Isaac was speechless. So his boss also balanced the books at the Joint Investigation Bureau. His network of connections really was complicated.
"The next place we're going is the most important one."
"The cafeteria?"
"Not bad. You're starting to keep up with my thinking."
Isaac thought it was hard to imagine any other place at the Joint Investigation Bureau being more important to Carlo.
"Isn't it a little early for dinner?"
"The earlier the better. No one will compete with us for seats. After all, there aren't many people at the Joint Investigation Bureau with as much free time as I have. Parker's one, but he wouldn't have the nerve to come eat this early."
Isaac imagined the bald director appearing in the cafeteria with a tray. The image did seem a little out of place.
The cafeteria was at the far end of the first floor, and no one else was there yet.
Carlo walked straight to the serving window and leaned over to look at the day's menu.
A blackboard hung inside the window, with the day's dishes written in chalk: beef and potato stew, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, and potato soup.
Carlo stared at the blackboard for a few moments and curled his lip. "Why are there so many potatoes?"
The cook inside the window was stirring a pot of thick soup with a large ladle. Hearing him, he looked up. "Mr. Schuster, I haven't seen you in a few days."
"Don't tell me it's been potatoes the whole time I was away?"
"How did you know?"
"Tsk, is the Joint Investigation Bureau short on funding? Potatoes every day?"
The cook scratched his head through his hat. "I don't know about that. They've been sending us an awful lot of potatoes lately, though."
Carlo said nothing more. He ordered a serving of beef and potato stew and a serving of mashed potatoes. Isaac followed him and ordered the same, plus a bowl of potato soup.
The two carried their trays to a table by the window and sat down. Isaac started with a spoonful of potato soup. It tasted all right, at least better than the food at Palmer University's cafeteria.
Carlo picked up his fork and poked at a chunk of potato on his plate, in no hurry to eat it. Isaac took a few bites, then saw that Carlo was still staring at the potato. "Boss, aren't you eating?"
Carlo flipped the potato over on his plate and poked it a few more times. Suddenly, he said, "Asa, let me test you."
"Huh?"
"What does it mean that so many potatoes have taken over the Joint Investigation Bureau's cafeteria?"
"That the weather's been favorable this year and the potato harvest around Vista is bigger?" Isaac suggested offhandedly.
"That's one part of it," Carlo said slowly. "But if it were just a good harvest, potatoes would be a little cheaper at most. The Joint Investigation Bureau's cafeteria wouldn't be serving them at every meal for days on end. The bureau has fixed suppliers and a budget for its food purchases. Potatoes alone couldn't make them break their usual purchasing habits."
Hearing his boss say that, Isaac gave it some serious thought and recalled what Ellie had mentioned. "I heard some news that people in Vista have been arguing about repealing the Corn Laws lately... I'm guessing the two are connected?"
"Correct." Carlo finally finished mashing the potato into a pulp with his fork. "The Corn Laws haven't been repealed yet, but clearly someone's already sensed which way the wind is blowing."
Isaac put a spoonful of mashed potatoes into his mouth.
Carlo waved his fork. "Potatoes and other grains are staples for the people of Vista, and they compete directly with each other. Once the Corn Laws are repealed, cheap grain from other regions will flood into Vista, and local potato prices are bound to take a hit. A clearance sale would be a good outcome. If they're left rotting in the dealers' hands, they'll really be in trouble.
"So dealers with the right connections have already started dealing with their potato stocks, trying to sell them as quickly as possible before the laws are repealed. The Joint Investigation Bureau's cafeteria has been serving potatoes every day lately, probably because someone dumped potatoes through the bureau's supply channels and fed its agents a lot of potatoes."
Isaac nodded. "So what exactly are the Corn Laws? I heard about them in Palmer, but I don't really know what they involve."
Carlo picked up his glass and took a sip. "As you know, since the War of the Churches, the wilderness has been full of aberrants. Ordinary farmers can't cultivate land on their own, so agricultural production depends mainly on noble estates. Only nobles with armed forces can maintain relatively safe farming conditions within their territories, so agriculture is basically controlled by the nobility.
"Back then, contact between cities was almost completely cut off. They were like isolated islands, and food could only be produced and consumed locally. There was practically no outside competition, and even if food was shipped in, transportation fees would drive up the cost. The nobles had the final say over what they grew and what prices they charged in their own territories.
"But as the Western Territory's reconstruction progressed, transport between Vista and other cities gradually became reliable again. The construction of railways in particular greatly reduced both the cost and time of shipping goods. Grain from other regions began flowing back into Vista's market, at lower prices than locally produced grain."
Isaac understood. "And that threatened the interests of the local nobles."
"Exactly." Carlo set his glass back on the table. "Naturally, the nobles didn't want outside grain cutting into their profits, so, under the pretext of 'protecting Vista's local agriculture,' they proposed the Corn Laws. The laws imposed high tariffs on grain brought into Vista, raising its price and keeping local grain competitive in the market."
"The Corn Laws won the unanimous support of the local nobles and were eventually passed by parliament and put into effect. From then on, it became difficult for cheap outside grain to enter Vista's market."
"But now they want to repeal them..." Isaac paused.
"Times have changed, after all," Carlo said. "The spread of the railways has brought Vista and the surrounding regions closer together. The grand duke wants a unified Western Territory, not isolated islands each doing as it pleases. The Corn Laws protect the nobles' interests, but they're an obstacle to the development of the Western Territory as a whole."
"Besides, Vista's industrial development also needs a great deal of labor-for factories, mines, railways... If food prices stay high, not only will farms draw workers away, but no matter how stingy employers are, they'll still have to pay wages that keep their workers alive. For the rising industrial elite, both labor shortages and costs are problems."
"The old nobility lives off the land, while the new nobility makes its money from factories. The two factions are locked in a fierce struggle in parliament, and the Corn Laws are one of the focal points of that struggle." Carlo finally began eating his beef and potato stew. "At the moment, the repeal faction has the upper hand."
"But when all's said and done, the grand duke makes the final decision. Whether the Corn Laws can be repealed, when they'll be repealed, and how-that all comes down to what the grand duke wants."
Isaac's spoon stopped halfway to his mouth. "So all these potatoes in the cafeteria..."
"The all-potato meal you're eating now is the grand duke's stance."