The sun shines into the spacious study, casting a thin layer of light on the oak desk and the Magic Network terminal next to the desk. The incense that boosts the spirit slowly floats in the air and penetrates into Byron's body. The mercenary-turned-emperor general couldn't help sniffing his nostrils, and almost sneezed rudely.
"...The envoys from the Holy Dragon Principality will arrive at the northern border in the near future," Gawain sat behind the desk and casually placed a document on the table. "Go and meet them."< /p>
Byron scratched his hair, but halfway through, he realized that it was already the "Era of Empires." It seemed a bit inappropriate for a general like him to be so casual in front of the emperor, so he quickly put his hand down: "I understand. ——But I don’t understand diplomacy?”
Gawain glanced at the “mercenary general” and said, “Aren’t you always very eloquent? Philip can be persuaded by you.”< /p>
"Your Majesty, this is different. Philip and I mainly rely on not being eloquent, but adhering to justice and chivalry's creed..." Byron immediately said habitually He was talking eloquently, but as he was talking, he noticed Gawain's half-smiling expression, and had to add something cautiously and tactfully, "Of course there is a certain shamelessness in it..."
Some things cannot be changed by wearing the uniform of an imperial general - at least not so quickly.
But Gawain didn't care. Instead, he admired the various faults and habits of a group of "founding veterans" including Byron.
He wasn’t sure whether this was because Gawain Cecil’s memory was affecting him, or whether it was because he could see in Byron the people of Anzu seven hundred years ago. He had the shadow of an old pigeon who founded the country, but one thing he was sure of was that when dealing with people like Byron, Amber, and Wright who had followed him for several years, it would be far better than dealing with those who had moved from the old royal capital and had done everything. A straight-laced "professional" is much more comfortable and relaxed.
So his posture also relaxed, he leaned back in the chair, and said with a smile: "Let me say something that should not be said directly by me - among the many skills required for diplomacy, 'shameless' ' is exactly the main ingredient - even as effective as 'eloquent'
"Of course, you don't actually need to care about this, because the person who is really responsible for the negotiation is not you - you are just acting as a negotiator. The imperial generals went to the border to pick up the ambassador to show our sincerity and act as a 'face' of equal status. The person who was really responsible for contacting and escorting the ambassador to the imperial capital was Cromwell Earl White Mountain. "
"Cromwell White Mountain? Byron recalled this somewhat familiar name, "Oh, that dwarf-mixed knight lord, I saw him in St. Sunil." "
"Although he is a noble from the old royal capital, he is also quite familiar with northern affairs." Gawain nodded, "You and he go to the northern border to meet the envoys of the Holy Dragon Principality. What will happen next? You can leave everything to him. As for you, you need to stay in the north for a while and have a new mission.Over to you. "
"So...the task of responding to the ambassador is actually incidental," Byron nodded clearly, and then showed a trace of curiosity, "What is my real task? "
"Build North Port and supporting naval base," Gawain stood up and walked slowly to the wall not far away with a map of the entire territory hanging on it. His eyes fell on the north of the empire, "For the Imperial Navy Preparations for the construction and restart of the northern circumcontinental route. "
"North Port..." Byron's eyes followed Gawain's gaze on the map, and gradually focused on the area outside the mountains in the north, between the Violet Kingdom and the Holy Dragon Principality. On this section of coastline, "...the peninsula out to sea from the Principality of Shenglong has left a warm current for the northern continent. There is a natural ice-free port outside the northern mountains... It is indeed the most suitable starting point to restart the northern circumnavigation route." "
Gawain glanced at Byron in surprise, with a smile on his face: "It seems you have noticed it already? "
"Your Majesty, I am not just spending time with my daughter at home during the holidays," Byron smiled and spread his hands. "You have long said that you should set your sights on the ocean, but once The southern border is surrounded by mainland and has no outlet to the sea at all, but now the north is under our control. That precious coastline has attracted my attention for a long time. ”
Gawain smiled.
Obviously, he and Byron had reached a tacit understanding: the two of them had been coveting the northern coastline during their time in the South...
"It seems that letting you lead the fleet is the right choice," Gawain said with a smile. "After the North Port is completed, we will have the opportunity to admiral the sea peninsula of the Holy Dragon Principality, the northern border of the empire, and the Augu Lei Tribal Nation from the sea. and the west coast of the Dwarf Kingdom are all connected. Even if the Augurei Tribal Nation is willing to cooperate with us and set up a safe haven in the sea cliff crevice in the southern part of the continent, this route can even extend to the border of the Gaoling Kingdom, connecting the northern, western and western parts of the entire continent. Including parts of the southern region, it will become a real 'circumcontinental route'...
"With the performance of the magic mechanical ship, this is completely achievable.
"Our fleet will also become a real 'naval fleet' by then, and will no longer just fight in the inland river... You have led the fleet for so long, and you must have felt that those mechanical ships can be used in more... Playing a role on a broad stage. "
"I have long felt that the inland river is not very spacious for our mechanical ship," Byron replied immediately, but then frowned, "But as far as I know The environment of the ocean is much more complex than that of inland rivers. It is not possible to turn an inland river warship into a naval warship by sailing it directly into the sea. Miss Till also reminded me that the ships she has helped us design so far are only suitable for use in relative conditions. Smooth inland navigation, if you want to challenge the ocean...it still needs some modifications. "
"Of course, so this is a long-term task. Humanity has been away from the sea for too long. It will take a long time for us to re-collect information about the ocean and adjust our ships.Design only. Fortunately, Tire is willing to continue to be our consultant, and the Wilder family in the north has also made certain observations of the ocean over the past hundreds of years, and their records can be of great use.
"In addition, the construction of North Port is not our only 'marine plan'. After the establishment of diplomatic relations with the Shenglong Principality, we will redevelop the sea outlet Huanlong at the junction of the Eastern Territory and the Shenglong Principality. Fjord, this task will also be handed over to you when the time comes."
Gawain said slowly, his eyes gradually falling on Byron, and there was some expectation in his eyes.
"At that time, you will truly be the 'Commander of the Imperial Navy'."
"Ah, this sounds much more majestic than the 'Navy General'," The corners of Byron's mouth raised, "I am very much looking forward to that day."
...
The huge sun gradually rose to the sky, and the bright sunshine generously poured down from the sky, The air was still cold, but the heat contained in the sun seemed to indicate that the warm season was coming - in the light and heat that hit his face, Byron stood in the garden square in front of Cecil Palace, raised his head, and smiled slightly. Narrowed his eyes.
"Commander of the Imperial Navy..." With a faint smile on his face, the mercenary knight couldn't help but murmured softly to himself, "It does sound quite touching. "
As he spoke, he shook his head slightly and walked slowly towards the magic car waiting for him at the edge of the square.
The vacation is over, I have to go back and talk to Wandou.
A pleasant and clear ringing sound suddenly came from nearby, interrupting Byron's thoughts.
He raised his head curiously and looked in the direction of the sound, only to see Rebecca, wearing a winter hunting outfit that was easy for movement, riding in the open space between the flower beds not far away. Some kind of weird two-wheeled "machine" was staggering towards this side.
That weird "machine" is unlike any magic machine I have seen before. It obviously does not use any magic mechanism as a power source, but simply uses iron wheels, skeletons, chains, etc. It is assembled and driven by human pedals, and the clear and sweet ringing sound comes from a small device hanging next to its handle——
Rebecca is fiddling with it enthusiastically. The small device made a tinkling sound, and his face was full of excitement. However, Byron could see that the situation of Her Royal Highness the Princess was not very optimistic - she obviously could not control the "car" with only two wheels. "The ride on it was shaking violently. Although it seemed to be riding towards the open road to the side, it was getting more and more crooked, and it was about to rush towards Byron.
"Ah, Byron!" Rebecca had noticed the people on the way and shouted loudly, "Don't move, don't move!"
Byron After thinking for a while, he stood still and watched helplessly as Rebecca fell off the two-wheeled car with a clang when she was still more than ten meters away from him, lying on her back in a miserable state.
But still smiling brightly.
A guard soon ran over and hurriedly helped the princess up from the ground. Byron also walked over, looking at this with a doting look on his face. It could be said that he was watching. The grown-up girl smiled helplessly: "I thought you told me not to move because you were aiming to hit me - my protective aura was activated."
"Hey, I told you not to move. Then I tried to avoid it by myself, but what happened later seemed to be different from what I imagined... But anyway, we didn’t hit him in the end, isn’t that good,” Rebecca said cracklingly while rubbing her head. He looked at it, then turned to look at the "two-wheeled vehicle" that had just been helped up by the attendant, and couldn't help showing a somewhat distressed look on his face, "Oh, don't break it... There are only a few of them delivered... ”
Byron only had time to observe the strange-looking “car” at this time. He found that the style of this thing was very different from Cecil’s many other mechanical creations, and he couldn’t help but be a little curious: "Your Highness, is this thing...did you just invent it again?"
As he thought about it, as long as some weird new thing appeared in Cecil City, and it happened to be in Rebecca, Nearby, most of them were invented by this whimsical princess or the research team around her - and the things invented by the former even accounted for half of all new things.
Although recently, due to the continuous improvement of various research facilities, more and more intellectuals are devoting themselves to technological development, and Rebecca's "creation" accounts for an increasing proportion of various new things. Reduced, but due to long-term habits, Byron will still subconsciously associate it with Rebecca after seeing new gadgets.
However, Rebecca shook her head: "No, this was brought over by a merchant when they were importing textiles from Typhon recently. The gift sent by the Typhonians seems to be called 'Two Wheels' Car'..."
"Typhon?" Byron was a little surprised and couldn't help but take another look at the strange-looking car, "Well...no wonder the style feels a bit weird, but look. It looks very delicate, but the Typhons are really surprised that this kind of car with only two wheels... is probably not easy to control."
"You guessed it wrong, actually. It will be convenient after you learn it." Rebecca immediately put her hands on her hips, "It's very easy when I watch people demonstrate it, it's convenient and fast - I fell down just now, just because I'm not skilled at it."
Listening to Rebecca's excited chatter, Byron looked at the "two-wheeled vehicle" from Typhon in front of him, but couldn't help but have a thoughtful look on his face.
The Typhons started very late in magic technology. In this technological field that can almost symbolize a new era, they are indeed far behind Cecil, but they are in other aspects. But it has always been ahead of the curve - a very clear example is the "mechanical clock", which used to be exclusive to the nobility and the church. In the past two years, with the "on-time requirements" brought about by factory construction and railway operation, it has gradually become more popular. be promotedThe timekeeping machinery used throughout the country was first invented by Typhon craftsmen about half a century ago.
Like many technologies in the old days, its original role was to be used in theological ceremonies, allowing churches to determine the time of mass and calling believers to the church to pray by ringing a mechanical bell. , later it was used in the castles and manors of nobles, but it still had little to do with the daily life of civilians.
The best watchmakers in the world are in Aldernan, and the best crystal glass technology in the world is also in Aldernan.
Of course, the latter’s key technology has been leaked to Cecil through some unspeakable channel, and the “floor-to-ceiling windows” that are gradually becoming popular in the southern region of Cecil are the “results of its influence” one.
Now, the smart people of Typhon have invented this kind of "two-wheeled vehicle", and this thing has a very obvious difference compared with the mechanical clocks and crystal glass at the beginning of its birth:
p>It's not elegant enough, nor luxurious enough.
This thing seems to be aimed at the civilian class from the beginning...
Byron frowned. He is not as good at analyzing the situation from this information as Gawain or Hetty. He just instinctively thought about the changes, and instinctively felt that...
Those who have mastered knowledge in Typhon seem to have some changes in the way they think.