Along the busy road, Locke and his party gradually approached the port area of Iva. To Locke's surprise, this place has changed dramatically from the first time he was here.

Standing on the heights of the Silver Pine Forest, Locke looked out at the current harbor, rows of wooden houses stretching from the docks by the sea to the heights beneath his feet.

Knowing that it was still a few kilometers away from the dock, Locke could even see the hoisting machinery on the dock in the distance turning back and forth, unloading the cargo from the ship.

"Really, it was unexpected."

Locke's astonishment pleased Shiloh and Berg.

Indeed, in Locke's mind, this may have been a larger port. I didn't expect it to really develop into a port area.

I don't know if it's because the port extends into the sea, or if it's a specially dug waterway. Locke saw that in this harbor, there were several wide, canal-like waterways leading to several fixed locations in the harbor area. Locke could see a lot of small boats shuttling up and down the river, as if to transport goods for convenience?

"Not long after you left, Colonel Maslan insisted on expanding the docks, according to his words. It doesn't matter if there are big warships or not, but we have to make the most basic preparations, once we have a big warship, we may not even have a place to dock. Berg pointed to Gaudí's different masts in the sea at the end of Locke's gaze, "So we tried to dig the beach inshore and extend the pier all the way to the depths. ”

"It's just that what we didn't expect was that the problem of naval warships had not been solved, but there were many more large merchant ships going to Eva. They went straight into the docks of the warships we had dug up to dock, piling huge amounts of cargo on the docks. However, because the roads in the port are often clogged with goods destined for various places, the mountains of goods on the wharf cannot be transported. We had to dig some small channels in the harbor, and let the small cargo ships transport the goods piled up on the docks to the chamber of commerce to which the merchant ships belonged, and they rented our dock warehouses. ”

"Originally, the expansion of the dock was only for the service of our navy, but the news spread among the merchants who walked on the sea. As a result, we have a lot more taxes! You can't imagine it! ”

"Well, as you can see, the little boats that sail in the waterways in the harbor area. It was the merchants themselves who hired the goods they had piled up on the docks and transferred them to the large warehouses at the back of the port area. ”

Standing on this high ground, Locke was very happy, and the prosperity here undoubtedly proved a truth, and the merchants were really rich. If there was no money, his subordinates would not have made this place like this, and Eva would not have developed so much.

Is it true that your taxes will be more than you think?

"Now, we, Port Iwa, are the Kingdom of Lordaeron, no! It is the largest deep-sea port in the northern part of the entire Lordaeron continent. Many of the cargo ships that come to trade on our mainland use us as a transit point, or a final destination. Due to our obvious advantages, many small ports in the surrounding area have gradually withdrawn from the competition with us. ”

"What does our income here include?" Locke asked casually, but immediately he felt that it was inappropriate to say this here, so he changed his words and said, "Just tell me what you come from." ”

"Taxes on goods entering our ports, income from docked ships, rental of warehouses at the docks, rental of warehouses at the rear of the port area, rental of all shop premises in the port area, and a portion of other income." Shiloh casually took over.

As Iva's treasurer, taxes are still under her jurisdiction, and she knows best what is collected here and how.

She also handed over the tax collector's report for the last year or so to Locke's office, but the height of the stack of documents really gave Locke a headache. You know, Eva's tax revenue now comes from all sides, and it's not just a gold mine dug up by kobolds.

But as a big boss, it is still necessary to audit the accounts. However, he left the matter to the Security Service, believing that by the time he returned to Iva's office, the agents had figured it out.

"Go down and go around," Locke asked, turning the reins of his horse as he walked high to the ground, casually "where's Colonel Maslan?" Why didn't you see him coming? ”

"Well, we don't know." Berg and Shiloh looked at each other, both shaking their heads, and Bridgette took over and said, "I told him you were coming. Something should have been held back by him. Otherwise, if he had known that you were coming, he would have come to you, and he had always been fond of complaining to me, and he had asked to expand the tonnage of the navy's warships, and to go in search of the Kurtilas, and to seek help for the navy. ”

Saying that, Bridget laughed, and she shrugged helplessly, "Actually, I don't understand the naval terms he told me at all, so I can only pretend to understand it very well, and I echo him." That guy is completely addicted to the dream of expanding the navy. ”

Locke could only shake his head helplessly, he originally planned to go to Kul Tiras, but this matter has been planned by various unexpected events. However, Locke also admitted that compared with the army and the air force, although he also attaches importance to the development of the navy, it will always be a little worse than the other two, because of the problem of practicality, the navy is always easy to be ignored by him.

"I think he's right, though. It's really time for us to expand our navy. Shiloh took a piece of paper with him, and she looked at Locke inquiringly, who nodded, and she explained. In recent months, the port has begun to take shape, and pirates on the sea have come after them. According to the oral accounts of the businessmen who were robbed, as well as the cases we have gathered. Nearly 30% of the merchant ships that go to our Iva are robbed or unsuccessful by pirates. Among them, we also found the wreckage of many ships on the surface of the sea, and according to the survivors rescued by the navy, on the outskirts of the harbor, there were Naga in the deep sea eyeing our Iva. ”

"According to our air force's continuous reconnaissance of the sea surface, we have received some really bad feedback. It seems that the entire Naga on the west coast of Lordaeron is concentrated outside our harbor. They are not only destroying the caravans that come to trade, but also trying to cut off the development of our Ivar, and there seems to be something wrong with this. ”

"So we must have a naval force to rid the pirates and naga that surround our harbor. It would be best if we could find out why. ”

Shiloh's question silenced everyone.

The Naga thing, strictly speaking, doesn't have any feeling for the people who live in the interior. Because they do not go inland, they only operate along the coast, attacking fishermen and merchant ships. People who live inland, it is difficult to feel their harm.

But Locke knew that Naga was hostile to humans, though he didn't know why. Maybe it's because of their leader, Queen Azhara hated taking away what they once had when they lived on shore?

Now, even though Eva had an air force to cover the coastal waters, few people were able to escape from Naga alive, which led to a problem that Iva couldn't do anything to strike Naga.

With only a few small offshore transport ships of the navy, going out to attack the Naga to patrol the shipping lanes is undoubtedly the way to die.

"This matter," Locke said after a long thought, "hire the merchants, and let them help us contact the people of Kul Tiras." Let's just say that we need their warships, we don't need the relevant shipbuilding technicians, as long as we can train soldiers and build ships! ”

"We should have money now, plenty of money?" With an uncertain tone, Locke turned his head to look at Shiloh.

Shiloh thought carefully for a moment and said in a reluctant voice. "I want to... Yes. If only a small ocean-going fleet. I think we can barely support it. ”

"Our infrastructure, as well as the development of other areas. Supporting the research of the druids and wizards requires money. So, we..."

Locke interrupted Shiloh with a wave of his hand, and he smiled and said, "I believe your words, your strategy is right. But I'm not going to use the gold that Iva has in existence, I have another income to pay, and its existence will help us build a fleet of no small size, right? ”

In the face of Locke's insistence, the others were skeptical. After thinking about it, everyone thought that the money that Locke had said should be on the family treasure of the Agamandel family.

Now everyone knows that the Great Lord of Iva started because he inherited the treasures of the Agamande family, and no one knows how much money this Great Lord has in private. But they all know that when Iva was first created, all the money providers were the Great Lords.

As long as you are a Lordaeron and a human being, you will know about the Agamande, the family that has been passed down for hundreds of years. This family is comparable to the former Barov family of the Alterac Kingdom in terms of land territory and money, but the fate of these two families is not very good now.

If the money accumulated by the Agamande family for a lifetime is inherited by the great lord, then it is indeed not too big a problem to support a fleet, it is not a small amount.

Everyone didn't bring it up in a funny way, not even Bridget didn't say much. In fact, in the eyes of all of them, Locke was already the king of this kingdom. What he is doing now is only an advance of the king's rightful rights.

The king wants to use his own money to build a fleet with ocean-going capabilities to defend the kingdom, and who will refuse such a good thing as the ministers below?

Taking a step back, this money is not Locke's, so it is naturally not distressing to use. Didn't you see that Locke didn't use Eva's funds?

The difference between the money that falls from the sky and the money you have earned so hard is so big...