In the process, the Lancelot royal family can be called a two-headed one.

Princess Regent Sophilia made a lot of money by following the ass of the Eternal Night Lord, not only did she sell a large amount of food and have a sum of money in her account, but all the properties of the Eternal Night Commander on the territory of the Lancelot royal family had a share of them, and they could just sit back and wait for the money.

In addition, the taxes paid by the Eternal Night Warlords for trading here are paid as usual, and some of the official taxes of the Lancelot royal family are recorded in the accounts, and the part of the profits earned by the lords has the effect of relieving the social pressure of the rich people.

The past few years of establishing trade with the Eternal Night Commander have been an unprecedented number of years for Sophilia and Lancelot's royal finances, especially in the last two years, Sophia's personal income has already equaled the annual tax income of the entire Lancelot royal family, and it is still the total income of the royal family's tax growth period.

The real wealth losers here should be those lords and nobles, but they have gained enjoyment, and it is not a loss.

Even Sophia saw through the Eternal Night Leader's strategy at the beginning, and would have taken the initiative to invite them into the game.

She is now a good eater, and when she heard that the Eternal Night Army Leader has a new future plan, she naturally wants to keep up, and wants to get a piece of the pie, completely forgetting that these plans are likely to be implemented after she becomes the mistress of the Eternal Night Army Leader.

Sean directly threw out part of the future strategic plan of the Eternal Night Commander: "The first direction is naturally the sea, the vastness of the sea and the resources contained in it are far beyond the imagination of ordinary people, the continent is limited, and the sea is unlimited, the warships captured from the Cummins family, coupled with our existing shipbuilding technology, are equivalent to having the best foundation, just waiting for our sailors to complete their training, it is the time for our sea ships to go to sea."

The second direction is the Odin steppe, don't look at me with this kind of gaze, I know that the Odin orcs are the common enemies of the Byron Alliance, it doesn't mean that they can't be the object of trade, especially the East Odin Empire, you have a commodity in your hands that they can't refuse, salt, do you know how much a fist-sized salt is worth in the East Odin Empire? A two-year-old sheep! Is there a more lucrative deal in this world? As long as you open the first-line mutual market at the border, the speed of money is definitely faster than if you go deep into the prairie to plunder, or the kind that takes the initiative to send the door. ”

Like most hostile races, the Byronic Alliance adopted a strict defense strategy against the Odin Orcs, and trading with them was seen as a great rebellion and betrayal of the entire Byronic Alliance.

As a result, many materials in the Odin steppe are relatively scarce and very expensive.

Of course, where there is a profit, there is no shortage of crazy people who are desperate for money, and smuggling is not uncommon along long borders.

The most rampant smuggling trade with the Odin orcs should be the Cummins family, whose trade with the Western Odin Empire has been their pillar industry over the years.

However, in front of Archduke Cedric, Sean should be regarded as the first person.

Surprisingly, Archduke Cedric's reaction was not as drastic as he had imagined.

Because the Strachage family itself is not necessarily clean, after all, over the years, the supplies provided to them by the seven major families have been shrinking day by day, and they must find another way to maintain a huge military budget.

It is a great irony to earn military money by smuggling trade with the Orcs and then fight against the invasion of the Orcs.

Archduke Cedric did not show a look of emotion, shook his head and said: "Young man, you only take into account the huge benefits brought by the opening of border trade and mutual markets, but you do not take into account the corrosive nature of a large amount of commerce and trade on the army. ”

"I agree with His Excellency's statement, but I don't agree with His Excellency's approach, the purity of the army has no direct relationship with the opening of the border trade market, and I didn't say that the army should be a part-time businessman, you only need to provide places and opportunities, naturally there will be countless businessmen who will rush to hear the news, and then you can collect taxes from it, in my opinion, if you want to maintain the purity of the army, the most important thing is to have money in your hands.

Only when they have money, let them have no worries about food and clothing, and have no worries, and are freed from many worldly things, can they truly achieve purity, if it is an army, even their own and their families can not feed their stomachs, but also they want to contribute loyalty, perform their duties, and even give their own lives, don't you think this is a very ridiculous thing?

Is there anything more shameless in the world than a soldier who is human and not a tool without thought, and who cannot guarantee even the most basic things, and who wants to demand loyalty from them, and who makes them sweat, bleed and shed tears for themselves? I admire those who can do this very much, but I absolutely agree with it. ”

Sean turned a blind eye to Archduke Cedric's increasingly ugly face, and in the last sentence, it was obvious that he meant something.

Sean had delved into the Byron Union army.

There are all kinds of soldiers in this world, and the village guards, city security teams, mercenaries, noble private soldiers, local knights, and central legions are as messy as cattle hair, just like the military expenses that support them.

Unless it is a security force in a large city such as Valesta, most of the financial allocation comes from the villages and cities where they are located, and all of them belong to the top management of these villages and cities.

Mercenaries, aristocratic private soldiers, local knights, it's even more chaotic, anyway, whoever has money, they follow whomever they fight for, and many who lose their offerings directly become bandit groups that wander all over the place, after all, they are also human beings and need to live, and force is the only means of livelihood they are good at.

At some point, they are law and order, and at other times, they become the greatest source of chaos.

Even the bloody cavalry, which is known as a professional soldier, is not very pure, it can only be said to be semi-professional, because many times, they have to worry about their huge military spending, and they have to incarnate as bandits and rush into the Odin steppe to fight to feed the war.

They are certainly fighting the Odin orcs, but when their starting point is no longer purely for strategy, they are easy to be targeted by the enemy.

The reason for such a chaotic pattern is, in the final analysis, because of the political system, when the central government's voice is not loud enough and its fists are not strong enough, that is, when the local government is in chaos.

Just look at the current situation of the Eternal Night Commanders, they are highly centralized, no matter how small the villages and towns are, the finances of their guards are all allocated by the territory, and when the salary package is attractive enough, they will naturally obey the orders of the military leader and maintain the rule of the territory.

Not to mention, from the very beginning, the army of the Eternal Night Army has implemented the separation of military and political affairs, and tried to reduce the influence of politics on the army, which did not feel much effect before the development of the Eternal Night Army Leader.

However, with the development and growth, there are more and more internal administrative personnel, and there are more demands for various interests, and the advantages of this dual power separation are reflected.

Those administrators don't have military power in their hands, and even if they want to make trouble, they can't make much of a move, because no matter how powerful they are, it is also given by the territory, and when the territory decides to take it back, they are powerless to resist.

Unlike the Lancelot royal family, if you want to abolish a military family, you have to consider all aspects of the influence, lest the lords and nobles below unite against them, even if these factors are blocked, a fight is inevitable, because the other party has military power in his hands and will not be obediently captured.

Similarly, if there is a problem with the high-level of the army on the side of the Eternal Night Army, without financial cooperation, they have limited materials in their hands, and the threat can be suppressed within a limited range.

What if the problem arises at the same time?

It can only be said that the supreme ruler himself has gone wrong, and has already rebelled against his relatives and replaced him, which is very natural.

Therefore, putting aside the combat effectiveness for the time being, if we talk about the purity of the army, the army led by the Eternal Night Army will be the best in the world on the contrary.

Archduke Cedric discussing this with Sean obviously won't please him.

Originally, Archduke Cedric wanted to give Sean a dismissal, but he didn't succeed, but was tripped by the other party and almost didn't fall on his heels.

Grand Duke Cedric is not the kind of person with a small belly, and he is not annoyed and angry because of this, but he bows his head seriously and thinks for a few seconds before saying: "The situation you said does have a certain degree of operability, but it is too idealistic, have you ever thought about the consequences of opening up the border trade on a large scale? Those unscrupulous merchants, but there is no discipline, as long as there are interests, there is nothing they dare not sell, if it is a large-scale export of military supplies to the Odin steppe, it is still us who will suffer in the end." ”

"This is the issue of trade control, the army is in the hands of His Excellency the Grand Duke, what is allowed to be sold, it is not up to you to have the final say? Abide by the law, we will give strong support, and if we dare to do things like stealing chickens and dogs, don't blame our knives for being too fast, not to mention the landing of people, all the materials sold are seized and confiscated, and we must not give up huge profits for the sake of a potential threat? This kind of thing has never been forbidden, and what we can do is control. Sean gushed after luring Archduke Cedric into familiar territory.

"Your Excellency the Grand Duke can completely support the official caravan, I think that after so many years of breaking the blood fort, there should be no shortage of those wounded soldiers, they have no way to go to the front line to fight, but it is not a problem to be a businessman, right?

They have many advantages in business, first of all, loyalty, is there anyone in this world who is more loyal than them?

The second is to reduce the burden, which is equivalent to finding a new channel for them to work, so that they can have a secure life in the future, reduce the pressure of the broken blood castle to support them, and increase their own financial income, but it has become a matter of convenience. ”

When he heard the end, Archduke Cedric's eyes had become bright, and he couldn't help but lose his voice: "This idea is good, this idea is good, why didn't I think of this before?"

After Archduke Cedric took over the Broken Blood Fortress, the pressure on his body became heavier and heavier, and the number of soldiers who could support him became smaller and smaller, and one of the problems could not be ignored, the treatment of the old, weak, sick and disabled.

Prior to this, the previous Grand Dukes of the Broken Blood Castle had no different way of dealing with other lords and nobles - crossing the river and demolishing the bridge.

Wounded soldiers and retired veterans who were of no use to the Broken Blood Fortress were nominally repatriated to their original territory by the Broken Blood Fortress.

Everyone knows what is actually going on.

These soldiers, who had fought for the Stritch family for many years and guarded the frontier for the Byron Alliance, were abandoned.

Returning to their hometown, waiting for their fate can be imagined.

In the bloody blood fortress of the broken mouth, no one treats them as heroes, let alone those remote and remote small places, in their eyes, the Odin orcs are only afraid of distant legends, and they don't care at all, let alone who these people fight with to become like this.

And these repatriated retired soldiers have been fighting abroad all the year round, and they have long been injured and sick, and they lack the most basic means of livelihood.

The cruelest fate awaits them, either they will become bandits, dragging their crippled bodies to rob the people they once fought and guarded, or they will die a miserable death in some unknown corner.

The result of a long period of accumulation is:

The common people of the Byron League had a bad feeling for the retired soldiers of the Broken Blood Fortress, and even towards the Broken Blood Fortress, believing that it was a concentration camp for a group of thugs.

Soldiers who come back from retirement will have a harder time, and will be ostracized by the locals, which will lead to more people taking the path they do not want to take.

This was one of the reasons why the Byron Alliance escorted prisoners as recruits to the Severed Blood Fortress, because at that time, ordinary people were not willing to go at all, so they could only enforce it.

This has led to a more uneven source of soldiers in the Broken Blood Fort, and the possibility of problems after retirement is greater, after all, their inferiority is in itself, limited by military law, they can't do anything, and when they return to the original living state of their hometown, and there is no way to live, it will naturally become worse, which further leads to the notoriety of the Broken Blood Fort.

It's a vicious circle out there.

At that time, it is impossible to say how low the morale of the soldiers on the border of the Broken Blood Fort was.

As Sean just said, soldiers are also human beings, and they are also flesh and blood, and they have thoughts.

No matter how good a commander or general is, if he can't provide the most basic support for his soldiers, and he still wants them to fight bravely on the battlefield, it is not a question of shamelessness, but whether he can do it.

Neither physically nor mentally, there is anything that can sustain them.

What exactly are these soldiers fighting for?

After Archduke Cedric came to power, he was also deeply troubled by this problem, and finally peeled back the cocoon and found that the fundamental problem was the placement of those retired soldiers.

If this problem is not solved, everything else is empty talk.

Since then, the Broken Blood Fort has canceled the repatriation of retired soldiers to their hometowns, and all of them have been resettled by the Strachrich family.

Those who are able to continue to engage in auxiliary services, those who can be transferred to logistics work, and those who are really unable to work, are also supported by the military for their good death.

The results of this are obvious, not only is the reputation of the Broken Blood Castle slowly washed away, but the internal cohesion has gradually come up, coupled with the brilliant achievements, they will soon be famous all over the world, and they will become the holy land that countless teenagers and knights yearn for, and take the initiative to take the family heirloom weapons and armor, and ride the war horse to the Broken Blood Castle spontaneously.

As time went on, the pressure on the Broken Blood Fortress from these retired soldiers increased.

By today, they were almost outnumbering the number of soldiers serving in the Broken Blood Keep.

Archduke Cedric wakes up from nightmares, mostly because of their problems.

Once something goes wrong with the defense line of the Broken Blood Fortress, causing these people to lose their livelihood, the chaos they bring to the Byron Alliance is no less than the large-scale breakthrough of the Broken Blood Fortress by the Orcs of Odin.

The reputation of the Straych family, which he had worked so hard to run for so many years, was ruined.

The confrontation with Sean, a young man, opened up a new way of thinking for him.

In fact, many retired soldiers of the Broken Blood Fort have been engaged in similar work, but they are only carried out secretly, and the Broken Blood Fort just turns a blind eye, and Archduke Cedric has heard of it a little, but he is limited by his own thinking, and has never thought of turning this kind of smuggling into a high-sounding official act.

"At that time, we can completely control the balance between the two major Odin empires in the east and west through this kind of transaction, and if we need to suppress it, we will reduce the trading volume, and if we need support, we will increase the trading volume, and even trade a limited amount of military supplies to them.

On the other hand, getting a large number of livestock from the Odin Empire can be exchanged for the materials we need from other military leaders, so that we can largely get rid of our dependence on them and have more freedom and voice, why didn't I think of this method before?"

Archduke Cedric thought of more things, his eyes were bright, and a whole new world was in front of him, this is a new combat mode, if it is operated well, the power is not under the broken blood horse.

No, it should be far better than the Broken Blood Ride.

How much is the broken blood riding?

So far, there are less than 10,000.

And the retired personnel of the Broken Blood Castle are dozens of times that of him, and once mobilized, they are definitely a terrifying force.