Sylvia clasped her hands to her chest, helplessly looked at Victor who occupied her sofa, and said angrily: "Victor, that's my sofa!"

Victor rested his head with his hands on his shoulders, lying sideways on Sylvia's favorite sofa, and in the face of the hostess's questioning, he still struggled to sit up, and said curtly: "I just finished today's exercise, and I am very tired, and seeing that you have not come, I can't help but lie down for a while." Truth be told, your sofa is really comfy and has a particularly cool feeling. ”

Sylvia looked at Victor carefully, and seeing that he looked sluggish, she said sympathetically: "Okay, you can continue to lie down for a while, the manticore skin does have the effect of rejuvenating energy。。。。。 Hey, you're just going to have to lie down a little longer, I just hunted two Ant-Man leaders!"

Before Sylvia could finish speaking, Victor lay down again, he didn't think of himself as a guest now, "Sylvia, do you have anything to do with me today?"

Victor's lazy appearance made Sylvia shake her head and smile, and secretly happy. She had always felt that Victor was a little resistant to herself, and now it was much better. Of course, Sylvia didn't know that she was infringing on Victor's patents, and Victor had already understood that there was no such thing as a patent in this world.

"In two months, the Senate will begin voting on our proposal, and I would like to ask if you have anything else to add?" said Sylvia, sitting down in a chair across from Victor.

"So fast?" asked Victor, sitting up again, surprised.

Victor and the Yorks had reached an agreement to cede 3,000 square kilometers of land around the entrance to the Everglades to the Yorks. The House of York will set up a barony there and build a fortress at the entrance to the Everglades to defend against Ant-Man's next wave of attacks. At the same time, Victor had to hand over the production methods of special bricks to the Yorks and instruct them on how to run a giant brick kiln. Victor was rewarded by keeping his realm and title.

Victor has no objection to this, there are three entrances to the Swamp, and unless he can block them all, Ant-Man will still invade the Centaur Hills, and it takes at least 2,000 troops to hold a fortress, which is a huge burden. Since the York family is willing to take on this heavy responsibility, Victor has no reason to object. However, the Senate has already decided to vote, which means that the Gambis Kingdom will completely solve the problem of ant tides. But Victor wants to wait a little longer to get his secret fortress fully formed.

"It can't be delayed any longer, we must purge Ant-Man before the season of water arrives, and if we miss this season's sowing, the lords of the entire west will be implicated, which will have disastrous consequences. Sylvia said in a deep voice.

Now, 120,000 people have gathered in the town of Blackcastle, and the Yorks have taken out all the food reserves, but they will not hold out until the end of the wind season. Due to the deliberate destruction of crops by Ant-Man, the grain harvest in Centaur Hills this year must be out of harvest, and the surrounding lords have also suffered losses to varying degrees.

Victor didn't know the price of firewood and rice, so after receiving a charming look from Sylvia, he had to surrender, "I don't have any problems." ”

"Let's talk about our problems. Sylvia stroked her golden hair and said, "You took out the technology of making rock bricks, and you invented the operation of the giant brick kiln. I need to build three forts in three years, so I need you to find a way to increase the production of rock bricks, and help me think of a way to stop the way the bricks are made from leaking out. ”

Victor furrowed his eyebrows, it would take many people to run the giant brick kiln, and the method of making the rock bricks would be almost impossible to keep secret, unless the York family could have absolutely loyal alchemist humans like themselves.

"Sylvia, you should know that as soon as you start producing rock bricks, it will be impossible to stop others from coveting them. Moreover, there are so many people involved in the manufacture of rock bricks。。。。。。 Victor said euphemistically.

"I know what you say, but I need five years to build more forts in the Centaur Hills. I don't want other lords to get the crafting method of the rock bricks until they have a defensive advantage. Sylvia sighed first, and then said with anticipation, "Victor, you are very clever, you can design a division of labor, and you will definitely be able to buy me enough time!, right?"

Victor thought for a moment and said with a smile: "Five years, it must be no problem." It can even be kept secret for a longer period of time. The division of labor and cooperative production method is the key!"

Victor's method is simple, have the person in charge of mowing the grass harvest more than five kinds of weeds, and then burn the grass to ashes and sort it into different containers. The embryo maker takes the designated container and incorporates the gold silk grass ash into the clay embryo in proportion, and finally makes the brick embryo. In this way, neither the mower nor the embryo maker knows which kind of grass ash is added, or which types of grass ash, or all grass ash.

"To make rock bricks, the proportion of gold silk grass ash is very important, and it is almost impossible for those lords to figure out the trick of it, they will only keep trying, and they will definitely not succeed, because they also have to solve the problem of building a giant brick kiln, the problem of the temperature of firing rock bricks. However, when you start cultivating the golden silk grass, the secret will not be kept. Also, there will always be times when the lords lose patience and you will be under a lot of pressure, and I suggest you sell the finished rock bricks to the outside, which will make it much easier for you. ”

Sylvia thought quietly for a while, then smiled, "Brilliant idea! Victor, I really didn't misunderstand you, you are indeed a genius." However, I don't recommend that you also sell rock bricks. You don't blame me for being insatiable, do you?"

"From then on, rock bricks were invented by the Yorks. However, you have to help me build a castle in my realm for free. I'm not talking about the six-meter-tall kind. Victor laughed.

The benefits of rock bricks are huge, but they are also very hot. Victor's current strength can also protect the interests of rock bricks, but he has a more ambitious goal, compared to establishing a semi-commercial and semi-military organization, the interests of rock bricks have become chicken ribs. As long as there are people involved, no matter how good the secrecy measures are, it will not help. Sooner or later, the method of making rock bricks will leak out, and it is better to quietly usurp more wealth and develop greater power for the sake of rock bricks and other nobles.

Sylvia sneered and said softly, "Dear Victor, I will help you build a 40-meter-high castle, for your own castle, hurry up and help me find a way to increase the production of rock bricks!"

"There's no other way to put in more people, to build more giant brick kilns. ”

If there is no breakthrough in technology, it can only be solved from scale, and Victor spread his hands, this is the only way he can think of.

Sylvia frowned and said, "I can only mobilize a maximum of 5,000 people to build ten giant brick kilns. ”

"But the town of Blackcastle has 120,000 people, and the Centaur Hill is so big that it can accommodate a larger population. Why don't you recruit more freemen?" asked Victor in surprise.

"Victor, 120,000 people is already the limit of what our York family can accommodate. In this ant plague, we not only lost 2 knights, 11 trainee knights, but also 1,000 elite soldiers. These soldiers are loyal vassals to our family, and without them, our family's potential is also diminished. After all, we can't solve the problem with the division of labor system like you, and in fact, your division system has proven to be hugely flawed. Sylvia sighed, her tone becoming heavy.

Victor silently said that the York family had indeed suffered heavy losses this time, and although the high-end armed forces were still intact, the middle class had been hit hard. The lords of this world have no way to manage their territories, which is to simply divide the land and let the vassals complete the activities of planting, animal husbandry, forging, training soldiers, and so on. The lord only needs to collect the offerings from the vassals in proportion. The vassals hired freedmen to engage in productive activities, and promoted those who were down-to-earth and willing to work to become the lords of the family. A vassal can manage at least 30 people, and 1,000 less vassals means 30,000 less laborers, and 30,000 less laborers, how much less wealth will be created?

Victor suddenly understood why the York family gave 12,000 square kilometers of land to himself at the beginning, not because they were generous, but because the York family simply did not control so much land. The House of York, like itself, needs time to build up its strength.

Thinking of this, Victor suddenly became serious and said, "Sylvia, now I'm afraid it's not a matter of increasing the output of the brick kiln, but how many troops can you build!?"

Sylvia glanced at Victor in surprise and muttered, "Based on 120,000 people, I can build an army of 5,000 people, but it will take ten years. What's wrong?"

York's standard equipment is worth 80 kinsols each, which is equivalent to 28 cows, and an elite soldier needs years of hard training and study before he can become proficient in weapons and equipment. Sylvia said it would take ten years to expand the army to 5,000 men, and that's true. But Victor's heart sank.

"Not enough! This is not enough! Sylvia, if you want to keep the Centaur Hill, in addition to the three fortresses blocking the exit to the Swamp, you also need to build more fortresses in the northern part of the Centaur Hill! you need more soldiers to defend the town, and you need more people to produce and build!" Victor said in a deep voice.

Sylvia said suspiciously, "Victor, are you worried that the Kingdom of Duoduo will attack us from the north? I can tell you that the Duoduo will not touch the Centaur Hills, and they are also unwilling to deal with Ant-Man. ”

Victor shook his head and said, "I'm worried about Ant-Man!"

"Then you don't have to worry, Ant-Man is fierce, but he's very dull. The entrance to the Swamp is low-lying, and we can build three fortresses to seal them off in the Swamp. Moreover, we have already killed 74 Ant-Man leaders, and I believe that there will not be so many Ant-Men in the next ant plague, in fact, if it weren't for the fact that Ant-Man will destroy crops, they are nothing to fear. Sylvia chuckled and shook her head.

Victor sighed secretly, no one knew Ant-Man better than him. Victor knows very well that Ant-Man is not his worst enemy, and the Alchemy Tower robbed Ant-Man's wealth and soul fire, which threatened Ant-Man's survival. This time the ant tide can only be regarded as the foraging behavior of the ant-man controller, so the next ant tide will definitely be offensive. This is also the reason why Victor is willing to work closely with the York family, as long as the York family can hold the centaur hills, Victor expects Ant-Man to come over and give him benefits.

But if the York family can't hold the hills, Victor will have to run away. Therefore, Victor especially needs the York family to buy some time for himself to develop, so he can't sit back and watch Sylvia make mistakes, and even try to support the York family.

"Sylvia, Ant-Man is not as simple as you think! You told me that Ant-Man destroyed an Inhuman empire. Can the dull Ant-Man do this? Will the Ant-Man leaders come back for revenge after they have been killed so much? If Ant-Man is blocked in the Swamp, will they go north along the mountains in search of a new exit? If they enter the Kingdom of Dord, will the lords of the Kingdom of Duo lead Ant-Man to the Centaur Hills?"

Victor's series of questions made Sylvia fall into deep thought.