Volume 7 Chapter 3 - Promoting Infrastructure
Viscount Razor looked at the business card in his hand and was confused.
“The Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s infrastructure promoting department? What kind of place is this?”
Turning the card over and seeing the mark of the Frestech Chamber of Commerce on the other side, Viscount Razor hesitated a bit before asking the housekeeper beside him, “You said that the one who came with him was someone who worked here as a servant before?”
The housekeeper nodded, “Yes, Lord Viscount. This servant is called Kompany and was very earnest when he worked here, as well as having a good character, so I have some impression of him. He is someone from our town, so I think there shouldn’t be any problems.”
“It’s like this……” Viscount Razor looked at the card two more times before waving his hand, “Invite them in.”
“Yes.”
After a while, Joshua and Kompany were led into Viscount Razor’s little manor in the suburbs of Arafat Town.
Seeing Viscount Razor sitting in the main seat, Kompany immediately gave him a respectful bow.
“This little one greets the Lord Viscount.”
Joshua had an interested look as he looked over Viscount Razor before giving a slight bow.
“Greetings to the Lord Viscount.”
Viscount Razor looked at Kompany and immediately lost interest in him as he turned to look over Razor. Seeing his neat clothes and his n.o.ble att.i.tude, as well as the confident smile on his face, it could be seen that he wasn’t a normal person. He reached out his hand to gesture at the seats beside him, “Please sit.”
While Joshua sat down, Kompany hesitated a bit before carefully sitting in the chair beside him. However, he had his head lowered and didn’t dare look up at Viscount Razor.
In his mind, Viscount Razor was someone who was at the peak. He never thought that there would be a day where he would be a guest of the lord mayor.
Seeing the two sit down, Viscount Razor was silent for a bit before raising the business card in his hand and asking Joshua, “You say that you are a manager from the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s infrastructure promoting department, but why have I never heard of this department?”
Joshua revealed a faint smile, “Because this department was just created last August. It only operated on a trial basis in the Stantine Duchy and the Lampuri Kingdom and it has only entered the Falk Kingdom this year. It isn’t strange at all that the Lord Viscount has never heard of it before.”
“Is that so?” Viscount Razor looked at Joshua with a doubtful gaze, “Then this whatever…..infrastructure promoting department, what does it do? This name really does sound strange.”
Joshua took out a doc.u.ment from the bag he brought and gave it to Viscount Razor.
“The so-called infrastructure promoting department is the department that is responsible for infrastructure work. I am one of the managers of this department, mainly responsible for the work in the Drake Duchy and the Falk Kingdom.”
Viscount Razor looked at the doc.u.ment, but he didn’t look closely as he knitted his brows to ask, “Then tell me, what kind of infrastructure do you mean? Why is your Frestech Chamber of Commerce promoting it?”
“Infrastructure is a very wide subject and if you want to divide it, it should be divided into transportation, energy use, education, health, and sports. If you divide it again, it would be……”
“Alright, alright, stop.” Viscount Razor knitted his brows and waved his hand, “I say, why does my head get blurry when you say all these things? I can understand transportation, isn’t it what your Frestech Chamber of Commerce and Amrit Chamber of Commerce always say in your advertis.e.m.e.nts? Right, ‘if you want to be rich, first pave roads’?”
“Right, but transportation isn’t just about building roads, it also includes river transport and sea transport, as well as the air transport that our company is currently studying and the railroad transport that our company is hoping to implement in the future. Moreover, in order to ensure that this transport isn’t impacted, there is all kind of maintenance and logistics that needs to be considered, so…..”
“Stop!” Viscount Razor cut off Joshua once again, “All the things that you’re saying, how is it related to you coming to see me?”
Joshua pointed at the doc.u.ment he gave Viscount Razor with a smile.
“Lord Viscount, this is a cooperation plan that our department has drawn up, please take a look.”
Viscount Razor knitted his brows to look at him before seriously looking through this doc.u.ment.
Although this doc.u.ment wasn’t thick, Viscount Razor took a full half an hour to finish reading it.
After he finished reading, he thought for a bit before saying to Joshua, “I have two problems.”
“Please ask.”
“The first is that based on this plan, your Frestech Chamber of Commerce will help the other side construct these infrastructures, such as roads, hospitals, schools……Where does the money come from? Even if it is just for our small town, it would take several hundred thousand gold coins for all these things, right? Based on what you said, your Frestech Chamber of Commerce isn’t just doing this in our place. Even if your Frestech Chamber of Commerce has money, you wouldn’t be able to afford all this, right?” Viscount Razor asked.
“Lord Viscount’s worries are reasonable. Indeed, it’s impossible for our company to have the finances to pay for all of this……”
“Could it be that you want me to pay?” Viscount Razor looked at Joshua with a vigilant look, “Let me tell you, even if I’m a mayor and a viscount, don’t think that I can take out several hundred thousand at once…..this is forcing someone into a difficult situation.”
“Of course we wouldn’t make the Lord Viscount bear this yourself.” Joshua didn’t find Viscount Razor’s response strange. When he had been promoting this in various places, he had seen this many times, “Our Frestech Chamber of Commerce will pay for a part of the funding and the other portion will come from other places. Moreover, your country’s parliament will provide a certain amount of support. As for the Lord Viscount, you just need to provide some support when necessary.”
Viscount Razor was stunned, “You’re saying the parliament will pay? You’ve received authorization from them?”
“Yes.” Joshua dug around in his bag before taking out another doc.u.ment for Viscount Razor.
Seeing that this doc.u.ment had the seal of the Falk Kingdom’s parliament, Viscount Razor’s expression became serious. He took the doc.u.ment from Joshua to carefully look over and after confirming that it wasn’t fact, he looked at Joshua with a dissatisfied look.
Since this fellow had an official doc.u.ment from the parliament, why didn’t he take it out right away? He caused him to doubt him all this time.
“Ke…..Since the parliament has expressed their support, of course I will follow them. But…..” Viscount Razor deliberately stretched out his voice, “Joshua…..Manager Joshua, how will you do this? Based on what you said, we need to make that transportation, energy…..”
“Energy usage.” Joshua gently reminded him.
“Right, energy usage, as well as those other things, it can’t be done in just a day or two, right? There must be an order to handle things, right?”
“Of course.” Joshua nodded with a faint smile, “Lord Viscount, based on my inspection of Arafat Town over the past two days, I feel……that since Arafat Town is already connected with a road, there’s no rush in terms of this. The first problem that needs to be solved is in terms of education.”
“Education?” Viscount Razor looked at Joshua with a bit of doubt, “What do you mean exactly when you talk about education?”
“It’s very simple.” Joshua pulled up Kompany who had been sitting beside him without talking the entire time, “Look, this is wife’s brother in law Kompany, he has two kids now, one is ten and the other is six, but they’ve never gone to school before. They’ve never had an education or any vocational training.”
“Isn’t this normal?” Viscount Razor said in a confused voice.
This Kompany was a commoner from a single glance, how could he let his children have private education?
First, not to mention if he had the money, he didn’t have that qualification at all.
Being educated was a right that only the n.o.bles had!
“No, this is not normal.” Joshua revealed a serious look for the first time and shook his head, “Viscount Razor, a person who has been educated since childhood and a person who has never been educated before, the value of these two people are completely different after they grow up. If you want Arafat Town to develop well in the future and make the lives of the people better, then it’s necessary for you to invest in education.”
Viscount Razor was confused when he heard this.
Letting the children of the commoners be educated would allow Arafat Town to develop in the future? It would make the lives of the people better?
How could it be that exaggerated?
Viscount Razor didn’t hide his thoughts at all, so Joshua could naturally tell what he was thinking when he saw his expression.
But he wasn’t planning on using words to convince Viscount Razor. His goal this time was only to obtain his approval.
“Lord Viscount, you might not understand the meaning behind this now, but I believe that you’ll understand it in the future. Other than this, our company has already signed an infrastructure promoting agreement with the Falk Kingdom parliament. After my inspection, we’ve decided that Arafat Town will be our company’s first test in the Falk Kingdom. I hope that as the mayor of Arafat Town, you can provide enough support for this plan.”
Viscount Razor looked at the doc.u.ment that was signed by the parliament and after thinking about it, he gave a helpless nod.
“Alright, after I read through this doc.u.ment from the parliament, I’ll talk to you again.”
“Alright.” Joshua stood up with a faint smile, “Then Lord Viscount, I will come back in another half a month and we can discuss the details then.”