When Luke and Dale return to their room after lunch, they find a group of court tailors waiting there. The accompanying chamberlain informed Luke that the Emperor would be summoned separately at the dinner and that a dress for the audience would need to be tailor-made.

So Luke was invited to stand on a wooden platform, and several tailors took a tape measure and measured it on him. Several other tailors unfold a cutting table and cut out the fabric on the spot based on the measured data.

The tailors measured it very carefully, down to the millimeter.

The Cabinet Officials explained to Luke the etiquette of meeting the Emperor and the things he had to pay attention to during the meal.

With such fanfare and cumbersome etiquette, it can be seen that having a meal with the emperor is definitely not an easy task.

Fortunately, Agatha has told Luke about the etiquette.

And she also said: These etiquettes were all made up by the ceremonial officer, and His Majesty didn't care much about it.

Luke was tossed around by a crowd for an entire afternoon, and the gown was sewn out.

Under the influence of the new era, the pace of people's lives accelerated, and the service of the nobility gradually changed from the previous cumbersome to simple. The aristocracy put more effort into the fabrics and ornaments of their clothes to show that they were different from the commoners.

Off-white silk shirt, black calfskin waistcoat, and a ribbon lace scarf around the neck. Outside, a light blue Lufke jacket with double-breasted, gun lapels, and a hem over the knee, is now a reference prototype for the tuxedo that is now popular among the wealthy and aristocratic.

The coat has a large number of gold wire stitches, and on the left chest hangs medals representing the Lord and the Royal Knight.

The whole set of clothes is very comfortable to wear, and the whole person's spirit can feel a little uplifted.

The internal official brought the mirror, and after Luke looked at it, he praised it: "Very generous! I didn't expect to meet Your Majesty and get a dress specially sewn by a court tailor, and there are not many people who can have this kind of treatment. ”

The Governor replied respectfully: "The Acting Governor governs the City of Angry Waves, brings important taxes to the Empire, and is an important minister appreciated by His Majesty, and deserves this treatment." ”

Luke looked at himself in the mirror again, smiled and didn't say anything about the meaning behind the dress. They were afraid that they were hiding dangerous goods, so they simply found an excuse to change themselves inside and out.

Could it be that there are swordsmen and axes hidden in the houses on either side of the dinner restaurant, just waiting for Augustine the Great to drop his glass?

Luke fantasized about it, and then asked, "When will I meet Your Majesty?" ”

The magistrate looked at the pendulum clock on the table and replied, "Now is it, please come with me on behalf of the Governor." ”

This special dinner was held in a small but high-dome restaurant. A small bench table is filled with gold-filled food, and Augustine the Great and Luke sit at opposite ends of the table.

In charge of the table was a puppeteer dressed in an internal official uniform, and all but Millcom, the chief royal knight standing behind Augustine, were ordered to leave.

The door is closed.

Emperor Augustine first smiled and said: "Don't be so restrained, the etiquette is formulated so that people outside can see the royal majesty, and it is better to be casual after closing the door."

Let's have a drink first.

To the great empire. ”

Luke picked up the golden cup in front of him and raised his head: "To the great empire!" To the Great Emperor! ”

After a glass of wine is drunk, the puppet waiter pours a full bottle of wine for each of them.

Augustine the Great cut a piece of meat from the steak on the plate and put it in his mouth, chewing it and saying, "The tenderest meat has been fried by the best chefs, but I still have some difficulty chewing it." Sometimes I have to admit that I am old, lacking in energy and worrying about my health, so that some people have taken advantage of the loopholes and threatened the rule of the empire.

Meteorite, you have done a very good job in Raging Waves, and the increased tax has greatly eased the pressure on the Empire's finances. However, the empire is facing multiple wars, and the taxes paid by the city are far from enough to cover various expenses, does the council of the city have any plans to increase the amount of taxes paid in the near future? ”

Luke also cut the meat steak on his plate and ate it, and the fat and juicy flavor was simply a high-class enjoyment.

In the face of Augustine the Great's faint hints and requests, Luke replied easily: "I have talked in detail about the troubles and difficulties that the future empire will face with His Royal Highness the Grand Prince, His Royal Highness the Eldest Princess, and Gabril Shousuke.

According to the current state power of the Empire, as well as the execution shown by the Imperial court, victory in the War against the Tedgar Hills is only a matter of attrition and time. The economic and social systems of the barbarians were out of this era, and the longer the war was fought, the more serious their own problems became.

The Western Front was a complex array of factions, ranging from lords who supported the Duke of Celt to lords who supported the Empire, as well as a large number of neutral minor lords and minority ethnic groups. The bandits are serious but they do not threaten the foundation of the empire, and His Royal Highness the Second Prince is stationed on the Western Front, even if the bandits cannot be eliminated in a short time, the empire does not need to invest too much energy in the Western Front.

The greatest threat to the Empire comes from the North, and the invasion of the Atlantshire Union is already a matter of common knowledge.

Once the northern frontier is attacked, neither the southern nor western parts of the empire, nor the central part of the imperial capital, can give strong support to the northern frontier. The only area that could support the empire in a full-scale war at that time was the eastern seaboard.

The Council of Angry Waves has an economic drive plan for the eastern coastal region of the empire, the main content of which is to use the city of Angry Waves as the economic development hub, integrate the eastern coastal cities of the empire, and form a division of labor and economic cooperation within the system.

Based on my vision, the Council of Raging Waves has developed a blueprint for the Empire's coastal economic belt. I brought this document with me, in my briefcase. ”

Luke's briefcase was collected by the palace guards before entering the dining room, and was placed outside the dining room.

Augustine the Great asked Millscom to fetch the briefcase and give it to Luke.

Luke took out the relevant documents and asked Millscom to pass them on to Augustine.

and a brief description of the contents of the document.

"I have negotiated with Prince MacDonald of the Kingdom of Lusin a large-scale investment plan in Lusin Bay, which is also supported by Her Royal Highness the Queen.

The investment in the agricultural processing industry and light industry is small and yields quick results, and the Kingdom of Lusien has very rich resources of grain, meat, seafood, wine, and dairy products.

Not only can the empire gain a lot of wealth from it, but the factories of the kingdom of Luson can also provide the empire with cheap and sufficient military supplies.

The amount of this investment is very large, and the city of Angry Waves cannot afford it all, and needs the help of the World Bank to finance it. Luckily, I had a good personal relationship with Director Pan and Yin of the World Bank's Angry Waves City branch, and I was able to convince the World Bank to support this investment project.

The expansion of the city and the investment in the nearby coastal cities all require a large amount of money in the short term, so the city is unable to provide more financial support to the empire......"

Emperor Augustine looked very seriously at the pages of documents in his hand.

When Empress Christina told him that Meteor was going to invest in the Kingdom of Ruthen, he already felt that the scale of the investment was very large. But looking at the documents in his hand, he realized that the investment in the kingdom of Lusien was only part of the economic drive plan in the eastern part of the empire.

In Luke's plan, the sea power of Raging Waves will gradually take full control of the sea, which has a large number of international shipping routes. With the help of maritime advantages, more business opportunities will be attracted to Angry Waves City. Then, with itself as the hub, Nutao City will transfer the industrial classification to the surrounding cities, form the same type of concentrated industrial scale, reduce production costs and improve the competitiveness of the international market.

Taking the Lusian Kingdom as a pilot, as long as the agricultural and sideline products in the Lusian Bay form an intensive commodity supply chain, the advantages of the rich land can be brought into full play, and at that time, there was no grain-producing area in the world that could compete with the Lusian Kingdom.

Luke used a lot of data to prove his idea and developed an international food monopoly program. Once the Golden Shield Empire can control international food prices, it can first use low food prices to crush agriculture within the Arte-County Federation, and then raise the grain price to harvest the Arte-County Federation, causing chaos within the Arte-County Federation and then dividing it.

Augustine the Great began to look at it with relish, but when he looked at it, he couldn't help but sweat on his head.

Can war still be fought like this?

Augustine the Great read more deeply, so focused on forgetting to eat.

Luke feasted on his own, and even instructed the puppet waiter to serve him a plate full of delicacies, and the wine was drunk one by one.

Muskcomb noticed the strangeness of Emperor Augustine, and he thought that the meteorite had arranged some kind of spiritual magic in the document, so he quietly put his hand on the back of Emperor Augustine, and used the awakening skill to whisper in Augustine's ear: "Your Majesty, what's wrong with you?" ”

"Oh!" The mental reminder brought Augustine the Great back from his concentration, and then replied to Millcombe, "I'm fine. ”

"Your Majesty, do you need me to check this document?"

Millscom wanted to check if there were any hinting spells in the document, but Emperor Augustin vigilantly folded the document and pressed it under his hand, for fear of being snatched by someone: "No, there is nothing wrong with the document, I was attracted by the contents."

You don't have to be nervous. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Millscom let down his guard and looked at the meteor curiously, guessing what was written in the document that would make His Majesty feel as if he had been struck by spiritual magic.

Emperor Augustine took a napkin with his other hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, drank another glass of wine and exhaled a long breath.

"Who has read this document?"

Luke replied, "The most important part, only you have seen." ”

Emperor Augustine pressed the hand that was placed on the document, and the paper burned into ashes in the flames.

"Very bold vision, and one that no one has ever implemented before. How can you be sure you're doing it? How can you be sure that what you have done will be successful? ”

Luke took a sip of wine and replied confidently: "No one has implemented it before, because it didn't have the current conditions before." Large-scale industrial production, thriving international trade, and the free market advocated by the liberals.

Now it's all in this era.

Whoever has a large industrial scale, who has a low cost, and who has strong maritime strength, the easier it will be for him to gain the right to speak in the market. ”

Once again, Augustine the Great fell into deep thought.

The Golden Shield Empire has its current national strength because it did not choose to protect the small peasant economy advocated by the conservative aristocracy at a critical moment, but boldly used the new aristocracy to encourage the development of industry and commerce.

It turned out that he made the right choice.

The Imperial court was generally optimistic about the war on the Southern Front because the empire had a well-established industrial system.

However, this kind of national strength advantage still needs to be reflected through war, which requires soldiers to occupy the enemy's land and capture the enemy's cities step by step with flesh and blood.

And what Meteorite has just shown itself is a new mode of warfare. The army used for the offensive is no longer a well-trained soldier, but a warehouse full of goods transported by sea.

Now not a single country in the world is wary of such an army, and all countries are undefended in front of it.

If the Empire's Eastern Coastal Economic Drive Project is completed, the Empire will have an invincible army, and the Empire's territory will no longer be limited by borders.

At this moment, Augustine the Great could finally understand why people in the court who were political enemies of each other were honored with the meteoric star.

Even yourself...... At this moment, they are cautious about serving wine glasses, for fear that they will fall to the ground if they are unstable.

"Although the empire is facing many difficulties now, it can continue to hold on to some unnecessary expenses. The economic drive plan for the eastern coast of the empire is very good, and I am qualified to wait patiently for it to hatch. At that time, the contribution of Raging Waves to the empire was definitely much more than the current increase in taxes.

I can order the Imperial Bank to give you some support as much as you still need in terms of funds. ”

Millscom was a little dumbfounded.

Just now, His Majesty wanted to ask for some money from Angry Waves City, how could he even take the initiative to take out money to subsidize Angry Waves City after reading that document!

What is the most important thing in the document?

Unfortunately, the document had been burned to ashes, and only Augustine the Great and the Meteor knew what it contained.

But Millscom was sure of something...... Your Majesty will not kill the Meteor.

Even though he knew that his support would hasten Meteor's transformation into a powerful minister who threatened the royal rule, there was a temptation in that document that allowed him to suppress the imperial instincts.

Millscomb knew Augustine the Great, and the temptation to make him make such a choice so simply was beyond his imagination.

Millscom looked at the ashes of Emperor Augustine's hand, and even though the document had been burned clean, he still didn't take his hand away.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, any financial support at this time will help accelerate the completion of this plan." Luke raised his glass: "To the great empire, to the great emperor." ”

Emperor Augustine wanted to serve his glass, but his hands trembled a little with his excitement.

He tried a few times, and finally took his hand back: "I'm too old to drink too much, and I received your respect."

Let's pay homage to the great empire together! ”

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