Age of Mysticism

  Luke and Dill returned to their room after lunch, and saw a group of court tailors waiting here. The accompanying internal officer informed Luke that the Emperor of the Empire would be summoned separately at the dinner party and needed a tailor-made suit for the audience.

   So Luke was invited to stand on a wooden platform, and several tailors took various measurements on him with measuring tapes. Several other tailors are unfolding a cutting table and cutting out the fabric on the spot according to the measured data.

  The tailors measure very carefully, and the unit is accurate to millimeters.

  The internal officer explained to Luke the etiquette of meeting the emperor of the empire, as well as the matters that must be paid attention to when dining.

  With such fanfare and cumbersome etiquette, it can be seen that having a meal with the emperor is definitely not an easy task.

   Fortunately, Agatha has told Luke about etiquette.

   And she also said: These etiquettes are made by the ceremony officer, and His Majesty doesn't care much.

   Luke was tossed by a group of people for a whole afternoon, and the dress was also sewn out.

  Affected by the new era, people's pace of life has accelerated, and noble costumes have gradually become simple from the previous cumbersome. The aristocrats put more effort into clothing fabrics and decorations to show their different identities from commoners.

  Off-white silk shirt, black calfskin vest, and a ribbon lace scarf around the neck. The outside is a light blue Lufque coat with double-breasted buttons, a lapel collar, and a knee-length hem. It is a reference prototype for the popular tuxedo among the wealthy and nobles.

  The coat has a large number of patterns sewn with gold thread, and the medals representing the Lord and Royal Knights hang on the left chest.

  The whole set of clothes is very comfortable to wear, and the spirit of the whole person can feel a bit lifted.

  The internal officer brought the mirror, and after seeing it, Luke praised: "It's very magnanimous! I didn't expect to see His Majesty and get a dress specially made by a court tailor. There are not many people who can get this kind of treatment."

  The internal officer replied respectfully: "Your Majesty the acting governor governs Rage City and brings important tax revenues to the empire. He is an important minister appreciated by His Majesty, and he deserves this kind of treatment."

  Luke looked at himself in the mirror again, smiled and did not reveal another meaning behind this dress. They were afraid that they had hidden dangerous goods, so they simply found an excuse to change themselves inside and out.

   Could it be that there are swordsmen hidden in the houses on both sides of the dinner restaurant, just waiting for Augustine the Great to throw a cup?

  Luke happily fantasized, and then asked: "When will I see His Majesty?"

  The internal officer looked at the pendulum clock on the table and replied: "It is now, please come with me, Your Excellency the Governor."

   This special dinner was arranged in a small restaurant with a high dome. A small long table was filled with food served in golden utensils, and Augustine the Great and Luke sat at both ends of the long table.

  The waiter in charge of the table was a puppet wearing an official uniform. Except for the royal chief knight Milcombe standing behind Augustine, everyone else was ordered to leave.

  The door is closed.

  Emperor Augustine first smiled and said: "You don't need to be so restrained. The etiquette is designed to let people outside see the royal majesty. It's better to be casual after closing the door.

  Let's have a drink first.

  Respect to the great empire. "

  Luke held up the golden cup in front of him and raised his head: "To the great empire! To the great emperor!"

   After drinking a glass of wine, the puppet waiter poured wine for the two of them respectively.

Augustine the Great cut a piece of meat from the steak on the dinner plate and put it in his mouth. He chewed and said, "The tenderest meat is fried by the best chef, but I still have a bit of difficulty chewing it. Sometimes I have to admit that I am old." , lack of energy, and worrying about health, so that some people took advantage of the loopholes and threatened the rule of the empire.

  Meteorite, you have done a very good job in Rage City. The increased after-tax has greatly eased the pressure on the empire's finances. However, the empire is facing many wars, and the taxes paid by Raging Waves City are far from enough for various expenses. Does the Raging Waves City Council have any plans to increase the amount of taxes paid in the near future? "

  Luke also cut and ate the steak on his dinner plate. The fat, tender, juicy and mouth-filling aroma is simply a high-end enjoyment.

  Faced with hints and requests from Emperor Augustine the Great, Luke replied easily: "I have talked in detail about the troubles and difficulties that the empire will face in the future with His Royal Highness, His Royal Highness Princess, and Chief Assistant Gabriel.

  According to the national strength of the empire at this stage, as well as the executive power demonstrated by the imperial court, victory in the Tedgar Hills War is only a matter of consumption and time. The economic and social systems of the barbarians are out of this era, and the longer the war is fought, the more serious their own problems will be.

  The forces on the Western Front are complex. There are lords who support the Celtic Duke, some lords who support the Empire, and a large number of neutral small lords and ethnic minorities. The banditry is serious, but it does not threaten the foundation of the empire. His Royal Highness the Second Prince is stationed on the western front. Even if the bandits cannot be wiped out in a short time, the empire does not need to devote too much energy to the western front.

  The biggest threat to the empire comes from the northern border, and the invasion of the Attorney League is already known to both the enemy and the enemy.

   Once the northern border is attacked, neither the south, the west, nor the central part of the imperial capital can give strong support to the northern border. The only region that could support the empire to fight an all-out war at that time was the eastern coastal region.

  The Council of Raging Waves City has an economic promotion plan for the eastern coast of the empire. The main content is to use Raging Waves City as the hub of economic development, integrate the eastern coastal cities of the empire, and form a division of labor and economic cooperation within the system.

  The Council of Raging Waves City formulated the blueprint for the architecture of the Empire’s coastal economic belt based on my vision. I have brought this document, in my briefcase with me. "

   Luke's briefcase was taken away by the palace guards before entering the dining room, and it was placed outside the dining room.

  Emperor Augustine asked Millscomb to fetch the briefcase and hand it to Luke.

  Luke then took out the relevant documents and asked Milcombe to pass them on to Augustine.

   and briefly describe what is in the file.

   "I have negotiated with Prince Macdonald of the Kingdom of Lusien about the large-scale investment plan in Lusien Gulf, and this investment plan has also received the support of Her Royal Highness the Queen.

The agricultural product processing industry and light industry have small investment and quick results, and the Lusien Kingdom has very rich resources of grain, meat, seafood, wine, and dairy products. Realization of production capacity.

  The empire can not only gain a lot of wealth from it, but the factories of the Kingdom of Lucen can also continuously provide the empire with cheap and sufficient military supplies.

  The amount of this investment is very large, and Raging Waves City's finances are unable to bear all of it, so the World Bank is needed to assist in financing. Fortunately, I have good personal relationships with directors Pan and Yin of the Raging City Branch of the World Bank, and I was able to persuade the World Bank to support this investment project.

  There is also the expansion of Raging Waves City and the assistance and investment in nearby coastal cities, all of which require a large amount of short-term investment, so Raging Waves City is unable to provide more financial support for the empire..."

  Emperor Augustine looked at the pages of documents in his hand very seriously.

  When Queen Christina told him that Meteor was going to invest in the Lusien Kingdom, he already felt that the scale of the investment was very large. But after looking at the documents in his hand, he realized that the investment in the Lusien Kingdom was only a part of the eastern part of the empire's economic drive plan.

  In Luke's plan, Raging City's sea power will gradually completely control this sea area with a large number of international routes. With the advantage of the sea, it will attract more business opportunities to Raging Waves City. Then Rage City uses itself as a hub to transfer the industrial classification to surrounding cities, forming the same type of concentrated industrial scale, lowering production costs and improving competitiveness in the international market.

Take Lusien Kingdom as a pilot. As long as the agricultural and sideline products of Lusien Bay form an intensive commodity supply chain, the advantages of a rich land can be fully utilized. At that time, there was no grain-producing area in the world that could compete with Lusien Kingdom. compete.

  Luke used a large amount of data to prove his idea, and formulated an international food monopoly plan. Once the Golden Shield Empire can control the international grain price, it can first use the low grain price to crush the agriculture within the Yate County Union, and then raise the grain price to harvest the Yate County Union, causing chaos within the Yate County Union and then implementing it. segmentation.

  Emperor Augustine watched it with relish at first, but he couldn't help sweating when he looked at it.

  Can wars be fought like this?

   Augustine the Great read more deeply, and forgot to eat.

  Luke feasted on himself, and even ordered the puppet waiter to fill a plate full of delicacies for himself, and drank wine glass by glass.

Millscombe noticed something strange about Augustine the Great. He thought that Meteor had arranged some spiritual magic in the document, so he quietly put his hand on Augustine's back, and used the awakening skill to whisper in Augustine's ear: "Your Majesty, you What's wrong?"

   "Oh!" The spiritual reminder brought Augustine the Great back from his concentration, and then replied to Milcombe: "I'm fine."

   "Your Majesty, do you need me to check this document?"

Millscomb wanted to check whether there were hinting spells in the file, but Emperor Augustine folded the file vigilantly and pressed it under his hand, for fear of being snatched away by someone: "No need, there is nothing wrong with the file, I was caught by it." content attracted.

  You don't have to be nervous. "

   "Yes, Your Majesty."

  Millscomb put down his guard, and looked at Meteor curiously, guessing what was written in the document, it actually made His Majesty feel as if he had been enchanted by spiritual magic.

  Emperor Augustine took a napkin with the other hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, and then drank a glass of wine and let out a long breath.

   "Who has seen this document?"

   Luke replied: "The most important part, only you have seen."

  Emperor Augustine pressed his hand on the document, and the paper was burned to ashes in the flames.

   “Very bold idea, and no one has ever implemented it before. How can you be sure that you can do it? How can you be sure that you will succeed if you do it?”

Luke took a sip of his wine and replied confidently: "No one has implemented it before because the current conditions were not available before. Large-scale industrial production, prosperous international trade, and the free market advocated by liberals .

   Now this era has it all.

  Whoever has a large industrial scale, low cost, and strong maritime power will be more likely to gain the right to speak in the market. "

  Emperor Augustine once again fell into deep thought.

  The Golden Shield Empire has its current national strength because at a critical moment, it did not choose to protect the small peasant economy advocated by the conservative aristocracy, but boldly used the new aristocrats to encourage the development of industry and commerce.

   Facts have proved that my choice is correct.

  The Imperial Court is generally optimistic about the Southern Front War because the Empire has a complete industrial system.

  However, this kind of national power advantage ultimately needs to be reflected through war. Soldiers need to occupy the enemy's land and capture the enemy's city step by step with flesh and blood.

   What Meteor just showed him was a brand new war mode. The army used for attack is no longer a well-trained soldier, but a full warehouse of goods transported by sea.

  Now no country in the world is wary of such an army, and all countries are defenseless in front of it.

  If the economic promotion plan on the eastern coast of the empire is completed, the empire will have an invincible army, and the territory of the empire will no longer be limited by the border.

  At this moment, Emperor Augustine could finally understand why people who were political enemies in the palace regarded Meteor as the guest of honor.

  Even I... hold the wine glass carefully at this moment, for fear that it will fall to the ground if it becomes unstable.

"Although the empire is facing many difficulties now, it can still continue to tighten some unnecessary expenditures. Raging Waves City is a very good plan to drive the economy along the eastern coast of the empire. I am qualified to wait patiently for it to be hatched. At that time, Raging Waves City was right The contribution of the empire is definitely much more than a little tax increase now.

  How much do you need in terms of funds, I can order the Imperial Bank to give you a certain amount of support. "

  Millscombe was a little silly.

  Just now His Majesty wanted to ask for some money from Raging City, but after reading that document, he even took the initiative to provide money to subsidize Raging City!

  What is the most important content in the file?

  It's a pity that the document has been burned to ashes, and the only ones who know what's inside are Augustine the Great and Meteor.

   But Millscomb is sure of one thing... Your Majesty will not kill Meteor.

  Even though he knew that his support would speed up Meteor’s becoming a power minister who threatened the royal family’s rule, there was a temptation in that document that allowed him to suppress the emperor’s instinct.

  Millscomb understood Emperor Augustine, and the temptation to make him make such a choice so simply was beyond his imagination.

  Millscombe looked at the ashes of Emperor Augustine's subordinates. Even though the document had been burned clean, his hand still did not move away.

   "Thank you, Your Majesty, any financial support at this time will help to speed up the completion of this plan." Luke raised his glass: "To the great empire, to the great emperor of the empire."

  Emperor Augustine wanted to serve the wine glass, but the excitement made his hands tremble a little.

  He tried a few times, but finally took his hand back: "I am too old to drink too much, I have received your respect.

  Let us respect the great empire together! "