"Father... is it really necessary for us to go this far?"
In an open space outside the City of Glow, Horn Quinn looked at the busy workers from afar and asked with slight dissatisfaction.
In front of them was a rectangular, flat square with a length of about 1,000 meters and a width of only about half that. Since the construction team of Graycastle entered the Kingdom of Dawn, the new method of measuring the length of a square had also spread among the nobles.
Unlike the squares in the king's city, which were built with beautiful bricks, the surface of this square was completely paved with cement. It looked gray, neither colorful nor distinctive. If one had to point out an advantage, it would probably be that it was convenient to repair. It only took less than a week from plowing the ground to building.
But even so, the workers involved in the construction were all from the Quinn Family's own team, which showed how much importance they attached to it.
"Oh?" Horford Quinn, the current King of Dawn, looked at him with interest and asked, "What do you mean?"
"His Majesty Roland's instructions are too much," Horn said while counting on his fingers. "Building bridges and roads, and they're all big projects that can easily span dozens of miles. If you gather all the long-term workers in the family to do these things, what about the work in the territory? There are still several places in the castle that need to be repaired, and they haven't been started yet. "
Of course, these were not the only points that he was dissatisfied with.
His father's request for the King of Graycastle was too important.
It could even be described as benefiting others at the expense of oneself.
For example, if the family monopolized the alchemy product such as cement, which seemed to have a bright future, it would definitely bring them huge profits.
However, just because His Majesty said in the letter "please be sure to increase the production as soon as possible", his father summoned the great nobles into the palace and publicly announced the formula. With the help of the major chambers of commerce under the nobles, several cement factories were indeed built in a short period of time, but the Quinn Family's profits were undoubtedly reduced.
When it came to the construction of roads, the situation was reversed.
The great nobles all tried to refuse, so his father simply did it himself.
From recruiting manpower to cooperating with the construction department of Graycastle to complete the construction, the Quinn Family was responsible for everything. This was by no means a small amount of money. Although the annexation of the Moya royal family's property had greatly increased the family's strength, the money was also spent as quickly as running water. Looking at the coins in the vault decreasing day by day, it was impossible for Horn not to feel heartache.
The crux of the matter was that building a road was not the same as investing in a business. The Golden Dragon that was paid out in a business might be exchanged for more wealth, but what could a road from North River to Cage Mountain earn? It was not even in the territory controlled by the Quinn family! Even if it could promote the development of commerce, it would only benefit the lords at the borders.
Judging from the current situation, His Majesty wanted to build more than just one or two things. This strange flat land that did not seem to be of any use was proof. If they continued to squander like this, sooner or later, the family would run into a predicament of being unable to make ends meet. In fact, he had already heard a lot of criticism from the internal branches of the family.
What upset Horn the most was his father's attitude towards the people of Graycastle.
Not only did he personally inquire about every project, but he would also often summon the officials from the Ministry of Works to the palace to ask for their requests. It would be fine if they were nobles, but the problem was that Horn had clearly inquired about them. These "officials" were all commoners without any prominent family background. It was hard for him to accept that his father, as the king of a country, invited commoners to talk to him at the same table.
And today, as soon as he heard that someone from Graycastle was coming to the City of Glow, his father brought a large group of people to wait outside the city. This was simply unbelievable. As a ruler, receiving people in the castle was enough respect. How could the royal family do this?
Horn suspected that his adoptive father was redeeming himself to Andrea. After all, all these changes started after Horford said goodbye to his daughter.
"What can I do?" Horford shrugged. "Others are not willing to help, but I can't just let them do it, can I? You've seen the power of Graycastle. Do you think I can sit on this throne without the support of the Wimbledon family? "
"No, father... I'm not asking you to fight against Graycastle." Horn waved his hand. "You just need to tell your subordinates to do it. Roland Wimbledon can't find any fault with that. And the required funds can be negotiated with the local lord. A deal is a compromise. The more impatient a businessman is, the more likely he will lose. This is what you taught me. "
"Unfortunately, the Battle of Divine Will is not a deal."
"That's true, but …" Horn bit his lip and finally plucked up his courage to say, "But looking at you now, some people don't think you're the King of Dawn, but a subject of His Majesty Roland Wimbledon!"
He thought that his father would fly into a rage, but the latter only stared at him for a while and then smiled lightly. "Let me ask you, why is there a saying that there are four kingdoms in this continent, and not five or three?"
"Uh..." Horn was caught off guard by the sudden change of topic. "Because... these four are the strongest families?"
"More accurately, within their respective territories," Horford replied. "The power of a family will weaken with distance. The so-called border is the critical point where the power of both sides reaches a balance. But now, this critical point no longer exists. As long as Roland Wimbledon is willing, he can completely take over all the territories of the Four Kingdoms. Since that's the case, what's wrong with me being his vassal? "
Horn retorted subconsciously, "Father! No matter how good the army of Graycastle is, he can't control such a large territory! Don't you think you're exaggerating his abilities … "
"You haven't realized the changes in Graycastle, son." Horford let out a long sigh. "Roland might not have in the past, but now, distance is no longer an obstacle to his rule. Of course, you don't have a deep understanding of everything he has done, so naturally, it's hard to imagine how far he has gone."
"How... how do you know?"
Horford smiled. "Andrea replied to my letter."
This caused Horn's heart to sink.
Just as he was about to persuade his father again, a sudden cry of surprise came from afar.
Then there was a dull buzzing sound.
Horn looked in the direction of the sound and was slightly stunned. He saw a string of neat black shadows on the horizon. They formed a horizontal line and flew along the skyline toward the City of Glow.
Are those... migrating birds?
But after a moment, this idea was rejected. The size of the black dots quickly grew to a size far larger than any bird in the world, and it was still expanding.
Horn's eyes gradually widened. It looked like some kind of man-made object!
The workers who witnessed this scene could not help but put down the tools in their hands and shouted.
Many caravans that were passing by also stopped in their tracks and looked up at the sky.
"It's incredible... he really did it." Horford raised the corner of his mouth. "The person I want to pick up... is here."
Hearing this, Horn was dumbfounded. Could it be that these square-shaped birds were vehicles created by the Graycastle people?
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