The professional army is always a recruitment system that is ahead of this era, and since Duke himself has come to the forefront of the times, how can he still go backwards for financial reasons. Some things, if turned back, threaten everything else.

Hearing Duke veto his suggestion was also expected. But he thought about it for a while, and suddenly thought of another way.

"Lord Lord, in fact, if you want to get cheap and good war horses, there is another way, but I don't know if I should say it. ”

"Come on, don't ramble. ”

Duke directly urged, now that the Storm Castle cavalry is in dire supply, as long as there is a way, Duke is willing to give it a try, no matter what his situation is.

"In addition to the major empires on the mainland, there is actually one side of the force that is rich in war horses, and their war horses are good and cheap, and this side of the force is the barbarians in the north. ”

When Duke heard the term, he began to think about some key information about the barbarians.

The barbarians of this world are actually very much like the steppe forces of the Xiongnu and Mongolia in northern China in ancient times. Because of their cultural backwardness and different beliefs, they were taught by the god of light to be called barbarians who did not obey the religion.

And the northern barbarians also have the same habit, that is, they like to rely on their mobility advantages to plunder the cities in the border area when they have nothing to do, which makes the empire of the entire Europa continent very disgusted with them, and even set an offensive and defensive alliance, excluding the barbarians from the human race, and almost counting them as a separate race like the beasts.

Now the barbarians and the French Empire are in a tense confrontation stage, and even the confrontation is still his father's Northern Legion, at this time, if there is a deal with the barbarians, in a sense, it can be described as a traitorous enemy, which is also the reason why Kang Si hesitated.

In fact, seriously speaking, these things are not very important, because the lords of this world do not have a strong sense of belonging to the country, and they cannot use the national concept of later generations to demand the people of this era. The main reason is because of Duke's father, Duke Otto, who said that he knew what Duke's relationship with his father was, and if he traded with the barbarians, wouldn't this be the father of his lord?

It's just that what Conceptis doesn't know is that Duke will move out of the name of the Otto family except when he needs to, and he himself has no sense of identity with this father. is an abandoned son who was abandoned and left to fend for himself, and since he made the decision to abandon in the first place, it means that it will not matter in the future.

"Kangsi, if I want to buy a war horse from the barbarians, how should I trade it?"

Kang Si actually looked very interested when he saw the lord, and his previous nervousness was also relieved.

"Lord Hui, the northern barbarians are in the extremely cold land, they are extremely backward in metal smelting, although they have a large number of people and excellent war horses, but they can only sit on the matter of plundering, it is difficult to really conquer an empire. It was because they did not have enough weapons and siege equipment, and once they faced the city walls and castles, they could not rush up with their horses. ”

"You mean they're short of iron?" Duke asked rhetorically.

"That's right, they are not only short of iron, but also very short of salt and tea, because the grassland cannot produce these things, but salt is a necessary condiment for the human body, and if you don't eat salt for a few days, your whole body will be weak. And tea is because they can't grow enough crops because of their extreme cold, and the beef and mutton are too greasy to eat too much, so their demand for tea is also extremely strong, and these things are hard currency comparable to gold coins in the barbarians!"

After listening to Kangsi's introduction, Duke was really sure that this was almost a sample of the ancient Chinese Xiongnu, but it was called a barbarian in this world.

What's more, iron and salt are things that can be easily produced in Stormcastle, not to mention iron, even if it's steel, it's just a matter of opening two more magic blast furnaces. As for the salt, is there still a shortage of salt at the beach?

The only drawback may be tea, but this is not a problem, it may be a little difficult to grow food crops in the San Michel Mountains, but as a tea mountain, there should be no problems, as long as you order it to be promoted, then the crops that the barbarians need, Storm Castle can easily produce!

"Concept, since the barbarians have what we need, and we can provide what they need, then there is a basis for cooperation. Is there a way to contact the barbarians to see if they can make a deal with them. ”

"It's not difficult to contact the barbarians, but the Duke is confronting the barbarians on the northern border, if we send iron weapons over, this is equivalent to boosting the barbarians' combat effectiveness, and it may be ......"

Kang Si didn't finish his words, isn't this equivalent to his son stabbing Lao Tzu in the back?

"It's okay, we only sell iron tools, I believe that with the smelting foundation of the barbarians, it is still impossible to refine steel, so that the Northern Legion should be able to withstand it. It's just that even if we can make a deal, it will still be difficult for things like war horses to be transported within the territory of Storm Castle. ”

Trading is not a problem, but it is not easy to transport things into the territory. This had to cross the entire Duchy of Berry, most of the Duchy of Andorra, and more than a dozen territories to pass through along the way. Let's not talk about how to hide it from the Fran Empire, just these dozen lords, it is difficult to guarantee that there are no people who have the idea of eating and drinking in the dark.

The lords of this world do not have the consciousness of the common courtiers of a country, and it is too common for them to attack each other. As long as it is not annexed by the killers, basically the royal family of the French Empire will not interfere too much, let alone this kind of robbery.

The spirit of commerce can still be observed, but it is impossible to look at the strategic material of war horses with the spirit of commerce.

"Actually, this matter is easy to do, lord, you can apply to His Majesty the Emperor, but you can help defend the northern border of the empire. I believe that with the identity of your Otto family and the strength of the Storm Army, you will definitely be able to get a defense area in the border area, and when the time comes, you can trade as much as you want, and these war horses can also be transported back into strategic materials for the Storm Army. ”

"In this way, there will be a good reason, and with the protection of the Storm Army, I believe that no one will dare to make up their minds. Even if there were, His Majesty the Emperor and the Duke would not be able to sit idly by, after all, the Storm Army was a heroic force for the country. ”

After listening to Concept's answer, it seemed to open the door to a new world for Duke, this kind of direct pulling the army over to the border, but in fact doing smuggling, Duke really didn't expect it.

This is almost like the feeling of the late Ming Dynasty, the nine sides of the various exchanges with Mongolia and the Houjin trading rivals, but the central power has no way. Sure enough, he is worthy of becoming a financial officer, and he is simply a person!