Mrs. Theodora seemed to think that her husband and daughter staying at the negotiating table would not only not help her, but also most likely "elbow outward", revealing her bargaining chips, so she made a look, sent the two "pig teammates" away, and started a protracted battle to discuss with Roland the cost of each link of the Southern Railway Project one by one.

For the next few days, Roland's main task was to rub shoulders with Lady Theodora. Considering that this cooperation in the construction of the Southern Railway will set the tone and even a model for other cooperation projects between the two sides in the future, Roland did not dare to take those seemingly trivial details lightly, not only summoned the entourage from the Ministry of Communications to the negotiating table to brainstorm, but also used the "magic guide intercom" to keep in touch with the old man Matvey, who was in command of the main line of the Southern Railway in Great Falls, and listened to the professional opinions of the Minister of Transportation on the terms of the negotiation.

There are many links involved in the negotiation, the process is very cumbersome, but there is no principled difference between the two sides, Parnia is not bad for money, compared to the cost of the project, Mrs. Theodora attaches more importance to the quality of the project and the progress of the construction, as long as these two points can be guaranteed, the other is good to discuss.

During the negotiations, two relatively large disputes arose. The first is the issue of schedule. Lady Theodora hopes that the entire Southern Railway will be completed within two years, but Matvey told Roland that "with the current size of the railway construction team in the Far East, it will be a dream to complete the railway in two years, unless the follow-up work of the Northern Line is temporarily shelved and the construction of the Southern Railway is fully committed."

So is it feasible to put the follow-up work of the Northern Railway on hold for the time being? Matvey is in denial. The Northern Railway, which has reached Valle Village, will next bypass the Misty Marshes, cross the Balles Pass, and cross the Lucian Plateau to the North Bay. At the beginning, the construction of this difficult railway was first chosen to cope with the pressure of the Empire's crusade and pave a retreat route for the Imperial army as soon as possible, and second, to break through the north-south barrier, make full use of the steel resources and labor on the plateau, and connect Krasburg with the North Sea Federation, an important trade hub.

If the Northern Railway project is put on hold halfway, it will not only undermine the established national defense strategy, but also greatly disappoint the residents of Kitland, Dragon City, and the city-states of the North Sea, who eagerly await the construction of the railway in front of their homes, and the credibility of the Korras government will also be damaged.

In view of the above factors, Roland and Matvey discussed and reached a consensus: the established plan for the Northern Railway project could not be easily changed, and the work must resume on time in May next year. Seeing Roland's resolute attitude, Lady Theodora had to take a step back and relax the construction period of the Southern Railway to three years.

With the current scale of the railway construction team in the Far East, if the construction is carried out in the north for half a year (summer and autumn) and in the south for half a year (winter and spring), the result can only be that the projects in both places are forced to be postponed. If you want to complete the project on time, you can only expand the size of the construction team. According to Matvey's calculations, at least 30,000 more railway workers will be recruited.

Recruiting workers in Parnia was obviously not a good idea, and the Kitlanders were better suited to the hard work of sleeping in the open and demanded much lower wages than the Parnians. In order to solve the labor problem, Roland got in touch with Beowulf, lord of Kitland, and exchanged views with Shabalin Plekhanov, founder of the Kitland Labor Dispatch Company and leader of the labor union, and finally reached a tripartite agreement:

Kitland Labor Dispatch Company promised to send no less than 30,000 railway workers to Far East Road and Bridge Construction Company in three batches within six months; The wage rate is the same as that of the current employees of the Road and Bridge Company, but the Parnia government has promised to provide an additional subsistence allowance to the railway workers according to the price standards in the peninsula – in fact, the nominal wage standard is the same as the original benefit.

As for why not raise wages directly? The people involved in the negotiation are either high-level government officials or trade union leaders, and of course understand that the wage standard of an industry is also a dangerous "bomb".

Shabalin accepted Roland's commission, but he alone said that it didn't count. Although he is the founder of the Kitland Labor Dispatch Company, he himself holds only 10% of the company's shares, other union officials jointly hold 30% of the shares, and the remaining 60% of the shares belong to the Kitland city-state government, which is a standard "state-owned enterprise", and Beowulf, as the lord of Kitland, has a veto power over the company's major decisions. In addition, because the labor dispatch company is a trade union and is subject to the supervision of the Federation of Trade Unions of the Kingdom of Kolas, Roland was recently appointed by the cabinet as the chairman of the General Trade Union, so this tripartite cooperation agreement must be signed by him before it can take effect.

Finally arranging the construction schedule, Mrs. Theodora put forward another request that caused Roland a headache - related to the power guarantee after the completion of the railway.

When Mrs. Theodora learned that Roland had established a locomotive production plant on Koras Island in the North Bay, she asked the locomotives produced by the factory to be supplied to the Southern Railway as a priority, striving to complete the railway at the same time as the completion of the railway.

However, Roland thought that the other party's request was unrealistic. The Magic Locomotive Plant is still preparing to build a production line, and it is unlikely that it will be put into operation before the end of the year, and even according to the most optimistic estimates, the production of locomotives in three years will not be high, and it will not be able to provide power for the railways in the Far East, and it has no intention of exporting locomotives to Parnia or any other country.

"The locomotive factory has insufficient capacity, so why not expand the scale and build a few more branches?" Lady Theodora asked as a matter of course.

"You think I don't want to?" Roland spread his hands out, his face full of helplessness, "However, the construction of the Magic Guide Locomotive Factory costs a lot of money, and the Koras government doesn't have that much budget!" ”

Lady Theodora smiled knowingly and said lightly: "The problems that money can solve are not big problems, you can tell you how much is missing, and the Parnia Investment Bureau will comprehensively evaluate whether it is profitable to provide financing services for the Magic Locomotive Factory." ”

Is it profitable? The answer, of course, is yes.

Roland and Lady Theodora signed a memorandum of understanding to set up a factory, and if nothing else, the Parnia will inject 8 million gold talers into the Magic Locomotive Factory on Koras Island in exchange for 40% of the shares, which will be used to expand the locomotive factory, which is expected to double the production capacity of the Magic Locomotive and ensure that the Southern Railway will be ready for operation as soon as the main line of the Southern Railway is completed in three years.