With the heavy iron gate slowly rising under the power of the winch, the sly Ansu King City opened the door to the guardian of the kingdom. Under the cloud of lead gray, it consisted of more than ten carriages and a large number of knights and guards. The team entered the city.

The wheels of the carriage crushed the ancient stone roads that had been in existence for hundreds of years. The slightly loose slabs trembled slightly, and the small stones continued to make a creaking sound between the wheels and the slate, but the sound of the creaks did not How long lasted, it was covered up by the flute and drums that the musicians in the team suddenly played.

Victoria slightly opened the cover on the side of the carriage. Through the narrow gap, she saw an empty street outside. A heavy snow had just visited St. Sunil recently, and the snow covered the entire city. In the cold and freezing days, even the residents of Wangdu will not come out and move around, not to mention the civilians alleys close to the outer city: only the white streets and snow-covered streets can be seen in the sight of the female duke. On the roof, some areas of snow have been shoveled, but more places still maintain the snow just stopped.

There is a collapsed house in the corner of the line of sight. It seems to be crushed by snow. There are no households in the ruins of the houses. I don’t know where the people who used to live have moved to somewhere – or where they died. .

The flute and the drums are still blowing and beating, standing alone on this empty street, as if a team of clowns are jokingly telling jokes on the stage without any audience, funny and weird, but the musicians don't care about these: they The sound of the music is not to attract nearby residents to welcome the nobles, but to allow the soldiers behind the team to quickly complete the formation after entering the city, and also to remind the passers-by in front (if any), Let the other person make way quickly.

So there is no big deal for anyone to respond.

The cover of the carriage was closed.

The team passed through the slums of the South City, passed through the middle city where the citizens lived, and continued to drive toward the Silver Fort. After crossing the Iron Cross Street, the monotonous and boring drum sounds from the outside finally stopped, more and more The vocals came from all directions.

The team entered the inner city where the upper class and the small nobles lived. After crossing the street, it finally showed a glimpse of the capital city.

On the wide streets, the snow has been swept away, and the wealthy citizens and small aristocrats who are wearing colorful and heavy winter clothes have already heard the voices from the Midtown, and they have rushed out of their homes to welcome the team into the city. The cold north wind and the snow rising with the wind could not quench the enthusiasm of these people. They stretched their necks along the road and watched the car with the Wilde family emblem, the royal emblem, and the Holy Light Church emblem on the road. Passing on, and then cheering and admiring, the winter flowers and colored silk strips catalyzed by magic were thrown into the air, as if colorful flowers and rains were falling, and those who threw flowers and silks all looked forward to The carriage in front of the team can open the window, and the people sitting in the car can show up and say hello to them - in the past, the Northern Duke and the Virgin Princess lived in the castle and the cathedral, the ordinary wealthy citizens and small The nobility has no chance to see their faces with their own eyes, and at this moment the team passes through the rich areas, which is a rare opportunity.

However, today's situation is obviously different. In the crowd's eagerly awaited, no carriage opened the cover, the whole team just continued to maintain the speed, and did not stop passing through the crowd, passing through the entire strip outside the Silver Fort. In the block, I entered the castle in the distance...

The Victorian duchess in a white dress took their maids and attendants all the way through the atrium and main fort corridor of Silver Fort and came to the study on the upper level of the castle. The West Dagong Bai Dewen? Franklin was wearing a warm and comfortable silk. The robes, sitting on the loungers by the fireplace, looked at a large book and watched the female duke suddenly appear. The Western Grand Duke slightly stunned and then quickly got up and greeted: "Ah, the Duke of Wilde - - Please forgive me for not coming to the long hall to meet you. This book is too attractive to me."

Victoria's gaze swept through the cover of the book in the hands of the Duke of Berdwin, and saw a series of words on the gilding: "The history of currency evolution in the northern part of the continent and the changes in the trade line."

The Franklin family is known as the "Ansu's purse". Due to the multi-ethnic mixed-race and well-developed O'Gare tribes, the Dukes of the Western Dynasties are good at business, and Berdwin Franklin is one of them. The book he likes most is naturally in this field.

But at this moment, Victoria couldn't help but sigh after seeing this book: "Maybe this trip to the Southland should let you go."

"Oh?" Berdwin? Franklin couldn't help but raise his eyebrows: "It looks like this trip is not going well? Our founding hero is ruining you?"

"No, everything goes well, Gao Wen? Grand Duke Cecil is friendly and we have done a big business - so I said that I should let you go."

The Duke’s tone seemed to be plain, but the long-standing acquaintance of Bai Dewen saw a faint irritability from the eyes of the “Queen of the Snow”. The book in his hand was put aside and the look was serious: "What did you see in the South?"

"...a better place than St. Sunil," Victoria said, taking a long time to say this, then she shook her head. "I will talk to you about the situation in the South." Let me talk about the results of this trip."

Berdwin Franklin listened carefully to Victoria's remarks. His brows sometimes wrinkled and stretched, and his fingers unconsciously rubbed a ruby ​​ring worn on his left hand, even though the Duke of the Druid simply talked about the negotiations on the trip to the South. The result, but from the words and phrases of the other party, he can still understand how much the "Northern Queen" was touched in the mysterious southern land.

This surprised him and he was surprised that there would be something in the world that would make this ice-like lady shake like this.

"That said, the Duke of Cecil at least defaulted to the coronation of His Royal Highness, and would not openly support the East... and he said that he would not use the emergency inheritance right seven hundred years ago," waited until Victoria’s story came to an end. The Duke of Badwin did not speak slowly. "This is better than we expected."

"It's true," Victoria nodded. "In addition, he also agreed to provide paid military assistance to Wang Guojun. If I didn't see it with my own eyes, I would never believe that the extraordinary armed forces could really be mass-produced. ”

Berdwin has a strong interest: "What kind of equipment is that? Is there a sample for me to see?"

"He gave me a sword and several sets of armor and weapons as samples," Victoria said, turning to the attendant standing at the door, "put things in."

A heavy box was moved into the room, and the magic armor, the melted sword, the crystal grenade and the glowing ray emitter were sampled in front of the Duke of Berdwin.

"...is really a beautiful weapon." Berdwin Franklin looked at the machine-made weapons with a sigh of praise, and picked up a slashed sword to look at it in front of him. He followed Victoria's instructions. The magical mechanism that activated the sword, along with the low hum, the blade with a thin layer of purple steel coating immediately covered a hot magical field.

"Oh, incredible..." The Duke of Berdwin's eyes widened slightly, but he quickly frowned. "It's internal magic is flawed."

Victoria nodded: "It is true, as I said, its magical organs are very fragile - according to the Duke of Cecil, this is to save costs."

The Duke of Wilde closed the magical organs. As the blade gradually cooled down, his mind cooled down from the curiosity of seeing new things. After a brief thought, he looked at the Duke: "You just said, every Need a gold coin to replace a magical institution?"

"Yes."

"...In addition to this weapon called a melt-cut sword, the magic core of other equipment basically needs to be replaced frequently?"

"It's true," Victoria nodded and said before Berdwin's opening. "You don't need to be reminded - I know it will cost a lot. Although the magic core alone is cheap, it consumes a lot. ""

Bai Dewen looked at Victoria quietly, then slowly shook his head: "No, the Duke of Wilde, you don't know - you underestimated the extent of this 'expensive', in fact, the core of the replacement magic The cost is the real price of the deal, and compared to it, the price of these swords and armor is not worth mentioning."

“So serious?” Victoria’s eyes finally had a slight surprise.

"Don't question my business mind," said Berdwin Franklin, sighing deeply. "But don't be frustrated by the facts I said. We are faced with a conspiracy. We have no choice, the Duke of Cecil is calculating this, and these conditions will be raised - even if I am present, I have to accept it. And even with such a high price, these weapons and equipment... Good value for money."

"Good value for money..." Victoria looked at the helpless look of the Duke of Berdwin, and his expression calmed down again. "In short, first summon the wizards and scholars, and try to copy these weapons and dismantle their magical organs. Find out how these things work."

"Of course, we have to figure out these things," Perdwin said in a deep voice. He was very emotional. "It’s really... I’ve got a lesson, can the business do this?"

"I'm afraid we have more classes to go to this class," Victoria looked at the Duke of the West, who was in a state of sorrow. The tone was quite complicated. "I realized that after seeing the survival of the Cecils, I realized Things: In the seven hundred years of peace, Ansu is afraid that there is no progress at all - compared with the ancestors, we are far behind."

"Oh?" Bodewen’s tone rose, showing a curious look. "Let me talk about it in detail..."

Victoria was slightly addicted and organized the language: "That should start with their government office..."

......

“The business of Cecil is very advanced. What we see at the Cod trading company is only a small part of their business intelligence,” said Berk Loren, standing in the long hall of Sorinburg, facing himself. Father and Prince Edmund said what they had investigated in the South. "I was there to find a way to contact a large number of businessmen, and I also contacted their 'Government Office' as a businessman, and contacted them in a large number of approval and management processes. I found that they had very tight business surveillance – the level of rigor was shocking, which was quite different from the impression we had when we first heard about the various commercial openness policies of the Principality of Cecil.

Silas Loren listened to the return of his son, and his eyes occasionally fell on Prince Edmund, who was sitting on the top. The young prince had already faded away from all tenderness. He wore a black steel shackle. The wolf skin cloak was draped over the shoulders, and the face was less green and more windy. He sat on the main seat of the castle. He listened to Belk’s report and seemed to concentrate on his thoughts.

Under the steps of the seat, Berk Loren is still telling: "Their business is indeed open, but it is open under precise control, which explains why their chambers of commerce and the emerging 'company' Can run at such high efficiency, with few leaks...

"Under the operation of the 'factory', Cecil's material output is staggeringly high, and a large amount of things can be sold as commodities. This has led to the creation of many merchants specializing in the wholesale and transportation of bulk goods. These merchants have mass-produced goods. Shipped to a distant place...

“The Duke of Cecil built a lot of roads, the roads connected to all the major cities and raw materials, and the canals. They have a new magic device called the magic guide, which is an automatic mechanical vehicle...

“In order to manage such a large and complex system, their administrative offices are divided into multiple departments. Each department has clear responsibilities and corresponding regulatory measures. Everyone is supervised and everyone is responsible for supervising others. Everyone has clear work and assessment criteria - although it is not possible to rule out loopholes, their Office of Administration has reached an incredible level of efficiency and management. I transcribed their department list and can see All the rules and regulations..."

“It seems that the five-year mining rights of the white sand hills are not wasted,” Prince Edmund said suddenly in the main seat. “We finally saw something useful.”

"His Royal Highness," Silas Loren got up and said, "The idea of ​​your previous New Deal does not seem to be wrong. The Duke of Cecil is only one step further in this direction. The experience he has produced is meaningful to us. major."

"Yes," Prince Edmund nodded. His look was very serious. "These experiences will make us stronger, and we must be strong as soon as possible. Our time... not much."

Yes, time is running out.

Everyone in the main hall of the castle understood the meaning of the words of Prince Edmund.

The Tifeng empire that looked at it... The time left for the Ansu people is running out.

(See the monthly ticket!!)