The Outsider (Outsider #1) ✔️

Chapter 53 : Agro Portal

"Good afternoon Your Highness," His dry voice sort of croaked in nervousness. He had never been before such an 'august' audience. These people were the actual rulers of the country and could make or break anyone. Somehow, he managing to regain his normal voice and confidence. "The concept of this project actually germinated less than 2 weeks ago, after the statement of His Majesty, Crown Prince Julien Lidwig on the need to improve agriculture through Tech. Unfortunately, you see, we are not from that segment who can make machines that will directly improve the agriculture. However, we decided to do our bit..."

Those in the room listened carefully to the presentation. Once it was over, Daniel continued standing, waiting for questions or instructions to sit.

One of the Lords turned to the woman, "Well, Ms. Roberta, you are the Minister of Agriculture now. Your opinion matters most now. Is this a solution you wanted?"

"Well, Your Highness, this is one solution... If properly supported, it will work. But there are pitfalls, so it will not be easy. I would not expend my Ministerial Budget on this project, at this time. This is a business proposal, so we need to remain neutral." She replied nervously.

The Minister of Finance was tapping his fingers on the table. He stopped and said, "This is the fight between small vendors and the big corporations. What makes you think we can remain neutral? The Imperial Government needs to decide which group it will support. If your portal works, Mr. Warren, you will be up against the economic interest and power of those benefiting are from the current system... The privileged classes."

"Your Lordship, there are new 'classes' that will benefit. They will support us in this venture, if the benefits are clear and properly explained. It will work better if the government were to support us against the obvious attacks from the entrenched Nobles."

The Minister laughed. The lady Minister, continued. "I do not have the experience, but if we do not try something new, how do we know what will not work? Prima-facie, I see no flaws in the plan. But marketing it to the service providers and the farmers, is the key to its success or failure."

"Many people will be watching this... The question is whether we can let it run as an independent project or should we project it as having government support? I wonder why Julien is not in this meeting..." Lord Gregner wondered aloud.

Daniel restrained himself from commenting. The support of the government would change the entire character of the portal. These were ministers of the Imperial Government. He was out of his league and preferred not to open his mouth. A wrong word could end his chances.

Drabert, however, understood what his uncle was saying. If the project had a government support, it would raise hopes... Hopes of a lot of people who wanted the Tyranny of the Privileged to be toppled over. Farmers who wanted better returns, traders who wanted better prices as compared to what the corporations paid... If it was a private enterprise...

If the government did not support the portal and it failed, the vocal opponent activists would claim that it indicate that the Privileged had crushed it. They could fan anger and create a highly dangerous situation his father had explained.

Even in a private project, if marketing was proper, it was likely to garner attention. The government would need to scramble for a response. No wonder Julien had it presented to the Core. The project would take a few months to come to the market. Enough time to prepare the response. The question was, whether something as important as this could be left under the control of Rosemary.

"Who will fund the project?" Lord Melster asked.

"He had come to Regis to get approval from his investor." Drabert replied for Daniel.