With the heavy iron gate slowly rising under the power of the winch, the majestic Ansu King City opened its gates to the guardians of the kingdom. Under the leaden gray cloud, it was composed of more than ten carriages and a large number of knights and guards. The procession entered the city.
The wheels of the carriage crushed the centuries-old ancient stone road, the slightly loose stone slab trembled slightly, and the small stones creaked continuously between the wheels and the stone slab, but the creaking sound did not How long it lasted, it was covered by the flute and drum sound suddenly played by the musicians in the team.
Victoria slightly opened the cover on one side of the carriage, and through the narrow gap, she saw the empty street outside—a heavy snow just visited Saint-Sunil not long ago, and the snow covered the entire city. In the cold days, even the residents of the capital would not come out casually, not to mention the back alleys of the common people near the outer city: all the Duchess could see were the white streets and the snow-covered roofs , the snow in some areas has been shoveled away, but more places still maintain the appearance that the snow has just stopped.
There is a collapsed house in the corner of sight, which seems to be crushed by the snow. Of course, there are no residents in the ruins of the house, and it is unknown where the people who used to live here moved—or where they died.
The sound of flutes and drums is still playing, echoing alone in this empty street, as if a group of clowns are telling jokes hard on a stage without any audience, funny and weird, but the musicians don't care about these: they The sound of the music played is not to attract the nearby residents to come out to welcome the nobles, but to let the soldiers at the back of the team quickly adjust their formation after entering the city, and it is also to remind the passers-by in front (if there are any). Get the other side out of the way quickly.
So it doesn't matter if anyone responds or not.
The cover of the carriage was closed.
The convoy passed through the slums of the South City, passed through the Midtown where the citizens lived, and continued towards the Silver Fort. After crossing the Iron Cross Street, the monotonous and boring drumming sound from outside finally stopped, and more and more people Human voices came from all directions.
The convoy entered the inner city where the upper-class citizens and minor nobles lived—after crossing that street, it finally showed a trace of prosperity as the capital of the kingdom.
On the wide streets, the snow has been cleared away. The rich citizens and little nobles wearing colorful and heavy winter clothes have already heard the voices from the Midtown, and they all ran out of their homes to welcome the convoy entering the city. Neither the cold north wind nor the snowflakes blown by the wind can quench the enthusiasm of these people. They stretched their necks by the side of the road, watching the cars with the emblems of the Wilder family, the royal family, and the Church of the Holy Light driving on the road. Then they all cheered and admired, the winter flowers and colored silk strips catalyzed by magic were thrown into the air, like a rain of colorful flowers, and those who threw flowers and silk were all looking forward to it. The windows of the carriage in front of the team can be opened, and the people sitting in the carriage can show up and say hello to them—in the past, the Northern Duchess and the Virgin Princess lived in castles and cathedrals, ordinary wealthy citizens and small nobles But there is no chance to see their faces with their own eyes, and at the moment the motorcade is passing through the wealthy district, this is a rare and good opportunity.
However, the situation today is obviously different from the past. Amidst the eager anticipation of the crowd, none of the carriages opened the cover, and the entire team just continued to maintain their speed, passed through the crowd without stopping, and passed through the entire road outside the Silver Fort. Blocks, drove into the distant castle...
The Duchess Victoria in a white dress led her maids and attendants all the way through the atrium of the Silver Castle and the corridors of the main castle, and came to the study on the upper floor of the castle. Baldwin Franklin, the Grand Duke of the Westland, was wearing a warm and comfortable silk Long robes, sitting on a recliner by the fireplace, concentrating on a large book, seeing the sudden appearance of the Duchess, the Grand Duke of the Western Territory was slightly taken aback, and then quickly got up to greet him: "Ah, the Duchess of Wilder— Please forgive me for not going to the long hall to meet you, this book is too attractive to me."
Victoria scanned the cover of the book in Duke Baldwin's hand, and saw a large string of words in gold on it: "History of Currency Evolution in the Northern Continent and Changes in Trade Lines".
The Franklin family is known as "Ansu's Pocket". Because it is adjacent to the Augure Tribal State, which is a multi-ethnic country and has developed trade, the Dukes of the Western Regions are all good at business, and Baldwin Franklin is the best among them. Or, his favorite books are naturally in this field.
But at this moment, after reading this book, Victoria couldn't help but sighed: "Perhaps this trip to the southern border should let you go."
"Oh?" Baldwin Franklin couldn't help raising his eyebrows: "It seems that this trip is not going well? Our founding hero made things difficult for you?"
"No, everything is going well. Grand Duke Gawain Cecil is kind and friendly, and we have also made a big deal—that's why I said you should go."
The Duchess's tone seemed plain, but Baldwin, who had known her for a long time, saw an imperceptible trace of irritability in the eyes of the "Ice Queen". He put the book in his hand aside, and his expression became serious: "What did you see in the southern border?"
"... a better place than Saint-Sunil," Victoria thought about her words, and it took her a long time to say this, then she shook her head, "I will tell you about the situation in the southern border in detail later .Now let’s talk about the results of this trip.”
Baldwin Franklin listened carefully to Victoria's narration, his brows sometimes furrowed and sometimes relaxed, and his fingers unconsciously caressed a ruby ring worn on his left hand, although the Duchess only briefly described the negotiations of the trip to the south However, from the words and sentences used by the other party, he can still appreciate how much the "Queen of the North" in front of him was touched in that mysterious southern land.
This surprised and surprised him—it turns out that there is still something in the world that can shake this frozen lady like this.
"So, at least Duke Cecil acquiesced in the coronation of His Royal Highness Wales, and he would not openly support the Eastern Territory... and he also said that he would not use the emergency right of succession seven hundred years ago," after Victoria's narration came to an end, Bai Duke Devon said unhurriedly, "This is better than we expected."
"That's true," Victoria nodded. "In addition, he also agreed to provide paid military assistance to the Royal Army—if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I'm afraid I would never have believed that extraordinary weapons could really be mass-produced."
Baldwin became very interested: "What kind of equipment is that? Is there a sample for me to see?"
"He gave me a sword, as well as several sets of armor and weapons as samples," Victoria said, and turned to the attendant standing at the door, "Bring the things in."
A heavy box was moved into the room, and the samples of the magic armor, melting sword, crystal grenade and scorching ray launcher were presented to Duke Baldwin.
"...It is indeed an exquisite weapon." Baldwin Franklin looked at the weapons and equipment made by machines with a hint of admiration, and picked up a melting sword and looked at it in front of his eyes. He activated it according to Victoria's instructions. The magic mechanism of the sword was activated, and accompanied by a low buzzing sound, the blade with a thin layer of purple steel coating was immediately covered with a scorching magic force field.
"Oh, it's unbelievable..." Duke Baldwin opened his eyes slightly, but soon frowned, "Its internal magic power is flawed."
Victoria nodded: "That's true. As I said, its magic mechanism is very fragile—according to Duke Cecil, this is to save costs."
Duke Wilder turned off the magic mechanism. As the blade gradually cooled down, his mind also cooled down from the curiosity of seeing new things. After a short thought, he looked at the Duchess: "You just said, every time It takes a gold coin to replace a magic mechanism?"
"That's right."
"...In addition to this weapon called the melting sword, the magic core of other equipment basically needs to be replaced frequently?"
"Indeed," Victoria nodded, and said before Baldwin spoke, "I don't need to remind you—I know it will cost a lot, and although a separate magic core is cheap, it will consume a lot. "
Baldwin glanced at Victoria quietly, then shook his head slowly: "No, Duchess Wilde, you don't know—you underestimated the extent of this 'expensive', in fact, the cost of replacing the magic core This is the real price of this transaction, compared with it, the price of these swords and armor is not worth mentioning at all."
"So serious?" Victoria finally had a hint of surprise in her eyes.
"Don't question my business sense," said Baldwin Franklin, with a deep sigh, "but don't be disheartened by the facts of what I've said—we're dealing with a conspiracy, and we There is no choice, Duke Cecil has calculated this point before he proposed these conditions—even if I was present, I would have to accept all of this. And even with such a high price, these weapons and equipment... are still worth something worth it."
"Is it worth the money..." Victoria looked at Duke Baldwin's helpless expression, and her expression calmed down again, "In short, let's call the mages and scholars first, and start trying to imitate these weapons, dismantle their magic mechanisms, and create Understand how these things really work.”
"Of course, we have to understand these things," Bodwin said in a deep voice, with emotion in his tone, "It's really... a lesson, so business can still be done like this?"
"I'm afraid we will have more lessons this time." Victoria glanced at the Duke of the Western Territory who was in a state of emotion, her tone was a bit complicated, "After seeing the way of life of the Cecil people, I realized something One thing: In these seven hundred years of peace, Anzu probably hasn't made any progress at all—compared with our ancestors, we are too far behind."
"Oh?" Baldwin raised his voice, showing curiosity, "tell me in detail..."
Victoria pondered for a while, and organized her words: "Then let's start with their government affairs hall..."
…
"The commerce of the Cecilians is very advanced. What we saw in the Cod Trading Company is only a small part of their business wisdom," Belk Rollen stood in the long hall of Solinburg, facing his own My father and Prince Edmund talked about the situation they investigated in the southern border, "I tried to get in touch with a lot of businessmen there, and as a businessman, I also got in touch with their 'Government Office', and I got in touch with a lot of their approval and management processes. , I found that they have very strict business monitoring - the level of rigor is shocking, which is completely different from the impression we had when we first heard about the various business opening policies of the Principality of Cecil."
Silas Lauren listened to his son's report, and at the same time, his eyes occasionally fell on Prince Edmund who was sitting at the head—this young prince had already shed all his innocence, he was wearing black steel light armor, and a The wolf fur cloak was draped over his shoulders, and his face was less green and more weathered. He sat on the main seat of the castle, and when he listened to Belk's report, he seemed to be concentrating, and from time to time he showed a look of thinking.
From below the steps of his seat, Belk Rollen is still narrating: "Their business is indeed open, but it is a precisely controlled openness, which explains why their chamber of commerce and the emerging 'corporations' To be able to run at that high efficiency while seldom going wrong...
"Under the operation of the 'factory', Cecil's material output is surprisingly high, and a large number of things can be sold as commodities, which has spawned many merchants who specialize in the wholesale and transportation of bulk goods. Shipped far away...
"Duke Cecil has built a large number of roads, which connect all major cities and raw material production areas, and cooperate with canals. They have a new magic device called a magic car, which is a mechanical vehicle that runs automatically...
"In order to manage such a large and complex system, their government affairs office is divided into multiple departments. Each department has clear responsibilities and corresponding supervision measures. Everyone is under supervision, and everyone is responsible for supervising others. Everyone has clear work and assessment standards—although loopholes cannot be ruled out, their government affairs office has reached an unbelievable level of efficiency and management ability. I copied their department list and what I can see All rules and regulations…”
"It seems that the five-year mining rights in the White Sand Hills have not been wasted," Prince Edmund said suddenly on the chief seat, "We have finally seen something useful."
"Your Highness," Silas Lauren stood up and said, "It seems that your ideas about the New Deal before are not wrong—Duke Cecil just took a step further in this direction, and the experience he has come out of is of great significance to us. .”
"That's right," Prince Edmund nodded. His expression was extremely serious. "These experiences will make us stronger, and we must become stronger as soon as possible. Our time...is not much."
Yeah, time is running out.
In the main hall of the castle, everyone understood the deep meaning of Prince Edmund's words.
The coveted Typhon Empire... time is running out for the Ansu people.
(Ask for a monthly ticket!!)