Midyear Report II

The former Commerce Department Rabik, had been appointed as the governor of Qinghe County by Victor due to his outstanding performance during his tenure. The current Commerce Department is a newly promoted one, and is Rivado, the former deputy director of the Commerce Department.

This was his first time participating in such a high-level meeting. He had been listening very attentively to the speeches of his seniors, and now that it was his turn, coupled with the fact that he was probably the only civilian present, he seemed a little nervous.

However, Rivado quickly calmed down and began his report, "In the first half of this year, the factories and caravans of various countries in the territory have achieved good results, which is inseparable from the Duke's guidance and the full support of various departments in the territory."

In the first half of the year, the territory generated 167,000 gold in trade and earned 58,000 gold in profit, representing a year-on-year increase of over 110%.

However, Duke Grace, you know this.

The rapid growth was partly due to the stabilization of the situation in Qinghe County, which allowed trade activities there to resume.

On the other hand, the territory made a fortune from selling steam Steam Engine, thanks to the successful recruitment at this Steam Engine sales fair. The economic data for the second half of the year may not be as impressive as the first half.

Victor nodded after listening. "I understand, you can continue your report!"

"Currently, the territory's key products are still generating good profits. Sugar, iron, and wine are selling well throughout the northern and even central parts of the continent, attracting a large number of merchants to come and buy them."

This year, the territory's manufacturing industry has also developed very rapidly, and various machine products and parts produced in the territory have been widely welcomed.

In particular, the territory's flagship products, the flour mill and carriage bearings, are now being showcased. The latest model of the flour mill has been redesigned to accommodate various power sources, including animal power, water power, and wind power. It can even be used with the Steam Engine sold in the area if conditions permit.

More than 2,400 units were sold in the first half of the year alone, and the First Machinery Factory is still fully booked with orders. We have to work overtime to complete this year's orders.

With the annihilation of the former Marquis Papyrus of the East Sea Alliance, the papyrus plantations within their former territory have been severely damaged. Currently, the Two Rivers Paper produced in their territory has essentially taken over most of the market in the northeastern part of the continent, especially in the former Vela and East Sea Alliance regions.

As soon as he finished speaking, he was met with laughter from the crowd. Rivado a little confused, but Victor simply nodded to signal him to continue.

After all, Rivado had just taken office as Minister of the Commerce Department and had limited authority. He didn't know much about many things. The army that attacked Marquis Papyrus was the Vela Nobles army. The destruction of the Papyrus plantation was also at Victor's behest. Otherwise, how could the Two Rivers Paper have such a good opportunity to wantonly seize the market?

"The entire Two Rivers Paper Industry achieved a profit of over 2,000 yuan in the first half of this year. It is foreseeable that as the war ends and the situation in eastern China returns to stability, the demand for paper will recover significantly."

Our Two Rivers Paper is of high quality and low price, and it definitely has the potential to become a new flagship product in our territory.

Our Commerce Department estimates that the future paper trade gap in eastern China will reach 100 million yuan. If we can capture all of it, the annual profit will not be less than 4,000 million yuan.

I suggest we immediately expand the scale of the Two Rivers Paper Industry Mill.

Victor nodded. "The Commerce Department has done a very good job. The data statistics are detailed, and they can also provide suggestions. All departments should learn from them."

However, I have an idea. Currently, the Commerce Department is coordinating the sales and trade of all industries in the territory, which is too complicated. Such a workload is not conducive to the Commerce Department, so I plan to adjust the division of labor.

The original sugar industry and wineries will not be adjusted and will still be the responsibility of the Commerce Department. However, the sales of important raw material industries such as iron and grain will be transferred to the Industrial Department and the Agricultural Department to facilitate their adjustment of industrial structure.

In particular, steel sales were entirely handled by the Steelworks themselves, with the Industrial Department adjusting production plans and production and sales being carried out according to the needs of various departments within the territory.

The sale of industrial products was also left to the individual factories within the territory, who would sell according to their own production capacity to avoid excessive order backlogs of the same type of product, which could affect the production of other products in the factory.

Rivado was completely stunned when he heard these words. One minute he was praising the work of the Commerce Department, and the next he was going to start stripping the Commerce Department of its power.

I've only just become a minister, and His Duke is doing this. How am I supposed to explain this to my colleagues in the ministry?

But Victor ignored Rivado and continued to explain, "I have my reasons for doing this. While the Commerce Department's management of trade and sales facilitates unified pricing, it has also brought many negative impacts as the territory's industries have expanded."

Especially after the price was standardized, the Vela Region basically monopolized the market with its flagship products from the Two Rivers County. The related industries in other noble territories declined sharply, and many nobles began to complain. Although I am Duke, I cannot ignore their feelings.

Next, the sales prices of major raw materials in the territory will be adjusted according to the overall market situation. We can't take everything; we have to leave some for others.

In addition, a situation has arisen where, although the military industry can purchase these raw materials produced within the territory at cost price, it is now finding that the required quantities are simply unavailable within the territory.

This year, the Arms Factory and shipyard also reported this issue to Victor. They needed to expand production and wanted to buy steel within the territory, but they found that most of the Steelworks's capacity had already been sold by the Commerce Department in the form of futures orders, leaving them without any stock.

As a result, the two factories were unable to purchase the raw materials in the Two Rivers County at cost price. In order to meet the deadline, the two factories had no choice but to buy the required raw materials from the merchants at a price higher than the market price.

As a result, although the orders from the military were completed on time, neither factory made a profit; instead, they lost money.

This situation immediately drew Victor's attention upon being reported.

Previously, the territory had not imposed any restrictions on the Commerce Department in order to increase tax revenue, which resulted in this situation.

Logically speaking, the Commerce Department's contribution to the territory should be enormous, providing substantial funds for the territory's development by selling a large number of the territory's specialty products.

However, Victor felt that the current situation was dangerous. The Commerce Department, in order to make profits, was demanding that related industries in the territory expand production without taking into account the actual industrial planning of the territory, which could easily lead to overheating of the industry.

Another point is that the territory is in a state of rapid development, and many important materials are limited by production capacity. If most of the production capacity is sold within the territory, it may affect the territory's development.

Steel has always been the territory's flagship product. In many cases, the Golden Sunflower Family's trade has relied on steel trade to gain a foothold, since high-quality and inexpensive steel products like those from Two Rivers County are rare in the entire eastern part of the continent.

The territory's Steelworks now has a large steel production scale, exceeding 15,000 tons, and pig iron production exceeds tons, which is basically far above the average level of the continent.

However, the territory itself consumes most of the current steel production, with only one-third being sold externally.

After all, the territory needed far too much steel for its largest project, the railway construction.

Currently, both the iron ore mines and steel mills in the territory are operating at almost full capacity.

The Industrial Department is also seeking to expand the production capacity of these two pillar enterprises, but it will take some time.

Victor certainly didn't want his family's steel sales to lead to a shortage of construction materials for his own territory.

After weighing the pros and cons, Victor decided to reclaim some of the Commerce Department's powers. They would not reclaim the authority to regulate commercial trade, but the Commerce Department would no longer lead sales for certain industries that were under strict control.

This is good news for the Commerce Department, and even better for the territory, although most people within the Commerce Department may not be entirely satisfied.

It was with this in mind that Victor transferred former Commerce Department, Baron Rabik, to Qinghe County as governor, partly as a reward and partly to facilitate the adjustment of the Commerce Department's responsibilities.

Otherwise, if Baron Rabik were still around, he certainly wouldn't have given up these powers of the Commerce Department so easily, and he would definitely have tried to delay things, which would have been very troublesome. Therefore, Victor had no choice but to send him away ahead of time.

While the current Minister of the Commerce Department Rivado, was somewhat reluctant, his voice carried little weight, and he could only silently accept the situation.