For Perfikot, money is actually of little importance.
This is not an insincere excuse; to her, money truly has no meaning now.
Putting aside the fact that her various inventions could bring her astonishing wealth if she were willing to commercialize them, just by virtue of being the Northern Expedition Count, Perfikot could quickly acquire vast wealth that would allow her to live a life of luxury if she sold exploration documents.
This is not mere boasting; in fact, some have already, both overtly and covertly, expressed a willingness to pay a hefty sum to purchase a Pioneer Knight title from her.
After all, it is a hereditary noble title that can be passed down to descendants. Apart from Perfikot, only those who make outstanding contributions to the Empire each year can receive the rare honorary noble titles granted by the Royal Family, and these cannot be inherited.
New hereditary noble titles are exceedingly difficult to obtain in the current Victor Empire.
If such a title could be acquired merely by spending money, many people would be willing to pay handsomely for it.
In fact, were Perfikot willing to sell the appointment document for a Pioneer Knight, one could fetch at least fifty thousand gold pounds on the black market, and that’s without considering potential bidding wars.
To the emerging bourgeoisie, who have wealth but no noble titles, they do not mind spending money to acquire a prestigious title, even if it may cost them more in other ways.
They are willing to spend thirty thousand gold pounds just for a grand celebration, and additionally offered another fifty thousand for Perfikot’s attendance, clearly indicating they wouldn’t mind spending another fifty thousand for a hereditary Pioneer Knight title.
The big capitalists and major factory owners who can participate in Perfikot’s projects and plans certainly won’t lack this bit of money.
However, it is Perfikot herself who doesn’t lack money, and she must also consider the overall situation of the Northern Territory.
The current Northern Territory entirely relies on her personal finances. The funds raised by selling off her Alchemy Workshop and the sponsorships for the polar expedition plan have already been largely spent.
If the subsequent plans didn’t require her to spend out of her own pocket anymore and the taxes from these newly established factories wouldn’t start coming into the Northern Territory’s treasury, Perfikot might indeed have had to consider selling a few Pioneer Knight appointment documents to cover the fiscal deficit.
"But selling a few Pioneer Knight appointments..." Perfikot was seriously contemplating the feasibility of this action.
It wasn’t that she truly needed money, but she was considering how much benefit she could gain from doing so.
So far, although the Northern Territory development plan has already been initiated and the construction of the first pioneering town has begun, the overall progress is still too slow in her eyes.
After all, without the motivation of profit, it’s difficult for her leadership and investment alone to attract people to this endeavor eagerly.
In the absence of profit-driven incentives, those coming to the Northern Territory are more often ordinary citizens who struggle in the Empire or those wanting to improve their living conditions, or those who have committed offenses, owe debts, and have no choice but to distance themselves from the Empire’s mainland.
For example, the immigrants who have already settled in Fjord Town and those labor camps Perfikot had prepared earlier, which are now being prepared for shipping.
All because of a single incident, Perfikot had the gang in Langton’s civilian district rounded up and thrown into jail, ready to use them as labor for building the polar research base.
But due to some issues with the details, these laborers, who were supposed to be shipped in last year, are only now being prepared for shipping.
Moreover, they have now been given a more formal designation—the Punishment Camp.
Compared to Perfikot’s previous actions of simply throwing the gang members inside, this time the Punishment Camp sent by the Empire also includes some prisoners from prison and war captives from the previous three-nation war, which is one reason why the camp wasn’t sent to the Northern Territory immediately.
However, there is a silver lining: these people have undergone a degree of training in the Empire, and the troublesome ones have already been disciplined, saving Perfikot a lot of effort once they’ve been brought over.
As for how to utilize and settle these punishment camps, it’s currently a primary focus of Perfikot’s work.
According to her plan, these camps will be used for construction projects in the Northern Territory, and the soon-to-begin construction in the factory district will definitely require their labor.
Moreover, beyond just the factory district, the future Northern Territory’s capital, which Perfikot has in her plans, will also commence construction. These laborers will be very useful, and there might even be a shortage.
Thus, Perfikot needs to use some measures to make those major factory owners increase their investment, and a noble title of a Pioneer Knight can certainly inspire them to invest more in the Northern Territory.
After all, who wouldn’t want a hereditary noble title along with a fief that can be passed down?
Using a few appointment documents that are merely scribbles to her and several plots of wasteland to exchange for more resource investment in the Northern Territory is something beneficial and low-cost for Perfikot.
Given the vastness of the Northern Territory, even moving the entire Empire’s population here wouldn’t fill a tenth of it, so parceling out land for others to develop isn’t unacceptable.
Releasing a bit of this also helps dangle a carrot in front of those capitalists and factory owners, pushing them to work harder and invest more in the Northern Territory.
Even if the apocalypse comes, as long as the Northern Territory plan succeeds, the Empire could still survive. At that point, noble titles in the Northern Territory might be more valuable than those in the Empire’s mainland. Newest update provided by NovelHub(.)net
Since those mainland titles would become empty titles once the Empire’s mainland is abandoned, while those in the Northern Territory would be more valuable due to having real domains.
Thinking of this, Perfikot decided to bring out a few Pioneer Knight appointment documents for auction at the upcoming ceremony celebrating the commercial Flying Airship route inauguration; this would serve to both make money and encourage more people to come to the Northern Territory.
The foundation of the Northern Territory has already been somewhat established; more immigrants are needed to occupy this expansive and vast land.
As for the underground town construction, it’s not so urgent yet; although it indeed needs to be scheduled, without people and factories, any amount of planning would be futile, so attracting people first is the priority.
"Moreover, it’s not enough to just give an empty title and land; they must be required to complete the initial town construction within a year, or the document will be revoked." Perfikot doesn’t plan to simply hand over the title documents to those businessmen but intends to extract more from them.