Iron Powder and Spellcaster

The members who stayed in the Castle of the Kings unanimously passed the motion: to abolish the old Plato Republic, reorganize the government, and establish the "Second" Republic of Plato.

The congressmen are still members of the Zhuwangbao faction, and their offices are still in the big meeting hall.

It looks like a brand change, but it's actually far from that.

In the early years of the Republic, the factions representing the city's interests were still able to suppress the old aristocratic factions.

However, as the class of free men with military merit continued to expand, the Blue Blood Faction gradually gained the upper hand, and eventually suppressed the Kings Castle Faction.

The Blue Blood Faction has been in power all year round, while the King's Fort Faction can only be in the opposition all year round, and the Opposition Faction has been in power for more than twenty years at a time.

Suddenly in power, the Zhuwangbao faction immediately began a series of radical reforms.

The first law passed by the new Grand Council was the "Debt Restructuring Ordinance".

According to this decree, Plato is about to usher in a large-scale debt restructuring.

The net assets of the Republic will be paid first to domestic creditors, and the debts of foreign creditors will be compulsorily paid using an [annuity bond].

The interest rate on annuity bonds is in principle 3%, the repayment period is forty years, and the Second Republic has the right to redeem annuity bonds at any time.

Although Grove spoke tough, his deputy [Congressman Baker] immediately approached Vinetta's chief adviser.

Baker explained the reason and asked for forgiveness: "There is indeed no money in the treasury! It is far from enough to repay the debt!"

…

In the past thirty years, Plato had borrowed money to fight against the barbarians.

Not only were citizens happy to buy the bonds, but Allied investors were happy to lend them money because Plato won every time.

Allied investors are mainly Veneta bankers, and federal provincial funds account for a small proportion.

One is because the people in the United Provinces have suffered huge losses, and the other is because there are few bankers in the United Provinces.

By adding leverage, Plato only needs to use a small amount of money to pay interest, and he can leverage a huge amount of funds.

These funds were turned into weapons, armor, war horses, military rations, and lead bullets fired at the barbarians, bringing thirty years of victory to the Platoans.

The spoils of war are mainly land, slaves and livestock, with very little gold and silver. How can investors get their funds back?

It doesn't matter, based on "bonds being tradable", Veneta bankers invented a wide variety of dazzling financial instruments: mortgages, second mortgages, bundling, splitting...

Even to hedge risks, Veneta bankers introduced a shipping industry concept—insurance—to the bond market.

Marshal Ned still underestimated the greed of human nature. He must have never thought that the little trick he used to raise military funds would evolve into a huge beast on its own.

In short: if Plato wins, everyone in the chain will make money; if Plato fails, the building will collapse like dominoes.

The first to bear the brunt were Veneta bankers and retail investors who spent all their money buying bonds.

Therefore, the Platoans could not fail; no one thought that Plato would fail before; but this time Plato was defeated.

Some people may ask, isn’t there a large area of ​​uninhabited land in newly cultivated land that can be used to pay debts?

Please don't forget that those lands are not the property of the Plato Republic, but the property of the Plato Army.

The Plato army can not only do business, but also be local landlords, and can maintain a state within a state.

…

That's why Grove's second reform came about: reorganizing the government and taking away military power.

Due to the historical issues left over from the Sovereignty War, the Palatine Army Headquarters is legally a subordinate institution of the "Union" and is only half a level lower than the Grand Council.

Strictly speaking, the two are cooperative. The Grand Council cannot even decide on Army personnel appointments and dismissals, it can only "recommend" them.

Grove Magnus reorganized the [Plato Army Headquarters] into the [Plato Military Council], and the new military council was affiliated with the Grand Council.

This has also been the political demand of the Zhuwangbao faction, changing [the country's army] to [the country that has the army].

The template for [a country with an army] is United Provinces, and the template for [a country with an army] is Veneta.

The degree of JGism in Plato is somewhere between the two, but it has continued to fall towards the federal-provincial model for thirty years.

In addition, there were a number of reform measures aimed at weakening the local power of the old aristocracy.

The new Grand Council issued a declaration, the Declaration of the Republic.

The core idea is to occupy the moral high ground: the Second Republic of Plato was established! Everyone can live a good life! Taxes, taxes, and servitude will all be reduced! We will also share land rights and encourage land reclamation! Outside the Second Republic, there are pseudo-governments! Please support us!

Of course, there are two other life-and-death orders: summoning garrisons from various places to come to the Castle of Kings; and sending envoys to Arpad to save peace as much as possible.

…

Congressman Baker pulled Venetta's chief consultant and said a lot, in short: We really have no money.

The treasury cannot even afford to pay back the interest, let alone the debt itself.

The government couldn't even provide the expeditionary force's pension because it was an astronomical sum of money.

The property of the Army must be confiscated in order to fill this large hole.

"Get the hell out of here!" the irritable chief adviser of Veneta immediately yelled back: "You treat me like a three-year-old child? My net assets give priority to repaying domestic debts? Who are the domestic creditors? Are they your fucking congressmen? !”

The chief advisor pushed him away and stormed off.

…

When the news of the debt restructuring was sent back to Hailan, there was another wailing.

Immediately, an old man reacted: "Isn't this the Mad King's trick to deal with people from the United Provinces?"

The previous generation of imperial emperor "Mad" Richard IV also borrowed money from the bankers of the United Provinces to fight the war - it was not called the United Provinces at that time, it was called the Duke of Piedmont [Forslander].

When he had no money to repay his debts, the Mad King spread his hands and issued a "Bankruptcy Decree" and announced debt restructuring.

The Flanders banker was beaten to the point of vomiting blood by this combination of punches.

On the surface, their debts have not been cancelled. In fact, it is equivalent to the Mad King freezing all their capital with a small amount of money.

If they want to sell these bonds, they're going to have to cut them hard.

Many Flanders went bankrupt and even committed suicide, and the continent's financial landscape was transformed.

When the news about Plato came back, Veneta bankers were furious: "They won't pay back if they don't want to?!"

"3% interest rate? How dare you, the Japanese guy! The Mad King even gave you a 5% interest rate!"

"Why is that, Mr. Sunyang?!"

"[Expletive]!"

…

Let’s put aside the anger of the businessmen.

In the "Throne Room" of the Veneta Army Headquarters, the generals' attention was focused on another place.

"What happened? Why did the fight start?" Some people were puzzled: "Sackler is a very sensible person at the same time as me, how could he allow this kind of thing to happen?"

"The key is how the fight went? Who wins and who loses? We just sit here and don't know." Layton - who is now a major general - cursed and said: "Arpad is still my squad leader! I don't know. It’s no surprise that he was able to do this.”

"Where is General Janos? Can General Janos suppress them?" someone asked.

"General János is said to have suffered a stroke." Another voice answered softly.

Admiral Zio, who had been concentrating with his eyes closed, suddenly said: "Do you know what Arpad and Szekely are?"

The generals looked at each other in confusion, not knowing how to respond to the military governor's words.

Or Major General Leighton had the courage to ask: "What...what?"

"Arpad and Szekely are the two best hunting dogs, strong, loyal and ferocious. But only János is the hunter." Zio slowly asked himself questions, which was much better than planning the Battle of the Islands two years ago. At that time, he became much older: "Now that the hunter is gone, the hunting dogs will bite each other... and no one can separate them."

Only Admiral Zio can express the metaphor of hunting dogs and hunters, and no one else can express it.

"Then what should we do?" Leighton smoked a cigarette and said in a sullen voice: "The three legions faced off against the [Goddess of Victory] in the archipelago, and the four legions faced off against the [Running River], but they were unable to move. Recruiting reserves?"

"You can do it!" Someone immediately objected: "Tanilia hasn't even finished digesting it! How can we mobilize reserves so frequently? We can always figure out our goals first and then discuss whether to recruit reserves, right?"

Leighton was stabbed and became angry: "The military attaché stationed in Plato is such a waste! What kind of information is sent back? It's so confusing, can he understand it himself? How can he make decisions if he doesn't know anything?"

Zio opened his eyes and sat up straight.

The officers in the throne room understood that the Governor wanted to speak, so they also calmed down their appearance and sat upright.

"Send the military attache to watch the battle."

…

…

Pierre Michel deserted.

Angelou, Vashika and other people from Wolf Town also fled back with him.

Pierre considers himself no coward.

After narrowly escaping death, he fought his way back to Plato from the wasteland, and his legs never weakened once.

Pierre just didn't want to work for them anymore.

"Let's go." He told his partner this idea: "Let's go home."

Go home, this word seems to have magical power, making everyone's gloomy eyes burst into tears.

"Okay." Everyone muttered: "Go home."

When the troops left Shuangqiao Camp, they took advantage of a loophole and slipped away.

Desertion, death penalty... they no longer care about these, they just want to go home.

The people of Wolf Town choose to walk on small roads, deliberately avoiding villages and towns, and even going into no man's land.

They drank stream water when they were thirsty and ate dry food when they were hungry. After going through countless hardships, the Bighorn River on the border of Wolf Town finally appeared in their sights.

Got home.

Everyone cheered and ran like crazy toward the Bighorn River. Kiss the river bank and drink the water from the river.

Pierre sniffed and called Angelou softly: "Hook?"

"What's the matter?"

"My father told me that when I was in my hometown in the north, Dusak would be sent home after working for the emperor for seven years. They would load their clothes, knives and belongings on the horse, and lead the horse away together. Walking all the way to Kung Bei Bay, when the Dusaks saw the Shield River for the first time..."

[The Don River: The Don River, the homeland of the Dusan people in the empire]

The other Dusaks listened quietly.

"...'Oh my God! Just look at it!'" Pierre imitated his father's accent: "Everyone was going crazy, shouting and rushing to the river's Shield River! Silent Shield River ! My parents! The benefactor who raised me! Ula! Ahhhh!'"

Pierre couldn't help laughing, but his eyes were red.

When people from Wolf Town who were not Dusak heard this, their eyes became moist and their noses became sour.

Pierre continued: "They threw their hats, military uniforms, pillowcases, and boots into the river. They returned home safely, so they rewarded the shield river. The parents, wives and children downstream saw hats coming from upstream like swans. When you float down, you will know that your relatives are home..."

Pierre took off his hat and threw it toward the Bighorn River.

The black hat turned several turns along the winding river and disappeared behind the reeds.

Others followed suit, shouting at the top of their lungs: "Dad! Mom! I'm home!"

Pierre walked to the river to wash away the dust from his body.

Looking at the face reflected in the water, Pierre could hardly recognize who that person was.

The man's eyes were melancholy, his brows were furrowed tightly, his eye sockets were sunken, and his cheekbones were thin and protruding.

Pierre touched his face. He couldn't remember his original appearance.

After seeing his companions die in battle several times, he could no longer tolerate any mercy in his heart. He became hard-hearted and ruthless towards his enemies.

But he could no longer laugh like before, and it was difficult for him to look into the innocent eyes of children.

Until then, he had firmly defended the honor of Dussac, showing selfless bravery whenever he had the chance.

He plays with other people's lives and his own life with indifference and contempt.

For his bravery in combat, he received four commendations and three medals.

And now, he is a deserter.

But it didn't matter anymore, because he was back home.

Pierre jumped on the saddle and bolted towards Mitchell Manor.

The bright sunshine has swept away the winter gloom, and the sky is as clear as a blue.

The mountains and rivers have long since thawed, and the soil exudes the fresh smell of grass sprouts.

The swallows have returned home from Veneta and the United Provinces, and are building new nests in pairs in their old places.

The queue of wild geese swept across the land and flew towards the wilderness.

In Pierre's memory, at this time in previous years, the house would be very lively:

Dad and the cart boys would crack their long whips and drive the draft horses to plow furrows in the ground. Other hired workers followed closely behind, carefully scattering cigarette seeds.

My mother would surround a small vegetable garden and scatter seeds of nettles, pumpkins, black beans, and persimmons;

To the northwest is the family's wheat field. The wheat seedlings have turned green and are about to be weeded and fertilized.

Pierre, immersed in memories, suddenly realized that the Mitchell Manor behind the oak tree was silent.

There was no neighing of horses, no chants of working people, and no human habitation.

The flat, fertile land is now barren, with weeds growing haphazardly.

Pierre was so frightened that he whipped his horse like crazy, jumped the fence, and ran straight to the mansion.

"Dad! Mom!" Pierre shouted: "I'm back!"

Little Dussac got off his horse, sprinted up the steps, slammed open the front door, and cried out: "Dad! Mom! I'm back!"

"Crash", the plate fell to the ground and shattered.

Scarlett in the hall threw herself into his arms and cried bitterly.

"It's okay! Don't be afraid!" Pierre hugged his sister tightly: "Brother is back."

Pierre saw his mother, his noble, graceful, elegant and delicate mother, with her hair wrapped in a kerchief like an ordinary peasant woman, wearing coarse cloth for work, running towards him crying.

Pierre's tense heart was relieved. What he feared most did not happen.

He swore he had never seen his mother run like that with her skirt up.

Ellen Mitchell held her son's face as if holding the most fragile glassware and murmured: "It will be good to come back, it will be good to come back."

The mother, son and sister hugged each other tightly and burst into tears.

That night, Ellen boiled eggs, heated milk, and baked bread for her son.

Pierre finally learned of the situation at home.

After the news of the Hed barbarian invasion spread, Dusak was the first to be recruited.

Dussac of Wolf Town is all on the roster, and his father is among them.

The Dusaks assembled and set out with weapons and horses.

Except for the old man and the underage children, all the adult men in Dussa Village have left.

In order to guard against the barbarians, tenant farmers, grain and livestock were also recruited.

The hired workers fled, and the farmers hid their animals in the forests and buried their grains in cellars.

Unable to recruit tenant farmers, many homesteaders were captured.

A lot of hidden livestock and grain in cellars were also found, and farmers who hid supplies were flogged.

Gévaudan desperately collected supplies and recruited troops to protect himself, but no one paid attention to the outer villages and towns such as Wolf Town.

Amid the turmoil, several waves of Hurd raiders appeared in Wolf Town.

The Hedians may have thought that there were just a few undefended small villages where they could plunder and rest.

However, there were militia teams left by Winters Montagne in the villages of Wolf Town, and the Hed's stragglers could not take advantage.

It was like hunting an animal: six or seven Hurd raiders broke into the village, and with the sound of gongs from all directions, they were all stabbed to death with javelins or captured.

In contrast, it was not the Hurds who caused the most damage to Wolf Town, but the Platoans.

Not long ago, another order was issued.

The Mitchell Estate was subject to wartime property taxes - a tax based on the value of the land it owned.

During the prayer before the meal, Pierre held his mother's hand with his left hand and his sister's hand with his right hand. He was sad to find that there were scars on the hands of his mother and sister.

"I'm back." Mr. Mitchell said softly, "Leave it all to me."

…

At the same moment, Hailan, Navarre House.

The tense atmosphere seemed to be about to explode in the next second, and the servants fled for fear of being caught in the fire.

Anna sat in front of the dressing table, her head lowered.

"Go to the convent?" Mrs. Navarre covered her heart, her chest heaving violently: "What are you crazy about?"

Anna said not a word.

This is what Mrs. Navarre fears most. Once her eldest daughter shows up like this, it means that she has made up her mind.

And once her eldest daughter has made up her mind, nothing can change it.

This is a very stubborn girl, and her advantages of being soft on the outside and strong on the inside have become the biggest problem at this time.

"Is it worth it? You are still so young, is it worth it?"

"You put all your heart on him precisely because you have been together for too short a time. What you love is him in your imagination, not at all what he is in reality. The real him will make you disappointed and disgusted. You know Don’t understand? You will meet someone better!”

"It's just one man. One hundred or ten thousand men are not worth a woman giving up on herself!"

The silent Anna suddenly said: "What about you and dad?"

Mrs. Navarre's breath was stagnant: "Your father and I are the exception. And we are married! And we still have you! And your father will not let me go to the convent!"

"I volunteered."

"You silly girl!" Mrs. Navarre was no longer as calm and elegant as usual. She raised her arms high and was reluctant to tie them down after a lot of effort: "Why are you so stupid?"

From Anna's face, Mrs. Navarre can always see the shadow of her late husband.

Mrs. Navarre held her daughter's hand and almost begged: "Mom doesn't force you to get engaged, nor is she in a hurry to find you a husband. It's up to you. You don't need to be a nun, you don't need to use this method. "

Two lines of tears fell from the corners of Anna's eyes: "I just want to pray for him forever."

Tears fell from her chin drop by drop, falling on the blood-stained letter in her hand.

She read every word, her hand running over every letter.

This is actually not a letter, it is a diary written by Winters Montagne to her lover.

In the diary, nothing seems to have happened: the wilderness is cold, the sky is blue, and I miss you very much.

But from this simple and monotonous record, she saw that his handwriting was trembling, and she smelled the burnt smell on the letterhead.

The owner of the diary gradually switches from the first person to the third person, describing everything from the perspective of a bystander.

His spirit became more and more withdrawn, and his words became more and more cold, as if he had lost all feeling.

Anna seemed to be touching Winters Montagne's soul across time and space, seeing him hugging his knees, huddled in a ball, crying in the endless darkness.

"Did he die peacefully?" Anna wanted to know the answer: "Is he in heaven?"

"Because he is gone, he will always be the best." Anna sobbed and said, "If I forget him, then the best of him will completely disappear."

Mrs. Navarre felt a pain in her chest and could no longer explain the reason.

She leaned back in the chair, her face was pale, and she begged in a plaintive voice: "Anna, my mother's heart condition is very bad. Please don't irritate her like this, okay? You calm down first, and then you can make a decision later, okay? My mother's heart condition is very bad right now." It hurts."

Anna lowered her head in pain.

Mrs. Navarre became increasingly anxious. If the guilt could not overwhelm her daughter, then there was really nothing she could do.

"Mom! Stop forcing your sister!" Catherine rushed into the bedroom and held Anna in her arms: "If my sister wants to go to the monastery to stay for a few days, just let her stay for a few days. I will accompany her!"

Catherine begged her sister again: "You can go to the convent if you want, but don't rush to swear admission, okay? Let's stay for a while first, okay?"

Anna nodded slightly.

It is very common for young ladies and ladies to stay temporarily in convents.

It is possible to pray with the nuns, but life vows are not required.

The crisis is temporarily over.

"Okay, let's go." Mrs. Navarre's tense spirit relaxed.

She thought bitterly: "My daughter, such an excellent daughter, should be the one who fascinates men. Why is it the other way around?"

Thinking of this, Mrs. Navarre said angrily: "Don't say that boy is dead, even if he is still alive, I will not allow you to marry him!"

I am a person who is useless at naming, and I sincerely thank my book friend "Where Flowers Bloom to the Sun" for providing the translation - Dunhe.

For Winters, Anna is like a dream lover. But for Anna, the same is true for Mr. M.

Thanks to book friends for reading, subscribing, recommending tickets, monthly tickets, tips and comments.

The chapter name is suspected of fraud.

In fact, it is because according to the habit of the previous volume, the name of the last chapter of this volume must be "Running Horse".

I paid back half a chapter, and there is only one chapter left that I owe QAQ