The success of the Arren rail line—the Iron Road—was impossible to ignore. It was faster, cheaper, and had instantly funneled the vast majority of regional trade away from the old routes. The Merchant Guilds were now bankrupt, their complaints now reaching the highest level: the Royal Court.
Alex knew the Duke of Valerian, his ultimate creditor, wouldn't tolerate a private citizen holding a strategic monopoly on transport forever. The Duke would send his lawmakers to try and nationalize the railway, or at least regulate it into obsolescence.
The threat arrived in the form of Lord Valerius, Minister of Public Works, a notoriously slow-witted noble famous for profiting from inefficiency. Valerius rode into the Arren Fief with a sizable armed guard and an official writ.
Minister Valerius demanded an immediate audience. "Viscount Arren," he announced, slamming the writ onto Alex's desk. "The Royal Court has decreed your railway a public menace. It is ungodly fast, it endangers wildlife, and it unfairly monopolizes trade.
Effective immediately, the Crown is imposing a Royal Tariff on all Arren rail usage, and the Court will be appointing a Royal Commissioner to oversee your operations for 'public safety.'"
This was the expected move: regulation disguised as confiscation. The Royal Tariff would be so high it would negate all of Alex's hard-won efficiency gains, and the Commissioner would be nothing more than a saboteur.
Alex, however, had prepared for this, just as he had prepared for Hemlock's corruption and the Guilds' price fixing. He smiled coolly.
"Minister Valerius, I welcome the Crown's interest in infrastructure integrity," Alex said.
"But the Crown cannot nationalize the railway, and the Crown cannot impose a tariff that targets my Syndicate alone."
"And why not?" Valerius sputtered, pointing at the writ.
"Because the Arren Industrial Syndicate does not own the railway," Alex stated simply.
The Counter-Strategy: Strategic Leasing
Alex pointed to a series of three small, meticulously written parchment scrolls tacked to the wall.
* Scroll 1 (The Rail): This scroll detailed the sale of the actual iron rails and standardized ties to Baron Tarsus for a lump sum (which Alex had immediately reinvested). The Syndicate retained a perpetual, low-cost lease to operate the rolling stock on Tarsus's private property.
* Scroll 2 (The Rolling Stock): This contract stated that the Arren Industrial Syndicate only owned the wagons and the oxen. The tracks were separate property.
* Scroll 3 (The Right-of-Way): This was the most brilliant move. Alex had created a separate, tiny, one-man holding company called "The Fief Trust of Thorne"—a shell corporation he wholly owned—which held the leases on the land easements (the right-of-way) the rail sat upon.
"Minister," Alex explained, enjoying the confusion on Valerius's face. "The Crown wishes to seize the railway? You will have to issue three separate decrees: one to seize Baron Tarsus's property, one to seize the Syndicate's wagons, and one to seize the private land-lease held by the Fief Trust. The ownership is fractured and distributed."
Valerius was defeated before he began. Feudal law was slow, and disentangling the ownership web would take years of legal wrangling, generating zero revenue in the meantime. The genius lay in the fact that Alex controlled all three entities, but the government would have to fight three separate legal battles to seize one asset.
Valerius, realizing seizure was impossible, defaulted to regulation. "Then the Royal Tariff stands! You are subject to public oversight!"
"Again, Minister, I welcome regulation, provided it is fair and predictable," Alex responded. He pushed a final, large contract across the table.
"The Syndicate is currently the only entity capable of building and maintaining a railway. Instead of fighting us, let us cooperate. The Syndicate offers to build a new, two-hundred-mile rail line connecting the Royal Capital to the Northern Grain Region.
The Crown will own the land, but the Syndicate will build, operate, and maintain the line under a twenty-year exclusive concession contract."
Valerius was stunned. Alex was offering the Crown a massive, immediate infrastructure upgrade, something the government could never achieve on its own.
"In exchange," Alex continued, "the Crown agrees to repeal the Royal Tariff and instead accepts 10% of all gross rail revenue generated by the new line, paid directly into the Royal Treasury. Furthermore, the Arren Syndicate will receive an exclusive twenty-year charter protecting its corporate structure."
Valerius realized the deal was politically golden: he would deliver the Crown a magnificent railway and a guaranteed, passive stream of new tax revenue, all while avoiding an impossible legal battle. He would look like a genius for cooperating.
He signed the charter and repealed the tariff on the spot.
Alex smiled, watching the defeated Minister ride away. The attempt at confiscation had resulted in the Syndicate securing a massive new, government-funded contract and official, legally protected status.
Next priority: Building a massive railway requires capital, and the current banking system isn't robust enough. I need international investment. Time to invent the stock market.