The World Dragon's Heir - Chapter 694: And How To Implement Them

Chapter 694: And How To Implement Them

Earl Tarleigh simply shrugged. “It will take at least a week or two to gather all the trade route information and export data that we will need for a proper Royal Report. Unlike the factory, which simply needs to provide feasibility numbers for workers and raw materials, the trade data will run to hundreds of pages.

If we’re going to try to overlap on what the Guild is moving, we will need to work on the other end as well.

They are the ones with the strongest customer base, so unless we’re just going to sell to the Guild offices in another nation, and pocket the transport fees, not much would actually change.

But as we don’t personally know most of the Nobles, and we don’t have the Captains who do, the best we can do is run to the seaports that we already know.

That won’t expand trade by much, except for the speed.

And that’s not going to make up for the trade imbalance that the King is most worried about. It will still leave all the ground shipments going by Guild caravans, or independent merchants.

I think that this report will be a much more complex matter than the King thinks that it is going to be.”

Duke Seaveton nodded. “Tarleigh is right, this isn’t as simple of a matter as buying a bunch of equipment, which we are already doing. If we’re going to try to push the Guild out, we will have to replace them in a dozen different ways, and on the international stage, they’re still our most reliable middleman.

If we start trouble with them here, we could actually make things worse for ourselves internationally.”

Prince Alex nodded. “And I have told him as much. But he sees the potential for a much higher revenue to the Nobles, and he won’t rest until he has solid numbers in his hands.

Even if the numbers aren’t as large as he hoped, write up whatever tactic you think would be best.

If it means replacing naval vessels with high-speed airships to move more cargo internationally to make money on volume, write it up. More profit is more profit, and they can figure out where the goods are going to come from later.

I suspect that most of the answer is going to be Stansia Province, as they’ve all been recently added to the trade network.

The whole province has been productive lately, and they’re all new to Cygnia’s budget.

If they can produce enough to keep your airships busy, it’s all-new markets. Plus, the Nobles are here today, if you want to make deals to buy from them directly. Surely, the Guild won’t get too mad about direct deals between a seaport and factory cities.”

Duke Seaveton nodded. “That should be true. Nobody will be mad if we do our own internal shipping, picking things up for the ports. A lot of the other nations prefer to send their own trade ships to us as well, instead of trusting Cygnian trade ships to bring them what they need.

Like the King is thinking, everyone is in it for their own national interest.

So, it’s going to take some time to make the reports.

But I’m more interested in if someone is going to be able to replicate those airships. It’s not like they’re hard to spot, so every yard in the country, and four others, knows the dimensions and basic structure.

They’re bound to make them eventually, right?”

Dominic shrugged. “If they figure out the materials, sure. The real trick to them is the magical metals. They’re stronger and lighter than traditional construction, so we keep all our cargo capacity, even though the actual covering is nothing out of the ordinary.”

Prince Alex looked relieved, but didn’t say anything for a few seconds.

“Alright, I will leave you all to it. Good luck with your trade agreements. You can send the reports directly to me, as I will be serving as advisor on this matter. Now, I have others to meet, so I bid you farewell.”

“It’s been a pleasure, Your Highness.” Dominic agreed as the Prince left the room.

“Well, that was intense. But it doesn’t actually change anything in our deals. We’ve got the money for our purchases, and if the King is willing to finance, more that can come later.

So, can you put us on the list, preferably near the top?” Earl Tarleigh asked.

“Of course. That won’t be an issue, though if you’re buying as many as Seaveton wants, we might have to work a rotation between customers.”

“That makes sense. We can’t expect every other customer to wait a year or more for you to get through a massive order. Shipping them out in alternating order, so everyone on the list gets one every few months, will be a good start.”

“I can do that. If we can expand the factory, we can likely make parallel lines. One dedicated to the Nobles that the King wants to be pushed ahead of the line, and the other for all the other customers.

The actual list is usually short because these are not cheap vessels.

I will also have a whole list of specifications for you to choose between. There are options based on the crew you will have, and the intended use. If you’re going somewhere hostile, we can equip it with a few magitech cannons for defensive fire.

If you want maximum cargo capacity, or improved speed at the cost of cargo capacity, those are both possible as well.”

The two men took out notebooks and Dominic dug through his storage cube to bring out the basic specs of the airships.

“Look through those and tell me what you want altered. There are some options listed, based on what has already been considered, but other changes can be made.”

Earl Tarleigh ran his finger over the list as he took notes.

“Well, at least you did understand that ships need cannons. Even if they’re flying, they’re not alone in the sky, and they do need to land somewhere. We’re going to need at least six cannons, three per side.

Even a light frigate carries six cannons, and they mostly rely on speed not to be overtaken. That’s likely the strategy that these will use as well.

But what’s this about the crew’s magical standards?”

“You need at least one Techno Wizard to use some of the functions and to make repairs if anything breaks. It’s a magitech steam turbine engine. It will run on just the steam drive, but a bit of extra magic makes everything better.

Plus, having a mage on board who can activate a barrier spell makes it much less likely that someone will tear the envelope open with a grappling hook or cannonball.

It’s a helium balloon, after all. If you lose all the gas, you’re coming down.”

“Right. That would be the reason they carry so much more without any magical assistance. The hot air envelopes with a heavy dose of magic are what we’d been trying in the past.”

“Everything is a tradeoff. However, if you have a barrier and a mage to operate it, they come equipped with a magitech orb to refill the helium, should you spring a leak.

In short, the mage is an important part of the crew.”

“Got it. New crew composition, perhaps hire some mages as Captains.”