**Chapter 26**
**The British Empire (2)**
"They say you're good at finding people. Is that true?"
"I can find anyone you want, as long as you tell me who."
"Hold on. What kind of way to talk in front of the Crown Prince!"
Diego's indignant voice filled the room, but I liked Reginald's insolence.
"Diego, it's okay."
"Ahem."
"Well, you're bringing your loyal subordinates with you. What could you possibly want from someone like me?"
"Finding people is good, but what about gathering people?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, I want you to gather people who will immigrate to our Mexican Empire."
"Immigration? I can't say no, but it's a very bothersome task... It takes a long time, and it's not something that can be done once. I decline."
"Listen a little more and then think about it. You don't have any customers anyway."
Reginald's old office was dusty and empty.
"Ahem. I'll listen to your story anyway."
"You don't have to personally recruit people. You're good at finding people, so you can find someone suitable for recruitment, can't you?"
"···You're saying to find a suitable person and outsource it. Then, I'll have to share the money with that person, how much are you going to give them?"
"100 shillings per 100 families of immigrants."
At that time, a skilled laborer in London earned about 30 shillings a week, so it's a little less than a month's salary.
100 shillings is about 25 Pesos.
The compensation I receive from the Mexican Empire government is 50 Pesos per 100 families. I've invested half of that. The remaining 25 Pesos will be used for food, agricultural tools, and transportation costs for the immigrants.
50 Pesos seems ridiculously small compared to what Stephen Austin received, but in this world, I intervened in the contract and reduced the compensation. It's dangerous if too much money flows to him.
His contract initially paid a large amount for the first 300 families, and since then, the compensation has been decreasing with each renewal.
"He's probably getting about 50 Pesos per 100 families now."
"What, 100 shillings per 100 families? I don't even know how long it will take to gather 100 families, and even if I split it, it's not much."
"Why do you think it's too little? Think about it, you're not giving it to just one person, but to multiple people. What if you keep 20% and give the rest to 10 agents?"
"···It's not a small amount if you think about it that way. But that's from my perspective, and from the agents' perspective, they don't know how long it will take to gather 100 families, and they're only getting 80 shillings. It won't work properly."
Reginald seems to think it's too little compared to the effort of gathering 100 families of immigrants. I think differently.
"Think about it a little more. Didn't you say it was too little at first?"
"What do you mean... Oh! You mean to use subcontractors? Wait... Then, one person doesn't have to gather all 100 families, so if the second-tier subcontractor gathers 10 families, that's enough."
Reginald, getting a hint from my words, changed his expression, which had been indifferent until now.
"Yes, there's no time limit anyway. Then, that's something they can do as a side job, right?"
I even entice him by pointing out the advantage of it being a side job.
"That's true... It's an ingenious idea. But for some reason, it feels sinister."
Reginald mumbled, as if he had completely fallen for it.
"Sinister? Isn't it a good solution for everyone? You only have to manage the first-tier subcontractors, and the first-tier subcontractors can do their own work and only manage the second-tier subcontractors."
"Ahem... That's not wrong... Oh, right! I almost overlooked something important because of your sweet tongue! All of this is only possible if sufficient incentives are provided for the immigrants to immigrate! You wouldn't be trying to bring them in without any benefits, would you?"
"Oh, no. Of course not. Let's do it this way. I want to see your abilities too, so bring one person who would be suitable as a subcontractor. I'll tell him about the benefits provided to the immigrants in his presence, and we can see how much interest he has."
"Hmm... Alright."
"Bring an Irishman. You can do that, right?"
The Irish are the most in-demand immigrants right now.
"That's no problem, I can do it in a day."
"Good. Contact me here."
I handed him a piece of paper with my address.
I left Reginald's office and asked Diego.
"Diego, what did you think?"
"His attitude was quite insolent. ...But he didn't seem incompetent."
"Hmm... It's not that kind of person who would try to scam you. It's dangerous if they jump in without checking properly, their eyes bloodshot."
"That's right. His attitude was insolent, but it seems like he's completely fallen for Your Majesty's proposal. You're amazing as always."
"It couldn't be otherwise."
I brought up the multi-level marketing scheme that's still thriving today.
"Maybe I'll go down in history as the first multi-level marketing company."
***
Reginald Greenfield, as promised, contacted me the very next day.
He said he had found a suitable person and asked to meet the next day around lunchtime.
"The Irish are really important, so I hope it's a decent person."
The next day.
"Good day, Crown Prince. My name is Liam Murphy."
"Welcome."
Liam Murphy, the Irishman Reginald brought, was a man in his mid-30s.
I couldn't help but be sure he was Irish when I saw his Irish name and his characteristic red hair.
"Did Reginald tell you about the general idea?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. I've heard about what Reginald and I will do and the compensation. I've also heard that the most important part is to discuss the immigration benefits and then make a decision."
"It's good that you don't need to talk long. But before that, I want to know if you're the right person to recruit Irish immigrants. Do you have anything to say about that? You're not a Londoner of Irish descent, are you?"
"I was born and raised in Ireland. But a few years ago, Ireland's economic situation became so bad that I had to leave my homeland to find work and came to London."
He calmly explained himself. His appearance and tone of voice were world-weary, but I liked his lively eyes.
"That's right. Then, I'll tell you about the immigration conditions. Depending on the grade of the farmland in the settlement, but for a family of five, we'll give you at least 100 acres of undeveloped land for free. Of course, if the family size is smaller, you'll get less land. On top of that, you'll get a five-year tax exemption and basic agricultural tools and seeds will be lent to you."
"···It's a better offer than I expected. But the housing issue is a bit of a concern. If there's no house, we'll have to live in someone else's house until we save up money to build one, right?"
"He's meticulous. He's thinking from the perspective of an immigrant."
I could feel a sense of responsibility for bringing his people to a new land with his own hands.
"You don't have to save money to build a house. Basically, the people in the settlement will cooperate to build wooden houses. We'll let you use the wood nearby for free, on the condition that you replant it later. What do you think?"
Just like when I created the Sacramento settlement, carpenters hired by each village will be dispatched to lead the construction sites.
The settlers will build houses together, sharing their labor.
Liam Murphy, who had a serious expression, brightened up as I continued.
"It's such a good offer that I want to send my own family first. I really want to do this. Most of Ireland is suffering from extreme poverty, and many people are leaving their homeland. So, if the conditions are right, I'm confident that I can find people who want to immigrate."
Liam Murphy seemed happy with the offer, and Reginald, who was listening from the side, also reacted positively.
"Are you sure those are really good conditions?"
"Yes. With this, I'm worried that people will flock here even without me promoting it."
It seemed like they were more than just acquaintances, but friends.
"That good? Then, sending immigrants isn't a bad thing."
Reginald, hearing Liam's words, thought for a moment and then asked me.
"Your Majesty, how many is enough?"
"How many? You mean the number of people?"
"Yes, can we send an unlimited number?"
"You can send an unlimited number for at least a few years, so don't worry."
"You have to keep your word. I'm going to send a lot of people."
"Yes. But the incentive is payable later. I'll send the compensation on the return voyage after confirming the arrival of the immigrants."
"That's fine. The Crown Prince wouldn't cheat us, would he?"
"Haha, don't worry about that. Well, I'm counting on you."
I shook hands with Reginald and Liam.
Reginald agreed to take over as CEO of the immigration company and close his detective agency.
I wrote the immigration conditions on a piece of paper and signed my name at the bottom.
It's a document to give the immigrants a little more trust.
"Oh, right, Reginald. It's about immigration, but I'd like you to find a few people for me."
"What? ...I thought you were closing your detective agency."
"It's just occasionally. I'll pay you separately."
"If that's the case, I'm happy to do it."
***
Setting up an immigration company is the most important thing to do in England, but
"I'd be remiss if I came all this way and didn't bring back any talent."
The most needed technology in Mexico right now is steelmaking technology.
The top name in the field at this time, Henry Bessemer, was in England.
I went to the address Reginald gave me.
"Thank you for coming, but our Henry is still young. I'm sorry, but it's going to be difficult."
"···I understand."
I failed.
"He's only 16."
I only knew that he was around this time, but I didn't know his exact age.
I'll have to target the Bessemer process later.
"It was a wasted trip."
"Yes, he's too young at 16."
Besides, even if I brought a 16-year-old, there's no guarantee that he would be able to invent the Bessemer process.
He's still in the process of studying and gaining experience, and it would be like changing all of that.
"Well, let's quickly move on to the next person."
James Beaumont Neilson.
He's the inventor of the hot blast process.
The hot blast process is a steelmaking process that involves blowing hot air into the furnace, which is a significant invention that greatly reduces fuel consumption.
"This one might not be easy either."
It's January 1829, and James invented the hot blast process in 1828. In other words, he succeeded recently.
"What I want is not just a simple technology license, but technology development in Mexico."
It's going to be difficult to get someone who has already succeeded to immigrate, but there are points I can exploit.
"···You're the Crown Prince of the Mexican Empire?"
"Yes, I'm the Crown Prince. If you're really suspicious, you can verify it with the British government. I came here personally because I want to scout James."
"I'll take your word for it. And thank you very much, but I'm satisfied with my life in England. I'm sorry."
"I heard you're doing licensing business with your recent invention, the hot blast process. Do you have any interest in starting your own ironworks?"
Licensing business is common in modern times, but not in this era.
There's also a high risk of unauthorized copying, and it's not well-known, so I have to explain every detail of the contract from beginning to end.
"But there's a reason why he's doing licensing business. He's an inventor, not a large-scale iron production expert, but the biggest factor is that running an ironworks directly requires a lot of capital."
"···I'm not against the idea, but the licensing business doesn't require capital, and I don't have to run it myself and take risks, so it's not bad."
"If you come to the Mexican Empire and participate in technology development, I'll give you 3% of my steel company's shares. For your information, this company is worth 500,000 pounds."
"Then, that's 15,000 pounds, isn't it? It doesn't seem like that much..."
"I'm sure that if Mr. James comes and applies the hot blast process and further develops the technology, it will grow rapidly. There's only one large-scale ironworks in the vast Mexican Empire, and that's mine. You heard that the Mexican Empire recently won a war against Spain, right? The Mexican Empire will develop at an incredible pace from now on."
"Hmm. If you think about it that way, it's not small... But I still feel a little sad about leaving my foundation in England."
I had prepared one more move, knowing he would say that.
"Then, I'll help you with your licensing business in England. After all, the patent is already registered, and lawyers can handle the lawsuit, right? Mr. James can work in Mexico for a large sum and receive the licensing fees from England regularly."
"···You'll go that far?"
"Yes, Mr. James is worth it."
If Henry Bessemer is an S-class talent in the future of steel, James Neilson is an S-class talent in the present.
Compared to the enormous value he will create, this is nothing more than a pittance.
"Alright. I'll trust the Crown Prince. I'll have to start learning Spanish."
I've acquired an S-class talent in the steel field.
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