king.

Chapter 280 The Battle of Commanders
Canglan City.

The alliance reinforcements arrived, the orc army retreated, and after the news of the completion of the mission reached the palace, not only did all the princes and nobles not smile, but their expressions were gloomy and terrifying.

It seemed that everything was going well, but the number of casualties in their hands couldn't make them happy.

Nearly 60 troops remained on the orc prairie forever, the Alpha Kingdom was seriously injured, almost every family in the noble group was crying, and every household hung white sails.

Just like previous wars, the kingdom's accumulation of decades of wealth and military strength was exhausted in the war.

"Why are you all silent? You were crying and clamoring to break out, but the result now is what you want!"

Caesar III said angrily.

Apparently, he still hasn't been able to let go of the fact that the ministers united to force the palace last time.

The king was in a fit of anger, so naturally no one went up to make trouble.At the moment, everyone is in a bad mood, and they want to throw the blame away, but they can't find the person who took the blame.

Marshal Campbell died in battle, and Caesar III would definitely not agree to throw the scapegoat.

As the instigators, the five major families of the Northern Lands are well-established factions in the kingdom, and there is no shortage of strength in the court. It is another endless wrangling for them to take responsibility.

The Human Race Alliance involves too much, and it is even more unaffordable.Let them take the blame, it will lead to international conflicts.

Hudson, who is the best to bully, just reached out to help each family. At this time, he threw the scapegoat at this time, and his food looks too ugly.

We are all decent people, we have to leave three points when doing things, otherwise we will not meet each other in the future.

If there is no scapegoat, then you can only scold the orcs.But this is the imperial meeting, so there's no need to be so rude, it's not too late to scold the following when you go back to publicize.

"Your Majesty, the orcs have always been scheming, and they may come back at some point. Now that the task of receiving them has been completed, let the army withdraw quickly!"

Effierro said publicly.

The Alpha Kingdom, which has suffered heavy losses, can no longer stand the toss.In any case, the remaining elite of these kingdoms must be preserved.

Compared with the previous wars, in this war, the Alpha Kingdom had the shortest time to be passively attacked, the land that had been occupied was also the least, and the civilian casualties and domestic economic losses were also the lowest in history.

As long as the elite seeds are kept, the kingdom will be able to recover its strength in less than ten years.If production in the newly recovered provinces can be resumed, the national strength may even be further improved.

Even though the losses are heavy now, the Alpha Kingdom is still the strongest among all the clan kingdoms in the Northland.

As long as the Human Race Alliance can give some strength to destroy the Orc Empire, the Alpha Kingdom will not be threatened by foreign enemies in the next few decades, and can farm with peace of mind.

From an overall strategic point of view, the Alpha Kingdom was actually the winner in this war of heavy losses.It's just that the price paid was a bit heavy, and it looked like he was dying.

"Then let them withdraw!"

Caesar III nodded slightly and said.

There are priorities, and anger can arise at any time, but military affairs must be dealt with immediately.

Not bringing emotions into decision-making is also an important factor for Caesar III to firmly control the government.Even if a pillar in the army was broken, it still did not affect his status.

"Your Majesty, the reinforcements of the Terran Alliance have already set off, and they will enter our country one after another in a short time, and it will be our turn to launch a counterattack.

Considering the geographical location, we continued to deploy defenses on the front line of Zijing Pass and Helan Fort, which could no longer meet the needs of the next war.

With the help of the alliance's first batch of reinforcements and the Principality of Moxi, now is also the time to consider: re-establish a defense line in the newly recovered seven provinces of the Northland, hoard supplies, and prepare for the big counterattack! "

The prime minister, the Grand Duke of Newfoundland, suggested.

Originally, this was not in the plan. According to the previous concept, the Northern Expeditionary Army directly followed the group of "lord knights" tossing around in the Orc Empire to bring the enemy down.

It's a pity that those old men's mentality was not very good. After learning that Emperor Bimeng died of the backlash of the secret method of longevity, their mentality collapsed.

Except for the strong man who was originally from the Alpha Kingdom, who still stayed in the army, the rest of them all went back to work on their own affairs.

Everyone knows that people who are dying are not to be messed with.Even if they knew that these people violated the contract and made the Northern Expedition Army miserable, the Kingdom could only swallow their grievances in their stomachs.

Running to the hinterland of the orc empire to make a fuss was not completely ineffective.There were also millions of orcs slaughtered along the way.

The most important thing is to hit the status of the five royal families in the hearts of the orcs, laying the foundation for the subsequent civil strife in the orc empire.

"Prime Minister, restoring the defense lines of the seven northern provinces will not be accomplished overnight. The manpower, financial and material resources required are all astronomical.

What's more, you have to consider that the enemy will come and destroy at any time, and if you don't pay attention, the construction site will become a battlefield.Destruction can be far faster than construction!

With the Kingdom's current financial situation, it simply cannot afford such a large project.As for advancing the front line and preparing for a major counter-offensive, I think it is better to postpone the discussion. "

Delgado firmly refused.

It's not that he doesn't have a strategic vision, it's that the Alpha Kingdom is too poor.Now that the war has progressed, the treasury is empty enough to run away mice.

Having no money in his pocket made him, the chancellor of the exchequer, very helpless.

Even if the materials for the construction of the defense line are all local materials, civilian husbands always have to eat.Affected by the war, domestic food production has plummeted, and it can no longer meet the needs of the whole people, so it can only be purchased from overseas.

A penny is hard for a hero, not to mention that the Alpha Kingdom lacks even a single star.The kingdom's funding gap is tens of millions, which is more than a year's fiscal revenue, and it cannot be squeezed out by the Ministry of Finance if it wants to.

"Delgado, don't be too anxious. The problem of funds, didn't we just collect a war tax?
Grit your teeth and persevere, you can always figure out a way.For the sake of the overall situation, everyone tightened their belts together to live a few years of hard life.

I will take the lead. From now on until the kingdom's finances improve, I will not receive a salary.All high-level officials in the Kingdom have suspended their salaries, and middle and lower-level officials have cut their salaries by [-]% to [-]% as appropriate.

The budgets of various departments are also suppressed; the rewards for meritorious ministers are only distributed to minor nobles, and the rest are owed first! "

The prime minister, the Grand Duke of Newfoundland, pretended to be calm and said.

There is no doubt that this is an offending proposition.Since the outbreak of the war, the various welfare benefits of officials have been greatly reduced, and even less will be obtained after such a reduction.

Department budget, let alone.After the war broke out, except for the increasing expenditure of the Ministry of Military Affairs, other departments were tightening their belts.

On the contrary, the problem of military rewards is the easiest to solve.Because of the war, not only the bounties remained on the books, but even the pensions of the nobles who died in battle were not paid out in time.

Knowing that it is Lei, you have to step on it bravely. Who made him the prime minister of the kingdom?

As the head of all the officials, at such a critical moment, if he dared not come out to offend others, he couldn't let King Caesar III go down personally to incite hatred, right?

"Prime Minister, this is still far from enough.

Most of the kingdom's officials are voluntary, and there are not many who need the Ministry of Finance to pay their salaries, and the Ministry of Finance has already owed everyone two months of salary.

The budgets of various departments are also pressed again and again. Unless you can suppress the expenditure of the General Affairs Department, at most hundreds of thousands of gold coins will be squeezed out.

The bounties of nobles have already been embezzled by the Ministry of Finance.The few million gold coins left in the account are still used for emergencies.

The crisis we are facing now cannot be solved by throttling.The only way is to open source, for example: levy another war tax, or borrow money from countries in the alliance!

Frankly, none of these are good options.

We collected war tax three times last year alone, and again at the beginning of the year. If we collect it now, many small nobles may not be able to support it.

In terms of borrowing foreign debts, I think Earl Francis has more say. "

Delgado shrugged.

The kingdom's finances have been able to persist until now, and there has been no bankruptcy. He, the finance minister, can already proudly declare to the outside world: he is worthy of the kingdom.

"The chancellor is right that borrowing from countries is not a good option. Looking at our past borrowing cases, the process is not beautiful.

A few days ago, a war bond appeared in the Principality of Moxi, and I think the Ministry of Finance can follow suit.

Compared with negotiating with the governments of various countries, it is actually easier to raise funds by selling interest-bearing war bonds directly to the nobles at home and abroad. "

Earl Francis said calmly.

The principality of Moxi sells war bonds everywhere, and there has been a lot of trouble on the mainland.The war bond was not sold to the Alpha Kingdom because everyone is a "bad brother" and life is hard for anyone.

As the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Earl Francis naturally wanted to know what happened in neighboring countries.

"Our current funding gap is as high as more than 3000 million gold coins. Can such a large amount of money be borrowed by issuing war bonds?

Be the first to declare that usury is impossible.The kingdom's financial resources are limited, and it is impossible to bear more than too high interest.We can't afford even normal private lending! "

The Minister of Finance, Marquis Delgado, said solemnly.

Wanting to borrow money but unwilling to bear high interest is a set of contradictory propositions in itself.

The great nobles do have patriotic feelings, but it is still unknown how much gold coins this feeling is worth.

What's more, since the war has been going on, the nobles have also consumed a lot of wealth, and they may not be so rich now.

Even if everyone is willing to support the kingdom, it may be difficult to spend a large amount of cash to buy war bonds. After all, people also have to save money for post-war reconstruction.

"Refer to the interest rate set by the Mosi people, combined with our actual situation, print a batch of war bonds to sell emergency.

However, the Ministry of Finance must strictly control the specific number, and it cannot exceed the kingdom's repayment ability! "

Caesar III said decisively.

The money that should be spent must be spent, even if there is no expedition by the Human Race Alliance Army, the newly recovered seven provinces also need to be included in the kingdom's defense line after the war.

Even if you do it now, you can move the border line to the north.Anyway, after so many years, the specific boundary line has become a mystery.

It would be a fool not to rely on the power of the Human Race Alliance to occupy as many circles as possible.

As long as the established facts are created by actual actions, as long as the human race alliance recognizes it, it will become the legal territory of the Alpha Kingdom.

There is no need to worry about this kind of thing. The overlord of the mainland also wants face. Letting his younger brother give up the benefits he has eaten in his belly, wouldn't it make all races look down on the human race?

As long as you don't play too much, exceed the limit of your own digestion, and attract the jealousy of allies, then it's not a big problem.

……

"Your Majesty, Marshal Campbell was unfortunately killed. There are so many troops on the front line. It is necessary for us to appoint a new commander. Who do you think is suitable?"

Archduke Effiero asked tentatively.

Frankly speaking, there are really not many generals in the Alpha Kingdom Army who are qualified to be the frontline commanders.

All the great nobles in the south were basically excluded from the candidate list for a very simple reason - lack of sufficient military exploits.

On the contrary, the nobles in the north, because they fought with orcs all the year round, accumulated more military achievements and had greater influence in the army.

This is their advantage as well as their disadvantage.

From the standpoint of the king, whoever has the most military achievements and the highest prestige is not the most suitable commander, and the balance of all aspects must also be considered.

"Who are the candidates for the Military Affairs Department?"

Caesar III asked concerned.

This kind of procedure is necessary, even if you have your own candidate in mind, you have to look at the reaction of the officials first.

It is best to let your subordinates do the nomination. If the general nominated in person is rejected by the officials, it will be embarrassing.

This kind of thing is nothing new in the court.Caesar III is considered a powerful monarch, but he still needs to discuss with everyone on important personnel appointments in the kingdom.

"The Ministry of Military Affairs has proposed a total of six people, namely the Duke of Pias, the Duke of Agiron, the Duke of Dias, the Duke of Cavadia, the Earl of Hudson and the Marquis of James."

As soon as Grand Duke Affiero's words fell, Caesar III frowned.There are six candidates in total, and the first four are members of the five major families in the Northland.

If the Duke of Arondo hadn't been killed by the orcs and the prestige of the heir was not enough, it is estimated that the five major families of the Northland would be shortlisted together.

Almost without thinking, he immediately ruled out the first four.

There is no way, the nobles of the Northland have too much influence in the army. If they are allowed to be the commander in chief, will they also be given the position of commander in chief of the standing army in the future?

Originally, the standing army was stationed in the Northland all year round, and the nobles of the Northland had great influence in the army. If another nobleman of the Northland was appointed as the commander-in-chief, the military power might completely fall into the hands of the nobles of the Northland in the long run.

There is no doubt that this kind of situation that cannot be lost is something that no monarch wants to see.

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(End of this chapter)