Akina Mountain Hachiman pushed up his glasses and didn't answer directly. "This planet's undergoing a massive construction boom. You've seen it, right?"
"I have. Actually, even from the perspective of an industrial enthusiast who isn't especially knowledgeable, this planet seems well suited to industrial development. All I can say is that the former colonial government spent the past twenty years doing nothing but coasting along."
"Huh? If that's the case, how did your family miss the business opportunities here?" Akina Mountain Hachiman asked in surprise.
"Heh. Even the Mars shipyards got their bays burned by the Fire Dragon. What could my family have done? Nowadays, all the directors named Rozes in the Rozes Industrial Group control less than forty percent of its shares between them, and they're not even united. But the directors representing the international banks and even the imperial lords across the border are often very much so. The elders in my family can't persuade the board to invest in a business that might not bring direct returns for another ten years."
Rozes sighed. "Hachiman, Yu Lian was right. Some people can't be dealt with through business alone."
"Fortunately, the Lumina people at Red Maple Factory really don't think of themselves as businesspeople. They're genuinely glad to see factories springing up along Tulong's coast and beside the ridges of the Qililuo Mountains. They want to see the Sandfolk leave behind their primitive city-states and nomadic tribes and enter factories and cities. And for most of the Sandfolk, seeing that is enough to make them accept the governance of Earth and the Community."
All of a sudden, Rozes felt that the Sandfolk leaders who had died in the many uprisings hadn't received the recognition they deserved. If they'd lived to see this day, they might well have become invaluable