Seeking profit

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Friedrich Wilhelm POV

Two moons have passed since I ordered the change of production method, and we have had an excellent acceptance from the small folks, they are delighted to have the security of a payment every moon.

The initial phases of the irrigation canals have begun, the canals are dug, just need to get the cement and make the protective layer and the canals will irrigate all the fields, leaving me free to get on with the construction of other types of infrastructure which lacks the reach

on the other hand, two new mines have been opened in my territories thanks to miners brought in from the western lands, a phosphate mine that currently produces enough fertilizer to sustain intensive farming operations, orders have already been issued to hire even more miners, as this phosphate deposit will be the only form of mass fertilizer I can use besides animal waste, near ashford a vein of iron was found large enough for mining operations to have economic viability in the future with this one being able to reduce a little our dependence on iron from other paramount lords in the seven kingdoms, but we must keep looking for more veins because soon when the first parts of agricultural expansion are over many hands will be out of work and mining could be a good way to replace the work of the peasants.

The city in which we have worked so hard does not stop growing every day new merchants arrive from all over the world, even merchants from essos have begun to arrive to try to buy our liquors and perfumes that are so sought after in the capital, but what helps the growth of the city is the enormous amount of raw material that is imported every day to continue the expansion, all the merchants are eager to bring construction materials that will be bought at good prices and therefore large groups of population arrives from the countryside seeking a better life in the city.

Coincidentally, those people live outside the walls, since very few can afford a house inside the walls, even if they are small apartments, the houses that are destined to be given away are for the soldiers and no one else, the problem with the growing ghetto outside the city should be solved with the creation of small villages in the area.

Today would be quite an important day, our first galleon had been finished, after 5 moons having 4000 ship builders working constantly to reduce the average time from 2 years to 5 moons, the monstrosity of a ship that will be very important for the merchant fleet was finished, sixty-four meters long, fifteen meters wide armed with 20 light scorpions per side, with a cargo capacity of 1500 tons, with this ship as general use for maritime trade I could manage to become the largest importer of spice in the seven kingdoms

Best of all the parts are standardized, it is only a matter of time before this type of ship becomes the general rule for long distance trade, it needs a crew of three hundred and fifty sailors with another 100 marines to ensure its protection from anyone who wishes to challenge the new king of the sea.

On the other hand, the assembly of war galleys equipped with siphons and pumping systems to throw Greek fire has already begun, most of the naval fights are with galleys where they use combat techniques with projectiles to then get to the boarding or to break the ship in half by ramming them, no one seems to have conceived the idea of using the Wildfire for something similar because of how difficult it is to store, but the Greek fire is stable, stored correctly the components do not react and only when it is necessary to use it the reagents are heated and the reaction of a fire that cannot be extinguished by conventional means is generated, it will take them a long time to conceive that a way to avoid that the Greek fire spreads is with vinegar, urine or using untanned animal skins.

Finally, I was preparing a message to negotiate with Lord Tarly an agreement for the extraction of his phosphate to see where would be the common place where the subject in question would be negotiated.

Finishing the letter, I handed it to a messenger and prepared to go to the city to see how the new galleon sailed the seas

''My king, are you ready? To see the new ship'', Charles asked me with a smile

''yes the first of many with a fleet of 30 of these galleons we will be able to bring anything by sea in large quantities'' I said seriously.

Quickly, I was joined by my bodyguards as we traveled through the city and the typical group of merchants that follow me around joined me with the intention that I would make them one of my personal merchants and grant them ships and gold for their operations.

Finally, after 25 minutes, we arrived at the arsenal and the galleon could be seen finished and ready to be released into the sea.

There was no ceremony for its deployment, I just wanted all the merchants to see the new ships and all the shells of the future galleons, with which I would initiate a constant trade with the summer islands.

After being launched into the sea, I boarded the galleon, and we headed for an area with infrequent passage of ships near the shield islands, where we would test the new war galleys with its pumping systems and Greek fire launchers.

the test would be conducted against a war galley in common use in the seven kingdoms.

From my privileged position I could observe how the sailors were wearing heavy leather suits to avoid getting burned by the fire, after 5 minutes they managed to preheat the mixture, and it was ready for the test.

The Greek fire started to be launched and for obvious reasons the ship caught fire extremely fast, and we could observe how some of the fire was still burning even in the water, poor the sailors who think that the fire will be extinguished with water, this substance burns even under water.

''a success isn't it your majesty'' said Charles ''yes, but we have to train the crew of these galleys more, the last thing I want is that due to lack of experience the mixture explodes, and we have a fireball that doesn't distinguish friend and foe'' I said with a serious tone

''we don't have much control over the training of the sailors, almost all of them are local, as you know your predecessors didn't invest in the fleet for obvious reasons, having the whole coast of the Baltic Sea under allies'' protection, there was no reason to have sailors experienced in the use of military vessels'' Charles said in a distressed voice

''we have to generate facilities where they can practice and keep the Greek fire alchemists quite secret, I don't want to have to face at sea someone with the same tactic'' I said watching the war galley turn to ashes.

''we must go back to the astrologers, it is past the time they asked me to have some charts about the stars in the seven kingdoms, this is very important, for the future captains'' I said ending the conversation.

After 30 minutes, we returned to the port and headed to one of the astrology towers that had been built on the outskirts of the city.

Entering the tower, we were greeted by many men with noticeable dark circles under their eyes.

''my king it is a pleasure to see you again, to what do we owe your majestic presence'' said the astrologer

''I was promised something and I have come to claim it'' I said with a serious tone.

''yes...yes...yes some new prutenic tables are ready, come with me'' said the astronomer as he guided me to a room.

''Here you go my king, we have worked tirelessly to give you the best version of the star map, in the right hands this information is worth its weight in gold'' said the astronomer while scratching his hands.

''is this information so important?'' asked Charles doubtfully ''of course it is'' said the astronomer and I at the same time.

''with these Prussian tables we can navigate at night guided by the stars and a compass, this will accelerate incredibly the trade, since it is very common that merchants must slow down the speed they navigate at night or even stop completely to avoid hitting the rocks, even its military value is incredible, being able to transport supplies or troops faster without the common problems of lack of direction'' I said pointing out the utilities of the Prussian tables.

''that's why this must be kept as secret as the Greek fire, it must be given to only trusted captains, and teach them to burn them, if they see they are going to lose the ship this can't fall into anyone's hands, imagine the Iron born with this information they could make night raids with complete safety of escape''I said looking at Charles.

1 week later

''Friedrich, I hope you come with good news about the training of the recruits, since you delivered a position in the high command and a knight title to motivate the recruits'' I said looking with a smile at my officer.

''yes my king, the idea I had told you about giving titles to motivate the recruits have served better than we thought, we have many competent men waiting for a chance to rise in the military ranks, besides we sold the idea that everyone can become an officer by putting in charge a talented peasant, Luthor is his name, recommended by his instructors'' said Friedrich handing me a report

''so 30000 recruits, this is more than I asked for'' I said looking at my officer in the eyes ''my king we had a very good base, the peasants of the reach are in good physical shape, they could resist the training, we can't turn them away, it's never too much to have more tercios ready and operational for campaigns'' Friedrich said nervously

''it's ok calm down, I'm not going to punish you, it never hurts to have more soldiers, we made many retire, so it's good to know that the people of the reach are in good physical shape and tell me how did it go with the garrisons?

''my king the garrisons filled their quotas 20000 guards as you requested and are already replacing many Prussian garrisons, but we have requests from some cantons about being able to increase the number of recruits, some cantons barely manage to place the minimum number of guards in the strategic places'' said Friedrich with a serious tone.

''mhh these idiots only know how to spend and spend, well, as usual, it will be my turn to look for funds to make the garrisons permanent, how many do you need to have an idea of the expenses'' I said while covering my face with my hands.

''I didn't know we were so bad with the funds my king, they need another, 14000 guards to secure all the reach here you have the cantons that are requesting it'' he said as he hands me another report

''we are not bad, we have gold to keep spending for another 4 years, but I don't like to be continuously working with red numbers, we were pretty close to move to positive numbers, but with the new expenses now, I will have to look for more ways to sustain our expenses, now more than ever I need the galleons to be ready, since by the mere growth of trade taxes it will not be enough'' I said while looking at my accounting books.

''all right von Roon consider the budgets approved, but avoid recruiting more because I want to stabilize our expenses with our earnings, first, do you know officers who have some naval experience?'', I said in a questioning tone.

''yes, I believe that one of the field masters served with the Danes during the Great Religious War on your father's orders, I will go and see if the information I have is correct'' said Friedrich as he left my office.

Left alone, I continued to work, only to be interrupted again.

''My King Lord Tarly has sent a messenger that he is about to arrive'' said a Teutonic knight.

''Send a company to receive him and guide him, I want him to get a good impression of my administration'' I said as I stood up to receive my guest.