King

Canglan City.

Alliance reinforcements arrived, the orc army retreated, and after the news of the completion of the mission reached the palace, not only did the faces of the princes and nobles no longer have smiles, but they all had terrifyingly gloomy expressions.

It seemed that everything was going for the better, but the casualty figures in their hands did not make them happy.

Nearly 600,000 troops remained on the orc prairie forever, the Alpha Kingdom's vitality was severely damaged, and almost every noble group cried and every household hung white sails.

Like all previous wars, the kingdom's decades of wealth and military strength were all exhausted in the war.

"Why are everyone silent? They were crying and clamoring to break out, but now the result is what you want!"

Caesar III said angrily.

Obviously, he has not been able to let go of the matter of the last time the ministers united to force the palace.

The king was angry, so naturally no one stepped forward to cause trouble. At this moment, everyone is not in a good mood. They want to take the blame but can't find someone to take the blame.

Marshal Campbell died in battle, and Caesar III would definitely not agree if he was thrown the blame again.

As the instigators, the five major families in the North are well-established and powerful factions in the kingdom, and they also have power in the court. If they are asked to take responsibility, it will be another endless wrangling.

The Human Alliance is too involved and cannot be offended. Let them take the blame, which will trigger international conflicts.

Hudson, who was the easiest to bully, had just reached out to help each other, but now he was throwing the blame, and it was too ugly.

We are all decent people, and we must leave some room when we do things, otherwise it will be difficult to meet each other in the future.

If there is no scapegoat, then the only choice is to blame the orcs. However, this is a royal meeting, so there is no need to be so rude. It is not too late to scold the people below when they are doing publicity.

"Your Majesty, the orcs have always been very cunning, and they may come back to kill them again. Now that the response mission has been completed, let's quickly withdraw the army!"

Efiero persuaded openly.

The Alpha Kingdom, which had suffered heavy losses, could no longer withstand the hardships. No matter what, these remaining elites of the kingdom must be preserved.

Compared with previous wars, in this war, the Kingdom of Alpha was passively beaten for the shortest time, occupied the least land, and suffered the lowest civilian casualties and domestic economic losses in history.

As long as the elite seeds are preserved, the kingdom will be able to regain its strength in less than ten years. If production in the newly recovered provinces can be restored, there is even hope that the national strength will be further improved.

Even though it has suffered heavy losses now, among the human kingdoms in the North, the Alpha Kingdom is still the strongest.

As long as the Human Alliance can provide some strength and cripple the Orc Empire, the Alpha Kingdom will have no external enemy threats in the next few decades and can farm with peace of mind.

From an overall strategic point of view, the Alpha Kingdom was actually the winner in this war that suffered heavy losses. But the price paid was a bit heavy, and he looked like he was about to die.

"Then let them withdraw!"

Caesar III nodded slightly and said.

Things have priorities, and you can get angry at any time, but military and national affairs must be dealt with immediately.

Not bringing emotions into decision-making was also an important factor in Caesar III's ability to firmly control government affairs. Even though one of his pillars in the military was broken, his status was not affected.

"Your Majesty, the reinforcements from the Human Alliance have already set off and will soon enter our country one after another. Then it will be our turn to launch a counterattack.

Taking into account the geographical location, we continue to deploy defenses on the front lines of Zijingguan and Helanbao, which can no longer meet the needs of the subsequent war.

With the first batch of reinforcements from the Alliance and the help of the Principality of Moxi, now is the time to consider: re-establishing defense lines in the newly recovered seven provinces of the Northland, hoarding supplies, and preparing for a major counterattack! "

The Prime Minister, the Grand Duke of Newfoundland, suggested.

Originally, this was not part of the plan. According to the previous idea, the Northern Expeditionary Army could directly follow the group of "master knights" to toss in the Orc Empire and defeat the enemy.

It's a pity that the mentality of those old men is not very good. After learning that Emperor Beamon died from the backlash of the secret method of immortality, their mentality collapsed.

Except for the strong men who were originally from the Alpha Kingdom and still stayed in the army, everyone else went back to busy with their own affairs.

Everyone knows that people who are dying are not to be messed with. Even if it is known that these people broke the contract and caused misfortune to the Northern Expeditionary Army, the kingdom can only swallow its grievances.

They went to the hinterland of the Orc Empire and made some noise, but it was not completely ineffective. The number of orcs slaughtered along the way was also in the millions.

The most important thing is that it affected the status of the five royal families in the eyes of the orcs, laying the foundation for the subsequent civil strife in the orc empire.

"Prime Minister, restoring the defense lines of the seven provinces in the far north cannot be completed overnight. The manpower, financial and material resources that need to be invested are astronomical.

What's more, we have to consider that the enemy can come and destroy us at any time, and the construction site will turn into a battlefield if we are not careful. Destruction can be far faster than construction!

With the kingdom's current financial situation, it simply cannot afford such a large project. As for advancing the front line and preparing for a major counterattack, I think we should postpone it until later. "

Delgado decisively refused.

It's not that he doesn't have strategic vision, it's just that the Alpha Kingdom is too poor. The war has progressed to this point, and the treasury is so empty that even mice can run away.

Having no money in his pocket made him, the finance minister, very helpless.

Even if all the materials for building the defense line are sourced locally, the civilians will always have to eat. Affected by the war, domestic food production plummeted and could no longer meet the needs of the entire people, so it could only be purchased from overseas.

A penny is too much for a heroic man, not to mention that the Alpha Kingdom is still short of a penny. The kingdom's funding gap is in the tens of millions, which is more than the annual fiscal revenue. It cannot be squeezed out by the Ministry of Finance.

"Delgado, don't be too anxious. Regarding funding, didn't we just levy a war tax?

If you grit your teeth and persevere, you can always come up with a solution. For the sake of the overall situation, everyone tightened their belts and lived a hard life for a few years.

I will take the lead. From now on until the kingdom's finances improve, I will not receive any salary. All senior officials in the kingdom will have their salaries suspended, while middle- and lower-level officials will have their salaries reduced by 30% to 50% as appropriate.

The budgets of various departments have also been reduced; bounties for meritorious officials will only be given to small nobles, and the rest will be owed first! "

The Prime Minister, the Grand Duke of Newfoundland, said calmly.

There is no doubt that this is an offending suggestion. Since the outbreak of the war, various welfare benefits for officials have been greatly reduced, and even less will be received after such reductions.

Departmental budgets, not to mention. After the war broke out, except for the increasing expenses of the Ministry of Military Affairs, other departments were tightening their belts.

On the contrary, the issue of military merit bounty is the easiest to solve. Because of the war, not only the bounties remained on the books, but even the pensions for the fallen nobles had not had time to be paid out.

Even though he knew it was Lei, he still had to step on it. Who made him the prime minister of the kingdom?

As the head of a hundred officials, at such a critical moment, if he didn't dare to offend others, he couldn't let King Caesar III personally go out and cause hatred, right?

“Prime Minister, this is still not enough.

Most of the officials in the Kingdom are on a compulsory basis, and there are not many who need the Ministry of Finance to pay their salaries. Moreover, the Ministry of Finance already owes everyone two months of unpaid salaries.

The budgets of various departments are also being squeezed again and again. Unless you can suppress the expenses of the Ministry of Affairs, you will only be able to squeeze out hundreds of thousands of gold coins at most.

Most of the nobles' bounties have been misappropriated by the Ministry of Finance. The few million gold coins left in the account are still used for emergencies.

The crisis we are facing now can no longer be solved by cutting expenditures. The only way is to open source, such as: levy another war tax, or borrow money from the countries in the alliance!

Frankly speaking, this is not a good choice.

We levied war tax three times last year alone, and again at the beginning of the year. If we collect it again now, many small nobles may not be able to support it.

When it comes to borrowing foreign debt, I think Count Francis has a better say. "

Delgado said with a shrug.

The kingdom's finances have been able to persist until now without going bankrupt. As the finance minister, he can proudly declare to the outside world that he is worthy of the kingdom.

“The Chancellor is right when he says that borrowing from countries is not a good option. Looking at our past lending cases, the process is not pretty.

A few days ago, a kind of war bond appeared in the Principality of Moxi. I think the Ministry of Finance can follow suit.

Compared with negotiating with governments of various countries, it is actually easier to raise funds by directly selling war bonds with interest to big nobles at home and abroad. "

Count Francis said calmly.

The Principality of Moxi is selling war bonds everywhere, which has already caused a stir on the mainland. The reason why the war bonds were not sold to the Alpha Kingdom was because we were all "bad brothers" and life was difficult for everyone.

As the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Count Francis naturally wanted to understand what happened in neighboring countries.

"Our current funding gap is as high as more than 30 million gold coins. Can we borrow such a large amount of money by issuing war bonds?

Let me be the first to state that usury is out of the question. The kingdom's financial resources are limited and it cannot afford excessively high interest rates. Even if it’s a normal private loan, we can’t afford it! "

Finance Minister Marquis Delgado said seriously.

Wanting to borrow money but not willing to bear high interest rates is a contradictory proposition in itself.

The great nobles do have patriotic feelings, but it is still unknown how much gold coins this feeling is worth.

What's more, since the war has been ongoing, the nobles' families have also consumed a lot of money, and they may not be as wealthy now.

Even if everyone is willing to support the kingdom, it may be difficult to spend large sums of cash to buy war bonds. After all, people also need to save money for post-war reconstruction.

"Refer to the interest rate set by the Mossi people, and combine it with our actual situation, print a batch of war bonds and sell them for emergency use.

However, the specific figures must be strictly controlled by the Ministry of Finance and must not exceed the kingdom’s repayment capacity! "

Caesar III made a quick decision.

The money that should be spent must be spent. Even if there is no expedition by the Human Alliance army, the seven newly recovered provinces still need to be included in the kingdom's defense line after the war.

Even if we start now, we can move the border line further north. Anyway, after so many years, the specific boundary line has become a mystery.

It would be a fool not to rely on the power of the Human Alliance to occupy as much territory as possible.

As long as the Human Alliance recognizes the established fact through actual actions, it will become the legal territory of the Alpha Kingdom.

There is no need to worry about this kind of thing. The mainland overlord also wants to save face. If his younger brother gives away the benefits he has gained, wouldn't it make all races look down on the human race?

As long as you don't play too much, exceeding your own digestion limit and arousing the jealousy of your allies, then there won't be a big problem.

…

"Your Majesty, Marshal Campbell was unfortunately killed. With so many troops gathered on the front line, it is necessary for us to appoint a new commander. Who do you think is suitable?"

Archduke Efiero asked tentatively.

Frankly speaking, there are not many generals in the Alpha Kingdom army who are qualified to serve as frontline commanders.

Most of the great nobles in the south were excluded from the candidate list. The reason was very simple - they lacked sufficient military exploits.

On the contrary, the nobles in the north, because they have been fighting orcs all year round, have accumulated more military merits and have greater influence in the army.

This is their advantage and also their disadvantage.

From the king's standpoint, it is not who has the most military exploits and the highest prestige, but who is the most suitable commander. We must also consider the balance of all aspects.

"Who are the candidates for the Ministry of Military Affairs?"

Caesar III asked with concern.

This kind of procedure is necessary. Even if you have your own candidate in mind, you must first see the reaction of the ministers.

It is best to leave all the nomination matters to the subordinates. It would be embarrassing if the generals who nominated the generals in person were rejected by the ministers.

This kind of thing is nothing new in the court. Caesar III was considered a strong monarch, but he still needed to discuss important personnel appointments in the kingdom with everyone.

"The Ministry of Military Affairs has drafted a total of six people, namely the Duke of Pias, the Duke of Jagiellon, the Duke of Dias, the Duke of Cavadia, the Earl of Hudson and the Marquis of James."

As soon as Grand Duke Efiero finished speaking, Caesar III frowned. There are six candidates in total, and the first four are members of the five major families in the North.

If Duke Aarondo hadn't been killed by the orcs and the heir's prestige was insufficient, it is estimated that the five major families in the North would have been shortlisted together.

Almost without thinking, he immediately eliminated the first four.

There is no way. The northern nobles have too much influence in the army. If one of their men is allowed to serve as the commander-in-chief, will the position of commander-in-chief of the standing army also be given to them in the future?

Originally, the standing army was stationed in the Northland all year round, and the Northland nobles had a great influence in the military. If another Northland nobleman was appointed as the commander-in-chief, if things went on like this, military power would completely fall into the hands of a group of Northland nobles.

There is no doubt that this kind of situation where the tail cannot be lost is something that no monarch wants to see.

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