1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 255: The Fugger Family

Niš, Serbia, northwestern Balkan Peninsula.

Ever since the Eastern Roman Empire launched its Northern Expedition, the feudal princes of Serbia have fallen into great panic and anxiety. Years of war have made it impossible for them to support a large army, and the divided political structure has made it impossible for them to integrate their military forces.

Many pro-Hungarian nobles tried to seek support from the northern powers, but Matthias I, who was busy with the war in Bohemia, was obviously not interested in this. After replenishing the Belgrade Fortress with a sufficient number of garrisons, he took no action, abided by the agreement signed with the Eastern Roman Empire, and recognized southern Serbia as the sphere of influence of the Eastern Roman Empire.

In this way, more than 20,000 Eastern Roman soldiers captured cities in southern Serbia, and the scattered Serbian local nobles were unable to organize effective resistance.

Since the entire Serbian nation believed in Orthodox Christianity and Prince Manuel had three-quarters Serbian noble blood, many Serbian nobles began to surrender to him and recognize his rule.

On June 1467, 6, the Eastern Roman army surrounded the city of Niš. The nobles in Niš were ready to move, and the people were disunited. Prince George of the Brankovich family saw that the situation was hopeless and surrendered to the Eastern Roman Empire. He was allowed to take some of his property and settle in Constantinople.

Since then, the thousand-year-old city of Nis has returned to the embrace of the Eastern Roman Empire, and two-thirds of the land of the Grand Duchy of Serbia is under the control of Prince Manuel. Only a few small forces in the north are still waiting for a price or resisting stubbornly.

In the palace of Niš, Isaac and Manuel sat opposite each other around the stove, making tea. Next to them stood the two Serbian nobles who were the first to approach the Eastern Roman Empire, Constantine from the Dragaš family and Royston from the Brankovic family.

The Dragaš family is a traditional noble family in southern Serbia. The current head of the family, Constantine, inherited his grandfather's title and name. He is the nephew of the late Queen Mother Helena of the Eastern Roman Empire, the cousin of Isaac, and the cousin and father-in-law of Manuel.

Royston was originally an illegitimate son of the Brankovich family, but because the main branch of the Brankovich family hindered the rule of the Eastern Roman Empire, he was appointed by Isaac and Manuel as the new head of the Brankovich family, retaining some real estate in the Kosovo Basin.

"Constantine, what do you know about the situation north of Niš?"

Isaac casually flipped through the report in his hand and handed it to Manuel.

"Your Majesty, the nobles in the north have always been close to the Kingdom of Hungary, while we are loyal supporters of the Empire, and there is not much communication between the two sides."

Constantine said with a smile.

Isaac glanced at him and smiled.

They were not loyal supporters of the Eastern Roman Empire. Before the revival of the empire, the Serbian nobles in the south had always followed the lead of the Ottoman Empire and were in direct confrontation with the Hungarian faction in the north.

However, this is also caused by geopolitics and there is nothing to blame.

"Your Majesty, the other princes in the north have no ability to stop you. As long as the Hungarians do not take action, they have no choice but to surrender."

Royston spoke up.

"Constantine, Royston, how many private soldiers can you muster now?"

Manuel looked at the two men.

"Your Excellency, we do have some private soldiers, but their number is really small. If you are not satisfied, we can continue to reduce it."

Constantine said quickly.

"That was not what I meant,"

Manuel shook his head.

"I have now been canonized as the Grand Duke of Serbia by my brother. The usurpers in the north are all rebels, and their lands naturally belong to me."

"I am going to give you a new fiefdom, north of Nishi, how about that?"

Manuel pulled out a map of Serbia, with rivers and mountains clearly marked with different symbols.

"The land west of the Great Morava River and north of the Western Morava River belongs to the Dragash family, and the land east of the Great Morava River and southwest of the Danube belongs to the Brankovich family, how about that?"

Manuel pointed to two pieces of land and looked at the two men with a smile.

"Since you are willing to obey my rule and pledge allegiance to the empire, these things should not be difficult to accomplish, right?"

"This……"

Constantine looked slightly embarrassed and turned to look at Isaac.

"He means what I mean."

Isaac said softly.

"Your Majesty, Grand Duke, I am willing to change my title."

Royston said quickly.

Constantine was silent for a moment, his expression changing several times.

The Dragash family has been rooted in southern Serbia for many years and has extensive influence. The land and minerals under their names are very rich. Even though they suffered heavy losses in the previous Ottoman wars, they are still the largest family in the south.

Although the land in northern Serbia is fertile and the overall conditions are better than in the south, local princes and nobles still exist and have to face the military offensive of the Kingdom of Hungary at all times.

As for Royston, he didn't have much land to begin with and was a member of a new party promoted by the Eastern Roman Empire. Perhaps he could gain more benefits by going to the north.

"But don't worry. Going to the north does not mean being away from the political center. You are still my prime minister and minister of mining. You usually serve in the south and don't have to live in the north all the time."

Seeing that his old father-in-law couldn't make up his mind, Manuel spoke again.

"Then I will obey you. I will go back and reorganize the army, gather my retainers, and prepare for the Northern Expedition at any time!"

Constantine gritted his teeth and agreed.

He thought his son-in-law was young and easy to deceive, and he could use the Eastern Roman Empire to revive his family business, but he didn't expect that he would be so ruthless right from the start.

After all, Serbia was too weak and had long lost the qualifications to negotiate with the Eastern Roman Empire.

Let’s just go to the north. At least the land is good and the population is large. If the Hungarians move south, they will have an emperor to support them, right?

Thinking of this, he sighed and walked away.

When Royston saw Constantine leaving the room, he also bowed and said goodbye.

After the two men left, Isaac ordered the maid to clear away their tea and refill Manuel's cup.

"Brother, do you think I did the right thing?"

Manuel looked at the door of the locked room.

"Of course it's right. If a new king wants to avoid being sidelined, he must show his tough side."

Isaac blew on the rooibos in his glass and took a sip.

"Although the Dragash family is considered our relative, they are too powerful in Serbia. If we don't control them and let them profit from this war of recovery, I'm afraid your future will be difficult."

"Do you want to be a monarch who cannot make decisions on his own and must consult with them on important matters?"

"Of course not. My power comes from you, not from those powerful officials."

Manuel shook his head.

"Giving him the position of prime minister is worthy of his efforts. Even without his support, Serbia is no match for us."

"Yes, but remember, if you want long-term peace and stability, you can't do without them. You have to be good at maintaining a balance."

Isaac warned.

"However, your methods of handling various forces these days have been very good. I believe you can hold on to this position."

"I still have to thank my royal brother for his help. If you were not here, they would definitely not listen to me so easily."

Manuel laughed.

"Why say these polite words? We are a family and we must stick together."

Isaac said, patting Manuel's head.

"Don't worry, my brother. Since you are willing to hand over Serbia to me, I will definitely live up to your trust and guard the northern border for you."

Manuel said in a deep voice.

"My descendants and I will be loyal to you and your legal heirs for generations to come, and will never overstep the mark!"

"That's all for the future, let's solve the problem at hand first."

Isaac smiled and shook his head.

"How are you going to manage this land of Serbia?"

Manuel thought about it and spread out the map in his hand again.

"I plan to divide Serbia into four regions. The Kosovo and Nis regions in the south will be directly governed by me, and the two regions in the north will be handed over to the nobles who are dependent on us."

"My capital is located in Niš, the birthplace of Constantine the Great. It was originally the core city of the empire in Serbia. Although the city defenses are dilapidated, they are much stronger than other cities."

"I intend to rename this city St. Helena, after St. Helena, who gave birth to Constantine the Great."

"Furthermore, Southern Serbia is adjacent to the Empire. Although agricultural conditions are limited, it has abundant mineral resources and can occupy a place in the Empire's trade system."

Manuel spoke carefully.

"Yes, it is consistent with what I expected. After you put the core ruling area in the south, even if the Hungarians go south, they will not be able to break through the barriers of mountains and rivers in a short time, which is enough to delay until reinforcements arrive."

Isaac nodded.

"I will arrange for the Minister of Transport to oversee the renovation of the road, so as to connect South Serbia and the Empire as soon as possible and promote the prosperity of mining and commerce."

"There is also the New Bourde gold and silver mine. Although Royston is very good, he has not fully tapped the potential of this treasure mine. The output is much less than that during the time of Grand Duke Durand."

"According to our previous agreement, we will form a company named New Burdo Mining Company, which will be responsible for managing the mining output."

"As for the profit... I thought about it and decided to give you a little more. Let's split it in half. What do you think?"

"Thank you, my brother. I am very satisfied."

Manuel was overjoyed and agreed immediately.

"However, you have to bear one-third of the military expenses for this expedition. I don't want any interest. After you pay off the principal, half of the mining company's annual profit will be yours."

"this is necessary."

Manuel nodded.

Isaac thought about it and continued.

"In the future, trade between South Serbia and the Empire will be conducted through North Macedonia. The Skopje Basin is very close to the Kosovo Basin, and the terrain is lower than in other directions."

"Although the Cetinje Bishopric in the west is also under the rule of the empire, the mountains in the middle are high, and it is not convenient to transport bulk commodities such as ore to the seaside."

Manuel nodded and looked at Isaac.

"Brother, speaking of the Cetinje diocese, I have one more thing to ask of you."

"Go ahead."

"That's right. I know that Bishop Alexander of Cetinje is a very good Christian. He personally led the Peasant Crusade to defeat the main force of Mehmed II in the Battle of Belgrade."

Manuel said slowly.

"I also know that you have been sending priests from the Cetinje Diocese to preach in the surrounding areas, thereby inspiring the lower classes' rebellious psychology against the nobility and building momentum for the empire's military actions."

"This method has indeed achieved a lot of results in Albania and Serbia, but I think that now that these two places are under the jurisdiction of the empire, we can no longer allow those priests to spread their ideas."

Manuel looked deeply at Isaac.

"go on."

Isaac's expression remained unchanged.

"Although Bishop Alexander has always been an Orthodox priest, everyone knows that he is deeply influenced by the Bogomils. I believe that the Bogomils' ideas are very dangerous. We cannot allow them to spread freely within the empire."

Manuel continued.

"The Bogomils are against feudalism, central government, and the traditional church. They advocate "egalitarianism" and oppose the nobility, the king, the church, and the emperor. They want to distribute our property and land to the believers."

"They don't believe that the world was created by God, but by some devil. Look at this, what a heresy this is!"

Manuel frowned.

"I know that Bishop Alexander is not an orthodox Bogomil and does not believe in this kind of devil creationism, but he is also very dissatisfied with the traditional aristocracy and the traditional church."

"Think about it, the Eastern Empire is different from Western European countries. Some citizens are still pursuing their so-called ancient rights. If this kind of heresy is allowed to spread wantonly within the empire, big problems will arise sooner or later."

Seeing that Isaac said nothing, Manuel continued.

"Your prestige is unmatched, and you can bring happiness to the people, but have you ever thought about what will happen to our descendants? Are they going to overthrow us just because an emperor or a duke makes the citizens slightly dissatisfied? Do you want to learn from the tricks of hundreds of years ago?"

"Or do they want to set up a republic, like the Italians did, excluding us?"

"The Bogomils have a great influence in the Balkans, especially in the Kingdom of Bosnia, which is adjacent to Serbia and is almost their base camp."

"I am going to legislate to ban the spread of Bogomilism in Serbia. Anyone influenced by Bogomilism will be exiled immediately. I hope you will support me."

Manuel looked at Isaac.

After hearing this, Isaac smiled bitterly and shook his head.

Due to the limitations of the times and his own high prestige, many people, including family members, began to firmly believe that Isaac was God's messenger, and that the Palaiologos family was blessed by God and would rule Constantinople forever.

In the words of later generations, his entire family, from the old to the young, were covered by labor insurance.

Not only Manuel, but even his old father Constantine XI hated the Bogomils, whose ideas were somewhat liberal and egalitarian, and once specifically discussed this issue with Isaac.

There is no such thing as a dynasty that will last forever, and there is no such thing as a family that will last forever.

Judging from the situation, my descendants will probably end up on the guillotine.

Of course, Isaac could not use the thinking of later generations to criticize the Europeans at the end of the fifteenth century. Even the Bogomils only used this set of rhetoric to deceive the lower-class people who were exploited and squeezed by the nobles and the church to have nothing. After they became stronger, they did not implement the doctrine thoroughly, and they continued to exploit as usual.

As for what will happen to future generations... let's just believe in their wisdom.

"Okay, I will restrain Bishop Alexander. You can treat the real Bogomil believers as you like. They are indeed very extreme, but it is better to drive away the Orthodox priests who are influenced by Bogomil. Don't make things too ugly."

"Thank you, brother. I will pay attention to it."

Manuel breathed a sigh of relief and smiled.

As the two were talking, a maid knocked on the door.

"Your Majesty, Grand Duke, Prince Justinian has arrived and is waiting in the hall."

"What is he here for?"

Isaac frowned.

"I don't know, but he looked to be in a hurry and brought a guest with him."

The maid recalled. "Okay, I'll go right away."

Isaac, who wanted to rest, grunted and took Manuel out of the study and walked towards the front hall.

In the front hall, Isaac's eldest son Justinian was wolfing down the food in front of him, obviously having been hungry for a long time.

Next to him, a middle-aged man in black was also eating and tasting the wine in his glass.

Seeing Isaac and Manuel coming, the middle-aged man immediately stopped, stood up and saluted.

"Your Majesty Isaac, Your Highness Manuel, it is an honor to come to Niš. Thank you for your hospitality."

Isaac nodded, motioned for him to sit down, and looked at Justinian.

"Didn't I tell you to stay in Constantinople with Isabella? Why are you running here?"

Justinian swallowed the food in his mouth, took a long breath, and wiped the corners of his mouth with a handkerchief.

“First, congratulations to dear Uncle Manuel.”

Justinian took out an exquisite little box from the side and handed it to Manuel.

"This is a gift from Isabella and I to you."

Manuel took the box, opened it and saw that it was full of gold, silver and jewelry.

"Second, I will fulfill my duty as a son and recommend talented people to you."

Justinian looked at Isaac.

"Isabella is in good health, and she supports me coming to see you."

"Okay, let's not talk about this. Since you are recommending talented people, why not introduce your talented people to me?"

Isaac turned his head and looked at the middle-aged man with a faint smile.

"Father, this is a rare talent. He originally came to Constantinople to find you. It happened that you were away on a military expedition, so he went to see grandfather, and grandfather asked him to come to me."

Justinian pointed at the middle-aged man.

"I had a very pleasant conversation with him in Constantinople and thought him to be very good. I immediately decided to bring him to you."

Justinian pursed his lips at the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man nodded in understanding and bowed deeply to Isaac.

"Your Majesty, I am a German. My ancestors came from Swabia. I now live in Augsburg. I am a businessman and banker."

"My name is Ulrich Fugger."

"Fugger..."

Isaac nodded slightly and repeated the last name.

The Fugger family of Augsburg was a well-known name to Isaac, who knew the history of later generations.

The Fugger family's ancestors lived in the countryside. The first generation ancestor Johannes Fugger was originally a poor boy from the countryside. Unwilling to live in poverty, he resolutely came to the city and started to resell old fabrics. Due to his outstanding business talent, he was noticed by the local guild president and married his daughter.

Later, Johannes Fugger proved his ability, expanded his textile business and became a wealthy businessman.

After Johannes' death, his second son Jacob took over his father's mantle, and the family business continued to expand, and wealth accumulated year by year.

Later, the Fugger family was no longer satisfied with the textile industry and began to enter the ocean trade, banking and mining industries, committed to establishing a commercial monopoly empire.

Of course, a merchant family cannot accomplish all this on their own; they must seek out powerful aristocratic allies in order to gain the monopoly on commodities and the right to operate minerals.

At the end of the 15th century, they finally got the chance and provided a loan to a famous German wealthy family, from which they obtained the mining rights of the Tyrolean silver mines.

This family is the most powerful family in the Holy Roman Empire, the Habsburgs.

From then on, the legendary story of the Fugger family officially began. They were closely connected with the Habsburg family and were interdependent. They provided huge loans to the Habsburg family many times for them to fight wars everywhere.

The Fugger family also relied on the support of the Habsburg family to achieve victory. Relying on the commercial privileges granted by the Habsburgs and the mortgaged minerals, they achieved a monopoly and became the richest merchant in Europe at that time.

Of course, the Fugger family was far from reaching that point at that time. In 1467, they were still engaged in the textile industry and had not yet reached an alliance with the Habsburgs.

The Ulrich Fugger in front of us is the grandson of Johannes Fugger. After his father became old and frail, he began to take over the Fugger family business.

"So, Fugger, what is the reason that you have come all the way to see me?"

Isaac looked at Ulrich.

"Your Majesty, my family has always been engaged in the textile industry, and only recently have we begun to get involved in the financial industry. The merchants who attended the wedding told us about the wealth of the Eastern Empire, and I came here to investigate."

Ulrich said.

"I have visited several industrial and commercial cities, including Carthage, Athens, Thessalonica and Constantinople, and have gained some basic understanding of the industrial and commercial system that you have established over the past twenty years."

"What do you think?"

Isaac smiled.

“It’s pretty good, but there’s still a lot of room for improvement.”

Ulrich said seriously.

"If my observation is correct, this business system is basically in your hands. Most of the medium and large factories and chambers of commerce were also founded by you. The rest of the merchants, big and small, only got a little bit of the scraps."

After thinking for a while, Ulrich added.

"Of course, the slave trade is an exception. Your slave traders have already started to monopolize the trade. They can use their talents to make money and do not need to follow you closely."

"Indeed, as you know, the empire had just been revived, and the merchant class was relatively weak. There were no particularly powerful business families in the Balkans and North Africa before."

Isaac nodded in surprise, and his opinion of Ulrich increased a bit.

"Merchants need accumulation and cultivation. Even though I have been encouraging them, the empire's merchant class is still mainly composed of small and medium-sized merchants. However, I will integrate them into business unions to form a powerful union."

"Your Majesty, please forgive me for being frank. The reason why this method has been successful is entirely due to your guidance. Without you, this model of small business collectives will easily fall apart and become inefficient."

Ulrich looked at Isaac confidently.

"I think that trade unions are certainly a very good system, but every trade union must have a leader to lead them to achieve complete monopoly."

Isaac listened and remained silent.

In this era, "monopoly" is not a derogatory term, but rather a synonym for wisdom and talent. Aristotle once praised monopoly behavior in his works, believing that it could concentrate resources to accomplish great things, and suggested that all rulers learn from this method and use it as a "universally applicable" way of making money.

Isaac was certainly aware of the harm brought by monopoly, but Europe at that time was an era of wild capitalism, which was an objective fact.

In the industrial and commercial system established by Isaac, the Palaiologos family also established a monopoly and occupied a dominant position in major chambers of commerce. The important workshops in major cities were also controlled by the Palaiologos family.

There is nothing much to say. This was originally the Chamber of Commerce founded by Isaac and the factory built by Isaac.

As for other small and medium-sized merchants, they can only rely on the trade system of the Palaiologos family. They will invest wherever Isaac invests.

"You mean, you want to lead the Fugger family to join our trade system and become a leader in some area?"

Isaac smiled.

"That is so, your majesty."

Ulrich nodded heavily.

"You may not know that in the eyes of many businessmen, the current Eastern Empire is a land of opportunities, with a vast market, abundant raw materials, and prosperous business."

"Besides you, there is no other business giant in the Eastern Empire."

"The first people to discover this were the Hebrews. They seemed to think that you would treat them as well as the Ottomans and Venetians, but they were wrong."

Ulrich shrugged.

"In fact, although the Hebrews have good business acumen, their original capital is too scarce to be compared with us."

"If you allow me to enter the Eastern Empire to open factories, set up chambers of commerce and banks, and participate in ocean trade, your industrial and commercial system will prosper rapidly, much faster than it is now."

Isaac nodded slightly and said nothing.

The Hebrews at this time were indeed not as wealthy as they were in later generations. They had just begun to accumulate wealth. Early Hebrew consortiums did appear in commercial city-states such as Venice, but they were only in the early days, and their time had not yet arrived.

The Medici family of Florence was said to have some Hebrew ancestry, but they were Christians from beginning to end and never claimed to be Hebrews, so the specious bloodline was meaningless.

At present, the most famous financial family in the whole of Europe is the Medici family. Apart from Italy, the more famous ones are the rapidly growing business families such as Fugger and Welser in the German trading city-states.

"Ulrich, as you said, the development of business is bound to lead to the emergence of monopoly oligarchs, so why can't it be me?"

Isaac raised an eyebrow.

"Because you can't concentrate on business, Your Majesty."

Ulrich said calmly.

"According to my observation, the business of the Eastern Empire is far from reaching its upper limit. The market is not full, the demand far exceeds the output, and there are still many mines that have not been developed."

"If you had not been distracted by military and political affairs and had devoted yourself to business, I have no doubt that you could have built the Paleologio family into the most powerful family in Europe in your lifetime."

"But you don't have the time. You don't use a lot of money to continue investing, but to raise troops for war. You can only set an example in the most profitable industries to drive the rest of the small and medium-sized businessmen."

Ulrich shook his head solemnly.

"However, the merchants in the Eastern Empire are really bad. They are still using the old methods from centuries ago and are completely unaware of the changes in the times."

"It can be said that they are a burden to you. Their conservatism and stubbornness cannot support your ambitions. They can only satisfy you in industries that do not require business acumen, such as the slave industry and the gold industry."

After hearing this, Isaac's face turned a little ugly, but he had no way to refute it.

The merchant system of the Eastern Roman Empire had been completely destroyed in centuries of chaos. Even if Isaac had spared no effort to support them, it would have been impossible to rebuild a new system in just over a decade.

Everyone knows that business can make money, but in the end, only a few smart people with excellent vision and business acumen can make the money.

"how do you want to do it?"

Isaac asked softly.

"I can enter the market of the Eastern Empire with a large sum of money. Please allow me to purchase minerals, build factories, open banks, and engage in textile, mining and financial industries. If you wish, I can also help you manage the trade and financial systems."

Ulrich was overjoyed to see that Isaac was interested.

"If the situation is favorable, we can also move our family to Constantinople and formally join your empire."

"We will pay taxes as usual and provide loans for your military operations. This way, your pace of conquest will be greatly accelerated. You no longer need to wait for the East Indian merchant ships that only return every two years."

"Besides, we can also contribute to your East India Company and provide you with initial funds for you to build a larger trade fleet."

Ulrich said quickly.

"I am quite optimistic about the business prospects of the Eastern Roman Empire. It has a huge market, abundant and cheap raw materials, the only East Indian trade route in Europe, and a nascent financial industry. These advantages are not available in my native Germany."

"In fact, I have reached a loan agreement with your son. I will provide a short-term loan of 20,000 solidus to finance his conquest in Crimea. The collateral is a mine outside Yalta."

After saying that, he looked at Manuel again.

"Your Excellency, if you need it, I can also provide you with a loan to speed up your conquest of Serbia, and perhaps even finance your conquest of Bosnia."

"Okay, Ulrich, go down and rest. I need to think about it."

Isaac frowned and interrupted Ulrich.

Ulrich nodded, bowed deeply, and left the hall.

"What do you think of what he said?"

Isaac looked at his children.

"Very good. Our family needs a financial family like the Fugger family to gather wealth for us."

Justinian said.

"As you know, you have been entrusting your family's butlers to manage the properties in various parts of the empire. They have not received professional training, which leads to low efficiency. We have so many real estates, but we still run into a shortage of funds from time to time."

"As for the idea proposed by some officials to gradually hand over the industry to the government, this is absolutely unacceptable. State-run industries are even less efficient and corruption is extremely serious."

Justinian paused.

"Besides, we must not cut off our own hands. We must monopolize the wealth and make the empire heavily dependent on us. Only in this way can we avoid losing the crown."

"If a financial family like the Fugger monopolizes the empire's wealth, won't that pose a threat to us?"

Manuel asked.

"How is that possible? We have all kinds of ways to tie them down. Simply put, the more money we borrow, the more helpless they will be towards us. When the amount of money we owe them reaches a certain level, they will have no choice but to continue to cover for us."

Justinian laughed.

"Think about it, if we simply declared bankruptcy after owing a huge amount of money, what could they do?"

Isaac nodded slightly.

In history, the Fugger family was indeed trapped by the Habsburg family. The loans that the Fugger family provided to the Habsburg family could not be recovered at all in the later period, and they were eventually dragged down by the Habsburg family.

The one holding a hoe will never be defeated by the one holding a purse, and the one holding a purse will never be defeated by the one holding a knife.

"The Empire's business system does need fresh blood. I can allow the Fugger family to go to the Empire, but not just them alone."

Isaac thought.

"In addition to them, there are similar financial families in Germany and Italy. You can try to contact them."

"Brother, if we always rely on merchants and financiers from Western European countries, what will we do with our own merchants?"

Manuel asked doubtfully.

Isaac just shook his head when he heard this.

"Monopoly oligarchs never have a nationality. They only have gold in their eyes. They belong to the country where there is more gold."

"Do you think that if those people don't come, the empire itself won't have monopoly oligarchs? Do you think that when oligarchs in your own country treat the lower classes, they will be more humane than foreign oligarchs?"

"Don't think about it. Development is king. They can bring money and help us recover lost territory faster, so let them come."

Isaac sighed and walked out of the front hall.

(End of this chapter)