Start with Island Lord

Crescent Castle.

The meeting hall of the lord's longhouse.

Rosen and Selena's puppets sat side by side on a bench.

Why puppets?

Because Selena was about to give birth in a month, and her pregnancy was very obvious, and she couldn't hide it.

On the left and right of the two were soldiers of the Island Guards, and further down, on the left were the admirals of the Navy, and on the right were the admirals of the Army.

In this naval battle, the Navy was naturally the main force, but the Army Artillery Regiment also made contributions.

Further down, there stood a group of soldiers with disheveled clothes and black and gray faces and scars.

They were the senior officers of the Dawn City Storm Fleet.

There were not many of them, just over thirty. There were originally nearly 200, but they all died in the sea.

The leader was the fleet's highest commander, Marshal Tewwood Adrian, one of the three marshals of the Storm Fleet.

He looked at a man in his early fifties, with short gray hair, a neatly trimmed beard, and a pair of emerald eyes that were unique to the Adrian family.

Of course, these eyes were already a little cloudy, and at this moment they were filled with a strong sense of frustration.

Selena looked at the old man and asked with a cold face: "Uncle, why are you here?!"

Tewold took a deep breath: "I was ordered by the Duke to come to fight against the pearl fraudsters on the White Sturgeon Island."

Selena sneered: "Pearl fraud? What, are we selling fake pearls?"

Tewold spread his hands: "I am a soldier, I don't care whether it is true or not, I only obey the Duke's orders."

"Humph~~"

Selena sneered and suddenly asked: "If Reid asks you to eat shit, will you go too?"

Tewold frowned: "Your Highness, please be careful with your words, don't use rude words to tarnish the noble glory of the Adrian family."

Selena wanted to laugh when she heard it: "What is noble?"

"Is it noble to convict people at will? Is robbery noble? Or is it noble to be a dog for Aaron?!"

Tewold felt that he could not withstand such sharp words.

He felt that Selena had changed. She used to be much more reserved than now.

Selena chuckled: "I know what Reid thinks. It's nothing more than that too much gold has flowed to the White Sturgeon Island due to legal transactions, and he is unhappy."

"But I want to say that this gold does not belong to him, but to the Adrian family! As a duke, he only has partial control over the gold."

"But I, Princess Dawn Selena, do not recognize his dukehood!"

"I think he has not fulfilled his duties as the Duke of Dawn, and I think he is not worthy of being the supreme lord guarding Veran!"

"And now, Marshal Tewold, in the name of Princess Dawn, I ask you seriously, and I hope you will answer seriously."

"Do you think Reid is competent?!"

After saying this, Selena stared down at Tewold.

This is a very thorny issue. Tewold did not want to express his position publicly. He wanted to lower his eyes to avoid it, but he heard Selena's shout again.

"Uncle, don't hide from me, answer my questions!"

Tewold was forced to raise his head again: "I'm just a warrior."

"Are you still a member of the Adrian family, or do you plan to give up the glorious surname of Adrian?"

Tewold was forced into a corner, with no way to retreat.

He gritted his teeth and went all out: "Well, Reid really didn't do a good job."

He was indeed dissatisfied with Reid, especially in his attitude towards Aaron.

Selena nodded with satisfaction: "He is indeed incompetent. He controls so many resources of the giant island of Veran, but he can't even build a decent fleet."

"If my husband and I were in charge of Veran, within three years, our Veran Navy would be invincible across the ocean!"

This was really arrogant, but after such a huge victory, no one could say anything, and even felt it made sense.

The princess and the baron made such a terrible warship in less than a year with only the resources of a small island.

If the power of the twenty-five counties of Weilan is integrated, hundreds of warships can be built in a year, and Weilan is simply the master of the sea!

All the people present are warriors.

Warriors are very direct, and they only recognize who can fight.

Whoever can fight is the boss.

Of course, Tewold is also a warrior. Although he has some habits of aristocratic lords, his military literacy is still very good.

He has been completely defeated.

At this moment, seeing that his niece publicly said that she wanted to deprive Reid of his dukehood, the underlying meaning is naturally that he wants to be a duke.

He thought about it and felt that this idea was actually quite good. After all, they are all members of the Adrian family. Who doesn’t want to be a duke?

And in these years, as the marshal of the Weilan Navy, he has been intimidated and even restrained by the Aaron Navy everywhere, and he has always been angry in his heart.

In daily life, he also dislikes Reid a little.

As a duke, his wife casually spends tens of thousands of Oggs to buy pearls and dresses herself up with jewels.

Looking at the niece and her husband in front of him, they have made millions of Oggs, but their clothes are still simple, and the castle they live in is even more shabby.

In contrast, one is incompetent and extravagant, and does not want to make progress, while the other lives a simple life but is determined to make progress.

The gap is really too big, it's simply two extremes.

The frustration of failure and the sense of honor of the Adrian family made Marshal Tewold's brain hot and threw away worldly concerns.

He said bluntly: "Your Highness, I personally think that the charges against Reid are very hasty. I have seen the batch of pearl jewelry, which is indeed very exquisite. It is reasonable to sell it at this price."

"But I am just a soldier. As long as he is still the Duke, I must obey orders. This is my highest honor as a soldier!"

Subconsciously, whoever is the Duke, he will work for.

The marshal changed his tone. What else can the other officers say?

They all changed their tone and said that they felt that the order was unreliable, but they had to obey the order because of their duties.

Selena nodded with satisfaction: "Come on, take my uncle and all the officers to the prisoner-of-war camp for the time being and treat them well."

"The naval soldiers of the Storm Fleet, the injured should be treated well, and the list of the dead should be counted."

Immediately, the guards came up to execute the order.

Twood and the officers also cooperated very well and followed the guards to the prisoner-of-war camp.

"Uncle~ you should have a good rest first. I will talk to you in detail in a few days."

Tewold turned around and saluted Selena: "Yes, Your Highness."

After the surrendered officers left, Rosen spoke.

"In this battle, the soldiers of each unit performed very well. After the battle statistics are completed, the medal awarding ceremony will begin."

Naturally, everyone is happy.

But the joy of the two soldiers is different.

The Navy Department is very happy, even proud.

With such a powerful warship, they will be able to walk across the ocean in the future, and the islands must rely on the navy, so they have huge room for development.

The Army Department is a little worried.

Because even a blind person can know that the baron attaches great importance to the navy, and countless real money is thrown down.

The army may soon become a stepmother's raising.

For a while, I couldn't laugh.

Rosen saw all these subtle emotions and decided to appease the Army Department. He couldn't really forget the army.

Because to truly conquer a piece of land, it is far from enough to rely on the navy, and you have to rely on the army.

In addition, the naval warriors' complacency is not a good thing.

He spoke again, reminding solemnly.

"Island warriors, this battle is just a trivial victory in the process of rising. Our opponent is just an incompetent duke of the old times."

"Please remember, warriors, today's battle is just the beginning!"

"In the near future, we will usher in more battles, on the ocean and on land."

"Our opponent is not only the duke, but also Aaron behind the duke!"

As soon as the word Aaron came out, the high spirits of the generals stagnated.

These two words represent the strongest royal power of the Natural Alliance and the shadow behind the scenes that has enveloped Veran for hundreds of years.

Veran had countless people rise up to resist, and even several dukes tried to get rid of Aaron's control, but they all failed in the end and all ended up tragically.

Even the duke was not spared!

Therefore, the weight of these two words was too heavy, which made all the warriors, even the princess Serena, feel heavy, and the joy after winning the war was mostly dissipated.

Seeing that it worked, Rosen looked around at all the generals, from General Codrin of the Army Department to General Yopp of the Navy Department, and then said:

"Now, I ask you, when the lion roars at us, what should we do?"

Yop was speechless. Coming from Shire County, he knew that Aaron was terrible.

Codrin was stunned for a moment and roared: "Fire at him!"

Rosen nodded to Codrin with satisfaction: "Warriors, remember these four words of General Codrin."

"I ask you to remember that it is not glorious to swing a knife at the weak. Firing at the strong is the real hero!"

After these words, the pride of the naval officers disappeared and turned into a deeper fighting spirit.

The lord was right. The journey of thousands of miles has only taken the first step.

Seeing that he had said it, Rosen waved his hand: "Go for it, warriors."

After the officers withdrew, Rosen still had a lot of things to arrange.

The warriors only waved their knives, but the lord had to prepare everything.

Victory is refreshing, and the people on the island are still celebrating, but the lord must see the underlying problem.

The biggest problem of the White Sturgeon Island at present is that there are not enough people.

Without people, no matter how many resources there are, it is useless.

From another perspective, the combat effectiveness shown in this battle is almost reaching the upper limit of the power of the White Sturgeon Island.

A small island basically has no war potential.

Let alone Aaron, even compared to Weilan, the White Sturgeon Island is just a little guy who plays extreme operations.

If you play well, you will win applause, and if you play too hard, you will die suddenly.

You must take the advantage and move to the next step immediately.

After returning to the government study, I immediately found the chief administrative officer Kruber.

"Kruber, you will draft three official documents immediately."

"The first victory document will send the news of the victory in the naval battle to the earl of the northern county."

"Yes, lord."

"Second, the meeting document. Set a time with the northern earls to convene a telegraph conference to discuss the issuance of a joint statement."

What joint statement?

Of course, it is a joint statement requesting the opening of the island lords' meeting and the re-election of the Duke.

According to the tradition of Weilan, as long as more than one-third of the earls on the island make a statement, the Duke must convene the island lords' meeting within one year to re-elect the Duke.

Otherwise, the Duke's position is illegal.

This is not only an ultimatum to the Duke, but also a complete dragging of the Northern County into the chariot!

As long as the Northern County is fully on board, he will use a series of combos to integrate the northern part of Weilan into a whole to greatly enhance the war potential.

Kruber didn't think so much, but he was a little excited.

He didn't expect to get to this point so quickly, and he is only 33 years old this year, still very young.

He is doing very well at the moment. If the princess really becomes a duchess, then he might become the parliamentary minister of Dawn City.

He is just a civilian mercenary and never thought he could get to this point.

Trying to suppress the excitement in his heart, he nodded calmly: "Yes, Lord."

Rosen said again: "Third, issue a document to recruit high-level talents and recruit various high-level talents from the All Natural Alliance with high treatment."

"Mages, craftsmen, etc., all are needed, whether he is a noble or a civilian, it doesn't matter. The only thing we value is talent!"

The factory's production capacity wants to be further improved, and the dock needs to be expanded.

In particular, new weapons must be developed faster to maintain the generation gap advantage.

What to do?

Of course, they took advantage of this great victory and the money earned from selling pearls to recruit talents from outside the island.

"Yes, Lord."

Kruber loudly accepted the order again.

After he left, Rosen found the director of the Intelligence Bureau, Mage Stonard.

"The first thing is to collect the post-war reactions of the counties in the north and south, and always pay attention to the movements of the troops in each county, and always pay attention to the mobilization of the Duke's Dawn Legion."

"Finally, pay more attention to Aaron's reaction. Once Aaron's army shows signs of moving north, report to me immediately."

"Yes, Lord."

After a pause, Stonard asked: "Lord, will Aaron's interference be strong?"

Rosen squinted and smiled: "Whether it is big or not depends on how much free space Aaron can spare."

He has already moved Kao's chess piece, and I believe Aaron will soon feel the pressure from his old enemy next door.

Rosen continued: "Second, the Southern Civil Propaganda Plan can begin."

"There are three propaganda focuses."

"First, the news of the victory in the naval battle,"

"Second, the evil deeds of the lord of the Southern County, and vigorously publicize the generosity, kindness and enlightenment of the lord of the island."

The second one made Stonard's eyes light up: "Lord, are you not going to keep the Earl of the Southern County?"

Rosen was not surprised by this question. The friendship they grew up with made the two of them have a very high spiritual tacit understanding.

He smiled and said: "Keep it to continue sucking blood? Or keep it for Aaron to rebel?"

The Northern County is poor and backward, and the Earl is powerful. However, the emerging bourgeoisie and working class have emerged in the Southern County, and the Earls are all Aaron's compradors.

The emerging bourgeoisie is confused, and the large number of working classes that have emerged with the bourgeoisie are in pain.

Rosen only needs to guide them a little, and he can use their power to uproot the Earl of the Southern County!

There is also a deeper consideration that if he wants to go against tradition and ascend to the supreme lord, he must not only convince the top to accept it, but also cultivate a new consensus among the people.

The consensus among the people is cultivated through public opinion.

Stonard chuckled: "Then I know how to promote it."

Rosen raised his hand to signal the other party not to rush, and he said in a serious tone: "The third point is to publicize the news of the new route."

Stonard was stunned: "Lord, shouldn't the new route be hidden first?"

Rosen grinned: "What to hide, you have to show it generously."

"Not only don't hide it, but also vigorously promote our relationship with Levender."

"The key is to make Nanfang County, and even Aaron, think that we can win not because of ourselves, but because of Levender's support, even The new warships were all provided by Levender to make him misjudge the strategy. "

Stonard was startled: "Will Aaron believe it?"

"Of course he won't believe it without evidence, but don't we have evidence?"

Stonard's eyes lit up: "Sir Maxim!"

Seeing that he understood it completely, Rosen finally reminded: "The intelligence team is growing stronger and stronger, and the interests involved are becoming more and more huge. Don't fall behind in ensuring the purity of the team."

Not only should the team be kept pure, but the intelligence bureau should also be split according to the different functions of the main department in the future to avoid a single company dominating.

Mage Stonard was startled and vaguely understood Rosen's intention.

He felt a little sad and felt that there was a gap between him and the lord, so he was a little unmotivated.

Rosen could see it naturally, and he spoke directly.

"Stonard, you and I grew up together. No matter what, you are the intelligence chief I rely on the most. But we are going to create a brand new kingdom. Our descendants will not have our deep friendship, and most likely they will not have our courage, so we must establish a stable intelligence agency for them to follow. Do you understand?"

Stonard was very smart. He understood it immediately and his grudges disappeared: "Lord. I will still call you master in the future?"

He always felt strange and uncomfortable to call him lord.

"Whatever you want."

Then he pointed to the door and said, "Young man, go and scare the duke into a nightmare."

Stonard saluted Rosen and left excitedly.

After he left, Rosen called the butler again: "Afu, bring Sir Maxim here."

Soon, Sir Maxim arrived.

Compared to the last time, his expression changed significantly. There was more obvious humility on his handsome face, and his expression seemed a lot more restrained.

Obviously, he was shocked by the new naval warfare.

Rosen stood up and poured him a glass of wine, and the latter hurriedly took it with both hands, looking a little flattered.

After sitting down again, Rosen smiled and said: "I heard that Sir has won the favor of the Queen Mother?"

Maxim's heart was slightly shaken, and he immediately knew that the baron in front of him also had eyes and ears in Levend.

Of course, this shouldn't be very deep, because it's not a secret that he is favored by the Queen Mother.

He nodded slightly: "It was all thanks to the Baron's constant sharpshooting skills that I was able to conquer the Queen Mother."

I still feel a little strange. After all, Levend and Paddlefish Island are separated by an ocean. Why is this baron paying attention to the situation in Levend?

Rosen seemed to be able to see what he was thinking, and laughed: "Jazz must want to know why I pay attention to Levander, right?"

"Uh~ yes."

Rosen smiled softly and opened the curtain behind the desk, revealing a chart, and he pointed at a line on the chart.

"Because we are actually not that far away."

"It's not far, but it's separated by the deep sea."

"But I found a way to cross the deep sea."

Rosen pointed to the specially marked new route.

"ah!"

Sir Maxim almost jumped up in shock. The wine in the wine glass swayed violently and wet the clothes on his chest.

"Currently, Sir is the only one who knows about the entire Levand. Doesn't Sir intend to make good use of this good news?"

A simple sentence makes Maxim's heart beat like a drum!

Of course he knew the huge value of this news.

He also knew that there is no free lunch in the world, so he immediately said: "How should I repay the Baron?"

Rosen had already thought about it. Of course, he couldn't say it directly because it would hurt Maxim's sensitive mind.

“There’s nothing in return, it’s just a small token of appreciation for the generosity of an old friend.”

Maxim was indeed very happy and couldn't help but smile.

Rosen continued: "We in the Northern Alliance need preliminary processed secondary magic materials, as well as various low, middle and high-end magic instruments and equipment."

"I will draw up a purchase list for you later, and I can guarantee that we will buy them at a price significantly higher than the Levend market price."

After all, the development time of the island is still short. Although some aspects are outstanding, there are still many shortcomings.

If you rely entirely on your own development, not only will it cost a lot of manpower and material resources, but it will also consume a lot of time, resulting in many strategic opportunities being missed.

Trade with Levind can make up for this perfectly.

Levander would have agreed, for this was a delicious new cake that everyone would devour.

Sure enough, his words made Maxim's heart beat faster because he sensed a huge opportunity.

But he still has worries: "How to solve the new route trek and deep-sea monsters?"

“We will provide dedicated navigators.”

The navigator is naturally not a banshee, because the appearance of a banshee will cause trouble for the Frostbringer La Fongle.

Therefore, human mages trained by banshees were used.

“How long does it take to sail a cargo ship?”

"Sail cargo ships are not easy to travel. After all, the wind direction is unstable and the route is unstable, so the time is unstable. The fastest is eight days and the slowest is 12 days."

Maxim was very happy when he heard this: "This is fast enough, more than twice as fast as the old route!"

Coming from the famous Nobundo family of Levend, the resources he was able to mobilize were huge.

Now that he has this opportunity, he has countless ways to use this month's information advantage to earn an extremely generous income.

So, he was really, really grateful to Rosen.

When Rosen saw that it was almost done, he threw out the core idea: "Sir, I have a wonderful idea, do you want to hear it?"

"Of course!" Maxim immediately sat upright.

Rosen said: "I intend to open a dock on Paddlefish Island to build civilian black stone freighters, but currently I am short of money and people."

Maxim understood immediately: "I will invest in this shipyard, one million Oggs!"

He didn't have that much money, but when he returned to Levind and told the news about the new route, he would be able to collect the money immediately.

He also believes in Rosen's credibility and ability. This shipyard will definitely make a lot of money!

Rosen laughed, one million is enough for him to build a big shipyard, hehe.

He also made a promise: "At most half a year, the shipyard will produce brand new Blackstone cargo ships. This first batch of Blackstone cargo ships will be specially used to run new routes."

This new dock was built on Paddlefish Island, and the relevant technology was naturally kept strictly confidential.

I usually make a lot of money selling cargo ships.

At critical moments, he can also commandeer shipyards and produce warships.

It was also through this dock that the 'fake news' that Levind was the main backer behind Paddlefish Island was established.

It can be described as killing three birds with one stone.

After the matter was finalized, Rosen leaned back slightly in his chair and squinted at Sir Maxim, who looked excited.

"Have you brought the Queen Mother's size data and personal preferences?"

"certainly."

"Oh~~very good, I will carry out targeted transformation on you."

"In addition, we will also have a good chat about the new route and see how we can benefit both of us."

"Of course, of course, we have to talk about it carefully."

Maxim felt that this baron was the most noble person in his life.

His personal happiness in the rest of his life, his personal future, and even whether his family's glory can be maintained or even promoted all depend on this respected, powerful and mysterious Baron.

As for Rosen.

But he was filled with emotion.

‘The lord’s affairs are really complicated. ’

‘Fortunately, fortunately, I have Laifu to assist me. ’

Otherwise, this is really not something a human would do.