Chapter 462: Quick One On Augustus

Inside the armoury warehouse, a row of twenty neatly polished cannons lay quietly. These cannons were the batch produced by the military workshop for export.

"Fourth Uncle, these cannons were custom-ordered by Dornhal and Ravencrest. They are about to be delivered to them soon. I’m afraid they can’t be sold to you right now," Prince Simon said with a smile.

Hearing this, Prince Augustus was quite disappointed. Every prince was stockpiling weapons to strengthen their power. Compared to them, he was falling behind, especially after learning these cannons were for Dornhal. He felt a strong sense of crisis.

Although he was unhappy that Prince Simon was selling cannons to Dornhal, he understood that his nephew sold weapons to whoever had money. He even suspected that if the Eldorian Empire’s sworn enemies offered a high price, Prince Simon would sell to them too.

Thinking of this, Prince Augustus’ eyes shifted slightly. "Nephew, since we are all part of the royal family, business should be more personal. Why don’t you sell this batch of cannons to your uncle first, and produce another batch for them later?"

Those cannons were purposely left opened by Prince Simon in the warehouse. They weren’t actually prepared for anyone in particular; he just used it to set a trap for Prince Augustus because Prince Augustus’ territory was a treasure land rich in mineral resources.

To get the rights to mine these resources, Prince Simon had to come up with some sly ideas. So he said, "Uncle, if you want those lovely cannons, that’s very easy. I will produce another batch just for you. If that doesn’t work, I’ll transfer some cannons from the army to you."

"Really?" Upon hearing this, Prince Augustus was overjoyed as he had a wild smile on his face.

Prince Simon nodded slightly and hinted, "Prince Dornhal bought 400 cannons from me this time, so I have to take care of yours as well, right?"

"Four hundred?" Prince Augustus gulp down dry saliva and said with a shaky voice as he was shocked, "Nephew, Your Uncle wants more than what Prince Dornhal offered. How about 550, yes! I want 550 cannons!"

"Five hundred and fifty? Are you being serious here? These 550 cannons won’t be cheap," Prince Simon said seriously. "I heard your treasury doesn’t have much silver. These 550 cannons will cost at least six or seven million caps of silver. This..."

Prince Augustus suddenly felt uneasy. Prince Simon had hit his sore spot. He indeed had little silver now. He suddenly remembered the last time when Prince Simon made him exchange coal mines for cannons and said, "Well Simon, if it’s really impossible, can I send some coal miners instead?"

Having experienced the shortage of iron ore, Prince Simon now deeply resented the lack of iron ore. Also, with the steam engine about to be used, coal consumption would greatly increase. The current mining output of the Eldorian Empire could not meet the demand.

However, he did not want to use too much manpower on mining. Instead, he planned to trade industrial goods for mineral resources, getting other princes to provide ores for him.

After all, even if he claimed more mines in their territories, those mines were still under their control. If relations soured, they could take them back at any time without any second thought.

So it was better to directly name cannons as the price to exchange for ores, making those princes his miners. He said in an innocent voice, "Fourth uncle, I really want to help but I have no power. Your territory has few people, so how can you have so many miners come over here? Since you sincerely want to buy cannons, why not exchange coal and iron ore directly?"

"Coal and iron ore?" Prince Augustus hesitated. He wanted to send in some miners. "Nephew, I do have some coal mines, but very little iron ore." He said in a bitter voice.

Prince Augustus’ territory included the current Hebenon region. Of which this area has the largest iron ore reserves in the Eldorian Empire. Because of this, it became a steel production base. Prince Augustus was like a man in a treasure mountain who was yet to know the real value of the mountain.

Prince Simon smiled and said, "Uncle, you underestimate yourself. Your territory has more iron ore than coal. If you don’t believe me, I can help you find some. But mining the iron ore can only be done by..." Simon did not finish the sentence.

Prince Augustus was always a person who relied on the resources around him. Since coal and iron ore could be sold for money, why not? Excited, he said, "Simon, if what you say is true..." Augustus didn’t get to finish his words.

"True," Simon interpreted.

Hearing this, Prince Augustus nodded. "If it is as you say, then I will send people to mine and exchange ores for cannons."

"Uncle is indeed very generous. It’s settled then," Prince Simon said with a narrowed eye. His first plan was complete. To make the Eldorian Empire become the resource supplier for Brambleford, he had worked very hard.

For him, the world’s resources were limited. If he ate more, others would eat less. That’s why countries kept scheming against each other to get more resources.

The current wealth of Western countries was built on controlling living resources. And Prince Simon understood this very well, so he was preparing to start a journey to make the whole world work for Brambleford. Now it was time for him to trade high-tech products for one hundred million.

While Prince Simon was busy planning the resource acquisition, an unexpected event suddenly made the atmosphere in Brambleford tense.

"Doctor Oscar is dead!" When Baldwin said this, his expression was grave.

"Dead? How did he die?" Prince Simon asked as the news was like a shocker to his bones.

Baldwin said, "According to the official investigation, it is confirmed that Doctor Oscar was poisoned with some kind of deadly chemical. Now there are rumours flying among the people that Doctor Oscar was forced to death by Your Highness. I suspect someone is stirring up trouble to slander Your name and put pressure on you"

Hearing this, Simon’s expression turned cold. He had only asked Doctor Oscar to go back and think things over carefully. It had only been a few days, but all of a sudden, he was receiving news that Doctor Oscar had died. Not only Baldwin, but Simon also found this news very strange.

"Tell me what happened," Simon said irritably. Although he disliked Doctor Oscar’s rigidity, he was a good doctor. It was painful that he died for no reason.

"Doctor Sun was highly respected in the whole of Brambleford. After this incident, many religious scholars talked, accusing Your Highness’ Oxford Academy of being heretical. They implied that you use Oxford Academy to break the rules, disobeyed the ancestors’ laws, violated heaven’s principles, and committed great treason among others."

A moment ago, he was conducting business, now..

Hearing this, Prince Simon felt like a knife was being pushed forcefully into his heart for no reason.