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Chapter 346 The Spoiler

"Count, the palace is here!"

Hearing the guard's reminder, Hudson poked his head out of the carriage when he was confused by the scene in front of him.

Crown Prince Caesar came to welcome us in person!

You must know that the two of them have no friendship, and the brief contact also broke up unhappy.It's not normal to be so enthusiastic now.

Courtesy to people, there must be something to ask for.

After the simple greetings, Hudson immediately realized that something was wrong.The performance of Crown Prince Caesar was too eager.

It was as if a big event happened and supporters were urgently needed. Even nobles like him, who had had language conflicts, became the target of wooing.

As the only son of the king, and also serving as the bond of marriage with the Principality of Moxi, the status of Crown Prince Caesar can be said to be almost unbreakable.

There is only one explanation for being so eager now - Caesar III's life is not long!
The most important thing for previous new kings to take office is to stabilize the situation.

As an important figure in the military and the fourth dragon knight in the mainland, as long as Crown Prince Caesar is not stupid, he will definitely win over Hudson.

Compared with the overall stability of the kingdom, the little conflict that happened in the Principality of Moxi is not worth mentioning at all.

After entering the hall, Hudson took a seat in his seat after greeting the nobles who had arrived first, and waited quietly for the meeting to start.

……

"It has been 320 years since the ancestors founded the Alpha Kingdom, all the way to the present.

Everyone is called here today to discuss the future development of the kingdom.

The orc empire has declined, and the international situation has undergone earth-shaking changes. The kingdom's previous national policy is no longer suitable.

This matter not only involves the future of the kingdom, but also the future of your families.If you have any suggestions, please speak up! "

The hero is late.Looking at the trembling Caesar III, everyone couldn't help feeling sad.

Regardless of everyone's position, in everyone's mind, Caesar III is a qualified king.

"Your Majesty, although the international situation has stabilized, it does not mean that the crisis is over.

When the kingdom's vitality was seriously injured, the three major kingdoms in the middle of the country made more and more small movements, and their tentacles continued to extend to the northern continent.

The civil war broke out in the Warhammer Kingdom, and it was very difficult to suppress the group of ancient survivors in the ice and snow world, not to mention the group of elves in the Norwegian forest.

Once the situation gets out of control, the entire Northern Continent will fall into chaos.As the strongest country in the north, we are obliged to maintain the stability of the regional situation.

It is now 99991 years of the sacred calendar, and the next ten thousand years of catastrophe is close at hand.How restrained everyone is now, how violent it will be when it erupts in the future.

In this context, the kingdom must have a powerful standing army in order to be invincible in the changing situation in the future! "

While speaking, Grand Duke Efiero cast his gaze on Hudson.Among the feudal nobles, Hudson, who had served as the commander-in-chief of the army, had the closest connection with the military.

In the past, this kind of position was usually held by the nobles of the royal capital or members of the royal family.

Hudson, who took the position by chance, has been labeled as the spokesperson of the military since he took the position of coach.

"Your Majesty the Grand Duke is right, in the current situation, it is indeed not suitable for the Kingdom to reduce its armaments excessively.

The mainland seems to be peaceful, but secretly, the arms race has kicked off a few years ago.

Because of the orcs, the kingdom has fallen behind in many fields in a new round of military technological change.

If we want to catch up now, it is not something that our family can do with our efforts. We must unite and cooperate sincerely.

I propose to set up a special research and development fund for the research and development of magic crossbows, magic crystal cannons, magic guides, monster breeding, and various magic potions.

Regarding the source of funds, I personally suggest that a part of the tithe be withdrawn, and the insufficient amount can be taxed on luxury goods such as spices and tea.

Considering the actual situation, I think the investment in these projects should not be less than 300 million gold coins.

In a short period of time, the kingdom has no pressure from war.The number of the standing army can be reduced, but considering the actual situation, it is not appropriate to do it in one step before the formation of the Warcraft Legion is completed.

At present, the kingdom's standing army has dropped to 26, which is relatively reasonable.Even if you want to continue to reduce, there is not much room for compression.

Who made us the third kingdom on the mainland?

If the number of the standing army is too small to deter those wolves, tigers and leopards, wouldn't it be that cats and dogs would come to bully them! "

When Hudson's voice fell to the ground, it immediately caused an uproar among the fief lords.One's own interests must be safeguarded, and the interests of the kingdom cannot be ignored either.

In the big circle of aristocrats, you still have to have a card.The same is true for nobles. When a noble from a strong country goes out, he speaks harder than the nobles from a weak country.

Especially for some large families engaged in international trade, they need the backing of a powerful kingdom.

The alliance is temporary, but the interests are eternal.It seems that Hudson just said some unnutritious truths, but it is actually a split in the noble camp.

The Great Noble Alliance, which was originally established temporarily because of interests, instantly split into two factions.Several great nobles engaged in international trade, forced by their own interests, have become hesitant at this moment.

"Earl Hudson, everyone understands the truth. If conditions permit, even if the kingdom builds a standing army of 100 million, we will support it.

But the real problem is: no money!
The huge debt has weighed down the kingdom.Continuing to maintain high military expenditures is bound to drag down our fragile finances.

The three consecutive years of war have exhausted the strength of the kingdom's people.Now not only the kingdom is poor, but the people are even poorer.

Your southeastern province is rich and rich, and you cannot understand the suffering of our northern Xinjiang region.In order to complete the taxation task of the kingdom, nobles from all over the world are worried.

In order to support this war, several provinces in northern Xinjiang have reached the brink of collapse.If you don't expect to gain the support of the kingdom, you can't continue to increase our burden! "

Duke Torsten fired first.

Hatred is one aspect, and conflicting interests are the core factor.International trade has little to do with their group of landlubbers from northern Xinjiang.

Even if the kingdom artificially opened up a port in the north, it was only used for military purposes before.Although it was opened to the private sector after the war, maritime trade cannot be involved in a day or two.

Not long ago, they lost a large sum of money. Coupled with the consumption during the war, the pockets of the five major families in the Northland were not rich.

In particular, the kingdom has also canceled their military subsidies, and now they have to figure out their own way for every expenditure, but the north is not as rich as the south.

Even if they want to get involved in ocean trade, they can only slow down and accumulate capital slowly.When it develops, I don't know what year and month it will be.

Originally, the establishment of the Seven Kingdoms of the Grassland was an opportunity, but unfortunately there were several provinces further north in the middle.

The nobles who just moved here are all so poor that they are almost red-eyed, how can they let them go and get a share of the pie!

Since I am not the beneficiary, why should I pay for it?

"Duke Torsten, the Alpha Kingdom is a whole, and it is absolutely not allowed to form small groups in private and attempt to split the kingdom!
When you faced the threat of orcs back then, how did everyone support you with all your strength? You won't forget it so quickly, right?

Now the northern border is safe, but this security is also achieved through the joint efforts of the whole kingdom! "

Hudson countered sharply.

Frankly speaking, Hudson didn't want to do this kind of limelight, but someone gave too much.

Although Hudson has obtained a lot of technical information through various secret transactions, sailors and boatmen are still a big problem for the Koslow family to set foot in the ocean.

Naturally, the obvious problems could not be hidden from the wily Caesar III.Just last night, an uninvited guest suddenly came to the door and changed Hudson's mind, who was about to paddle.

An offshore fleet, a large shipyard, and supporting sailors and shipbuilders are the price offered by Caesar III.

Of course, these things are not free.All personnel and equipment have to be bought with money.

Unlike the era when capital prevailed, any commodity could be bought and sold.If you can't buy it, it must be that the bid is not high enough.

In the continent of Aslant dominated by nobles, the most important means of production have never been for sale.

In the entire Alpha Kingdom, there are very few families that possess these things, and the royal family happens to be one of them.

After weighing the pros and cons, Hudson chose to cooperate.As for the issue of the noble alliance, I haven't looked for him beforehand, so I don't know.

In order to reduce hatred, Hudson pretended to be confused when he first came up, never mentioning that everyone paid taxes with war bonds, and only started discussions around the military budget.

As the spokesperson of the military, if he doesn't ask for an increase in the military budget, he is taking the overall situation into consideration. You can't expect him to propose a reduction in the standing army, right?
"Hudson, don't talk nonsense! Our North..."

Before Duke Thorsten could continue speaking, Duke Rodriguez hurriedly pulled him back.

If you go on like this, it will really fall into the trap.

It doesn't matter if you do things like forming cliques in private, and it doesn't matter if others talk about it. If you publicly bring it up on the stage, then it will really be the big hat that Hudson buckled.

What's more, it doesn't make any sense to mention the contributions of the nobles of the Northland. Who made them overturn at the last moment?

Now everyone only remembers their fault of reselling military supplies. As for the meritorious service of defending the kingdom before, it has long been wiped out.

Perhaps realizing that the situation was about to get out of control, Caesar III took advantage of the situation and said, "Okay, today's discussion is about the kingdom's future development outline, not a place to settle personal grievances.

If the political opinions are still controversial, then vote directly, there is no need to intensify the conflict. "

It seems that they each play [-] big boards, but in fact they are more inclined, which can be seen from the gloomy face of Duke Torsten.

If his companion hadn't caught him in time, he would have stepped on a huge thunder today.Not to mention that there will be no redemption, at the very least, he will be disgraced.

If it weren't for his own strength, he would have jumped out and challenged Hudson to a duel.It was so insidious that he didn't even forget to dig a hole for him even when discussing matters.

"Your Majesty is right!"

"Dear Duke Torsten, I'm very sorry. I was too impulsive just now, please forgive my rudeness!"

Hudson said sincerely.

If it weren't for the episode of digging a hole just now, maybe everyone would really believe it.But aristocratic demeanor, that's what it is.

No matter how much you want the other party to die in your heart, you have to hold it on your face.Especially in meetings of this level, it is necessary to be personable throughout.

"It doesn't matter, everyone is young. Now that His Majesty has spoken, let's vote according to the rules on the issue of military expenditure!"

Duke Torsten, who had calmed down, suppressed his anger and responded.

Deep down in his heart, Torsten comforted himself: It doesn’t matter if you fail in the bickering, the key still depends on the final voting result. He doesn’t rely on lip service to make a living!
"Prince Torsten's suggestion is good. Let's go through the process. This time, it's okay for the two of us to jointly initiate the proposal."

Hudson said with a smile.

Regardless of what Duke Torsten thinks, Hudson is in a good mood now anyway.After being disturbed by him, the situation has already changed.

Families with a relatively large proportion of international trade, at this time, there is a high probability that they will rebound, and the rest depends on the means of Caesar III.

The king can buy him, and naturally he can buy others.Hudson did not believe that Caesar III would pin all his hopes on him.

Pushing him out to be the early bird is because of the right status.Even if there is no Hudson, there will be other fief nobles who will come forward. Anyway, it is impossible for Caesar III to end up arguing with everyone in person.

Glancing at the two of them, seeing that Duke Torsten had no objection, the prime minister, the Grand Duke of Newfoundland, slowly got up and said: "The two representatives jointly initiated the proposal, and the content of the proposal is valid.

It concerns the future of the kingdom, please choose carefully.Still the old rules, there are three options: support, oppose, abstain.

Voting now: Those of the nobles who support Hudson's proposal, please raise your hands now. "

As soon as the words fell, Hudson raised his hand first.At this time, one cannot be modest. As one of the representatives of the meeting, his statement is also counted in the votes.

Immediately afterwards, more than 30 hands were raised in unison at the scene. Just looking at the number of supporters, the number of supporters has exceeded half, but unfortunately there is a gap between the hands.

One vote for a medium-sized noble is one vote, and one vote for a big noble is three, and Caesar III, who has the most, represents the right to speak of more than a dozen votes.

Seeing that the counting of votes was coming to an end, Earl Pierce, who was hesitant at first, slowly raised his hand, and then several nobles from the frontier provinces followed suit and voted in favor.

There is no way, no matter how good the talks are in advance, it cannot meet the needs of interests.

Because of the orcs, the Alpha Kingdom, which is in a special position, has always had a good relationship with its neighbors.Even in the period of decline, no one reached out to the kingdom's sphere of influence.

As time passed, everyone gradually forgot the threat of foreign enemies.Now being reminded by Hudson, these nobles with relevant interests have to think more.

It is one thing to compete for the cubs of Warcraft. If the standing army is cut too hard, in the event of an international conflict in the future, they can only rely on the private army of the nobles of the kingdom to support them.

If you think about it with your toes, you know that the reinforcement speed of the standing army is definitely not comparable to that of the private army of the nobles.

If it happens that the central government is in a weak period, the efficiency of this reinforcement will be even lower.Maybe just because of such a little efficiency, he will kill himself.

"With more than half of the votes in favor, Earl Hudson's proposal is approved!"

　After reading the comments, I was sprayed so badly!Well, the author with few updates, dare not speak
　
(End of this chapter)