Holy Roman Empire

Ambition must be supported by strength, and it was Saint Dels’ understanding of this principle that allowed him to rise from humble beginnings to become an internationally renowned arms dealer.

It’s a widely accepted notion that arms dealers are rarely upstanding individuals. With a tarnished reputation, achieving high social standing is out of the question.

For someone as “notorious” as Saint Dels, he had enemies all over the world, like the British in this instance.

For safety reasons, many arms dealers avoid revealing their true identities. “Saint Dels” was a typical alias. Fortunately, religion no longer held sway as it did in the Middle Ages. Back then, using a name with the prefix “Saint” would have invited the Inquisition to his door.

In normal circumstances, only those who made outstanding contributions to religious causes could earn the title “Saint.” It required the Pope’s recognition before one could legally add “Saint” to their name.

For example, those who played a key role in recapturing Jerusalem might receive the title “Restorer of the Holy Land” from the Pope and add “Saint/Holy(圣)” before their name.

TN: I did not have a good time translating this since the way names work in Chinese is way different from that in the West. I initially translated the name as Sanders (圣德尔斯) since this is a closer phonetic translation but given the context of the chapter, Saint Dels is the accurate name.

Of course, most people wouldn’t add “Saint” directly to their name but to their title, as a mark of honor.

For an arms dealer like Saint Dels, such a title was clearly out of reach. Based on his deeds, he was more likely to qualify for a place at the guillotine.

This was not the life Saint Dels aspired to. He chose this alias in hopes of one day earning the title of “Saint” legitimately.

At present, this dream remains far out of reach. To achieve such a lofty goal, he would first need to “whitewash” his reputation and gain the qualifications to contribute to religious causes.

Becoming a colonial merchant was just the first step. Unless he could rise to the rank of nobility, an ordinary colonial merchant wasn’t much better than an arms dealer. While the trade was legal and respectable, it still lacked prestige.

Success often involves an element of luck, but sustaining success over time requires much more than luck. Having set his sights on Ethiopian land, Saint Dels had done extensive preparation.

The document in his hands was a detailed map of the region bordering Ethiopia and Austrian Africa. It clearly marked roads, rivers, forests, mineral resources, and native tribes—likely containing more detail than the Ethiopian government itself possessed.

This map was the result of three years of effort and an investment of over ten thousand guilders. Saint Dels had even personally led surveying expeditions to complete the mapping.

“Murdo, how are the public relations efforts coming along?” Saint Dels inquired.

“They’re progressing well. We’ve managed to bribe a close minister of the Ethiopian emperor. He promised to bring up the topic of land leasing with the emperor at an opportune moment.

Right now, the Ethiopian government’s finances are completely drained. Since we’re presenting this as a simple commercial land lease with no involvement of sovereignty, it shouldn’t be an issue,” Murdo replied.

No involvement of sovereignty, because, for now, there didn’t need to be. Once the Ethiopian government collapsed, the party occupying the land could easily become its legitimate owner.

Whether others recognized this claim or not didn’t matter, what mattered was that the Austrian government would acknowledge Saint Dels’ colonial rights. That alone would suffice, as it would make it impossible for the British to openly seize the land.

As for whether they might resort to covert actions, it would depend on whether Saint Dels could navigate this delicate situation skillfully.

If Saint Dels took only a modest share, the British, preoccupied with organizing their newly acquired territories, likely wouldn’t have the time to bother.

But if he became overly greedy and tried to snatch the British’s spoils, angering them, he would have to start planning his demise.

Many colonial merchants have perished in such conflicts, and most of them failed because they couldn’t rein in their greed. They pursued gains beyond what their strength could support, leading to their downfall.

Saint Dels remarked, “Let’s finalize this as soon as possible. The longer we wait, the greater the risk of unexpected complications. I have a feeling many others are eyeing the Ethiopian region this time. If someone else beats us to it, all our efforts will have been for nothing.”

Not all land has colonial value. Colonization, at its core, is about making profits. If the chosen area can’t turn a profit, selling it off cheaply to the colonial government becomes the only option.

Since the establishment of Austrian Africa, over ten thousand colonial companies have emerged, but the vast majority collapsed midway. Only about a thousand or so have survived.

Among these surviving companies, over 90% are family-owned enterprises, most of which are monopolized by nobles.

For commoners, and even well-funded capitalists, this competition remains unfavorable.

The reason is simple: colonization requires military backing. In this regard, the nobility holds an absolute advantage, as capitalists are ill-suited to play the game of war.

Moreover, successful capitalists often ended up becoming nobility during the colonial movement. With their identities transformed, their perspectives naturally shifted as well.

The bourgeoisie had diverse origins, with a significant portion of capitalists being younger sons or offshoots of noble families, or in some cases, nobles themselves.

These individuals never considered themselves capitalists and always identified as noble offspring. For many, their ultimate life goal was to secure a noble title of their own.

This trend wasn’t unique to Austria. The entire European social atmosphere was the same. Even the nouveau riche in the Americas were chasing after noble titles.

This societal trend influenced countless individuals, and Saint Dels was no exception. Purely in terms of profit, there were few industries as lucrative as the arms trade.

Murdo cautioned, “Mr. Saint Dels, we’ve already made significant investments. If we want to speed things up, we’ll need to invest even more. Doing so will increase the pressure to recoup our costs in the future.”

“Money isn’t a problem. We can pay with arms, which will naturally lower our costs,” Saint Dels explained.

The enormous profits of the arms trade were undeniable. For instance, weapons sold to the Ethiopian government for a million guilders might have actual costs of less than 300,000 guilders. That was the foundation of Saint Dels’ confidence.

Murdo replied confidently, “No problem. Within a month, you’ll hear good news.”

…

Lobbying the Ethiopian government was just one aspect since gaining a foothold in the border regions also required the support of the Austrian East Africa colonial administration.

Without the colonial government holding off British pressure, Saint Dels doubted he could secure the benefits acquired from the Ethiopian government.

Could anyone seriously expect the British to abide by international rules?

“Mr. Saint Dels, your proposal is certainly constructive, but what makes you confident you can accomplish the task?”

The question came from Randall, Secretary General to the Governor of Austrian East Africa. Randall was the highest-ranking government official within Saint Dels’ network.

As for the Governor of East Africa, unless Saint Dels were already a noble, the governor wouldn’t personally negotiate these matters with him.

Saint Dels responded, “Baron, I may not excel at developing a colony’s economy, but smuggling is my specialty. It’s the most basic survival skill for an arms dealer.

Once I establish a foothold in the border region, goods from the homeland can flow continuously into Ethiopia and Sudan, generating greater tax revenue for the colonial government.”

Do what you know best.

In his professional domain, Saint Dels was undeniably an expert. After more than 20 years in the arms smuggling business, he had never been caught. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be sitting here today making his case.

Secretary General Randall replied, “I don’t doubt your professional expertise, but ordinary goods trade is not the same as arms trading. I believe you can get the goods across the border, but how will you sell them? The British and French colonial governments are not fools. If a flood of smuggled goods enters their territories, they will undoubtedly investigate.”

With the advent of the industrial age, Austria’s domestic industrial and commercial sectors increasingly demanded new markets, which gave rise to colonial expansion.

During this era, every country’s colonies acted as exclusive markets, heavily restricting the entry of foreign goods.

No one welcomed such exploitation, and smuggling naturally emerged as a solution. The Austrian government supported capitalists smuggling Austrian goods into other countries’ colonies. As long as domestic taxes were paid, it didn’t matter whether other nations collected their due.

This was the larger context of the time. Narrowing the focus to Austrian East Africa, the smuggling of Austrian goods into British and French colonies could boost regional economic activity and increase government tax revenue.

Regional economic prosperity and higher fiscal income translated into political achievements for officials. It was this dynamic that gave Saint Dels confidence in securing the colonial administration’s support.

Saint Dels said nonchalantly, “It’s very simple, just change the labels. For example, replace the German labels with English or French.

I’ve conducted field inspections in the British and French colonies. Their control over the colonies is not tight. In fact, there are loopholes everywhere.

Many colonial police officers are semi-literate. As long as the labels are swapped, they can’t tell if the goods are local products.

Following the principle of ‘less trouble is better,’ a small bribe can ensure these officers pretend they saw nothing.

If we want to be even safer, we can simply counterfeit British and French goods. With our technical capabilities, we can produce commercial products identical to theirs.

This would make detection much harder. Even if they do discover irregularities, they’re more likely to suspect the manufacturing companies, especially since some of those companies are also engaging in smuggling.”

Secretary General Randall nodded with satisfaction, “Excellent, Mr. Saint Dels. You’ve successfully convinced me. However, I suggest you change your name. If the Church gets involved, things could become complicated.”

Although the Church’s power had greatly diminished, its influence in Austria remained significant. For a mere arms dealer like Saint Dels, provoking the Church was out of the question.

Randall’s reminder gave Saint Dels a sudden jolt. Thinking back, he realized how reckless he had been in choosing his name.

The Church likely hadn’t come after him because they regarded him as a minor, unworthy figure. But if he succeeded in whitewashing his reputation, the situation would be different. The higher his status, the more trouble his name could bring.

Saint Dels immediately responded, “Understood, Baron. If it weren’t absolutely necessary, I wouldn’t have used this name in the first place. It won’t be long before the arms dealer Saint Dels ceases to exist. In his place will be a colonial merchant named Dels.”

Since he planned to clean up his reputation, changing his alias was a given. While “Dels” differed from “Saint Dels” by only one word, there were over 10,000 people named Dels in Austria, but only one named Saint Dels.

Dels didn’t expect that changing his name would make him entirely untraceable. To the truly powerful, uncovering such information was trivial. Unless he chose to live as a recluse in the wilderness, there would be no escaping scrutiny.