novelSusiti Chapter 82: Tariffs Reduced by 3%! His Highness Used Money to Open Up a New World!
Chapter 82: Tariffs Reduced by 3%! His Highness Used Money to Open Up a New World!
Constantine's orders, like an invisible undercurrent, were quietly surging beneath the surface of the port of Piraeus.
Costas quickly found the "absolutely reliable" candidate—a low-ranking official who had worked in the port authority's archives for twenty years, was a compulsive gambler, and was heavily in debt.
This official had long been bribed by Zaimis's secretary and was a mole planted by the oligarchs at the lowest level of the port authority.
Late that night, during a handover with his contact, the official "inadvertently" revealed "important intelligence": His Highness the Crown Prince's investigation team was working day and night, but the Skopelos family's accounts were flawless. Aside from some minor, insignificant cases about dockworkers stealing olive oil and salted fish, they couldn't find any valuable leads. His Highness the Crown Prince was furious and had already smashed several glasses.
This "false intelligence" spread like a gentle breeze, quickly reaching the Prime Minister's residence in Athens.
The lights were on in Zaimis's study.
Representatives of shipping magnate Sigros, banker Stretter, and several other core members of the oligarchic group gathered once again.
Zaimis looked at the secret report, his brow furrowed.
A representative of the banker Stretter beside him cautioned, "Your Excellency, isn't this going too smoothly? Constantine and George I behind him are no pushovers. Could this be a trap?"
Zaimis sneered and tossed another document onto the table: "This is news from the British Embassy yesterday. The ambassador himself complained at a salon that the Greek royal family's investigation was 'brutal and inefficient.' If even the British see it this way, it means he's truly run out of tricks. His tactics for dealing with workers won't work on us!"
"I knew it! That kid's a paper tiger!" The obese senator, the spokesperson for shipping magnate Sigros, slapped the armrest of the sofa, his fat face jiggling with laughter. "Piraeus Port has been our territory for decades! What makes him, a mere brat, think he can fight us!"
"It seems his tricks to win people over only work on those foolish workers." The banker's representative sighed with relief, leaned back on the sofa, and slowly picked up his coffee cup. "Once we get to the real core, he'll show his true colors."
Zaimis leaned back in his chair, tapping the table lightly with his fingers, and the confident smile returned to his face.
"It seems we all overestimated him. He's still young, after all, and thinks he can move all of Greece with brute force and a little cleverness. But he doesn't understand at all who sets the real rules for this country."
He glanced around at the crowd, a ruthless glint in his eyes.
"Since he's run out of tricks, we should teach him a lesson he won't forget."
The shipping magnate Sigros's representative immediately understood. He stood up, his voice carrying a hint of cruel pleasure.
"The Prime Minister is right! Isn't that kid trying to bolster his image by relying on those small boat owners and foreign merchant ships?"
He gave a cold laugh.
"I immediately ordered that, starting tomorrow, all ships flying the flag of our shipping alliance cease calling at the port of Piraeus! I also want to inform my friends in London, Marseille, and Genoa to temporarily avoid that 'chaotic' port as well."
"Isn't he going to double the tariffs? I'd like to see where he's going to collect taxes from in a port that doesn't even have ships!"
"Let him and his poor, wretched workers go starve!"
Zaimis nodded in satisfaction.
"Very good. Let's do it this way. Let that arrogant brat see for himself that without us, Piraeus is a dead port!"
The next morning.
A silent economic strangulation has officially begun.
Workers at the port of Piraeus were shocked to find that the once bustling port had become completely deserted overnight.
The giant cargo ships flying the Sigros Shipping Alliance flag all vanished without a trace, as if by prior arrangement. Only a few small fishing boats remained, drifting forlornly on the sea.
Panic began to spread again.
The Athenian newspapers, like sharks smelling blood, pounced on it immediately.
The prince's tyranny drives away merchant ships! Greece's economic lifeline faces collapse!
Piraeus Port Becomes a Ghost Town! Tens of Thousands of Workers Face Unemployment Again!
A new storm of public opinion has been stirred up once again.
However, Constantine, who was stationed at the port authority building, turned a blind eye to this.
Faced with the port so empty that horses could run across it, he calmly summoned all the self-organized captains of the workers' pickets.
Under the watchful eyes of thousands of worried workers, Constantine stepped onto the makeshift podium.
He neither explained nor tried to comfort him.
He simply announced a temporary policy in public that left everyone speechless.
"From this day forward, I hereby declare in my capacity as Crown Prince of Greece and Acting Supreme Supervisor of the Port of Piraeus!"
His voice, amplified by a loudspeaker, resonated throughout every corner of the harbor.
"All independent ship owners flying the Greek flag, and all foreign merchant ships willing to cooperate with us, will receive a 30% reduction in all customs duties for this quarter, provided they dock at the port of Piraeus!"
The crowd erupted in uproar!
A 30% tax cut! That's a figure that would drive any businessman crazy!
"I know what you're worried about!" Constantine's voice rang out again, "You're afraid of retaliation from those big shipowners!"
"I assure you! From this moment forward, any legitimate merchant ship entering the port of Piraeus will be under full armed escort by the Royal Tax Police! Any act of harassment or threat against them within our territorial waters will be considered a blatant provocation against the Kingdom of Greece!"
"I, Constantine, will personally order them sunk!"
This policy was like a giant bomb dropped into a calm lake, stirring up huge waves!
The news spread throughout the Aegean Sea at lightning speed, reaching the ears of every independent small boat owner struggling to survive due to suppression by the large shipping alliance.
The news reached the ears of foreign trading companies that had long harbored resentment towards the monopolistic practices of Sigros and his associates!
They erupted like a volcano that had been suppressed for too long!
That afternoon, the first merchant ship flying the Italian flag, escorted by two Royal Tax Police patrol boats equipped with machine guns, carefully entered the port of Piraeus.
Then came the second, the third...
The next day, long queues formed again on the shipping lanes of the port of Piraeus!
Those small steamships with shallow drafts, sailboats flying various flags, and even some large ocean-going freighters, like a school of sharks smelling blood, swarmed in from all directions!
The port of Piraeus was not paralyzed.
Instead, within a day, it returned to its usual hustle and bustle, even more lively than ever before!
The oligarchs' meticulously planned economic blockade crumbled on its own in the face of Constantine's simple and brutal "cutting off their lifeline" move!
While achieving a complete victory in this silent economic war.
Constantine drew his first sword.
Looking out at the bustling scene, he turned around and gave orders to Kostas, who was already itching to get going.
"Kostas".
"Yes, Your Highness!"
Constantine placed the "clean" report, which documented the financial crimes of the Skopelos family, in front of him.
"Based on this report, lead your men to dig out every single penny of ill-gotten gains belonging to the Skopelos family!"
"Seize all their offices! Seize all their warehouses! Seize every ship they have in port!"
A bloodthirsty glint flashed in Kostas's eyes.
He suddenly stood at attention, turned around, and strode out.
His suppressed, excited roar echoed in the corridor behind him.
"First and second squads! Assemble! Destination: Skopelos Shipping Company headquarters building!"
"Lagudas! You take the third squad! To the dock! Nail their ships to their berths!"
"action!"
The first clap of thunder echoed in the sky above the port of Piraeus.