Huggins' words sent Todd into a brief silence, and the latter thought for a moment before saying, "Listening to your tone, it doesn't seem like you're optimistic about Emerson being re-elected?"

Huggins touched the back of his head and said with a smile: "It's not that I'm not optimistic, it's just that the situation is not optimistic this time." ”

Listening to the students not far away, still sparing no effort to promote the benefits of war, Todd patted the wall of the carriage and said softly, "Go back to the palace first, and hold a dinner tonight for all the cabinet members to attend." ”

Huggins answered, turned his horse's head, and drove slowly toward the palace on the top of the hill.

The evening glow casts down the panes into the dormitory, stretching Todd's shadow in front of the mirror into a long diagonal line.

Tugging at the collar around his neck, Todd looked at himself in a formal suit in the mirror, and turned his neck a little uncomfortable.

Huggins, who was standing on the side, waved his hand to signal the maids to step back first, and said, "Your Majesty, how was the lunch break?"

The body is no longer a human Todd, even if he doesn't eat or sleep for days on end, there will be no problems. But in the face of the kindness of his subordinates, he still said: "Very good. The days of drifting on the sea were not pleasant, and the fact that I was able to get a good night's sleep in bed as soon as I came back really helped me a lot. ”

When Huggins heard this, he said contentedly, "That's good, that's good." Your Majesty, with all due respect, the North is a barbarian land, and when it comes to living conditions and food levels, where can it be compared to the rich Twilight City? So, you might as well just ......"

Seeing that Huggins was going to continue persuading, Todd changed the subject in time.

"When I entered the palace, I found that there were very few servants, but the number of guards was several times that of when I left, what happened?"

Huggins gave Todd a 'you should know' look, "Your Majesty, you're the only one in the entire royal family in Twilight! When you left, there was no one else living in the huge palace, so I dismissed most of my servants. ”

"As for the guards, you must remember the vaults built under the palace, right?"

Thinking of the rooms full of gold coins under his feet, Todd, who was a black dragon inside, actually felt a little excited: "I remember, what's wrong?"

"During the time you are away, your assets have increased nearly tenfold due to the accelerated economic development of Twilight City, the investment income and financial income have increased significantly, plus the income from royalties and other income. In order to pile up a large amount of belongings, I asked craftsmen and xenos to expand the original two floors of underground space to four floors. ”

Todd asked with interest, "And how many gold coins do I have now?"

Huggins touched his chin in embarrassment, and said while thinking: "If you only count gold coins, it is about 20 million gold Xu, that is, 200 million silver moons. ”

"But if you count other valuables such as antiques, gems, and utensils, your wealth may exceed 50 million gold pieces, Your Majesty. ”

Seeing Todd's indifferent expression, Huggins mistakenly thought that the other party did not know what the concept of wealth was in this number.

"Your Majesty, please allow me to explain. If you wish, you can buy the entire Papal States with this wealth, or if you smelt all the coins, you can build a palace exactly like this one. I can say without exaggeration that you are already the richest man in the world......"

Todd stopped Huggins with a smile: "Okay, I see what you mean, now I'm sitting on a mountain of gold, and I'll have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of my life......"

Huggins said helplessly: "In short, Your Majesty, you must find a way to learn how to spend your wealth before the coffers can be stacked...... Or, you can marry a king and help you spend the money......"

Todd glanced back at Huggins as he walked to the door of the dormitory, "I'm afraid, what you really want to say is the second half of the sentence, right?"

Huggins shrugged his shoulders, looked around and said, "Don't you think it's too lonely for you to be the only one in such a big palace......?"

Speaking of the child, Todd suddenly remembered Deirdri, who was far away in Froststone City, and calculated the time, and the due date was in the recent past.

He secretly decided in his heart that after the affairs of Dusk West City were dealt with, it was time to go back to accompany her......

Walking out of the dormitory and into the saloon where the dinner was held, Todd's appearance drew cheers and applause from everyone.

Emerson, Cumberland, Terrence, Joe......

Looking at the familiar faces that flocked to the table, Todd greeted them with a smile as he slowly sat down at the top of the table.

"Your Majesty, where have you been all this time?"

"Do you know what's going on in Twilight City right now?"

"You're going to stay here, right?"

"Your Majesty, the populace is asking for war, do you know?"

Listening to the crowd's mixed discussions, Todd raised his right hand and gave Huggins a look.

Huggins took a bell from his bosom, shook it gently, and said to the attendants, "Let's begin." ”

Watching one dish after another of food being served on the table, everyone attending the meeting looked at Todd, who was smiling and silent, and slowly calmed down, everyone looked at each other, and decided to put aside the doubts in their hearts for the time being, and began to remain silent.

Todd raised his glass and said to the crowd, "To the great Kingdom of Twilight. ”

Everyone raised their glasses: "To the great kingdom of the twilight." ”

After drinking the wine in the cup, Todd looked at everyone and said, "There are three things at today's banquet. First, I'd like to hear about how Twilight has changed in the time I've been away. ”

Turning his gaze to the nearest Prime Minister, Todd said, "Emerson, you speak first. ”

Emerson, whose hair was already a little gray, stood up and bowed slightly to the king, and continued: "The Kingdom of Dusk is now the most powerful country in the entire diocese, and the territory of the kingdom is mainly composed of four cities, namely Dusk City, Silver Ring City, Holy Acropolis City, and Lone Rock City, of which Lone Rock City is nominally administered on behalf of ...... The total population of the kingdom is close to 900,000. ”

Then came Cumberland, the kingdom's chief military advisor: "There are two permanent knights in the kingdom, namely the Knights of the Twilight West and the Knights of the North Island, and the total strength of the two exceeds 15,000, including 700 knights and 1,100 xenocombatants. Looking at the entire diocese continent, Dusk West City is already a well-deserved military power. ”

Terrence stood up for the third and said, "The University of Twilight has been officially completed, with almost nine hundred professors and assistants and more than five thousand students. The subjects cover nearly 30 disciplines such as physics, mathematics, astronomy, engineering, art, etc. ”

Elijah, who was in charge of urban planning, followed suit: "Since the city was built, it has expanded the edge of the city five times. Today, the city is a large city covering more than 106 square kilometers, of which more than 57 kilometers of main roads can be used by four carriages at the same time. The city is divided into two districts, the upper and the lower, each of which can be subdivided into commercial districts, residential districts, industrial districts, church districts, storage districts, port districts, etc., and the number of buildings registered with the planning department has reached 71,640......"

Listening to the participants one after another, each reporting the city data they had, Todd nodded happily.

After waiting for everyone to finish their reports, Todd looked around and said, "So, let's talk about the second thing - about the cabinet election. ”