Joseph said these words not for nothing.

Older people are afraid of death. They prefer a peaceful and stable environment to a war where they cannot control the course of the future.

After living in the underground world for so many years, Joseph's understanding of "war" has long been beyond ordinary people. He received his license from an intelligent computer and watched countless materials and films about the war. One of the most shocking things for Joseph was the Second World War, especially the two atomic bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

This is a terrible weapon produced by the extreme development of science and technology, and it can destroy an entire city with just one drop. No matter how brave the battle, no matter how strong the armor, no matter how sharp the sword and gun, nothing can resist. With the command of the supreme power, billions of people will be turned into ghosts.

Intelligent computers are stockpiled with a large amount of information about nuclear weapons, mainly online commentaries on the civilized era. At that time, the topic of "anti-war" resonated with most people, and Joseph was inevitably affected, which in turn developed a fear of scientific research, especially military use.

"Can't use it?" The confusion in the Pope's eyes deepened: "You mean, continue to mothball those technologies?" ”

Joseph nodded vigorously.

The new will inevitably break the old framework, as it has been proven countless times back in the age of civilization.

After hundreds of years of operation, the Holy See was densely populated with Joseph's men. Without the support of the five cardinals, as well as a large number of regional bishops, deacons, monasteries, and the presiding judges of the Inquisition, Maximilian would not have been able to sit on the papal throne.

It is undeniable that the giants of the north do pose a threat to this world. But they were far from the Holy See, and there was a kingdom of the Lord in between.

Once the results of those studies that were enclosed under the city of Gabriel were released, it was equivalent to adding many times the strength of the army. If the generals' power is expanded and promoted, they will soon surpass the priests and bishops and threaten the pope...... This is by no means a conjecture, but a reality that is entirely possible.

Rifling allows bullets to fly farther and more accurately, and bursts turn a single musket into a slaughtering machine. These two technologies alone were enough to multiply the military strength of the Five Kingdoms in a short period of time, and then surpass the Holy See. They have a huge population base, and the hundreds of thousands of war losses can be quickly replenished. Once the power of ordinary people is inflated, it will soon develop into a question of divine authority.

"We want to speed up research on special projects. If the situation deteriorates, the large-scale "Six" can be allowed to go up. The research department is working on improvements to it, if not to overcome its weakness of fear of fire, at least to change it in mass production. ”

Joseph's tone was resolute, and he believed that Maximilian would understand this.

……

Chaos and fear, this is the true portrayal of the four kingdoms, including the Saxons.

Except for the Kingdom of the Lord, the Kamui Fortress was battled, and all the main forces of the four kingdoms were left in the north of the canyon, and there were very few people who fled back. The biggest loss was in the Viking Kingdom, where the news of Duke Vlamar's death shocked the entire royal family.

Things are also going badly in the Plantagenet Kingdom. Although the Marquis of Elken and the Viscount of Monio were not killed in battle, they voluntarily surrendered and sent someone to secretly send back the news, but the overall military strength of the kingdom was damaged. The only fortunate thing is that the Marquis of Elken confessed in his letter that the Great Giant King had no ill intentions, that he was actually a pacifist, and that if it weren't for the invasion of the Kingdom Alliance, things would not have turned into the tricky situation they are in now.

The messenger who delivered the secret message was a white man who spoke with a pure eastern accent of the Plantagenet Kingdom. The king made an exception and met with him, who claimed that the Giant King had agreed to negotiate the captives and related issues, provided that the Plantagenet Kingdom showed sufficient sincerity.

Negotiation?

The king was stunned, this was probably the word he was most eager to hear since the defeat of the war.

The Courier brought with him a secret document listing the amount of war reparations offered by the Young Giant King to the Plantagenet Kingdom.

Only gold and silver were accepted as compensation, with a total value of up to 200 million pounds, of which no less than 30 per cent was gold.

That's impossible!

The king is roaring.

Strictly speaking, with the strength of the Plantagenet Kingdom, 200 million pounds of gold and silver is actually not much. Whether it is the royal treasury or the kingdom treasury, the two sides together can come up with this seemingly huge indemnity. Of course, a one-time payment is not possible and must be carried out in batches.

Plantagenet is the richest of all kingdoms. In the eyes of many, it is even richer than the Holy See. Of course, this is only the surface, and the Holy See never publishes its finances to the public. Much of the Plantagenet's wealth comes from the capture and sale of other colored people in the southern part of the continent, coupled with the gold mining of some overseas territories, which has led to its current power.

It was about the face of the king, as well as the pacification of the people at home. More importantly, the king was worried about the problems associated with the reparations.

After urgent discussions, the king preliminarily approved the terms of compensation proposed by the giants, and secretly sent an envoy to the north of the continent to negotiate related matters.

……

Kingdom of the Rhine, capital, Bavaria.

King Henderson has dinner with Prince Mokell.

Both father and son enjoyed this warm time, especially after the powerful Calis led his army to the north, the king's control of the situation in the Rhine was obviously much stronger than in the past.

"Thank you, Holy Lord, that bastard of Calis is finally dead." Henderson held up the goblet with red wine in his chubby hand and smiled at his son, who was sitting across from him, and said, "This is the best news I've heard since I ascended the throne." ”

There were no servants beside him, and there were loyal guards guarding the corridor outside, so Prince Mokair did not seem restrained when he spoke: "What are you going to do with the war reparations proposed by the northern giants, father?" ”

Rhine received a superstitious letter with the same content, and Tianhao also made a claim for compensation of 200 million gold pounds in the letter.

"The legends are all lies, and the northern giants are not at all as savage as they seem. Although the letter appeared to have been written by one of our people, I think it is possible that the giant understands our language, and should even be said to be proficient. Henderson shrugged his shoulders and sneered, "But so what? 200 million gold pounds, they are really lions, if they are less, 20 million, or millions, they will be given, it is considered to spend money to buy peace, and by the way, let the giants put our soldiers back. ”

"Father, do you mean to ignore it?" The young prince frowned: "This is not good, the giants have captured millions of our soldiers, and if they use this as a threat to spread the news among the people, it will definitely have a bad effect." ”

Henderson looked at his son and smiled gently, "I have already sent someone to Suolong Pass to negotiate with the Giant King on the relevant compensation issues. Asking for a sky-high price and paying back the money on the ground is the basic principle of negotiation. They can't say as much as they want, which is not in line with the rules, not to mention that the giants are smarter than they imagined, they only want gold and silver, and do not want goods and grain. ”

A sudden expression appeared on the prince's face: "Father is wise. ”

It's not a flattery, it's Mokell's true thoughts from the heart.

"Actually, my psychological bottom line is 80 million to 100 million." The fat king sighed: "Speaking of which, it's all the Pope's old bastard and harm, if it weren't for his vow to win and not lose this time, I wouldn't agree to Calis leading the army to the battle." But then again, it was a good deal to be able to get rid of Calis at the cost of more than a million people. ”

"You know, my boy, I don't want to fight right now." Henderson took a sip of red wine and his expression slowly became serious: "Our real enemy is not actually in the North, if we can solve the Plantagenets, Vikings, Saxons, and the damned Pope, then all problems can be solved." The northern continent is so far away that it would take months to make a round trip. What's more, there is a kingdom of the Lord between us and the giants. ”

Prince Mokair was very clever, and he asked with interest, "Father, you mean, let them fight the giants first?" ”

Henderson smiled: "Do you think the giants will let them go?" ”

The young prince also laughed: "They are infidels. ”

"That's just part of the reason." The king's advice to the eldest son was very follows: "You have to learn to look at things from different angles and analyze them. If the northern giants were to move south, the first thing they would have to deal with was the kingdom of the Lord, and the Plantagenet and Saxon, which occupied the east and west sides of the continent respectively. Next came the Holy See, then we and the Vikings. ”

The prince nodded silently, the geographical location of the countries determined all this.

"So there's no need to worry about the threat from the north. Naturally, someone will step in to help us solve all our problems. A hint of arrogance appeared on Henderson's chubby face, and it was more cunning: "Instead of giving 200 million gold pounds to the northern giants, it is better to leave half of the army to rebuild." ”

Prince Mokair's eyes flashed with confusion: "Father, why are you leaving only half of it, and not all of it?" As you said earlier, the northern giants cannot pose a threat to us. ”

"That's another skill I'm going to teach you, you have to learn to tell who is a friend and who is an enemy." The king's smile was kind: "The northern giants have shown great strength through this war, they are not as weak and incompetent as the legend, and they are not barbarians who will only rely on the Dragon Pass to stay on the defensive forever. On the contrary, they are shrewd, and the letter from the Giant King speaks volumes. Actually, you've just got to the point, I don't have to pay attention to the so-called war reparations, I just sit here and watch the other people fight with the giants. But I still have to say that this is the stupidest choice. ”

"Can the current strength of the Rhine win against the kingdom of the Lord?" Henderson didn't need his son to answer this question, he himself gave the answer: "Of course, but don't forget, before that, there must be a precondition that our war with the kingdom of the Lord must be one-on-one, and no third party must be involved." ”

"The rest of the questions are up to you." Henderson looked at his son, his eyes sparkling: "What are the chances of winning if we wage war against the Vikings, Plantagenets, Saxons and the Holy See?" ”

Prince Mokel already understood what his father meant, and after a little thought, he opened his mouth and replied: "You can all win, but the premise is still one-on-one." ”

"Very good!" The king gave the prince a thumbs up: "You have learned to think, but you have to think in terms of the big picture." War is by no means a unilateral act, and once we send troops, other countries will inevitably get involved. "Followers of the Holy Lord" at such times will only confuse you and even blind you. For a sufficient price, any country can become an ally, including what you call the infidels. ”

Mokel suddenly became agitated, the muscles on his face were contorting in frenzy, and the young prince lowered his voice: "Father, you plan to form an alliance with the Northern Giants?" ”

"Hehe, they're strong, aren't they?" Henderson didn't answer directly, he smiled pleasantly: "Kahlis is a bastard, and I would have dreamed of cutting off his head, but I must admit that he is indeed a genius in military affairs, even more than all the generals who obey me." To take the simplest example, Calis can take the capital of the Kingdom of God with 500,000 troops, but the generals who obey my orders will only be able to break through the second line of defense of the Kingdom of God, even if they lead twice as many troops as him. ”

"With a bastard as good as Calis at the hands of giants, and maybe even becoming their food, what reason do I have to take the initiative to provoke such a difficult opponent?" Henderson's fat body is full of wisdom: "Forming an alliance is not as simple as words, it requires enough strength and more contacts. The emissary I sent to the north this time is a smart man, and war reparations are just one of them, and more importantly, he will give a lot of gifts to the Giant King. ”

Mokel understood this and became even more interested: "What do you mean?" ”

"Doesn't he want gold?" The expression on the king's face was serious: "Then give him gold." Anyway, the money used in the country is mainly silver coins. As soon as Calis died, we could save a sum of money every year on military expenses, and we still made money on the whole. ”

Mokyl was skeptical: "Will this work?" ”

"I have a son, you have to take a long-term view." Henderson smiled: "The Rhine is located in the southern part of the continent, and in the event of a war between the northern giants and other countries, everyone will need food, cloth, horses, munitions, and all kinds of supplies. We just need to concentrate on production, and when the time comes, someone will take the initiative to come to the door and beg us to sell. The gold given out now will earn a lot of money back, and even more. ”

：。 ：m.x