Tereos, the newly risen textile magnate of Milan. The Austro-Sardinian War of 1848 had directly reshuffled Lombardy's capitalist circles, and Tereos had seized that gap in the market to rise above the rest.
Once one had money, one's ambitions changed. Tereos's ancestors had also been nobles, though the family had declined in his grandfather's generation.
At this time, Tereos was considering whether to obtain a title and restore his family's former glory.
Obtaining a title in Austria was no easy matter. Of course, as a wealthy Divine Shield player, he still held a greater advantage than commoner players.
The colonial system had created an opportunity for them. As long as one was willing to throw money at it, recruit large numbers of mercenaries, and open up colonies on the African Continent in exchange for merit, sooner or later one could buy oneself a title.
It was not the easiest path, but it was the path best suited to Tereos. Enlisting and going to war made earning a title much easier, but that had never been the choice of capitalists.
Nobles possessed higher social status, but they held no particular advantage in business. Many of their privileges had already been watered down.
Tereos had always been weighing the pros and cons. Gaining merit through overseas colonization also depended on luck, and investment and returns often failed to match.
In this regard, nobles actually held a greater advantage. They had been trained in military command from childhood, and some nobles even possessed retainers and private armies handed down by their ancestors. The colonial teams they formed naturally had greater combat strength.
Colonial teams that could fight basically would not lose money. Even if they discovered no resources at all, they could loot their way along, then cooperate with labor export companies to