When Luke followed the chamberlain to the Emperor's study, Empress Christina was holding a swan brush and quickly writing opinions on a document. Her expression was very focused, revealing the majesty of the monarch, so that the officials waiting on the side did not dare to make any sound.

After Christina finished writing, she took out a seal from the square box at hand, glued some alchemical seal clay and pressed it onto the document.

He handed over the written documents to the official, and then said: "The cotton clothes and fire crystals used for winter must be sent to the north as soon as possible." The necessary medicines and potions are to be replenished to the warehouses in the north according to the maximum reserves.

From today, the use of the Imperial Palace will be halved, and the Imperial Estate will raise a sum of money to replenish the national treasury. You prepare according to the order, don't worry about the money. ”

"Yes, Your Highness."

The officials took the order to leave, and Empress Christina let everyone else out.

Luke saluted Christina: "Your Highness, do you have any purpose in summoning me?" ”

"Don't be so inhibited, sit down and talk." The queen invites Luke to the side rest area. When the two of them sat down on the leather sofa, an alchemy puppet brought out a tea set and poured tea. "As you heard, fighting two wars at the same time has made the Empire's finances very tight. Thankfully, you and Agatha have settled the West, so the Empire doesn't have to deal with a three-front battle.

But the fiscal gap remains very large. ”

Luke spoke to Agatha about military spending. The procurement of war materials, the mobilization and conscription of soldiers, and the training of the army are all big money-swallowers. The current empire is doing everything it can to loot money, and the cabinet has begun to discuss the imposition of a war tax on its citizens.

Luke said, "Your Highness...... The expansion of the city, the struggle for sea power, and the need to support the western frontier are also very financially stressful.

Now the city can still borrow money from the World Bank to meet its own expenses, and after the war with the Atshire Union, the World Bank is very likely to stop the follow-up cooperation.

I'm afraid that Angry Waves City can't give much to donate. ”

Faced with Luke's crying poverty, Queen Christina smiled: "Don't worry...... I didn't summon you this time to ask you for money.

This is a quotation for war materials, do you see what is wrong? ”

It's not asking for money!

Luke breathed a sigh of relief.

He took a piece of paper from Empress Christina, and after only two glances, he noticed that something was wrong.

"This ...... Are these alchemical products? ”

Empress Christina took a sip of the teacup and said slowly, "I thought it was an alchemy product at first, but I sent someone to investigate...... No.

Just like the teacups I use and the tea I drink now, they are all ordinary things. ”

Luke looked at the list in his hand again, and couldn't help but sigh: "Such an offer can't be regarded as wool, it's just picking up the skin."

They wouldn't be so desperate, would they? ”

Tumbler ...... The unit price is 100 Reichsmarks.

Shovel ...... The unit price is 1200 Reichsmarks.

Sword Embryo ...... The unit price is 5500 Reichsmarks.

……

Sober Pharmacy...... The unit price is 23,000 Reichsmarks.

Energy Booster ...... The unit price is 32,000 Reichsmarks.

Great Recovery Elixir...... The unit price is 105,000 Reichsmarks.

……

Queen Christina said with a sigh: "They don't dare to blatantly use the war to make money, this batch of materials is reported in other accounts." His Majesty is not in good health, and it is impossible to see so closely, so let them be confused.

But that's all small money! ”

"Is this still a little money?"

Luke was surprised, he thought he was already a black-hearted businessman, but he didn't expect these people to be even darker than himself.

And if it's small money, how amazing is big money.

Luke straightened his attitude and showed the appearance of learning.

Queen Christina said: "These exaggerated offers are what I can see. And some large weapons and equipment, especially those that incorporate new technologies, are really how they want to quote.

I don't understand it anyway.

Procurement officials, audit officials, cabinet ministers are all their people, and the empire can only pay according to the price they set.

A state-of-the-art offensive and defensive war bastion alone would require 10 billion Reichsmarks. ”

Clear Sky was originally wanted in Angry Waves, and at its most expensive time it was 1 billion Reichsmarks. A war fortress is ten clear skies, and this money is too easy to make!

Luke said, "War Fortresses are much less difficult to build than all-metal warships, and my first machine-class battleship only sold for a billion Reichsmarks. A war fortress costs 10 billion, no wonder the empire's finances are so tight. ”

Empress Christina asked, "War Fortress is less difficult to build than an all-metal battleship?" ”

Luke knew that the queen didn't understand the difference between a battleship and a war fortress, so he explained to her: "A war fortress is a movable castle when it fights on land. As long as the chassis is strong and has enough power, the superstructure can be stacked freely.

The northern frontier is mostly plains, and the movable war fortresses allow the army to line up as the tide of battle changes. Attack, defense, garrison, armed transportation, the structure of war fortresses with different functions is different, but the overall is very simple, and the materials can be steel, wood, and bricks.

And the battleship is to take into account the buoyancy. This determines that the warship must comprehensively consider space, defense, and power, and tap all its potential as much as possible under limited conditions.

The cost of 10 billion Reichsmarks is really ......

Your Highness, give me this money, and I will add engines to the first machine, dismantle one of the nautical equipment in it, and install it on tracks, which is ten war fortresses that can go ashore. ”

When Empress Christina heard Luke say this, she immediately became interested: "Can the first machine battleship really be converted into a war fortress?" ”

Luke didn't expect Queen Christina to take it seriously, and she looked like she wanted to place an order immediately. He hurriedly filled in the omission and said: "After all, the first aircraft is a ship at sea, and its shape is not suitable for land combat. But the machine factory I just built in the Cape District of Angry Waves City has the ability to develop and build a war fortress.

The major shipyards in Angry Waves are also available to supply materials and components for my machine shop.

As long as the Empire gives me orders, Raging Waves can continue to build cheap and abundant war fortresses for the Empire. ”

Empress Christina's interest was even stronger, but she asked worriedly: "The city of the Angry Waves is far away from the north, and it has to cross the mountains, how to transport the war fortress built?" The Empire's active war fortresses were built in the city of St. Lun, and were transported to the north by railroad. ”

Encountering a good thing to make money, Luke's IQ instantly broke through to the sky.

"It's easy to do! Angry Waves City has the technology to build all-metal warships, which can build large tugboats of more than 10,000 tons. I asked the machine factory to seal the shell of the war fortress, and after it was built, it was pulled by tugboat directly from the sea to the northern coast for landing.

The cost and efficiency of transportation surpassed that of the railroads, and it could save the empire a lot of money. ”

Hearing that Raging Waves was capable of transporting war fortresses by sea, Empress Christina was overjoyed.

In the history of wars in the North, war forts have always been highly consumable due to the terrain. And the high cost of the war fortress made the empire have to ache for a while every time it receives an application for a war fortress in the north.

Now that the Falling Star has made a move, he has beaten the luxury goods to the price of cabbage, and Queen Christina is even more confident in her ability to supervise the North.

But Empress Christina didn't fully believe Luke's mouth either, after all, although the war fortress purchased by the cabinet was expensive, there had been no major mistakes. If you hastily change to a cheap war fortress purchased from Fury Waves, will there be serious quality problems?

After all, fighting a war is related to human life and national fortunes, and you can't just think about saving money.

The War Fortress is certainly not what Meteorite claims, it is a low-tech weapon, and that is only relative to an all-metal battleship.

"Angry Waves City has never had any experience in building a war fortress, how can I believe that you can adapt to the war in the north the first time you build a war fortress?"

Luke laughed inwardly.

Raging Waves doesn't have experience in building a war fortress, but players do!

The hobbies of the player group are varied, some like to specialize in battleships, and some like the strange weapon of war fortress.

The War Bastion is an enlarged version of the armored vehicle. Depending on the size and function, it can be loaded with dozens to thousands of soldiers. Among them, the armor of the offensive and defensive war fortresses is generally very thick, and it is difficult for the existing artillery to penetrate the armor of the same level of war fortresses, so the battle of the war fortresses on the battlefield is like a knight's charge, charging one-on-one on the open ground.

After colliding together, the special ramming angles can basically open the opening on the opponent's war fortress, and then the soldiers of both sides are hand-to-hand.

Xuelai once served in the steam fortress, and served as a commando leader, the third officer of the fortress.

The 10,000-ton steel fortress collides, and sometimes there will be a scene of the two war fortresses driving bumper cars in clusters in the wilderness. Dozens of war fortresses collided together, and tens of thousands of people fought in the steel jungle, and the scene made people's blood boil when they thought about it.

In the game world, many players have a lot of money to spend in the late game, and some of them play War Bastion. There was even a "last base" brawl, where a group of war fortress enthusiasts met to gather on a battlefield with their own war fortress, and whoever had a war fortress could still start after the brawl was over.

In order to win, players open their minds and add various weapons to the war fortress. What sanctions thunder, laser knives, high-pressure steam punches...... All of them are mounted on top, and then defensive equipment is added to the corresponding weapons.

The next step is to upgrade your power-up and use alchemy and all means to make your war fortress thicker, faster, and stronger.

Eventually, the levitation technology became the standard for every player's war fortress, and the ground collision became the sky collision.

Of course, this kind of war fortress made by the player is not suitable for attrition in national wars. But Luke casually copied a low-profile drawing from the database on his phone, which was also a fortress of war beyond this era.

Therefore, Luke confidently said to Empress Christina: "As long as the Empire gives the order to the War Fortress of Angry Waves, I dare to promise to deliver the goods first and then pay." Even if the Northern Legion is satisfied, there is no problem in giving money.

When the time comes, as long as Your Highness says that my war fortress is not practical, I will not pay a penny.

I can write this promise on the purchase agreement of the War Fortress. ”

"Good!" Empress Christina felt that she had no reason to refuse. To go to the north to supervise the battle, of course, the more weapons you can have, the better. The war fortress on the cabinet side continues to order, and no matter how badly the war fortress on the side of Angry Waves City is built, it is also tens of thousands of tons of iron lumps, and transporting it to the north is equivalent to an additional combat power. If the war fortress built in Angry Waves City is good and cheap, wouldn't the chances of winning the war in the north be greater?

Empress Christina signed an order agreement with Luke on the spot for the War Fortress, and the first batch of ten offensive and defensive War Fortresses with a total of 10 billion Reichsmarks will be delivered within half a year.

After signing the order, Luke was in a very happy mood.

He calculated in his heart that according to the industrial system and production capacity of Angry Waves City, the first batch could be built with thirty war fortresses. Then, we will expand our production capacity while building and strive to achieve a small goal of producing 100 units per year.

During the war, as long as this thing passed the battlefield inspection, it would not be able to be sold. The city relies on sea transportation, and can buy wherever it wants.

And this thing is used to collide on the battlefield, and if you lose it, it will be gone, and if you win it, you need to overhaul it. Follow-up services can make a lot of money and support a large group of people.

Luke Metz put the purchase order away. I didn't expect that the machinery factory in Haijiao District had just been built, and it would be able to get such a big order.

At this time, Empress Christina suddenly had an epiphany and said, "I summoned you to discuss important matters, how did you become a war fortress purchased from Angry Waves City?" ”

Luke also warned: yes! How did you talk about procurement, and the war fortress came up?

However, Luke said without blushing: "Purchasing a war fortress is also a matter of urgency. I don't know what Her Royal Highness wants me to do when she summoned me and asked me to see this list? ”

Queen Christina felt that now that the purchase agreement had been signed, there was no need to think about how to deflect the topic.

"There are too many vampire bugs clinging to the Empire. The new aristocrats of the Cross have lost their former ambition and ideals, and are bent on how to use their power for their own benefit.

There are too many shortcomings in the cabinet and the court, and I pushed you into the cabinet just to let you have a check and balance on them. If you have the ability to make a big move and investigate and judge them, I will fully support you. ”

After listening to Empress Christina's words, Luke instantly calmed down.

"Your Highness...... You have to leave the court to venture out of the north in order to protect yourself, what can you give me to support me? ”

Christina's whole body suddenly tensed, and her expression changed from calm to nervous.

"I'm going to the North to boost the morale of the North Legion, don't make any random associations."

"It doesn't matter if I think about it, it's the deadliest thing if you cross the line too much. Gabriel and the Cross are not so easy to deal with, so you might as well consider whether you can withstand the first wave of the Atlantshire United's offensive in the north.

And you have to think about that ...... Can you get back to his place? ”

With that, Luke picked up the tea and drank it slowly.