It was snowing outside the window, and the light from the glazed tiles of the Palace shone on the Emperor's face.
Karl-franz was in a dilemma regarding the High Elves' request.
Whether he agreed or not, it was hard for the Empire to extricate himself from the situation.
Of course, Emperor Karl Franz's Brunswick Territory and the capital of Brunswick together took up seven million people (Brunswick's one million people and Brunswick's six million people), not to mention that the Empire had a population of twenty-three million people (Brunswick's one million people and Brunswick's six million people). If they really risked their lives, the emperor could immediately arm one hundred to two hundred thousand people with one order.
As mentioned before, the Empire's army was divided into three levels. From top to bottom, they were the professional standing army of the city, the semi-professional provincial army, and the local militia. Compared to the system of serf infantry, free citizen army, and old guard army that Leon had painstakingly established recently, the Empire was undoubtedly more advanced.
What did Gao Jing want? They specifically asked for a "regular army of no less than twenty thousand men."
The Emperor didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Where could he find 20,000 regular soldiers? The entire Empire's regular army was only about 180,000 soldiers, and they were scattered all over the Empire. The Emperor's own regular army was about 50,000 soldiers, and the rest were the provincial army and militia.
Karl Franz was an excellent politician, so he wasn't in a hurry to express his stance. Even if he could mobilize 20,000 soldiers, he wouldn't do so. He first expressed his difficulties to the High Jing emissary. The Empire was in chaos, the endless Orcs, and the Chaos Sect's actions. He also mentioned the Marimburg's merchant princes' hoarding of rare goods and inflating the price of grains.
In the end, he was disappointed. Tyrion had sent a silver-armored knight, not a High Elf noble. He was only here to pass on a message, not to negotiate. That was Tyrion's style, not Tyrion's.
After Gao Jing left, the Emperor continued reading the report until Marshal Rick, Helberg, came in and said, "Your Majesty, 78 kilometers away from Brunswick, the Orcs and Goblins are fighting in the Blood Pine Forest. The forest patrol team is monitoring the situation."
"What do you think, Helberg?" Karl-franz asked casually, "How big is the scale?"
"It's not small. There are thousands of Orcs and fewer Green Dwarfs." Helberg said to Carl Franz, "Since both sides have started the final battle, we can enjoy the joy of them killing each other for the time being. But it's only temporary. As long as one side wins, they will form a larger scale and charge at Brunswick."
"78 kilometers, so close to Brunswick?" The Emperor sighed and threw the document on the table. "What do you think?"
"Your Majesty, we should take advantage of the fact that the Orcs and the Green Dwarfs are heavily injured to dispatch troops and wipe out everything," Helberg said. His moustache was still as perfect as it was twenty to thirty years ago.
"I want to do that too." The emperor could not help but smile crookedly. He stood up, took a document from the table, and handed it to Helberg. "Take a look. This is the army's meal standard that Leon has set.
Helberg took the document.
"Brittany Army Meal Standard Reference — Laing Macado"
Class 1 Stoves: Serf Thugs, Serf Infantry from various Dukedoms, and Serf Archers.
Each person's daily meal standard: 3 bronze coins.
Specific meal reference: Hard black bread, stewed beans, cabbage, oatmeal, stewed animal organs with potatoes and corn (one meal per day).
Class 2 Stoves: Infantry from various Towns, Halberd Infantry, Longbow Infantry, and Battle Pilgrim Corps.
Each person's daily meal standard: 5 bronze coins.
Specific meal reference: Barley bread, stewed beans, cabbage with meat, barbecue, meat pies, meat and vegetable stew, meat and fish soup, beer.
Class 3 Stoves: Elite Infantry from various Dukedoms, Infantry Squires, Musketeers, Artillerymen, Engineers, Knight Squires, and Ranger Knights.
Each person's daily meal standard: 10 bronze coins.
Specific meal reference: Buttered bread, stewed beans, vegetable salad, eggs, pork, mutton, beef, special hodgepodge (Brittany Horse Sausage, Aurora Century Eggs, and other ingredients), allotted malt liquor (or Empire Beer).
Class 4 Stoves: Old Guard, Kingdom Knight, Expedition Knight, Grail Knight, Pegasus Knight.
Each person's daily meal standard: 25 bronze coins.
Specific meal reference: Wheat cheese bread, Tyrell noodles, macaroni, various meats including venison, fish, stewed chickpeas, fresh vegetable salad, candy, coffee, mead (or red wine), after-meal fruit.
There were also a few items below: Olive oil, refined salt, spices (cinnamon, cloves, pepper, saffron, mustard, vinegar, sugar, and honey).
"It's really good." Marshal Rick, Helberg, looked at it and complained. The old marshal shook his head. "Your Majesty, our Empire's food can't be like the Brittany's. In the current market, a pound of barley costs about six silver shillings. But in Brittany, their manors directly harvest and supply the barley directly, and the price is at most two silver shillings, which is only one-third of the price. As you know, Brittany is now the Old World's largest food producer and exporter. How can we compare with those guys on the other side of the mountain in terms of food? Not to mention, an army like the Old Guard has its own royal manors. Their food costs are really just the ingredients. "
They were directly processed after they were planted, and there were no middlemen and transportation losses to earn the difference in price.
"I know!" Karl-franz frowned when he heard this. The price of food on the market was skyrocketing, and because Rick Hill was dominated by homesteaders and the middle class, it was very difficult to buy food for the army. The business princes of Marineburg even went against the Empire's officials. "Helberg, we're going to face trouble."
"Trouble?" Marshal Rick still didn't understand. The Emperor continued, "Someone, without knowing what happened, got hold of this document and copied it and sent it to almost all the military camps in Brunswick. Now, many soldiers are dissatisfied, and some have even started to go on strike, demanding that the standard of food on the other side of the mountain be the same as the Brittany's!"
"What?" Marshal Rick, Helberg, almost immediately realized that the Cult of Chaos was active. "This can't be an accident, Your Majesty. There must be something fishy about this."
"Nonsense, do you think I don't know that this is a conspiracy of the Cult of Chaos?" The Emperor slammed the table. Karl-franz was furious. "But we all know that this is true. The Brittany's standard of food on the other side of the mountain is like this. What should we do? Tell the soldiers who protect the country that they don't deserve it? Or bury their heads in the ground like ostriches and pretend to be dead? Or force themselves to follow the standard? This is an open conspiracy, but we can't do anything about it! "
"I'll take care of the military, Your Majesty." Marshal Rick immediately bowed. The old marshal also went all out. "Don't worry, the people of the Empire will always support Your Majesty. The Rick Guards will always support Your Majesty."
"Yes, as for the Cult of Chaos, we must investigate it thoroughly." The Emperor's expression softened a little, and he nodded lightly. Just as he was about to say something, the Minister of Finance of the Empire, Madam Hawkswann, walked in. Her expression was very unpleasant. "Your Majesty, there's bad news."
"The negotiations with Marlinburg failed?" Karl-franz's face immediately turned green.
"The merchants of Marlinburg refused to accept the price we proposed for the purchase of food." Madam Hawkswann lowered her head and said hesitantly to the Emperor. "They said that they would either buy at a premium, or let Your Majesty find a way. Also, there's a big problem with the purchase of food. The farmers and manor owners are more willing to sell their food to the merchants of Marlinburg, not us."
After the great victory at the Battle of the Blackfire Pass and his ascension to the holy realm, the Emperor's prestige in the Empire was like the sun in the sky. Madam Hawkswolf no longer dared to argue with the Emperor, "Even the merchants of Rick Hill had a difficult expression when faced with our acquisition."
"What?!" Karl-franz stood up directly, the beard on his face trembling in anger. He slammed the armrest of the chair hard.
"Hmph! Is there any country more tolerant of these business princes than our Empire?! "
"Without the protection of the Empire's army, where did these merchants come from?"
"Now that there's a problem, they really do not know how to repay it!"
After thinking for a while, the Emperor had no choice but to stop temporarily. "What about the Brittany? Are they still giving priority to the Nur? "
"Yes, after all, the Sun King and the Countess have a special relationship …" Hawkswann said hesitantly. "The Nur side also warned us not to try to destroy the 'friendly relationship' between the Rick and the Nur people."
"Forget it, I don't want to hear this." The Emperor shook his head. He turned to his attendant and asked, "What about Wolfgang? Didn't he say he was going to visit the zoo in the afternoon? "
Wolfgang Hollsvig Abenor, the grandson of Maximian, the Emperor's uncle, Karl-franz, and the Emperor's nephew, had recently come to Brunswick for a visit. In the afternoon, the Emperor had made an appointment to take his nephew to visit the Empire's Royal Zoo.
In fact, the Emperor did not like his nephew. He was neither talented nor lazy, and almost never succeeded in the things he gave him. He also liked to think of himself as the Emperor's nephew. His behavior was strange, arrogant, and arrogant. He did not know why he had to drag his grandfather to the capital for a visit. The Emperor had to receive him personally. After all, his uncle, Maximian, had given up participating in the election of the Emperor. After Karl-franz ascended the throne, Maximian even moved to Tara Beheim to live and untied all the restrictions on Karl-franz.
The Emperor could not help but accept this favor.
"Let's go." The Emperor signaled that it was almost time.
In the afternoon, it was still snowing outside the house. The Emperor only brought a guard, Rick, and his nephew, Wolfgang, to walk in the zoo.
It was still the Winter Veil holiday, and there were not many people in the Royal Zoo. Since this was the Emperor's relative, and Wolfgang had made it clear that he disliked having too many people, he did not bring anyone else. As for the Royal Zoo, if there were assassins, Karl-franz would have died hundreds of times already. The Emperor himself was also a saint, and there was nothing to be afraid of.
The guard who followed them was a native of Brunswick. His name was Hermann Konrad von Radetz, and he was very appreciated by the Emperor. The 30-year-old guard quickly brought a bowl of hot mushroom cream corn soup to the Emperor. "Your Majesty, mushroom cream corn soup."
"Why is there this?" Karl-franz was very surprised.
"This was specially prepared by Sir Wolfgang for Your Majesty. It is said that he spent a full two hours in the kitchen to make it," Hermann said seriously. "He heard that Your Majesty has a habit of eating something in the afternoon, so he prepared it carefully."
"It's rare that my nephew has such a habit." Karl-franz glanced at his nephew who was standing in front of a two-headed griffin, and could not help but shake his head. "It's a pity that my nephew is not very talented, and after not seeing him for so many years, he doesn't seem to have grown much."
Hermann glanced at Wolfgang, who was at most 1.6 meters tall, had an ugly appearance, an oversized aquiline nose, and long, messy hair. Hermann did not want to discuss this topic, and could only say, "Your Majesty, it's cold. Drink it while it's hot."
The Emperor, who had eaten before leaving, looked at Hermann's armor, robe, and cloak which were all covered in snow, and thought that he was loyal to his duty. He had been on guard duty for the whole day, and he still had to come out after his shift. It must be very tiring, so he patted Hermann's shoulder. "You've worked hard. I'll reward you with this bowl of soup. I don't want to drink anything now."
"This … But Wolfgang made this especially for you." Hermann hesitated.
"It's fine. I can feel his intentions." The Emperor revealed a standard eight-tooth smile. "Drink it."
"Yes." Hermann picked up the spoon somewhat clumsily. It was not very convenient for his hand to be wearing a gauntlet. Seeing that the Emperor did not mind, he simply picked up the bowl and drank it in one gulp.
At this moment, the two-headed griffin in front of Wolfgang noticed Wolfgang, who had appeared in front of it. The griffin immediately showed a very hateful expression and roared loudly. Karl-franz's attention was attracted. "What's wrong? Wolfgang, this two-headed griffin was caught with great difficulty from the Roof of the World Mountain Range … "
"Oh! Oh oh oh! Ahhhhhh! " Before the Emperor finished speaking, Hermann suddenly covered his throat with both hands. This brave warrior of a hundred battles let out a heart-wrenching scream. He painfully rolled on the ground, black blood flowing out of his eyes, nostrils, mouth, and ears. He struggled fiercely for a few times, and then stopped moving.
The jade bowl smashed to the ground and shattered, and the originally yellowish-white soup gradually turned yellowish-green.
"What? What's wrong? Hermann? " Karl-franz turned pale with fright, but the sharp cry that followed immediately awakened his warrior instincts as the first citizen of the Empire and a warrior who was supported by the public. The Emperor immediately reached for the Rune Fang Sword at his waist, which shone with the ancient runic power of the dwarves.
In the Emperor's sight, Wolfgang had changed, becoming a complete monster.
His eyes fell out like a slug and were extended by two long sarcomas. Huge bat wings extended from his back, and two long claws extended from his swollen and deformed body. Then, he flew directly toward the Emperor. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
"Wolfgang!" The Emperor subconsciously wanted to swing his sword, but he immediately realized that this person was his nephew. Karl-franz rolled to the side to dodge, and anxiously shouted, "Wolfgang, what's wrong with you?!"
"Die! Uncle, for the Red Crown, for Tzeentch! "Wolfgang spread his wings again and flew over, his sharp claws flashing with the reflection of the winter sun.
"…" The Emperor looked at Hermann, who had died on the spot, this guard with a bright future, and then looked at the broken jade bowl and soup on the ground. He understood.
The two sides fought for two rounds. At first, the Emperor was still a little hesitant, hoping to capture Wolfgang and ask for help from the Church or a Wizard to help his nephew recover. However, after a short exchange, he looked at Wolfgang, whose body had begun to mutate seriously, and finally understood that his nephew was beyond saving.
It was very likely that he had drunk all kinds of potions to force himself to maintain the appearance of a normal person and enter the Empire's palace.
This was a premeditated assassination!
The Emperor abruptly took a step forward, luring his completely mutated nephew toward him. Then, with an easy swing of his sword, the flaming blade pierced through Wolfgang's right leg and sliced off one of his wings. Wolfgang fell to the ground like a rag, crashing head-on into a fence and sending splinters of wood flying.
The Chaos mutant wanted to get up, but the Emperor had already appeared in front of him. The Runic Tooth pierced through his chest, and the power on it gradually burned him into ashes in the flames.
The zoo was in a mess. The guards and zoo keepers who heard the fighting rushed over.
Holding the Runic Tooth, Karl-franz's heart was as cold as the snow on the ground, as cold as ice.
Damn it! Has the Tzeentch Cult's corruption reached this level? Even the grandson of his uncle, Maximian …
How many people in the Empire are followers of Chaos?
Rik Hill, Brunswick, the palace … How far has the Chaos Cult infiltrated?
It was as if he was treading on thin ice, as if he was facing an abyss.
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