Soon, the Emperor was the only one left in the makeshift room, sitting alone in the empty hall, stunned by the candle flame dancing in the middle of the conference table.

After a long while, as if he had figured something out, he gently pulled down the red rope next to the chair.

"Your Majesty. Bailly's abrupt voice came, and without hearing any sound of the door opening, he seemed to appear at the door out of nowhere.

Emperor Laubert glared at his intelligence officer, "What the hell is going on over there at Anku Fortress?"

Bailly paced to the bottom of the steps, looked down and thought for a while, and said, "I only have information here from ten days ago, but I don't think the old Duke of Baoge will joke about this kind of thing, and according to the intelligence analysis heard by the orcs before the blockade of the Black Mountain Pass, the orcs may really plan to fight us with all their strength this time." ”

"So, you support Duke Nick's idea?" said Emperor Laubert, who did not winch.

"I'm not against that. Bailly replied cautiously, and he listened to the conversation in the room next to the conference room, "If the enlarged cabinet thinks we can fight, we might as well give it a go." ”

"You mean to let them discuss the results?" said Emperor Laubert, stunned, "while this will allow for the formation of a 'Combined Legion' on an improvised basis, this will drain the resources we have left. ”

"Your Majesty, don't you understand Duke Nick's intentions?" Governor Bailly reminded, "Now, the most critical problem of the empire is the contradiction between the various forces, the conflict between the new nobles and the old nobles is becoming more and more acute, and skirmishes between the various realms occur from time to time, and the only way to solve this contradiction is a large-scale war!"

At the same time, he also said to himself in his heart: There is also the contradiction between the royal family and the grand dukes.

"Are you saying that Duke Nick wants to use this war to temporarily divert the contradictions within the empire?" Emperor Laubert's eyes lit up, and after Bailly's reminder, the emperor could also think of it.

"Your Majesty is wise!" Bailly smiled and nodded.

But soon, the emperor frowned and said, "However, I have just said that the Central Empire cannot support this war. ”

"Duke Nick has just reminded you that in the event of a full-scale war in the Empire, we can impose additional taxes on merchants in accordance with Imperial law. Bailly smiled wryly.

"How much can be levied on them?" the Emperor shook his head.

"The merchants of the empire are richer than you think, they hold nearly half of the empire's wealth!" Bailly explained, "haven't you heard? ”

"So, Duke Nick wants to take this opportunity to take advantage of those merchants, in the name of the Empire?"

Bailly, of course, knew the emperor's thoughts, and after a few seconds of silence, he said: "Your Majesty, think about how you are bankrupt, merchants are more dangerous than you think, they are even more feared than the army of the six dukes. ”

"Oh?" the Emperor's face changed, and he glanced at Bailly seriously.

Bailly also looked at the emperor, "Besides, Your Majesty, you can personally command this army. ”

"You mean—" The Emperor's pupils shrank suddenly, and the man involuntarily stood up, but then he sat down again.

Then the Emperor fell silent.

There was a long silence.

Bailly stood quietly and waited, which was more than half an hour.

When the emperor opened his eyes again, there was an inexplicable cold light in his eyes, "In that case, let our prime minister take full authority to deal with this matter, and you can help when necessary." ”

"Understood!" replied Bailly in a low voice, exiting the hall with a wave from the Emperor.

...

Two hours passed in a flash, and when the bell of the Lion Castle rang in and out of the castle, the ministers and other cabinet members who had received the notice from the Prime Minister's Office arrived in the huge conference room of the Office one after another, and at the last moment of the allotted time, His Excellency Siren, the chairman of the Board of Directors of the Drake Mage Tower, who had been teleported from thousands of miles away, also arrived on time.

At a quarter past 11 o'clock, Duke Nick and the other four dukes and Earl Ron also arrived in the conference room.

The meeting officially began.

If you want to start a full-scale war for the entire Locke Empire, it is not something that Duke Nick can decide with a word, even if it is the emperor.

Of course, conventional defensive operations and small-scale conflict campaigns do not need to be so complicated, and the prime minister can directly issue orders to the military department and set a time limit for the completion of the set goals.

A real war is not child's play, especially a war about the fate of an entire empire, and the preparation time for such a war often takes months or even years!

At the beginning of the meeting, Count Ron gave everyone a brief introduction to the current situation of Anku Fortress, of course, during this period, many people raised questions, especially the officials of the Military Intelligence Department of the Military Department, and Count Ron had to explain patiently.

After Count Ron's report, Duke Nick forcibly suppressed everyone's doubts, and then, Duke Enshi and Duke Chester respectively introduced the information brought by Cullen and the information about the goblin's purchase of merchant ships.

Finally, there was the idea of a decisive battle with the Orcs at the Black Mountain Pass, or a protracted all-out war with the Orcs.

Of course, this proposal was immediately opposed by a group of officials led by Count Stu of the Ministry of Finance, and at the same time was fully supported by the Ministry of War, which now needed a war to prove itself.

After all, the current Empire is not capable of launching a full-scale war against the orcs, and these officials, under the leadership of Count Stu, have made a non-negotiable posture, so that the meeting that has just started has to be interrupted for half an hour!

And so, the protracted controversy began!

The whole day passed with such an argument.

In the huge conference room of the Prime Minister's Office, two distinct groups of officials sat on either side, fighting each other with red faces.

The five dukes, Earl Ron, and Lord Siren of the Drake Mage Tower, as well as other members of the cabinet, remained silent except for a few innocuous remarks before the meeting began.

"Count Stu, now it's not a question of whether we can fight or not, but we must fight, and the army of 250,000 orcs is not something that the Klan Territory can resist at all. The voice of Viscount Nat, Chief of Staff of the War Headquarters, drowned out the other cacophony in the conference room.

"I didn't say no, I just opposed fighting an all-out war. The others subconsciously closed their mouths as Count Stu spoke, "For this invasion war of the orcs, I suggest that the regular legions of the Twak Collar and the Karon Collar support the Anku Fortress in the name of the Cabinet Order,

I believe that with the support of these two legions, and relying on the strong defense of Anku Fortress, it will not be so easy for the orcs to break through Anku Fortress, as long as it drags on, with the poor logistics supply of the orcs, they themselves will retreat first without us doing anything!"