The Marquis of Dali Einfurt waited to meet the Emperor in the inner court of the Golden Lake Palace, and before entering the palace, he had instructed his servants to comb his short brown hair, and his beard was well styled.

The court maid who guided him into the palace bowed her head shyly, and from time to time turned her face sideways to sneak a glance at the marquis next to her, looking at his pale cyan and bright eyes, her heart was full of fantasy.

The Elector was not tall, but he was well-proportioned, not good-looking, but he was very popular with the ladies, and in today's Valsta aristocratic circles, the Marquis of Dalí has become the object of attention among the ladies of the Scales Kingdom.

In fact, Dalí was not popular with women in his youth, and his long and overly thin face and dull and serious expression were considered minus.

After middle age, the marquis has become extremely confident and good at communication, and the legendary deeds surrounding him make him full of the charm of a mature man, both inside and outside.

A royal attendant came to the waiting room: "Lord Marquis, Your Majesty has invited you in to discuss the matter. ”

"Please take me."

Entering the office, the Marquis slammed his heel vigorously and gave a standard military salute:

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, I'm late."

Empress Sarantos Midknight stood in front of the window with her hands behind her back, and without looking back, she looked out at the flowerbed and asked:

"Dali, why are you late, this is not your style."

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but I'm at home taking care of my wife, who is tired and weak now, and needs me by her side."

The Emperor turned his head and asked with concern:

"Jane Ning, she's sick?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, she was bedridden every time some time ago, but don't worry, she is much better now, and she can get out of bed and walk around."

"She was tired for the country, and in Flanders, she experimented with herself in order to develop an antidote to the plague, and after returning to the imperial capital, she operated on my daughter overnight, and then worked in the research institute for several days and nights.

I advised her to rest and leave the affairs of the Military Medical Research Institute to someone else, but you should know Jian Ning's temper, she is a workaholic and wants to do everything herself, hey...... I guess she must have fainted from exhaustion. ”

"You guessed it right, half a month ago, my son went to visit his mother at the institute and found her fainting in the laboratory, so I took her home to recuperate."

The emperor's silver-gray one-eyed eyes looked a little tired, and his voice was a little hoarse:

"The Einfoot family has done their best for the country, whether it is you, your wife Janening, or your son William, they are all pillars of the empire, and I thank you on behalf of the people of Valsta."

"Your Majesty, this is the duty of the courtiers, when the Duke took in us who were homeless, and since then I have decided to dedicate my hand to this country"

The Emperor sighed faintly:

"Hey...... My memory of my father is getting more and more blurred now, what were you and Jian Ning like back then? Thinking of all this is like a lifetime away, I was still an ignorant and unruly princess back then, and I was still messing around in the palace..."

"Then you grow into a great monarch."

"Hahaha...... Great? Don't entertain me!

Dali, look at the current empire, the economic crisis continues, the morale of the army is low, the people are complaining, and the neighboring countries that originally did not dare to speak up are now coming to step on us, my rule is too failed, if my father is still here, he will definitely feel ashamed. ”

"You can't be blamed for that." Marquis Dalí's expression became serious:

"Also, I've heard that, the Knights of Cruside have attacked several of our overseas colonies, and you've summoned their diplomats, what's the result?"

"What else can I do, it's just a bunch of unnutritious gossip, and we still have to rely on our intelligence department to get information, and the result is exactly the same as I guessed, and there is indeed a shadow of the power of the Solan Kingdom.

To be precise, this provocation was not a conspiracy by King Louis Lafalette I of Solan, but the work of the dark patriarch of Voodoo, Diamond Xempall.

That guy is really powerful, now equivalent to the second-in-command of the Solan Kingdom, and his power even exceeds that of the Prime Minister, according to the reliable information provided by the spies, it is this cult leader who instigated the Knights to provoke our country in the name of the Solan Kingdom. ”

"It's troublesome now, the Knights have developed rapidly over the years, coupled with the support of the Solan Kingdom, don't colonize, even our borders will be threatened, after all, we have had territorial disputes before."

"Dali, that's why I'm summoning you, after all, you also have the blood of the Divine Descendant, and this matter is not just as simple as a national conflict, but also involves a more subtle and ancient conflict of interest."

"I've heard from you about the thousand-year-old feud between the Soskaya Voodoo Cult and the Star Mystic Sect.

Now the Dark Patriarch Diamund, with the support of the powerful Solan Kingdom, has come to the door with the growing Voodoo Cult, and his goal is not only for you or the Empire, but for the entire human civilization, bringing chaos and darkness, and robbing people of light and happiness. ”

"That's right, we are not only fighting for the country, but also for all mankind, as the last bloodline of the Star Mystic Sect, I must face all these challenges, Dali Einfurt, I hope to get your help."

"Your Majesty, whether it is for the sake of the relationship between the monarch and the minister, or for the sake of morality and humanity, I will stand firmly on your side."

"Very well, Dali, you have never let me down, in fact, I have thought of many candidates, but they are not suitable.

Teacher Simon is too old, Prince Leopold is injured again, the ability of the other marshals is not enough, I need to sit in the imperial capital to deal with state affairs, after comprehensive consideration, the most suitable person is you, but with your brain, you must have guessed this result a long time ago, right? ”

"I'm ready, Your Majesty, I've already greeted my family, my wife supports me, and my son William has volunteered to go with me on the expedition, by the way, this son has been by your daughter's side lately, and he has behaved quite competently.

William hoped to return victoriously to see his fiancée wake up and get married with a medallion. ”

"William is such a good boy, and my Edgar is so blessed, much luckier than her eldest sister...... Ay! I don't know how Rosemary is doing now, and she doesn't write me a letter, she must be so disappointed in me as a mother. ”

"Since you mentioned Her Royal Highness the Queen Rosemary, will the war affect her safety?"

"You can rest assured that for King Solan, my daughter is an important hostage, so I won't hurt her in order to protect a knight country, and I thought about these things before marrying my daughter."

"Poor child, married to a strange prince, I hope she will not hold a grudge against you."

"Don't kid yourself, Dali, think about it, it was my own mother who betrayed her, sacrificing her lifelong happiness for political reasons, even if she hated me...... I also brought it on myself.

But I don't regret it! These are necessary sacrifices for the sake of national security, and no one knows the pain better than me, after all, I myself have been one of the victims. ”

"Hey...... Let's not talk about these sad topics, but to get down to business, your majesty, you must prepare a fleet for me, and experienced admirals, and if we want to retake our colonial islands, we will have to fight a naval battle before landing. ”

The emperor smiled, his eyes full of ferocity and viciousness, like a bloodthirsty bird of prey:

"When am I going to take back the colony? There is really no point in fighting, and it is not a deterrent to waste time, so I want to start an all-out war and attack the Knights directly. ”

Dali Einfurt was shocked:

"I thought it was going to be a local conflict! Are you really sure that the current empire can afford a big war?

I have to remind you that the strength of the Knights Kingdom is not what it used to be, even without the support of the Solan Kingdom, it is a hard nut to crack. ”

"Don't worry, I won't make the low-level mistake of underestimating the enemy, and I need to have very special countermeasures in extraordinary times.

My son, Duke Meyer's free trade alliance, promised to lend 20 billion to the treasury, and another 40 billion treasury bills were urgently sold, and the leaders of the major chambers of commerce had promised me to buy half of them.

I have signed an emergency decree to call up the next two years of recruits in advance, and I will organize the 250,000 National Guard and town militia as reserves, and I will also consolidate some of the regular army units that have suffered losses so that their formations remain intact.

Horse farms throughout the country are about to supply the army with 10,000 fine military horses, and the production of ordnance is not a problem, and our country has a complete handicraft industry chain and never relies on foreign exports.

There is no need to worry about sea dominance, on the sea surface of the high seas, there are our privateer fleets patrolling everywhere, and no one dares to block our country's routes, even the Solan Kingdom can't do it!

Anyway, you don't have to worry about any other miscellaneous matters, Dali, you just have to concentrate on the war."

"Well, when are you going to declare war on the Knights?"

"I'll contact their diplomats again when everything is ready, the preparation process will take about a week, by the way, I have to prepare the war book first, so as not to forget it when I get it, and I can't break the rules.

Mr. Alb, come to my office and write a letter for me! ”

"You called me?" Mr. Alboise, the royal clerk, opened the door and entered.

Dalí knew this man, who was originally an ordinary Guards grenadier, but because of his shorthand skills in the battlefield command, he was personally promoted by the emperor to the rank of chamberlain, and later to the rank of royal clerk, which was equivalent to the personal secretary of the Empress Sarantos.

(Note: The deeds of the clerk are detailed in chapter 161 of this book.) ）

"I've got pen and paper ready, you."

The emperor thought about it for a while, and only came out with one sentence:

"Your Excellency, Grand Master of the Order, if you want war, then as you wish, the warriors of Valstad will come with fire and sword as promised."

Mr. Alboise waited a few seconds with his pen in his hand and asked:

"Gone? That's it? ”

"Yes, that's all."

The Emperor picked up the pen and signed his name on the bottom of the letter in floral script: "Emperor of the Valstad Empire: Salantos Midnet." ”

Then he commanded:

"Affix my fire paint seal on the envelope and send it to Lord Alfred Heinlein, Grand Master of the Knights of Crusside in a week's time, without error."