That is to say - transfer the food reserves in the drought-stricken areas to Drake Port, so that the people in Drake Port will be fat and strong, and the farmers in the central area will be starved to the point of being skinny. Then, in the absence of additional food output, this only port open to the outside world will be used to create the illusion of a rich and strong country, misleading foreign countries into believing that the Roman Empire is still strong.
Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment, but the royal family and the warlords understood that if they did not do this, then before the war of the Elf Kingdom came, the war of the powerful country across the sea would come first.
Chapter 14: The Deadly Line of the Roman Empire, the Elves' Finn
For the Roman Empire, the powerful country of Isgard across the sea is a recent and serious threat.
Compared to the traditional and old-fashioned ones, the elves used longbows to protect the forest a thousand years ago when humans were still primitive, and five hundred years ago when humans entered the tribal period and had already used homemade shortbows, and even three years ago when the Roman Empire had begun to build a steam factory (although it has been demolished), the elves are still using longbows to protect the forest.
Ishgard, like the Roman Empire, is a new generation empire - it is said that their ruler is a vampire who has lived for hundreds of years. Under the rule of this vampire, Ishgard has been expanding steadily and has even inadvertently unified the continent where they are located.
Now, Isgard still has not given up its pace of external expansion. And if nothing unexpected happened, the scholars who fled to Isgard through the port at that time should have reported part of the situation of the Roman Empire to their new master.
Leaving aside the influence of these scholars, in the eyes of the Imperial Parliament, Isgard is a cautious empire.
Although everyone knows that they are eager to turn the Roman Empire into a colony, if they find that the Roman Empire is still rich and powerful, then they will most likely...
Will choose to continue limited trade and then turn their attention to other countries on other continents.
But on the other hand...
If Isgard were to realize that the Roman Empire was a castle in the air.
There is no need to wait for the Elf Kingdom to arrive. Isurgard's warships can already destroy the coastal areas of the Roman Empire, and then use this as a base to advance inward little by little until the entire Roman Empire is occupied. Isurgard will not stop their advance.
Even though General Dreshuka, as a representative of the warlords, provided the best treatment and social status to his officers and soldiers in the military district, it was a fact that the military strength of the entire Roman Empire was declining year by year.
Therefore, after realizing the threat from across the sea, General Dreshuka couldn't help but stand up and roared in a low voice:
"So we need those steam factories! Without the qualified equipment produced by the steam factories, we can't stop the warships and soldiers of Ishgard, let alone those rioting peasants!"
"General Dreshuka, the steam factories you mentioned were basically demolished within a year after the regent was exiled." A nobleman reminded him kindly, "And we can't find any workers now - those machines are too complicated to operate... from the perspective of serfs."
"Then at least we have to ensure the normal supply of weapons and equipment. What's the point of pretending to be fat and strong in Drake Harbor? We can pretend for a year, but can we continue pretending when the Elf Kingdom attacks us?"
"This is also a helpless move. Even if we use all the magicians to try to change the weather in the central region, the best we can do is to guarantee less than a month of rainfall in a small area... We have to spend money on food, and we don't have the spare money to purchase military equipment."
"Master Peter, are you still going to remain silent at this point?"
General Dreshuka was extremely helpless. The Roman Empire now had two deadlines - one was food. The entire empire's food reserves could only last for half a year at most, and the impact of the drought might cause a semi-national famine in the Roman Empire in the second half of this year...
The Roman Empire had to spend money on food, otherwise they would starve to death, let alone resist possible invaders.
Another deadline is the industrial deadline.
After closing all the steam factories, although the low-level craftsmen of the Roman Empire regained their jobs, the Roman Empire did not have the money to hire them to produce weapons and equipment, nor did it have the ability to allow these craftsmen to produce output comparable to that of factories.
But the problem is... since the establishment of the Roman Empire, the standard for the number of troops left by the Regent to the Roman Empire... is calculated according to the output of the steam plant.
Now I'm frozen.
Even in the army under General Dreshuka, according to the current standards of the Roman Empire, more than a quarter of the soldiers have only a sword as a weapon and can only be used as auxiliary troops.
Among the remaining three quarters, more than half of them only had cheap leather armor - it might even be family heirloom leather armor that had been passed down for who knows how many years rather than standard armor.
If we compare it with the army of the Elf Kingdom, not only do over 90% of the elves have armor, they even have several replacement weapons on hand.
Although the number of soldiers is far less than that of the Roman Empire, the soldiers of the Elf Kingdom are elites who have been trained for more than decades...
What should the Roman Empire do now? Everyone was speechless, and finally looked at the Patriarch Peter, whose face changed drastically.
The two issues mentioned above are the dead lines of the Roman Empire.
But their core can probably be explained by one simple word: "no money."
In other words, as long as there is money, the Roman Empire can at least survive for two or three years...
But the problem is that now, except for Pope Peter, other factions have no money.
Even if the nobles and landlords sold their butts, they could not raise enough money for the military expenses required by General Dreshuka and the funds required to purchase food for the royal family.
But the parish does.
As a religion that has almost completely robbed the people of the diocese of their wealth, the Church of Light is trying to save more money for the diocese by various means such as "forgetting those promises" or "killing the parties involved".
Patriarch Peter of the Church of Light possesses the most wealth in the Roman Empire. It can even be said that the daily maintenance cost of the St. Peter's Basilica he built is more than the entire month's salary of the army under General Dreshuka.
He even had enough money to build himself an underground cathedral made of pure gold. As long as he was willing to give in, the current crisis of the Roman Empire could be temporarily resolved.
But how to get Pope Peter, the most stingy religious figure, to pay money is another good question.
The most intense discussion in the history of the Imperial Diet began.
Outside the window, the moon is bright and there is not a single cloud in the sky. It will still be sunny for the next few weeks.
But in the Elf Kingdom's capital, the Sky Garden of Fingal, located in the forest, the scene was covered with dark clouds.
Fen sat on her throne, looking at the dark clouds that obscured the bright moonlight on the observation deck, and she sighed:
"Qina, tell me where the regent is."
"Fen, he has left the border of the Roman Empire with the last Purple Princess of the Bayerzans Empire and is now moving in the Monster Forest - but we are not sure whether he will head towards the Elf Kingdom."
"Whether he comes to the Elven Kingdom or not, he is still our most distinguished and respected guest. So is the purple princess. Even those ignorant orcs remember clearly the sacrifices that the Bayerjans Empire made for the Elucia continent. So don't interfere with them. It's better for them to come here on their own than for us to force them to come."
"yes… "
"Go down first. I want to be alone before the unusually sudden snowfall in early spring this year."
"yes… "
Finn's attendants left, and Finn of the Elven Kingdom left her throne and walked to the observation deck with a graceful posture, as if dancing lightly.
For Finn, the reform of the Elf Kingdom is imperative. She must complete the transformation of the Elf Kingdom before the next demonic disaster comes, otherwise it will be a disaster for the elves.
But this was too difficult for Finn.
Even though she was Finn of the Elf Kingdom—in the understanding of humans, the only emperor of the country, the reform of the Elf Kingdom became extremely difficult because of the stubbornness and "spontaneity" of this race.
Thousands of years ago, the elves used longbows to protect their homes. At that time, humans were represented by their ally, the Bayerz Empire. The two sides were as close as brothers, fighting side by side on the front line against the demonic disaster.
A thousand years ago, the Byers Empire was destroyed by the infiltration of the demonic plague. The last emperor sank his city into the ground, and buried his people and the demonic monsters underground until now. At this time, the elves are still using longbows.
Hundreds of years ago, tribes emerged one after another, and the barbarian Khans trampled on the plains in the south. The elves still followed the tradition and used longbows to defend their country.
Five years ago, under the leadership of the Regent, the Roman Empire completed the great achievement of transforming from a tribe into an empire, but the elves still had longbows in their hands that were thousands of years old.
Everything about the elves is so perfect.
Equipment that has been around for thousands of years still looks incredibly beautiful today, and there isn't even room for improvement, simply because they were too perfect from the very beginning.
Not only the equipment, but also the society and life of the elves are perfectly "unchanged".
Precisely because of the "no need for change", the entire nation of elves is bound by the perfection of the past and cannot extricate themselves.
That's why... Fin was sure of it.
It's time for the elves to change.
The "perfection" of the past will only hinder the future of this race, but how should it be done? What should be done? What kind of goal should be set
These problems were too difficult for Fern. She tried hard for a long time, but in the end it was no use.
The elves understood Finn's changes, but they themselves were bound by perfection and could not break out of this vicious circle and take charge of the overall situation.
Without external insight, the elves can only indulge in perfection.
But the Roman Empire's move to expel the regent gave her a ray of hope...
"Your Majesty the Regent... He is a genius in the human world. Unfortunately, the people he leads are not "humans" at all, but barbarians in human skin, a group of barbarians who believe in tribalism. No matter how smart some of them are, the tribal era is ultimately a world ruled by tribal cognition."
Finn was like performing a solo opera, mumbling to herself in a melodious and cold voice, and watching the dark clouds in the sky with respectful green eyes.
“He is not suitable for that country. Even if he forcibly pulls a group of tribes into an empire, it will essentially take hundreds of years for the empire to catch up with his ideas.
But the elves can. The elves need him, the elves are willing to accept him, the elves are willing to pay a high price for him... Ah... Originally, I was ready to pay the highest price in the "border negotiations" at that time to invite him to my court, but in the end, the Roman Empire exiled him for their own interests
I heard that the Roman royal family even plucked out the little queen’s tongue… They are truly barbarians. Dirty barbarians.”
Finn gently closed her red lips and pomegranate teeth. In the distance, dark clouds dropped his first snowflakes on Fingal, the kingdom of the elves.
At the same time, in the Monster Forest on the border of the Earldom of Kagad in the Roman Empire.
It had begun to snow and it had been night for a long time.
Yang Hao and the shivering Sister Teresa finally found a cave that could shelter them from the wind and rain. The unfortunate couple, who hadn't had a good night's sleep for several days, could finally rest for a while.
Chapter 15: Hug in the Snow
While Yang Hao and Theresa were trudging through the Monster Forest, heavy snow had already fallen from the sky.
The heavy snow like goose feathers soon turned into a sudden snow, which covered half of the Monster Forest in silver and almost froze the mandarin ducks to death in this dangerous forest.
Fortunately, they finally found a cave that was not too big, but at least large enough for the two of them to huddle in for the night.
In the ice and snow, Yang Hao went to search for materials and firewood to block the entrance of the cave, leaving only a hole for breathing fresh air. Theresa prepared a shelter for them in the cave that could be considered warm.
There was not much food left, and it was not the right time to collect berries in the snow. Theresa's face turned purple from the cold, but she still stood stubbornly in front of the cave, shivering as she watched Yang Hao's back appear and disappear in the bushes.
"Come back quickly! If you keep going like this, we will all be frozen to death!" Sister Teresa sneezed, and her snot condensed into an ice sculpture at her philtrum. "Don't worry about it! Hurry up!"
Yang Hao responded twice and hurried back with a bundle of firewood that was not covered by snow.
Seeing this, Sister Teresa quickly retreated into the cave and took out the life-saving fire starter and tinder made from tree bark from her backpack.
…
With the faint light of the fire, Yang Hao blocked the entrance of the cave with the remaining firewood, barely creating a shelter for the two of them to avoid being blown directly by the cold wind. Then he turned around and found Theresa taking off her clothes.
Before she could say anything in shock, Theresa started to criticize her:
"The blankets we brought can't provide enough warmth! Come on, take off all your clothes except your underwear and put them underneath! If we squeeze together, we should be able to get through today... What are you doing? Come on!"
"but-"
"Don't say buts. Anyway, I've already pretended to convert many times. In this special case, it's not impossible to convert directly from a nun to an ordinary decent woman... Hurry up! I'm cold too!"
Mother Teresa stripped herself down to her underwear with bandages wrapped around her private parts. She used the nun's uniform as a cushion on the hastily collected hay, then pounced on Yang Hao and stripped him naked, trembling.
This made Yang Hao feel a little at a loss, but it was true that now was no longer the time for the two of them to care about their sense of shame.
After they put their blankets together and wrapped them tightly into a caterpillar shape, Yang Hao, with his back to Theresa, felt the scalding warmth coming from her body while trying to divert his attention from her plumpness:
"Theresa... don't you know any magic?"
This is what Yang Hao is confused about. In his impression, priests who believe in the God of Light can use powerful divine arts.
Whether it's shouting the name of the God of Light to forcibly open up a bright area at night to support the army's night operations, or suddenly exploding with flashes of light that are enough to burn others, or even turning the scorching white light into a spear and throwing it out to directly pierce through solid armor and roast the flesh and blood inside... The priests in this world can always use divine magic to accomplish all kinds of strange operations.
Teresa is also a nun. Logically, she should know some divine arts. Why doesn't she use them
Yang Hao's question made Theresa silent for a while, and then the girl just curled her lips, and then hugged her man's body tightly:
"The premise for me to use "divine magic" is... the god I believe in has divine power. The power of a priest comes from the god they believe in. The more pious the priest is, the more powerful the god is, and the stronger their magic is.
But the fellow believer here is almost dead. The fact that he can pay attention to me as a believer is already considered alive. How can he have the energy to provide help? "
"But the God of Light is not—"
“Who the hell believes in the God of Light! My little dog, the ‘light’ I believe in and the ‘God of Light’ are two different things, just like ‘human beings’ and ‘human beings in the Roman Empire’ are two different concepts…”
"But if that's the case, then isn't the power of the God of Light weaker than that of Light?"
I have the impression that Saint Cecilia once told me that "God" really exists.
If Theresa is right, and "Light" is a higher-level existence than the "God of Light", then wouldn't His power be even stronger than that of the God of Light
Yang Hao fell into deep thought. He reached out and carefully placed a piece of firewood into the slowly burning fire circle, but saw Theresa gently grab his elbow and told him to quickly pull it back.
He could feel Theresa's face buried in his back. Her body was hot, and he couldn't help but turn around, staring at Theresa.
Her gray eyes sparkled in the firelight, and she seemed a little depressed, which made Yang Hao reach out and hug her tightly, hugging the girl who had always supported him.
I'm sorry. He whispered in Theresa's ear. "If it makes you feel embarrassed and sad, it's okay not to answer."
Theresa had always done a lot for him. Although Yang Hao had not been able to do anything for her that would make her happy, at least he could stop her from thinking about the sad things.
He just wanted to live a quiet life with Theresa in a peaceful country, in a small house somewhere, arguing about what to eat for the next week and worrying about the trivialities of winter.
In his spare time he wanted to accompany Theresa to pray, even though he didn't feel like praying at all - but he wanted to be with her.
"Thanks."
The girl in his arms nodded gently. She closed her eyes and gently turned her head to kiss Yang Hao's cheek, then sighed: