Sitting on a sofa in the hall of the King's Suite, Laing was here to meet the Kislöw Ugor Marshal Berliat Gulag.
Originally, Laing was not supposed to meet Berliat here because the King's Suite was Laing's private area on the Landuin. Other than Olica and Veronica, anyone who wanted to come in had to be notified. Even if there was something, Laing preferred to meet people on the deck or in the cabin's meeting room or dining room. But it was clear that Laing was in a good mood today, and Berliat had taken the initiative to pledge his loyalty, which changed the Ugor archers under his command from an employer-employee relationship to a subordinate one. This made Laing feel the need to meet him in private.
Before this, the tall, rugged, and deep-set Captain Ivan gave Laing the impression that he was a typical Kislöw soldier. General Ivan had always focused his attention on military affairs. His life was relatively simple, and he rarely left the residence that Laing had arranged for the Ugor archers. Other than turkey, beef, and vodka, Ivan rarely consumed luxury goods. He even always missed his Ugor brethren in the north of the Linsk River. At the end of every year, General Ivan would take out a portion of his salary and exchange it for supplies to send to the Ugor tribes in the north of Örengrád so that they could survive another winter.
However, unlike General Ivan who had died in battle, Berliat gave Laing the impression that he was more of a scholar and bureaucrat than a general. He had a handsome and delicate face compared to Mrs. Kiesler's. He was about forty years old and was already slightly balding. He wore a pair of rimless round lenses on the bridge of his nose. When he opened his eyes wide, Laing actually had a hard time connecting the man in front of him with a nomad's child, a Prag's construction engineer, a former squire of General Felix, and a former member of the Kislöw Internal Affairs Committee.
On the cherrywood table were two cups of Kvass. This drink from Kislöw had a unique aroma of malt milk and hops fermented. It was brewed by dry fermentation of dalieba bread. Its color was similar to beer but slightly red, with a moderate sourness and sweetness.
"It's delicious and interesting. This is the first time I've tasted this drink called Kvass. It's like wine but not wine. Interesting." Laing sat on the sofa while Olica stood behind Laing with her beautiful legs in black stockings. The king said meaningfully, "If General Ivan is a bottle of hot vodka, then Captain Berliat, are you this mellow Kvass?"
"His Majesty Laing is overpraising me." Berliat lowered his head very humbly and respectfully. Although Ugor was sitting, half of his body was actually leaning on the side facing Laing, which made his position on the sofa somewhat impolite. As if to emphasize his identity, Berliat wore his standard military uniform made by the Brittany textile factory. "I just thought that Your Majesty might like it."
"I see." Laing nodded slightly and picked up the mug. "If it's just a drink, I can keep drinking. Why didn't you bring me vodka?"
"Compared to Kvass and vodka, Your Majesty, I prefer Brittany wine. If possible, may I have the opportunity to drink with you?" Berliat asked very sincerely and humbly.
"If you have the opportunity." Knight King sipped his drink calmly. Olica brought up the exquisite dessert.
Berliat knew that some of his intentions had been conveyed to the king in a very subtle way, so he immediately took the initiative to get to the point. "Your Majesty, you know, Ugor's mounted archers suffered a great loss in this great expedition. Therefore, when we return to the kingdom, please allow me to bring my men back to Kislöw and gather more Ugor mounted archers to serve you."
"Gather more?" Laing immediately caught the key word in Berliat's words. He asked with a half-smile, "How many men do you plan to gather?"
"Your Majesty, how many men do you allow me to gather?" Berliat immediately shrunk back and threw the question to Laing.
"I'm the one asking you a question, not the other way around," Laing said calmly.
"If it's possible … Your Majesty, I want to expand the mounted archers into an army of a thousand men." Berliat was confused by Laing's words, but the biggest taboo in this kind of question and answer in front of the king was to remain silent for a long time. The captain of the mounted archers knew that he had to say something. "I have an idea, Your Majesty, but I think I need to get your approval. I need some appropriate orders … from you, as well as an appropriate exclusive license."
"Exclusive license? What kind of exclusive license do you want? "Laing narrowed his eyes.
His intuition was right. This Ugor man named Berliat was more like a bureaucrat than a soldier.
"Food, textiles, and daily necessities. Of course, it would be better if there are other things, such as … dwarven equipment and medicine." Berliat said in a low voice, "This will help me, no, us, gain more favor with Mrs. Kiesler and gain the favor of Tsar, Your Majesty."
"It's just a conscription. You don't need to go through so much trouble, do you? Mr. Berliat? "The king said with amusement." Admiral Ivan has never needed to go through so much trouble. "
"Yes, if Your Majesty only needs to conscript, of course, you don't need to go through so much trouble. But … if I'm not wrong, Your Majesty has already started to industrialize Brittany, right?" Berliat asked carefully. He tried to make his voice sound as humble as possible. "Don't forget, Your Majesty, Kislöw started to industrialize 20 years ago."
"Ha … what can a failed industrialization prove?" Laing sneered. "From the beginning, Kislöw's industrialization was destined to fail."
"Yes, you're right, Your Majesty. From the beginning, Kislöw's industrialization was destined to fail." Berliat nodded. Then, he began to reveal his real plan. "Please let me finish, Your Majesty. Can you let me finish?"
"Okay, go ahead." Laing nodded slightly.
After the great Holy War, the whole of Kislöw was turned into ruins by the second God of Chaos, the 'Anointed One' Isaac Kuval. The residents were massacred. Tsar's army, wealth, and power were no longer enough to rebuild Kislöw's former glory. Mrs. Kiesler could only struggle on her own land. To make matters worse, after the death of Romanov Tsar, who fought against the Chaos, the one who succeeded him was Katerina, the 'Bloody' Katerina. This female Tsar's true identity was a female vampire from the Lemia Family. She carried out an incomparably cruel and bloody reign over Kislöw. It was then that the Internal Affairs Committee was established. This female Tsar reigned for more than a hundred years until her own son, Pavel, stepped forward and sealed Katerina in a block of ice, finally ending this terrible history.
However, Pavel was already old. He soon passed away and had no children. The position of Tsar fell into the hands of Vladimir -Bokha. This new ruler finally decided to stand up and face the threat from the north. He soon died on the battlefield as he wished.
Vladimir -Bokha's son was the famous' Red Tsar 'Boris -Bokha. He was the father of the current female Tsar, the Ice Queen Katarina. His deeds included rebuilding the faith of Essun, introducing advanced technology and gunpowder weapons from the Empire, emptying all the internal funds and treasures of the Tsar's treasury, building infrastructure, rebuilding bridges, roads, and towns, importing large amounts of gunpowder, and hiring engineers from the Empire.
In the end, Boris died in the Troll Kingdom at the end of the 'Great Cleansing Campaign'. This has already been mentioned before, so I won't repeat it here. However, it was worth mentioning that although this Tsar was a great person, his efforts to industrialize Kislöw were almost a complete failure. Other than the huge national debt and huge price he paid, all his efforts to industrialize and build infrastructure were declared bankrupt with his death.
Laing was not surprised by this.
Industrialization was, of course, a shortcut to making a country rich and strong. However, rapid industrialization was not something that could be started immediately with a few words or a decree. It had a few prerequisites, which were roughly the following points.
It had a good agricultural foundation, a large amount of liquid capital, good technical guidance and professionals, a sufficient surplus population, and a relatively rich source of raw materials.
Only with the above conditions could industrialization become possible. This was not something that a monarch could think of and press a button, and the entire country would instantly transform and start industrialization.
Laing also spent more than ten years preparing for industrialization. The south of Brittany had a good agricultural foundation. The Blood Dragon Ancestor and the Great Expedition of the Eight Peaks Mountain had brought him a lot of money. The Treaty of Friendship and Alliance with the Empire guaranteed that he would receive technical guidance and nurture professionals from the Empire. The immigration from the Empire and the redemption system of serfs ensured that there would be sufficient population. Finally, he brought in raw materials from the Grey Mountains and trade.
Then the question was, what did Kislöw have?
Agricultural foundation? All of Kislöw's land was permafrost, and only a small amount of land blessed by the Ice Witches could be cultivated. Where was the agricultural foundation to support industrialization?
Enough liquid capital? Tsar's Royal Family emptied their treasury of every gold coin and every treasure in their treasury, but it was still not enough. Kislöw could not even afford to feed the Winged Cavalry.
Technical guidance and professionals were ultimately a matter of money, so it would not be discussed here.
Sufficient population? The predicament that Kislöw was facing did not need to be emphasized. With such terrifying military pressure and extremely harsh geographical location, where would there be a surplus population? The Ugor people north of the Linsk River could not live anymore, so they fought to be mercenaries!
That was why Kislöw could only be considered to be close to raw materials. But even the raw materials were controlled by the Green Skin Tribe in the Roof of the World Mountain Range, the Chaos Tribe and Green Skin Tribe in the Troll Kingdom, the Skaven Ratmen in the Hell Pit, and the Aisling Tribe in the Mourning Mountains. Why did Kislöw choose to lose twenty thousand people to drive the Aisling Tribe away? Wasn't it to open up a trade route with Lone Dragon City?
Therefore, Boris Borkaha's failure was inevitable, because Kislöw did not have the conditions to industrialize.
"But Kislöw has a group of excellent engineers, workers, and scholars. They are the precious remnants of this industrialization, the most precious gift left behind by King Boris Tsar. But Queen Katarín did not use them well. Your Majesty, the salary of an excellent Kislöw engineer is two big leba and five copper coins a day. Do you think this is reasonable?" Belial said patiently, "We shouldn't let these people's talents go to waste in the ice and snow of Kislev. They deserve a better platform to display their talents. They deserve a more decent job with a better salary. They deserve to live in a better house and let their families enjoy a safe environment."
"Hahahaha ~" Laing laughed happily. Knight King touched his chin and said to Berliat, "Is this referring to you? Mr. Berliat, I remember that you used to be a construction engineer in the Prager Engineers Association. "
"No one wants to only have Dalieba all day and live on that glass of vodka after work every day." Regarding this question, Belial was very frank. "Your Majesty, this is the truth."
"Hmm …" Laing understood. Just as Berliat said, this group of engineers, workers, and scholars was the most precious wealth of Kislöw after the failure of industrialization, but Queen Tsar Katarín did not use them well at all.
In fact, it was not Katarín's fault. How poor was the Tsar Royal Family? They were so poor that they even sold the Fabergé Easter eggs, which were national treasures! They were so poor that Queen Tsar began to make magic weapons and magic scrolls by herself and sold them to the Kurfürsten of the Empire!
If they could take over these engineers, workers, and scholars, they could save a lot of trouble in the future industrialization, and they could also quickly get a batch of high-quality people. Their requirements were very low, and they could be satisfied with bread and milk, a higher salary, and a safe environment.
Laing was tempted. "What do you want to do?"
"I need you to appoint me as the Special Envoy of Brittany, give me a small team of elite guards, a sum of military funds, and the exclusive rights to the previous goods. I can do it, trust me." Berliat repeated his request.
"Very good, I promise you, the decree will be issued after I return to the country!" Laing had already made up his mind.
Berliat's body couldn't stop shaking, and the captain of the cavalry archers' hands were shaking. Suppressing his excitement, Berliat took a big gulp of Kvass, and then said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, the Tsar Family has ruled Kislöw for too long, so long that everyone has forgotten that it used to be the land of the Ugor."
"Huh?!" Laing's eyes widened.
"The Bear God should give Kislöw a lowly Tsar, and give Kislöw a commander who can command three armies like Boris! Kislöw needs … "
"Is this Kvass really just a soft drink? Why do I feel a little drunk? I didn't drink that much. " Laing said casually, "Sorry, I was a little dizzy, and I didn't hear you clearly. Can you say it again?"
"Oh, no, it's nothing, it's nothing important." Berliat immediately understood. He smiled awkwardly, bowed his head respectfully, and then left the room. "Sorry to disturb you."
After Berliat left, Olica said sarcastically, "If you don't look at his face, master, I think he looks more like an ambitious Duruzi noble."
"A dog, a dog that bites. If used well, it might really be useful."
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