Noblesse oblige II

There will be 2 more chapters, and we will start with lothar's chapters, I warn before that they will be very bloody, and I will do my best to make them extremely realistic.

The other thing, you want me to continue with intercalated chapters, or I will do all the lothar chapters in a row.

I leave open the possibility of an additional chapter 8 comments in THIS paragraph or 8 reviews (cumulative).

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Friedrich von Roon

Returning to my duties, looking at my new watch, I remembered that at 13:00 hours the city guards deploy their men for the second shift of the day and quickly went to see if the guards of the city complied with the times established by the king.

Arriving at the barracks, it was 12:54, and I waited a few minutes until I heard how several dozen boots began to sound at the same time while a large contingent of men began to disperse in the city and another group of men returned from their shift.

I love that feeling of everything being on time, 13:00 the exact time the guard was supposed to go out on patrol for their second round, this watch is wonderful.

Realizing the time I decided to go to eat, but I don't want to go to the fortress to eat, I hate that food made by doctors to prevent the king from getting sick, and I think it is one of the reasons why he sometimes tries to leave the fortress and go outside sometimes.

So, I decided to go where I know where I would be treated like a king without being a king, I went to the stahlhelm organization where the Prussian veterans met to drink, eat and talk about old battles.

I can say with confidence that the king has invested a lot of gold in creating facilities worthy of respect for his veterans and soldiers, where everything is paid for by the king's pocket.

The intention is to maintain extremely close ties of friendship and brotherhood among all Prussians, and it has worked if a Prussian wishes to find work or seek help for his business to emerge he only has to come here because here we are all family, and they will do everything possible to make your business work.

Achieving the king's dream that the Prussians are the wealthiest culture of the seven kingdoms because mostly the veterans have dedicated themselves to be successful craftsmen and some dedicated themselves to trade with ships given by the king and only a few still work as guards and soldiers, we could say something very similar to the iron born pirates, we don't sow, we have the gold for someone else to do it.

Entering the massive building, I am met with a good atmosphere of laughter and celebration from my battle brothers

After releasing my bodyguard, I went to find a seat to eat and watch the duel in the center, a sword fight at the first strike with blunt swords.

But I was stopped by one of my former subordinates.

''Where are you in such a hurry Captain General Friedrich, perhaps you don't remember your friends anymore'' said Klaus, the biggest perfume trade magnate in the city.

''KLAUS, I didn't recognize you, you're a bit fat'' I said looking at the man who had a belly showing out of his clothes.

''HAHAHAHAHA'' laughed everyone at the table.

''ha, ha, ha, ha, yes I'm a little fat I've gotten used to the good life, but I can still fight'' said klaus while slapping his belly.

Looking around at his companions, they were many of the richest men in town, and I decided to take a seat with them.

''Tell me how life has been treating you'' I said as I caught the eye of a waitress.

''Very well, commerce is booming and demand is increasing'' one of the men replied.

''the same here, the glassware is in excess demand in the seven kingdoms to adorn their false gods'' added another.

''tell us Friedrich, how did you make it my friend, you are the youngest man to ever take the rank of captain general when we met, you were just a boy trying to fill his father's shoes, and now you are the highest authority in the army after the king'' said klaus as he poured me a glass of ale

''ability, the king loves to be surrounded by competent people, if you show ability, courage, leadership you will soon be by his side making decisions with him, that's why I respect him so much unlike his father, he prefers ability over noble titles'' I said smiling.

''what will you have, my lord'' said a waitress.

''The dish of the day, please'' I said kindly.

I was tapped on the shoulder as the waitress left us.

''tell us Friedrich who is the lucky one, as far as I know, you are not married yet'' said Klaus with a mischievous laugh

''as you understand the nobility obliges me not to marry a commoner and my marriage could be in the interests of the state; therefore I leave it up to the king to decide who I should marry, so he can use me as his chess piece in the great game of politics'' I said puffing out my chest.

''ha, ha, ha, ha stop showing off your title Friedrich here it doesn't matter we are all brothers'' said another of the magnates

''is there anything we can know about the secrets of the state'' said Klaus, raising his eyebrows

''nothing you can get out of me without torture hahaha'' I said laughing.

Everyone laughed

''the king is planning a trading expedition and is looking for investors'' I said with a serious tone.

''what is the king planning to bring'' said Klaus with a serious tone.

''spices, as your businessmen will understand, something very lucrative'' I said with a smile.

''no doubt that if this venture is successful, we will be much richer than we are now, but what about the guarantees of success?'' said the furniture merchant.

''You need more guarantee than the good name of the king in Prussia?, I must remind you that your economic well-being is due to him,'' I said as I clasped my hands together.

The men remained thoughtful and began to make numbers in small books they had kept in their pockets

minutes passed, and the waitress brought me a generous plate of steak with mashed potatoes and scrambled eggs and a nice jug of beer.

I began to eat until Klaus closed his book and looked me in the eye.

''well Friedrich I'm going to invest'' said Klaus in a serious tone.

''great and how much are you going to participate'' I said while I wiped my mouth with a handkerchief

''1 million three hundred thousand golden dragons'' said klaus with confidence.

''come on I know you can do more you are the biggest perfume salesman in the kingdom'' I said laughing a bit

''I can't put everything I have into a venture without the assurance of success, this is all I can offer''

I simply nodded and looked at the other men around me.

''I will put in 1 million golden dragons'' said the crystal magnate.

''I'll go 700 000 golden dragons'' said the jeweler.

''I can only afford about 300,000 golden dragons'' said the furniture merchant.

3 million three hundred thousand golden dragons, not bad, the king will be pleased.

''well drop the straight face and let's go back to talking like brothers'' I said smiling.

We clinked our beer mugs and drank and ate for about 25 minutes.

''sorry to have to ruin the meeting, but it's going to be 2 pm and I have to get on with my duties'' I said looking at my watch

''what the fuck is that Friedrich?'', said klaus a bit drunk

''oh this? It's a new model of watch that can fall in my pocket allowing me to know exactly the time as if you were looking at the clock tower'' I said showing him the watch.

The magnates jaw almost dropped so wide they opened them

''Really, may I?'' said the crystal magnate as he stretched out his hand.

''Sure, take it'' I said, passing it to him very carefully.

''MEIN GOTT, it's true it's a pocket watch'' said the crystal magnate.

''where did you get it Friedrich'' said Klaus who suddenly sobered up.

''it's an engineer who was promised by the king this, new version of the watch'' I said, lifting my shoulders and trying to get the watch back.

''where is this engineer and how much does it cost?'', said the jeweler with a serious tone

''the market area by the jewelers street at the end is a new store a bit dirty, but the man knows what he is doing at least he sold them to me for 15 golden dragons a piece'' I said while scratching my head

''Thanks for the tip'' said Klaus.

At that moment, they left me alone and ran to get out.

''FAREWELL BASTARDS'' I said, shouting as the magnates left the building.

Damn wolves just smelled gold and left me alone, well, what can I complain about I was already retiring from the reunion

I got up and stretched at the end I didn't see many duels, but it's interesting how many retired soldiers still train to stay in shape.

I called my bodyguards and the 6 knights began to shelter me from all sides and I started my journey to the steel industry.

Arriving where almost all the steel consumed in the reach is produced, there was not much to supervise, everything worked like a perfectly oiled machine, showing that here the king personally intervened to guarantee a constant production of quality steel.

Checking the logistics books confirmed the creation of 123 new gothic armors to be sold to lord Tarly, the production has not increased or decreased, you cannot speed up the creation of the work of art that a gothic armor, custom-made to the wearer or well hundreds of parts that are made manually and then adjusted to make it look like it was made to order

confirming also the new shipments of iron from one of the new iron mines in the north, which is good, as this iron is 8% of the amount we use in the week, which means we are 8% closer to the autarky of raw materials needed for the war, we should find more iron mines if possible we have found many veins but none big enough to make a large mining operation feasible

everything in order, I just need to check a complex built on the outskirts of the city and all this long day will be over.

I left the city and headed north almost 2 hours on horseback to the area closest to the shield islands what we have here been a new industry that the king felt would be very beneficial to the royal treasury

a place to separate the salt from the seawater has been finished for almost 1 moon, but we gave it time to work at full capacity and see how much creation capacity this facility has.

The king is determined to fill the necessities' industry, since it is a market that will never end, everyone needs grain, meat and salt to live, and the reach will be the maximum supplier of everything and if it is possible, it will break all our competition.

Arriving at the complex, you could see how the men were working on pools created to store the seawater and hundreds of meters of canals that allow the water to reach the pools.

Quickly, I was greeted by the man in charge of the facility, who was very nervous about my arrival.

''my lord it is a pleasure to see you, what brings you to this area'' said the man nervously.

''I come to check the results of the salt production, I hope we can already determine how much is the production of this huge complex, the king invested a lot in this, and we expect a good return'' I said answering to the man in charge.

''yes my lord we are working at full capacity every 15 days we finish the work of the pools'' he said while he showed me the field full of pools.

''explain to me the process, I am all ears'' I said with a serene tone.

''well, sir follow me, it all starts here the seawater enters through the canals to the pools where we let them rest for 10 days until the water by evaporation separates the salt from the heavier metals that the seawater has left the water with higher salt concentration at the top and at the bottom the water with heavy metals that is discarded, then using a hand pump we remove the water that has a higher salt concentration and return to the sea the water from the bottom with the metals'' said the engineer while taking me to another pool

''then we get here the saline water is left in this pool where it is left to settle for 3 days and then swept with a brush, which leads to the formation of salt crystals which are then left to settle out of the pool leaving us a clean and pure salt that you can consume at home, then we use a press to grind the larger grains to give uniformity to the product, this process being cyclical, so we can produce constantly without stopping work any day'' said the man smiling

''well, everything seems to be under control, how much salt do you produce per month?'', I said asking

''we are at full capacity and in the time we have been working we have produced almost 120 tons, I hope this meets your expectations'' said the man putting his head inside his shoulders.

''So much?, the king expected a production of 80 tons per month'' I said, surprised.

The man listening to my words calmed down quite a bit.

''well, we have worked very hard, I am pleased to know that we met the king's expectations'' said the man very happy.

''yes now we will have to find buyers, but it will not be difficult, salt is necessary for everyone, so it is likely that we will expand this salt production complex keep up the good work and your name will reach the king's ears'' I said looking at the man

''yes my lord I will do my duty as according to the king's expectations'' said the engineer as he retired to work.

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