In January 1749, after a journey of more than ten days, Wilhelm once again arrived in Polotsk. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

It's different from coming here quietly. This time, Wilhelm came here with great fanfare as the court minister of the Grand Duchy of Novgorod...... This made the Supreme Council of Polotsk all kinds uncomfortable.

They are now being infiltrated too much by the Hereford family. At the wharf, in the workshops, in the shops. The Herefords were almost like they were going to buy Polotsk. It occupies more than a quarter of Polotsk's business.

In addition to this, the Hereford family has a high status in the hearts of the Polotsk people. Both during the Great Depression, the bailout of Polotsk. Immediately afterward, he led the Polotsks to attack Novgorod and won the Crusader War, which made the Polotsks very convinced of William.

And then count, the Polotsks who joined the White Legion, as well as their relatives and friends. There are also employees and workers at Hereford Integrated, as well as their relatives and friends...... This amount is very staggering. It can be said that William already has a huge influence that can influence the United Province of Polotsk.

This made the Polotsk Supreme Council very dissatisfied.

In their opinion, this huge influence will undoubtedly lead Polotsk to slide heavily into the abyss of "being ruled by the aristocracy".

However, even if they knew this, there was nothing they could do. The effects of the previous economic crisis have not yet passed. Foreign capital has already taken up too much of the territory of Polotsk. Using the "economic" and "commercial" means they do best, it hardly works. In fact, even if it worked, these people didn't want to use it very much - the Hereford family's economic ties to Polotsk were too close. If they were to be completely expelled in this case, it would undoubtedly be Polotsk's life.

Moreover, with so many people in Polotsk relying on the Hereford family for food, they could not gain the support of ordinary citizens. Worse still, the Hereford family, which has extremely strong force, will use this as an excuse to launch an attack on Polotsk.

It is impossible to defeat the opponent by economic means. Militarily it is even more impossible to defeat the opponent. It is useless to use coercion. It has not yet been able to receive public support...... So what about a different way of thinking and using assassination?

It's not like no one had thought of this before. But they all failed.

What was the impression of William to the outside world? an excellent administrator, reformer, earl, heir to the House of Hereford, heir to the Grand Duke of Novgorod, son of Otto von Hereford, general of the Crusaders who defeated Novgorod......

But if the killers who went to assassinate William say. That is "a very terrifying, almost monster-like swordsman".

Yes, the killers - whether they are professional people who like to kill people by assassination, poisoning, trapping, sneak attack. Or some guys who have brain diseases and like to kill people in a more upright way. They were all dead.

All of them were killed by William.

Many people don't know what happened even if they die. However, there are also many people who figured it out before they died.

William, is the heir to the Hereford family. And one of the most famous points of the Hereford family is that it is rich in genius swordsmen.

"The administrative ability is excellent, the military command ability is excellent...... The personal combat effectiveness is very good and he looks so handsome...... It's a foul. ”

A killer who was cornered by William and barely had the power to fight back couldn't help but think this before he died.

And so, after a few assassinations, William became a little impatient, even though there were many people with whom he had been married. But so far, he really wants to kill him at any cost, and he knows only one.

So, after that, the Supreme Council of Polotsk received a letter from William. The letter "explicitly" implied that if they dared to do anything more, William would take the same hostile measures.

Considering the balance of forces between the two sides, the fear really angered William and then the whole army was annihilated. So the Supreme Council of Polotsk finally coaxed.

Not only did they stop their assassination plan against William, but they even prayed that other forces and other people would not assassinate William, so that William misunderstood that it was their hands, which was not fun.

And after William came to Polotsk, these guys hated William so much in their hearts. But he had to put on a smiling face and come to meet him outside the city of Riga. Obviously, in his heart, he longed for William to die now. But on the surface, he had to pay him a smile—not a smile, just because William had the power to destroy them.

People are under low eaves and have to bow their heads. In terms of the ability to judge the situation, merchants are more powerful than nobles.

Looking at the person who longed for him to die, he muttered vigorously in his heart, "Why don't you die", but on the surface he still had to be honest, William felt very happy. However, he did not humiliate the members of the Supreme Council too much. That doesn't make any sense at all, and it makes you look tasteless.

William only had a brief conversation with a few of the leading figures in the council, as well as a few capitulationists in the council. It is either to imply coercion, or to win over and express goodwill. After that, he refused the invitation of the council, saying that he would temporarily reside in the estate owned by the Hereford General Company.

Or in the next period, the Grand Duke's Congress will build a new embassy. At that time, please set aside a new neighborhood. ”

After saying this, William left without hesitation.

He's too busy to talk to these guys.

And his attitude of directly leaving all the members of the Supreme Council behind, of course, gained more hatred points.

Of course, William didn't care about those things.

Over the next few days, William inspected several of Hereford Integrated's large factories.

Unlike the vast majority of primitive people who do not yet know about large-scale, intensive production. From the very beginning, William's heart was very high. Many of the workshops he acquired have been reorganized, new factories have been planned, and new, advanced machinery and equipment have been acquired, which has greatly improved both the scale of production and the quality of products.

Here, William already owned a steam engine factory, a light industrial park, and a steam ship factory.

In the light industrial park, basic glass products, hardware tools, wood furniture, pottery and so on can be made. In addition to this, some luxury goods that need to be refined are also the same - compared to the steam engine factories and steam ship factories that are currently mainly used for their own steam engines. This concentration is dozens, close to hundreds, handicraft workshops. The regrouped light industrial park is even more profitable.

Or rather, the most profitable - in the past six months or so, the Light Industrial Park has been the only profitable enterprise under the Hereford Complex. It is much stronger than the steam engine and steam lathe factories that still have to pay for money, and the steam shipyards that are still in the research stage and cannot be produced by a special experimental steamship.

The problem with the former is sales. At the moment, neither Polotsk nor the Grand Duchy of Novgorod have much need for a steam engine.

The heavy industry factory in the Duchy of Mystia was also in a state of semi-shutdown because the sales of gunpowder weapons were not particularly good - and the reason for the poor sales of gunpowder weapons was naturally due to the end of the two great wars that affected the situation in the Old Continent - the Great Frontier War and the Civil War of the Ostrogothic Empire.

The Old World temporarily entered a period of peace with steady development. Although fools also know that this peace will soon be broken. War is the main theme of this world. But the problem of the arms backlog is a fact.

If the arms cannot be sold, the arms factories will not be able to operate. The munitions factories could not be opened, and the steel mills lost an important seller. If steelmaking and munitions do not start, the steam engine factories will naturally not start work...... The heavy industry system designed by William was already kneeling before it could move forward at full speed......

But William felt that it was not his fault!

Iron and steel - shipbuilding, railways, automobiles, munitions...... In the current large border areas, there is simply no place for large-scale use of steel. There are only two main sources of steel in today's steel mills. On the one hand, there are farm tools, and on the other hand, there are daily necessities. In addition, only a very small number of them are supplied to other factories, and the other factories are kept half-alive without stopping.

That's it.

Because of the irrational industrial structure, the Hereford family's heavy industrial production system is about to collapse. Every time he thought about it, William felt the urge to fall to his knees in the Orz position.

However, light industry is different.

After all, light industry has the advantages of low cost, short cycle and fast return on investment. The prices of all kinds of daily necessities for the general public, as well as various luxury goods for the nobility and merchants, remained high. It's easy to get your money back.

During the Great Depression in Polotsk, the light industrial products of the Hereford Complex occupied a significant market share. Today, the entire Great Frontier Region, including the four Grand Duchyes of Wende, is a market for Hereford Integrated's light industrial products. Even, some goods were circulated in the interior of the empire.

Moreover, because of the agreement with the Britons, William would be able to sell these goods to the Bretons propers and colonies after further expansion, provided that William had enough ships to transport them.

It can be said that the Hereford family is not bankrupt now, and the light industry production area has contributed a lot.