A Lunch with the Royal Family

"I am so deeply honored, Your Majesty," Ernest muttered as he couldn't believe what he was hearing. He would be given land of his own choosing. Anywhere he liked.

The Kingdom of Belfast was strikingly similar to Great Britain from his previous world. If he was going to choose land, he needed to think beyond beautiful scenery, fertile farms, or noble estates.

He needed resources.

Coal.

Iron.

Copper.

Limestone.

Everything required to build an industrial civilization.

His mind immediately began working.

Coal was the lifeblood of steam power. Without coal, there were no engines. Without engines, there were no factories, railways, or modern mines. Iron was equally important. Every machine he had built so far consumed absurd quantities of metal, and demand would only increase in the coming decades. If he could secure both coal and iron deposits, he could control the very foundation of industrialization in Belfast.