Chapter 342 Shocking News
At dawn, a burst of rapid horse hoofbeats broke the tranquility of the morning. The rider whipped his horse anxiously and galloped through the streets of Huxin Town. Fortunately, At this time, most residents were still sleeping, and the streets were deserted. Riders soon passed the bridge and arrived at the old city on the island in the middle of the lake.
As the ruled area expanded and Paul improved his bureaucracy day by day based on the memories of his previous life, Alda's administrative system also expanded rapidly, and many institutions established independent offices. , because the island in the center of the lake is naturally enclosed and has unique advantages in terms of confidentiality and security. The castle where Lord Paul lives daily is also located here, so most of the departments’ offices are also chosen to be built on this island. Go up. The residents of the island are also mainly composed of many affairs officers and their families. As for the "Old Huxin Town People" who originally lived on the island, they have long happily taken the "demolition funds" issued by the Government Affairs Council to move to new homes on the south bank. The new houses given to them by the Government Affairs Council are larger. , newer and more comfortable. In this era where the authority of the lords is extremely powerful, no one dares to be a nail household.
In fact, when the residents of the island learned that in addition to building new houses for them, the Government Administration also wanted to give them a sum of money. (Of course not many), everyone's shock was beyond words, and they knelt down and shouted long live the lord.
The rider continued to whip his horse and walked along the street to the door of the Ministry of Intelligence office. Suddenly he remembered that the Ministry of Intelligence was not yet at work at this point, so he turned the horse's head and galloped again.
The rider quickly arrived at the door of the residence of Cecil, the intelligence chief, jumped off his horse and slammed the door hard. Cecil's servant grumbled and opened the door to receive the uninvited guest.
Twenty minutes later, a disheveled Cecil rushed out of the house, mounted the horse still tied at the door, and rushed towards the Lord's Mansion.
"What's the matter? Are you so anxious?"
Paul yawned, his eyes bleary. Just now, I was having a sweet dream in bed, but suddenly I was pulled out of bed by Butler Philip. What kind of crime is this on such a cold winter morning?
“My lord, there is shocking news from Jingyao.”
Cecil handed Paul a document, "You must immediately send someone to notify Fulan Port to stop the merchant ships that are about to set off south."
"Jingyao's news? What does it have to do with merchant ships?"
Paul took the document with a puzzled look on his face. From the anxious expression on Cecil's face, he had a premonition that something was wrong.
Sure enough, when he opened the document, the text that came into view made his heart skip a beat - "Pirates raided Westport, and the Kingdom's maritime power stationed here was completely destroyed."
After being stunned for a few seconds, he remembered Cecil's suggestion just now. He summoned an attendant and ordered: "Quickly, send a telegram to Mayor Theodore and Commander Austin in Port Fulan. , and asked them to stop all ships going south, saying they might encounter pirates.”
"Yes, Lord Earl!"
Paul added: "Let the navy call back the ships that have not gone far! Just use clear words, the sooner the better."
The attendant turned around and ran away in a hurry Out.
Paul and Cecil immediately convened an emergency meeting with the military and political leaders of Huxin Town to discuss countermeasures. Whether going to the south of Aldo or to Angle Bay, Westport is an important target port. Or a midway supply point, if it is controlled by a malicious force, it will undoubtedly be choked by the Northwest Gulf, which increasingly relies on sea transportation.
“My lord, you should immediately send the navy to recapture Westport for the kingdom!”
Hansel was very excited after hearing the news.
"Hmph! Your Excellency, Director of Agriculture, you don't understand military matters, so it's better not to interrupt." Bryce snorted coldly. Many local military and political officials in the Northwest Gulf, represented by him, expressed their disapproval of Hanse I am very dissatisfied. This guy ignores Alda's interests whenever there is something wrong in the kingdom, and impatiently asks the earl to do this and that. Why doesn't he want to think about what the title of "royal commissioner" has brought him? Actual benefits? Who pays you a salary? Count Greyman? Or King Rodney?
The two men quarreled, which made Paul even more upset.
Lati Setia beside him quietly tugged on his clothes and said quietly: "Betty sent me a telegram two days ago. The merchant ship she was on was about to arrive. Set off. In other words, her ship has been gone for two days..."
Paul's face fell.
Ladi asked anxiously: "Can the navy's schooner catch up?"
Paul said worriedly: "The merchant ship is slow and carrying cargo, so it should be able to catch up... …God bless you.”
The meeting continued, and when it came time to discuss whether to send troops south, Schroeder, the chief of staff, reported the situation of the navy: “Your Majesty, the first two sailing battleships to be commissioned— - Hope and South - are being overhauled at Fulan Port. The ships we can now dispatch include 12 galleys and 6 other sailing warships - including two newly commissioned square sailing ships."
"Overhaul? Why? The Hope and Nanfang were just built the year before last?"
"Well... at that time, because we were eager to test the practicality of the sailboats, the wood used to build them was not fully dried, which caused the hulls to be eroded very quickly..."
"Okay, I understand. . So our combat power is temporarily reduced?"
"It cannot be said that the two newly commissioned schooners have larger hulls and stronger firepower. They are equipped with two rows of 12-pound guns on the sides. , can blast enemy warships into a hornet's nest from a distance - even though the speed is a bit slow, it is only compared to the schooner."
Paul breathed a sigh of relief: "I feel relieved about this. . ”
After a long discussion, everyone felt that the maritime trade route could not be allowed to be cut off, because the current economic situation in Alda was severely limited by foreign exports. Under the advice of the military, the first priority is to ascertain the strength of the pirates entrenched in Westport. The pirates who can annihilate the kingdom's maritime power cannot be ordinary pirates.
In addition, contact with the kingdom's army is also a top priority. If the pirates are too strong, it is obviously unwise for the Arda navy to challenge them alone, and the kingdom's government cannot allow such a dangerous force to wreak havoc on its coast.
Hansel was overjoyed with the outcome of the meeting, and he volunteered to go to Jingyao to contact "His Majesty's Government".
Everyone knows what he is thinking: if he is contacted as a representative, the big shots in Jingyao will easily think that he is responsible for the promotion of the Arda Navy King, and they will look at him even more highly.
Seeing how enthusiastic Hansel was, Paul simply agreed to his request. But Hansel insisted on going south by land and refused to take a naval warship to go south. On the one hand, he had no experience of long-distance boat rides, and on the other hand, he was afraid of the pirates he might encounter. In order to seize the time, he decided to set off tomorrow.
The specific actions of the navy will have to be discussed in detail after the generals at Fulan Port arrive.
Privately, Paul was also secretly worried about "Betty" and silently prayed that the boat she was on could be recovered.
(End of this chapter)