Chapter 393 Bitter Victory
Cecil hurriedly ran out of his intelligence department with a pile of papers in his arms and came to the Lord's Mansion. He straightened his collar at the door and walked straight in. No one stopped him. As the Lord's third eye, Cecil had the privilege of meeting Paul without notification.
After asking the servants in the mansion about Paul's location, Cecil quickly came to a door on the second floor and knocked.
"Lord Graman, I have important things to report to you."
"Ah, Cecil, please come in." Paul's voice came from inside.
Cecil pushed the door open and found that in addition to the Earl, there were two people he didn't expect - the alchemists in the chemical laboratory, Wells and old Hoffman.
These two alchemists, as well as a bunch of their colleagues and students, are usually invisible, and not many people go to find them. After all, anyone would stay away from a group of people who spend all day in the smelly "nitrate field" and deal with excrement.
They came to report the progress of the nitrate field experiment to Paul.
Paul frowned as he looked at the report in his hand.
"Guys!" The Lord's tone revealed doubt and dissatisfaction, "If I remember correctly... no, I mean, the output of the nitrate field should not be so low according to my speculation."
The alchemists finally made some achievements, but Paul was still very dissatisfied.
"Are you remembering correctly? The Count has been in contact with the so-called nitrate field before?" The doubts in the hearts of the two alchemists flashed across.
"Uh... cough! Lord Graman..."
Old Hoffman explained: "I'm sorry, we haven't fully mastered the rules yet, please give us some more time."
Wells on the side also complained: "Temperature, humidity, ventilation, light... There are too many variables, and we need to adjust them little by little to summarize experience..."
Paul raised his hand to interrupt them: "Okay, [Adjustment Heroes]! I didn't ask you to come here to listen to complaints."
The nickname given by the Count to the alchemist made Cecil standing at the door laugh, and the two alchemists blushed.
"Let's not talk about the nitrate field for now. Recently, I heard that the chemical laboratory has purchased a large number of glassware and experimental materials. Where did you get the money? Did you embezzle the special funds for nitrate field research?"
"This...this...Lord Graman...we are...you see, there are so many students who have never been exposed to alchemy, so...so...let them practice more..."
Seeing the two alchemists stuttering, Paul laughed in his heart, but warned in a stern tone:
"Listen, you two, in addition to the main task, I don't object to you doing other research in private, maybe you can come up with something. But if you are short of money, you can report to me, but it is strictly forbidden to embezzle special funds again."
Paul learned through investigation that the embezzled funds were indeed not used in the personal lives of the alchemists. In view of their passion for scientific exploration, he let them go this time.
Old Hoffman and Wells were pardoned, and they swore to strictly abide by the rules set by Paul.
"Okay, you two, go back first. I hope that within a year, the nitrate field will help us reduce our dependence on ore."
"Please rest assured, Lord Graman. Since we have achieved something from scratch, it should not be difficult to optimize it on this basis."
The two alchemists said goodbye and left.
Paul then turned to Cecil: "My intelligence chief, what's the important matter?"
Cecil stepped forward: "Lord Graman, I just received news that the war in the south is over!"
"Oh? Who won, the royal army? Or the rebels?"
Cecil touched his chin and said: "The royal army won."
Paul was confused by the intelligence chief's description: "I guess... what does this mean?"
Cecil explained: "Giles resumed his loyalty to the royal family..."
Paul asked: "Then... what about the southern territories that were loyal to the royal family before the rebellion? Did Giles come back?"
Cecil shook his head, "Neither side mentioned this."
Paul guessed: "It seems that the royal family acquiesced to Giles' annexation of these territories."
"Yes, both sides suffered heavy losses, and the royal army was unable to move south even if it won."
This is a very embarrassing victory for the royal family.
"What about Grand Duke Veblen of the East?"
"Like Giles, he has also re-submitted himself to the royal family. But the territories in the East that are loyal to the royal family have also..."
They were also dealt with by Veblen, after all, the main force of the royal army was tied up in the south.
"It seems that the royal family has essentially lost its influence on the South and East. In the future, these two places will become Giles and Veblen's private kingdoms."
Paul and Cecil made such a judgment together.
"Well, the war in the south is over, and the business of Northwest Industry will be difficult to do." Paul was a little worried.
"Lord Graman, there will never be a lack of war in this world, you can rest assured."
Ah, have I completely replaced the role of an arms dealer? Sin!
...
"Your Highness! We should go."
Ophelia walked to the side of the princess and reminded softly.
The two were standing on the majestic tower of the Thorn Fortress, looking at the land in the south.
Catherine was silent.
Will the kingdom eventually lose its rule over the south?
Giles stopped the rebellion. The other side's slogan at the beginning was to replace the Kingdom of Aldo, but now they have resumed their vassalage. In terms of this alone, the rebellion was a victory.
But it was a bitter victory.
No mistakes, one post, one content, one 6, one 9, one book, one bar!
The original South Territory not only had Giles and his followers, but also a considerable number of vassal families loyal to the kingdom. However, now their territories have all fallen into the pockets of Giles and his followers.
If these vassals were loyal to the kingdom, it would be fine. Unfortunately, after the truce, they were all sent over by Giles politely. How to resettle these nobles who lost their land is another big problem.
And Veblen in the East Territory...
After the last battle, Catherine wanted to grit her teeth and persevere, but the huge losses and instability in the rear eventually prompted her to accept the peace talks.
News came from Jingyao that a large number of goblins were in the forest and needed troops to clear them out. There were also sporadic reports of pirate attacks on the west coast. Although the Northwest Fleet that went south to defend the king performed well, it only had a dozen ships. How could it defend such a long coastline?
"Alas!"
The princess sighed.
"Ophelia, let's go. But I swear..."
...
"Ah!"
Giles' eyes were red, and he roared and knocked the man in front of him to the ground, then raised his sword and was about to chop him down.
"Grand Duke, spare my life!"
The man on the ground begged for mercy in a hurry.
The war was over, but the result was far from what Giles expected.
The accumulation of several generations of the family and his own planning over the years only resulted in a separatist regime.
Originally, he should have been riding a tall horse on the streets of Jingyao to accept the cheers of the people.
Originally, he should have been sitting in the palace of Jingyao to accept the congratulations of the ministers.
Now he can only vent his anger in the duel.
"Get out!" Giles stopped.
"Thank you, Grand Duke, for sparing my life!" The man who was caught as a duel opponent fled in panic.
Giles wiped his sweat and cursed those who prevented him from fulfilling his wish.
"Damn Veblen!"
Without this "ally" who held him back, the last battle should have been a great victory.
"Damn Northwesterners!"
Northwest Bay was also on the Grand Duke's blacklist. If they hadn't sold so many armors and weapons to the royal family, his powerful army would have been unstoppable long ago, and intelligence showed that Northwest Bay also supplied a large amount of military rations during the war.
"I will deal with you one by one!"
"I swear..."