That's a huge expense.

But it's worth it.

Victoria scrutinized her one-handed sword, a gift from Gawain after the contract had been signed, and it was almost identical to every saber she had seen on Cecil's warriors, with the only difference being that Cecil's family crest had been erased from the hilt and replaced with the coat of arms of the Wilder family of the North.

It was very sophisticated, with hard lines and meticulous patterns, with few flaws on the surface, and as a mass-produced piece of equipment, it was even better than the weapons in the hands of the Royal Knights, and there were thousands of weapons that were identical to it, and they were all the same.

This sense of uniformity gave Victoria a sense of "power".

This must not be Cecil's best quality weapon, because no one would be stupid enough to take out the armament at the bottom of their box for money except in the case of having no other choice, but this is at least better than the weapons that the Kingdom Army has at hand now, and that is enough.

Looking at the duchess of the North who was holding a one-handed sword in front of her, she couldn't help but think of Gawain? Cecil's memory, he thought of the former first Grand Duke of the North, Snow? Wilder, the powerful mage who had been with Gawain on his last visit to the South? Cecil talked all night.

At that time, the Duke of the Four Realms had been established, and the Middle Kingdom and the Four Duchies were working together to build Ansu, but the Duke of the Northern Realm asked a question that seemed strange at the time: What if one day, the biggest threat to the Kingdom was no longer the Demon Tide outside, but the Duke of the Four Realms Guardian himself?

Snow? Wild is keen to study history, especially the history of the nobility of the Gondor Empire, and he may have seen some hidden dangers from the duke system of the Four Realms that had to be done at that time, but unfortunately Gawain back then? Cecil didn't give him any answers—three days later, Gawain? Cecil died on the battlefield.

Gawain came back to his senses, he looked at Victoria, and asked a question seemingly casually: "Do you think the crisis in Ansu will end with the end of the civil war?" ”

"If we win, then it will," said Victoria, looking up as if to state the facts, "Wales?" Moen is the legitimate heir to the royal family, as long as the kingdom army can defeat the rebels in the east, then the Ansu nobles will inevitably be reunited, as long as the nobles are reunited, Ansu will become a whole again, and the crisis will naturally be solved. ”

“…… I see," Gawain nodded, "then let's go back to the city first." ”

Victoria blinked, there was a trace of confusion hidden under her calm face, she vaguely felt a trace of disappointment from Gawain's subtle expression, but then she felt that it might be an illusion, she saw that the other party had already walked away, so she did not ask any questions, but took two steps to the side of the magic car, pointed to the car and asked, "Duke Cecil, you are called a magic car...... Do you sell it too? ”

Gawain stopped, glanced at Victoria with a little surprise, and then showed a smile: "Sooner or later, it will be sold, but not now, we can't make so many of them, at least we have to wait half a year." And if you want to buy a magic car, it's best to repair the Kingdom Road first when you go back. ”

Victoria bowed her head deeply: "I will, the road is the lifeblood of the kingdom, and when the snow melts, the first thing I will do is to rebuild the kingdom road." ”

After returning to the Lord's Palace, Victoria quickly took her leave, she wanted to return to the Autumn Palace, to calculate how much money the Kingdom Army could now spend on the purchase of armaments, and Gawain did not stop at the Lord's Palace, he quickly got into the magic guide car waiting at the door, and ordered the attendants to go to the merchant quarter.

Mechanical vibrations came from the chassis of the car, and sitting in this magic car, which was slightly out of the style of the era, Gawain exhaled softly, and a layer of shadows suddenly surged on the seat next to him, and Amber's figure appeared from the shadows.

"That duchess looks like she's in pain," Amber blinked, and though she didn't know where she was secretly observing, the guy had apparently been hanging around Gawain all the time, "I'm afraid she didn't put all the money in for the dowry." ”

"That's a lot of money, even if half of it can be converted into materials, it's beyond the capacity of the St. Sunil Treasury, Victoria still chooses to accept it, it seems that she really hopes that this civil war can end as soon as possible, and hopes that the Kingdom Army can win as soon as possible."

"Then I didn't see you soft-hearted when you cheated money," Amber opened her mouth, "I really have to do it, that's more or less your junior, and as a nobleman, you're also a good person, but you don't even get a discount." ”

Gawain glanced at Amber and said slowly, "...... The kingdom army could not save Ansu. ”

Those gold coins can only be slowly used to fill the battlefield on the Holy Spirit Plains in the hands of the Kingdom Army, and instead of letting them be consumed uselessly, it is better to let them become cogs and levers for the magic industry.

Amber blinked, then touched her chin, "So what are you going to do now?" ”

"Go and meet another group of people who can't save Ansu either."

The magic car passed through the administrative district of Cecil City, crossed the ring road, and soon came to the merchant quarter on the west side of the city, and it was not long before it stopped in front of a tall new building—

Cecil's Merchants' Guild, a place dedicated to the reception of great merchants and dignitaries.

Behind a window on the second floor of the building, a young nobleman with short brown hair quietly watched the movement on the street, and after seeing the magic guide car approaching, he took a step back and left the vicinity of the window.

There were several other people in the room, all dressed in fine silk or velvet clothes, pinned brooches or mechanical pocket watches, all dressed as merchants, but from their extremely vigilant and fierce eyes, and the momentum in which they gestured, it was clear that these people were more than just merchants.

One of them saw the brown-haired young man leave the window, stood up and asked, "Young Master, is there a situation outside?" ”

"Don't worry, he's here," the brown-haired young man nodded and said in a deep voice, "with only one retinue, he should be coming up soon." ”

The few people in the room relaxed slightly, and then came to the door with the brown-haired young man, and waited quietly.

A moment later, footsteps were heard......

In his room at the Merchants' Hall, Gawain met those special guests.

For the past three days, he has given Victoria and other royal visitors a tour of the market, a tour of the city streets, a visit to all the places that have been arranged, and he himself has not been idle, what he is doing is making contact with these special guests.

The door closed behind him, and Gawain looked at the brown-haired young man in front of him, and nodded slightly: "Marquis Belk, it seems that you followed my advice and didn't run around." ”

Brunette Young Man - Silas, Duke of the East? Loren's eldest son, Belk? Luo Lun bent down and saluted Gao Wen as a junior, and the others also saluted, and after saluting, the young man, who had just reached the middle level in his twenties, couldn't help but say, "It's not good to stay in the room. ”

"It's going to be more trouble to leave the room," Gawain sat down on the couch in the center of the room with Amber, looking at Belk, who was also seated in front of him. "The presence of the Duke of the East's heir in Cecil is not a good sign, and I'm sure Victoria will be happy to take this opportunity to let Silas?" Loren lost her beloved son - you can't beat her. ”

Belk moved a little awkwardly, and although he tried to control his expression, he was obviously not as skilled in this area as Victoria: "You received the envoys sent by the royal capital in the Lord's Palace, but let us hide among the merchants, this is ...... Did you express your attitude? ”

Gawain couldn't help laughing, he looked at the young man in front of him - Belk is a good young man, polite, talented, very smart, but obviously too reckless and inexperienced, he is not very good at negotiating with people, but considering his age, there is no way to compare him with the duchess of the north: "Frankly speaking, the so-called Kingdom Army and the Eastern Army are the same in my opinion, there is no need to call the parents out to judge right and wrong when the junior fights, but considering the geographical location, The connection between the South and the Plains of the Whitsunday is clearly much stronger than that with the East, and their visit has been made public for a long time. ”

He paused before adding, "And as for you...... I have limited trust in you, and that's just for Anthony's sake? Loren's affection. ”

"Forgive me, but as you will see sooner or later, we really want to save this kingdom," Belk said with a serious face, "The nobles of the kingdom who indulged in peace in the plain of the Holy Spirit were not aware of the crisis at all, they did not see the changes in Typhon, nor the changes in the world, they only knew how to feast all night and loot the last copper coins from the commoners' homes, but we knew-

"Typhon is reforming the agrarian system, promoting education, developing technology, reorganizing the army, opening up new lands, and their civilians are already able to eat meat once a week, while our people don't even have enough brown bread in the winter. Even if Ansu catches up now, it will be difficult to catch up with Typhon, and our only way out is to quickly concentrate Ansu's power in the hands of a powerful new king, so that Typhon will be jealous, even if it is only for ten years, or even five years, we will still have a chance to ......"

Gawain interrupted the enthusiastic young man, "Edmund is what you call a 'powerful new king'?" ”

"Prince Edmund had the vision and the charisma," said Belk? Luo Lun said very seriously, and there was no lack of admiration in his tone, "The law of reward for farming and warfare, the law of road construction, the law of commerce, and the system of cultivating farms that he piloted in the East have all had an effect, and as long as the Holy Spirit Plains is willing to send a nobleman who is not blind to take a look, they will also realize who is a worthy king—but they obviously don't dare." ”

It seems that the young marquis still has no idea about Prince Edmund's connection to the Society of the End of All Things, nor does he know the truth about the death of Francis II - or maybe he is a master of acting and deliberately pretending not to know?

Gawain didn't care what Berk knew or didn't know, he waited patiently for the other party to finish speaking, and then nodded: "I probably know something too - it is because I know this that I am willing to try to give you some trust and allow the merchants of the Duchy to go to the east to establish trade routes." You know, I've been lying in the grave for seven hundred years, and the people I know and trust are basically gone, and I have to get to know all the people and forces of this era, even the descendants of my former friends. ”

Berk sat on the couch and unconsciously rubbed his index knuckles, which seemed to be a knee-jerk action when he organized his vocabulary: "Yes, my father and I understand this...... We were very impressed by Mr. Cord, and the potion he brought with him was exactly what we desperately needed, and my father sent me here to talk to you about it......"

"We were talking about this two days ago," Gawain nodded, "I know what you mean, you have an exceptionally large potion gap, so not only do you want to order a huge amount of alchemy potions, but you also want to buy a set of factory equipment, and you also want Cecil to help you train a group of people to operate the machines...... To be honest, you're asking for a lot of things. ”

"We have no choice." Belk? Loren said.

The young marquis knew that what he was asking for was a sensitive "technical fundamental", something that Duke Cecil would not have been able to agree to, but before he set out, Prince Edmund explained to him the necessity of all this - alchemical potions, which were vital to the survival of the army, could not always be controlled by others, and only by making the east also capable of production could he ensure that he would not fall into a passive situation after a sudden interruption of the supply of potions in the south one day.

The negotiations two days ago were at an impasse on this issue, but today the Duke of Cecil is here again, which means that there is probably still something to talk about on this issue.

Gao Wen thought quietly - it seemed to be very entangled and hesitant, and Amber next to him couldn't help but speak: "Our machine has been researched at a huge price, it is knowledge, and money can't buy it......"

Gawain secretly gave Amber a thumbs up, his face full of seriousness: "But the Eastern Frontier is also a part of Ansu after all. ”

"But what if we help them build a factory, and they go back and learn the technology directly, not only do they produce it themselves, but they don't allow our potions to enter the country?"

Belk immediately said: "I swear by the blood of the family, the East will not do such a thing against the spirit of chivalry, Prince Edmund explained before I left, we set up our own factory just in case of emergency, we still need the alchemy potion of the South." ”

Gawain didn't believe Edmund's promise in the slightest, but he nodded with a look of trust: "I want to believe you. ”

Then he changed his words: "But I want to protect the interests of the South, and the interests of the merchants who are loyal to me—so if I want to establish a potion factory in the East, I have one condition: the merchants I have appointed must build the factory jointly with you." ”

"Joint factory?"

"Yes, each will pay half of the cost, build it together, manage the factory together, and the benefits will be divided equally. The business representatives of the southern border will protect the core technology from leakage in the process, and will also give you technical guidance, which is the biggest concession I can accept. ”

Belk groaned for a moment, then got up and discussed it quietly and quickly with a few people around him.

After a few moments, he returned to his seat: "...... I agree that I can speak for the will of my father and Prince Edmund in this matter. ”

Gawain smiled: "Very good, then we have to recalculate the price......

When the final price was estimated, the young Marquis fell into consternation.

"So much?!"

"Isn't that normal?" Gawain spread his hands, "If it was easy to set up an alchemy factory, I wouldn't have had to hesitate on this matter until today. Moreover, I will help you build more than one factory, and the first batch of alchemy potions you will buy is equivalent to the total number of traditional alchemy potions produced in the entire territory of Ansu in the past three years. If you think about the price of traditional alchemy potions, you will see that the current price is nothing at all. ”

"This ...... Indeed," Belk rubbed his knuckles again, a look of embarrassment on his face, "but...... Frankly, the price is a bit more than we expected. ”

Gao Wen said lightly: "This is because you have made unplanned requests. ”

Then he proposed the method he had told Victoria before: use the supplies to offset half of the cash.

This time, however, Belk looked embarrassed.

After all, the Eastern Territory is only the Eastern Territory, although the army is strong, and the proportion of transcendents in the army is much higher than that of the Kingdom Army, but in terms of territory area, population and resource output, it is impossible to compare with the Kingdom Army that occupies the Holy Spirit Plains and is supported by the "Western Territory-Oguray Tribal State" trade route.

Obviously, their "ability to pay" is very problematic.

The negotiations seemed to be at an impasse, but Gawain suddenly broke the silence: "There is another plan. ”

Young Belk immediately raised his head: "What plan do you have?" ”

"In the southwestern part of the eastern realm, near the triangular junction of the southern border and the Dark Mountains, is there an area called the 'White Sand Hills'?" Gawain said unhurriedly, "It is said that iron and copper are produced there, and there are also a small number of magic crystal veins. ”

"You want White Sand Hills?" Belk's eyes widened, then he immediately shook his head, "Forgive me for refusing - it's impossible." Although that area is not yet developed, it is a long-term mineral land in the future of the East, and it is also a valuable territory in the East. Trading a piece of permanent land for temporary alchemy potions and factories is too costly. ”

"I'm not going to want it," Gawain interrupted Belk, "I'm only mining it for a while—five years, five years in the White Sands Hills in the south, and then yours after that." As it stands, the civil war should be over in five years' time, when the dust has settled and we can begin to enter a new period. ”

Looking at the serious expression on Gawain's face, the future successor of the Eastern Realm, the young Marquis of Belk, hesitated for a moment.

Five years......

He got up again and quickly consulted with his accompanying advisers and men.

A few minutes later, he returned to Gawain again.

I don't think there's much to mine.

"We agreed."