When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

#735 - Rapid City in 1448 (Part 2)

After the navigation of rivers such as the Erno River, the water levels of both Jeanne d'Arc Fort and Rapid Falls have slightly risen.

The wool trade on the northern route and the spice and sugar trade on the southern route have placed greater transportation pressure on Rapid Falls than before.

Therefore, Moliya raised tens of thousands of gold pounds to excavate the old river channels that were deeply buried underground.

This created two parallel river tracks. If transporting towards Fran, the southern river channel would be used, and if transporting towards Leia, the northern river channel would be used.

Using this method, Catherine increased Rapid Falls' annual cargo volume from 80,000 tons to 130,000 tons last year, and this year, it has already reached 40,000 tons in just three months.

Some people even calculated the size and number of ships passing through the north-south river channels into a very important North-South Shipping Index, which is updated weekly in the 'Megdi Commercial News'.

As the largest waterway hub in the four plain counties, the increase in Rapid Falls' cargo volume almost means a significant economic boost.

Most people, including many Thousand River Valley residents, believed that Rapid Falls would decline for a decade or two.

But unexpectedly, with Horn's policy support, Catherine and the Megdi Chamber of Commerce rebuilt Rapid Falls into one of the top three economic cities in just three years.

In this process, Catherine and the Megdi Chamber of Commerce have made indispensable contributions.

After the Battle of Rapid Falls, 80% of the buildings in the port area were unusable, forcing the relocation of nearly 10,000 people to Jeanne d'Arc Fort and the Holy See of Machinery.

The damage rate of handicraft workshops reached nearly 50%, the unemployment rate approached 30%, and martial law had to be enforced to maintain order.

In the first year, Catherine and the Megdi Chamber of Commerce first promulgated the 'Streetfront Shop Relocation Law', freeing up enough river channels and streets.

They also implemented Horn's 'Twenty-Four Hour Timekeeping System' and suppressed a group of guild members' strikes.

Catherine even ordered the front-line suppression soldiers to equip hand cannons and, if necessary, fire live ammunition at the strikers.

In Horn's view, this was a wise move because a gun has the greatest deterrent effect when it doesn't fire; if it fires but doesn't cause the expected harm,

then the strikers would become bolder and even start directly attacking the suppression soldiers, causing greater casualties.

In the second year, Catherine repeatedly raised funds to establish the 'Rapid Falls Reconstruction Foundation' and issued urban construction bonds.

Later, she cooperated with the Black Hats Army to contract most of the port area's reconstruction work, using work-for-relief to start the expansion of the dual-track channels and uniformly repair the infrastructure.

At this time, due to the various systems promoted by Horn after the war, coupled with the blockade, Rapid Falls' economic level plummeted.

In August of last year, the Rapid Falls Reconstruction Foundation was on the verge of bankruptcy.

If it hadn't been for the Old Grandmother's Kush Foundation to bail it out first, followed by the long-distance aid of the Lilac Corridor's war reparations, the Rapid Falls City Hall would have almost gone bankrupt.

But Catherine went all out to raise funds everywhere and managed to survive this most difficult period, successfully completing most of the reconstruction plan.

Although many streets and industries have not been restored, the economic level alone is higher than before the war.

Losing a Dinar, Horn picked up a copy of the 'Megdi Commercial News' and two candies, sat on the edge of the flowerbed, and asked while reading, "Who is currently operating the Megdi Chamber of Commerce?"

"Nominally, it's still Her Excellency Catherine, but she only appears at important meetings. At other times, it's us discussing with the Megdi Chamber of Commerce's partner committee," Rene replied.

"Has the negotiation on establishing the Society of the Holy Father within the Megdi Chamber of Commerce passed?"

"Not yet. They accept the establishment of the Society of the Holy Father within the Chamber of Commerce, but only as a personal organization, not as an official organization, and even less are they allowed to have actual authority.

On the surface, they say that business requires professionals, but in private gatherings, they say that the opinions of the rabble will seriously interfere with the normal conduct of business.

Your Majesty, do you need me to give them some conditions they can't refuse?" The young Cheka director's eyes flashed with a sharp glint.

Horn shook his head: "Don't force them too hard. You have to be like fishing, loosening the line for a while and tightening it for a while. Now is not the time to tighten the line."

"When can we tighten the line then?" Rene has always played the role of tightening the line, or rather, the Cheka can only play the role of tightening the line.

"When necessary." Horn opened the second page of the 'Megdi Commercial News' and began to read the foreign news section. "When we cut off their hopes."

Compared to the 'Truth Daily' which only publishes selective news reports like "Leia is too bad" and "Holy See City is too bad", the 'Megdi Commercial News' is more objective.

Moreover, in addition to foreign news, the 'Megdi Commercial News' also provides the most accurate interpretations of various commercial news and indicators.

But from this point, Horn could smell a trace of decay.

Normally, many industry news items are random and cannot be so accurate.

The accuracy rate of the 'Megdi Commercial News' is quite astonishing. According to Cheka statistics, most mistakes ultimately benefit the Chamber of Commerce itself.

Either the 'Megdi Commercial News' is all-knowing and all-seeing, or the Megdi Chamber of Commerce is both a player and a referee, and the referee for most games.

People of this era may not think much of it, but Horn, who came from later generations, has seen this kind of tactic too many times.

He couldn't help but be vigilant.

The most up-to-date novels are first published on Liu Jiu Shu Ba!

The Megdi Chamber of Commerce, which seems to be just a small dye merchant, is a monopoly organization covering all aspects.

It largely replaces the functions of the government without changing its essential need for profit.

Many times, the Chamber of Commerce's actions are only for the personal benefit of senior partners.

This is not to say that profitability is not important, but profitability must have a bottom line.

It is currently running well and has helped Horn do many things, such as selling bonds, maintaining market stability, and ensuring freight routes.

But this is only because Catherine, with the cooperation of the army and the Cheka, can suppress the senior partners' instinct for profit and short-sightedness.

As the economy develops rapidly, these senior partners continue to merge and hold other companies, and there is already a tendency to transform into oligarchs.

Horn has already seen this, so he decided to nip it in the bud before it develops.

For the sake of development, the Holy See of Machinery allows the emergence of trust systems, but the Holy Grandson wants controllable trusts, not out-of-control oligarchs.

Therefore, in the future, the Megdi Chamber of Commerce will be split into single-industry trade associations or multiple state-owned enterprises, and workshops will be cut and merged to improve efficiency.

At the same time, these state-owned enterprises and workshops will be managed by a special committee or monastic order.

And in order to keep these state-owned enterprises under control, the first step Horn needs to take is to install the Society of the Holy Father into these state-owned enterprises.

In this way, when dismembering the Megdi Chamber of Commerce, it can be guaranteed to be scattered but not collapse.

"Alright, you secretly monitor those few who are not honest first.

I'll take a look around the Megdi Chamber of Commerce in a couple of days, and then meet with some partners in the insurance and lottery industries to see if they know what's good for them.

You collect evidence first, and when the time is right, I'll let you launch." Horn casually turned another page of the newspaper. "When I want to launch, it must be as fast and accurate as Jeanne's lightning, and without any reservations or mercy."