…
late at night…
The bishops' council convened by Bishop Stephen was as noisy as a vegetable market.
Every bishop was fighting for their own interests. Their chests were heaving violently in their gorgeous robes, as if they were about to explode, the meridians in their necks were trembling, and their faces were as red as monkeys' buttocks. Some of them even had to use magic to calm themselves down.
As the leader of the bishops, Patriarch Peter naturally appeared calm.
He just raised his hand to signal everyone to quiet down after everyone had argued for a while, and asked Bishop Stephen three questions:
1. Regarding the interests of the diocese, Stephen as the initiator owns 20%, the other bishops together own 30%, and Patriarch Peter owns 50%. Does he have any objection
"No, no." Bishop Stephen shook his head quickly, "I just hope that the other bishops' 30% can be discussed by themselves."
The conference room almost turned into a vegetable market again, but thanks to Patriarch Peter asking the second question, everyone calmed down again.
2. The Patriarch Peter will personally promote the "demon fighting tribe" or the gambling industry at the next roundtable meeting, allowing them to flourish in the Roman Empire - but why do we have to use precious demons? Can't we use people, horses, or even "flip cards" and dice
Bishop Stephen thought for a few minutes and said, "It should be feasible." But he quickly said, "With his wisdom, he can't imagine how to operate it in other ways. Please think twice."
This is actually an attempt to shirk responsibility - after all, Bishop Stephen knows very well that he has no way to expand this industry again.
Instead of boasting and taking on burdens that you cannot accomplish, it is better to earn less. This will benefit both you and me.
Patriarch Peter was a little disappointed, but he finally asked the third question:
3. Such a large-scale industry will inevitably be questioned by the ascetic nun. In this case, how should the saint explain it
This good question made everyone silent. They looked at each other and finally shook their heads and said: There is no way for the Saint, she must stay underground and pray.
After all, Saint Cecilia had almost cut off all internal and external information channels, so it was impossible for her to understand what was happening in the outside world.
Moreover, Patriarch Peter did not want the Saint to realize the splendor of St. Petersburg.
He almost blocked all possible channels for conveying messages to the Saint and her sect of ascetics, just to prevent the Saint from discovering the abnormalities on the ground.
This is a troublesome woman. Although her behavior seems stupid, short-sighted, and closed, she is still the saint of the Church of Light and the "God's Favor" favored by the God of Light.
As long as she still has faith in the God of Light in her heart, she will not lose God's favor, nor will she be affected by any magic from the God of Light. She can also demonstrate the authority of the God of Light at any time to win the faith of believers.
This is the Saint of the Church of Light. She is powerful and beautiful, but fortunately she is cute and stupid because she is closed to her personal feelings, which is really great.
So Patriarch Peter had to deceive the saint who was practicing asceticism underground.
Bishop Stephen also understood the seriousness of the problem. After thinking for a while, he said righteously:
"How can this be considered making money? This is for the sake of the hard work of the believers. They are just giving "atonement words" to each other in the form of "entertainment". How can this lead to the destruction of their families and their homes?"
In the parishes, the "Petition" had to be purchased with coins. It was essentially worthless, and the poorest ones only had a few handwritten sentences and nothing more.
But Stephen's brilliant idea was to combine the parish's "demon fighting tribe" industry with the words of atonement, forming a "very legal" explanation that the saint would definitely not see any problems with:
Is it wrong for believers to buy words of atonement for their own blessing? Of course it is right. They buy it for themselves and their families, so it is a legitimate consumption, right
Then, is it wrong for the believers to use words of atonement to "fight the demons" with each other
Of course it is true. After all, the demons are not humans but livestock, and the believers do not use currency for transactions. What could be better than exchanging words of atonement that are important to each other through entertainment
So, is there a problem for the parish
Of course no problem.
After all, the believers paid for the atonement themselves.
And then again.
At that time, the price of the Doumo clan's atonement words that they bought "which can be used for mutual exchange" will be 10 silver coins.
If the atonement is converted into cash, a 10% tax rate can be imposed, so that believers can only exchange one atonement for 9 silver coins...
From this perspective, there is no "problem" for the diocese. Pope Peter is hoping that there will be more and more problems like this!
The bishops applauded Bishop Stephen for his tact.
On the other side, in the capital of Caparia, there is the Sky Garden of Fingel.
Yang Hao and others who had returned long ago did not rest, but discussed other possibilities of "elves' characteristic industries" in the green courtyard.
The reason was that on the way back, Yang Hao asked Arthur to sort out the core design drawings of the "weakened version of the steam factory". Then Yang Hao slapped his head and said: If possible, why not try to combine the steam factory with the oak factory
Yang Hao thought that this was a plan with "certain degree of risk" but "highly feasible". Arthur, on the one hand, was being intimate with his wife, Weiya, whom he met by chance, on the other hand, he greeted a dozen elf women with green eyes who were greeting him not far away in front of his wife, and on the other hand, he quickly returned to Yang Hao and said: No.
At that time, Yang Hao didn't know whether Arthur followed here simply to avoid women today and made an excuse for work, or whether he really had some ideas.
All in all, they quarreled all the way, and were still quarreling when they arrived at the green courtyard. The quarrel was fierce but also full of harmony.
As a last resort, he had to borrow a meeting room in his capacity as regent: Since you want to argue, I will argue with you until a result is reached.
Afterwards, the boss and his subordinates argued from dinner time until late at night, with Naluga hesitant to speak and the nun staring at them with dead eyes.
Both sides expressed their opinions, and the plans they proposed had their own advantages and disadvantages. They were all good plans that were "useful" but conflicted with each other.
To explain it in simple terms, it is like salty tofu pudding and sweet tofu pudding.
Yang Hao’s idea is that if the steam factory can be combined with the oak factory, the industrial output of the Elf Kingdom will be increased by several levels, providing crucial productivity for the subsequent social changes of the elves, and better meeting the pressure of the upcoming war.
The downside is that the oak tree itself may wither at a faster rate due to the damage caused by the steam plant -
But Yang Hao felt that this should be an understandable and necessary sacrifice. And this is where Arthur objected.
As an outsider who has lived in the Elf Kingdom for a long time, Arthur knows better than Yang Hao the importance of the "oak tree" to the elves.
At this point, he knew that he could no longer debate with Yang Hao in the way of "which method brings more productivity". After all, it is true that the productivity of the steam factory and the oak tree combined is definitely greater than that of the oak factory alone.
So he chose another breakthrough: that is the relationship between elves and the elf forest, which is closer than that between human fetuses and human mothers.
"Your Majesty, this is like asking a woman to castrate her father who is over 50 years old, or to castrate her child who is only two days old."
Arthur speaks directly, and only Yang Hao can tolerate his words.
"The elves value the oak tree very very very highly! I repeat, they value the oak tree very highly! I understand that you are still thinking in human terms.
But to be honest, the leap in productivity is not important to the elves. They are more concerned about whether they can coexist harmoniously with the Elven Forest, my majesty."
"But what should we do about the next war? Arthur, let's be frank - the Elven Kingdom needs to withstand the attacks of the parish in order to preserve the Elven Forest! It should be understandable to make some sacrifices to preserve the Elven Forest, right?"
"I know! But the problem is, the elves' emotional stubbornness... their love for the oak tree..."
"Hiss..."
When we talk about the elves' "stubbornness", we talk about the elves' "emotions".
The two men had absolutely no idea how to solve the problem, and at this moment, they were both exhausted.
They looked at each other tiredly, and finally Yang Hao took out a pen and crossed out his "Steam Oak Factory" proposal. He said bitterly:
"Then we can only win by numbers. But do you think we can grow so many oak factories in a short period of time?"
Arthur also shook his head bitterly: "It shouldn't be possible. But I think... sometimes we don't need to ask the factory to produce the highest quality consumables, right? After all, they are just "consumables". Just like safety measures, it is impossible to use them and then take them back to clean and dry them and continue to use them..."
"No, you can lower the quality of entertainment products, but we must not neglect the quality of "military supplies"..."
"Then in this case..."
Chirp, chirp.
Sister Teresa glanced at the door that had been opened at some point, and saw that the two men were so absorbed in an emotional debate over work that they didn't even notice Finn's presence.
She sighed, stood up under Naluga's gaze, then stood directly behind Yang Hao and cast a tranquilizing spell on him.
After a moment of silence, she lifted the magic spell, pressed Yang Hao's head, and asked him to turn his head to look at Fen who was smiling outside the door:
"For the time being, men should pay attention to the outside when they are working, right?"
Sister Theresa's gnashing of teeth only made Yang Hao say a few greetings calmly in a trance.
Mr. Arthur was much more surprised and bowed and greeted him quickly.
Fen had no opinion on them. She just walked to the chair on the right side of Yang Hao as if nothing had happened and sat down. This made Theresa, who had originally chosen to sit in the back so as not to disturb the men's work, very angry. At the same time, she also brought two important pieces of news to everyone.
First, the goods of Ishugard’s first trade are being transported overnight at the fastest speed. If nothing unexpected happens, those “new rifles” and “muzzle-loading guns” and the matching ammunition will arrive in Fingel tomorrow.
"Those things look very delicate, and it may be our misjudgment. In order to avoid damage, we have to choose land transportation."
Finn smiled and watched Theresa angrily pull the chair over and sit on Yang Hao's left side, while at the same time pulling the bewildered Ling tribe leader to her left side.
"I will ask the elves' scholars to cooperate with you in your work. However, Your Majesty, the Regent, there is an urgent matter for you from the Elven Council."
"oh?"
"Some old elves hope that you can produce "convincing" evidence at the meeting. Please believe that they have no ill intentions. These old men who have experienced the War of the Demonic Calamity just... still miss our former allies in the Brotherhood."
To put it simply, some of the old elves actually doubted whether Yang Hao really had that ability - for Yang Hao, this was an understandable and common doubt.
Just like when a Cantonese chef goes to a Sichuan restaurant to be the head chef, the local Sichuan chefs will doubt whether this Cantonese chef can make good Mapo Tofu.
Yang Hao is the regent of the human race in the Roman Empire. He is very capable, but that doesn't mean these abilities are applicable to the land of the elves.
So they hope that Yang Hao can demonstrate his abilities applicable to the land of elves and provide evidence—
How should I put it? Actually, it's just a group of stubborn old people who are expecting the younger generation to bring surprises with a stern attitude.
As long as Yang Hao can produce evidence that can make the elves better, these old stubborn people will cooperate with all their strength, instead of being like Roman's Round Table Council, where they said they agreed but were already torn apart internally.
"So, are you really sure that you can bring the most valuable and powerful "actual evidence" to the meeting? That is... relying on those "rifles"? "
Fen was curious about Yang Hao's confidence.
"Can those weapons you call "guns" really bring about changes to the elves? Please forgive my ignorance, but I have never seen weapons called "guns"..."
In response to Finn's confusion, the two men present looked at each other and gave the same answer: "That is bound to be an earth-shattering impact, and will definitely bring countless changes to the elf world."
This is a confident conclusion that can only be drawn after having a thorough understanding of the elves' commonly used weapons.
Whether it was Arthur or Yang Hao, they all knew that when the elves used longbows, what they valued most was not the "rate of fire" but the "range" and "power", and the amount of ammunition carried had to be as large as possible.
This is actually very easy to understand. Compared to the shortbow with a fast shooting speed but a very short range, the elves prefer the longbow that can shoot far and accurately.
This is not only a practical experience learned through actual combat, "the farther the distance, the safer your situation is", but also because the elves, in a sparsely populated environment, must provide the best protection for their own lives.
No matter how much armor you wear, there will always be weak spots that can be easily penetrated by the enemy. However, if you can attack the enemy outside the enemy's range, then as long as you move your position directly after each shot, you can cause the greatest panic to the enemy while ensuring your own safety.
Under this tactical thinking, even if the elves' arm strength needs two minutes to prepare to draw the bow, the elven longbow is still the hobby of every elf.
It has a long range and high accuracy. It is equipment designed completely for elves. It is so perfect that there is no room for change.
And the "new rifle" of Ishgard... is a brand new weapon that is destined to cause the elves to be crazy about it.
According to Yang Hao's experience, this new type of rear-loading firearm, which is more advanced than the steam rifle, should be more accurate and have a longer range than the steam rifles of the Roman Empire.
Especially after carefully considering the fact that early bolt-action rifles could ensure lethality within a distance of 800 meters, he became even more confident in his conclusion.
Not to mention, the physical fitness of elves is much stronger than that of humans. If the existing caliber of guns cannot meet the elves' needs in terms of range, then increasing the caliber, adding more gunpowder, or even simply enchanting the gun bullets directly are all ways to meet the needs.
However, as to the specific direction of development, we still have to wait until the rifle is delivered for accurate disassembly and replication and the elves can actually experience it before we can make a conclusion.
And the production of bullets inevitably requires some localization modifications—
The Roman Empire's previous steam rifles fired steel ball bullets through high-pressure gas cylinders. The elves might have to start with various magical minerals...
Um…
Everyone was getting lively again, and with Fen joining in, the atmosphere was even more lively than before.
But the little sister Theresa suddenly noticed something strange about Naluga beside her.
She seemed to have something to say, but in the end she timidly stopped herself from saying anything.
This scene was like a shy little girl with brown hair who wanted to remind her teacher of some negligence, but because of her introverted and shy personality, she could only remain speechless and shrink back. She just watched helplessly, unable to muster up the courage to squeeze in.
It seems that Narujia's identity here is indeed special—a demon from the tribe, born in a tribe, illiterate, and she has never seen such a scene in the tribe...
If a girl like this puts forward her ideas in a place like this, she might just be laughed at.
Theresa felt sad for Nalujia, but then she thought, is Yang Hao the type who would sneer at others at work
The little nun trusted her man, so after thinking about it, she secretly moved the stool and whispered to Naluga:
"Naluga, do you have anything to say?"
Naluga was stunned for a moment, then quickly came over, as if intending to tell Theresa her thoughts, and then let Theresa convey them to others.
But the little nun was a troublemaker, so what she did was to cast a spell on Naruga.
Ever since "Light" left her the last bit of power, Theresa has gained the right to use two more divine arts.