It was a huge expense.
But it was worth it.
Victoria carefully looked at the one-handed sword in her hand. It was a gift from Gwen after they officially signed the contract. This sword was almost identical to every sword she saw on Cecil's body. The only difference was that Cecil's family emblem was erased from the hilt and replaced with the family emblem of the Northern Territory's House of Wilde.
It was very sophisticated, with rigid lines and meticulous patterns. There were almost no flaws on the surface. As a mass-produced equipment, it was even more sophisticated than the weapons in the hands of the royal knights. Furthermore, there were thousands of weapons that were exactly the same as this one, and there was no difference between them.
This feeling of uniformity made Victoria feel a kind of "power".
This was definitely not Cecil's best weapon, because no one would be stupid enough to take out their best weapon in exchange for money unless they had no other choice. But at least this was better than the weapons in the hands of the Royal Army, and that was enough.
Looking at the Duchess of the Northern Territory who was holding the one-handed sword in front of him and lost in thought, Gwen could not help but think of Gwen? Cecil's memory. He thought of the first Duke of the Northern Territory, Snow Wilde. When the powerful mage visited the Southern Territory for the last time, he once met with Gwen? Cecil and talked through the night.
At that time, the Duke of the Four Territories system had been established, and the Central Kingdom and the Four Grand Duchies were working together to build the Ansu. The Duke of the Northern Territory asked a question that seemed strange at that time: What if one day, the biggest threat to the kingdom was no longer the Demonic Tide outside, but the Duke of the Four Territories themselves?
Snow? Wilde was passionate about history, especially the history of the nobles in the Kingdom of Gondor. He might have seen some hidden dangers in the Duke of the Four Territories system. But Gwen? Cecil could not give him any answer — three days later, Gwen? Cecil died on the battlefield.
Gwen came back to his senses. He looked at Victoria and asked a seemingly casual question. "Do you think the Ansu crisis will end with the end of the civil war?"
"If we win, then it will." Victoria looked up and said in a tone as if she was stating a fact. "Wales? Moen is the rightful heir of the royal family. As long as the Royal Army can defeat the rebels in the Eastern Territory, the Ansu nobles will inevitably reunite. As long as the nobles reunite, the Ansu will be a whole again, and the crisis will naturally be solved.
"… I understand." Gao Wen nodded. "Let's go back to the city first."
Victoria blinked. Her calm face hid a trace of confusion. She could vaguely sense a trace of disappointment from Gawain's subtle expression. But then, she felt that it might be an illusion. Seeing that Gawain had already left, she did not pursue the matter. Instead, she hurried to the side of the magic car and pointed at it. "Duke Cecil, do you sell this thing called a magic car?" She asked, "Do you sell this thing called a magic car?"
Gawain stopped and looked at Victoria in surprise. Then, he smiled. "We'll sell them sooner or later, but not now. We can't make that many yet. We'll have to wait at least half a year. And if you want to buy a magic car, you'd better repair the Kingdom Avenue when you go back. "
Victoria bowed her head deeply. "I will. The road is the lifeline of the kingdom. When the snow melts, the first thing I'll do is to repair the Kingdom Avenue."
After returning to the liege's residence, Victoria quickly left. She wanted to return to the Autumn Palace to calculate how much money the Royal Army could take out to buy armaments. Gwen did not stay in the liege's residence. He quickly got on the magic car waiting at the door and ordered the attendant to drive to the merchant district.
Mechanical vibrations came from the chassis of the car. Sitting in this magic car that was slightly out of its time, Gawain exhaled softly. A layer of shadow suddenly surged from the seat beside him, and Amber's figure emerged from the shadows.
"That duchess seems to be feeling the pinch." Amber blinked. Although Hao Ren did not know where she had been secretly observing Gawain, it was obvious that she had been hovering around Gawain. "She must have used up all the money she had prepared for her dowry."
"That's a huge sum of money. Even if half of it can be converted into materials, it's still beyond what the Saint Sunil Treasury can afford. Yet, Victoria still chose to accept it. It seems like she really wants this civil war to end as soon as possible, and that the Royal Army can win as soon as possible."
"But I didn't see you being soft-hearted when you were scamming money," Amber said. "You really can do it. She's your junior after all, and as a noble, she's not bad. In the end, you didn't even give her a discount."
Gwen looked at Amber and slowly said, "… The Royal Army can't save Ansu."
Those gold coins in the hands of the Royal Army could only be slowly used to fill the battlefield on the Saint Spirit Plains. Instead of wasting them, it was better to use them as gears and levers for the magic industry.
Amber blinked, then touched her chin and asked, "Then, what are you going to do now?"
"I'm going to meet another group of people who can't save Ansu either."
The magic car passed through the administrative district of Cecil City, passed through the ring road, and soon arrived at the merchant district on the west side of the city. Not long after, it stopped in front of a tall, brand-new building.
Cecil's Merchant Hall, a place specially used to receive rich merchants and VIPs.
Behind a window on the second floor of the building, a young noble with short brown hair quietly looked at the movement on the street. When he saw the magic car approaching, he took a step back and moved away from the window.
There were a few other people in the room. They were all wearing exquisite silk or woolen clothes, with brooches or mechanical pocket watches. They all looked like merchants, but from their extremely vigilant and sharp eyes, as well as the aura in their gestures, one could tell that these people were not as simple as merchants.
One of them saw the brown-haired young man leave the window, stood up, and asked, "Young Master, is there a situation outside?"
"Don't worry, it's him." The brown-haired young man nodded and said in a deep voice, "He only has one follower. He should be coming up soon."
The people in the room relaxed slightly, then came to the door with the brown-haired young man and waited quietly.
A moment later, footsteps were heard …
In the room of the Merchant Hall, Gwen met the special guests.
In the past three days, he let Victoria and other the Captical visitors visit the market, the streets of the city, and all the arranged places. He himself was not idle. What he did was to contact these special guests.
After the door closed behind him, Gwen looked at the brown-haired young man in front of him and nodded slightly, "Marquis Berk, it seems that you listened to my advice and didn't run around."
The brown-haired young man — Silas, Duke of the Eastern Region? The eldest son of Loren, Berk? Lauren bent down and saluted Gwen as a junior. The others also saluted. After saluting, the young man, who had reached the mid-rank in his twenties, couldn't help but say, "It's not good to stay in the room."
"It's more troublesome to leave the room," Gwen sat down on the sofa in the middle of the room with Amber. "The heir of the Duke of the Eastern Region appearing in Cecil is not a good sign, and I believe that Victoria would be happy to take this opportunity to let Silas Berk lose his son. Loren lost his beloved son. You can't beat her. "
Berk moved his body a little awkwardly. Although he wanted to control his expression, his kung fu was not as good as Victoria's. "You received the Captical's messenger in the Lord's Mansion, but you let us hide among the merchants. Does this … express your attitude?"
Gawain could not help but laugh. He looked at the young man in front of him. Belk was a good lad. He was polite, talented, and smart, but he was obviously too reckless and inexperienced. He still had not mastered the skills of negotiating with others, but considering his age, there was no way to compare him to the Duchess of the Northern Region. "Frankly speaking, the so-called royal army and the Eastern Army are the same to me. There is no need to call the parents to judge who is right or wrong in a fight between the younger generation. But considering the geographical location, the Southern Region is obviously much more connected to the Whitsunday Plains than to the Eastern Region, and their visit this time has been made public for a long time."
He paused for a moment before continuing, "As for you … I have limited trust in you, and this is only because of Anthony Loren. For Lorren's sake. "
"Forgive me for overstepping my boundaries, but you'll see it sooner or later. We're the ones who really want to save the kingdom," Berk said with a serious face. "The nobles in the Whitsunday Plains are addicted to peace and are not aware of the crisis at all. They can't see the changes in Typhon, and they can't see the changes in the world. They only know how to feast all night and take the last copper coin from the commoners. But we know —
"Typhon is reforming the land system, promoting education, developing technology, reorganizing the army, and opening up new lands. Their commoners can already eat meat once a week, but our people don't even have enough black bread in the winter. Even if the Ansu is chasing after Typhon, it will be difficult for them to catch up. Our only way out is to quickly consolidate the power of the Ansu in the hands of a powerful new king. Let Typhon fear us. Even if it's only for ten years, or even five years, we still have a chance … "
Gwen interrupted the enthusiastic young man. "Edmund is the 'powerful new king' you're talking about?"
"Prince Edmund has foresight and charisma," Berk Lauren said in a respectful tone. His tone was full of admiration. "The Farming War Reward Act, the Road Act, the Commercial Act and the Reclamation Farm System that he tried out in the Eastern Region have all produced results. As long as the Holy Spirit Plain is willing to send a nobleman who is not blind to take a look, they will also realize who is qualified to be a king — but they obviously don't dare."
It seemed that the young marquis did not know about the connection between Prince Edmund and the Order of All Things, nor did he know the truth behind Francis II's death. Perhaps he was pretending not to know because of his superb acting skills?
Gwen did not care whether Berk knew or not. He patiently waited for Berk to finish. Then he nodded. "I know a little. It's because I know this that I'm willing to give you some trust. That's why I allowed the merchants of the duchy to establish a trade route in the Eastern Region. You know, I've been lying in the grave for seven hundred years. Most of the people I know and trust are no longer here. I need to know more about the people and forces of this era, even the descendants of my old friends. "
Berk sat on the sofa and unconsciously rubbed the knuckle of his index finger. It seemed that he was subconsciously organizing his words. "Yes, my father and I understand this. Mr. Codd has left a deep impression on us. The potions he brought are exactly what we need. My father sent me here to talk to you about this …"
"We were talking about this two days ago." Gwen nodded. "I know what you mean. You have a huge shortage of potions, so you want to order a large amount of alchemy potions. You also want to buy a set of factory equipment. You also want Cecil to help you train a group of people to operate the machines. To be honest, you're asking for a lot."
"We have no other choice." Berk said.
The young marquis knew that what he wanted was a sensitive "technological foundation". It was something that Duke Cecil could not agree to. However, before they left, Prince Edmund explained the necessity of all this. Alchemy potions were a matter of life and death for the army. They could not always be controlled by others. Only when the Eastern Region had the ability to produce the potions could they ensure that they would not fall into a passive situation if the supply of potions to the Southern Region was suddenly cut off.
Two days ago, the negotiations had reached a deadlock on this issue. But today, Duke Cecil came again, which showed that this issue could still be discussed.
Gwen quietly pondered. He seemed to be tangled and hesitant. Amber could not help but say, "We paid a huge price to develop the machines. That's knowledge, it can't be bought with money."
Gwen secretly gave Amber a thumbs up and said with a serious face, "But the Eastern Region is still a part of the Ansu."
"But what if we help them build the factory and they learn the technology? Not only do they produce the potions themselves, but they also don't allow our potions to enter the country. What should we do?"
Knight immediately said, "I swear on my family's blood that the Eastern Region will not do such a thing that goes against the spirit of the Knight. Prince Edmund told me before I left that we build our own factory just in case. We still need the potions from the Southern Region."
Gwen did not believe Edmund's promise, but he nodded with a face full of trust, "I'm willing to believe you."
Then he changed the topic, "But I want to protect the interests of the Southern Region. I want to protect the interests of the merchants who are loyal to me. So if you want to build a potion factory in the Eastern Region, I have a condition. You have to build the factory with the merchants I designate."
"Build the factory together?"
"Yes, we'll each pay half the cost. We'll build the factory together and manage it together. The profits will also be divided equally. The Southern Region's business representatives will protect the core technology and not let it leak out. At the same time, they'll also give you technical guidance. This is the biggest concession I can accept. "
Belk pondered for a moment. Then he got up and quickly discussed with the people around him in a low voice.
A moment later, he returned to his seat, "… I agree. I can represent my father and Prince Edmund on this matter."
Gwen smiled, "Very good. Then we'll have to recalculate the price …"
When the final price was estimated, the young Marquis fell into a state of shock.
"So much?!"
"Isn't this normal?" Gwen spread out his hands, "If building an alchemy factory was easy, I wouldn't have hesitated until today. And I'm going to help you build more than one factory. The first batch of potions you're going to buy is equivalent to the total number of traditional potions produced in Ansu in the past three years. Think about the price of traditional potions, and you'll find that the current price is nothing. "
"This … is true." Belk rubbed his knuckles again, and his face showed an awkward expression, "But … to be honest, this price is a bit beyond our expectations."
Gwen said lightly, "This is because you made a request outside of the plan."
Then he proposed the method he had discussed with Victoria before: to use supplies to offset half of the cash.
But this time, Belk still showed an awkward expression.
After all, the Eastern Region was only the Eastern Region. Although the army was powerful, and the ratio of Extraordinaries in the army was much higher than that of the royal army, in terms of territory, population, and resource production, it was impossible for the Eastern Region to compete with the royal army, which occupied the Holy Spirit Plain and had the support of the trade line "Western Region – Ogoray Tribal Country".
Obviously, their "ability to pay" was a problem.
The negotiation seemed to be in a deadlock, but Gwen suddenly broke the silence, "There's another plan."
Belk immediately looked up, "What plan do you have?"
"In the southwest area of the Eastern Region, near the triangular intersection between the Southern Region and the Gloom Mountain Range, is there an area called 'White Sand Hills'?" Gwen said slowly, "It's said that there are iron and copper, and a small number of magic crystal veins there."
"You want the White Sand Hills?" Belk's eyes widened, and then he immediately shook his head, "Please forgive me, but it's impossible. Although that area hasn't been developed yet, it's a long-term mining area in the Eastern Region, and it's also a valuable territory. It's too expensive to exchange a permanent piece of land for a temporary alchemy potion and a factory. "
"I don't want it," Gwen interrupted Belk, "I'll only mine it for a period of time — five years. The Southern Region will mine the White Sand Hills for five years, and then it'll be yours. According to the current situation, this civil war should be over in five years. By then, everything will be settled, and we can start a new era. "
Looking at the serious expression on Gwen's face, the future successor of the Eastern Region, the young Marquis Belk hesitated for a moment.
Five years …
He stood up again and began a quick discussion with his advisors and subordinates.
A few minutes later, he returned to Gwen again.
There shouldn't be much left.
"We agree."
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