Chapter 393 Bitter Victory
Cecil hurriedly ran out of his Intelligence Department and came to the Lord's Mansion with a stack of papers in his arms. He straightened his collar at the door and walked straight in. No one came to stop him. As the third eye of the lord, Cecil had the privilege of meeting Paul without notification.
After asking the servant in the house about Paul's location, Cecil quickly went to a door on the second floor and knocked.
"Lord Graiman, I have something important to report to you."
"Ah, Cecil, please come in." Paul's voice came from inside.
Cecil pushed the door open and found that in addition to the Earl, there were two people inside that he didn't expect - the alchemists of the chemistry laboratory, Wells and Old Hoffman.
These two alchemists, as well as a bunch of their colleagues and students, are rarely seen on weekdays, and not many people look for them. After all, no one would be interested in a group of people who spend all day in a smelly place. People who deal with excrement in the "nitrate field" stay away from them.
They came to report to Paul on the progress of the saltpeter experiment.
Paul frowned as he looked at the report in his hand.
"Guys!" The lord's tone revealed doubt and dissatisfaction, "If I remember correctly... er, no, I mean, according to my guess, the output of the salt field should not be like this. "
The alchemists finally achieved some results, but Paul was still very dissatisfied.
"Remember correctly? The count has been exposed to the so-called saltpeter field before?" Doubts flashed through the minds of the two alchemists.
"Uh...cough! Mr. Grayman..."
Old Hoffman explained: "I'm sorry, we haven't fully grasped the rules yet. Please give us some more time. "
Wells on the side also complained: "Temperature, humidity, ventilation, lighting... there are too many variables, and it needs to be adjusted bit by bit to sum up experience..."
Paul raised his hand to interrupt them: "Okay, [Mediators]! I didn't come to you just to listen to complaints."
The nickname the count gave to the alchemist made everyone standing at the door Cecil chuckled, and the two alchemists blushed.
“Let’s not talk about the nitrate field for now. Recently I heard that the chemical laboratory purchased a large number of glassware and experimental materials. Where did you get the money? It’s not from the special funds for nitrate field research. "Is it appropriated from..."
"This...this...Master Grayman...we are...you see, there are so many students who have never been exposed to alchemy, so...so...let them Practice your skills more..."
Seeing the two alchemists stuttering, Paul secretly laughed in his heart, but warned in a stern tone:
"Listen, you two, besides the main task, I don't object to you doing other research in private. Maybe you can come up with something. But if you are short of money, you can report to me, but it is strictly forbidden to misappropriate special funds. It happened again.”
Through investigation, Paul learned that the embezzled funds were indeed not used in the personal lives of the alchemists. In view of their enthusiasm for scientific exploration, he let them go.
Sr. Hoffmann and Wells were granted amnesty, and they swore to strictly abide by the rules set by Paul.
"Okay, you two, please go back first. I hope that within a year, the saltpeter field will allow us to reduce our dependence on ore."
"Please rest assured, Mr. Graiman, Now that we have achieved something from scratch, it should not be difficult to optimize on this basis.”
The two alchemists took their leave and went out.
Paul then turned to Cecil: "My intelligence chief, what is the important matter?"
Cecil took a step forward: "Lord Graiman, I just received the news. , the war in the south is over!"
"Oh? The royal army or the rebels?"
Cecil said, "The royal army won. ”
Regarding the intelligence chief's narrative, Paul was confused: "So... what does this mean?"
Cecil explained: "Giles resumed his submission to the royal family..."
Paul Question: "So... what about the southern territories that were loyal to the royal family before the rebellion? Has Giles returned?"
Cecil shook his head "Neither side mentioned this matter."
Paul guessed: "It seems that the royal family acquiesced to Giles' annexation of these territories."
"Yes, the losses on both sides were huge. Even if the royal army won, they would not be able to go south."
This was a very embarrassing victory for the royal family.
“Where is Grand Duke Veblen in the East?”
“Like Giles, he has surrendered to the royal family again. But the same goes for those territories in the East that are loyal to the royal family...”< br>
It must have been taken care of by Veblen, after all, the main force of the royal army was contained in the south.
"It seems that the royal family has essentially lost its influence on the south and east. From now on, these two places will become the private small kingdoms of Giles and Veblen."
Paul and Cecil made this judgment together. "Well, after the war in the south is over, it will be difficult for the northwest industry to do business." Paul was a little worried.
"Lord Graiman, there will never be a lack of war in this world, you can rest assured."
Ah, have you fully assumed the role of a weapons dealer? ? Sin!
...
"Your Highness! It's time for us to leave."
Ofina walked to the princess's side and reminded her softly.
The two of them were standing on the majestic tower of Thorn Fortress, looking at the land in the south.
Catherine remained silent.
Will the Kingdom finally lose control of the South?
Giles stopped the rebellion. The opponent's slogan at the beginning was to replace the Kingdom of Aldo, and now they have resumed their submission. From this point alone, the counter-rebellion is a victory.
But it was a bitter victory.
In the original southern territory, there were not only Giles and his henchmen, but also a considerable number of vassal families loyal to the kingdom. However, now their territories are all owned by Giles and his henchmen.
It would be okay if these vassals were all loyal to the kingdom, but they were all sent over politely by Giles after the armistice. How to resettle these nobles who lost their land is another big problem.
And Veblen in the East...
After the final battle, Catherine wanted to grit her teeth and persevere, but the huge losses and instability on the rear finally prompted her to accept peace talks.
Jingyao received news that a large number of goblins were infested in the forest and needed the army to clear them out. Moreover, there were sporadic reports of pirate attacks on the west coast. Although the Northwest Fleet of Nanxia Qinwang performed well, it only had a dozen ships. How could it defend such a long coastline.
“Alas!”
The princess sighed.
"Ofina, let's go. But, I swear..."
...
"Ah!"
Giles's eyes were red and he roared. Knock the person in front of you to the ground, then raise your sword and strike down.
“My lord, please spare my life!”
The man who fell to the ground hurriedly begged for mercy.
The war is over, but the result is far from what Giles expected.
The accumulation of several generations of the family and the years of planning by myself have only resulted in the separation of one party.
Originally, I should have been riding a tall horse on the streets of Jingyao to receive cheers from the people.
Originally, I should have been sitting in Jingyao's palace to receive congratulations from the ministers.
Now he can only vent his anger in the duel field.
"Get out!" Giles stopped.
"Thank you, Grand Duke, for sparing your life!" The man who was caught as a duel opponent fled.
Giles wiped his sweat, and then cursed those who made it impossible for him to fulfill his wish.
“Damn Veblen!”
Without this "ally" holding them back, the final battle should have been a resounding victory.
“Damn Northwesters!”
The Northwest Gulf was also on the Archduke’s blacklist. If they hadn’t sold so many armors and weapons to the royal family, their own army with strong blessings would have been long ago. The situation was overwhelming, and intelligence showed that the Northwest Bay supplied a large amount of military rations during the war.
"I will deal with you one by one!"
"I swear..."
(End of this chapter)