Sean gave a long, aggressive kiss that nearly choked Audrey.

In her heart, she wanted to refuse and resist, but her body went against her will, and she was soft and powerless.

A quick knock on the door rescued her.

Sean opened the door of the box with a dark face, and Nelson peeked at Audrey in the box, and hurriedly said before Sean was angry:

"Viscount, Vichy has been attacked by the Fishmen!"

"What?" Sean's face changed sharply, "Are there any casualties!"

"Only a few fishermen are missing, and the fish-man is tracking a cargo ship of the Xia people. The cargo ship was apparently on the run for its life, and they ran aground. Fortunately, the fishmen did not dare to come ashore, and only a few of our fishermen from the town of Vichy unfortunately disappeared in the nearby sea. Nelson replied that he had handed over to Sean an an urgent letter from the town of Vichy, which he had received while the train was refueling on the way.

Sean read it in a hurry, it was a letter from Villar Perosa, the commander of the 101st Brigade garrison at the town of Vichy, who was the deputy brigade commander after Herbert Wells became brigade commander and was stationed at Fort Pattenham.

After receiving the alarm, Perosa quickly took the initiative. However, the Fish-Men apparently knew that they were not suitable for life on land, and instead attacked the unsuspecting port of Poitou, where the ships and people on board were attacked by the Fish-Men and their Shark Legions, resulting in heavy casualties.

Sean glanced back, Audrey had returned to her normal mood at this time, she nodded and said, "Sean, you go get down to business." ”

Sean walked to the carriage in front of him, and halfway through the trip, the excitement of the passengers calmed down considerably, and a large group of people withdrew their eyes from the window, and they gathered around the governor to talk.

Sean slowed down, and for some reason, he didn't mention the news he had just gotten, but joined in the heated discussion.

"Mr. Siyes, your request is not excessive. This is only the first trial operation, and there are still many shortcomings. In fact, we have new, more powerful models that are still being improved, and I am confident that in two years we will be able to around double the speed and load capacity of the trains.

In addition, this train is a mixed passenger and freight system, and in the future, of course, we will run special passenger cars, which will be divided into first, second and third class, and the poor can also afford tickets. It will even have luxury dining rooms with dedicated waiters to provide attentive service so that the seating class is appropriate to the status of the guest.

We'll also be adding a dedicated restaurant and bar for guests on long journeys to enjoy.

It is conceivable that in the future, we will no longer be a money and physical nightmare, it will be far more comfortable and convenient than a horse-drawn carriage, safer and cheaper than the unpredictable sea. If the railroads form a network, you can reach any corner of the empire in seven days, whereas previously it might have taken you a month or more. ”

Siyes laughed: "I look forward to this day coming to fruition sooner rather than later, and I am also sure that many gentlemen will be willing to invest in the railway." Viscount, you have put us Genoese at the forefront of the world again!"

"In fact, my railway company is preparing to issue shares, and you are welcome to invest. "But this requires the approval of our Governor General, after all, this is a very important matter, and it is a new thing, and the priority construction of that line requires the valuable advice of His Excellency the Governor." ”

Governor Byrne has recently been very pleased to see one event after another that represents great achievements taking place before his eyes, economic prosperity, law and order stability, and, more importantly, the exponential increase in tax revenues.

Even Byrne feared that he would be transferred because of his political achievements, even though he was worried about his career prospects two years ago. As a northerner, he was careful, and now he has been rewarded.

After a little reserve, Byrne said, "Ladies and gentlemen, I also see your ardent hopes, and I myself have a strong interest in building railroads, because it is clear that this steel monster is necessary for a prosperous economy." Now that there is a railway from Dockton to Darlington, a railway through the north of Genoa, my opinion is that it is necessary to build a railway from Darlington to the port of Poitou. ”

Of course, this is to Sean's favor, of course, from Byrne's point of view, this is also a necessary measure to strengthen the economic and personnel ties between the north and the south of Genoa, the future economic center of Genoa is still on the coastline from Poitu to Vichy, but the mining areas in the north are the resource base of this economic center, and even the coal and iron resources in the north can be transported by rail to the port of Poitou, and then exported to other provinces.

Anyone with even a modicum of economic savvy would think of this.

"Then I propose to the Governor's Palace that there are two ways to organize the construction of the railway. Sean said, "One way is for the Governor's Office to set up an investment company in the name of the province, which can not only invest independently with the provincial financial revenue, but also absorb external funds in the form of issuing shares, and the construction will be handed over to the Kang's Railway Company, and the investment company will pay the relevant construction costs, once completed, it will have nothing to do with the Kang's Railway Company." ”

"What about the other one?" Byrne asked with interest.

The other is all invested and built by Kang's Railway Company, and after completion, it will also be operated by Kang's Railway, and of course the income will be exclusively enjoyed by Kang's. "Of course, it can also be operated by the relevant departments of the province, but the province will pay the relevant expenses, which will save the province the trouble of raising funds in the early stage." ”

The Governor's Palace is not short of money now, and this year alone, the auction of mineral mining rights has received 10 million, although most of it is handed over to the treasury, but he has the right to withhold the part, and next year 1/20 tax will be levied, and there will be a large amount of money, the latter is guaranteed by the emperor and the cabinet's express decree, not to mention the tea tax levied in 1834 the year after tomorrow, which is a tax of 10 million.

If there is one of the 30 provinces in the country, Genoa is of course not as rich as Gyeonggi and some provinces, but if there is a governor of the province who has the most money, it must be Byrne.

"If it's me, then I'll choose the former. Stanley, who was sitting next to him, interjected.

Byrne smiled and nodded, it was obvious. The Governor's Mansion didn't even want to pay all the money himself, and a large number of people surrounded him, wanting to invest in his yet-to-be-seen investment company.

While another group of people surrounded Sean and asked when Kang's Railway would issue shares.

Some of the richest and most powerful people in Genoa were tied to Sean's chariot.

At 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the Genoese arrived in the iron ore fields of Darlington.

Here Sean received another secret letter, which was more detailed information from his secret intelligence network. It was sent by Posey's men, because there was a delay on the way because of a few changes of hands in the middle of the way, which is understandable, these agents did not know who the secret letter was going to send to, and they could only forward it according to the various intelligence transfer stations.

The railway is currently only being built to the mining area of Darlington, and all the distinguished passengers are reluctant to get off the train.

They didn't have time to visit Sean's smelter, which was still under construction, so they hurriedly transferred to a horse-drawn carriage to reach the city of Darlington not far away. There they chartered one of the best restaurants to comfort their hungry stomachs.

As for Audrey, she had the estate here, and in the face of Sean's resentful eyes, she waved her hand and stepped into her carriage with ease.

The rich woman had wealth in her hands throughout Genoa. In other words, she doesn't need to be dependent on any one man except emotionally.

In Darlington, Byrne finally received an urgent letter from Poitou, and he was so shocked that he hurriedly called his entourage officials, Mayor Stanley, the director of the Estates-General Siyes, some Estates-General delegates, and of course, Shaun and other nobles.

"Fortunately, the fish demons did not move on the shore, they did not attack the people on land, but the ships moored at the dock were damaged, nearly two hundred people died, and thirty cargo ships were burned, which can be described as miserable. Byrne briefly explained the details and said sadly, "It is said that the fish-man followed a cargo ship of the Xia Kingdom to Poitou, and the people on the cargo ship of the Xia Kingdom have been guarded by the garrison, and Director Daley is interrogating, but it is not clear why the fish demon is close to the coast. Viscount, you are the only one of us who has ever fought against the Fish Demon, what do you think?"

"Ladies and gentlemen, when I traveled south from the Holy City, I was on the wooden schooner Swan, and I encountered an fish demon at sea. It's a terrifying creature above the sea, they breathe freely in the water, and they have an army of terrifying sharks that can barely escape once they get close.

In the past two years, I have occasionally heard that humans have been attacked by fish demons, but the fish demons are also very aware that the clumsy weapons in their hands cannot defeat humans one-on-one, and their actions on the shore remain unchanged, so they have never dared to approach the shore. But now, obviously, something new has emerged, and I dare not judge whether this state of affairs will become the norm. Either the Xia Kingdom cargo ship seriously offended the fish demon and attracted a retaliatory pursuit, or the fish demon finally wanted to take the initiative to attack the human race. ”

"If it's the latter, it's a terrible situation. Because it will severely damage the trade of the port of Poitou, and even have a devastating effect on the empire's ocean-going trade. ”

As a banker, Siyes's first thought was the stocks and bonds he invested in related to overseas trade.

Stanley wasn't too worried about port trade and exports, because it wasn't much of an appetite for his already inflated appetite right now. Stanley Road:

"The fish demon is a monster in the water, they should be able to gouge through the bilge from the bottom, which is a mortal threat to all the wooden sailing ships at the moment, once they are gouged through, they can only be slaughtered. It seems, Viscount, that the construction of your ironclad ships needs to be accelerated. ”

Siyes's eyes lit up: "Viscount, you are ahead of everyone again. If you need funding from First Bank of Poitou, I'm here to help. ”

Sean was puzzled: "My mayor, Mr. Siyes, gentlemen, it's not a question of money at all, not even a matter of technology. Time, just time, I can't speed it up. ”

"Yes, the Kang's shipyard in East Poitu has just been built, and it will take time. Stanley nodded yes.

Everyone talked about the fish demon, and they had no clue other than reaching a consensus on building an ironclad ship. But the fish demon did not come ashore and fled, and the damage they caused in Poitu was still within the scope of bearing.

On the way back to Poitou, the group got more news one after another, the fish demon not only attacked Poitou, but also along the coastline, attacking all the passing merchant ships, and the imperial coastline was full of urgency.

Especially in the large seaports in the north, the losses were even heavier.

In short, what used to be only a legend and an occasional newspaper report has now become a reality.