Chapter 44: A Triple Win!

“Building roads won’t actually result in a loss. Everyone is well aware that our current atrocious road system costs us dearly. Every day, a massive number of ships have no cargo to load, but I doubt anyone has calculated exactly how much we are losing.”

Su Na looked at the crowd and continued: “According to my calculations, if the road construction is completed, our current transport efficiency can increase by roughly three times. In other words, our deserved earnings will be more than double what they are now.”

“Of course, I am not just making empty claims.”

Su Na waved her hand, signaling the maids to bring up two parchment drawing boards. On them was a map of the current route from the Fafnir territory to the port city of Tanix.

There were many small paths on it, but when consolidated, there were only three main roads. Given the poor infrastructure of this world, these three main roads were, to put it bluntly, nothing more than three dirt roads formed by four lanes of rutted wheel tracks.

To transport goods on such a road, you had to pray that none of the carriages along the entire route encountered any problems. If even a single wheel broke or got stuck, you had no choice but to wait, or possess the strength of an ox to pry your carriage out of a rut a third of a wheel deep and drag it to another lane.

Under these conditions, if the roads were repaved with cement, claiming efficiency would merely double was a conservative underestimate.

The other map was naturally an idealized diagram of the planned roads after construction.

Pointing to the diagram, Su Na explained her concept in detail: “Building roads will not only increase our potential earnings—though everyone might not feel strongly about that just from hearing it—but I will also focus on whether the costs we invest into the road itself can be recovered normally once it is built.”

“In fact, it is completely feasible. First, the daily carriage traffic on these three roads is evident. We can jointly supervise and establish toll stations in these areas to charge a fixed fee on passing carriages. The revenue generated can be used to repay the gold coins you all invest.”

“Second, a better and smoother road environment will provide us with the opportunity to set up rest and resupply stations along the road system for passing vehicles. Restocking these stations will no longer consume massive amounts of time and transport costs, and the profits generated here can also be used to repay the investment.”

“Coupled with the multiplied increase in our existing earnings that I calculated earlier, I believe this project is a guaranteed profitable venture.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the crowd erupted into discussion. All sorts of expressions could be found on their faces, while she casually picked up a pastry and ate it slowly.

The pastries around her were specially tailored to her taste. A faint sweetness had replaced the shockingly sugary confections from before, making them much more pleasant to eat.

She truly wasn’t trying to deceive them. The model of borrowing money to build roads and charging tolls to repay the debt had already been proven viable in her previous life. Moreover, she had chosen the golden corridor between the Fafnir territory and the port city. One might lose money elsewhere, but absolutely never here.

By her conservative estimate, if the road was opened and the carriage wheels were fitted with vulcanized rubber tires, once the entire route was widened, tripling the traffic volume would be more than easily achievable.

Her goals extended far beyond this. This golden trade route was merely a reassurance pill for these people. It would let them taste the sweetness and establish the fundamental trust of handing their money over for her to manage and invest, making them believe she had the ability to make their money spawn more money.

As long as she could pool together the profits they had earned because of the Fafnir production center, she would have countless ways to put that money where it belonged.

For instance, building a railway transport system alongside the road network—didn’t she just secure the start-up capital needed for manufacturing steam trains? The low cost of railway transport was so absurd she was afraid they would treat her as a massive fraud if she brought it up now.

Or, for example, researching and developing more advanced steamships with higher cargo capacities, faster speeds, and better economic efficiency—wouldn’t funding and buyers both be secured?

She could use their money to build what she wanted, use the finished products as prototype cases to market to them, and use their orders to continuously cultivate and enrich the entire industrial chain.

Calculated this way, a “win-win” was weak; she was achieving a triple win! Winning three times over.

“If everyone still has concerns, I can use this commercial street land deed and the future five-year profits of the Fafnir Merchant Guild that will be built upon it as collateral for this investment project.”

Su Na took out the land deed gifted by Princess Caitlin, and the eyes of everyone present instantly lit up. The concepts Su Na had proposed were somewhat beyond their scope of knowledge, so their concerns naturally couldn’t be easily dispelled.