IBTCPOTME Novel - Chapter 109
Chapter 109
**Key Cities and Capitalists (3)**
“You won’t regret it.”
Hernando Mora was confident. This wasn’t the first time he’d made such a deal.
Jose Garcia, the President of the Philippines, carefully read the contract once again and signed it.
Swish- Swish-
“I hope this contract will be mutually beneficial.”
“Don’t worry. Our company has professional expertise in resource exploration and development. As I mentioned, we have been successfully executing similar contracts in various South American countries for years. The reason we could do that is because it was mutually beneficial.”
The overseas resource development business, which started with Colombian coal, Peruvian guano, and Chilean saltpeter, expanded to Venezuela. From the perspective of the government of that country, it was a convenient contract where they could have their resources explored and developed without investment, receive a share of the profits, and have local workers employed.
If they could, it would be more profitable to develop it themselves, but for countries that lack money, equipment, and technology, it’s not a bad choice, and Garcia, the President of the Philippines, who is more cautious than the South American dictators, agreed to it.
Thus, the ‘Contract for the Exploration and Development of the Mindanao Island Gold Mine’ was signed. It was a contract between the Philippine government and Mora Resources.
“I trust it because it’s a company owned by His Highness, the Crown Prince of the Mexican Empire.”
“Haha, it seems you’ve done a lot of research on His Highness.”
Hernando Mora was referring to the ‘Illegal Land Recovery Act’ that the Philippine government had recently passed and was implementing.
It was a bill to recover all the land owned by Spaniards who remained in the Philippines, the former governor who had proclaimed himself king, some of the privileged class who had shared benefits and land with that king, and everything within that land.
“The more I study about him, the more I think that the current golden age of Mexico was all created by him. He is someone who has inspired me a lot as the president of a newly independent nation about the direction our Philippines should take.”
“He is a great man. If you need any help implementing the bill, feel free to ask. I’m not a soldier, but I’ve been through these situations many times, and I’ve found that it helps a lot to collect and sell old weapons left in Mexico.”
“Ah, that’s okay. We have plenty of weapons from the Pacific Fleet.”
The weapons given by the Pacific Fleet were outdated in Mexico, but they were new in the Philippines.
Many people in the Philippines were resisting because they were about to be robbed of their property, but they couldn’t defeat the central army armed with the weapons they received.
Even if they won, it would be a problem. They thought that if the Philippine government was in danger, the Mexican Empire’s Pacific Fleet would likely intervene, so most of them weren’t resisting. This was because they knew that the Pacific Fleet had helped the new government subdue the provinces that hadn’t joined the Philippine Republic.
If they didn’t resist, they were allowed to pack valuables in large bags or carts, depending on the size of their land.
“I see. I wish the Philippines well.”
Hernando Mora was sincere.
His company had brought a lot of money to many countries in South America, but few of them used that money for the country.
The rulers were busy sharing the profits from selling resources with their loyal followers, and the people were still poor.
Even those who rose up using the people’s dissatisfaction as a pretext and succeeded in changing the regime committed similar acts, so the security situation became unstable, and the people were the ones who bore all the pain.
It was a relief that the Philippines didn’t seem to be going down that path.
***
“I’m going to the factory today. The sewage system can progress for a while without me.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
I had entrusted the construction of numerous buildings in the city, excluding the sewage system, to the architects of Ortega Construction, but there was one building I hadn’t.
It was the disinfectant production factory. This factory needs to start mass production of chlorinated lime and aluminum sulfate before the sewage system is completed.
When I arrived at the factory site, I saw Benito Gaitán already there.
“You’re early, as usual.”
“Your Highness! Of course. Isn’t this the site where the first factory of the company named after my surname is being built?”
Benito Gaitán, who was in charge of my chemical company ‘Gaitán,’ was a chemistry teacher at a university in Spain, but he became a professor at the Imperial University’s Chemical Engineering Department after accepting my scouting offer, and eventually ended up as the CEO of the new company I created.
“I hear that the ‘Gaitán’ headquarters in the city center is also under construction, but I didn’t expect you to be at the factory site.”
“The headquarters will be built well on its own, but not everyone is familiar with building factories that mass produce chemical products.”
“Well, that’s true.”
I nodded in satisfaction at Gaitán’s words. Didn’t he know what was important?
In the early days, I gave 10% of the company’s shares to each of the company’s executives, but the percentage of shares was decreasing for companies established later.
At that time, I had no foundation except for the title of Crown Prince, and it was difficult to get help from any connections.
I simply told them the plan, gave them a little money, and hoped they would do well on their own, but everyone did well, with varying degrees of success.
Now, thanks to the countless foundations I have built, it’s practically a guaranteed success, so I don’t give out many shares. It’s like getting a huge sum of money with almost no risk. But I do give some because I think it’s inevitable that their attitude will be different if they don’t get anything at all.
I had promised Gaitán a total of 2% of the shares in stages, depending on how well he grew the company according to the roadmap I had laid out, and seeing him at the factory construction site early in the morning made me think it was a good decision.
Even though the share percentage has decreased, I plan to continue naming the companies after the CEO’s name or surname, because I have confirmed that it has a tremendous motivating effect, as I expected.
‘It’s also easier to name them.’
Real Inversión, an investment company, was an exception because it was intended to emphasize that it was a ‘royal’ investment company.
“Speaking of which, how is Chihuahua? Isn’t it a bit disappointing that it’s much smaller than Morelia?”
“Not at all, I’m excited. Didn’t Your Highness share your plans with me? I know it’s going to be a great city soon, and you’ve given me permission to build my house, headquarters, factory, and research institute here, it’s like a dream.”
“Haha, I’m glad you think so.”
Actually, one of the strategies to foster the city’s industry was to establish the headquarters of ‘Gaitán’ here, and it was a relief that he was happy about it, even though I had decided unilaterally.
For companies that could have branches, I planned for them to all be in the cities that were being built, and there were quite a few companies like that.
‘Solis,’ which operates restaurants and hotels, ‘Rios Express,’ which handles logistics, ‘Rios Bank,’ which handles finance, ‘Ramon,’ which started with tents and jeans and has grown into a company that handles not only clothing but also various textile products, and ‘Real Inversión,’ an investment company, were among them.
I instructed them to recruit professional personnel with degrees from the headquarters, but to recruit as many people as possible locally for other job categories, so it would help with employment.
“You’ll be busy with mass production, but please continue with the research project on sewage treatment facility operation. It’s a system that only makes sense if it can be properly treated.”
“Yes, we’re conducting a lot of experiments with professors from the chemical engineering department and university students who are planning to go to graduate school, so we’ll be able to accumulate enough data before completion.”
Since the modern sewage system in this city is the first in the world, we need to build up the operating methods from scratch.
Even though I majored in civil engineering and know a lot about sewage systems, it’s about the structure and construction, not the operational details, such as how much disinfectant to use for a few liters of wastewater and what size filter to use.
That’s why I entrusted them with a research project to establish detailed operating methods, and it seems to be going well.
‘But, not just graduate students, but even university students who are planning to go to graduate school? That’s a bit···.’
But I didn’t stop him.
***
December 1, 1842.
A month had passed since the hot summer ended and winter arrived.
The labor environment survey was complete.
The labor environment of the Mexican Empire, which was frankly published in newspapers through the media, was horrifying.
“Is this really true? It doesn’t sound right, how can anyone work there if they’re made to work like this?”
“This friend is naive. This is the result of a survey that included not only us free people, but also all the peons.”
“Peons? Free people? Wasn’t everyone in Mexico free?”
“Ah, you came from Europe.”
Victor Erero, a city worker, explained to Henry, his colleague and friend, about peons.
“···So, even if the employer demands harsh working conditions, they can’t refuse. If they refuse, they can’t go anywhere else, so they’ll starve to death.”
“That’s···. Isn’t that slavery? I thought slavery was abolished in Mexico?”
“Ahem···. It’s unbelievable that there are still people who do this kind of thing to make a little more money. Tsk tsk.”
Victor’s face turned red when Henry asked in disbelief. Victor, a mestizo who was born and raised in Mexico, was ashamed.
Mexico was a proud country to him.
They had achieved independence on their own, defeated Spain, their rulers, and developed rapidly, even defeating France.
That wasn’t all. The royal family loved all the people. He knew from the media how indigenous people and black people, and various mixed-race people, were treated in other countries.
Mexico not only abolished slavery, but also provided benefits such as pioneer immigration and urban immigration to help people become independent as Mexicans.
Prices were steadily rising, but wages were also steadily rising, working conditions weren’t bad due to employment competition, and security was very stable.
Didn’t he praise Mexico’s many advantages with his colleague Henry, who had come for urban immigration, saying that there was no country like this?
But this was happening somewhere.
That night, Victor made up his mind. He would protest in front of Parliament after work tomorrow.
He wouldn’t have done that before. It wasn’t his business, and he would have been afraid that the landlord would retaliate. But now things have changed.
He was a free man, and a worker for a royal company. His financial situation was not affected by the landlord, and there was nothing the landlord could do to him.
Protests erupted in many cities, including Mexico City.
“Improve the labor environment!”
“Improve! Improve!”
“Enact a labor law that applies to everyone!”
“Enact! Enact!”
The workers demanded an improvement in the labor environment because it was a safety net for everyone, including themselves.
The labor environment isn’t bad now because of competition, but who knows how long that will last? Isn’t the population of the Mexican Empire exploding?
The large-scale protests, which hadn’t happened even when France declared war on Mexico, and the whole country was in fear, continued throughout December.
“It seems like public opinion is being formed.”
“Yes. Tell them to proceed as planned.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Towards the end of 1842, the Imperialist parliamentarians proposed a ‘Labor Law’ that would be applied to all citizens for the first time.
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