Sword of Dawn

Page 261

Gao Wen did not miss this detail.

"The means of transportation you mentioned...does it refer to the things you took when you came here?" Rosetta really focused on those vehicles, "They are indeed incredible. I have heard that Cecil exists a long time ago. A magical technology called 'Magic Mechanism', are those vehicles the product of Magic Mechanism?"

Gao Wen nodded reservedly, thinking that of course the other party had heard of the Magic Mechanism, not only had he heard of it, but he had imitated it, not only had he imitated it, he had successfully imitated it, and it had been mass-produced industrially.

"Those vehicles are indeed what I call 'means of transportation', but they are only part of them. We have larger and more efficient transportation technologies," Gao Wen said, looking around, "If you don't mind If so, I can show you what it looks like right here."

Rosetta raised her eyebrows slightly, showing a look of interest, and then raised her hand to stop the band playing music not far away: "I'm looking forward to it, what does it look like?"

Gawain smiled, and signaled his subordinates to bring a small magic net terminal to him in advance. On the premise of not turning on the communication function, the Typhon people present would probably regard this weird-looking machine as a piece of mosaic. A projected crystal on a strange pedestal, and such things are not very rare in the upper class.

Gao Wen adjusted the status of the magic net terminal, and then directly activated a video stored in it.

A clear holographic projection emerged in the air. A giant python made of steel was crawling on the man-made track, and it was slowly accelerating carrying thousands of tons or more of cargo. A loud flute sound came from the screen. Trembling power suddenly appeared in the scene of the "Giant Python" moving forward.

This is exactly the radio image broadcast from Cecil's homeland a few days ago!

The picture is very short, less than 30 seconds, because Gawain erased the second half of the image - after the train accelerates for a while, the advertisement for "Cecil Railroad Company" should appear, and in the At this stage, Gawain doesn't want the people of Typhon to know too much about things other than the magic train.

The hall fell silent for a while, and almost everyone's eyes widened.

Pairs of eyes fell on the holographic projection, on the stilled train picture, and the sound of the flute at the end of the video seemed to still echo in their minds, causing everyone to have countless questions and guesses spontaneously, even if It was Rosetta Augustus, who also kept her eyes on the screen for more than a minute—but in the end, Emperor Typhon was the first to wake up and return to normal. He looked at Gawain seriously: "What is this?"

"The magic train, you can think of it as an extraordinarily large and powerful vehicle. Of course, its technology is much more complicated," Gao Wen explained. "This is actually a new technology for us."

"Are you willing to sell it?" Rosetta seemed unbelievable. He glanced at the astonishing "magic vehicle" in the picture again. There was a trace of complexity in his eyes, but more doubts, "Why?"

Just by glancing at the picture, the Emperor Typhon could realize the great significance of this means of transportation and its possible role in many fields such as passenger transportation, freight transportation, military affairs, etc. He did not believe in making this kind of magic Gawain of things (or in the words of the Cecilians, magical creations) would not have thought of this, so he instinctively had a trace of vigilance and suspicion.

Gawain spread out his hands, and there seemed to be a hint of helplessness in his tone: "As I said just now, the new Principality of Cecil...has a lot of shortcomings."

Empty technology, but can't be realized into wealth in the short term?In order to develop "magic guide", a major gap has appeared in the field of people's livelihood?Or... in a fatal financial crisis...

Rosetta Augustus immediately began to recall the information he had collected through various channels, speculated about the possible current situation of the Principality of Cecil, and finally believed that the reason might be the latter two points.

Since the establishment of the Principality of Cecil, it has been carrying out uninterrupted and large-scale construction, expanding the city, relocating the population, and spending a lot of manpower and material resources on pioneering, and all this is after it has just experienced a unified war!

If it wasn't for a crisis in the economy and basic materials, it would be impossible for a legendary hero like Gawain Cecil to open his mouth so actively to discuss "trade" with himself.

"If you are willing to sell, of course we... are very interested," Rosetta said with the last trace of caution, "But according to my observation, such a huge thing... it seems to have a supporting 'road'? How are you going to 'sell' this thing?"

"That's right, it needs to lay a basic road called 'energy track', or commonly known as 'railway' to operate, and there are supporting maintenance and control technologies, and the transportation of the train itself is not easy," Gawain nodded. "We will be responsible for the full set of work in this area. First, we can build a road on the Cecil-Typhon trade line to send the train body and technicians to Typhon, and then we will help you repair Roads and construction of stations—this will be at your request. The price of the train body is fixed, and the roads..."

Gawain glanced at Rosetta. Under the deep gaze of the other party, he did not say the words "help you build the railway for free".

This will arouse the vigilance of the other party, and it will also arouse the vigilance of the entire think tank behind the other party. Ansu has a proverb: "most of the bread you pick up is poisonous", and he believes that Rosetta also knows this sentence.

It would be okay if the free parts were just a few parts, but if it was something that seemed so expensive at first glance that it would bankrupt ordinary small and medium nobles, then it would be too suspicious.

"We are willing to provide the greatest discount, but after all, it is expensive - I have a plan, if Typhon can provide the raw materials needed to repair the railway, then we can only charge the dispatch cost of the technicians and a part of the 'technical cooperation fee', Its cost will not exceed the labor cost required for road construction, and it will be calculated separately based on the actual length of the railway.”

After thinking for a longer period of time, Rosetta nodded slightly: "The 'cost price' in another sense sounds like a fair and generous plan."

Immediately afterwards, he changed the topic: "But there is one thing - I don't know enough about the 'magic train' you are talking about, or even the magic vehicles you brought. I can't make a decision based on just one impression."

"Reasonable concerns," Gawain laughed, "I will provide more information, and you are welcome to send someone to take a look at the operation of the magic train. As for those 'magic vehicles'... if we can successfully conclude the trade Agreement, I am willing to give you one as a gift in my own name to express my sincerity."

"You are worthy of being a knight among knights. Your generosity and integrity are impressive," Rosetta said solemnly, and then she seemed to mention casually, "Then...if this trade agreement is reached, it is Typhon and Ansu's deal, or Typhon and Cecil's deal?"

Gawain looked at Rosetta Augustus silently for a moment, the corners of his mouth gradually turned up.

"This is the friendship of Typhon and Cecil.

"I cannot and do not intend to represent Ansu."

Chapter 0601

After a simple but decent dinner, the visitors from Cecil visited the camp of the Typhons, visited the barracks, towers and walls shaped by magic power, and visited the barrier "side tower" under construction. " and the large-scale mage area, and after the reception, the sunlight behind the dirty clouds gradually approached the horizon. Before night fell, Gao Wen and others were led to the "guest room" in the Rosetta Palace.

The so-called guest rooms are also built with stones shaped by magic. The dusty material is no different from other buildings in this peak base, but the owner here obviously thought of a way to improve the taste and comfort of the guest rooms with additional decorations, full of The rich Typhon-style tapestries, long-haired carpets and large oil paintings offset the cold texture of the "artificial stone house". In his own room, Gao Wen also saw a whole set of exquisite wooden furniture, gold-inlaid porcelain, silver Lampstands and a collection of books enough to pass the time - as a pinnacle base adjacent to the wasteland of Gondor, having such a room is already considered luxurious.

After the waiter announced the time and place of dinner, Gawain closed the door and came to the bookshelf on the west side of the room, and Amber's figure appeared beside him.

At least the half-elf lady is conscientious at this moment: "No monitoring items were found, and the shadow power nearby is also very calm."

"Of course not, Rosetta Augustus wouldn't be so reckless—surreptitiously spying on a legend is not so easy," Gawain said casually, his eyes sweeping from the bookshelf, "... "A Brief History of the Changes in the Heraldry of the Northern Continent"...If I want to pass the boring time with this kind of thing, then I'm afraid I will only be more bored."

Amber looked Gao Wen up and down, and after pondering for a long time, she couldn't help but said, "To be honest, I don't quite understand you today..."

"Which aspect can't you understand?" Gawain had expected that the half-elf would be holding back his stomach for a long time, and he also expected that the other party would never be able to hold back, so he smiled leisurely and said.

Amber opened her mouth, as if she was about to ask a question, but at the last second before she spoke, she bit her lip hard, looked around quickly, and finally puffed up: "I won't ask!"

Gao Wen was stunned for a moment, and the smile on his face suddenly became a little relieved: "Very good."

Never underestimate others, never lose vigilance in an unfamiliar environment, keep the last line of secrets no matter how many times you check, it turns out that if this half-elf is really willing to use his brain, he is absolutely not stupid.

After casually praising Amber, Gao Wen turned his attention away from the books that didn't interest him, and casually asked, "What do you think about this camp?"

He knew that Amber must have seen most of the camp, whether the Typhonians had taken a tour or not, and she must have recorded many more details than anyone else had seen— ——This guy's frontal combat power is not very good, but only when he is a detective, he still has a lot of merits.

After that, what he wants to say to Amber will no longer involve long-term plans or secrets, and he will not worry about being overheard.

Amber thought for a while, and said bluntly: "In my opinion, the people of Typhon are really rich, too rich, too rich!!"

"Oh?"

"You should also be able to see that this camp is almost entirely shaped by magical power. I checked their camp and the mage area, and I confirmed that they gathered at least [-] low-level to middle-level people here. The task of these extraordinary people here is to 'build a house'," Amber said seriously, "Relying on these mages, the construction speed of this base should not be slower than our base, and the efficiency in all aspects should be no worse than ours. , and possibly even more efficiently.”

"Typhon began to implement the systematic and professional management of superhumans more than ten years ago, and used various supernatural powers for production and development. They also imitated the newborn screening system of the ancient Gondor empire, and actively recruited from the whole people , Cultivate superhumans from babies, which leads to the fact that their overall number of superhumans is almost twice that of Ansu, and there is an extremely advanced management system to ensure that all superhumans are registered and have their own responsibilities," Gao Wen He said unhurriedly, "Most of the mages you see here should be called 'engineering mages'. They have been trained in a targeted manner since they came into contact with magical power, and almost all the spells they master are related to construction. , and within Typhon, there are tens of thousands of similar 'professional mages'."

Amber's eyes widened, and she was speechless for a moment: "..."

Gawain looked at her amusedly: "What are you thinking?"

"Do you think they will accept me if I treason now?"

"Why don't you try it?"

Amber shrank her neck: "No, I'm afraid of being beaten to death."

Gao Wen smiled, didn't pay attention to this little joke, and commented casually: "As you can see, Typhon is indeed very strong, but on the other hand...they are not very smart."

Amber blinked and guessed what Gao Wen meant: "You think they are a waste, don't you..."

"That's right, it's a huge waste—scientists are being used by them on the construction site," Gao Wen shook his head with a look of regret, "Mages are researchers, people who invent and create, how can they waste them on the construction site?" ?! If you ask me, they should neither be used as combat power on the battlefield nor as labor in the production process, but should all be sent to the laboratory!

"You see 80 mages here, and their speed of building a base is no slower than our mechanization, even faster than ours, but if it is handed over to me, I will turn these [-] mages into researchers, so that They study more advanced magic machinery, more advanced alchemy materials, and develop technologies that can widely replicate their high-efficiency spells, and then I can promote these technologies to [-] ordinary workers, so that every worker can It is no less efficient than an 'engineering mage', this is the correct way to use knowledge."

Amber blinked. In Gao Wen's short outlook and description, she finally intuitively felt where the real power of "Magic Industry" was embodied.

Gao Wen breathed out, and couldn't help but shook his head after speaking sternly and said, "However, there is a problem, a very real problem that bothers us..."

"what is the problem?"

"As you said just now, Typhon is really rich, too rich... Rich, people, and resources..." Gawain sighed, "We can indeed use the technological achievements of eight hundred mages to go' Armed '80 workers, and Typhon... I'm afraid they can really pull out 80 engineering mages..."

amber:"……"

Gao Wen sighed: "This is called money ability."

Amber looked dull: "Currency ability...can you still describe it like this..."

There is no word "money" in this world. Gao Wen directly used the word "currency" and the word "skill" to create the word "money ability". Obviously, Amber understood its meaning.

Therefore, after understanding the true source of power of the Magic Industry, Amber also understood why Gawain still regards Typhon as the most powerful and terrifying enemy even if he has mastered such a sharp weapon as the Magic Industry.

She glanced at Gao Wen and vaguely realized something.

No matter what kind of business this unearthed man wants to do with Emperor Typhon, whether he wants to take the initiative to accept the dumping of Typhon's cotton, or to help the Typhon people build the railway, his only purpose next...

They are all "money abilities" to deal with the Typhon people.

……

Winter snow is flying, and the coldest season of the year has come to this land.

Holy Spirit Plain, in an unnamed village half a day away from Baisong Town on horseback, the snow has covered the feet, but this snowfall is just the beginning, and the snowflakes are still falling.

This pure white godsend covers everything indiscriminately, blurring the ridges and ravines, blurring roads and wasteland, and also blurring the boundary between heaven and earth. The nameless village seems to be a pile of stones in the snow, and the man-made buildings are falling snow. A little bit of it is covered with silver.In this dangerously cold day, every household closed the doors and windows tightly, and sealed every hole in the dilapidated wall to prevent the loss of precious heat. People hid in the indoors that can block the wind and snow, while conserving their physical strength and heat. Looking forward to a safe winter, while worryingly listening to every creak from the roof.

The village in the snow is silent.

Yet beneath the snow, somewhere in the cellar of a longhouse, a secret meeting was taking place.

Cheap and low-quality candles are placed on the mottled and dilapidated long table. The flickering candlelight makes the whole cellar look like a shadow. On the long table are clay pots, daggers, stone flakes, etc., and some kind of red paint depicts the Strange and gloomy magic symbols and chilling distorted images, around the long table, a dozen figures in rags are sitting solemnly in the candlelight, and a dozen pairs of eyes with implied fanaticism are watching the people beside the long table. Two figures.

The two figures were quite tall, wearing gray and black shabby blouses, and iron death amulets hanging around their necks, as if they were dressed as corpse draggers.

"Brothers and sisters, the day of escape from misery is coming..."

One of the draggers spread his hands and said as if preaching.

"Those who suffer, accept this gift!"

Another corpse dragger bent down and picked up a clay pot containing some kind of liquid from the table while praying devoutly.

People around the long table stood up one after another, with some kind of anticipation and enthusiasm, and came to the table one by one, asking the person holding the clay pot and wearing a gray-black smock to put the contents of the pot A dark red liquid was smeared on their foreheads.

"After receiving this gift... you will be able to escape from this day of suffering. You will not wait for death or the afterlife. The kingdom of heaven on earth is just around the corner..."

"The days of suffering for those who escaped..."

"Heaven on earth..."

"Just around the corner..."

One after another, the sound of chanting and prayers echoed in this secret cellar, and above the cellar, in the long house towering in the wind and snow, several pairs of indifferent and vigilant eyes were clinging to the narrow slits of the window panels, staring at the wind. The world in the snow.

In the surrounding houses, in almost every house in the village, the same cold and watchful eyes were pasted behind every window.

……

East of the Whitsunday Plains, Solynburg.

Snowflakes are also falling in this land.

A team of knights entered the city in the afternoon. Their armor was bright and well-equipped. Even the horses were wearing the highest quality steel wire mail armor and the amulet collar that could calm the spirit and enhance endurance. They walked from the widest main entrance avenue Riding on horseback, everyone along the way—including the patrolling soldiers—chosen to retreat in awe immediately after seeing the emblems on these knights.

Those emblems bear the image of crossed black swords, the mark of Silas Roren, Duke of the East.

The head of the team, the young Marquis Belk Rollen in full armor, controlled the speed of his beloved horse, and at the same time controlled the speed of the whole team, in case these subordinates with slightly rude habits hurt pedestrians along the street (although On this snowy day, there are hardly any pedestrians on the street), at the same time, he raised his head and looked at the majestic castle on the high ground not far away.

After spending so much time in the safety of the rear, dealing with annoying local nobles all day, or watching the Cecils blow up the White Sand Hills (now he suspects that the Cecils may even plan to blow up that place into a white sand mine), Belk felt that his patience and vigor would be worn out sooner or later, but fortunately, he finally received the order to return to Solimborg.

The young Mr. Marquis straightened his back and greeted all eyes with the most impeccable knightly posture—even though there were no crowds around him.He looked at the street in the winter, thinking about what he would have to report after seeing his father and Prince Edmund.

The situation of the White Sand Hills must be notified at any time. The Cecils want to build a new road. This matter must be known to His Royal Highness in time. In addition, the situation of the banditry in the two territories has subsided, and in addition In addition... There are also situations where the lower-level nobles do not seriously implement the "Serf Freedom Act" and "Land Replacement Act".

Chapter 0602 Belk Rollen

In a room covered with a sky-blue carpet, furnished with large bookshelves, valuable oil paintings, and silver lampstands, Belk Rollen stood respectfully in front of the desk, and reported to Edmund Moen who was sitting behind the desk that he was Stories from the East.

Wearing a black coat and growing a beard, the young prince listened to every sentence in the report with a serious expression, while Belk always maintained his sincere respect, unwilling to let his report have any flaws:

"The banditry in Hall County and Rentuttle County has subsided, and a batch of unmarked gold coins were found in their hiding place. Through the identification of the object-finding spell, it is preliminarily judged that these gold coins are indeed from the local lord—after you After promulgating the relevant control laws, some local nobles are still raising 'black gloves' in private..."

"This is already a prohibited act and must be severely punished. The nobles involved have two choices, either reduce their title by one level, or hand over half of the land or money of equivalent value." Edmund Moen said with an unhappy face .

Then, Belk reported a series of changes and status quo in the rear of the Eastern Territory, and also mentioned the recent activities of the White Sands Mining Company. Edmund made various appropriate arrangements based on the situation he reported, some of which were For matters that Belk could not handle or someone else could handle, Edmund would also talk a little bit about his disposal plan, or have an open and honest discussion with the young Marquis in front of him.

Candid, earnest, fair, and full of patience.

No matter how many times he came into contact with Edmund Moen, Belk couldn't help but have similar words in his mind.

He looked at this prince who was not much older than himself, watched the other party seriously think about the solution to the problem, and proposed various admirable solutions. He could feel that the other party was really trying to govern this land. Find a way to bring prosperity to this kingdom, and this belief and action is what makes him sincerely loyal to the other party.

And yet... dark corners remain.

There was a trace of loss and entanglement in Belk's heart, and before he spoke, Edmund noticed the change in his expression, and the prince cast his gaze: "Belk, what else is going on?"

Belk frowned and did not hide it: "Your Highness, in many areas of the Eastern Border, your Serf Freedom Act has experienced unexpected... setbacks. Only a few serfs have truly obtained the status of freedmen, and most... are still Tethered to the land, land reform in these areas has hardly progressed and factories have been unable to recruit anyone — or even train — because of this.”

Edmund looked at him quietly: "Why?"

"Various reasons - but mostly due to obstacles set up by landowners. Some demanded that serfs buy 'lots' in order to be free, some required serfs to hand over their entire first year's harvest, others Immediately after declaring the serfs to be freedmen, they were driven out of the farm or orchard..."

Edmund closed his eyes slightly, as if to keep his breathing calm, then he opened his eyes, his eyes were deep: "So, the serfs who have been 'freed' can't live, can they?"

"Yes, they eventually had to go back to their masters, 'voluntarily' going back..."

This time, Edmund was silent for a longer time, and it wasn't until half a minute later that Belk heard a calm voice from ahead: "I see."

"Your Highness, perhaps we should..."