"Your Majesty, Reyne took away a huge amount of wealth. That should be offered to Your Majesty!"
"Yes, Your Majesty. Guya was a baron of the empire and was rewarded by the late emperor. Yet, she defected to outsiders. Your Majesty should send troops to attack!"
"Your Majesty, Ainphent and his parents were raised by the Clyde family. Yet, they took away all the wealth. This is clearly a betrayal of the empire!"
"Your Majesty, Helene was supposed to be betrothed to Your Majesty as a consort, but that Salin is so lawless that he actually kept her by his side. Please send troops to attack!"
The four Earls angrily spoke. They still held the young Emperor in contempt. Salin had extracted tens of millions of gold coins from the four families. It was already a testament to their strong willpower that the four counts hadn't gone crazy. Thus, the four of them unanimously asked the emperor to retract his order. If it were Emperor Charnak, they wouldn't have dared to speak like this even if they were given a hundred guts.
"You're really loyal!" Ojavis laughed mockingly and then began to criticize them one by one.
"If Reyne hadn't gone to Metatlin City, the wealth under her control would be about 500,000 gold coins a year. Most of it would be given to the Polokro Province where the Tiffany family is. Guya was bestowed by Father, but as a baroness in the Roland family, how could she inherit the title? Ainphent, haha. When he clashed with the Vatican, it was his parents who protected him. I know of his parents. They were already great Magicians back then, but you immediately placed them under house arrest in Sacred Rock City. Ainphent was also sent to the border of Phoenix. Helene, become my consort? Rawls, do you believe your own words? "
The four counts paled. They hadn't expected Ojavis's tone to be so harsh. It had to be known that most of the power in Sacred Rock City was controlled by Sephiroth. The four of them were the emperor's trusted aides and most powerful supporters. How could Ojavis be like this!
"You all want to attack Metatlin City. Very well, go. I won't stop you. Do you think I don't know that you have more private soldiers than the duke allows?"
The four counts were shocked. They all stood up from their chairs and knelt before the young emperor.
"Get up. If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't have asked you to enter the palace. Don't be fooled by my father's death. In this Sacred Rock City, I can kill anyone with a single word. Do you think those magic clocks are just for show? "
The four Earls looked at each other, then stood up. None of them dared to sit, though. They all lowered their heads and waited for Ojarvis' instructions.
"Father dotes on you too much …" Ojarvis gasped for breath and said after a while, "One must know when to advance and when to retreat. What's the use of you trying to bewitch me? Even Uncle doesn't recommend sending troops to attack. With your strength, you'll just die if you go. You still don't know, right? The Pope personally organized an army of one hundred thousand, but in the end, they were completely annihilated by the army of Metatlin City in the northern wilderness. In the future, if you want to say such things again, first rub your own heads. "
The Earls of the four great families were truly afraid now. Their news didn't come as fast as the royal family. Before this, Metatlin City was retreating step by step, suffering heavy casualties! After the Vatican's expeditionary army defeated Rex's army at the border, they advanced with irresistible force. Metatlin City didn't hesitate to burn down their own town and all their stored rations to stop the expeditionary army's advance.
Only now did they know that the expeditionary army was completely annihilated.
"Metatlin City has already been established, and Salin is now the first king. He asked my sister to send ten magic chariots as a gift. I've already accepted them. I'll ask Uncle to prepare a group of envoys to go to Metatlin. Do you understand? "
"Your Majesty …"
"We understand."
The four Earls were dejected. Ojarvis didn't plan to continue making things difficult for them. He changed his tone and said, "I've already considered opening trade with Metatlin City. Metatlin will have a magic core trade with the royal family, so you don't have to interfere. However, the empire has never lacked metal mines. You can go and manage them."
The four Earls were immediately delighted. In Qinyin, all the mines belonged to the royal family. They couldn't interfere. Ojarvis meant that the four great families could operate these businesses overseas. That way, the profits would at least double.
Ojarvis's words were too blatant. The four old fellows couldn't use their original attitude to consider this problem.
"Your Majesty, since the royal family has already decided, we will naturally obey. However, if we do this mining business, will it …"
If this was a show of weakness, they would have already participated in the mining business overseas. It was just that they didn't dare to do it in Qinyin. That was because the other nobles had their eyes on the four of them. These four families didn't have high ranks, but they were extremely favored. If they wanted to take them down, they would have to find problems with the law.
However, the four families walked outside the law and wouldn't let the mining business enter Qinyin. When it came to related issues, they would rather spend more money to go around Alchemy City and wash their goods clean.
"If we cooperate with the Metatlin nobles, we won't have this problem."
The four old fellows were depressed. Speaking of which, if they wanted to operate overseas, they would have to cooperate with the juniors who had separated from their families. However, for the sake of money, they could only bear with it.
"Your Majesty, Duke Valde requests to see you." A palace guard passed the message. Ojarvis waved his hand and dismissed the four Earls. He then asked someone to invite Duke Valde in.
Duke Valde wasn't even 40 years old. His father had passed away early, so he entered the lower house at such a young age. Because he had been in the army since he was young, Duke Valde's powerful appearance and smart appearance were very popular with Sephiroth.
Qinyin people worshipped martial arts. There were no nobles who didn't learn swordsmanship. Duke Valde's father was very strict with him. As a hereditary duke, he was quite skilled. He was at the level of an advanced swordsman.
"Duke, please sit." Ojarvis straightened his body in his chair. He didn't neglect the four Earls like he did.
The palace guard served tea. Duke Valde bowed first, then smiled and said, "Your Majesty, I was summoned by the prince early in the morning. I haven't eaten yet."
Ojarvis immediately called someone to prepare some snacks for Valde. The two of them were going to talk business, so it was impossible to start a meal.
"What did Uncle summon you for?" Ojarvis also took a piece of dessert and ate slowly. The two of them looked like a harmonious king and minister.
"The prince is very dissatisfied with the war in Jialoulan. He called all the first-class dukes in the lower house and asked us to send troops."
"That's right. If we send troops from Holy Rock City, the capital will be empty. That won't be good," Ojarvis said calmly.
"Your Majesty is right. The twelve dukes all agreed to send 10,000 troops. The prince himself will probably mobilize about 50,000 troops. Including the temporary recruits, there should be more than 200,000 troops. "
"Uncle recommended you to be an ambassador?" Ojarvis changed the topic.
"Yes, Your Majesty," Duke Valde replied with a bitter smile.
"That's a good thing, Duke. The war with the Vatican won't end in eight to ten years. Uncle probably wants to push the frontline to the east of the Caucasus Mountains before winter. Mages are needed in war, and Metatlin City produces magic cores. Balder, when you go this time, you must make it clear with Salin. Sacred Rock City wants him to provide a hundred thousand mid-level magic cores every year. In terms of price, I can only give him half the market price. "
Duke Valde was shocked and said, "Your Majesty, how is that possible?"
While Valde wasn't a Magician, he didn't need to do the math to know that half the market price? Metatlin would lose at least tens of millions of gold coins every year.
"Why is it impossible? I'm paying directly, all in cash. There's no delay. He's earning a lot from such a big deal. If he sells it himself, he'll have to spend a lot of manpower and resources. "
Hearing Ojarvis say this, Valde was suddenly angry. He said, "Your Majesty, that means Alchemy City earns so much more than us every year! That's … "
Ojarvis waved his hand and said, "Alchemy City isn't something you can mess with. You must do this secretly. I want to buy all the magic cores this year. You can increase the price. Once Jia Loulan breaks the stalemate, we'll organize an attack. When that time comes, the local nobles will have to help even if they don't want to. I'll let Uncle command the army to wipe out the four duchies and then march into Tanggulas. That way, the consumption of magic cores will be terrifying. "
Hearing the emperor say this, Valde came to a realization. Even if Alchemy City controlled the price, Holy Rock City couldn't do much about it. You couldn't order them to sell magic cores at a lower price, could you? No wonder the Emperor wanted to send the Duke to Metatlin. Such a big deal was worth the trip.
"You must observe carefully during this trip and see how strong Metatlin City is. Since I recognize him as king, don't be arrogant and neglect him. "
"I … understand." While Valde was in the lower house, this was related to the fate of the capital. He would definitely stand on the emperor's side. A business of 100,000 magic cores, and it saved half of the capital, was extremely beneficial to the attack of the imperial army. It wasn't that Holy Rock City couldn't afford the magic cores, but if the war continued, Holy Rock City couldn't just sit around and eat. Thousands of years of accumulation would be used up one day. They had to prepare for a rainy day.
"Archmage Tiffany has returned to Holy Rock City. I'll send her to follow you, along with four level-six mages. Don't worry about your safety. As for Guderian City, I'll order them to escort you through Phoenix. "
Sephiroth had said this before, but Valde was still happy to hear that a level-eight Magic Shooter would follow him.
"You can stay in the palace today. The gift list isn't ready yet. You can leave tomorrow or so."
"Your Majesty, why the rush?"
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
