Chapter 1293, Let's See What Happens Next
When Talleyrand personally brought Ryan's letter to Marienburg by land, even a fool knew the seriousness of the problem.
As a foreign minister who is very afraid of death, the high-spirited cripple was simply unwilling to deliver the letter when Ryan asked him to deliver, but he couldn't shirk it, so he could only criticize him. He was even a little angry and told Ryan: "Your Majesty, When you need a lamp, servants don't bring the sofa."
"But I need you, I firmly believe that when I need you, Talleyrand, you can be a desk lamp or a sofa." This is Suria's answer.
Talleyrand agreed to the request for sending letters and investigations without further ado. For the sake of convenience and as fast as possible, he only brought a few attendants. It happened that Lingard was dangling behind Berhemond, so Ryan asked Lingard escorts Talleyrand to Marienburg.
Arriving at Le-Angulan by boat, in Courona, one person and three horses galloped wildly. After six days of driving, Talleyrand and others finally arrived at the outskirts of Marienburg.
At this time, Marienburg seems to be covered with a very dark layer of light and shadow. Since the last time it was robbed by the Britannia, Marienburg has been depressed a lot. Now there is news that there seems to be a Chaos fleet on the Claw Sea. It was approaching, and Marienburg was even more panicked, but whenever the people of Marienburg saw the city walls tens of meters high, the spiers of wizard towers, the hundreds of warships moored in the port and the legendary servants The soldiers suddenly felt a lot more at ease.
let them come!
Getting off the horse, Talleyrand was still crying secretly. The high-spirited cripple really didn't want to run this hard job. He just made up his mind to send the letter and run away as soon as he figured out the situation, but Lingard on the other side was gracious Looking at the city wall of Marienburg and the dozens of cannons on it with interest, the 28-year-old Holy Grail Knight said with great interest: "Finally, we have the opportunity. Great-grandfather never allowed us to come here."
"Here? Fort Marien?" Talleyrand looked at the young Holy Grail Knight. Of course he knew that this Holy Grail Knight, dubbed "The Emperor of the Forest", was born in a famous family and proved his ability. Winning the Holy Grail naturally means having the brightest future, so the cripple is also happy to chat with him: "Actually, that's what it is. Generally speaking, it is more prosperous than Bordeaux and more treacherous than those big businessmen. Just richer."
"Really?" As soon as he entered the city, Lingard was shocked by the world in front of him. What he faced were two rows of tall houses, extremely crowded streets, endless stream of people and dozens of open shops. The vitality that can not be felt in Bastogne, human beings hawking, discussing, trading, and a large number of convoys and fleets moving back and forth on the roads and waterways of the city, what makes Lingard more interesting is the street There are many beautifully dressed women standing at the door of many alleys. When they saw Talleyrand and his pedestrians, they couldn't help waving. Talleyrand in the dress, and Lingard in a full set of chain mail and breastplate, a golden cross helmet with a red dragon statue on his waist, and a Holy Grail pattern on his burqa and cloak.
There are also girls on the street who come up to send flowers on their own initiative, and the flowers are mixed with various addresses and their names.
On the whole street, people are strung together with ropes, and people with wooden signs behind them are advancing under the whipping of patrols and guards, men and women, old and young, crying, numb, dazed, Already too hungry to walk, the more chaotic the era, the more profitable the profiteers will be.
"I heard that since Kislev's demise, a large number of Kislev beauties have been living among the people, and they are willing to marry Britannia." Lingard and Talleyrand took all the notes. Received, the Holy Grail Knight said a witty line very lively: "Our Bastogne folks always say that there are a large number of blond and bob-haired girls who are crying and wanting to marry to Brittania,
And I'm afraid that the Bretons will look down on them. "
"Want to marry a Breton."
"Want to marry a Britannian nobleman, or at least a freeman who is a sergeant or above, especially a Holy Grail Knight and Old Guard born in the Red Dragon Duke family like you."
Talleyrand corrected Lingard's words with a smile, and the high-spirited cripple laughed:
"The beauties of Kislev who have subjugated the country all hate to marry and admire the charm of Bretons and chivalry culture."
"A rural landless serf who has no house and no land and feels good about himself wants to pick up a beautiful young wife with blond hair, busty waist, long legs and hair for nothing."
"Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!" Lingard and Talleyrand looked at each other and burst out laughing.
Lingard told Talleyrand that his great-grandfather Berhemond recently brought about seven or eight young and beautiful Kislev beauties from Bastogne's private estate, and Berhemond asked them to wear Dressed up as a bunny girl in a bunny suit, the waiter performs dances for himself and then takes turns serving wine. The old duke likes this tune the most. After Lingard came back, Bohemond also let him enjoy it once. Of course, only a small number of beauties can stay To become a member of the old Duke's backyard, most of them will be changed after three to five years of service.
Talleyrand told Lingard that there is a whole team of maids in his manor, 80% of which are Kislev beauties. He has always enjoyed these beauties at will. When he is about 25 years old, Talleyrand Pay a severance pay and let them pack up and leave, and these hairy girls will often find an honest freeman in Mu Xilong to marry.
The moment they finished speaking, Talleyrand and Lingard suddenly had an unspeakable tacit understanding and telepathy that belonged exclusively to men, and both sides couldn't help stretching out their hands to hold each other tightly.
From today, we are gay!
"Let me guess, is there a market for this kind of talk among the people, especially the serfs?" Talleyrand said with a smile: "Because everyone is particularly willing to believe in things that are beneficial to themselves and can get something for nothing, people always is inclined to"
"Yes." Lingard made a grimace, and he twisted his body directly on the street to pick a "Bretanian dance": "Is this me full of charm?"
"You? You Lin Huang is full of charm even if you stand upside down in front of those Kislev beauties." Talleyrand twitched his lips: "The Holy Grail Knight, the blood of the red dragon, the great pope who travels around the bad land, infinite furious."
"What about you?" Lingard laughed.
"I am an elf, a high elf." Talleyrand smiled sincerely: "That's all, it's enough."
Lin Huang suddenly turned into a critical face. He has long seen how much advantage and charm bonus Gao Jingdan has over human beings in terms of race.
Talleyrand has made a lot of achievements in diplomacy since he worked for His Majesty the Sun King. One of his great advantages is that he is a high-elf elf, and it is said that he is also a member of the famous high-elf Bennister family. The great nobles who crushed him would give him enough respect for the sake of being a noble family and a close servant of the Sun King.
This topic can't go on.
The famous shield block seems not to be as prosperous as it used to be. It is the gathering place of the major chambers of commerce, guilds and churches in Marienburg. When Talleyrand and Lingard came to the shield block, the streets were full of chambers of commerce. The private army and mercenaries are maintaining order, and the number is three times that of the past. When they saw Talleyrand and his party appear, the faces of these private soldiers could not help showing disgust, but then it turned into fear. , hastily checked the paperwork, and let it go.
Came to the hall of the Marienburg City Council, which was in a meeting and could not be entered. Muller, the deputy of Grand Duke Schulz, came out to receive Talleyrand and Lingard, took them to the reception room and told them the latest news.
Soon, Talleyrand and Lingard learned two major news.
First, the Marienburg City Council received an urgent document from the imperial court. The Imperial Court, in the name of Karl Franz, requested the Marienburg City Council to immediately subscribe for a "war bond" worth approximately 3.8 million gold marks, and at the same time requested that the Requisition all supplies in Marienburg and all gold in the bank.
This was, of course, unanimously rejected by the upper and lower houses of Marienburg.
"Our defense is our duty, your defense is your duty." This was the official reply of the Upper and Lower Houses of Marienburg.
The second is that because the plan to ask for help from the Empire or the Knight Kingdom has never been approved, Grand Duke Schulz chose to resign, and Marienburg is now preparing to elect a new Grand Duke. After all, Schulz has a firm attitude and plans to do so within five days just leave.
After saying this, Muller left temporarily, leaving Talleyrand and Lingard to take care of themselves.
"Your Majesty asked us to send a letter, and asked us to find out whether Marienburg intends to stick to it." Lingard said to Talleyrand, he was a little anxious: "But what should we do now?"
"Don't worry." Talleyrand picked up the top-grade Dahongpao, a famous tea that Schultz imported from Aurora Minzhou across thousands of rivers and mountains. The high-spirited cripple can be said to be calm: "Although Schultz failed to pass the proposal, but Obviously, the big merchants in Fort Marien did not pass any other proposals!"
"Ah?" Lingard didn't understand what Talleyrand was saying.
"Let me tell you an Ulthuan joke." Talleyrand tasted the best Dahongpao of Cathay, and the high-spirited cripple knew that this tea was more expensive than gold of equal weight in the old world: "There was once Caledor People asked on the streets of Lothern, what is the biggest failure of King One Piece Fenuba who has been in power for so many years?"
"Immediately someone answered: He didn't do anything!"
"Then the Safrui people asked on the streets of Lothern, what is the greatest achievement of the One Piece Fenuba who has been in power for so many years?"
"Almost all the Lotherns shouted happily: He didn't do anything!"
After saying this, Talleyrand couldn't help laughing, and he put down his teacup: "Marienburg is Lothern, a society dominated by business, a society dominated by capital, big capitalists and dignitaries always have an idea, they Always expecting that things will get better on their own, always expecting that everything will be fine next time, always expecting to spend less and produce more."
"I still don't understand." Lingard continued to express confusion.
Talleyrand suddenly felt that it was boring. Talking to Lingard was not as interesting as talking to Ryan. Normally, Ryan would have fully understood the classic Ulthuan joke when talking to Ryan, but the Holy Grail Knight in front of him was indeed too young.
Talleyrand hated to speak out. The high-spirited cripple thought for a while, and changed another metaphor: "Let me tell you another example. My predecessor and teacher Arsène once went to Nipeng, and served as a military officer in Nipeng for a period of time. Advisor, do you know how those famous retainers and businessmen over there deal with problems and mistakes?"
"It's actually very simple, the classic three-piece suit, apologizing, bowing, and sitting down." Talleyrand continued: "Then it's all right, they don't need to do anything, everything has not changed in essence, dare to do it next time."
Now Lingard understood a little bit, and he used one of the most classic dwarf quotes: "If something is not broken, don't fix it?"
"That's not the case." Talleyrand thought that Lingard finally understood his meaning a little bit, and he played with his extravagant crutch: "I think we will know the answer soon."
"The answer is... nothing has changed. There will be no request for help, no answer to the empire's request for assistance, and no escape. Everything will continue as it is." Very angry and deeply chilled, he sat down on the sofa and cursed: "88% of the citizens of Marienburg with a net worth of more than 1,000 gold coins think that they should immediately seek help from the empire or at least strengthen it on a large scale. City defense, but it is the 12% who think it is not necessary, those things are 'unnecessary costs', unfortunately, Mr. Talleyrand, and the Holy Grail Knight, these 12% of the people in the upper and lower houses account for into the mainstream."
"My Grand Duke..."
"I'm not the Grand Duke soon."
"You still are." Talleyrand paused, and then said: "It's normal, isn't it? The 20-80 rule, 20% of the people control 80% of the wealth."
"In Marienburg, 13% of the people hold 86% of the wealth." Schultz corrected Talleyrand's estimate. He took the letter from Talleyrand. The content of Ryan's letter is obviously not much. After a few glances, he nodded slightly and sighed: "Alright."
"Alright?" Talleyrand asked.
"In the upper and lower houses, it can be said that the vast majority of people are reluctant to cut their flesh." Schultz sighed: "The real valuable things in Marienburg have never been gold, weapons and equipment, jewelry or rare items in banks and chambers of commerce. Strange things, but fixed assets and channel resources, such as real estate, purchase channels, trade channels, fixed commercial contracts, etc. If they want to withdraw, most of their net worth will be greatly reduced. Now refusing to ask for help has become a foregone conclusion, I will ask Let’s see which MPs are willing to withdraw.”
"So, Marienburg intends to defend?" Talleyrand asked the core and most important question.
"That's right." Schultz nodded: "Most people don't intend to change anything, they don't ask for help, they don't evacuate, and they don't recruit and form new troops on a large scale, but they don't do nothing, Marienburg Isn’t there dozens of legendary mercenary regiments, pirate privateers, sailor armed forces, city defense forces, and three land ships ordered from Nur? The council intends to mobilize them all.”
"Only relying on these can resist the Chaos army?" Lingard said puzzled.
"In addition, there are tens of meters high city walls, countless artillery, six pointed wizard towers, and hundreds of warships moored in the dock." Schultz added: "Everyone thinks that the city is not unbearable. Strike, and there is also a force, a large ogre warband and the ogre legendary warlord Gorob - Big Maw, the council believes that if necessary, they can hire them to defend the city, Marienburg has the ability to protect itself, at any time .”
"This has also greatly affected the perception of most merchants and citizens. You must know that since the Great Holy War, Marienburg has never fought a defensive battle."
"Then, my Grand Duke, are you going to go with us?" asked Talleyrand.
The Marienburg branch of the Fairy Church in the Lake and a large number of Britannia Chamber of Commerce and other personnel will withdraw from Marienburg together with Talleyrand.
"Give me five days." Schultz nodded: "Blackbeard Titch's Manann's Blade and those big businessmen who are willing to leave with us will sell all real estate within four days and follow you to Brittania."
"Withdrawing to Britannia, not the empire?" Lingard asked without thinking.
"Everyone generally believes that Britannia is safer now." Schultz smiled: "From top to bottom, it is generally believed that, moreover, they are withdrawn to the empire... probably their huge wealth is either expropriated or directly confiscated. "
"Then if you are in a hurry to get rid of the real estate now, you must have lost a lot, right?" Lingard continued to ask.
"It has shrunk significantly, but... at least there will be tomorrow." Schultz nodded heavily: "Okay, that's it!"
At the end of April 2525 in the imperial calendar, Grand Duke Schulz of Marienburg resigned, and the new Grand Duke Valverde took over. The first thing Valverde did when he took office was to launch a "war donation", and at the same time told everyone not to panic, the invasion of chaos "Preventable and controllable".
Valverde once again rejected the empire's request for assistance, and did not intend to ask for assistance from the empire or the Knight Kingdom, but the new Grand Duke and the Upper and Lower Houses also tried to hire and summon all the mercenary legions near Marienburg.
"DiDi~ Meituan's field office has a new order, Marienburg real-time order!"
The mercenaries were called in.
At the same time, Schulz, Grand Duke of Marienburg, Viscount Casanova, chairman of the Gentlemen's Union, Bernard Arnott, chairman of the Louis Vuitton Chamber of Commerce, and six big businessmen in the House of Commons decided to give up their positions as MPs. Sell all real estate in Marienburg and withdraw to Britannia.
Viscount Casanova also made a joke when he entered the border of Courona. Because he was intentionally low-key, unremarkable in clothes, and not talkative, he wore a classic dock worker's peaked cap on his head, which led the border officer to think that he was He was a worker, so he stopped him and questioned: "Excuse me, do you have any special skills? We don't just work hard here."
"Me?" Viscount Casanova froze for a moment.
"That's right, it's you, do you have any special skills?"
"I'm rich."