family who doesn’t want to succeed.’
Clang, who had been looking back on his memory, soon burst into laughter.
"Lady Florentia is a wonderful person!"
To be honest, Lemavau had a stomachache when he saw Clang laughing like a man without any worries in the world.
Some are having a hard time because of Viese. Someone.
Although he was an old friend, he didn’t want to see Clang at this moment.
That’s how much he hated Viese, who invoked his authority to Lombardy Construction.
Although he expected this to happen one day because his family was in charge of managing real estate.
"Whoa..."
Lemavau Vilkay finally let out a heavy sigh.
Then someone popped in the office door.
"I’ve got a lot of work to do now, do you have time to sit and fool around?"
It was Viese who was crumpling his face.
It wasn’t a good impression from the beginning, but it was even worse today.
The reason was obvious.
He’s sure Viese has a stomachache because of Florentia Lombardy successful plans.
"Here you are, Sir Viese."
Clang Devon quickly got up and greeted him, but Viese ignored him and deliberately slap his shoulders and said to Lemavau.
"There will be a meeting, so gather the executives."
It is less efficient to bother those who are working fine into meetings.
"...Yes, sir."
Lemavau Vilkay swallowed the words that were about to push his Adam’s apple and answered.
* * *
Perez, sitting next to the Emperor, waiting for the conference to start, suddenly remembered the conversation he had with Nosier today.
It happened before he came to the conference room.
"Raise the price of the Triva tree more."
"One more... The price was raised a while ago, so I don’t know if Angenas will follow."
Nosier said anxiously, but Perez shook his head.
The amount of money already spent to buy the tree bar is enormous.
But if they stop buying Triva trees here, they can’t do anything.
Without Triva woods, which is the most important foundation, construction will stop, and Angenas will lose astronomical money.
Empress Rabini, who recently hired Lombardy Construction, cannot stop here.
He was confident that this amount would follow.
Then Perez suddenly had a question.
"What about Pellet Corporation? How many Triva trees did they sell?"
There were three major sources of Triva trees in the Empire.
Firstly, the Ivan family, which has been exporting Triva trees steadily.
Second, Perez’s monak top.
And lastly, it was Pellet Corporation.
In terms of the supply of the Triva tree, Pellet Corporation had the largest amount of wood.
The Ivan family cut and delivered the Triva trees that were growing in their territory, so it took time to properly cut and dry the tree.
But on the other hand, Pellet Corporation was different.
They had already bought Triva trees for a long time, and they already had a significant amount of perfectly processed wood.
As if they knew this would happen, how much did the Pellet Corporation would sell it to Angenas, who hadn’t even sold Triva trees?
"The Pellet Corporation is... they haven’t started selling yet."
"...What?"
Perez’s eyes narrowed.
Strange and incoherent.
Angenas said they would buy wood piled up in a warehouse and consumed only the storage fee at once, at a very high price.
So they should be selling to Angenas in very small quantities, just like the Top of Monak.
It was a reasonable decision.
"Not at all?"
Perez asked as if to confirm.
"Yes, not at all. The warehouse door didn’t open."
Perez recalled the Clerivan he met at Tia’s birthday banquet last time.
A sharp-looking man who is the head and owner of Pellet Corporation.
As Lignite discovered, Clerivan was a hard-headed, quick-paced merchant.
He was born with a good sense of a merchant and succeeded in every business he touched.
And what those businesses had in common was bold investments and pulling out at the right time.
"That’s weird. Why would he do that?"
Are they still hugging the tree?
Is there any other purpose to achieve with the Triva tree?
Is it possible that Clerivan Pellet is not the final decision-maker?7
Perez shook his head when he got there.
The Pellet Corporation has been the company of Clerivan Pellet since it was first established.
There was no sign of massive investment from anyone.
"For now, raise the price and keep an eye on Pellet’s move. Report as soon as they start selling."
"Yes, I’ll do so."
That was the conversation he had this morning.
"Now let’s start the meeting."
In the voice of Emperor Jovanes, Perez folded his curiosity about Pellet and pushed aside.
Then the door of the conference room, which was closed, opened and two people walked in.
Drought skin, bright Platinum Blond hair, and colorful clothing caught the eye.
"Lord Luman...?"
"I think it’s Indyt Luman, the owner of the house, and his son."
"Eastern villagers attending a conference. It’s a big deal."
The appearance of the eastern loser, the Luman Lord, and his first son, Avinox Luman, caused small disturbances.
Avinox Luman has stayed in the Capital so far, but Indyt Luman, the householder, deserved it because it was almost six years ago that he last stepped into the Capital.
Of course, some of them were mixed up in disapproval.
"Sorry I’m late, Your Majesty. I’m late because I’m not familiar with the geography of the Palace."
"...Yes, I’m glad you’re not late. Find a seat and sit down."
At the Emperor’s words, the Luman Lord and his son sat in the empty front seat of the left side.
Coincidentally, it was the exact seat facing the right side of the North deputy Patriarch, Ivan was sitting.
The meeting started right away.
"The first issue is eastward subsidies."
As soon as the aristocrat in charge of hosting the conference spoke, people looked on the side of Lord Luman and the deputy patriarch Ivan.
"He’s here just in time, so let’s hear from him. What exactly is Lord Luman’s request?"
At Jovanes’s words, Indyt Luman stood up and spoke.
"Our Luman increased its trade with the outside world under the command of His Majesty the Emperor to embrace the culture of the Empire more actively. As the road to the East is rough, few Tops are going up, and the price of trade goods is twice as high as in other areas."
Indyt Luman’s voice was confident and calm.
"We want to follow your orders, but the burden on the East, including our Luman, is increasing, so we ask the Imperial Court to help us do so in the form of a subsidy."
He explained his disadvantage but was not overly emotional.
"Are there any differences?"
As soon as the Emperor’s words come, on the right, Duigi Angenas rose from his seat and spoke sharply.
"My conviction opposes this, Your Majesty. It’s unprecedented and it’s time to put an end to the many benefits the East has received."
And even before Duigi Angenas could sit down, a counterargument immediately erupted from the opposing camp.
"There’s no place in the West in terms of the benefits we’ve received. Don’t you think so?"
"What did you say, now!"
Duigi Angenas glares and puts a blood spot around his neck.
But the aristocrats on the left rose and snorted and laughed at Duigi.
In an atmosphere heated up, the Emperor asked Astana.
"What does the First Prince think?"
Astana gave the answer he had prepared, thinking it was time to come.
"I agree with Angenas. There are more areas in the Empire that need the help of the Imperial Family than the East, which has benefited from various benefits. I think the same goes for the ascent subsidy."
"Is there a place need more than the East?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Where is it?"
"Northern."
At Astana’s words, people in the right camp, including Angenas, nodded as if they had promised, while the left side snorted with a face saying, ’Of course.’
"What makes you think so?"
"The road to the Eastern part of Luman is difficult, so things are expensive. Therefore, it is the logic that subsidies are needed, but the fact that the trade route is rugged is not the same in the Northern part."
Astana, who answered that far, secretly sighed with relief.
Now that he has answered as planned, he’s done with what he has to do.
He was relaxed and felt like he was going to live a little.
Astana’s answer was sound and the nobles looked at him with fresh eyes.
"What does the Second Prince think?"
Jovanes asked Perez.
In an instant, the conference room became quiet.
Everyone listened to what Perez said.
What opinion will the Prince, who graduated early from the academy, make?
"I want to ask the First Prince before I express my opinion. I understand that the road to the North was repaired two years ago due to massive construction and a trade route around the mountainous region was created. What do you think that the North needs subsidies?"
"Uh, it’s... I mean..."1
Astana couldn’t answer and long-winded.
He didn’t know anything, so he had nothing to say.
Then Duigi Angenas stepped in and replied instead.
"Two years ago, the construction was just maintenance of the boulevard, and the trade routes are still tough. So Your Highness Second Prince, do you think the East should continue to benefit from the same subsidy?"
"I think so."
Perez answered calmly, looking at the Indyt Luman.
At that moment all the nobles in the conference room could tell.
East Luman stands on the side of the Second Prince.
Perez asked the crowd.
"Have any of you recently been to the East?"
No one raised their hands.
It was because the road from the center to the east was long and difficult.
"I went to the academy and traveled all over the Empire on vacation. And I could experience many things and feel them with my skin. One of them is the high price of trade goods in the East."
"Oh..."
Some aristocrats looked at Perez as if they were touched at Perez’s remarks that he had been to the East in person.
"Currently, there are only two Tops regularly going up to the Luman estate, the central region of the East, that was the Lombardy Top and the Pellet Top."
"Only two?"
"It’s worse than I thought."
"No wonder the trade is so expensive."
Perez said after giving the aristocrats enough time to make a fuss.
“Other Tops just entrust their products to the two Tops and go up irregularly. Therefore, depending on the time and season, the price of the traded goods soared to the sky, and the Lords of the East bought them directly to compensate for the damage.”
People looked at Indyt Luman sitting with a calm face.
Because in their view it was a huge sacrifice, as they hate to open their own pockets rather than dying.
"Lord Luman and the other Lords of the East have risked a great deal of damage to accept your orders. But if you turn a blind eye to them and continue to force them to accept the culture of the Empire, it would be contrary to the Emperor’s will to seek unity between the East and the Central."
At the end of Perez’s words, aristocrats from both camps chatted.
It was not meaningless verbal wrangling common in competitions, but a scene of proper discussion.
Emperor Jovanes raised one hand while watching the scene.
The crowd quickly became silent.
"I will set the East’s ascent subsidy to 10 years, and the detailed amount will be determined by looking at the reports of officials. Let’s move on to the next agenda."2
The most important agenda that would take place come to an end so quickly.
The bewildered nobles groaned, but the Emperor said he would subsidize the Imperial money, and no servant could stop it.
"Hmm?..."
Deputy Patriarch Ivan, who had lost his subsidy to the East without having any controversy, could not hide his discomfort all over his face.
The competition that followed was no different.
However, only Perez distinguished himself in politics by presenting accurate analysis and new perspectives on each agenda.
After the conference.
The nobles who were present had not yet left the conference and were gathering here and there to talk.
It was the same with the Emperor and the Second Prince.
"Great, Second Prince. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a great conference."
"I’m flattered, Your Majesty."
Every word Perez said reminded him of the nobles nodding their heads, and Emperor Jovanes grinned.
He was in a good mood and had a drink and said to Perez.
"Thanks to the Second Prince, the conference will be very spectacular..."
Blow.
The door to the conference room opened, and one of the Emperor’s aides ran halfway in.
In his hand was a red piece of paper that appeared to have been delivered from North.
All the nobles who were talking looked over there.
"What is it?"
Sensing that it was unusual, Jovanes asked hastily.
"Just in the North... We have an emergency letter from the North."
The aide said in a trembling voice.
"This is news of an unprecedented large-scale landslide in the north, Your Majesty."
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