The sunlight shone into the spacious study room, casting a thin layer of light on the oak desk and the Magic Net terminal next to the desk. The spirit-boosting incense drifted slowly in the air and penetrated Byron's nostrils, making Byron The imperial general who was a mercenary couldn't help sniffling, and almost sneezed impolitely.
"... envoys from the Holy Dragon Principality will arrive at the northern border in the near future," Gao Wen sat behind the desk and put a document on the table, "Go and meet them."
Byron scratched his hair, but just halfway through the scratch, he realized that it was already the "Era of Empire", and it seemed a little inappropriate for him to be so casual in front of the emperor, so he quickly put his hand down: "Understood—but I don't understand diplomacy ah?"
Gao Wen smiled and glanced at the "mercenary general": "Aren't you always eloquent? Philip can be persuaded by you."
"Your Majesty, this is different. The main reason for my communication with Philip is not to be eloquent, but to stick to justice and the creed of chivalry..." Byron immediately talked freely, but said As he spoke, he noticed Gao Wen's expression that seemed to be a smile but not a smile, and he had to add something cautiously and tactfully, "Of course there are elements of shamelessness in it..."
There are some things that can't be changed by wearing the uniform of an Imperial general—at least not so quickly.
But Gao Wen didn't care about it. Instead, he admired the various faults and habits of a group of "veteran founding ministers" including Byron.
He wasn't sure if it was because of the memory of Gawain Cecil affecting him, or if it was because he could see in Byron the shadow of Ansu's group of founding pigeons seven hundred years ago, but One thing he is sure of is that when dealing with Byron, Amber, and Wright, who have followed him for several years, it is far more difficult than dealing with those "professionals" who migrated from the old capital and are strict in everything they do. Much more comfortable and much easier.
So his posture also relaxed, leaning on the back of the chair, and said with a smile: "Say something that should not be said by me directly—among the many skills required for diplomacy, 'shameless' is precisely the main ingredient—even with 'Speaking eloquently' is quite effective.
"Of course, you don't really need to care about these, because you are not the one who is really in charge of the negotiations—you are just going to pick up the ambassador at the border as an imperial general, to show our sincerity, to act as a 'face' of equal status, and to be truly responsible It was the Earl of Cromwell White Mountain who contacted and escorted the ambassador to the imperial capital."
"Cromwell White Mountain?" Byron recalled the somewhat familiar name, "Oh, that half-dwarf knight lord, I saw him in San Sunil."
"Although he is an aristocrat from the old capital, he is quite familiar with northern affairs." Gawain nodded, "You and he go to the northern border to meet the envoys of the Holy Dragon Principality, and you can leave everything to him after that. As for you , you need to stay in the north for a while, and there is a new task for you."
"So... the task of responding to the ambassador is actually incidental," Byron nodded knowingly, and then showed a trace of curiosity, "What is my real task?"
"Construct the North Port and the supporting naval base," Gao Wen stood up, and walked slowly to the wall where the map of the whole territory was hung not far away, his eyes fell on the north of the empire, "for the preparation of the imperial navy and the restart of the northern circumnavigation route prepare for."
"North Port..." Byron followed Gawain's gaze to the map, and gradually focused on the mountains in the north, on the coastline between the Violet Kingdom and the Holy Dragon Principality, "...the Holy Dragon Principality The sea-going peninsula has left a warm current for the northern continent, and there is a natural ice-free port beyond the mountains in the north...it is indeed the most suitable starting point for restarting the northern circumcontinental route."
Gawain looked at Byron quite unexpectedly, with a smile on his face: "It seems that you have already noticed it?"
"Your Majesty, I don't just spend time at home with my daughter when I'm on vacation." Byron smiled and spread his hands, "You said a long time ago that you should focus on the ocean, but the southern border used to be surrounded by continents. The mouth of the sea, but now that the north is under our control, that precious stretch of coastline has attracted my attention for a long time."
Gawain smiled.
Obviously, he and Byron reached a tacit understanding: the two of them were on the northern coastline when they were in the southern border...
"It seems that it is the right choice for you to lead the fleet," Gao Wen said with a smile, "After the completion of the North Port, we will have the opportunity to command the Sea Peninsula of the Holy Dragon Principality, the northern border of the Empire, the Ogulei Tribal Country and The west coast of the Dwarf Kingdom is connected. Even if the Ogulei Tribal Country is willing to cooperate with us and set up a safe haven on the sea cliff crack in the south of the mainland, this route can even extend to the border of the Gaoling Kingdom, connecting the entire north, west and south of the continent. Some areas are included, it will become a real 'circumcontinental route'...
"With the performance of the magical mechanical ship, this is completely achievable.
"Our fleet will also become a real 'Navy Fleet' at that time, instead of just playing around in the inland river... You have led the fleet for so long, you must have felt that those mechanical ships can travel in a wider area. function on the stage."
"I've already felt that inland rivers... are not very spacious for our mechanical boats," Byron replied immediately, but then frowned, "But as far as I know, the ocean environment is far more complicated than inland rivers." Many, it’s not that you can turn an inland warship into a naval warship by driving it directly into the sea. Ms. Till also reminded me that the ships she helped us design so far are only suitable for sailing in relatively stable inland rivers. To challenge the ocean... It needs some remodeling.”
"Of course, so this is a long-term mission. Human beings have been far away from the sea for too long. We need a long time to re-collect the information of the sea and adjust our ship design. Fortunately, Tyr is willing to continue to be our consultant, and the northern border The Wilders have also made some observations of the ocean over the past few hundred years, and their records will come in handy.
"In addition, the construction of Beigang is not our only 'ocean plan'. After the establishment of diplomatic relations with the Principality of Shenglong, we will redevelop the Huanlong Fjord at the junction of the east border and the Principality of Shenglong. When the time comes, this task I'll give it to you too."
Gawain spoke unhurriedly, his gaze gradually fell on Byron, and there was some expectation in that gaze.
"At that time, you will truly be worthy of the name 'Imperial Navy Commander'."
"Ah, this sounds much more imposing than 'Admiral of the Navy'," Byron raised the corner of his mouth, "I'm looking forward to that day very much."
…
The giant sun gradually rose to the sky, and the bright sunshine generously poured down from the sky. The air was still cold, but the heat contained in the sun seemed to be heralding the coming of the warm season—in the rushing light and heat, Byron Standing on the garden square in front of Cecil Palace, he raised his head and narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Commander of the Imperial Navy..." The mercenary knight couldn't help muttering to himself with a slight smile on his face, "Sounds really interesting."
As he spoke, he shook his head slightly, and walked unhurriedly towards the magic vehicle waiting for him at the edge of the square.
The vacation is over, I have to go back and talk to Pea.
A pleasant and crisp ringtone suddenly came from nearby, interrupting Byron's thoughts.
He raised his head curiously, looked in the direction of the sound, and saw that in the open space between the flower beds not far away, Rebecca, wearing a winter hunting suit that was easy to move, was riding some kind of weird two-wheeled " machine", walking towards this side staggeringly.
That weird "machine" is not like any kind of magical machinery I have seen before. It obviously does not use any magic mechanism as a power source, but is simply assembled with iron wheels, skeletons, chains, etc., and is driven by human pedals. It got up, and the crisp and pleasant bell sound came from a small device hanging beside its handle—
Rebecca was vigorously fiddled with the little device to make it jingle and jingle, her face was full of excitement, but Byron could see that the situation of Her Royal Highness was not very optimistic—she obviously couldn't control that only The two-wheeled "car" wobbled violently when riding on it. Although it seemed to be riding towards the open road to the side, it became more and more crooked as it walked, and it seemed to be colliding with Byron.
"Ah, Byron!" Rebecca had already noticed the people on the road, and immediately shouted, "Don't move, don't move!"
Byron thought for a while, stood still, and then watched Rebecca fall off the two-wheeled car with a bang when she was more than ten meters away from him, lying on her back, in a panic.
But still smiling brightly.
Soon there was a guard running over, hurriedly helping the princess up from the ground, and Byron also walked over, looking at this girl who could be said to be the girl he had grown up with, helplessly. Laughing: "I thought you told me not to move because you were going to aim and hit me—I have activated my protective aura."
"Hey, I told you not to move and then I tried to avoid it myself, but what happened later seemed to be different from what I imagined... But anyway, I didn't hit you in the end, isn't it good," Rebecca rubbed Whispering while scratching his head, he turned his head and glanced at the "two-wheeled cart" that had just been lifted up by the attendants, and couldn't help showing some distressed eyes on his face, "Oh, don't break it... I didn't deliver it in total." Come here a few... "
Only now did Byron have the time to observe the weird "car", and he found that the style of this thing was very different from Cecil's other mechanical creations, so he couldn't help being curious: "Your Highness, is this thing... Did you just invent it?"
In his mind, as long as there are any weird new gadgets in Cecil City, and it happens to be near Rebecca, it is most likely invented by this whimsical princess or the research team around her. - and the former even accounted for half of all new things.
Although recently due to the continuous improvement of various research facilities, more and more intellectuals are devoting themselves to technology development, and the proportion of Rebecca's "creation" in various new things is constantly decreasing, but due to long-term habit As a result, Byron would still subconsciously connect it with Rebecca after seeing something new.
However, Rebecca shook her head: "No, this was brought by the merchant when they imported textiles from Typhon recently. The gift from the Typhon people seems to be called 'two-wheeled cart'..."
"Typhon?" Byron was a little surprised, and couldn't help but look at the weird car again, "Well... no wonder it feels a bit weird in style, but it looks very delicate. But Typhon people are really strange, This kind of car with only two wheels... I'm afraid it's not easy to control."
"You're guessing wrong. Actually, it's very convenient after you learn it." Rebecca suddenly put her hands on her hips. "I saw people demonstrate that it was very easy, convenient and fast—I fell down just now because I was not proficient. That's all."
Hearing Rebecca's excited chatter, Byron looked at the "two-wheeled cart" from Typhon in front of him, but couldn't help showing a thoughtful look on his face.
The Typhons started very late in magic technology, and they were indeed far behind Cecil in this field of technology that could almost symbolize a new era, but they had always been ahead in other aspects—some A very clear example is "mechanical clocks and watches", which used to be exclusively enjoyed by nobles and churches. In the past two years, with the "punctuality requirements" brought about by factory construction and railway operation, it has gradually been extended to various parts of the country. Machinery was first invented by Typhon craftsmen about half a century ago.
Like many technologies in the old age, it was originally used in theological ceremonies to allow the church to determine the time of the mass, and to call believers to come to the church to pray by ringing the mechanical bell. In castles and manors, but still has little to do with the daily life of civilians.
The world's best watchmakers are in Aldernan, and the world's best crystal glass technology is also in Aldernan.
Of course, the latter's key technology has been leaked to Cecil through some unspeakable channels, and the "floor windows" that are gradually becoming popular in the southern area of Cecil is one of its "influence results".
Now, Typhon's smart people have invented this "two-wheeled vehicle", and there is a very obvious difference between this thing and the mechanical clocks and crystal glass at the beginning of its birth:
It's not elegant enough, and it's not luxurious enough.
This thing seems to be aimed at the common people at the beginning of its birth...
Byron frowned. He was not as good at analyzing changes in the situation from these intelligences as Gawain or Hetty. He just instinctively thought about it, and instinctively felt that...
Those who have mastered knowledge in Typhon seem to have some changes in their way of thinking.