Volume 3: Artifacts Chapter 3: Empire Strategy
The huge engineering workshop and the scene of thousands of people coordinating construction had already given Storm Kato an unprecedented shock, but he didn't know that behind these thousands of people was the complete industrial and scientific research system of Nutao City.
Luke brought him here and didn't explain everything in detail to him; he just had to watch.
No one can reject civilization. Watching is more effective than any preaching.
In the following days, Luke inspected all the key projects. A lot of money was spent, and the results were very significant. In the process of the new industrial revolution, the technology reserves of Raging Wave City have surpassed other places by several levels. As Raging Wave City's ability to attract money and talent has become stronger, the eruption of a new technology has reached a critical point.
In order to better utilize the first-mover advantage and firmly establish the leading position in the new industrial revolution, Luke also led a delegation from the City Alchemist Association to visit the Oulu College.
Magic was separated from a branch of alchemy and merged with some magic and mechanical majors to become an independent discipline named magical mechanics.
With joint investment from Yanyang Group and Nutao City Government Office, Oulu College and the City Alchemist Association sent professionals to jointly establish the Nutao City Magic Laboratory and devote all their efforts to the development of magic machinery.
Luke concentrated all the resources he could to prepare for the early launch of the new version.
Then, after the Queen Regent issued five consecutive orders asking the Marquis of Falling Star to go to the imperial capital immediately, Luke finally suspended the affairs of Raging Waves City and took an airship to Saint Lun City with his staff and guard team.
Looking down from the air, the Lower City has completely changed its appearance after being nurtured by the City of Raging Fire. Although its level of affluence is still far from that of the Upper City, it has been upgraded from a slum to the level of an urban village.
The bureaucrats of Nutao City knew that the Lower City District was under the protection of their own governor, and they had a natural affinity for the Lower City District. Therefore, as the bureaucrats of Nutao City gradually gained power, the investment and assistance given to the Lower City District increased day by day.
Now, in addition to the continuous delivery of small commodity orders to the downtown area, some light industries such as clothing and food processing are also being diverted to the downtown area. Luke remembered that the first canning factory in Saint Lun City was planned to be built in the downtown area. The human resources here are abundant and cheap. After the security and traffic problems are solved, factory owners are very willing to invest and build factories.
Kylena leaned over the window of the airship and looked down: "The Lower City has changed a lot. I don't recognize it after not being here for two months. Governor, you are always creating miracles. Now the Imperial Court not only does not need to worry about the expansion of the Lower City, but also actively migrates people to the Lower City, which is a huge tax revenue."
As the airship descended, Luke admired the city below: "Industrialization brings urbanization. Raging Waves City is growing rapidly, and so is Saint Lun City. In the future, there will definitely be cities with a population of tens of millions. How to keep the city running stably is a challenge for any city manager.
Kailina, Raging Waves City should have prepared to become a city with a population of tens of millions long ago."
"A city with 10 million people!" Kalina was surprised by such a city, but then she thought that according to the current population growth rate of Nutao City, it would be a city with a population of 10 million in the near future. Thinking that she would be involved in the management of such a super city, Kalina suddenly felt heavy pressure and pride: "Governor, I will do my job well..."
At this time, a dragon roar was heard, and the guards on the airship immediately went on alert.
Then a huge brown dragon quickly passed by the port side of the airship, with the tip of its wings almost touching the airbag of the airship. The dragon seemed to find this dangerous action very funny, and laughed happily before turning around and flying away to find its next target.
Luke looked out the window and saw at least three dragons doing the same thing to the other airships, amusing themselves by making the frightened passengers scream.
Now Luke finally understood why Queen Christina was so anxious for him to come to the imperial capital as soon as possible. She must have been kept awake at night by these giant dragons.
The airship landed in Saint Lun City. Luke first returned to his Marquisate, and then sent people out to collect information about what had happened in Saint Lun City in recent days.
Before all the people who were sent out came back, the eldest princess Agatha had already come to visit.
Agatha just sat down and said apologetically: "I know you haven't had a good rest since you came back from the Tedejia Hills, but first it was the angels and the Shining Gold, then the Shadow Clan, and now even the dragons have flown across the ocean. Her Majesty the Queen and I are afraid that a volcano will erupt in the middle of the city and a group of demons will rush out from it.
We don’t know why the ancient civilizations that have been secluded for thousands of years have come to Saint Lun City one after another during this period. I have a bad feeling that the ancient war that has not been concluded will soon break out again. "
Kaileena brought tea to Luke and Agatha, then opened the window of the room. Warm wind blew in from outside, carrying some floral scent.
Luke said, "Most of the spring has passed. What is the situation of the war in the North?"
Agatha was waiting to hear Luke's opinion on the unusual actions of the five ancient civilizations, but she didn't expect Luke to ask about the War in the North first.
Agatha asked Kaileena: "Is there a map of the North here?"
"Yes, please wait a moment..." Kaileena found the map of the North from the filing cabinet on the wall and spread it on the table between Luke and Agatha.
Agatha picked up the teacup and pressed it against a corner of the map, then picked up a pen and drew a few lines and marks on the map.
"The intelligence your friends in Winter Capital provided us is very detailed and accurate. We have the deployment and battle plan of the Art County Alliance in our control. The Snow Legion once again defended the Snow City from the fierce attack of the Art County Alliance.
The war reserves of the Art County Federation were consumed very heavily. The Fury City Armored Assault Division and the Fury City Fleet were stuck in Songta City, shortening the supply line of the Snow Legion while lengthening the supply line of the Art County Federation.
The Snow Corps planned to launch an offensive to retake the second line of defense. However, because the Snow Corps was newly established and had not yet fought a large-scale offensive operation, Her Majesty the Queen was reluctant to agree to this operational plan.
"The North is not in a hurry to produce a result..." Luke gave his own thoughts: "This war is no longer of much significance in terms of military. The key point is to make the Art County Federation complete a psychological transformation and accept that it is a second-rate country."
"A second-rate country?"
Agatha was very puzzled. The Art County Alliance had been very strong since its establishment, and the history of the country was a history of war. The Golden Shield Empire had constant friction with the Art County Alliance in the north, and neither side had gained much advantage.
The At County Union has extremely cheap thermal energy resources, advanced steam technology, and a unique geographical location. No country is willing to go to war with the At County Union in winter.
How could it be willing to become a second-rate country?
"Yes! Use this war to make the At County Federation see its true nature. Its ceiling stops here. The Empire is a mountain it cannot cross. If it accepts this fact, it can still become a second-rate country.
If it doesn’t accept it when it should, then it will become a third-rate country.”
"A third-rate country? Is that possible?"
"If we let this war continue, it is possible. I just came back from the Tedega Hills. The situation there is much better than we expected. The Empire can fight with the Ate County Alliance in the North for a while." Luke pointed to the Snow City in the North and said, "There are too many new recruits in the Snow Corps. At this time, we must first stabilize ourselves, launch small-scale attacks appropriately, fight with the Ate County Alliance, and focus on training the army with actual combat.
It would be nice to recapture a few garrison fortresses before winter comes to spend the winter, and this can also be combined with the strategy for Tedega Hills.
Agatha asked curiously, "What did you find in the Tedegar Hills? You are so optimistic about the situation over there! Even the war in the north has to be adjusted."
Luke did not answer immediately, but asked: "Has anything changed within Art County United?"
Agatha had no choice but to say, "As the war in the North reached a stalemate, many anti-war voices emerged within the Ater County Federation. The Free Army supported by the Secret Service did a good job, and some members of parliament and officials have proposed ending the war. However, their voices were too small to change the decision of the Ater County Federation Congress.
This war involves the interests of too many people . As long as we don’t attack the homeland of Art County, the other side will not end the war easily.”
" It's so easy to make money in war!" Luke said with emotion.
"Yes, it's really easy to make money from war." Agatha also said with emotion: "Governor Meteorite, have you ever considered paying more taxes?"
Luke immediately changed the subject: "Let's talk about Tedega Hill."
Agatha looked at Luke, raised the corners of her mouth and smiled, "Okay, let's talk about Tedegar Hill. Did the Duke of Celtic get deceived by you?"
"I didn't lie to him! I will also help him and ask the Empire to relax its control over Tedega Hills."
"Why?" Agatha asked.
"Because I want to solve the problem of Tedega Hill once and for all..."
In order to gain the Empire's cooperation, Luke told Agatha about his economic strategy for the Tedega Hills.
Agatha was incredulous when she heard this.
"Helping the Tedega Hills complete industrialization can solve the problem of barbarians? Have you ever thought that if these measures of yours don't work on the barbarians, you are creating a powerful enemy for the empire!"
Luke picked up the tea and drank it: "Were you curious before, your father summoned me alone, what did we talk about?"
"I'm very curious...your conversation has caused a subversive change in father's attitude towards you."
"We are talking about another mode of warfare...economic warfare. Simply put, it is to take advantage of the unequal economic status to plunder and control the weaker economic areas.
This mode of warfare can cross borders, with almost no losses, and gain gains that cannot be obtained in real wars. And the people who are plundered will not have irreparable hatred towards us, and we will be able to reap the harvest again soon. "
“I still don’t quite understand.”
"Let me give you an example." Luke thought for a moment and said, "If the City of Raging Waves suddenly announced that the price of all military orders of the Empire would increase by 10%, how would the Empire deal with it?"
Agatha frowned and said, "The Empire will pay for it."
"If Raging Waves City not only demands a 10% increase in the selling price, but also a 10% price reduction for the raw materials provided by the Empire, how will the Empire handle this?"
Agatha said, "The Empire has other military material suppliers, including heavy factories directly under the Royal Family."
"When Nutao City made this request, it was certain that other suppliers in the empire were either swallowed up or their technology was far behind Nutao City. Your Highness, how would you respond to Nutao City's request?"
Agatha gritted her teeth and said, "Promise!"
"Look, this is an economic war. With the intelligence of the princess, she will definitely be able to come up with better demands than these. To fight an economic war, the opponent must first have an economy to attack, so as to force the opponent to agree to the conditions.
Now, to a certain extent, Raging Waves City has the ability to launch an economic war. Now that the Duke of Celtic has announced the cancellation of the factory ban, we can definitely give it a try in Tedega Hills.
Please rest assured, Your Highness, not a penny of the money spent on Tedega Hill was wasted..."
Agatha looked at Luke and couldn't help but think of the last words her father said to her.
I finally understood why he gave up being a human and chose to become a heroic spirit; why he chose that sentence as his last words.
"Kill Meteor! Or marry him!"
Agatha's body and expression relaxed. She took a sip of tea and said to Luke, "You advocate a longer war against the North. Another purpose should be to completely control the economy of the empire.
At that time, no matter who is on the throne, they will have to obey you, the true master of the empire."
Luke replied: "It is not my goal to control the Empire's economy, but the City of Fury is now having a siphoning effect on the world economy, and the Empire is just one of the victims.
You don't have to worry about the empire's economy being held hostage for too long. The increase in empire wealth is definitely higher than the amount absorbed by Raging Waves City. Raging Waves City will return to where it should be sooner or later."
"But this must be based on the premise that the Empire and you will not break off, and the Empire's successor and your successor will not break off."
Luke nodded: "The future is unpredictable... All we can do is maintain the current tacit understanding and no one will do anything that crosses the line."
"Do you want to know what my father said to me last?" Agatha looked at Luke.
Luke sipped his tea: "I don't want to know."
"He asked me to kill you! If I kill you, the Empire will be in pain, but the things he's worried about won't happen."
"It seems you didn't listen to His Majesty."
"Because he gave me another choice."
Luke looked at Agatha: "Marry me?"
"yes!"
"Our child will become the emperor of the empire."
"What we are worried about is not going to happen."
Luke smiled and shook his head. "Agatha, His Majesty's death has made you bear the responsibility that you shouldn't have. You would never have said this to me before. If you didn't want to be the emperor of the empire, how could you let your child go on that grill?
Clear your mind, all the worries you have are imposed on you by your father.
I still prefer the Agatha who is devoted to the empire but has principles and is more straightforward. "
