I Will Be The Crowned King

It stands to reason that Leon François led the army to return in triumph and completely solved the biggest threat after the White Tower Rebellion - the possibility of the intervention of the Elven Kingdom of Iser, and the people of Thun should cheer and cheer.

But when the Clovis-Thun coalition arrived at Golden Rock City, they were greeted by only a few knights from the Grand Duke's Guard; there was no entrance ceremony, no flowers, no cheering crowd, and no grand welcome banquet.

Nothing at all.

The entire Jinshi City was as quiet as if they had not seen more than 20,000 people outside their city. Everything was business as usual; the few knights did not hold high the swallowtail flag made of colorful silk and satin in accordance with the tradition of welcoming the triumphant army.

The archduke knight at the head bowed respectfully to Leon and Anson, and then relayed the Archduke's order to them—all the troops were stationed outside the Golden Rock City, and the Golden Rock City would provide all the necessary supplies.

The deputy commander himself and his cronies can accompany Master Leon Francois into the city, and a simple dinner has been prepared in the palace to wash away the dust for everyone.

Under the gate of Jinshicheng, the confused little Leon blushed instantly; he also discussed many details of the alliance with Anson on the way here, and swore to the officers of the Storm Division more than once: " Clovis friends, will receive the highest courtesy from Golden Rock."

The response from his father in front of him was tantamount to slapped him twice.

Just when Little Leon couldn't restrain himself and wanted to draw his knife, Anson who was beside him stopped him immediately, and he nodded slightly to the Archduke Knight headed by him, and let Henares who was following behind him. Take a deep breath.

………………

Jinshicheng, the palace hall.

Under the brilliant and dazzling crystal chandeliers, the waiters dressed in celebratory dresses accompanied by the melodious violin music, flew around and served the guests at the table with delicious food and wine.

It's a "simple dinner party", but it's actually quite rich: crispy fried smoked fish, rich seafood bisque, chestnut roast chicken, traditional braised veal, parsley ham, charcoal Grilled sausages...plus a vegetable salad and fruit platter, cream puffs and cherry cake for dessert, and three different flavors of table wine.

Compared with the first banquet of Anson's "guest" in Jinshi City last time, the proportion of meat in the dishes this time has increased significantly, which is completely inconsistent with the Thun people's preference for fresh vegetables, fruits and fresh food, but Clovis was present. Everyone ate happily—apparently the Grand Duke Claude Francois prepared it specially.

This eased the originally embarrassed little Leon, but he still couldn't understand why his father didn't prepare a "triumph ceremony" for him-sitting at Anson's lower seat, he was drinking suffocating wine, and said a word from beginning to end Do not send.

Two-thirds of the way into the banquet, the drunk Thun nobles and the officers of the Storm Division were sent to the palace guest rooms to rest with the help of waiters and maids; the plates on the table were also removed. , replaced by simple pastries and coffee.

Looking at the last nonsense, shouting "I can still drink!" The noble Thun was dragged out of the hall by two knights, and Claude Francois's eyes finally fell on the opposite Anson:

"I thought you would whine at me."

"What do you mean?"

Holding the steaming coffee, Anson asked Archduke Thun with a smile.

"...Nothing." Claude Francois glanced over the sullen little Leon, and waved to the servant who was holding a cigarette case behind him:

"Do you smoke a pipe? I've got some nice, fine stuff recently, from the Empire."

"Thank you, but no need."

"Not used to it or...haven't tried it?"

"I'm not used to it, but I don't reject its taste - I'm just naturally resistant to being addicted."

Claude Francois nodded slightly, and the waiter who was pleased to see looked at Carl Bain beside Anson.

"Uh, that's actually me too... I mean I'm actually a scroll... Er, thank you."

Before Karl, who originally wanted to refuse, had finished speaking, the waiter had already lit a pipe for him and presented it to him, so he had no choice but to accept it.

The archduke, who was biting his pipe, snuffed out the match, took a deep breath, and the gray-white smoke poured out of his nostrils.

"The battle of Eagle Point City, you fought beautifully - to be honest, I originally thought that this battle would last at least thirty days, and I even prepared for a long time, but I didn't expect it to end in just one day."

"Now half of the vast land is scared to death by you Clovis people, half of the vast land has panicked and wants to surrender, and the Seven Cities Alliance has completely collapsed - I originally planned to hold the Seven Cities Alliance meeting first. Can't win over a few allies; now? Humph..."

Claude Francois, who took down his pipe, shook his head and chuckled a few times.

"Isn't that bad?" An Sen said with a sip of coffee.

"Not good? No, it's great!" The Grand Duke said with bright eyes:

"Before the battle of Eaglehorn City, there were still many **** who had united, taking advantage of the army's northward occupation of several manors and fortresses on the border of Thun, and planning to continue to invade and divide up Thun!"

Little Leon raised his head suddenly, looking at his father with surprise in his eyes.

"Their wishful thinking is that the Iser Elf will never give up Eagle Horn City, and will retake it at all costs; and as long as Clovis withdraws from Eagle Horn City, he will no longer be able to interfere in the affairs of the Seven Cities Alliance." Smoking a pipe The Grand Duke said slowly:

"At that time, I only had 2,000 Guards left, and 10,000 recruits who were just recruited and were severely lacking in training and weapons; I could only pretend to be a snake for these **** and acquiesce in their occupation of the border territory."

"If the Yisel Elf wins the battle of Eaglehorn City, no...you don't even need to win. As long as this battle lasts for more than a month, the whole of Thun will be torn apart, and it will be completely eaten up by those **** as a cake."

"If the Francois family can still retain the Golden Rock City and one-fifth of the territory, then it will be thanks to their generosity and kindness!"

Claude Francois snorted mockingly.

"But Clovis and Thun won the battle of Eaglehorn City, and even almost wiped out Iser's Janissaries." Anson smiled.

"That's right, and it's faster and more ruthless than everyone imagined - just one battle will damage Iser's vitality and he can only protect himself." The Grand Duke said slowly, looking directly at An Sen:

"So you understand why I didn't prepare a triumphal ceremony for you, and why I didn't even allow you to be stationed in the city?"

Anson blew the rising water vapor in the cup, and the sweet and greasy coffee with brown sugar and milk slid across the tip of his tongue and into his throat.

Little Leon turned his attention to Anson with a bit of hope in his eyes.

"Because if the archduke really makes a big splash and holds a triumphal ceremony for you, the news of the alliance of Thun and Clovis going south will appear in front of all the rulers of the Seven Cities Alliance overnight."

Before Anson could speak, Henares, who was beside him, said first:

"Once they knew that the army that had just defeated Iser had returned to Golden Rock, the lords who tried to invade and divide Thun would immediately spit out the territory they had just occupied, and used various excuses to say that everything was a misunderstanding and handed over the hostages. And a reparation, surrender to Clovis."

"But such a result is not in the interest of Thun, nor in the interest of the Clovis Kingdom - if this matter is resolved like this, Thun and Clovis will lose the excuse to attack them, even in order to avoid Being besieged by the vast land nations, you must also be very tolerant and generous."

Henares took a look at Anson's reaction, and after confirming again and again that the other party had no intention of refuting, he continued to add:

"But it's completely different now. As long as they haven't stopped their invasion of Thun, we have ample reasons to counterattack and even completely conquer their territory, and take the first step towards the unification of the François family."

"As long as it is properly controlled and not overly greedy, it will not cause a collective backlash from the vast land nations."

After listening to Henares' explanation, Little Leon thought for a while, and then turned his attention to Anson again.

"Henares is absolutely right, I have nothing to add." Anson nodded slightly, then raised his coffee cup to signal to Claude Francois:

"The rise of Thun is entirely in Clovis's interests. In this war, the Storm Division will represent the Supreme Commander of the Southern Legion and the will of Clovis, and wholeheartedly support the just cause of the Francois family!"

The bright-eyed Grand Duke immediately took down his pipe and raised the coffee cup in his hand: "No, it's for the friendship between Clovis and Thun, and for our common cause!"

"cheers--!"

The Clovis officers and Thun nobles on both sides of the long table got up one after another and raised their glasses to celebrate; the excited little Leon even drank the coffee in the cup, regardless of the steaming heat.

"What do you want to be paid for?"

As soon as he was seated, Claude Francois spoke directly.

Of course, he would not be naive enough to think that the Clovis people are some kind of "righteous partners", and they came south to do charity - if they didn't pay enough price, they would only be more cruel than the Iser elves.

"After the banquet is over, my adjutant and secretary will come up with a specific plan to negotiate with you." Anson did not answer directly:

"Before that, the Storm Division needs a stable rear base for receiving various supplies from the direction of Eagle Point - especially the recruits for weapons and replenishment."

"You asked me to lease a piece of land in Thun to you?" Claude Francois immediately understood his thoughts:

"Where do you want?"

"How is Baita City?" An Sen chuckled:

"The Iser elf there has just been removed by you, and it just happened to be temporarily vacant. Why don't you lend it to us temporarily?"

"Can!"

Claude Francois' eyes lit up: "How about the rent?"

"This is easy to handle. We can negotiate a number in advance; for example, the price is based on the lease period of six months to one year, and then the total price will be discounted for the arms you bought at the August Arms Factory." Anson pretended to be casual. :

"If you don't think it's appropriate, you can deduct the rent directly from the military spending."

Well, anyway, you don't want to use a piece of land as collateral to let me pay for the arms you bought - that's absolutely impossible.

Grand Duke Thun smoked his pipe, hesitated for a while, and then let out a wisp of smoke: "No problem, I think 10 percent is suitable."

In a plain tone, as if he had never thought of using Baita City as a mortgage for arms.

"I also think one-tenth is very suitable." Anson nodded in agreement.

The two of them looked at each other and showed a smile of understanding.

Everyone around was laughing with them.

As long as there is a base - even if it is borrowed - the storm division can establish a relatively stable supply line without completely relying on Eagle Point City, and it is more convenient for them to do the "purchasing" business.

According to the letter sent by Sophia, the paintings and crafts of Iser Elf and Thun are very popular in Clovis; she is preparing for a "charity auction", and plans to normalize the auction if it goes well - it will require a lot of Loot, and for better or worse, the more the better.

With the loot auction, and the arms business of the August Armoury Factory, even after deducting the cost and the amount that must be allocated to the storm division, I can earn it... um... do you think about it in Clovis? Buy a manor on the outskirts of the city and retire before the age of 30?

If all these materials are stored in Eagle Point City, even with Ludwig's guarantee, there is no guarantee that the logistics and officers of the Southern Legion will not pay attention to themselves - with the quality of Clovis officers, this is definitely not the case. What a small probability event~www.readwn.com~ They can empty the warehouse of a military fortress like Thunder Fort, which is connected with the north-south line of communication, and get a bunch of fake accounts that ordinary people will definitely go crazy after reading it, and "only smart people can read it." The materials that can be seen" forced the empire who occupied the fortress to be exhausted, and let him take it down in less than 30 days...

However, if you have an independent logistics base, you can not only extend the length of the supply line in the next battle against the Seven Cities Alliance, but also need to stay in Eagle Point City for a day from the north of Baita City, which greatly reduces the possibility of being manipulated. .

According to Carl Bain, logistics officers who are keen to make money usually don't make their minds on the trucks that can only stay for a short time.

Because if the road is not paved in advance, it is easy to expose and cause disputes; unless they are bribed, they do not like to do this kind of high-risk "work"... Of course, it is only usually.

"In that case, how about the official start tomorrow?" Claude Francois took the opportunity to propose:

"I will send the 10,000 recruits I just recruited to Baita City to prepare, confuse those **** and make them think that we are vulnerable; the main force will take advantage of the situation and then launch an attack, defeating them in one go!"

"No problem, the departure time will be tomorrow morning. Tonight, my adjutant Carl will be able to show you the draft of the alliance!" Anson smiled and got up, put down the coffee cup, and picked up the wine next to him:

"For the great cause of the Francois family!"

Grand Duke Thun pushed aside the back chair almost at the same time, raised his glass with a solemn expression and shouted:

"For Clovis's glory!"

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