"On behalf of all the inhabitants of Polotsk, I welcome you, the great, noble and invincible His Royal Highness Prince William. Pen ~ Fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info" He said as he hurriedly took the bread and salt from the hands of his attendants. Respectfully handed it to William.

"Thank you for the welcome. Wilhelm took the two symbols, then raised his head and shouted to the surrounding Polotsk people: "Thank you for your welcome, Bolotsk people!"

After this, there were loud cheers, and the sound of applause. Some even cried out loud with tears in their eyes. The scene almost got out of control......

Then William gave an impromptu speech. In his speech, he emphasized two points - that the Hereford family would continue to contribute to the industrial and commercial prosperity of Bolotsk (we would continue to hold a firm grip on the industrial and commercial lifelines here), and that the Bolotsks, like the Russians, belonged to the same Gothic family (we were the same people of the same culture, so it was only natural for us to merge). In this perilous world, the Hereford family, Russia's 100,000-strong army is enough to protect any state that is friendly with him (of course, if it is not friendly, hehe).

The scene was very enthusiastic. William's speech was several times drowned out by the cheers of the crowd. However, in the process, the smiles of the parliamentarians of Riga and Polotsk, who came to welcome them, and the local leaders, became more and more reluctant.

They could hear the second meaning of William's words. They were even more desperate to discover a fact. That is, Bolotsk did not have the strength to stop, or even slightly hinder, the annexation of the country by the Hereford family.

William had ambitions for the country - albeit a little lowly, albeit a little old. But the Republic of the United Province of Polotsk was the best industrial base that William could find.

There is a basic system of light industry, and there are hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of industrial workers. It has some of the finest ports, as well as a large fleet of registered merchant ships. Everything here is what William needs.

Annexing this place would allow the Hereford family to double in power. Moreover, its geographical location is too important.

To the east is Russia, and to the southwest is the Duchy of Mystia. It divides the two most important territories currently under the control of the Hereford family into two - only by annexing the United Republic of Polotsk can the entire territory of the Hereford family be joined into a single whole.

That's it, and that's why. So at a time when the storm was turbulent and a fierce battle could break out at any time, William decided to stay in Polotsk and wait for the dust to settle here.

Although they have mastered the form, there are many guys who are unwilling to be ruled by the Hereford family and want to fight back...... Although William looks down on these guys, he thinks that these guys are all scum who can't make waves and can't make waves.

But too many flies can also be annoying. If one of them didn't notice it, and let those guys who couldn't get on the stage take advantage of it, William would feel very ashamed.

Of course, there is also a little bit of Wilhelm's selfishness, and that is the lovely country of Bolotsk - Wilhelm wants to be the lord of this country - yes, himself, Wilhelm von Hereford. William wished he could be the ruler of the country, not his father, King Otto.

Yes, if the state of Bolotsk were changed from a republic to a kingdom and then controlled by King Otto, then King Otto, who had two kingdoms, would be in great power. Along with it, the Hereford family will also gain a higher evaluation and status in the continental kingdoms.

Even, if one goes one step further and the Bolotsk kingdom is also annexed to the empire, then next, King Otto, who has three kingdoms and theoretically has three votes, already has at least theoretically equal power with Kalman IV.

William, of course, believed that there would be no one in the world other than themselves who would support the annexation of Polotsk to the Reich. In any case, they will not allow a bastard king with three crowns to appear within the empire.

At this point, William also had to compromise.

Red is fine, but the result of red purple is destined to be bloody-William never expects him to become the second public enemy of the empire after the end of Kalman IV - although the development prospects of the Hereford family seem to be a little stronger than the Swabian family at present, but in the real world, the Hereford family is still much worse than the Swabian family.

The Swabian family, which has become the public enemy of the empire, is about to go GG, how much better than the Hereford family, who have less background than the Swabian family?

So, William was very measured on this point, and he knew what to do and what not to do - it was okay to expand his territory and annex the Republic of Polotsk. No problem. But to become the most hated bastard in the Empire...... Forget it.

William believed that there would be a battle between the emerging powers and the established traditional powers. Whether everyone wants it or not, whether they accept it or not. In the aftermath of this war, the Herefords will replace the Swabians as the most powerful states in the Empire.

This also gave the Hereford family an even more important and sacred figure and mission - that is, to continue to fight the Britons.

Not now, of course. Even during this decade, William did not want to tear his face with the Britons......

So, while constantly expanding the power of the family, William also kept promoting the weakness of the Hereford family - yes, weakness, as he had said to Prince Henry of Franconia before, that it was difficult for him to defend against the coercion of two enemies of humanity, and it was too difficult to be distracted any longer.

That's true, it's not true.

This is correct because after this war, the Hereford family will be distracted by digesting their own occupation areas. There won't be any big moves anytime soon. It is not possible not to say that William could not be interested in the other territories within the empire, the title of emperor. He said this purely by deception.

However, William never thought that he could deceive the other party...... Of course, William was expecting only the former. It is much easier to convince them that they have no power than to convince them that they have no ambition.

In addition to this, William expects the Swabians to hold up for a while longer, if he can...... Wilhelm even expected the Swabians to survive and remain the most powerful empire in the South, if he could.

In this way, as long as the Swabians exist for one day, then the Hereford family will have a day when they are the second threat. It was the Swabian family that sheltered him from the wind and rain that allowed the Hereford family to thrive. When the Hereford family grew to a certain extent, the role of the Swabian family was lost, and William easily kicked these weak chickens away.

That's it.

"So, the task now is twofold...... "In the manor house on the outskirts of Riga, William squinted, shook the juice, and said to Elise, who was sitting across from him, with a look of enjoyment: "It is a little bit to maintain the presence of the Hereford family in Polotsk. It was another point for them to see that the Hereford family was not very interested in the war that followed. One final note...... It's the centaurs. ”

"Those centaurs. Hearing William say this, Elise looked a little worried: "There is information that there is some kind of deal between them and the dark elves. William, aren't you worried?"

"Not worried, certainly not. William smiled and said, "...... Well, at first, I was a little worried. But soon I won't be worried. ”

"Why?"

"Look at this. William said as he handed a document to Elise, "The latest information the Chekas have received from that khan. ”

Hearing William say this, Elise took the file and took a cursory look at it. While she was flipping through it, William didn't stop to continue: "That guy is finished...... It's not that he doesn't have talent or ambition. Or rather, that guy really kept his promise, and if he made a non-aggression pact with us, he would really abide by it. William said with a smile.

"What's the reason for that?" Hearing William say this, Elise flipped through the papers faster. From that series of data, she had some vague conjectures. But I couldn't guess.

"He still wants the South more than the North? Well, yes, the Tronica of the South is indeed more important than the Ice and Snow of the North. In addition to this, the dark elves of the south are more powerful than we are, and they are more greedy for the land than we are. It is also natural that Sarida Khan does not trust them. Elise nodded, very seriously.

"It's not. William shook his head.

"So...... Is it military power?" said Elise. By this moment, she had read the entire document. Still, she couldn't draw any conclusions.

"Yes, in the previous Second Great Border War, the other side almost gave it its all. But he was still defeated. In contrast, in more than a dozen wars with the Ottoman Empire, the centaurs and the dark elves have won and lost each other. So Sarida Khan is afraid of the power we have and doesn't want to be our enemy?"

"It's one aspect. William said, "Guess again?"

Next, Elise guessed a few more answers, status, or because of tendencies, subordinates' judgments, strategic intentions, and so on. But all of them were vetoed by William, shaking his head.

In this way, Elise really can't guess. Looking at her confused face, William couldn't help but laugh, and then announced the answer:

"It's simple—it's very simple. William said: "The answer is that he has no money! The finances of the Tartalya Khanate have collapsed." He could no longer afford a child's salary to support his army. ”