Volume 2: Empire Chapter 204: Sergei's Enlightenment
The ventilation duct on the ceiling blew cool air, and a chandelier swayed from side to side in the air flow.
The light illuminates the closed room and also illuminates the two people in front and behind the desk.
Baron Sergei was wearing the uniform of the Wolf Battalion of the City Militia. He had specially found the best tailor in the Holy Mountain to make changes to the original City Militia uniform, making the new uniform closer to the Imperial Army uniform. The overall style was tough, highlighting the heroic spirit of the soldiers.
For today's military commissioning ceremony, Baron Sergei even cut his hair short, and everything was in accordance with the standards of imperial officers.
Sitting opposite Baron Sergei was the envoy of the Duke of Celtic, an old barbarian wearing a robe that only barbarian nobles were qualified to wear. His muscles were not as strong as those of young people, and his loose skin stuck to his bones, which further highlighted the barbarian's large frame.
The envoy kindly advised Baron Sergei: "The Gray Wolf Brigade is a city militia that maintains the law and order of the Holy Mountain, not a formal army that conducts military operations.
Look at the other militias. Those young barbarians don't even have leather armor. Their weapons are just ironwood sticks, which are enough to handle all the incidents in the Holy Mountain. There is no need for heavily armored combat soldiers to deal with civilians, let alone war machines and magic projectiles.
baron!
The Duke understands your feelings and knows that you want to fight for the freedom of Tedega Hill. But you must consider the feelings of your colleagues and the barbarian leaders. The equipment of the Gray Wolf Brigade is better than the steel armored guards of the Duke's Castle, which is not a good thing for you. "
“Count Rammutu…” Baron Sergei showed great respect to the old barbarian count: “You have the title of the brain of the Duke’s Castle, a wise man, and a nobleman respected by everyone, including the Duke.
I feel extremely honored that you have come to attend the inauguration ceremony of the Canglang Brigade.
With your wisdom and understanding of war, you must understand that the war potential of the old system of Tedega Hills has been exhausted. The barbarians alone cannot drive away the iron-armed imperial army. Only when the human army loyal to the Duke joins the war can the situation be reversed.
The battlefield of the Gray Wolf Brigade is not the Holy Mountain, and the opponent is not civilians, but the main army of the empire. The soldiers of the empire are all armed with steel and magic. In the battle, they will orderly deploy war machines, alchemical war puppets, and airships to release battle magic.
If I let my soldiers go to the battlefield with sticks and cloth, they will be sent to their deaths. I will not destroy the first human army in Tedejia Hills like this."
The Barbarian Count Rammutu sighed and said, " You are right. The current Imperial Army is no longer the same as before. The Barbarian Army is lagging behind the times. But the Duke has recognized the mistakes we made and is actively preparing for changes. I heard that the Duke has made up his mind to lift the factory ban.
This is a great thing for you humans who are good at business. But the barbarians will have to pay a very high price for these changes. The Duke will face great pressure. The barbarian nobles and tribal leaders will not allow these measures to be implemented smoothly.
The Duke does not want you humans to stimulate the barbarians during this special period. You should earn money quietly instead of driving these expensive machines around. The barbarians who are bankrupted by the impact will not be able to bear this gap. "
If Baron Sergei had not had that dinner with Luke, he might have agreed to Count Rammutu's request this time in order not to provoke the barbarians.
Now Baron Sergei has learned to break out of his own limitations and look at things from a macro perspective.
In the past, Tedega Hills implemented factory restrictions. Who were restricted?
The restrictions are on the human race who are good at business.
However, even with the factory restrictions, the average wealth of the human race is still higher than that of the barbarians. Look at the top businessmen in the entire Holy Mountain, how many of them are barbarians... Mrs. Fecochek, the spendthrift woman, doesn't count.
Now, under the pressure of war, the Duke of Celt had to lift the factory ban and speed up the industrialization of Tedega Hill. This would inevitably cause the wealth gap between humans and barbarians to continue to widen, and those barbarians who went bankrupt because of the factory would definitely hate humans.
Can humanity solve the problem by giving in and forbearing?
cannot!
The knife is in the hands of the barbarian.
If the conflict between the barbarians and humans has to be released, the Celtic Duke will never stand on the side of the humans.
We human merchants swore to be loyal to the Celtic Duke for generations, but the Duke did not swear to protect the interests of the human race from the infringement of barbarians for generations.
It is safest to hold your destiny in your own hands.
At this moment, Baron Sergei had never felt so grateful to someone. If he gave up arming the Wolf Brigade under pressure, these weapons might be used by the barbarians when they rushed into his house to rob him.
I wonder if Mr. Luke has arrived at the barracks?
I wonder if he has any opinion about the Canglang Brigade?
Seeing that Baron Sergei did not answer for a long time, Count Rammutu thought that he was hesitating and considering giving in, so he said: “The Duke will not take your weapons for nothing, and he also knows that these things are obtained by you with great effort and wealth.
You can give His Excellency the Duke a bill, and all the money can be deducted from future taxes."
As for taxes, isn’t it the Celtic Duke’s job to collect whatever he wants?
If the money doesn’t arrive directly into your account, it will be difficult to get it back later!
Baron Sergei replied: "Thank you again, Lord Count. The city militia is a non-military unit, belonging to the city security team spontaneously formed by the residents of the Holy Mountain. Therefore, the salary and equipment of the city militia are not only partly funded by the city's financial allocation, but also accepted donations from the public.
Except for a few hundred wooden sticks, all the current equipment of the Canglang Militia Battalion comes from donations from various parties. I have no right to give away or destroy these things without authorization.
If the Duke feels that these weapons and equipment are not suitable for the city militia, please issue a formal order and document from the Duke's Castle, and I will arrange for all the donations to be returned as soon as possible."
Count Rammutu's public mission this time was to represent the Duke in attending the inauguration ceremony of the Wolf Brigade. There was no official order to confiscate the weapons and equipment of the Wolf Brigade.
The Duke hoped that the Wolf Brigade would hand it over voluntarily rather than requiring it through a formal order from the Duke's Castle.
The industrialization of Tedega Hills still has to rely on the human race, and we cannot discourage the human race's enthusiasm too much.
Rammutu didn't expect that Baron Sergei would dare to disobey the Duke's order. He couldn't help but said angrily: "Baron! You are now very trusted and valued by the Duke. There will be better things waiting for you in the future. Don't let the Duke question your loyalty!"
Being questioned about his loyalty, Baron Sergei jumped up as if his tail was caught: "My loyalty to the Duke is beyond doubt. I am always ready to lead the Wolf Brigade to the forefront of the battlefield and use my life to take back the territory that belongs to the Duke.
My enemy is not the civilians of the Holy Mountain, but the invading imperial army. If my soldiers want to defeat them, they must have weapons that are equal to theirs, and these weapons require time to understand and train.
Please tell the Duke that when he needs the Wolf Brigade to go to the battlefield, I promise that this army will definitely attack in any direction he points to! "
Baron Sergei spoke passionately and righteously, as if he had a heart full of loyalty that he was just about to dig out and present to the Celtic Duke.
Count Rammutu was left speechless.
"Okay..." Count Rammutu said helplessly: "I will convey your thoughts and your loyalty to His Excellency the Duke. I believe His Excellency the Duke also hopes to see the Gray Wolf Brigade appear on the battlefield against the Imperial Army as soon as possible.
But I still suggest not to be too ostentatious, don't let your soldiers go out of the barracks wearing armor, and don't drive those heavy vehicles out."
This level is passed!
Baron Sergei breathed a sigh of relief and immediately assured: "Please rest assured, Your Excellency the Duke, the Gray Wolf Battalion will never use the weapons used against the Imperial Army against the civilians of the Holy Mountain."
Rammutu nodded, and then asked, "I heard that you recruited the human strongman Luke to join your Canglang Brigade?"
Baron Sergei replied: "Yes, Lord Earl! You know that Lord Duke does not want the result of the final match of the Hercules Contest held in the Duke's Castle to stimulate the barbarians, so I made a private deal with Luke Hercules.
Taking up the position of Inspector General of the Wolf Brigade was one of the items in the deal.
For this, I paid him an additional 50 million Reichsmarks."
"50 million! That's a lot!" Rammutu was shocked by the amount Baron Sergei said. "Do you really need that much money?"
"In order not to provoke the barbarians, and to ensure that the game can proceed smoothly and satisfy all parties, I think it is worth paying this money.
Please rest assured, Count. I have paid the 50 million Reichsmarks in full. I hope that Count can see my loyalty. "
Rammutu thought 50 million was too much, but since it was Sergei who paid, he couldn't say much.
I can only sigh in my heart: the human race is really too rich!
"Yes, we can't let the result of the game stimulate the barbarians!"
Is the Celtic Duke afraid of provoking the barbarians?
He is afraid of provoking the human race!
Baron Sergei, who had seen through everything, showed an undetectable smile and invited Rammutu: "The inauguration ceremony is about to begin. As the Duke's special envoy, you are our most distinguished guest.
Please accept the oath of allegiance from the Wolf Brigade on behalf of His Excellency the Duke!"
