King

At Hansen Port, workers were busy loading ships against the roaring sea wind.

"The Governor is here!"

As soon as the words were spoken, the dock suddenly started to boil. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked in the direction of the person.

Hanging out on the pier and seeing a lot of people of all kinds traveling around, it can be said that they are well-informed.

But this was the first time for many people to see the Governor in person.

The vast sea is extremely dangerous and always awe-inspiring. Storms, sea monsters, pirates... all threaten the safety of maritime navigation.

Making a living at sea can be said to be a different kind of life, and you must be prepared to die in the sea at any time.

Human beings are always full of fear of the unknown, and noble nobles are no exception.

From the southeastern province to the royal capital Canglan City, in addition to the land transportation line, you can also take the sea route and sail along the mainland, and then go upstream through the Lancang River.

This maritime communication line has been open for hundreds of years, and countless ships and merchants travel between it every day.

The bustling commerce still cannot conceal the dangers of sea navigation. Almost every once in a while, news of a ship accident comes out.

The danger of the sea cannot stop everyone's desire to make a fortune. The huge profits from maritime trade attracted business travelers and adventurers to join.

Even some children of declining nobles have devoted themselves to maritime trade. Compared with the conservative and traditional inland, the atmosphere of Port Hansen is obviously much more open.

However, these participants do not include owners of big families and businesses.

For the fief lords, unless absolutely necessary, they would rather run on land than take the sea route.

On the one hand, I hate unknown risks, and on the other hand, the experience of sailing at sea these days is really not wonderful.

The biggest advantage of sea transportation is the low cost of freight, as for passenger transportation, it does not exist. The speed of noble men galloping on their horses is much faster than that of slow ships.

War horses with the blood of Warcraft can be regarded as the greatest biotechnology breakthrough in the Aslant continent.

The dual improvement of endurance and explosive power frees knights from the trouble of one person, two horses, or three horses.

Knights can easily travel hundreds of miles a day, and the military reports on the front line are urgent, and they can even travel a thousand miles a day.

Of course, instead of sending messages at high speed, everyone still prefers to let the aerial troops flying in the sky transmit information.

It's just that the air force is too scarce and there is no way to deploy it on a large scale. Most of the time, cavalry is still used for communications.

Given the risk-averse conservative style of aristocratic gentlemen, if given the choice, everyone would definitely prefer to go overland.

Unfortunately, the monthly freight task of tens of thousands of tons is too heavy. In order to reduce costs and improve efficiency, water transport has become the only option.

This was the first time since the outbreak of the war that the Southeast Province had sent supplies to the front line. In order to show its importance, Governor Pierce brought a group of big bosses from the province to personally supervise.

Looking at the mountains of supplies waiting to be loaded onto the ship, everyone couldn't help but sigh.

Looking at the list of supplies sent by his men, Earl Pierce's expression suddenly changed. He pointed at a piece of data and asked doubtfully: "What's going on with the data on this?"

The military officer on the side glanced at the data and explained with a smile:

“These are supplies sent from Wright County. They were severely affected by the disaster and did not raise enough food.

In accordance with the provincial government's requirements, we used weapons, armor, and high-quality raw iron to recharge our supplies.

Originally, they wanted to take other iron products, but we refused due to transportation considerations.

We didn't expect at the time that they would bring out so many iron products that the province couldn't allocate supplies within the province for a while.

After communicating with the Royal Capital Logistics Department, they agreed to receive this batch of supplies, so..."

When you suddenly enter the national mobilization system, no matter how experienced you are, various problems will inevitably arise.

Flexible adaptability is the key to solving problems.

The time is too tight, and if a certain material is not in place, there is no way to offset it with other strategic materials.

If the rules are applied rigidly without leaving any room for flexibility, the people below will not be able to work.

Earl Pierce naturally knows this kind of thing. Otherwise, I would not have agreed to carry out material transfers within the province.

What he was concerned about now was obviously not the discrepancy in the types of supplies, but the amount of high-quality raw iron produced by Wright County, which far exceeded his estimate.

The original task of paying for food turned into a pile of iron lumps.

This means that the mountainous territory that originally could only produce inferior weapons now has the foundation for large-scale mass production of weapons and equipment.

Walking to a carriage transporting weapons, he casually pulled out a war hammer with the words "Made in the Mountain Territory" clearly engraved on it.

The low-quality iron has turned into high-quality iron, and Count Pierce can't wait to send the guys who collected intelligence back to make it again.

Military production capacity is crucial to any major force. You must know that due to lack of coal, the Dalton family is currently unable to mass-produce weapons and equipment.

It happened that this core strategic material had always been under his nose, but it had not been discovered for a long time.

War has broken out and unity is the theme of Alpha Kingdom. Any behavior that stirs up disputes and undermines the overall unity will be severely punished by the kingdom.

What's more, the current Mountain Territory is not a soft persimmon. Hudson, who integrated the military power of Wright County, was also considered a powerful force in the southeastern province.

It would be difficult for the Dalton family to take advantage of the proposed exchange of fiefdoms.

"Ha ha……"

After a burst of hearty laughter, which covered up the unnatural embarrassment on his face just now, Count Pierce pretended to be emotional and said:

“I really didn’t expect that our southeastern province also has the ability to produce high-quality iron on a large scale.

The demand for weapons and equipment on the front line is very large, especially the shortage of disposable weapons, which is a terrifying figure.

The logistics department's forging capacity is limited, and throwing all the processing pressure to them will simply not be able to meet the needs of the front line.

Viscount Leonard, please communicate with the Royal Capital Logistics Department and explain to them the dilemma we are facing.

Let’s see if we can adjust the material supply in the southeastern provinces and replace some of the materials with weapons for delivery.

Viscount Hudson, do you have any problem processing this iron into weapons? "

As a politician, Governor Pierce is undoubtedly qualified, and he can see the key to the problem at a glance.

If he doesn't bring this up, Hudson will still push it.

Although the Alpha Kingdom made preparations early, from the moment the war started, ordnance became a consumable.

Ordinary weapons and equipment are not consumed very quickly. Even if it is damaged, it can still be repaired.

Disposable weapon consumables, such as arrows, javelins, flying spears... are basically gone and never come back.

For the soldiers defending the city, these consumable weapons are never enough.

Even some ordinary knight guns and spears can be regarded as disposable weapons. Usually after a big battle, everything is broken into pieces.

With the massive daily consumption on the front line, just relying on inventory is definitely not enough. Since the outbreak of the war, the military production capacity of the Alpha Kingdom has exploded to the extreme.

But compared with the huge consumption, the production speed obviously cannot keep up. Under this background, it is impossible for the Logistics Department to refuse to add a new weapons production base.

As the disadvantaged party, we must go all out and cannot be willful at all.

Instead of waiting for Hudson to push it forward, it would be better for him, the governor, to propose it first. Not only did he sell a favor, but he also created an image for himself of taking the overall situation into consideration.

As for the greedy issue, we can wait until the war is over. If something happened to Hudson on the battlefield, the mountain territory would be in the possession of the Dalton family.

On the other hand, if the Dalton family suffered heavy losses on the battlefield and was weakened, this favor could come in handy.

In frontline battles involving hundreds of thousands or even millions of troops, anything can happen. No smart person will easily make enemies at this time unless necessary.

“Your Majesty the Governor, it is Hudson’s honor to be able to share the worries of the kingdom.

Just to forge weapons on a large scale, the Mountain Territory still lacks enough blacksmiths.

It would be better for the mountain leaders to provide the iron, and everyone should share the burden of forging weapons. "

Hudson suggested.

Those who can forge weapons for the kingdom are a group of established powerful forces. Suddenly joining in will inevitably touch the interests of these people.

Hudson never had any confidence in the integrity of arms dealers.

It is very necessary to gather a group of allies to share the pressure.

With the profits diluted, the Mountain Territory is no longer so conspicuous. Even if there is trouble next, the families that have benefited cannot just watch.

By the way, it can also be seen as: the Koslow family's vote to join the upper-class circles of the Southeast Province.

…

After a small episode, the scene became a lot warmer. Earl Pierce was thinking about the iron in the Mountain Territory, and Hudson was also coveting the Dalton family's port.

In the eyes of traditional nobles, inland fertile lands and fertile soil were the best fiefdoms; but in Hudson's view, coastal territories like Watson with excellent ports were the best treasures.

He was greedy, but he couldn't peep into the fiefdom that the Dalton family had been running for many years.

Looking at the bustling port with busy traffic, Hudson's thoughts began to wander. Perhaps the development plans for the swamp could change.

Before it is all opened up into farmland, it would be more valuable for the development of the mountainous territory to open a road from it to the sea.

"Hudson, it's your first time to experience the majesty of the sea. Are you intimidated?"

Hearing this familiar voice, Hudson knew that his contemplation just now had been misunderstood by his father-in-law.

There is no explanation. As an aristocrat who grew up in an inland area, this was the first time for Hudson to see the sea.

Shock gaffes are normal. If nothing happens, there is a problem.

"Indeed! The majesty of the sea is beyond imagination.

However, I am more curious about the mystery of the sea than these waves.

There are endless sea monster legends and legendary sea races, they are all fascinating existences! "

They were all true. He was indeed very interested in these legends.

If you want to dig gold in the sea, you can't do it without clarifying these issues. Hudson didn't think that just building a few ships would be enough to engage in maritime trade.

"The legend of sea monsters is nothing more than some magical beasts that grow in the sea. They are boasted to be very powerful, but in reality they are nothing more than that.

If it were as powerful as the legend says, sea routes would have been gone long ago.

As for the legendary Sea Clan, there are indeed records in history books. It seems mysterious, but in fact there is no essential difference from the alien races on the mainland.

They are nothing more than a group of intelligent creatures living in the sea.

Since the Great War in the Middle Ages, these sea creatures have abandoned coastal areas and migrated to settle in the deep sea, basically not interacting with us humans.

But the sea is indeed rich in many products. Some guys with great hands and eyes have opened up trade with the Sea Tribe and made a lot of money.

This kind of business is impossible to envy, it is all about luck.

In order to open up trade with the Sea Tribe, many forces organized fleets to search for Sea Tribe creatures.

The person was indeed found, but the ending was a bit surprising. The trade lines were not opened up, but conflicts occurred frequently.

If you stay at the port, you might one day encounter fishermen bringing captured sea creatures to the market to sell.

The legendary mysterious, powerful, and omnipotent Sea Clan does not exist at all. Most of the sea creatures are pitifully weak. "

Viscount Oran said disdainfully.

There are very few intelligent creatures in the sea. In the special environment of the sea, the probability of being able to be intelligent is much lower than on land.

Even if wisdom is born, it will be difficult to derive a civilization in the face of various complex environments in the sea.

Being a link in each other's food chain has caused the Sea Clan to be severely divided. Basically, the tribal groups are doing their own thing.

The scattered Sea Clan naturally cannot bring pressure to the human race, so it is inevitable that they will not be taken seriously.

But once the Hai Clan is unified, it will become the largest ethnic group in the world. After all, the reproduction rate of creatures in the sea is completely cheating.

If it weren't for the checks and balances in the food chain, there would have been an overrun of creatures.

Smiling slightly, Hudson did not continue the topic.

Ignorance is not terrible. If you are ignorant and go to discuss and quarrel with others, that is too much.

Hudson's knowledge of the Sea Tribe was limited to some folklore. The information on the Koslow family is all hundreds of years old and is still incomplete and scattered records.

Even if time is not valuable to a race, hundreds of years can still affect the development of a civilization.

Of course, the exception is long-lived races. For a race like the giant dragon that can sleep for hundreds of years, hundreds of years really can't change anything.

Shipment work continues.

Everyone just came to take a look to express the importance of the provincial leadership, and did not intend to give a speech to boost morale.

A group of laborers are not worthy of the noble lords' concern.

This gesture is mainly to warn the bureaucrats who implement it to be calm.

Watching a ship loaded with cargo leave the port, Hudson...