Demacia's move not only represents their high level of confidence in themselves, but also that they don't take Noxus seriously at all.

"What do you think of this?"

Darkwell put the letter on the table and said with a blank face. The fluctuating aura exuded from his whole body indicated that he had reached the edge of anger at this moment.

A minister picked it up and slowly read out the contents of the letter, and as the content of the letter came to an end, the ministers present couldn't help but change their colors.

"Your Majesty, Demacia's move is no different from humiliating us!"

"How can it be!"

"What did they do with us when they went to war and sold prisoners?"

Some of the grumpy ministers had already jumped up on the spot.

They were Noxus, the tyrants of Runeterra, and yet they were being humiliated by someone else's jumping in the face.

"Who told you to discuss this?"

Darkwell's voice was a little colder, and he said, "What I ask you is, to redeem or not to redeem. ”

Although in his eyes, human life is as worthless as mustard, but now he can't ignore it.

A minister pondered for a moment and said, "If you redeem it, this money is not a small amount."

Darkwell's eyes flickered slightly, two hundred gold per person, which looks quite cheap, but the big numbers add up, but it's not so simple.

Most importantly, he would rather invest the money in the campaign against Ionia to help him find medicine.

A bunch of fart people, how can a strong army be important.

Another man got up and proposed, "The letter says that he will deal with some of them from time to time." Perhaps we can put the matter on hold for the time being and wait until General Demir wins the war. ”

Darkwell didn't say anything, but he was already thinking about it.

He really thinks so, just pretend not to see it, those fart people are dead and dead, what does it have to do with him.

Thrown in the ranks of Demacia, you can still eat them and drink them, and you have to waste their energy to take care of them.

When he sent an army over and sent Demacia back, he would naturally be able to take back those refugees.

After thinking about it, some ministers said, "I'm afraid it won't work."

Before he finished speaking, a messenger ran in from outside the palace and knelt down on one knee to report: "Your Excellency, the news of the redemption of prisoners of war in the city has spread, and the whole city is talking about it. ”

Darkwell's face turned cold and said, "Who spread the news?" ”

The meeting was still being discussed, and as a result, the matter had spread all over the main city.

Apparently deliberately.

The minister, who had spoken halfway just now, continued to speak at this moment: "I am afraid that Demacia did it on purpose, and they obviously used this to put pressure on us. ”

Darkwell calmed down, it was indeed possible, and the news was deliberately released by Demacia.

It's about putting pressure.

As the commander, it is up to him to decide whether to redeem or not to redeem those prisoners of war.

If it is ransome, a large ransom will be paid.

If he does not redeem it, he is the great commander of Noxus, and when he sees his people suffering, he is not even willing to pay money, which will inevitably have a great impact on his prestige in power.

The minister just now continued: "Grand Commander, what happened a few days ago, if you don't pay this money today."

As his voice fell, Darkwell's face turned a little colder, and his mood was extremely bad.

He almost forgot that there was an incident with Black Rose some time ago, and those fart people thought that he had been secretly colluding with Black Rose and made a lot of wrong decisions.

Including the invasion of Ionia, which hurt money, people, and hearts.

Even the legendary general Svein was lost there, and now some people speculate that he Darkwell was jealous of the talent and deliberately did so.

Although it is special, these fart people guessed quite accurately, but Da Kewei naturally couldn't admit it.

Although these things have been suppressed now, his prestige has also been shaken.

At this time, Demacia called again, he was the commander, if he couldn't beat him back, let's not talk about it, just the current matter of this prisoner of war is enough for him to eat a pot.

If not, when the news spreads, everyone knows that he made such a decision to let the people of Noxus be captured.

I'm afraid his prestige is about to plummet completely.

This is something that Darkwell will never tolerate, unless he has the confidence to quell the war before the news spreads.

However, is there really such self-confidence?

Facing a Demacia who has made changes, Darkwell thinks that this battle may take some time.

Is there anyone other than Demir who can stand up at this time?

Darkwell's mind flashed with names, his fingertips tapping his thighs.

Svein is dead.

The black roses disappear from the world.

Darius's Northern Expedition has not been heard from for almost two months.

There were also warlords, most of whom he had sent to Ionia, and the rest had gone to fight against Demacia.

Think again.

For a while, Darkwell couldn't think of a good man.

In other words, he had to suffer this loss.

Damn Demacia.

Darkwell suppressed the anger in his heart and asked aloud: "Calculate how much it will cost to ransom those prisoners of war back." ”

Soon, a minister calculated the result and stood up to report: "Great Commander, this attack of Demacia, the capture of our people is expected to be at least more than 150,000, and at the price of 200 gold per person, we must prepare at least 30 million gold coins." ”

"Thirty million"

Rao is Darkwell, and when he heard this number, his eyelids jumped.

With the strength of Noxus, is it difficult to come up with 30 million gold?

It's not hard.

But this is definitely not a small amount, and these 30 million can do too much in addition to returning prisoners.

Yet they were to give it to Demacia for nothing.

And, most importantly, the 30 million is not a small amount of money for the current Darkwell.

You know, he sent troops to attack Ionia for eight years, and invested a huge amount of gold coins for the elixir of life.

Moreover, Noxus was constantly at war with the surrounding places almost throughout the year, including the Northern Expedition of Darius and the Conquest of Shurima.

These are all money-swallowing machines, like a bottomless pit, and the money that Darkwell threw into it has long been uncountable.

Although he has also received countless benefits from it, the money is in a state of flux most of the time.

Because every time there is more place in Noxes's territory, every time there is an additional population, he needs to invest a new amount of money.

Whether it is later development, construction or others, it needs to be paid off after a long time.

There is also the Black Rose, to which the Pale Witch asks for a large sum of money for all the members to operate.

A few days ago, it took a lot to suppress the incident of the Black Rose and deal with the Caterina of the Duke Kao family.

At this time, although there must be 30 million gold in the treasury, once the 30 million is given, there may not be much left in the treasury.

And now is his critical period, and it is not an exaggeration to say that he is very short of money.

A minister saw Darkwell's hesitation and said in a loud voice: "Grand Commander, this money cannot be saved. ”

Darkwell exhaled and asked, "How do you minimize your losses?" ”

He knew that this money really could not be saved, and if he was at the height of his prestige, it would be nothing to give up those prisoners of war under pressure.

Not now.

Any wrong decision right now would shake his throne.

The ministers whispered, and after a while one of the ministers proposed: "How much money should be levied on the people?" Each person is free to make a donation to supplement the ransom. ”

Darkwell sneered: "The dignified Noxus, in this kind of matter, I actually asked the people for money, what do you want them to think of me?" ”

This is a note, not to mention the number of people who are willing to donate, most Noxians are egoistic.

Darkwell knows this all too well.

When will the people be asked to collect donations?

The treasury is empty and the national strength is insufficient.

Is that the case in Noxus? Apparently not.

At such times, asking the people for money may become a joke within a joke, and no great commander has ever done this in history.

Darkwell was naturally more reluctant to set this precedent.

The minister continued: "Then ask the warlords everywhere to call for donations, and they, as the beneficiaries of Noxus, should give a part of their efforts at such a juncture. ”

Darkwell thought for a moment and said lightly: "Send someone to ask them what they mean, each person must donate more than one million." ”

The plan worked, and the warlords everywhere were all rich.

It's just that Darkwell doesn't hope for them, and doesn't expect them to be able to scrape together the 30 million gold.

What is the concept of warlord?

Those are people who have a long history of the family, and are either strong and powerful, or both.

At the moment, they seem to be supporting themselves in unison, and I'm afraid that a few of them are already waiting to see the joke of him falling from this position.

The reason why there is no movement is just that they are still afraid of their own power and strength.

This is reality, so Darkwell is on guard against a lot of good people, and Svein is just too dazzling, so he died so early.

Otherwise, he could reuse him for a few more years.

Some of the ministers here were from great aristocratic backgrounds, but if Darkwell asked them for money, he could imagine what these families would do to him.

Elixir of life

The more he thought about it, the more angry Darkwell became.

If he can have immortality, he will become the greatest king in the history of Noxus, any warlord, any family, all of them are his playthings!

At this time, another minister stood up and proposed: "Grand Commander, I think that those who have been redeemed can be recruited into the army and become a military force to fight against Demacia and retake their homeland." For these people, we can pay them a high price until they are repulsed by Demacia. In this way, I think the loss can be minimized. ”

His proposal quickly caught the eye of some ministers.

Darkwell also lowered his head and thought quietly.

The minister's meaning was very simple, that is, to buy back those prisoners of war and stuff them into the army, ostensibly with high salaries, under the slogan of retaking his hometown.

In fact, it is to make them cannon fodder, rush to the forefront, and reduce the burden on the real army of Noxus.

This is also why Demacia is overconfident, Noxus spent a lot of money to buy back prisoners of war, how can it not be justified?

Soon, Darkwell made a decision: "Just do so, write back to Trewell, and I agree to ransom the man." ”

"Yes."

Soon, someone was commanded.

The meeting dispersed.

Only Darkwell's cronies remained.

He asked, "What about Darius?" Still haven't heard any news yet? ”

One stood up and said, "No, but word has come from the northern border that General Darius is in conflict with a tribe called Winter's Claws. While the two sides were fighting, an avalanche broke out, and the general and the enemy army were drowned on the spot. Therefore, the border troops lost news of the general. ”

This was bad news for Darkwell, who sat on the throne with his eyes slightly condensed, and kept thinking.

Darius was arguably one of his most important generals, loyal to him, and even personally awarded Darius the title of 'Hand of Noxus'.

Darius is superior in battle, and there is basically no battle that he cannot win.

That's why Darkwell sent him to conquer the barbarian tribes of the Icy Lands.

Although the conditions in the north are not good, the strength of those barbarian tribes is not weak, and if they can become a part of Noxus, it will be a big help to him.

However, now Darius's fate is uncertain, if it is lost to Freljord.

That was also a big blow to Darkwell's own forces.

However, he believed that Darius would not fall so easily, and if he was there, then he would definitely be able to stop Demacia's attack.

"Send someone deep into Freljord to find news of Darius, and be sure to find him within a month."

Darkwell came back to his senses and gave an order.

"Yes."

Someone took the order.

Immediately, Darkwell asked with a cold gaze, "How is the matter of the Assassins Guild handled?" And what about that Katerina? ”

One of them stood up and said, "We sent a number of men to deal with Katarina, but they were all gone. There is also the Society of Assassins, which are now scattered all over Noxus, and they will not be able to deal with it for a while. ”

"Hmph."

Darkwell snorted coldly, scolding the group of rubbish in his heart.

Not even a single Caterina can be dealt with.

It was because of her and the Assassin Guild that news of the Black Rose spread, which had an impact on his prestige on the throne.

If it weren't for her, there wouldn't be so much.

However, Darkwell had sent people to deal with her and the Assassin Guild long before, but to no avail.

On the contrary, many of his cronies were assassinated during this period.

Although the loss of manpower is not large, it is tantamount to a provocation to Darkwell.

In addition, the Assassin Guild has never given up its criticism of Black Rose and him, and he is trying his best to suppress the rumors, while the Assassin Guild is trying its best to expand the influence of this matter.

It made Darkwell very irritable.

"Join the man, don't let me see these annoying flies scurrying anymore."

Darkwell ordered coldly.

"Yes."

Soon someone was commanded again.

Recommend a friend's book.

(End of chapter)