The more normal Mary behaves in relation to the old gods, the more abnormal she actually becomes.

She was really protecting Napoleon, which surprised Mavi, but on second thought, maybe this was also part of the plan of the Old Gods.

Rather than studying Maria's thoughts, the priority was to escape Paris and return to London safely, and Marvey looked around the ballroom and met the Earl of Stephens in the distance, surrounded by many nobles, talking and laughing, only occasionally moving his gaze to the window where Mavey was standing, which was very vague.

Everything has been arranged, just wait for 9 o'clock to arrive, the personnel who will receive it will arrive at the predetermined place, and they can cover the quiet evacuation of Ma Wei and others.

In order to replenish his strength, Ma Wei took some snacks from the table next to him to eat, and Levin stopped drinking, always keeping a clear head, and everyone scattered in the banquet hall, observing each other's movements.

As the minutes ticked by, it was close to 8 o'clock, when Napoleon, wearing a crown, walked into the hall, and the nobles surrounded him at once, but he went straight to the window where Mavi was, and led a large number of people to Mavi.

"Mr. Nicholas, let's meet again."

"Yes, Your Majesty, you look good."

After a few pleasantries, Napoleon invited Mavi to sit down in the nearby lounge area, which was quieter enough to avoid the noisy crowds and at the same time would not be uninteresting to the nobles.

Mavi looked down at his pocket watch, and when he saw that there was still time, he accepted Napoleon's invitation, and as soon as he sat down, he heard Napoleon say, "Are you leaving?" ”

Raising his head, Mavi looked into Napoleon's eyes with a calm expression: "I don't understand what you mean, Your Majesty. ”

"Maria told me that you were leaving Paris tonight." Napoleon said with some regret: "What a pity, in fact, I want to talk to you a little more." ”

"There will be opportunities in the future, Your Majesty." "It's just that I hope we see each other next time, not on the battlefield," Ma Wei said. ”

"Are you afraid that I will start a war?"

"I don't think there is anyone who is not afraid of the army led by the famous Napoleon Bonaparte, whose sweep through the Central Continent was unstoppable, if it were not for the great defeat in Mosk. What do I say about this. ”

Smiling, Mavi raised his glass to Napoleon: "I'm sure Your Majesty, you won't fall twice in the same place." ”

Napoleon nodded slightly: "I would love you to stay in Paris, Nicholas." Maybe you'll be better off in London, but in Paris I can give you a status that no one else can match, and even Anatole has said the same thing as I did. ”

"Did He let you come?"

"Anatol asked me to persuade you." Napoleon smiled: "This is in the good of the Empire, so I came, even if Maria told me that you would not stay in Paris, I would still make a final effort." ”

"Your Majesty, you speak Windsor well."

"I am a studious person, although my family is very poor, but I entered the military school, at that time I was often excluded, and my grades were also excellent, I like to read, in my opinion, everyone is a book, some are thick, some are thin, but each book has its own content."

Napoleon said in a calm tone: "What has puzzled me is that as a Frederick, you did not choose your own country, but chose the Kingdom of Windsor, why is this?" Is the Kingdom of Frederick not good enough? ”

"Hmm"

This question is a bit difficult to answer, because Mavi knows that he is not a Frederick, and that he chose the Kingdom of Windsor for a purpose, but in the eyes of outsiders, he is a businessman who has abandoned his homeland.

In Frederick's kingdom, he did not have a good reputation.

"I grew up in the countryside of Frederick's kingdom, and by the time I was born, the Manstein family had been completely lonely, deprived not only of their titles of nobility, but also of the vast majority of their wealth, the people who caused it all. His name was Napoleon Bonaparte. ”

Napoleon was stunned for a moment and said, "Is it because of me?" ”

"Yes, but I don't hold a grudge against anyone for this, it is useless to hate, it only distorts our judgment, but it does not make us strong."

Ma Wei said lightly: "A down-and-out family is worse than a family that has never been brilliant, when I was young, I went to study in the city, and I was also bullied by other noble students, it was really an unbearable past, but just like Your Majesty, I chose to face it head-on, rather than escape." ”

"What doesn't kill me will only make me stronger, and after graduating, I sold books, got some start-up capital, and then embarked on a journey of travel, and in five years, I have traveled to countless countries, met countless people, and seen so many chilling or heartwarming things"

"Gradually, I found myself getting richer, not only physically, but also spiritually, and in the West Island of the Kingdom of Windsor, I met a woman who was very beautiful and had a very infectious smile, like an ear of wheat in a field in autumn, which always gave people a sense of reassurance."

"You married her." Napoleon said.

"Yes, I've been living in the West Isle for two years, living in the Weskford countryside, and I've dropped everything, and sometimes I feel like that's where I belong, and my tombstone will stand on that ridge and look out at the river ahead."

Mavi smiled, as if reminiscing about those days: "A year later, we had a daughter, she was really ugly when she was born, her skin was wrinkled, she always cried, she had Slavic blood, and she was getting more and more beautiful. ”

"Your wife, is she a Slav?"

"Half, her father is a Slav, and her mother is an Angsa, Your Majesty, you know, now that the transportation is so convenient, it is not at all strange that there are mixed races."

Napoleon nodded: "And later?" ”

"Later. Her mother had a serious illness and died. "At that time, I realized that what I liked was not that village, but her, without her village, I didn't want to stay for a moment, so I took Emma, who was only two years old, and set out on the road of travel again, and after less than a year, the gods came, and I smelled the business opportunity of potions, and began to contact the friends I had met before, and established the Manstein Potions Company."

"So you chose to go to the Kingdom of Windsor because of Emma's mother?"

"No, I hate the Kingdom of Frederick."

"You hate your homeland?"

"To be precise, I hate militarism." Ma Wei shrugged: "Although militarism will bring me a lot of wealth, I still hope that the potion will be used in the right way, not in war." ”

The kingdom of Frederick has been expanding frantically in recent years, they have annexed many small countries that originally belonged to the Rhine League, and they have grown stronger step by step, this expansion is endless, the most terrible thing about militarism is that it will attack and invade other countries when it expands to the limit, the advantage is that it develops quickly, but the disadvantages are more.

"So you're a pacifist." Napoleon felt that he knew more about Mavi.

"Let's just put it that way."

"But war is inevitable." Napoleon suddenly said: "You should understand that the essence of war is a conflict of interests, not a so-called militarism, and the people of Frederick's kingdom support militarism because expansion improves their lives, makes the country rich, and even in peacetime, economic confrontation is indispensable." ”

"When the expansion of the Frederick kingdom reaches the limit, the disadvantages of militarism will be revealed, the economy will come to a standstill, and the country will not be able to support a huge army, at that time, the Frederick kingdom will either launch a war of aggression or disarmament, and after the retrenchable soldiers enter the society, it will greatly impact the market, and the increase in the productive labor force will break the social balance."

"When the social balance is disrupted, there will be a large number of unemployed homeless people who rely on government handouts to survive, trigger violence, cause social unrest, and when the government can't withstand the pressure, they will start wars to alleviate conflicts."

After a pause, Napoleon stated the fact: "In a society where the level of education is not raised, excess wealth will cause the population to explode, and if society cannot provide for such a large number of people, there will be overpopulation, and if this happens, I think that in addition to a miracle, the only way to reduce the population and increase jobs will be to rely on war." ”

"Yes." Ma Wei said: "The number of people and the productive forces of society are inseparable, and once the relationship between supply and demand is out of balance, war is not far away. ”

"Potions are a big cake, it can provide countless jobs in many fields such as gathering, breeding, transportation, storage, sales, etc., as long as it is handled properly, it can use the potions market to achieve a trade surplus, and feed itself with the blood of other countries, this is the miracle I am talking about, just like the steam engine in the past, to open up a new market."

Napoleon took a sip of red wine and took a deep breath: "Unfortunately, the balance of competition is tilting in favor of the Kingdom of Windsor, they have an excellent Royal Navy fleet, they have a large number of overseas colonies, and Potions will bring considerable profits to the Kingdom of Windsor, which is not a good thing for other kingdoms." ”

"No one wants a superpower." Ma Wei said.

"That's right, if it continues like this, the gap between the other kingdoms and the Windsor Kingdom will be further widened, but fortunately, their home territory is very small, and it is too difficult to become a superpower, and the other kingdoms can only narrow the gap with the Windsor Kingdom by seizing the opportunity. Or even surpass them. ”

Mavi was suddenly silent, and he heard the meaning of Napoleon's words: "Your Majesty, do you think that the appearance of potions is not a good thing?" ”

"It's a good thing, it's a good thing for us, but for you, a pacifist, it's a bad decision to choose the Kingdom of Windsor."

Napoleon shook his head and said: "An excessively large trade deficit will force other kingdoms to embark on the road of war and speed up the process of competition, such as Bonaparte's First Empire, the gap between us and the Kingdom of Windsor has always been very small, but now there is a potion, which means that the gap between us is constantly expanding, in order to narrow the gap, I can only use other means to strengthen the country." ”

"Your Majesty"

"I'm sorry, Nicholas." Napoleon cast his gaze with some emotion in his eyes: "I want to think about the empire, if you choose us, the situation will change, but it can only delay the arrival of the war, and the outcome will remain the same." ”

Ma Wei lowered his head, thought for a moment, and suddenly said, "There is one thing, Your Majesty, you are wrong. ”

"Which thing?"

"The essence of war is a conflict of interest, and that's true, but every new piece of the pie, that is, the advancement of technology, such as the steam engine and potions, will eventually lead to war."

Ma Wei said: "Because distribution is never equal, capital will always share more, and there will always be people who want to share more, and there will be competition in the distribution process, competition will cause friction, and in the end, it can always turn into war." ”

"Every progress of the times will be accompanied by war." Napoleon nodded slowly: "That's right. ”

On the nature of war and the distribution of benefits, both Mavi and Napoleon put forward their own opinions, and although there were some differences, the results were unanimous.

It is also very simple to postpone the war, as long as new markets continue to emerge and continue to distribute, so that both the rich and the poor in the eyes of the rich will be happy to enjoy the dividends of the times, but this can only delay the war and cannot fundamentally solve the problem.

Contradictions are like powder kegs, when the tide of the times comes, the wet gunpowder cannot be ignited, but when the tide of the times recedes, the powder keg will dry quickly, and only a little spark is needed.

It's going to explode.

"The time is almost up, Your Majesty."

Looking at his pocket watch, Mavi, who saw that it was already 8:45, stood up and said to Napoleon, "I'm leaving." ”

"Wait a minute."

Napoleon took out a letter with fire paint from his bosom and handed it to Mavi: "If you meet the army of the Empire on the way to escape, take out this letter, I wrote it myself, and it is stamped with the seal of the Emperor, the army of the Empire will not embarrass you, but the trouble on the side of the church needs to be solved by yourself." ”

Ma Wei took the letter and smiled: "Is this a parting gift?" ”

"I cherish talent, Nicholas, and if one day you can't make it in the Kingdom of Windsor, come to Paris and find me, and the doors of the palace will be open to you at any time."

Ma Wei's mood at the moment is a little complicated, he knows that he and Napoleon are enemies, the Church of Truth and the Cult of Wisdom are also enemies, the contradictions between different gods are difficult to reconcile, and the interests between kingdoms cannot be compromised because of personal relationships.

As if to see Mavi's state of mind, Napoleon smiled: "You don't need to worry about anything, you also have to take this letter back to Rhodes IV, it is not yet the time to start a war with the Kingdom of Windsor, so I want to use this letter to ease what Anatole has done." ”

"In time, if we meet on the battlefield, I hope you will not be moved by compassion because of today's letter, and in the same way, I will not be soft-hearted, and the interests of the country and the nation will always be above the individual!"

Knock knock!

Levin suddenly knocked on the door of the lounge and opened the door to come in: "Big brother, it's time." ”

"Hmm."

Mavey took the letter into his bosom and nodded at Napoleon:

"I will, Your Majesty."

(End of chapter)