Having a powerful lord as a father figure, what's wrong with just wanting to draw cards?

In the noble procession, Mitch nudged Carlos in the groin with his elbow and whispered, "Why did Domi go up there? Did you order him to?"

Carlos shook his head: "Domi said he had something to do, and I think he meant now."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Domi took a deep breath, and then, under the watchful eyes of many of the empire's top figures, said neither humbly nor arrogantly:

"My proposal is called the State Monopoly System for Salt and Iron."

Salt and iron are essential parts of people's daily lives. For example, people don't have luxury goods; they won't spend their limited money to buy them. But if people don't eat salt, their bodily functions cannot be guaranteed.

My college advisor, Stewart, taught poisons, and during that time he also explained the relationship between the human body and salt. He said that if a person is deprived of salt for a long time, they will experience symptoms such as loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, rapid heart rate, weak pulse, muscle spasms, blurred vision, and weakened reaction.

Therefore, even the poorest people will spend money to buy salt; the same principle applies to iron as a tool for production.

At this point, some people had already guessed Domi's intentions. Considering the benefits involved, they suddenly felt that Domi was the real genius.

Domi continued to present the plan:

"Currently, the salt and iron industries in the empire are mostly controlled by small and large workshops, large merchants, and various nobles..."

The nobles present all changed their expressions drastically. Of course, they knew how much profit these industries could bring, because they were already involved in them. If the salt and iron industries were to be state monopolized, it would be like cutting flesh off their bodies!

Therefore, the nobles who were allied with Cumberbatch and Bedford, at the behest of the two heads of the family, jumped out to oppose it:

"Your Majesty, I believe this bill involves too many industries and interests, and once it is promulgated, it may cause considerable turmoil to the entire empire!"

"Yes, Your Majesty, please reconsider! We are already facing external threats; we cannot afford to have internal troubles as well!"

They were right. Touching the interests of too many people was indeed a sore point for the emperor. He looked at Domi, hoping that he had realized this sooner rather than later.

But Domi remained calm and continued steadily:

"Please be patient, everyone, I haven't finished speaking yet."

"I believe that the two important industries of salt and iron must be controlled by the state in the future, because they will bring the country a long-term, stable and huge income, and it is more reasonable for the state to control them."

But you can't get fat in a day; you have to eat one bite at a time.

Given the current shortage of funds in the Imperial treasury, which prevents us from having enough money for a peaceful ransom, I suggest that the unconditional peaceful ransom be postponed for ten years.

Domi's lips curled up slightly, because his moment to perform was about to begin.

"Within ten years, the salt and iron industries will continue to be owned by their original owners, but they will be required to pay a tithe, which means that one-tenth of their profits will be turned over to the national treasury. Only large-scale salt and iron industries will be allowed to continue operating. The production and sale of smuggled salt will be prohibited to prevent the outflow of production materials and capital."

The crowd immediately erupted in discussion, and the hall became incredibly lively. Everyone felt that this was indeed an excellent compromise that could solve the empire's current problems and give them some breathing room.

As emperor, his considerations differed from those of the powerful and wealthy who were only concerned with their own interests. He countered with a question:

"What size salt and iron plant can be considered 'large-scale'?"

Domi had anticipated this when drafting the bill and provided detailed standards for scale classification on the spot.

Burton was already overjoyed, but the necessary procedures still had to be followed:

Do any of you have any other opinions on this?

The crowd was no longer dissatisfied, but some people who loved to watch the drama kept turning their attention to Schlieffen, who was standing at the front.

"It must feel terrible to have a child step on your head!"

"Stop talking, or the Prime Minister will punish you."

Schlieffen remained silent until the very end.

"Very good, then hurry up and draft the bill on the state monopoly of salt and iron, and make sure it is detailed and clear."

“There’s no need to trouble you ministers,” Domi suddenly interrupted.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, the doors between the throne rooms opened, and he had his intelligence men bring out several scrolls and display them before Burton.

"I have already drafted the relevant bill. Your Majesty, why don't you review it and adopt it directly? This will greatly speed up the implementation process and will surely play a crucial role in the war on the front lines."

"You...did all of this in advance!?"

Burton took the scroll and examined it carefully. He found that many of the articles were written exceptionally clearly and exactly as he envisioned the perfect bill.

"Yes, the cooperation and assistance of many colleagues in the intelligence department were also indispensable."

In fact, the intelligence agencies had absolutely nothing to do with it; it was all Domi's doing all by himself.

Several years ago, during his period of "reinventing the wheel," he had already memorized the imperial laws completely. Drafting laws that were already clear to him was not a difficult task. The only point he needed to focus on was ensuring that they complied with the imperial laws.

Bringing the intelligence department along was actually a way to give his subordinates some benefits, to let them know that following him would bring them rewards.

"Excellent! Truly, heroes emerge from among the young! A great reward! Lord Dominic, whatever you desire, I will grant it to the fullest extent possible! Just for the immense contributions you have made to the nation."

Great, that's part of the plan too.

Seeing Domi's thorough preparations, Schlieffen felt something was amiss, as if he were being led by the nose by Domi, which he, as a person in power, disliked.

"Then please grant me the same right as the royal family to unconditionally and directly acquire the salt and iron industries."

Burton frowned. "You mean... you want to acquire the salt and iron industry?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. Rather than entrusting such an important industry to a group of ordinary people, it is better to entrust it to someone you can trust."

Burton, of course, wouldn't listen to Domi's side of the story, but after weighing the pros and cons, he chose to share some of the pie with the bill's proposer.

He felt that even with Bloomfield's backing, Domi wouldn't be able to get a large share at once, so he figured it was just a small favor.

"Lord Dominic, I must remind you, if you want to eat this cake, you have to be able to endure the scolding. Can you do that?"

Domi understood Burton's meaning very well:

"Your Majesty, I can do it."

"I hope you won't regret the decision you made today."

"I hope His Majesty will not regret it."

"How dare you!" Schlieffen, who had been mute for a while, finally spoke, but his words were directed at Domi: "How dare you speak to His Majesty like that!"

Schlieffen's voice was as deep, resonant, and powerful as a lion's, sending shivers down one's spine.

Just as he was about to continue his outburst, Burton raised his hand to stop him, giving Domi a deep look:

"I am the emperor, and I never break my promise to my subjects."

Domi bowed and then silently withdrew.

The court meeting thus officially concluded.

Unlike the last court meeting, this time the ministers quickened their pace as soon as they left the throne. It was obvious that they were all eager to get their own people to spend money to acquire salt and iron industries, lest someone else beat them to it.

As for why we did it?

Because the salt and iron industries were state-run, achieving a monopoly would inevitably lead to a sharp rise in prices. These prices were set by the royal family, but they would certainly be more expensive than the original prices.

Acquire the property before the bill is enacted, then reap the benefits. Ten years later, when the property appreciates in value, it can be peacefully redeemed by the royal family, allowing you to recoup your principal and interest.

Two words—a huge profit!

Everyone is smart and knows what to do at this moment, but there is someone who knew all of this earlier than them.

At this moment, Morey had already traveled by long-distance carriage to the eastern part of the Empire and reached an acquisition agreement with an ironworks.

The southern coast of the empire has many salt fields, and Mei has taken over nearly 90% of the privately owned salt fields and nearly 70% of the large commercial salt fields.

The eastern part of the empire has many mineral veins, iron mines, and iron smelters. What Morey is doing now is to use money to intimidate those mine owners and factory owners, and then snatch the property ownership certificates from them.

When the nobles and courtiers tried to acquire these businesses again, they found that they had all changed their names, but still retained the same name – Four Seasons Trading Company.

They knew about the Four Seasons Chamber of Commerce, but it seemed like the Chamber of Commerce knew about this even earlier than they did.

The next day, after witnessing the Four Seasons Trading Company use the same redemption rights as the royal family to directly buy the factory from the factory owner, they suddenly realized that the mastermind behind the Four Seasons Trading Company was none other than Dominic!

This guy is actually using the emperor's special permission to line his own pocket!