The tent suddenly became silent.

Just now, General Nong Nuo mentioned that it is necessary to forcibly levy the supply of merchants to recharge the military, and if it is not considered to be throttling, then there is nothing more economical than this.

And the emperor was also a little difficult.

If this middle-aged general, who doesn't look amazing, makes the same suggestion as the wooden head from the south, will he listen to it?

As has just been argued, the poorest of the Great Prus are now the peasants, not the merchants.

Didn't a "loyal minister" just wake up to the emperor? Now the merchant has living money in his hands.

Thinking of this, Perris couldn't help but secretly think.

Since you ministers are unkind, then don't blame me for not being righteous.

As long as this guy can change the Mingtang, even if he doesn't change the name, I also promised him, who told you ministers that they would only make money, and no one could be reliable when something happened.

Thinking of this, Perris simply nodded.

"Forgive your innocence, say it. ”

The hearts of the ministers present seemed to have fallen into the ice cave, wondering why these soldiers were so dead-eyed.

got the emperor's endorsement, and the middle-aged general continued to speak.

"The first two of us just received a letter from my wife in my hometown, saying that the grain in my hometown is unsalable, and the grain of the whole territory is piled up in the warehouse, and in order to maintain the price of grain, she is ordering the servants to repair the warehouse, and the wheat is stored. ”

"This really makes me feel that at a time when our barracks are short of food and clothing, the south of the empire is facing a food crisis. ”

As he spoke, one of the ministers couldn't help but interrupt him.

"Your story is good, Lord Lord Yalicon, but it is winter, and I wonder what kind of land will harvest wheat in winter, and the harvest will be burst. If there is such land, please recommend me to buy a few acres, so that my children and grandchildren can ensure their harvest in drought and flood. ”

Yalikang's face turned a little red for a while, but he still struggled to argue: "The annual grain produced in my territory has not lasted for several years and will not last for the next summer, so in order to keep my guards fed, I have to sign a contract with those southern merchants for food...... So, at this time of year, we always import a lot of wheat, is there anything wrong with that?"

This explanation seemed to be perfect, but the minister standing by still sneered bitterly: "Forgive me, duke, I am also for the affairs of the state, but I want to remind you that not every wrong investment you make has to be paid for by the treasury, besides, your grain is in the south, even if you only sell five large gold coins for a warehouse of grain, when it is transported here, it will be less than four times." Far water can't quench your thirst. ”

But what everyone didn't expect was that after the general said something halfway through, he said good things for those merchants.

"This is exactly what I want to explain to Your Majesty, and in the letter that my wife sent me, she mentioned it, and there are many nobles like our family...... The empire is not short of food, the difficulty is to transport it. As our military minister said, the price of a warehouse of grain brought in from the south would have quadrupled, to say the least, which is already an underestimation of the freight, and in fact, the merchant had to take risks all the way, and the profit was very low. ”

This almost hit the hearts of several representatives of the businessmen present.

Asking them to lower their prices is worse than taking their lives.

"But what if I say that I have a way to bring down the price of grain in the north, and that I can buy grain for six gold coins?"

The general suddenly raised his head and said.

"First of all, buy grain in a small town in the south for six gold coins, so that the lords of the estates who cannot sell the grain will surely find it profitable, and they themselves will send it to the main road, without us having to go to the countryside to collect it. ”

"After the initial collection, we gave the grain to the merchants, and we used the merchants' wagons to transport them to the Sea Castle, which was connected by military roads, and the merchants' carts were very easy to walk, and we only had to pay them two gold coins, and they would willingly help us carry the grain. ”

"In this way, when the grain is delivered to the Sea Castle, the price of the grain will not be ten gold coins now, but eight gold coins per warehouse!"

The ministers present obviously did not expect that this unremarkable duke had no achievements in strategy, but in terms of transportation, he would be able to reduce the price of grain by two gold coins through such an unbelievable operation.

Thinking of this, the eyes of the two quartermasters present almost lit up.

However, although his words sounded tempting, they failed to impress the emperor.

Perris sighed and said, "I already understand exactly what you mean. It's just that the war has advanced to this point, and it is no longer something that can be supplemented by the difference in the price of grain between two gold coins. ”

"What's more, transferring grain from the south, to say the least, will take almost a month along the way, and the empire can't hold out for so long. ”

But General Yalikang showed no sign of retreating because of these difficulties, on the contrary, he seemed more confident when he spoke of this.

"Your Majesty, of course the minister is aware of the difficulties facing the empire now, so the transfer of grain to Sea Castle is only part of the plan. What if we now put the price of nine gold coins out of the grain and sell a portion of the empire's grain stock to the inhabitants of Sea Castle? Anyway, we can buy six gold coins of grain and find a transport team to repay the merchants whose interests have been lost. ”

"The price of grain is determined by the supply line, and if we only supply according to the current price of the supply line, we will inevitably suffer a big loss, but if we use this principle of scissors difference to reduce the price in advance, we can immediately save a lot of expenses for the empire!"

"In this way, the grain we get from Dinghai City now is no longer the current fifteen gold coins per warehouse, but thirteen gold coins per warehouse, and we should be able to save this money immediately. ”

"Last but not least, I suggest that you immediately build a fortress between the current location of Dingbei City to transport and store grain. You must know that the merchant loses the most on this part of the road, and a friend of mine, he is a very loyal and honest merchant of the Empire, and his grain and any other supplies are always sold to the soldiers of the Empire for a gold coin cheaper than to others, no exception. ”

"Then he is really a patriotic man, I have heard that the profits of merchants are like the fiefdoms of lords, and the soldiers of generals, and it is as if they were going to kill them, and if you have time, you must introduce this gentleman to me. ”

The Emperor praised.

But the general looked a little sad.

"Your Majesty, I'm afraid this is something I can't do. ”

"That merchant friend of mine has died on the short trade route from Dingbei City to the Great Army, and it was a damned Wiegand man who killed him. On this risky road, we should use our own soldiers to transport the grain, and the merchants only need to transport the grain to Dingbei City. ”

When Duke Yalicon finished saying this without changing his face, Perris had a feeling that his eyes lit up.

Damn, forget the merchant, who only saved him an Imperial gold coin, and this lovely duke saved him half of it.

You must know that the price of a warehouse of grain in the camp now is not thirteen gold coins, nor twenty gold coins, but thirty gold coins.

On the surface, the army itself must have been less efficient than the caravan in transporting grain from Dingbei City, and the loss was a little more.

But the food that these "lost" hangers are not empty, but the rations of the soldiers who transport the food.

The Sward Knight had tactfully told him many times that the Empire didn't need so many goddamn armed farmers anymore, and that would only make the team look more bloated and not improve any combat capabilities.

It was a good idea to drive these armed farmers and the knights who came like wild wolves to the transport line, because in this way, the food they ate would no longer be thirty gold coins per storehouse, but thirteen gold coins per storehouse, and even if more food had to be consumed on the way, then he would save half of the supplies!

Moreover, Duke Yalikang also explained somewhat euphemistically that the soldiers of the empire only need to set up a supply warehouse every two days, so that the loss of food on the way may be lower.

In contrast to the unattainable task of buying food in the South, the establishment of a supply line at the disposal of soldiers was indeed immediate.

Thinking of this, Perris's face finally showed a sincere smile.

"General, if I call you four thousand troops, how long will it take you to build such a supply line for me?"

Duke Yalikang took a deep breath, he knew that this was his chance to make a fortune.

"It will take me a week to get this done. You'll need to hold off your troops here for a week, and I'll cut your supply losses by half. In this case, you are completely worthy. ”

Perris frowned slightly, these generals are still reliable, but their emotional intelligence is too low, and it is a headache to say two beautiful words.

Whether the emperor is a good deal or not, it is not the turn of a general to give him advice, no wonder he looks not too young, but he has not achieved anything.

As for the ministers standing on the sidelines, they didn't say anything more, although Yalikang was essentially compressing the interests of the merchants, at least it would not make them lose money. It has indeed made their business much easier, and even if it reduces the room for these related households to exert their privileges, they can still use the advantage of information to make a fortune first.

"Go ahead, we must handle this matter well, and let those people see that the soldiers of our empire, the knights of the empire, are still capable. ”

Perris's words seemed to have some other meanings, but this was not something that Yalicon could understand, he was now on the rise, and all that was echoing in his mind was his grand "grain plan".

He bowed to the Emperor and walked out of the tent, even when he ran directly into his immediate boss, Knight Sword, with a smile on his face, as if he had won a great victory.

This made the knight of Sward a little inexplicable, but in the spirit of conscientiousness, he still chose to prioritize taking care of the emperor and attending military meetings.

But when he just walked in, he found that the ministers present looked at him, and they all added a little embarrassment.

Even Emperor Perris's face turned slightly red.

Speaking of which, the Sward Knight was the number one person on the battlefield of the Northern Expedition, and even the emperor could not completely replace his position, so it was indeed a little inappropriate to give a solution to the supply line problem without even discussing.

"Grand Master...... What kind of person do you think General Yalikang is?"

Perris asked tentatively.

Sword wanted to say that Duke Alexon was a dutiful subordinate, but when he was about to blurt out, he suddenly remembered the scene he had encountered when he had just bumped into him at the door, and swallowed back the words that had been hanging on his lips, and after a slight modification, it became:

"General Yalicon was a man of great steady, and beloved by his soldiers and knightly brothers, and in him I often saw virtues that I did not possess. Although he is sometimes a little lacking in ability, he is still a good general. ”

This remark was ruthlessly crushed in the hearts of several ministers, especially the emperor.

On the surface, this is a simple flattery, but in fact it is a mystery.

If it was on weekdays, Emperor Perris naturally liked those knights with virtue, and put those with better moral character in high positions, which also made him more virtuous, but now the Duke of Yalicon is the time to be reused, and the emperor does not want his virtue, but his ability, in this case, he will inevitably be a little flustered.

And the knights of Sword are also using this sentence to test the emperor and ministers, if Duke Yalikang only receives a few compliments that are not serious, or receives a reward such as a small fief, then they don't need to be too nervous.

But if they really gave Duke Yalikang a very important task, then they would have to suffer a little in their hearts now.

Sure enough, as soon as Sword landed these words, the emperor's face on the high seat immediately became a little exciting.

Everyone