Chapter 456: Refusal

"Ahh......h

Well, the maid with a three-point cloth strip on her body shocked the always calm Second Highness, turned around and gave Lorist a knowing and heartfelt expression, and her face was full of ambiguous looks that even men can understand: "I understand why Locke is so cool and reluctant to wear a formal dress, and it's quite troublesome to take off your clothes, isn't it?"

Lorist really didn't expect His Royal Highness to say such a thing, and he couldn't cry or laugh for a while: "Your Majesty, this is Platinum Beach, those are the maids of the Kenmax family, even if they don't mind having something to do with you, but can you make a shot in front of so many people?"

His Royal Highness shrugged his shoulders: "I believe that you will always find a way, so many sheltered tents on the beach should be your convenient place." www.biquge.info But to be honest, they are really eye-catching when they dress like this, and they match the scenery by the sea......"

The figure of the Second Highness is slightly taller than that of Lorlist, and the figures of both of them are the same bodybuilding, but compared with Lorlist, who is covered with sword scars, the fair-skinned and handsome Second Highness attracts the attention of those maids, especially after knowing that this is His Majesty the King of the Kingdom of Antinac, the maids who came to serve almost breathed fire in their eyes, even if they send fruits and snacks, they like to rub against the Second Highness, and they are flattering and flattering, and they can't wait to pull the Second Highness to the tent next to them.

The Second Highness is also very helpless about the courtesy of these maids, Lorist only watched the jokes on the side, and the rest of the nobles were a little far away from here, after all, the Second Highness said that they were all here to play, everyone was at their own convenience, so let Locke accompany me. No nobleman would rush to the front without long eyes to block the two most powerful people in the kingdom, maybe they would discuss something important......

Finally, after the maids over there finished their things, Lorist waved them to leave, and then His Royal Highness smiled bitterly and said, "Locke, you like to see my jokes so much?"

"Nope. Lorist firmly denied: "You are His Majesty the King, these handmaidens are rare and bigwigs, so it is understandable that they are particularly enthusiastic." What's more, you are not bad-looking, much better looking than me, I was jealous to death just now, they have never taken care of me so diligently. ”

"Hehe, Locke, you love to tell jokes. The Second Highness laughed dryly a few times and changed the subject: "By the way, Locke, I heard that the Norton family borrowed seven million gold fords from the Grand Duke of Forundo to develop the economy and livelihood of Yungeshandra Province for ten years, and repay ten million. Is this true?"

"It's true, if Your Majesty also wants to borrow money, then I'm sorry, you're a step late, and now our Norton family really has no money. "Lorist was not at all surprised that His Royal Highness would get this news. The story of partnering with the Forendo family to develop Yungeshandra Province was not intended to be hidden from anyone, and it had already been spread.

"No, if you can take out seven million and wipe out your Norton family's coffers? What I don't understand is that if you lend me these seven million goldfords, I will double them for you in ten years. His Royal Highness stared at Lorist's face and said.

Lorist got up and sat cross-legged: "Your Majesty, don't make such jokes. You know in your heart that I can't lend you money, even if you're the king. ”

"Why?" asked His Royal Highness with a frown.

"Your Majesty, the Grand Duke of Forrendo borrowed money to develop the economy and people's livelihood in the territory, and in ten years, the goods produced in our family domain will have a developed province as a market. However, His Royal Highness borrowed money in order to develop armaments to prepare for war, which is very risky, and if you win, you may return to your capital, and if you lose, there is nothing. As Duke Kenmath said, if I lend him the seven million, I will at least double it in three years.

But doing business is the same as fighting a war, more people think about making money, but they can't think or don't want to think about the possibility of losing money in business. Just as in the first half of this year, our family territory rectified those redundant production workshops, many merchants and aristocrats who blindly invested in expanding production lost money, and three of them committed suicide by poisoning usury with huge debts. This is the key to the Duke of Kenmax's only selling and not investing in production.

Sometimes producing too much goods and not being able to sell them can also become an economic disaster, which is why our family would rather borrow money and spend ten years cultivating the market, just to sell more things out. The most important point is that investing in the economic and livelihood of the Volundo family to develop the territory is not to lend them seven million at once, and it is impossible for our family to come up with so much money, and the seven million is invested in several batches over five years......"

The Second Highness took a golden cup full of wine and saluted Lorist, and said with a smile: "Okay, don't give me any economic lessons for territorial development." Don't worry, I'm just talking about it, and I'm not really borrowing money from your Norton family. What's more, you guy won't sell my face at all, and you're willing to lend me money, and I won't be bored with myself. Although you are the most uncomfortable thing for me, one of the things I appreciate most about you is that you pay special attention to the development of the territory, and you have always been generous in investing in this area. In this respect, the king of my kingdom is worse than you. ”

"Uh...... Your Majesty, you've won the prize. Lorist hurriedly picked up the silver cup in return.

"But Locke," His Royal Highness put down the golden cup he had drunk and stared at Lorist, "Are you really not optimistic about my rearmament this time?" you know what I mean, to be honest......"

Lorist shook his head: "Judging from the current situation, the Fort Business Alliance has become a real big and powerful country. Our Kingdom of Antinac is like the Merchant Alliance and the Cresson Empire a hundred years ago, just reversed. We are at a disadvantage. Your Majesty, you should have received a lot of information about the Business Alliance, right?"

His Royal Highness nodded, but was speechless.

Lorist continued: "I believe that the result of the battle between the Commercial Alliance and the Central South Kingdom Alliance must have been unexpected, the war that lasted for more than four years did not drag down the Business Alliance, but the Central and South Kingdom Alliance Army underwent a big change. The business alliance not only added the Qigeda Kingdom as an ally, but also sent people to mediate the conflict between the Qigeda Kingdom and the Central and Southern Eight Nations Alliance.

Whether analyzed from a strategic point of view or commented on from various aspects of tactics, business alliances are the biggest gainers of this war. It annexed three countries again, split the alliance of the remaining kingdoms of the south-central kingdom, obtained the kingdom of Chigeda as an ally, and achieved the original purpose of the war, re-opening trade routes in the kingdoms of the south-central region, and its sphere of influence became larger and larger.

In terms of high-end combat power, the business alliance now has a Storm Sword Saint Zhenguo, and at the same time, the entire business alliance also has nearly a hundred great sword masters. And in our Antinac Kingdom, all the Great Sword Masters add up to less than twenty people, whether it is a first-level, second-class, or third-level Great Sword Master, we are all at an absolute disadvantage.

The Seven Giants and Seven Chambers of Commerce of the Business Alliance now each have a regular field legion, and they have been honed into elite armies in the fierce battle with the Central and Southern Kingdoms in more than four years. And the rest of the large and small chambers of commerce of the business alliance can also pull out two or three hundred thousand people. We can estimate that the business alliance now has no less than half a million armed men.

In the past three years, His Majesty has been vigorously arming troops and horses in the eleven central provinces, reorganizing the army and fighting, and only more than 300,000 kingdom troops have been organized and trained. The Royal Guards Legion on the side of the Divine Capital and the White Lion Legion in Majik Province have no more than 500,000 horses under their command. Even if you add the family legions dispatched by a few of our grand dukes, it is only more than seven or eight hundred thousand horses.

These seven or eight hundred thousand horses to attack the current business alliance can only have a slight upper hand at most, and it is impossible to completely defeat the business alliance. If the Business Alliance raids our chain of command with high-end power, we may be able to fight a big defeat. Therefore, I think that the strength of our kingdom is now not enterprising enough, and it is more than enough to protect itself. I still suggest that Your Majesty should develop with peace of mind for ten years, and then find a way to recover the few provinces that have been forcibly occupied after strengthening the kingdom. ”

After listening to Lorlist's tirade, His Royal Highness's face changed, and it took a while for His Second Highness to regain his resolute expression: "No, Locke, you are wrong, now is the best time to call me, I must not miss the opportunity." And if I can develop people's livelihood with peace of mind, the business alliance is also regaining its strength, even faster and stronger than our kingdom. I must take advantage of the fact that the Business Alliance is not really serious about us now, to retake those provinces and restore the territory and glory of the empire!"

"Oh, good opportunity?" Lorist was a little curious about what His Royal Highness was calling a good opportunity.

"In fact, whether or not we can retake those occupied provinces and territories, the Business Alliance still regards our kingdom as an enemy. "This is right, after the empire was divided into three kingdoms and seven principalities, the commercial alliance still treated the Andinac Kingdom differently, the orthodox inheritance of the Christian royal family, and the commercial blockade was everywhere, and the second highness also had a deep hostility towards the commercial alliance.

"You also understand the situation in the south-central part of the continent, and now the business alliance's mediation between the Kingdom of Chigda and the eight-nation alliance in the south of the country has still not been reached. Moreover, the seven giants of the business alliance and the seven chambers of commerce have four legions stationed in the territory of the Chikde Chamber of Commerce as a threat to the armed existence of the two parties, and the business alliance is thousands of miles away. If a peaceful truce is reached next year, three of these four legions will return to the commercial alliance, and perhaps they will be placed on the borders of our kingdom. ”

The Second Highness looked at Lorist: "It's very simple, you forgot one thing, after our Antinac Kingdom destroyed the Four Central Duchies, the Duchy of Madras, and the Iberian Kingdom, the trade routes of the commercial alliance to these places were also cut off by us. So I think that when the business alliance frees up their hands, they will definitely mobilize a large army to force our kingdom to accept their demands. And you know my temper, it's impossible for me to bow to the business alliance. This war is not something I can avoid if I want to, and if it is going to be fought, why don't I do it first?

I can accept the demands of the commercial alliance to open trade routes, but they must give us fairness, and it is my bottom line to recover all the lost and occupied provinces and territories, and I can also sign a peace agreement with the commercial alliance for an armistice, but they must fulfill my wish and return the occupied provinces to us. Otherwise I'd rather fight them to the death!"

Lorist had to admit that His Royal Highness was very reasonable, his mind was very clear, and his analysis of the business alliance was also very accurate. But the question is, why did the Norton family participate in this war? It is a fool's work to make the Norton family sacrifice in vain for the sake of His Highness's desire to unify the former Krisson Empire. What's more, the Norton family is now unable to rise in terms of title or territory, so they can't be desperately cannon fodder for a few good words and a few compliments from His Second Highness......

"I don't want to be involved in this war. Lorist said, his voice deep, "I just want to develop the territory and let the people live a happy and healthy life, which is the promise I made when I left the city of Morent and returned to the Northland more than ten years ago to inherit the family domain and title. I just want to spend time with my wife and children living happily ever after in my family's domain and watching them grow up......

I'm sorry, Your Majesty, even if you say that you have moved three of our four alliances in the Northlands this time, I don't want to get involved. I think it's a war that doesn't benefit the kingdom and our family. If the Business Alliance invades our kingdom, I can send troops to defend against their attacks. But to take the initiative to provoke them, I personally think this is an unwise move. ”

Lorist's refusal embarrassed His Highness a little, but the two of them were far away, and the maids and nobles were far away, and they didn't notice what the two were discussing. The Second Highness should have been mentally prepared for Lorlist's refusal, knowing that Lorist could not be persuaded by him so easily, he quickly smiled calmly, and picked up the golden cup again: "By the way, Locke, we are here to play today, why bother to be in a bad mood for these militaristic events, come on, let's have a few more drinks." I heard you're a good swimmer, can you teach me?"

"Of course, Your Majesty, I will be happy to oblige. Lorist also took a sip of the rest of the wine in the silver cup.

In the next few days, His Royal Highness was very busy, busy visiting the rest of the nobles. Although Lorist was on vacation on Platinum Beach, he also felt that the atmosphere began to be a little solemn, and even the families of the nobles who were playing on the beach gradually lost their cheerful and relaxed mood, and even some nobles began to pack up and prepare to go back. Their expressions are all serious, and there is only one such situation, and that is that war is coming.

Lorist felt a little strange in his heart, although it was not yet September, but August was almost over, and it would take at least two or three months to prepare for the war to mobilize a large army to prepare for the war, and it was already winter at that time, did His Royal Highness still want to launch a surprise attack on the commercial alliance in winter? That is impossible, even if he made all the demonic beast furs he bought from himself last time into winter clothes for the soldiers to keep warm, he could raise up to twenty or thirty thousand horses. Relying on these two or thirty thousand horses to deal with the business alliance is looking for death, not attacking.

Duke Kenmeth, Duke Philim, and Duke Shahin came to Lorist again, and from their expressions, Lorist could guess that they should have reached an agreement with His Royal Highness.

Lorist said to them, "Don't talk to me about this war, I have already rejected His Second Highness, and I don't want to hear anything about this war. It's your business if you want to participate, and I won't send troops. ”

......