"Plague, disease...... As you've seen along the way, that's what Lordaeron is all about, where people go from refugees to citizens and from citizens to refugees. The furnaces of the Valley of the Hearth were running every day, and the workers were sweating and forging weapons and armor, but the training time of our soldiers was too short. There is almost no real army. ”

"What about the Alliance's support?"

"Stormwind has a legion stationed here for a long time, and reinforcements from Varian and Magni are on the way. But there's a problem, the land is being contaminated, and I don't know if Lordaeron will have enough food to feed this huge legion when the Alliance's armies arrive. ”

In Lordaeron's palace, Ares and Gianna sat together and had a long conversation. They are all familiar with each other, and they don't need any polite words, and when no one is in private, any titles and honorific titles can be omitted.

"Alas, I feel like history is repeating itself."

Gianna sighed. She picked up the delicate glass on the table and took a sip of cold water. In my mind, I remembered the image of entering the city, those civilians, suffering from disease, were isolated, as if they were squatting in prison. But she knew Ares had no choice. If not quarantined, the plague can infect others.

"Don't be so pessimistic, at least we still have the Silver Hand, the Ironforge of Stormwind, the Hammer Clan of Eagle's Nest, and Jean's Werewolf Legion. These are our allies. I believe that Lordaeron will not fall again. ”

Ares was reassured.

"By the way, let's have a banquet in the evening, many old friends need to get together. I don't think you have seen them yet. Jean, Ronin, Furstad, Sepheis, Whiteman, Yarlin, Sylvanas, ......"

Ares said suddenly. You can see that the corners of Gianna's mouth twitch a little when the last name is spoken.

"Windranger...... It looks like you're still together. ”

Gianna said with a grin.

Ares didn't know how to answer for a moment...... The atmosphere was silent to freezing point.

"It's okay, let's have dinner together in the evening, like you said, we haven't been together for a long time."

In the end, it was Gianna who broke the embarrassment, and she smiled.

……

"Gianna, it's been three years, and I remember what it was like when your father and I arrived in Karimdo three years ago. At that time, you were a simple silly girl. And now, just three years later, you're a lord. I've heard about the crash of the Combined Fleet. I am saddened that we have lost the last of our sea power, and you have lost your fleet, your soldiers. But child, know that there is hope, and don't let one failure break you. You are the daughter of Dalin, and I am sure that you will carry on the glory of your father. ”

At the banquet, Jean looked at Gianna and said. It was a simple banquet, so simple that there were no sumptuous meals, no expensive drinks, just some very ordinary food, slightly better than usual, with chicken and beef. The drinks are also some very common wines, and the best bottle of wine is a bottle of daylight aging from Quel'Thalas. Even the place of the banquet was not in the palace, but in the camp of the Knights. Civilians live in hardship and food is scarce, and Ares must lead by example. Of course, everyone understands this.

"Thank you, Jean."

Gianna whispered.

"How long will it take to rebuild the fleet?"

Jean continued to ask questions as he sipped his red wine.

"At least two years. Funding is not a problem, Theramore has accumulated a lot of wealth under my management over the years, but building a fleet is not only a matter of money, some processes cannot be shortened. The ocean-going fleet, in particular, has more stringent requirements for construction materials. The keel of the hull will take a year to dry and squeeze out the moisture inside before it can be used on large warships. In addition, the sailor is also a very important factor. Seventy percent of the sailors of Theramore were killed in this naval battle, and it will take at least two years to retrain, and they are only some novices, novices with no experience in big wars. It can be said that the main fleet of Theramore was lost in a battle, and it is not so easy to rise. ”

Gianna sighed. After she finished her wine, she looked up and saw a group of people staring at her, their eyes full of concern. After all, in this war, Gianna was the most wounded and sacrificed the most. She could have stayed across the ocean and been her Queen of Theramore, and there was no need for her to come here to suffer. But Gianna did just that, which made the others present look at her with admiration.

"Okay, let's not talk about me, let's talk about you, how is Gilneth and Dalaran doing?"

Putting down the cup, Gianna deftly changed the subject.

"It's okay, there is no mass panic in Gilneth, Liam is a qualified manager, like me."

When Jean finished speaking, everyone burst into laughter.

"It's true that the situation in Dalaran is okay, there is no panic, and the market remains stable, and I mean the prices of various commodities."

Luo Ning went on to say—

"Because the outbreak of plague and the invasion of natural disasters are mainly concentrated in the eastern and western plague lands, especially the eastern plague lands, almost all of them are the shadows of the natural plague army. Most of the land south of the Tifaris woodland is relatively intact and unpolluted and unspoiled. It's just that the army of the Cataclysm Legion is overwhelming, resulting in hoarding of food and phenomena still occur from time to time. It's unavoidable. We are trying to control and allay people's fears. ”

"Yes, reassuring the population is the first priority, and once the market enters the irrational phase, the consequences are terrible, and the kingdom will collapse."

Gianna remembered what her father had told her about the Orc Wars, when prices in the northern countries rose sharply and society almost collapsed. Although Gianna hadn't seen that happen for years, she knew how it worked, and she was always on guard against it.

Ares also probably knows this situation, the expectation theory in economics, when everyone thinks that the price of something will rise, then everyone buys and hoards it, causing the scarcity of the item in the market, so that the price continues to rise, and the more scarce it is, the higher the price, until finally it enters an irrational rush or irrational selling. That's when the economy collapses. When the Republic of Lordaeron was just established, Ares attached great importance to this aspect of management, and severely punished those who maliciously manipulated market futures, which offended many nobles. For many reasons, the current aristocratic faction is very dissatisfied with Ares and the Knights. Of course, there are also individual aristocrats who side with Ares, believing that in the face of the common crisis of mankind, wealth is nothing, and when life is gone, wealth is just a pile of discarded currency and metal. In the face of time, it slowly corroded.