I will be crowned king

Now that the deal terms had been finalized, the White Whale Harbor Council, which was surprised and delighted, did not dare to neglect the matter at all, and immediately publicly invited Colonel William Cecil to come as a guest to formally discuss the specific details of this year's "taxation".

After receiving guarantees from Anson and the Rune family, the young fleet commander immediately responded to the invitation, but in order not to appear too positive, at the first mate's suggestion, he stated that he would be invited to go when the next regular meeting of the Parliament was held.

Although he behaved calmly, William was in a more urgent mood than the Beluga Port Council at the moment. He could not wait to finish all the work tomorrow, return to North Port the day after tomorrow, and rush to the Osteria Palace the day after tomorrow to report this to His Majesty Carlos II in person. Great news!

After some narration by the first mate, William also roughly understood the significance of this taxation to the royal family, Clovis, and the frontline army.

As a small country with not very rich resources - compared to the empire - Clovis has the most complete industrial system in the world, especially the developed steel industry; it relies on a steady stream of cheap and high-quality products (this is doubtful) The steel output supports the rapid development of all other industries, especially the military industry, offsetting the empire's huge size advantage.

As the "steam core" that drives the development of the entire kingdom, that is, steel and military industries - almost all of which are monopolized by the royal family, they try their best to reduce costs, produce huge quantities of rifles and artillery, and arm Clovis's army to the teeth. .

But this also requires that far-reaching, sufficient and cheap resources must be available to support this ever-hungry war machine.

It was even in order to reduce transportation costs that Clovis formed a railway committee and spared no expense to implement the ambitious "Iron Cross" and "Grand Cross" plans - with Clovis City as the core, connecting North Port and all resource producing areas to each other. The company forms a vertical and horizontal railway network that runs through the entire country.

Once it loses its cost advantage and a stable source of raw materials, Clovis, who can still fight back and forth with the empire at the moment, will have a rapid decline in combat effectiveness. Even if it wins, it is likely to be weak and unable to achieve any decisive results.

Under this premise, it helped the royal family stabilize its procurement tasks and saved a full quarter of its expenses. Such achievements simply cannot be described in words.

If it fails, regardless of the subsequent accountability, the entire Clovis military industry will be greatly affected, and it will be directly reflected in the war on the front line.

To be honest, he still can't understand why Anson and Talia made this decision - yes, such a generous donation will definitely help them win the hearts and minds of the people of Beluga Harbor, and the colony will be optimistic about it from top to bottom. The Luen family is filled with gratitude and respect.

But the problem is that he is already the de facto ruler of Beluga Port. Even if he resorts to forced conquest, no force in the colony will dare to resist; there is no need to pay such a heavy price and spend his own money to solve the problems of the royal family. .

Even if you gain a good reputation at home and in the colonies, what's the use?

William Cecil had no idea.

……………………

"Of course he doesn't understand."

In the study room of the headquarters, Anson said to the young secretary in front of him with a leisurely expression: "Things in this world may be very objective in themselves, but different people will have different interpretations from different perspectives."

"From William Cecil's point of view, it was Thalia and I who gave him a gift to win over him, the Cecil family and the Royal Navy. It was too late for him to thank us; because it was a gift that could greatly benefit him. His achievements will improve his status in the royal fleet, and even in Clovis as a whole!"

"But if it comes to the eyes of His Majesty Carlos II, it's a completely different story."

The proud Anson picked up the iced rum on the table, raised his glass and drank it in one gulp.

"That's true." The humble clerk, Alan Dawn, who had just grown up, nodded matter-of-factly. While pouring wine for Anson, he couldn't help but agree:

"From the perspective of His Majesty Carlos II, what could have been done by force through administrative orders was because Colonel William Cecil 'actively persuaded' the Loon family to donate, resulting in the royal family owing a day to the Loon family. It’s a huge favor, and the actual donation of a quarter must be publicly promoted as half, making an already embarrassing matter even more embarrassing.”

"I dare to take offense and guess what His Majesty is thinking. On the surface, he will definitely praise Colonel William for his loyal and patriotic act, but deep down, he will probably hate him to the core."

"Because His Majesty owes the Luen family a huge favor. Because of this favor, no matter what Lord Anson or Miss Talia asks of His Majesty, in order to ensure that the 'taxation' is successfully completed, he must agree."

"That's it." Anson nodded briskly.

"But please forgive your secretary for being slow, I still have some doubts." The young secretary frowned slightly:

"Is this really good? I mean...after all, Colonel William is your friend, and the Cecil family is also your important future partner."

"Of course, it couldn't be better." Anson's lips revealed a sarcastic smile:

"The so-called partners are another way of saying using each other - I use the power of the Cecil family to gain a foothold in the colony and expand their sphere of influence; they are using us to increase the Royal Navy's presence in the Kingdom of Clovis. sense of presence?”

"As long as Clovis's confrontation with the empire lasts longer, the reliance on external resources will inevitably become higher and higher. The Royal Navy can increase its importance by escorting trade routes and ensuring the input of resources; leading this time' The status of the tax-collecting Cecil family in the naval system will also rise accordingly."

"Even if I hadn't asked, do you think William Cecil wouldn't have taken credit for it?"

"Definitely not!" The little secretary immediately stood up and nodded seriously:

"Even if not, he and the family forces behind him will definitely spread rumors behind his back to let everyone know that this is the result of the efforts of the Cecil family."

"That's right, so everyone is tacitly understanding it - although William probably doesn't understand it yet... Well, I hope he can continue to maintain this innocence, just like Major General Ludwig."

Anson slowly raised the corners of his mouth and unconsciously showed a smile:

"Let's put aside the tax collection for now and let's talk about the Legion Farm."

Alan Dawn nodded slightly and took out a document titled "The 101st Year of the Saint's Calendar, Beluga Port Temporary Land Acquisition and Reclamation Trial Regulations" from a huge document bag.

According to the final result after many negotiations with the Beluga Port Council, the Storm Division will establish a total of twelve legion farms throughout the Ice Dragon Fjord colony, with a ratio of about one to five of the cultivated land of the colonists' farms.

The construction, reclamation, procurement of tools and seeds and all miscellaneous and maintenance expenses of these legions are all reimbursed from the public funds of the Storm Division - as for why a former cannon fodder division has so much public funds, it is thanks to the generous people of Hantu .

Since the construction is completely undertaken by the Storm Division, all the profits will naturally be independently owned by the Storm Division. Although the climate of Ice Dragon Fjord is extremely cold, with the fertility of the land in the New World, the cost can be barely recovered in the first year, and it can probably be independently satisfied in the second year. A quarter of the storm division's logistics supply is provided, and if a bumper harvest can be guaranteed after the third year, it can probably satisfy about half.

Of course, this cannot meet all the needs of the Storm Division, but Anson originally came to the colony not to farm; the existence of the Legion Farm is a "strategic investment" for the Storm Division in the local area, and at the same time, it avoids being stuck by the colony in terms of logistics issues. Just use this as a bargaining chip to negotiate terms with the storm master.

At the same time, since it is a legion farm, their existence cannot only be farming, but also meet the needs of protection-all farms are close to water sources and road hubs, forming a network of branch colonies to protect Beluga Port.

In addition to being self-sufficient, these and forts can also radiate the force of the Storm Division to the surrounding farms, further consolidating the Storm Division's dominance over the colony.

The colonial farmers, who lost most of their influence in the White Whale Port Assembly due to the death of Speaker Harold and gained financial power through parliamentary reforms, were unable to unite enough voices of resistance under the attack of carrots and sticks. Only a few large farms expressed dissatisfaction, which could not influence the decision of the entire parliament.

The only industrial owners in the colonies, such as forest farms and mines, who would have been on their side, were first frightened to death by the Alliance of Promise Keepers and the large warehouses that were blown up to the sky, and then they were moved to tears by the generosity of the Rune family. The power gained by carving up the interests of Speaker Harold made him a loyal supporter of the "Honorary Speaker".

Although it has been less than two months, the road construction plan around the entire Beluga Port has begun to be fruitful. Some only require simple construction and scheduled maintenance to be in normal operation. "March roads" connect several forest farms and coal mines closest to the port. up, greatly reducing the originally required transportation time.

As it should be, these roads are completely owned by the Storm Division. Any caravan that wants to use them must pay tolls at the military stations set up by the Storm Division according to the value of the goods being transported.

Even so, increasingly convenient transportation can still greatly reduce the costs of industrial owners and caravans and improve circulation efficiency; and in order to win over industrial owners, Anson has set taxes on bulk resource commodities at extremely low levels, and at the same time imposed strict restrictions on imports. domestic products are heavily taxed.

As a loyal minister of the kingdom, Anson would certainly not harvest the native's wool, but this did not prevent him from harvesting the leeks of other colonists.

But for other colonial settlements in Ice Dragon Fjord, Anson is not without "preferential policies" - with the Storm Division completely establishing a foothold in Beluga Port, the soldiers who originally had to garrison military camps and build farms or roads have now been You can start dispatching to patrol and maintain security throughout the colony.

Following the footsteps of these patrols, "The Good People of Beluga Port" also began to spread to hotels and taverns of all sizes in Ice Dragon Fjord, providing a little "fresh" entertainment for the colonists with poor spiritual lives.

But for these small and medium-sized colonies, what matters most to them is the security guarantee and road construction plan that the Storm Division can provide.

Unlike big cities with walls and ports like Beluga Port, these inland settlements surrounded by forests, mountains and rivers have very little or even no resistance when faced with intrusions from wild beasts and indigenous people. From time to time, we encountered intrusions and lootings, families of settlers were massacred, and caravans disappeared as soon as they left the town... These were all common occurrences.

And this is not even the worst part. Some remote colonies are even completely "captive" by the surrounding indigenous settlements. They have to make regular donations to the indigenous people to survive. They are also prohibited from leaving the reclaimed wasteland and have completely turned into slaves and slaves. Relations between slave owners.

Yes, with the vigorous "help" of the colonists, the natives of the New World have gradually begun to leap from primitive and ignorant clan tribes to an advanced slave system - although this is by no means the result that the colonists expected.

In the past, these weak colonies would hire adventurers and mercenary groups from Beluga Port to provide them with protection, hunt and expel wild beasts, and encircle and suppress nearby indigenous people.

But now that those unprofessional mercenary groups have been almost completely killed, naturally this job has fallen into the hands of professionals.

The Storm Division's next step is to rectify the indigenous settlements within the colony, shut down these illegal shanties in the wild, and move the devout believers loyal to Clovis to the surroundings of Beluga Harbor, turning them into glorious " City people".

At the same time, William Cecil was also actively contacting the mainland, appointing a cruiser to escort the merchant ships in Beluga Port, sailing directly to North Port, and also sent back the letter entrusted by Anson.

So in mid-March, when the commissioners of the Royal Bank had just arrived at Beluga Port, the legend began to spread in Clovis City about "Colonel William Cecil was ordered to be in danger, and the Luen family generously donated money."

In the Franz Residence in the inner city, Sophia took the letter just sent by a guy who claimed to be "loyal" to her, carefully opened the bedroom door, and walked along the corridor towards the stairs leading to the first floor.

In the living room, Luther Franz, who unexpectedly did not go to church, was sitting on the sofa in front of the fireplace, drinking coffee and reading a somewhat worn copy of "The Life of Saint Isaac"; a steaming coffee pot was placed on the coffee table. Next to it lay a letter identical to Sophia's.

Just when Sophia was about to take the opportunity to sneak out quietly, the Archbishop suddenly closed the biographical novel in his hand: "Sophia."

"Um?!"

The alert girl turned around suddenly, hid the letter behind her back with both hands, tilted her head slightly and smiled sweetly: "What's the matter, father?"

"Oh, it's nothing serious. It's just a whim. I suddenly want to discuss something with you." The archbishop raised his head and chuckled at his daughter with a leisurely expression:

"Tell me, Sophia, are you interested in going..."

"What about being a colonial governor?"