Nobody could refuse Maria's olive branch. The former chief constable Tomas, the former treasurer, and Borkal's father, Rubire, all agreed to pledge their assets for the shares.
However, the incident with the trading fleet had cost them a lot of money, so they could only reluctantly claim a hundred percent or two percent of the shares. Rubire was a big merchant in Whitestag, yet he could only claim five shares, which was the largest of the lot.
However, that was within Claude's expectations. Nobody was having a good time.
Not only did the trading fleet cause his father's friends to lose money, their words didn't have much effect in Whitestag anymore.
Losing their jobs was one thing, but more importantly, Baron Robert was the one who had the final say in the town hall. His words held enormous weight in the town hall.
On top of that, the newly formed Garrison Brigade, the Fourth Platoon, had become his minions. With the support of Sir Fux, Mayor Robert announced a new tax plan at the beginning of April, adding two new taxes. One was the market management fee, and the other was the town's security fee. The reason for this was to cover the daily expenses of the Garrison Brigade.
The two taxes were targeted at all the merchants in Whitestag. Be they large merchants or small-time merchants, they all had to pay the two new taxes.
Baron Robert was rather clear-headed on that point. He knew that he had to target the merchants since they were more profitable.
He didn't make every household in the town pay some security fee, as that would easily incite resentment.
Even though they didn't know why Maria would pledge her Normanley Wood to set up a real estate development company, everyone was overjoyed when Ludan showed up. They were all grateful to Claude for his introduction.
The former chief constable Tomas patted his chest and offered to pledge his assets to buy two percent of the shares.
The biggest news in Whitestag in April was that the famous Baroness Maria Fon Normanley asked her butler, Ludan, to pledge her Normanley Wood to the national bank and invest twenty thousand crowns to set up Normanley Real Estate Development Company.
Apart from her, there were eleven other shareholders in the company. They were all famous people in Whitestag who had participated in the opening of the new trade route. They started buying real estate in the slums under the slogan of benefiting the people of Whitestag.
Even though he didn't know what Maria was planning, the property prices in Whitestag rose by another 30%.
In the meantime, Mayor Robert and Sir Fux had repeatedly requested to meet with Steward Ludian, hoping to find out the truth.
However, Rodian kept saying that Maria was sad about the decline of the slums and decided to invest in changing the style of her hometown …
With the help of the former Patrol Supervisor Thomas and the others, the purchase of property in the slums went smoothly.
The old street divided the slums into the east and west districts. Ludian mainly purchased properties in the east district, which occupied two-thirds of the entire slums.
Of course, there were also those who refused to budge from time to time.
"The reason why these people aren't willing to sell their properties is because they have no other place to live. To them, they won't have a home after selling it, so they won't be willing to sell it no matter how much money they have." Uncle Thomas was very reliable, and his investigation was very detailed.
Claude nodded, having expected that. "Since that's the reason they aren't willing to sell, the simple solution is to give them another home.
Do you remember the large piece of public land I asked Ludian to buy in the west district?
We'll build a few rows of houses there and sign contracts with those who refuse to move. When the houses are built, we'll let them move there. That way, we'll just have to pay them a little more.
No matter what, we have to get all the properties in the east district. That way, we'll be able to start planning and build a middle to high end district. "
"Why don't we agree to let them have a house after the houses are built? That way, we won't have to build anything else in the west," someone else objected.
Claude shook his head. "We can build simpler houses in the west, as long as they're sturdy and durable.
As for the rest of the district, we'll need gardens, plazas, and all sorts of shops to raise the property prices.
If we build houses here and give them to the original tenants, we'll be losing out a lot. "
Nothing was more convincing than one's own profits. Everyone understood what Claude meant right away.
"Alright, let's do that. I'll go look for those tenants." Uncle Thomas turned around and prepared to leave.
"Wait, Uncle Thomas," Claude stopped him.
Claude stopped him. "If they're still hesitant, you can use the shops on the west side to lure them over.
We won't interfere with the shops there. They're all for sale.
We won't sell the shops on the second floor after the district is built. We'll use them for rent. "
"Understood."
The townsfolk were more curious and confused about Normanley Real Estate's decision to build in the slums.
For example, after the entire East Borough was acquired, the Normanley Real Estate Development Company even drew a huge rendering of the completed community and put it on the street, attracting countless people to look at it. What they did not understand was, who was going to live in such a great community after it was completed?
The rich in Whitestag had their own houses and the poor couldn't afford one. Baroness Maria couldn't possibly be so kind as to give each of the poor a house, could she?
Claude had his hands full with work. Fortunately, his mother's health was more or less recovered and she took over all the chores in the house. Claude didn't have to do anything about it anymore.
Claude also had a free hand in the affairs of the company. The financial side was handled by Luan and he even pulled Kefnie over to be his assistant.
Luan was getting on in years, after all, and having someone to help him lessen the pressure on him.
After purchasing the entire eastern slum and building a few more rows of four-storey buildings in the western sector, the twenty thousand crowns were more or less spent.
Next, they had to demolish the dilapidated houses and flatten the land, all of which were managed by Uncle Thomas.
Claude had already instructed him to use the opportunity to recruit some useful talents in the slums in preparation for the construction team, property management team, and security team.
Currently, Claude was busy gathering some architects to plan the district as a whole in order to achieve the most optimal and beneficial layout so that the shareholders involved in the development would be satisfied.
As for the construction costs, Claude wasn't too worried. Luan and the former head of finance were in contact with the national bank and were prepared to use the entire east district as collateral to borrow a large sum of money to continue the construction.
Seeing that it was almost May, Welikro came to look for Claude.
The moment they met, he took out an intricate shortsword and placed it in Claude's hand.
"What's the meaning of this? Isn't this your favorite collection?" Claude asked curiously.
Welikro loved collecting things like knives and swords. He used all the money he earned from hunting to buy them.
Claude remembered that they found the shortsword in the open-air market and Welikro paid a hefty price of one crown for it. He didn't even want to give it to his friends to play with.
"I have to go," Welikro sighed.
"Where to?"
"The royal capital," Welikro replied.
"As you know, my father offended Mayor Robert and has been provoked by Butcher Bill's fourth band quite a few times in the past month. His days haven't been too comfortable.
In a fit of rage, my father wrote a letter to his old commanding officer and attached my middle school results.
"Now, I've received a reply and a conscription order for me. I've been recruited by my father's old unit, the royal guard.
Today, I'm going to the town hall to get a pass. Our family will be leaving for the royal capital tomorrow, so I'm here to bid you farewell. "
Kubrik had offended Mayor Robert when he was building the garrison clan in town and he was ostracized after it was established.
Now, Butcher Bill's fourth band was in charge of guarding the western streets of town. Welikro's house was outside the town at the foot of the mountain and he had to pass through the western streets every time he went to town.
Under Mayor Robert's orders, fourth band would conduct strict checks on Kubrik when he went in and out of town. They said that it was to check if there were any prohibited items on him.
Kubrik was so angry that he wanted to fight with fourth band a few times. It was no wonder that Kubrik was rejected when Claude tried to get him to invest in the real estate development company.
It was no wonder Kubrik refused Claude's offer to invest in the real estate development company. He was waiting for a reply from the royal capital.
As the son of a retired soldier with such good results in middle school, no unit would reject a recruit like Welikro.
"I should congratulate you for becoming an honorable royal guard," Claude said with a tinge of sadness.
The first to leave was Borkal, followed by Eriksson's falling out with him over the trading fleet. Now, Welikro was leaving as well.
"Your whole family is going to the royal capital?"
Claude patted Welikro on the shoulder. He didn't know when they would meet again.
"That's right. My father's old superior found a job for my father. He said that he's going to be a bodyguard for a noble and the pay is good.
Since we can't stay in Whitestag any longer, my father decided to move the whole family to the royal capital. There are more people there and I might be able to find a good brother-in-law there. "
Claude looked at his body and sadly realized that he didn't have anything he could bring out to exchange for souvenirs with Welikro.
He could only shrug. "When are you leaving?
I'll send you off. "
"There's no need. We're leaving early tomorrow morning. Everything is packed in a carriage and we won't pass through town. We'll take a detour to avoid trouble from those bastards.
So, there's no need for you to send me off. I'll write you a letter when I settle down. Just remember to write me a reply. "Welikro smiled and hugged Claude tightly before leaving.
He went to pick up his sister from school in the afternoon. During dinner, his mother mentioned that they lived in the wood and wanted to buy some ingredients from the open-air market in town. However, they didn't have a carriage and it was rather inconvenient.
Claude thought about it and realized that there were only two carriages in the wood. He took one and the other was the caretaker, Siori, and his wife's carriage.
While he was busy in town, Siori didn't slack off either. He drove his carriage to pick up scraps from the houses they bought and didn't stay in the wood at all.
His mother would have to walk to town. It seemed that he would have to buy a carriage and a gentle mare to pull it.
As for Ludian, he had already established a real estate development company and the address was in one of the better houses in the slums. He lived there with his coachman.
After all, he had to look after such a big place for Maria, so he didn't stay in the wood.
"How about this? I'll go to the open-air market tomorrow and buy you a carriage.
Now that the hut is ours, I can get someone to build a stable next to it. "Claude decided to buy a carriage for his mother.
After his family went to bed that night, Claude went to the study. He had been busy with the real estate development and hadn't had the time to do any alchemical experiments. His mother and the others were also there, so it was rather inconvenient. He could only meditate after they fell asleep.
But now that the real estate development had come to an end, he could leave the rest to Ludian and Tomas.
Just like a boat rowing on Lake Balinga, the direction had been set. Now, it was up to the oarsmen to work hard. In that sense, Claude was the one steering the boat.
I should be able to relax a little, thought Claude.
Thought Claude. Then he heard a soft knock on the door.
It was Angelina's pale face when he opened it.
"Why aren't you asleep yet? Do you have to go to school tomorrow?" asked Claude with a smile.
"Tomorrow is Sunday. There's no school," said Angelina.
Only then did Claude realize that Angelina was holding the magic recipe book in her hands.
"Oh, it's with you. No wonder I didn't see it."
Claude remembered that he had taken the recipe book from his father's stall the other day and had forgotten about it when he went upstairs to look for his siblings.