The Rise of Australasia

Chapter 867: Chapter 646: Makenlan Manor

"Your Highness, everything you have ordered is now ready,” said Yajedin Blanc, the Royal Affairs Minister, with a respectful face to William.

As an orphan adopted by Arthur, Yajedin Blanc’s loyalty to Arthur was nearly absolute, and he was one of the trusted insiders specially cultivated by Arthur for the future heir to the throne.

This time, besides assisting William with some matters, the economically savvy Yajedin Blanc was also responsible for overseeing the sale of royal assets.

Although William was nominally in charge of the sale of royal assets, Arthur never thought that William alone could handle the royal financial group’s assets in London properly.

Conservatively estimated, the royal financial group had investments in the United Kingdom amounting to at least 20 million pounds, which wouldn’t be easy to deal with all at once on the stock market—something William simply couldn’t achieve by himself.

Hearing Yajedin’s words, William nodded excitedly, smiling and saying, “Mr. Yajedin, you’ve really gone to a lot of trouble.”

"It’s no trouble at all, Your Highness. It’s my honor to work for you,” Yajedin shook his head, speaking with great reverence and sincerity.

As a commoner who had lost his parents at a young age, if not for Arthur’s aid and help, Yajedin could never have had the life he now lived.

And Yajedin deeply remembered Arthur’s favor, exerting all his effort to study hard at school, and after completing his studies, he entered the royal financial group quite smoothly, eventually becoming the new Royal Affairs Minister.

The current Prime Minister Kent was only the nominal controller of the royal financial group; the real management of this vast enterprise actually rested with Yajedin.

The fact that Arthur could entrust this golden-egg-laying consortium to Yajedin speaks volumes about his trust in Yajedin.

After all, Arthur’s process of training orphans was somewhat complex and intricate, involving multiple selections to find the most loyal and capable individuals for the royal family and heir to the throne.

This not only included tests of skill but also tests of loyalty and ideology. A qualified royal confidant must not only be utterly loyal to the King and the royal family, but on top of that, must possess considerable skills and align highly with the royal family’s interests in terms of ideology.

It was impossible to sell off all the assets in such a short time; the London market could not absorb such a large enterprise, and it would attract too much attention.

What would it mean for the Australasian Royal Family to sell all of its assets in Britain? To the ordinary people, wouldn’t it signify a rift between the two kingdoms?

Therefore, this asset sale also had to be kept as confidential as possible. At the same time, for the benefit of the royal family, the stocks and assets had to be sold at as high a premium as possible.

How would they sell these assets at a premium? William had a very good plan—fully manipulating the real estate market in London to elevate the value of his own real estate company again, realizing the goal of having the stocks eagerly sought after by the public.

With the United Kingdom’s economy growing steadily, the real estate market in London was relatively stable. Of course, a big reason for this was that the real estate boom had not continued for a very long time, so it didn’t experience an economic bubble.

Under such circumstances, manipulating the real estate market was still relatively simple. William directly used his own manpower to launch a promotion, featuring a draw for major prizes with every house purchase.

The principle was quite straightforward: anyone buying property from William’s real estate company would get a chance to enter the draw.

Rewards ranged from a minimum of one pound to a maximum of a car or its equivalent value, with a 100% chance of winning.

For the current less diverse real estate marketing strategies, such a campaign was a considerable shock, and it was foreseeable that the real estate company would have booming sales due to this activity.

The hot sales of properties could further boost the company’s market value, allowing for greater profits when selling company shares.

Of course, eager to divest himself of the real estate company, William was not thinking of selling at a high price—a sale at market price was already good news.

When selling the shares, there was also a need to stabilize the London stock market to avoid mass panic among investors causing market fluctuations, which could potentially lead to a crisis.

If an economic crisis were to erupt just as the royal financial group withdrew, it would undoubtedly attract a great deal of resentment from London investors.

The royal family would never engage in such an antagonistic act; it was better to receive a little less profit than to damage the good relations between the Australasian Royal Family and the British people.

Because such a relationship was Australasia’s umbrella of protection. If Britain wanted to change its policies towards Australasia, it would have to consider whether the British people were willing.

Although the goal was to withdraw most of the assets from the Royal financial group, some of the assets on the surface still needed to be retained, and it was imperative to bolster holdings legitimately.

These visible enterprises served as a smokescreen; one couldn’t possibly withdraw all assets from the Royal financial group without any preceding events. Such news, if leaked, might either damage relations with the British people or ruin Arthur’s plan to withdraw the assets prematurely.

While William was conspiring to enhance the value of real estate for a profitable company sale, Yajedin Blanc had already chosen a list of businesses to withdraw and retain.

First was the Benz Automobile Factory, operated in collaboration with the British, which was impossible to sell. It’s worth noting that the British Benz Car Factory’s annual profits soared to several million pounds, and the market value of the factory exceeded tens of millions of pounds.

This was a joint venture with the British aristocracy, who would never sit back and watch the car factory go bankrupt, as it meant their incomes would significantly decrease, even causing their fortunes to dwindle substantially.

Protected by the united front of these nobles, the car factory was completely secure. It could even use the large-scale recruitment during the economic crisis to win over the British people and earn their favor.

The Benz Car Factory could also serve as the largest publicly disclosed asset held by the Royal financial group; thus, even if the partial withdrawal of assets by the Royal financial group came to light, the British people would not suspect anything amiss, assuming it to be a normal business sale.

"William, I’ve heard that you’ve already started selling off parts of the Royal financial group’s enterprises?” On the third day of Yajedin Blanc’s maneuvers, Duke George approached William with his inquiry.

"Yes, but this is just normal business activity; we need more funds to prepare for our next step,” William replied nonchalantly, unconcerned.

As long as there was a substantial amount of public-facing industry, the act of selling assets was simply normal business behavior.

Duke George nodded, not harboring any doubts. These days, who doesn’t sell off their assets now and then?

"Could your real estate company sell me Makenlan Manor? Elizabeth is quite fond of Makenlan Manor, and it could serve as our residence in London,” George VI asked somewhat awkwardly.

"Is that so? Of course, Your Highness. If the Duchess likes it, I can decide to gift Makenlan Manor to you,” William said with a smile.

Makenlan Manor was William’s real estate company’s famed property in London and represented the company’s first notable effort to establish renown in London.

Of course, the estate wasn’t too large because it was designed to blend tradition with trendiness.

In the manor, while fully equipped with electrical devices, there was also some traditional nobility decor. Beyond the architecture, it boasted gardens, forests, lakes, and other picturesque scenery, once rated by the London media as one of the top ten manor houses in London.

It’s worth mentioning that Duke George’s older brother Edward’s romantic history is noteworthy, and Duke George’s own love story has had its fair share of turbulence.

Compared to Crown Prince Edward, who was extraordinarily bright and well-liked from childhood, Prince Albert (as he was known to the public), being the second son, did not have a resume quite as illustrious.

King George V had a rather dominant and strict character, which, while correcting Duke George’s left-handedness, also resulted in Duke George developing a rather severe stammer.

This flaw, along with living in the shadow of his brother, filled Duke George’s childhood with loneliness and sadness, resulting in a more introverted character.

And Duke George’s wife, Elizabeth, only agreed to marry him after he proposed multiple times.

The real reason Elizabeth repeatedly refused to marry George VI was, in fact, her affection for George VI’s older brother, Crown Prince Edward.

Indeed, the relationships were quite complex. The post-marriage relationship between Elizabeth and Prince Edward remained close, and she even referred to Edward as the dear David in a letter to the prince.

Revelations of George VI’s domestic violence against Elizabeth in later generations completely changed the previously affectionate image of the couple in the eyes of the British people.

Of course, the current Duke George hadn’t yet developed such an irascible temper. After all, Britain was still quite powerful then, and he was merely the second in line to the throne, with little relevance to the crown given Crown Prince Edward’s commanding presence.

Ps: Before becoming king, George VI’s full name was Albert Frederick Arthur George Windsor and he was also referred to by the public as Prince Albert. Following his ascension and adhering to Queen Victoria’s will, which decreed that future British kings should not bear the name Albert, and to emulate his father’s approach to earning the trust of the British people, he adopted the name George VI.

At the time, Duke George was still quite fond of his wife Elizabeth, and it was her liking for Makenlan Manor that led the usually reserved Duke George to proactively approach William to discuss the potential sale of the manor.

Upon hearing William’s offer to gift Makenlan Manor to him, Duke George hastily shook his head: “The value of Makenlan Manor must have exceeded 100,000 pounds, right? Thank you for your generosity, William, but I can’t accept that. I’m willing to purchase the estate for 150,000 pounds, which is the most I can afford,” he said.

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