What did it mean to do bad things with good intentions? Maria's letter made Claude understand the meaning of that phrase.
Indeed, Maria had a seventy percent share of the hundred thousand crowns, which was why she was overjoyed.
She didn't think that she would be able to earn seventy thousand crowns in a short period of two to three months.
She had originally gathered around three hundred crowns for Rodan to buy some property in Whitestag and thought that she would be satisfied with a thousand crowns or so.
In the end, Claude's interference blew things up. First, he mortgaged the wood and set up Normanley Real Estate to buy land in the slums.
The properties bought with twenty to thirty crowns were put together to form a large community. The dilapidated single-storey houses were flattened and large four-storey buildings were built. Each building had twelve to sixteen large apartments, so they only needed around forty buildings to accommodate 500 families.
Lady Maria was not simply happy. She recalculated and verified the entire process and the community real estate transaction with the Admiralty was legitimate.
Strictly speaking, Normanley Real Estate suffered a loss and was sold at a slightly lower price.
It was also because of that that Maria realized that Claude had an extraordinary mind for business. He was able to create something out of nothing and find a way to make money that no one else had found before.
Rodan and the other minor shareholders of Normanley Real Estate only had their eyes on the construction of the naval base in Whitestag. Maria, however, was different. She had already thought about whether the real estate development model could be used in the royal capital or other cities in the kingdom.
If that was possible, Normanley would become one of the top families in the kingdom and have a source of wealth of their own.
It was also because she realized how important Claude was that she took it upon herself to instruct Rodan to find Sir Fux and buy back the five hundred crowns loan from him. She didn't even consider whether Claude would need it or not.
What she wanted was to strengthen her relationship with Claude. It would be even better if she could gain his gratitude.
After all, Claude had ten percent of Normanley Real Estate's shares and received ten thousand crowns in dividends. It was more than enough to repay the five hundred crowns.
However, he didn't want to repay the debt and had other plans in mind. Unfortunately, his plans were foiled by Maria.
Not only could he not blame Maria for it, he even had to accept the favor she forced upon him. Claude didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Claude was rather conflicted about Maria's request to obtain an exemption from military service.
Generally speaking, His Majesty's pardons were mostly granted to those who were recognized as talented, such as great painters, writers, and artists.
Claude believed that all he did was come up with an idea for Maria to get rich. Maria only gave him ten percent of the shares so that his family could be taken care of by Normanley.
But now, Maria said she would ask Stellin X for an exemption from military service. Claude really didn't know what to do with that.
Being exempted from military service was a good thing and he didn't want to be cannon fodder.
However, this amnesty also had a negative effect. After being exempted from military service, one could only be a civilian and would not have the same freedom as a national.
If that happened, he would be tied to Maria for the rest of his life.
While it didn't seem like there were any downsides to it, Claude wasn't willing to do it.
Aueras had always revered the military. Even the children of nobles who were born as citizens would have to enlist in the army when they came of age.
Even though they wouldn't be used as cannon fodder on the battlefield like commoners, they still risked their lives.
The long list of casualties at the end of every battle was proof of their bravery and fearlessness. That was also the main reason why Aueras' territory had been expanding for so many years.
For young nobles, joining the army was a necessary part of their lives. No matter which noble circle they were in, those who didn't join the army or even became civil servants were the target of ridicule because they didn't have the courage to face the threat of death. They were cowards.
Nobles who didn't enlist in the army couldn't be a member of the royal council. Those who could sit there were basically military nobles who had contributed greatly to the kingdom on the battlefield.
Claude didn't think that Maria's claim that he had extraordinary economic acumen would convince Stellin X to grant him an exemption from military service. The kingdom had always been scrupulous when it came to exemptions from military service.
For example, there was a young artist he saw in Whitestag Morning Post called Wiggs or something. He won the first prize in the kingdom's young artist competition. Didn't his teacher praise him as if he was a god of art? But because he couldn't gain the recognition of the ten famous artists, he ended up receiving a conscription order and obediently went to the royal guard to paint military paintings.
Forget it. If I get it, I'll be lucky. If I don't, it's my fate. There's no point in dwelling on it now. I'll think about it when the time comes.
His mother was delighted when he returned home that night.
After asking, he found out that Ludian had already sent the five hundred crowns IOU and the two documents from the town hall. That meant that the huge debt Booke owed Sir Fux was no longer there.
"You have to work hard for Madam Maria. She's been too kind to us. You won't have to worry about this debt anymore.
It's just that … it'd be great if your father was still alive … "His mother said sadly.
Claude sighed. This wasn't what he wanted!
However, he had to comfort his mother first. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to have a peaceful dinner.
Many things were intertwined and were constantly changing.
Just like Tomas said, if we didn't start with new trade routes and merchant fleets and instead focused on real estate development, we would've been rich long ago. There wouldn't be so many things to worry about and your father would be fine.
That sounded like a joke. If his father and uncle Tomas hadn't started with the new trade route, Whitestag wouldn't have gotten the chance to be developed. It would still be the same as before, a small town at the gateway between the three southwestern prefectures and the outside world.
After the new trade route was opened, unless everyone could be convinced to give up on their greed and face the unknown dangers of the pirates, only then would everyone have a good ending.
But was that even possible?
Before anyone realized the threat of pirate attacks, everyone was excited by the prospect of monopolizing the trade route.
It was a new secret trade route between the two continents. The profits were almost ten times that of the previous one. Who would give up on that?
Rather than saying the failure of the merchant fleet was due to bad luck and being targeted by the pirates, it was more of a foregone conclusion.
Rashly organizing a merchant fleet to go there without understanding the other side was akin to delivering the goods to their doorstep.
It was precisely because the failure of the merchant fleet attracted the attention of the navy that they attracted the attention of the pirates.
In the end, the kingdom even changed their strategic plans and invested funds into opening up Whitestag to the public.
Because of that, Normanley Real Estate was the first to sell the entire area to the navy. That was how everyone was able to reap such a huge profit.
Everything happened step by step, leading to the development and changes in Whitestag.
Otherwise, only someone with a brain would do something so foolish as to open up the slums to the public.
Who were they going to sell the houses to after the construction was complete? Would the poor be able to afford them?
After sorting out the working relationships between the various administrative departments, Felidos issued the first order. It was for no other reason than conscription.
The conscription was for the expansion of Whitestag's garrison.
The original Garrison Brigade had 224 people, and the Garrison Barracks had 864 people. Therefore, they still needed to recruit more than 600 new soldiers.
However, the recruitment order issued by Felidos was neither a voluntary enlistment for the garrison brigade, nor was it a compulsory enlistment for the Marine Corps in the slums. Instead, it was a distribution system.
In other words, as long as there were two young men of suitable age in a family, one of them would have to join the garrison, regardless of whether he had a proper job or not.
However, this gave Uncle Thomas a headache. Out of his thousand-strong construction team, more than two hundred people had been recruited. They were all candidates who met the requirements of the conscription and had all received the notice to go and experience it.
If they passed, they would be sent to the garrison for training. That would be a huge loss of manpower for Normanley Real Estate who was working overtime on the construction.
Claude didn't have much of a choice. He couldn't influence Felidos' decision, so he asked Ludian if he could ask Felidos to be more lenient and recruit fewer people from the construction company. Things were really busy at the moment and everyone was rushing to finish the construction.
However, Ludian shook his head and said that he wouldn't be able to change Felidos' decision even if he tried to persuade him.
Felidos was a soldier to begin with, so he was always the most attentive to military matters. His first order as soon as he took up the post was to expand the garrison camp and recruit new soldiers.
Under such circumstances, even Maria wouldn't have the face to do so, let alone him.
Felidos would definitely carry out the first fire after taking office no matter what. It was a matter of his prestige and dignity.
"Forget it, let's just prepare to hire some more workers," Claude said, "We can hire some older ones this time. Didn't a lot of people want to join our construction team after the marines forced them to enlist in the slums?
Let's recruit more this time. It's fine as long as they can do the work.
Let's have more people so that we don't get recruited again in a few days … "
The forced enlistment incident in the slums had a great impact on Normanley Real Estate. Among the young men arrested by the Marines in the slums, as long as they showed the worker registration card of Normanley Real Estate, they would be released unconditionally. They didn't even have to wait for the company to send someone to claim them.
Those who were waiting for their boss to claim them were so envious that Normanley Real Estate's recruitment site was packed to the brim.
Back then, Uncle Tomas was really in high spirits and only picked one out of three or four. He wanted the young, capable, obedient, and quick-witted.
Who would've thought that they would end up working for the garrison instead? Losing more than two hundred young labourers all of a sudden had a negative impact on the progress of the construction.
Claude wasn't sure if Felidos would still recruit more soldiers in the near future, but he didn't think that Felidos would set his sights on him.
A few days later, Felidos sent his aide to summon Claude to the administrative center. In his office, Felidos took out a document with three large black words on it: Conscription Order.
"Claude, this is an opportunity I got because I wrote you a recommendation letter.
Bluefeather is going to organize an officer training course. The candidates are all veterans who have served for more than five years and have shown outstanding performance. After the training, they will officially become sergeants.
It's the most important starting point for a soldier to become an officer. You'll only need three years to become an outstanding second lieutenant.
I believe you won't disappoint me.
I have high hopes for your future. As long as you can contribute to the kingdom, the opportunity I got for you won't be wasted. You have to work hard! "