Bianchi Bicycle Company

After receiving the gifts from the three people, Altair, as the host of the tea party, led everyone to the Reception Hall without hesitation.

After the servants had set out the tea and refreshments, everyone began to chat, discussing everything from the warmer weather to the flowers in the garden.

From natural environmental issues to aristocratic social gossip such as which nobleman is pursuing whom, which noble lady is engaged, and even fashion and aesthetics—the five of them could talk about anything.

Until Audrey brought up the most controversial topic recently, the Grain Act. She asked curiously, "Why is it that so many people clearly understand that if this act were repealed, numerous drawbacks would occur, such as: a sharp drop in food prices, a decline in land rents, a sharp decrease in the income of nobles, and farmers losing income due to food price drops, leading them to migrate to cities for factory work, resulting in lower wages for more workers—"

"Why did the House of Commons of Representatives pass this proposal to repeal the Grain Act? Was the act really that bad?"

The four people at the table did not respond to this question. Instead, they all fell silent and began to sip their black tea.

During the tea tasting, they continued to observe each other, neither wanting to break the silence.

Altair was well aware of everyone's thoughts. "The Tiffany family, although an old noble family, had the foresight of the previous family head, her grandfather, who accepted reforms early on, and the family business had long since transformed from landownership to factory ownership."

"Now, her family owns steel and coal factories all over the country."

"The main reason her family still retains a large amount of land is due to the Land Retention Abolition Act passed by the House of Lords, which stipulates that 'losing land means losing one's title.' Without this act, her family would have abandoned their land assets long ago."

"So even if the Corn Law is repealed, it won't affect her family. They can simply ignore it and not get involved."

"Hether, being Sanguine, although unaware of how large sums of money are made, frankly, human money is less attractive to them than blood."

"Besides, there aren't any truly poor Sanguine. But setting aside their amazing pharmaceutical abilities, just considering how long they've lived, any items they manage to salvage would be antiques, and they could probably fetch a good amount of money if they were put up for sale."

"For example, Emlyn White, one of the Celestial Three Fools," he seems like just an ordinary New Life Sanguine, but that wall of Emlyn's is equivalent to two houses in Bexland."

"Moreover, Hether married Owen after she came of age, making them a perfect match and they certainly wouldn't lack money."

Vivian, on the other hand, comes from a fallen noble family in Intis and is also Beyonder with the Demoness Pathway. From her perspective, the chaos in the Loen Kingdom has basically nothing to do with her family; she might even consider adding fuel to the fire to help her complete her role as quickly as possible.

"As for Altair herself, she was fully aware that this matter involved the interests of many parties, including the Augustus Family the Royal Family of Ruun family, the Twilight Hermit Society, and the Psychology Alchemists. Anyone who stood in her way would suffer the consequences."

"Even if I Soothsayer and intervened, it wouldn't have mattered. If I angered Adam, he might just devise a whole scenario for me, and that would be disastrous."

"Moreover, this matter was fundamentally unavoidable. Because it belongs to the inevitable 'tide of the times.'"

"Adam and his colleagues' efforts to drive change merely accelerated the pace of the 'flood'."

Seeing the silence around them, Altair took a sip of tea and, to lighten the mood, smiled and explained, "Audrey, it's not surprising that the members of the House of Commons of the Loen Kingdom passed the proposal to repeal the Corn Law in such a short time, because it's a choice made in their own interests."

"Audrey, all you need to know is why this is progressing so quickly; we don't need to worry about anything else."

"Actually, this matter is quite simple. First, you need to understand the difference between the upper and House of Commons and members of parliament."

"All the members of the House of Lords are hereditary nobles, their positions as members predetermined from birth. For example: your father, your elder brother—."

"This means that Commoner never appear in the House of Lords." This alone demonstrates that the House of Lords represents interests that are always those of the old aristocracy, and it never considers the interests of the lower classes.

"The House of Commons, on the other hand, is the opposite of the House of Commons of House of Lords. Most of its members are elected through local elections, and these members consist primarily of New Industrial Capitalist, a small number of legal professionals, and some members of the nobility (the second sons of nobles)."

Therefore, this means that the House of Commons serves the interests of the middle class and the Emerging Wealth Class.

"The Emerging Wealth Class, mostly factory owners, don't rely on land rent for income. Therefore, the unanimous passage of the repeal of the Corn Law will not affect their interests."

"Of course, none of that matters much. The most important thing is that no one in either the House of Commons has ever represented the Commoner Class."

"If no one represents the Commoner Class, then of course no one will consider Commoner interests."

With Altair's explanation complete, the topic of the Corn Law was quickly moved on.

Altair then proposed plans to open New Factory. She plans to leverage her bicycle business, inviting others to open factories together and make money.

The main reason I've never been in the bicycle business before is because bicycles are too easy to replicate.

Even without Beyonder, a skilled Mechanical Worker can easily replicate it once he has the materials and has studied and understood the principles.

This situation limits Altair's ability to monopolize the business. After all, there is no Intellectual Property Law here, so if they do this kind of business, they will need someone to protect and safeguard their intellectual property rights.

Altair initially planned to collaborate with his Uncle Leif, with the two of them sharing the profits.

But after the incident with the Demoness Sect, she decided to open another business to compensate the other families.

She had already thought of a name for the bicycle: Bianchi Bicycle Company, a living fossil in the bicycle industry.

After a brief discussion about the share distribution, the three said they would send a check to Altair as soon as they got home.

After watching Hether Grant and Tiffany Nir's carriage leave.

Altair then turned to Audrey beside him, smiled, and advised, "Actually, you don't need to worry too much about this. Even if the sky falls, there are tall people to hold it up. Besides, the country's parliamentarians don't want social unrest or instability."

"Remember to eat something sweet when you get back. Don't worry."

Upon hearing this, Audrey could only nod, then turned and got into the carriage, leaving Sheffield Manor.

After seeing everyone off, Altair sighed, thinking to himself, "A nobleman's birthday is such a hassle."

Looking at Vivian beside her, she asked curiously, "You're not really going to give me this birthday present in the middle of the night, are you?"

"Don't worry, your birthday present is on its way." Vivian replied mysteriously before returning to the villa.