Before dawn the next day, the royal family of Neville sent the chief of the court to deliver a heavy gift to Viscount Randall. The lords and nobles of Cogstone City seemed to have received the signal, and they also sent stewards and gift lists to visit Viscount Randall.

For a time, the secluded Earl's Court de Kaiser became bustling, and the carriages for gifts lined up from the gates of the Earl's Palace to the outside of the orchard.

Of course, Victor did not have to meet the lord's butler attendant in person, but the original plan to leave the city in the morning had to be postponed until the afternoon.

Near noon, Catherine and Lady Ariel arrived at the one-off villa where Victor was temporarily staying, after attending the morning tea party specially organized for them by Queen Satya, and found that the hall was full of large and small boxes, and Viscount Randall's personal maid was directing the attendants to count the gifts and reclassify them.

Piles of gold, precious stones, black-glazed rock statues, weapons and armor, amber, hides, horns, silks, and elemental crystals were poured to the floor, dazzling the Queen Mother of the Gambis.

"Renault, Shak, you carry the Adamantite Gold, Gems, and Elemental Crystals to the room on the left, and arrange for the family guards to take turns guarding them...... Amber and hides, as well as silk to keep out moisture, wrap them in canvas and put them in the utility room on the right...... Who told you to carry the black glazed rock statue? Put it down, move lightly, don't break it...... You are responsible for carrying the gold to the right room...... Oh Lord Most High, take less...... Forget it, be careful not to hit your feet!"

Like a giant, Caligula easily picked up two iron boxes and strode towards the corridor behind the living room. Catherine visually inspected that if the chests were filled with gold, they would weigh at least 800 pounds.

Caligula walked out of the hall, and Alina immediately saw Catherine and Ariel Lady, and hurriedly curtsied, and said crampedly:

"Good day, Lady Catherine. Lady Ariel, Good Day...... Madame, I'm sorry I didn't notice you coming back just now. ”

Alina's hair was lightly pulled, her face was flushed, and her eyes were full of light. Catherine looked around the glittering living room and thought, "It would be strange if you could see me in time."

"No need to be polite, where is Victor?" the Queen Mother asked faintly.

"My lord is in the study on the second floor, and he is replying to the letters of the major families according to the gift list. ”

Alina said with a sad face: "So many gifts...... We don't know what to do in return. ”

Catherine looked at the corners of her mouth and nodded silently, "I'll go see him." With that, she crept up to the second floor, walked through the corridor, came to the study, and raised her hand and knocked on the door.

"Please come in. ”

Catherine pushed open the door and saw her sweetheart behind her desk, who was as delicate as a work of art, and her heart suddenly warmed, and the depression caused by the Neville nobles "bribing" His Royal Highness Gambis with a lot of money also disappeared. She raised her hand to untie the crown and hairpin, shook her head gently, her long flaxen hair flowed like a waterfall, hanging down to her waist, and her stiletto heels stepped on the bewitching and graceful steps, paced to Victor's side, and asked in a coquettish voice:

"What are you looking at, dear?"

"I was just looking at the original design draft of the water conservancy project...... Now it's just up to you. Victor put down his quill, reached out and took his noble lover to his lap, and wanted to say something more, but his sweet words were blocked in his throat by a soft little tongue.

Catherine held her little lover's delicate and smooth cheek and kissed her for a long time, then changed her tone contentedly, and said with a coquettish smile: "The gift from the nobles of Neville to the Randall family has made your personal maid happy, but what are you going to give in return?"

"No need to return the gift, the gift they give can only be described as meager compared to the wealth I have brought them. ”

Victor smiled slightly, took out a scroll from the drawer, and said, "Baby, this is a list of gifts compiled by Alina, you can see if you like it, I'll let you pick one first...... If you can't catch the eye, you might as well wait until the afternoon, when someone will come to give gifts. ”

Catherine took the scroll, took a cursory look at it, and with her experience of living in the kite castle, her eyes were also round in an instant, and she covered her small mouth and exclaimed, "So many?" Then, she browsed carefully, and her good-looking willow eyebrows gradually frowned, and finally put down the scroll, raised her eyes, stared at Victor and sighed: "The gift from the Neville royal family alone is worth 400,000 gold soles, and if all the gifts are combined, I am afraid it will exceed 700,000." ”

"How can there be so many?" said Victor with a reserved smile, "Some gifts are priceless, and the fineness of gold is uneven, but pure gold, white crystal, green amber, spider silk, and animal skins can be accurately valued...... The total price is almost 300,000 gold soles. ”

Catherine said amusefully and angrily, "...... They're here to help you elevate the Randall family. This favor may be worth millions of gold. ”

The Rex family's gift to Victor included 10 pounds of Adamantite Gold, two Crystal Crystals of the Four Series, 100 Gem Ore, 50 White Crystals, 2 Centaur Centurion Leathers, and 30,000 Gold Coins.

The first gift of the royal family also limited the upper limit of the gifts of the lords and nobles. The well-established lord took out the treasures of the family's collection, and the family in slightly worse conditions gave the special products and gold coins of the territory, and the financially distressed family simply used gold ingots as gifts.

Victor collected 1.1 tons of gold ingots alone, as well as 15 pounds of adamantite gold, all kinds of precious ore, elemental crystals, white crystals, amber, a cart full of animal skins and spider silk, 18 craft statues, 4 sets of ceremonial armor, 17 adamantite swords and 40,000 gold coins.

Among them, only gold coins, adamantite gold, white crystals, and amber are considered hard currencies, and the prices of gold, gem ore, elemental crystals, craft statues, and armored swords are uncertain. For example, the top-level elemental crystals, only the golden knights can release the elemental power in them, but the number of golden knights is even rarer than the elemental crystals, they don't lack this kind of thing, and they don't need to pay for it. The top-grade elemental crystals are almost impossible to realize, and they are used to tie the knots of the Golden Knight, which is only a dispensable icing on the cake.

There is no standard for the market price of raw gemstones and handicrafts, and the law is that the larger the shipment, the less valuable it is. The 1.1-ton gold ingot, on the other hand, could only be sold at 20% without the right to mint money, so it was better to use it as a decorative material.

To Victor's dispontment, there are 5 top-notch fire crystals, which he would love to build an elemental furnace with, but they are all recorded in the gift list. Victor didn't want to expose the secrets of the fire elemental furnace, so he had to use them to please Sylvia.

These gifts were all packaged and sold, and it was a bit reluctant to sell them for 300,000 gold soles. As Catherine said, if the gifts were to be the Randalls' treasury, the more famous Victor was, the more valuable they were.

It's a pity that the Alchemy Pagoda ignores the aristocratic circle's method of calculating human wealth, and the beautiful gems and black glazed rock, even if they are exquisitely carved, are still broken stones....... which is not as affordable as directly giving gold coins...... It would be nice to replace them all with inferior fire elemental crystals!

At this moment, Victor was particularly melancholy. Catherine's mood was also quite complicated, she was silent for a moment, bit her lip and said, "You just came to Neville and handed over a letter to the liaison officer, so that Rex could hold last night's tea party? Today, they will give you a heavy gift......"

"Knowledge is wealth. ”

Victor didn't deny it, nor did he admit it, and instead asked, "My dear, why did King Rex give me a gift first?"

"If he doesn't send it, the other lords will rush to send it, he will send it first, and others can't send more than the king. Catherine chuckled and said, "The king is the leader." ”

"That's right, but it's not comprehensive. Victor nodded with a smile, picked up the original hydraulic engineering design manuscript on the table, and handed it to Catherine: "Look at this." ”

Catherine looked at the drawings for a while, raised her head, and said suspiciously: "I don't know much about hydraulic engineering...... Neville's hydraulic works were mainly concentrated in the central regions of the kingdom, and seem to have deliberately ignored the southern lords. ”

"This original design draft is actually the industrial structure layout of the Rex family for the Neville Kingdom. "Fort Rock hopes that the central lords of Neville will develop water farming and animal husbandry and achieve self-sufficiency in food production, thereby reducing the burden on the northern basin. However, the territory of the southern family is too far away from Cogston, and if they also lead the vassal army to return to the territory and develop water conservancy and agriculture, it will not be easy for Rex to mobilize the power of the south. ”

"Therefore, King Rex bribed me with a lot of money to make me adjust the water conservancy project according to this original design draft, and not to overturn his industrial layout. Victor smiled and asked rhetorically, "Kite Castle doesn't need to bribe me, and I'm willing to contribute my strength to Gambis." However, the industrial structure of the Gambis is generally in a reasonable state, with agriculture and animal husbandry, mining, handicrafts, and commerce, and there are no obvious shortcomings.

Catherine smiled sweetly, leaned her head on Victor's shoulder, and said coquettishly, "Honey, I'm just a little jealous...... You're the Highness of Gambis. ”

Victor stroked Catherine's hair and sighed, "Your Highness Gambis cannot sit idly by and watch your allies struggle...... Nor can it be unreserved. ”

"Lady Dolly has a close relationship with the Neville royal family, and the Dekaeser family, despite their youth, is the predetermined leader of the Southern family of Rex. I can help Lady Dolly design a water system that will cut off her trade with the Rand Empire. ”

Catherine was surprised and asked, "I'm afraid this won't be easy, right?" I guess Lady Dolly would rather give up the water conservancy project than open up the trade route connecting the Rand Empire. ”

"It's not easy...... But it's also simple. Victor smiled confidently: "There is a loophole in the water conservancy project designed by the silver tower for Neville, they did not consider the fire barrier. ”

"Fire barrier?"

Victor explained: "The spread of wildfires is a terrible disaster for mountain and forest areas, because the vegetation is vigorous in the second season of land and fire, and the weather is wet and cold in the water season, the possibility of forest fires is not very likely, but in the windy season, man-made fires are often difficult to control. Therefore, every year during the windy season, the lords of the mountains will send forest rangers to hunt down poachers. As the population becomes denser and human activity in the mountains intensifies, it is not enough to rely on rangers to monitor and stop the fires. This requires the establishment of open spaces, reservoirs and canals dedicated to fire prevention, fire insulation and extinguishing fires. I can help Mrs. Dolly design a water system that satisfies her, and then use the fire barrier to cut off the trade between the De Kaiser family and the Rant Empire. ”

Catherine was overjoyed, and said with a smile, "Honey, you are so clever. ”

"Don't be too happy. Victor shook his head and said with a serious expression: "This small trick may lead to a worse result...... At yesterday's ball, Queen Satya and I talked about Princess Shireen of the Seuss Kingdom who was interested in recruiting Raymond Peter of the Borui Kingdom. ”

Catherine nodded, hesitated, and said, "I've heard about it...... The Knights of Radiance removed 10,000 Templars from the Twilight Forest Line. The Duke of Maidin, the northern lord of the Seuss Kingdom, was under great military pressure, and he planned to marry the Peter family of Borui and support Princess Shireen's first succession, thus promoting a military alliance between the Suss Kingdom and the Borui Kingdom. ”

"What good is it for the Borui Kingdom to send an army to help Seuss defend against the Gnolls in the Dusk Forest? Could it be that the Borui can use Shireen and Raymond's marriage to annex the Seuss Kingdom?" Victor raised an eyebrow and asked.

Catherine was startled, thought for a moment, frowned and asked, "What do you mean...... The Borui people want to use Seuss as a springboard to cooperate with Neovest to build a port?"

Victor nodded, shook his head again, and said, "Satya and I talked about Shireen's marriage, and I thought she was working as a lobbyist for the Eleanor family...... How could the queen of Neville think about the kingdom of Seuss? The kingdom of Borui relied on the breadfruit trees of the Seven Great Islands, and they did not have the natural conditions to develop new agriculture and animal husbandry, so there was no possibility of expanding the army. And there is a powerful barbarian kingdom on the opposite shore of the Seven Great Alliances, so why should the Borui people defeat them? If the Borui people build several ports along the river of the Sus Kingdom and on the shore of Lake Fez, their fleet will be able to travel more than 2,000 kilometers westward with the wind and land on the south bank of Lake Fes, avoiding the main force of the barbarian kingdom and opening up the southern continent. ”

"The hands of the Borui are too long, and the Nevilles are not happy, and they also want to have a harbor on the shores of Lake Fes to serve as a back road. Victor sneered, "Assuming that Neovester chooses to cooperate with the Borui Kingdom, how should we Gambis react?"

Catherine got up from Victor's lap, walked to the window, turned her back to him, and whispered, "Of course, wait for Neovest to go to the Southern Continent and find an opportunity to annihilate him." ”

"In addition to hatred, there is also interest. Victor said lightly: "Neovest plus the Borui Kingdom is enough to challenge our exploration rights in the Southern Continent. Because we have all landed on the southern shore of Lake Fez, we are too close to each other, we are equal in strength, and we still have hatred, and war is inevitable. ”

"The best way for the Borui Kingdom to keep the peace with us and open up the southern continent is, of course, to betray Neowest. Neovester must have doubted that the Bores would be able to go to war with Gambis for him. Therefore, Neovester is also reluctant to choose the Borui Kingdom as an ally. ”

"Neovester intends to woo the kingdom of Neville, and he has abandoned the papal line?" asked Catherine.

"I'm afraid so. "Neville's strategic focus is on the Northern Wilderness, and the Rex family has a close relationship with the Cardinals. With Neovist's alliance with the Kingdom of Neville not a threat to us, and with the cardinals mediating it, we really have no excuse to trouble him. ”

"I understand...... It's not that there are no excuses, it's that it's unnecessary. Catherine's shoulders trembled slightly, but she quickly regained her composure, turned around, smiled at Victor, and said, "Dear Highness Randall, what is your opinion?"

"I have no opinion. I will only state the current situation. Victor shook his head and said, "As a legendary powerhouse, Neovester must build a port." He cooperates with Borui people, and we have one more competitor.

Catherine's eyes flickered, and she said dissatisfiedly, "My dear, as Your Highness the Gambis, it is your duty to make suggestions to the kingdom. ”

Victor shook his head and smiled, "Okay. My suggestion is to try to break the marriage of the Medin family to the Peter family. Neville's strategic focus is on the north rather than the south, and their support for Neovestre is limited, and it is impossible to do everything in their power to help him eradicate the Fishmen of Lake Fez. They had to rely on the power of Gambis, so that it would be possible to build a port on the shores of Lake Fez. We can launch a feint attack on the fish-man at the mouth of Lake Fez, give Neovest hope of harboring, keep his appetite on it, and continue to drain his vital strength. ”

"Of course, when Neville completes the internal integration, they will still send mercenaries and craftsmen to help Neovest build the port, but that is more than ten years later, and the warships of Gambis have been formed and launched, and there are enough to hold the entire channel of Lake Fez. ”

"It is indeed a feasible way to delay the pace of their construction of the port and the expansion of the south. Catherine nodded, hesitated for a moment, and said, "The problem is, I'm afraid it's going to be difficult for us to ruin the marriage between Borui and Seuss...... If it was an ordinary family marriage, it would be fine, but Tsuss needed to use the power of the Borui Kingdom to defend against the gnolls of the Twilight Forest, and this political marriage was very stable. ”

Victor banged on the table, shook his head, and said, "The Kingdom of Neville is the most powerful force that wants to destroy this political marriage. I have a feeling that they must have a backhand. ”

"I hope so. Catherine sighed and said, "I'll write a letter to the Kite Castle first." ”