The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 1791 - 98: Royal Family Franchise_3

Leopold, upon hearing this, put down his glass and said, "The construction of the railway line in Belgium was the first major industrial project I initiated after becoming King. In 1831, during my first visit to Britain as king, I made a special effort to visit the major railway companies in London, and I also invited Mr. George Stephenson, the inventor of the Rocket, to Belgium. However, although our steam railway plan was proposed five years ago, the actual completion of the railway planning happened in 1833, and then Parliament took another year to approve it, followed by another year of construction. It wasn’t until the 5th of last month that the full 250-mile Brussels-Mechelen railway was officially completed and opened."

Arthur couldn’t help but smile upon hearing this: "Your Majesty, you’re being too modest. It was opened just last month? You’ve left the French, Prussians, and Austrians far behind in railway construction. I remember that the steam railways in other countries on the European Continent won’t be officially opened for at least another year or two."

Leopold raised his hand to signal Arthur to stop: "This is just a part of the national railway network plan in Belgium. According to our plan, we are about to start construction on four railway lines in the east, south, west, and north."

"According to our plan..." A hint of long-lost excitement mingled in Leopold’s tone: "Mechelen will serve as the national railway hub, with the eastern line extending to Liege and the Prussian border, the western line connecting to Bruges and the port of Ostend, the northern line leading to Antwerp and bordering the Netherlands, and the southern line running through Mons straight to the French border, totaling over eight hundred miles."

He paused and directed his gaze toward Arthur: "And half of these lines will be led by the government, with the other half set to be authorized to private enterprises. Incidentally, we’ve already passed a related ninety-year operational concession system in Parliament. In other words, are you interested in the railway construction in Belgium? I suspect that you might be, given that you’ve already made moves in Hanover, haven’t you?"

Arthur nodded slightly at the words but was inwardly lamenting his predicament.

The reason he initially invested in the railway in Hanover was partly to launder the embezzled aid funds from the Foreign Office, and partly to stabilize Schneider, binding this assistant undersecretary from the Foreign Office more closely with himself through joint investment, in case of his possible betrayal, and to make Schneider willingly help him transfer members of Garibaldi and Young Italy.

But now, Leopold is asking him to invest in railways...

If he accepts, he doesn’t have enough funds.

If he refuses, it might make this king, who has close ties to Kensington Palace, hold a grudge against him.

Arthur pondered for a while, then suddenly smiled and said, "Railway construction, Your Majesty, of course, I’m interested. However... rather than directly building railways, I now prefer making complementary investments. If you have needs in this area, I would naturally be very willing to help."

"Complementary investments?" Leopold was taken aback, a little confused by Arthur’s words: "You mean, opening a steel plant? Or, building locomotives?"

"No, no, rather than just doing the known fields step by step, I prefer to take a step ahead of others."

Leopold lightly furrowed his brows and asked, "You mean..."

Arthur laughed and said, "Your Majesty, have you heard of the wired telegraph? A mature railway line cannot do without telegraph technology."