Chapter 688: Political breeding

"Tena has explained the general's intention in detail, but the national policy has been determined and cannot be changed without authorization. Rockland can only be rewarded by clearing out the enemy, and cannot be directly conferred. Otherwise, it would be unfair to those ambitious people."

The first to speak was King Yasang, and there was no trace of unfamiliarity in his words, as if they had met many times.

This was indeed the case. He had met Gavin many more times than Gavin imagined, but he just didn't know it.

"Your Majesty means fair competition?" Even with the gazes of the princes and nobles of Cormier in the room, Gavin was not afraid at all. A person's courage is in contrast to his strength. He was still trembling when facing the court wizard, fearing that the other party would destroy him with a backhand. Who dares to do this now? Ask Ms. Strategy first if she agrees.

"Yes, fair competition. I have summoned all the people who are qualified to do this. What do you think about this matter? Let's discuss it together." King Yasang said very straightforwardly.

With just a few words, Gavin knew what King Yasang was up to.

He was simply raising poison in politics, pushing himself and several existing major forces to the breeding ground of rock land at the same time.

In order to obtain this territory, they will certainly do their best to develop and fight for it.

No matter who wins or loses, the royal family of Obaisqier can benefit from it. Even if everyone fails to develop, they will not lose, because from beginning to end, it is not their financial and material resources that are used.

"How to determine the victory or defeat in this matter? It can't be done by fighting a battle, right?" It was not Gavin who asked, but another member standing in the royal court meeting hall, a fiery woman.

She has fiery red long hair, fiery red armor, fiery red cloak, fiery red plump lips, fiery eyes, and a fiery charm. Just being stared at by her gives people the illusion of being ignited, and people can't help but throw themselves into the flames, even if they know they will be burned to ashes.

This person is none other than Gavin's biggest rival in the Rockland, the leader of the Red Crow Mercenary Group, Leyana Ross, a quasi-legendary warrior.

At least the information Gavin originally had said that she was a warrior, but now he is not so sure, because she is filled with powerful flame magic fluctuations, not acquired through cultivation like a mage, but awakened innately like a warlock, and the blood of the Fire Elemental flows in her body.

The Elemental is a hybrid of a native humanoid creature and an alien elemental creature, such as the Fire Giant, the Wind Giant, the Da'ao Wind Spirit, the Little Giant, and so on.

Such existences are not many in Faerun, but not few, and have a strong regionality, which is related to the closeness of this land to the elemental plane.

There are very few such hybrids in the Kingdom of Cormier. Even if there are, most of them are Water Elementals. After all, this place is close to the Falling Star Sea, and various types of water elemental creatures appear more frequently.

The most Fire and Wind Elementals are in Gavin's hometown of Tethyr, especially in the Calimshan Empire in the south. The nobles there have more or less elemental blood flowing in their veins, because in history, this place was ruled by the empires established by the wind giant Calim and the fire giant Mannon, and the war between the two reshaped this land, which has continued to this day.

These elemental descendants are born with elemental energy flowing in their bodies. Even if they are specialized warriors, they are not ordinary warriors, but magic warriors.

"Of course we can't go to war. We are building the rock land, not destroying it." The court wizard said seriously, "So, we have to judge the victory or defeat by construction. We will give you five years. You will develop and build in the rock land with your own abilities, and then calculate the results based on the total taxes you pay there. For the sake of fairness, we will appoint special royal financial personnel for you to follow up the whole process to ensure the authenticity of tax payment."

This plan of the Kingdom of Cormier is obviously not the result of a sudden impulse, but a carefully calculated one.

If you want to get more output from the rocky land, you have to spend money like crazy here and buy various industries. In the end, what will be judged is not how much money you have invested in it, but how much money you have produced in it with these industries.

Playing that kind of shell company and paying taxes directly with your own money is a shortcut, but this method is obviously a stupid act of spending money. If you are not careful, you will lose everything, because you have no way to judge whether the money you pay will be more than the taxes paid by your competitors.

Gavin was immediately inspired when he heard it. He is good at this method. He is a man who is ready to peek at the road, and then trade, wealth and money. He has a lot of money to make money.

Let’s not talk about the far away. He now has the City of Faith on the Goblin Border and the Three Rivers on the Battle Valley.

The rocky land in the middle is just a transit function. If you do nothing, you will have a lot of wealth.

He also has a lot of advantages that others don’t have, such as paving roads and bridges in the rocky land. The toll alone is very profitable.

The advantages of the already established Kobolds in mining are not comparable to those of ordinary people.

It just takes a long time, five years.

Hmm.

This five years is just the time stipulated by the Kingdom of Cormier, not the time you use.

When they have formed a crushing momentum that they cannot reach, as long as their competitors are not stupid, they will stop investing and even contact them to sell their property to them and withdraw.

Leiyana's flaming eyes shrank involuntarily. This proposal is extremely disadvantageous to her. Just look at her development method of using the mercenary group. Compared with management and construction, she and most of her subordinates are better at fighting.

This is also the crux of the problem. To conquer the rock land, it is not as simple as defeating or killing the monsters here. Stable construction is indispensable. King Yasang and his people are only interested in Gavin's crazy ability to open up roads and build cities. She was just picked out to accompany him.

But retreating without fighting is not in her life dictionary. She continued to ask: "What if the two competing parties are interested in the same industry?"

"Before the official start, we will divide the rock land into regions and develop each in their own area. The rock land is not a small place. I believe that in a short time, your development will not conflict." The court wizard replied.

"How to deal with the lost party's industry?" Although Leiyana has the blood of the fire elemental in her body, her temperament is not so impulsive and irritable. Instead, she is as calm as the earth element and does not miss any details she thinks of.

"There are two types of such industries. One is the existing industry that belongs to the kingdom, such as Tifton. The royal family will take back this part and give it to the winner. The other part is the industry that was completely developed by the loser. The royal family will be responsible for appraising and buying it as a royal industry, or the winner will redeem it." The court wizard gave a bottoming plan.

With this bottoming plan, all participants can invest in it with confidence without worrying about losing all their money.

Gavin couldn't help but say at this time: "I think this matter cannot be so simple and one-size-fits-all, but it should be determined according to the nature of the industry. For example, industries such as minerals and arable land should indeed adopt this method, but industries such as shops and chambers of commerce are not necessary. I believe that no matter who wins, they can accommodate such industries of healthy competitors. After all, this is the foundation of the prosperity of a territory."

For this kind of territory located in the Kingdom of Cormier, he only needs to have the main control, and there is no need to care about some small profits. If he has the energy, there is a lot of land in the wilderness waiting for him to open up. That is completely autonomous and does not need to be constrained by the Cormier royal family.

With the development of strength, the meaning of his ruling the rock land has changed.

Originally, he wanted to rule the rock land because he wanted to use it as his place of rise.

Now he took it as a transit station throughout his territory. Only by taking it can the Goblin Frontier, the Conqueror's Road and the Valley be connected.

The court wizard and King Yasang looked at each other and reached a tacit understanding. The court wizard nodded and said, "General Gavin's suggestion is indeed more reasonable. After this matter is settled, we will further refine it. Many things are not immutable and can be negotiated again as the development progresses. The most important thing now is to determine the members who will join this competition."

Gavin was the first to sign up and said, "I, Gavin*Nott, volunteer to participate in this Baron Competition."

Leyana followed closely and said, "I, Leyana*Ross, volunteer to participate in this Baron Competition."

After hesitating for a few seconds, Tifton City Lord Alaselin stood up and said, "I, Alaselin*Qiuqi, volunteer to participate in this Baron Competition."

No one present was surprised by the three participants, because they now have a close relationship with the Rock.

"The royal family's suggestion is to divide the area according to the current location of your main forces. The rocky land is the most desolate and has the largest area, which belongs to General Gavin. The Red Spring Reclamation Area is divided by the Storm Horn Mountains and the Thunder Peak Mountains. The north belongs to Tifton and is developed by the Lord of Alaselin. The south is developed by Captain Leiyana. This division is limited to real estate such as land and mining. Trade and business can proceed normally for all three parties, and the other two parties cannot deliberately block it. I wonder if you are satisfied with this division?" When asking for opinions, everyone's eyes fell on Gavin involuntarily.

Because compared with the other two parties, he is the most disadvantaged. Although the rocky land is large, it is the place with the most problems. The entire Red Spring Reclamation Area is to promote it and tie it to it.

"I have no problem." If this division method was put in place a month ago, Gavin would definitely not agree, but now he nodded and agreed without thinking.

Because he already has the Goblin Border and the City of Faith on the other side of the Rocky Land, as well as a magical manor with good weather and good harvests. As soon as the summer comes next year, he will have sufficient food supplies, and the demand for the Red Spring Reclamation Area is not high.

Even if the Red Spring Reclamation Area is really given to him, he does not have so much manpower and material resources to develop it. The main body of the Conqueror Army is not prepared to stay in the Goblin Border or the Rocky Land. The Valley is the final destination. He will not give up the development of other places just to eat a Rocky Baron.

On the contrary, handing the Red Spring Reclamation Area to other forces is equivalent to borrowing their funds and hands to develop his future territory. At that time, he can turn around and buy it all. Is there a more cost-effective deal than this?

"I don't have a problem either." Leiyana replied.

Abel City is the biggest backing of their Red Crow Mercenary Group. Of course, their development relies on this city to expand northward. This is why they knew that Gavin started as a kobold in the rocky land and did not make many moves. s reason.

Because they jumped into the rocky ground rashly, they themselves were exhausted, which was extremely detrimental to development.

"I have no objection," Aracelin said.

She is the Lord of Tifanton City, and this is her main sphere of influence. Of course, everything must rely on this city.

"Very good." King Yasan showed a satisfied smile and said, "We have now been able to reach a basic plan on this matter. The remaining things are to advance in all aspects around this plan. These details are all There is no need for us to do it ourselves, we can just let the people below discuss it and then submit it for review.”

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty," everyone said in unison.

"If there is no objection, today's court meeting will end here. If there is anything else, we will discuss it tomorrow." King Yasan ended today's meeting.

What they have reached now is just a basic consensus. There are too many interests involved and the land area is too large. After everyone returns, they will definitely have their own small meeting to discuss this matter in detail. They must at least discuss this matter. It's not out of the question to argue for weeks or even months.

If the development of rock land was so easy, it would not have been delayed until now.

After the princes and nobles of the Kingdom of Cormyr left the royal meeting hall, Gavin was led by Tynarasta to the drawing room aside, where King Asan and the Palace Archmage were already waiting for him.

Gavin immediately knelt on one knee and said: "Your Majesty, I want to apologize to you. The violent beast disaster in the King's Forest was not caused by the Maura believers, but was caused by me while digesting the corpse of the plundering bear."

It is impossible for King Asan and others to know about this matter, but they did not mention it in public in the royal court meeting hall. This shows that they are not planning to publicize the matter publicly, but handle it secretly in private. As for the blame, they will leave it to the Maura believers. Memorize it, they won’t refute it anyway, and even if they refute it, no one will believe it.

The Crown Princess then knelt on one knee and said: "I am also responsible for this, but there is one thing that my father needs to know. Those Maela believers secretly infected one hundred and fifty-two of our recruits and infiltrated into our recruit camp, because The reason for the wild beast disaster was that the lycanthropy in their bodies was triggered in advance, and they were discovered and controlled in time, without causing too many casualties. "

After hearing the news, King Asan's face suddenly turned cold, and he said angrily: "These cultists are really all-pervasive and use everything. They sent a task force of war mages to launch a comprehensive attack on the regular army, garrison troops, guards, and recruits across the country. Screening, go through all the people to make sure they have not been infiltrated by shapeshifters or lycanthropes. This kind of screening is not a one-time thing, but should be done regularly, every month and every ten days. ”

As the leader of a country, his considerations will naturally not be limited to a new military camp in Luji Town, but will focus on the entire kingdom. After all, the conflict between them and the Maura believers has become acute. The whereabouts of these cultists are secretive and it is difficult to completely eradicate them. , we can only start with defense first.

The palace mage bowed and obeyed, "I obey."

King Yasan said with a solemn expression: "You did not do this intentionally, and the merits and demerits are mixed together, making it difficult to distinguish between them.

In addition to rewarding you with the bear forest created by you, the Royal District of Susar City also rewards you with a villa as your place to stay in the imperial city.

You have to compensate the people who lost their lives and whose homes were destroyed, and when all the losses are tallied up, someone will send you a bill. "

"This is what it should be." Gavin breathed a sigh of relief. He just made financial compensation, which made the matter easier to handle. He was afraid that King Asan would ask him to resurrect all the innocent people who died because of this. That would be true. Big trouble.

Although King Asan claims to love his people like his own son, he is not so perverted.

"I haven't finished speaking yet." King Yasan continued, "This is only one of them. The second is that you, as the kingdom's special envoy, will go to Aro Shi, the kingdom of tree spirits in the king's forest, to promote an alliance of peaceful coexistence with them. ”

"Okay." Gavin agreed readily again, because this was what he promised Queen Radhanasi.

"One last thing, I want half of the blood bear berries produced in Xiong Lin." Princess Crown has obviously reported the uniqueness of Xiong Lin to King Yasan truthfully.

"I have no objection to sharing half of the blood bear berries, but there is one thing I must inform your majesty in advance. All bears who eat blood bear berries will be transformed into blue bear believers, especially those enlightened non-intelligent bears. In terms of camp and emotions, they will be infinitely inclined to my side." This request did not surprise Gavin. He had already expected it when he took out the blood bear fruit.

"I know, I will make reasonable use of it." King Yasang naturally has his own calculations. The greatest value of this thing is not after the reward is given out, but the temptation formed before the reward is given out. This is different from how a rock baron will seduce It makes sense for the three forces to develop the rocky land at the same time.

"A total of one hundred and twenty-one fruits have been harvested this time. Five have been used. This is fifty-eight." Gavin neatly took out the remaining half of the blood bear fruit. As long as this thing can It doesn't matter whose hands it is to transform a bear into a blue bear worshiper. It will provide the blue bear with the power of totem belief.

If he didn't want to share, he wouldn't have taken it out in the first place. After all, the Bear Forest is in the territory of the Kingdom of Cormyr. He couldn't send a large number of troops to station there. He still had to rely on the Kingdom of Cormyr for security. Now that they have the Blood Bear Fruit as a common interest, they would be very concerned without Gavin saying anything.