"To sum up, the situation in Louen has basically stabilized. Through propaganda and several effective relief programs, the government officials we sent have won the initial trust of the local people. The large-scale transformation of the church district is regarded as the victory of the 'heroic resistance' and has won the praise and support of almost all the citizens of Louen."
Heti put a report in front of Gwen. She looked relieved as she spoke.
"In this way, even if there are diehard loyalists of the old church who want to rebel, it will be difficult for them to make any waves."
Gwen flipped through the report in front of him and nodded slightly. "Very good. But we still have to be wary of the resurgence of the dead. It is not terrible that the remnants are stirring up trouble on the surface. It is the most difficult stage to deal with them when they go into hiding. This would be left to Hu Po. The members of the Military Intelligence Agency were very good at this kind of thing. By the way, how is the demolition of the inner wall going? "
Heti thought for a moment. "According to the plan, two-thirds of the western and eastern walls of the church district will be demolished, and the remaining walls will only be retained as commemorative and decorative purposes. At present, the western wall has begun to be demolished. The people of Louen certainly support this, but to be honest, ancestor, is it really necessary to do this? "
"The inner city wall of Louen is different from other places. For hundreds of years, the wall has been more than a city wall. It's a symbol, a symbol of the absolute boundary between God and human beings, and the absolute gap between the clergy and ordinary people. As long as the wall is still there, even if we demolish the cathedral, the 'cathedral area' in people's hearts will still be a place where ordinary people cannot set foot in. This is completely contrary to the doctrine of holy light promoted by the Protestantism," Gawain explained patiently. "I know what you're thinking. The inner city wall is a part of the city's defense. Demolishing the inner city wall may lead to the decline of Louen's ability to cope with disasters. You can take a look at it …"
As Gwen spoke, he pulled out a document from the document at hand and pushed it to Heti, who was standing across the table.
Heti looked down curiously and immediately found that it was a sketch of a large rune array. The details of the runes were not listed due to the limitation of space, but on the roughly circular summary composition, there were clear words such as energy extraction array, resonance area, functional area, magnification area, projection area, and so on.
"What's this?" Heti looked at the information carefully. "The scale … is so big?!"
"It's the city-level shield of Firmrock Stronghold." Gwen picked up the teacup beside him and took a sip. "We found the original design of the city-level shield in the library of Firmrock Stronghold. In the process of modifying the stronghold, the engineers also dug up the foundation and saw the runic array from a hundred years ago. After the information was brought back, Jenny brought her apprentices and assistants to study it for half a month. This is their result."
Heti's eyes widened, and the hand holding the blueprint trembled slightly. For a mage, this was an unimaginable wealth!
Although this mage was now almost full-time engaged in city construction and internal affairs …
"The city-level magic shield is a strategic creation. There are less than ten shields of this level in the whole of Ansu." Heti's voice was filled with disbelief. "The Rune Research Institute … can even mass produce this kind of thing?!"
"The biggest problem with the city-level shield is its energy consumption and stability. Because of its high energy consumption, it must be built on a natural magic focus. To ensure stability, it requires a huge amount of expensive magic materials. These two points limit its application. But now, Jenny has optimized it twice and directly integrated the magic network with the city-level shield's base structure, which makes it possible to mass produce it," Gwen said. "I plan to install the first prototype shield in Louen City. We can take advantage of the large-scale renovation of the church district to construct it simultaneously. If the effect is as expected, then in the future, every city in Cecil's land, and even every town-level unit will build this shield."
"Build … build a strategic shield in the town?!" Heti suddenly exclaimed. At the same time, a lot of calculations went through her mind in an instant. She was going to refute her ancestor's shocking idea on the spot. "Ancestor, you must calm down! This is a giant shield system, not a magic street lamp … "
Cecil, who was in charge of finance, lost his mind in the moment when faced with the budget problem. He even complained about their ancestor like Rebecca. It turned out that the Cecil family's talent for being stubborn was mostly a genetic factor, but some people were dominant, and some were recessive for the time being …
Looking at Heti's expression, Gwen could guess why his granddaughter lost her composure. Anyway, there were only two reasons for Heti's loss of composure: either she was working overtime, or she had no money. Now that she was in good spirits, and there was no smoky makeup under her eyes, most likely she had no money. So he shook his head and said, "Don't be so nervous. The cost of the giant shield optimized by Jenny is lower than you think. And once this large-scale project starts, it means the rise of a large number of ancillary industries, by-products of making shield units, new construction machinery, and a lot of jobs. These things will become benefits in the long run."
"Capital is only valuable when it flows. What's stored in the vault are just ingots …" Heti helplessly remembered what her ancestor had told her. Then she looked at Gwen and said with some hesitation, "Ancestor, is there another reason why you want to put this shield in every town?"
Gwen looked into Heti's eyes and could not help but sigh. This great-great-great-granddaughter of his was really smart, and her intelligence was different from Rebecca's. She could always find the key to the problem, which made communication much easier. (Of course, sometimes Rebecca could find the key to the problem by accident, but that honest roe deer always tried to hit the key point with her head.) "As you think, the Mana Tide — we will have to face it eventually."
Heti exhaled and thought to herself that it was just as she had expected.
Installing this massive shield system in every city and town would cost a lot. Even if, as the ancestor had said, Jenny had reduced the cost to a level that Cecil could afford, it was still a huge expense. The situation in the duchy had just stabilized, and there were countless infrastructure projects waiting to start. There was only one possibility to use a considerable amount of infrastructure on this expensive shield with no direct economic output.
The Mana Tide could come at any time.
"I understand." Heti bowed slightly and said solemnly, "I will make a plan in this regard."
Looking at Heti, who looked like she was ready to die, Gwen was also thinking in his heart.
The situation in the duchy had stabilized, and the internal and external problems were basically settled. There was no possibility of an outbreak for the time being. Next, Cecil would undoubtedly usher in a period of rapid development. With the four new industrial cities, there would be countless infrastructure projects, countless basic education projects, and countless talent recruitment programs. To ensure that all of this could go smoothly, Cecil would consume a lot of funds and resources.
At present, the economy of the Duchy was indeed developing rapidly. Thanks to the promotion of the new government and the support of merchants from all over the world, the river of trade that was originally bound by the old aristocratic system was thawing. Gold coins began to flow on the newly built roads and river channels. But this … was still not enough.
The arcanotech industry was a beast with an insatiable appetite. It needed to devour more things to grow. Gwen had to at least let it grow to the point where it could sustain its development before he could feel at ease. And if it relied solely on the economic dividends of the new policies in the duchy, the development of this beast would become very dangerous. A single economic support was unstable, and once the economic chain had a little problem, the Duchy of Cecil could collapse at any time.
Especially now that there were so many big projects … Gwen did not want the foundation that he had worked so hard to lay down to be dragged down by a few big projects that developed too quickly.
Heti noticed that her ancestor did not speak for a long time. She could not help but ask curiously, "Ancestor … What are you thinking about?"
Gwen sighed as he pondered. "Lack of money and resources … That's a problem."
"Who are you trying to trick this time?"
"You mean the royal army …" Gwen said casually. But halfway through, he reacted. "What did you just say?"
Heti only reacted after the words left her mouth. She blushed and quickly bowed. "I'm sorry, ancestor! I … I was a little distracted just now … "
To be honest, Gwen was a little surprised. He had never seen the mature and steady Heti lose her composure twice in such a short period of time. It seemed that she was really short of money recently. As long as the topic related to the budget was brought up, this granddaughter would immediately lose control.
He coughed twice and knocked on the table. "Next time, be careful. We never trick people. We do business with integrity. Back to the topic just now. Although the Duchy of Cecil has closed the gate of Firmrock Fortress, we can't completely close it, and we can't close it forever. Firmrock City is a fortress city, and part of the area was designed to be a trade transit area. Now, although the fortress is not completed, the merchants … can already move. "
The ancestor was passionate about doing business, and facts had proven that the ancestor's business could sometimes bring more benefits than war. So Heti immediately reacted. "You intend to trade with the Holy Spirit Plains?"
"Strictly speaking, it's business with the Royal Family." Gwen nodded. "What do you think the royal army lacks?"
"... I'm afraid they don't lack alchemy potions." Heti said as she thought. "The Ecclesiastical Templars have joined the royal army. On the battlefield, the priests and the Knight of the Holy See will not be stingy with magic. With the support of holy water and holy light, the royal army doesn't need alchemy potions. What they lack … should be more powerful weapons."
Heti paused and continued. "The royal army has almost never been able to defeat the Eastern Army of the same number on the battlefield. The main reason is that the quality of the soldiers is very poor. The Eastern Army has to face the Typhon and the border barbarians, so they are almost all veterans. In the royal army, except for the mountain troops from the north, it takes about two or three ordinary soldiers to deal with an Eastern Army … The quality of the soldiers is very difficult to improve in a short period of time. But with better weapons, the royal army can shorten the gap with the Eastern Army in a short period of time."
"Then it seems that we can make a batch of 'foreign trade weapons' …" Gwen said, stroking his chin. "Have to let Nicholas the bastard come up with a design …"
Heti looked at Gwen hesitantly. "Ancestor … Are you really going to sell weapons to the royal army?"
Gwen answered with certainty. "We need funds and the rich minerals of the Holy Spirit Plains."
Then, without waiting for Heti to speak, he continued thoughtfully. "Also … Since the Holy Light Church, which is best at healing, has completely turned to the royal army, then do you think the Eastern Army … Is there a shortage of potions?"
Heti: "???"
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