Lorist did not live in White Bird Town. According to Fatty Shirovas Island's development plan, White Bird Town will be moved eastward by more than 1,000 meters, and the vacated area will be expanded into a dock area and a city wall will be built. The current White Bird Town is too close to the pier. In the Norton family's positioning, Hilovas Island will become the most important fulcrum and transfer point of the sea channel. Therefore, it is not only necessary to expand the dock area, but also to change the wooden pier into a permanent stone pier.
Fatty Shi's plan is to build the residential area and commercial area of the new Bainiao Town first, and then replace the old houses with the residents of Bainiao Town after completion, and then demolish the old houses to expand the dock area and build city walls and defensive facilities. So Lorist built a temporary wooden barracks on the outskirts of White Bird Town, and lived in a big log house himself.
"Ah, it hurts... let go, Chrisya, I am Earl Norton, the head of the family, I order you to let go..." As soon as he returned to his big house, Lorist was overwhelmed by Chrisya. grabbed the ears.
"Now I am teaching my dear cousin as a cousin, and it has nothing to do with the Earl's family." Chrisya said.
There is such a saying? Lorist was stunned for a moment, and then lost his temper: "Get out of here, what are you watching, haven't you seen my sister scolding my brother? Schwarder, don't run away, cook a pot of Michael for my dear cousin Think."
So El, Josk and others laughed and scattered, and it was very rare to see Lorist eating a turtle. It would be an interesting conversation piece in the boring barracks life.
"Okay, cousin, it's time to let go, you don't save me a bit of face in front of my knights. Now we are all adults, and you are no longer the little yellow-haired girl with a runny nose. said Lorist.
"You only had a runny nose when you were a child, and you were still a crybaby. When I caught you back then, you cried loudly..." Chrisya let go of the hand that twisted Lorist's ear, and fell into a long memory: " At that time, although the family territory was in the remote Northland, the manor was very lively and fun. Every summer, I urged my father and mother to go to the family territory to play. My mother was always unhappy, because the journey was too far, and every time I went back and forth It will take two months... ”
"Well, if only now, the family territory has found an outlet to the sea, and it only takes about ten days to make a boat from Hilovas Island to the family territory." Lorist said.
"Tell me, Locke, what have you done as the head of the family? What changes have been made in the family territory?" Kresya asked.
Lorist began to tell Chrisya about the changes in the family in the past few years, such as the Bailugang family cemetery, resisting the tide of monsters, building the Rock Castle, developing Fengleyuan and Xing'anyuan, defeating the second prince, and alliance with the three major families in the Northland, etc. thing.
Feeling lost, Chrisya murmured: "I really want to go back to the family territory to have a look. In a blink of an eye, more than ten years have passed..."
"The family territory welcomes you at any time, Chrisya, after talking for so long, I almost forgot the business, tell me about the purpose of coming, is the Second Highness going to deal with the Norton family?" Lorist poured a glass for Chrisya. Here comes Max.
Chrisya squinted at Lorist: "You are awesome. I heard about your heroic deeds just after I returned to the imperial capital. I beheaded Viscount Aslan in public at the welcome banquet hosted by His Highness. The Great Sword Master Clemente made His Highness unable to step down. If you hadn’t captured the second prince and sent it to His Highness, making great contributions to the kingdom, Your Highness would have turned against you...
The aftermath here has not subsided, and there is another news that you brought 500 armed families and beat 7,500 elites of the Royal Guards to pieces, and killed the leader of the team, Earl Aslan, and put him Protest us by sticking their heads on the beach. You are amazing, I don't even know what to say about your cousin. Compared with when you were a child, you have changed too much... "
Lorist chuckled a few times, and said modestly: "People will always change, and besides, I'm not as wise and powerful as you boast..."
Chrisya was so angry that she stretched out her hand to pinch him again: "It's true that you heard what I said to praise you. It's true that you are getting more and more arrogant. Locke, you are too high-profile and arrogant, so it is easy to put The family is at the forefront, and the nobles of other kingdoms will regard the family as a threat to them... "
"Christia, it's fine, don't worry, the family has the strength now, we don't need to be afraid of anyone." Lorist interrupted Chrisya's nagging.
Chrisya sighed: "Lock, it's good that you have this confidence, so I won't say anything more. Your Highness didn't ask me to come here this time to blame you. He asked me to inform you about his love for Aslan. The disposition of the family, and hope that you can help him and advise him in the war of imperial unification... "
After hearing what Chrisya said about the Second Highness's treatment of the Aslan family, Lorist took a breath of air: "This is too cruel, the Aslan family has no hope of recovery. No, Chrisya, why do I feel that the real purpose of the Second Highness's disposal of the Aslan family is to confiscate their property and use it for their own use."
Chrissy nodded helplessly.
"No way, is the kingdom's finances really so tight? Then why does the Second Highness still want to unify the empire? Can't he manage the Antinac kingdom well first, let the people live and work in peace, and then plan to unify the great cause after the kingdom is strong? "Lorist expressed his surprise and puzzlement.
"Krisya, I don't understand why the Second Highness made such a hasty decision to unify the empire? It is a big mistake to maintain such a large army of 300,000 troops. The six provinces of the kingdom simply cannot afford to feed so many soldiers. I believe that His Royal Highness has already spent all the savings of the royal family on this army, and once the war starts, the cost will be even greater, how does His Royal Highness plan to solve the problems of logistics, soldiers' pensions and supplies?"
Krisya made a gesture, and Lorist stared wide-eyed: "No way, just rely on robbery to supply supplies on the spot?"
Chrisya nodded helplessly again, and said sternly: "Lock, I know you will think this is ridiculous, but for the Kingdom, this is really a solution. If I tell you, in fact, the Kingdom even has one What will you think when the legion can't afford it?"
Lorist shook his head: "That's impossible, the kingdom has six provinces, how could it be impossible to support even one legion?"
Chrisya's expression was very serious: "It's true. It has been nearly ten years since the establishment of the Antinac Kingdom, and there has been almost no external business circulation. As the orthodox inheritance of the Krissen royal family, the kingdom has always been under the influence of Ford. Overt and covert commercial blockades and trade boycotts by business alliances. Even through smuggling channels, the value of our commodities has been suppressed very low, and the prices of smuggled commodities have almost doubled several times or even more than ten times.
Without commercial transactions, there is no monetary gain. The kingdom's taxes are very few, and most of them are offset in kind. The Kingdom is located in the Great Plains of Ontario. It used to be the commercial center of the Empire. After the civil war, there were many refugees, and basic food and clothing became a problem. Five years ago, the family convoy swept across the three provinces of the kingdom with armed forces, and took away a large number of refugees. The Second Highness worked hard to basically stabilize the situation in the kingdom.
Then His Royal Highness defeated the invasion of the eldest prince and forced the eldest prince to cede two provinces. In addition to the Yungeshandra province captured from the Grand Duke of Madras, although the kingdom has six provinces, the resources are very scarce. The past few years have been fairly peaceful, but the taxes collected are all food. The most scarce resources in the kingdom are iron ore and war horses.
None of the seven iron mines in the previous empire was distributed in the kingdom. The Kingdom of Ridleys and the Kingdom of Iberia each had two iron mines. The Duchy of Fakr, one of the four major duchies, had two iron mines, and the Duchy of Handela also had one. But without commercial transactions plus a commercial blockade, we cannot use our own production to purchase the materials we need. The development of agriculture requires the consumption of a large amount of iron farm tools. The kingdom is now replaced by wood, which is extremely inefficient.
It's not that the Second Highness doesn't want to govern the kingdom well first, but that there is no other way. In the past few years, the eldest prince of the Kingdom of Ridleys has driven nearly 400,000 refugees into the kingdom. In addition to the large and small groups of deserters and armed refugees, the Second Highness had no choice but to send them all together in order to maintain the peace of the kingdom. Once contained, they were reorganized into a reserve army.
Just like the Storm Legion, although it is known as one of the three major legions of the empire, it has always been outside the direct control of the Second Highness, and is becoming more and more independent. The Second Highness also disbanded it to avoid accidents and merged it into the Royal Guards, but it has been misunderstood.
Just reorganize and reorganize like this. The number of troops is getting bigger and bigger. If they are disbanded, the kingdom will fall into chaos again. It is necessary to find a target for the 300,000 troops, so the Second Highness proposed unification The strategy of the empire is to use the dividends after the unification of the empire to maintain the morale and morale of the army, which is also impossible.
The real goal of His Royal Highness is actually the Kingdom of Ridleys. As long as the Kingdom of Ridleys is annexed, the difficulties faced can be alleviated. The Kingdom of Antinac will be able to obtain the most needed resources, and His Highness the Second Highness will be able to establish a preliminary self-sufficient business circle, which will no longer be affected by the blockade of the outside world. As for the other duchies, the Second Highness does not want to fight each other. The general trend is, I believe that those dukes will return to the embrace of the empire, and the revival of the empire will be just around the corner. "
"Lock, the eldest prince is the enemy of our Norton family. If he hadn't rebelled, then my father, third uncle and young master would not have died. The deaths of our relatives are directly or indirectly related to the eldest prince. Second Highness If you want to attack the Eldest Prince, you should help him. The Second Highness appreciates you very much. He said that your military strategies and planned surprise attacks are always unexpected, and you will always win. It was like this five years ago, and it is still like this now..." Ke Lisya looked at Lorist beggingly.
Lorist shook his head: "Christia, since the Second Highness has assembled an army of 300,000 troops, why didn't he launch the attack as soon as possible, instead, it has been delayed for nearly a year now, so that the Principality of Madras and the Kingdom of Ridleys are at the border They are fully prepared for defense, what is this for?"
"Alas..." Chrisya sighed again: "Isn't it because the third prince didn't die... Lingering on the sick bed several times and dying of critical illness, he still survived. If the Second Highness goes out to fight, it will be a big deal for the ruling center of the imperial capital." It is easy to lose control and influence because of the long distance. If the third prince suddenly wakes up and makes a decree that is not good for the second highness, then the second highness will not have time to cry... "
"Hehe," Lorist laughed, "The authorities are obsessed with the onlookers, Chrisya, you are in the middle of the game and don't know it. You trust the Second Highness too much, so you believe his excuses. Three hundred thousand soldiers support one With at least five or six hundred thousand gold fords a year, how can you not support a standing army with so much money? In addition to the equipment and supplies of the 300,000 army, the Second Highness invested at least one million gold fords. Such a large investment cost It's a pity to be in the army, what can't be done if you work hard to develop and build the territory?"
"But I've checked the kingdom's tax list. The annual commercial tax is less than 40,000 goldfords, and it costs more than 100,000 a year to raise an elite regular army..." Chrisya argued unconvinced.
"Krisa, if the Ontario Great Plains could only be used for farming, then the empire would not have arranged the imperial capital there. If you read more books, you will understand that the Ontario Great Plains is rich in gold and jade, and it is known as the hometown of gold and jade. You can get hundreds of thousands of gold dollars. The commercial blockade is just a joke. Merchants are interested in profit, and even dare to kill their heads. Are you afraid that they will not be able to get the resources you need? Think about it for yourself, there is really a shortage of iron ore If so, how did the Second Highness equip 300,000 troops with weapons...
I think His Royal Highness is just sailing with the current and taking advantage of the situation. All he wants is hegemony and his ambition to unify the former empire. You compare the family territory and the kingdom, whose situation is more difficult. But our family still insists on openness and construction. In the past five years, the family territory has taken a new look and its strength has greatly increased. Even the second prince's 100,000 troops were wiped out by our family's armed forces. Therefore, development and construction is the way to truly enhance strength, and blindly enhancing military force is just sacrificing the basics. said Lorist.
"Forget it, Locke, I don't want to quarrel with you. The Second Highness doesn't want to force you. If you refuse to help him, then the family armed forces in the Northland will keep an eye on the Grand Duke Fessabrun in the war to unify the empire. Don't let him Can the Second Highness add to the chaos?" Chrisya took a step back.
Lorist rubbed his chin and walked around the room for a long time before reluctantly agreeing.
"One more thing, give me the soldiers of the Royal Guards you captured and take them away, don't take their ideas." Chrisya said.
"Okay, you can take them away." Lorist said reluctantly, "I need compensation from you. If you really want to pay their ransom, it will cost at least 100,000 gold points."
Chrisya knocked on Lorist: "Don't dream, I don't have a copper coin for you."
"Then I can't explain to the knights under me. In fact, I need their labor to bring them back to Hilovas Island." Lorist spread his hands.
Chrisya was angry: "They are all well-trained elite soldiers. Do you treat them as coolies? No way, I will take them away. If you need labor, you can recruit them yourself. There are many refugees in the two southwestern provinces. "
"The Second Highness allows us to recruit refugees?"
"Of course, he still hopes that you will take all the refugees away."
"Well, Chrisya, I agree with you to take those captives away, but you must ensure that we will not be obstructed in recruiting refugees, and let the Second Highness agree that we recruit some civil officials in the imperial capital. The family territory needs to introduce talents ..." Lorist said.
"Deal!" Chrisya agreed happily.
After only staying for one night, Chrisya wanted to go back impatiently. What was a little troublesome was that there were three small ships on the island, and it took several trips to transport more than 2,000 captives back.
After seeing off Chrisya, Lorist said to Fatty Shi, "I have to go to Morente City."
"What for?"
"To buy a boat, you also need to order a large amount of food." Lorist replied.
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