Chapter 328 Chapter 298

In the 962nd year of the Roland Empire, the winter of this year was extremely cold. On the night when Du Wei came out of the palace, at the invitation of Delanshan Warcraft and Earl Villa, he went to the welcome dinner organized by the dignitaries of the imperial capital. At the banquet, almost 90% of the team belonged to the Prince Regent's faction.Everyone seemed to know that Du Wei had already entered the palace in the afternoon to meet with the regent.As a result, when the banquet started, those who greeted Du Wei at the gate of the city the day before all looked a little embarrassed and weird.

As for the matter at the auction, because the Prince Regent issued a gag order, as a result, none of the dignitaries who were very close to Du Wei on weekdays were willing to reveal their words in advance, which caught Du Wei by surprise.Everyone also knew about such a thing, and Du Wei was probably very dissatisfied in his heart.So after today's dinner started, everyone seemed a little embarrassed to face Du Wei. Du Wei sneered in his heart, this is the so-called elite circle, on the surface they are called brothers and brothers, but behind the scenes... But after all, he also knew that this was an inevitable phenomenon in the circle, and Du Weidao was not really angry at what these people did.It has been more than a year and almost two years since he left the imperial capital, and he really needs to have a good relationship with these dignitaries, so he simply let go of all the worries in his heart, put a smile on his face, and said nothing about the matter of the Pope's decree. The matter was never mentioned.

After all, anyone who can get into this circle has a thicker skin than a city wall. Seeing that Duke Tulip doesn't mention that kind of thing anymore, others will naturally not bring it up stupidly. After a while, after a few glasses of wine, the atmosphere All of a sudden it became hot. In order to please Du Wei, Delan Mountain Warcraft spent a lot of money on this banquet.But everyone seems to know that the young Duke Tulip doesn't like women very much.Before, Prince Chen, Delanshan Warcraft, and Earl Villa jointly gave Du Wei the quadruplet beauty. After entering, Du Wei threw it directly into the shop.Since the Duke doesn't like female sex, he probably likes something else.

But there is no magician who does not like all kinds of rare gems.It's not because of the pure value of gems, but because for magicians, all kinds of rare gems are often very useful magic props and research materials. After all, Delan Mountain Warcraft is the number one weapons dealer in the mainland. At the banquet, Du Wei was presented with fifteen necklaces strung together with precious amethysts.Then he said: I heard that the duke is newly engaged, and the future duchess is also a powerful female magician.These fifteen strings of amethysts are a gift for the future duchess.This kind of thing can be used as pure female jewelry, and for magicians, amethyst is also a precious magic material.It's the best of both worlds.

For all kinds of gifts, Du Wei was not polite and accepted them all with a smile. The banquet lasted until midnight. Du Wei hadn't experienced such a feasting day for a long time. When he was in the northwest, although he was a duke, his life was relatively simple.By midnight, most of the guests had already left. Fortunately for Du Wei, because he was already engaged in the Northwest, many nobles who were interested in him finally gave up.At the banquet tonight, there were very few nobles who came to sell their daughters to themselves. In the middle of the night, after most of the guests had left, Delanshan Warcraft, Count Villa, and Baron Sark, the financial secretary, invited Du Wei to a small hall alone.

In the gold selling cave outside the imperial capital city, it is really luxurious to a certain extent.Because the backstage is the background of the military.This gold selling cave is mainly a luxury place opened to raise military expenses, who would dare to come here to make trouble on weekdays?In addition, there are so many dignitaries here, all kinds of rare things can be found here.In such a small room, the floor is covered with high-quality handmade carpets, and the crystal lampposts are shining with colorful lights. Du Wei first sat on one of the sofas, and his body sank comfortably into the soft velvet cushions. , then twiddled the wine glass with two fingers, and said with a smile: "Three, you called me here, do you have something to say?"

Delan Mountain Warcraft glanced at the other two, then smiled, and said, "My Duke... there are only four of us in this room now. So, if there is anything, I might as well just say it." Count Villa also nodded: "Du Wei, since there are no outsiders, the three of us have something to discuss with you." Du Wei laughed, with a gentle smile on his face: "Uncle Villa, it's too polite to discuss anything. If you have any orders, just say it directly. As long as I can do it, I won't shirk it. " Du Wei's "Uncle Villa" immediately made Count Villa's face blush, and a smug flash of pride flashed in his eyes, and Delanshan and Baron Sark next to him both had somewhat envious expressions.

Baron Sark coughed and opened his mouth slowly—he is the one with the lowest status in this room. In terms of title, he is just a baron, and in terms of position, he is just an official of the Financial Secretary, and in terms of seniority... such as De Lanshan Or Villa, they all followed Prince Chen for many years before he came to power.And this Baron Sark was not a member of Prince Chen's team before the coup, but the commander of the Imperial Capital Public Security Department.At that time, the undercover agent Kamisiro sent by Prince Chen had instigated rebellion. Seeing that the situation was over, he finally surrendered to Prince Chen.

After the coup, he voluntarily handed over his military power. After all, the Imperial Capital Public Security Bureau was in charge of tens of thousands of imperial security forces. In the core area of ​​the imperial capital, controlling tens of thousands of military power is no small matter.Baron Sark asked himself that he was not the direct descendant of Prince Chen, and he dared not continue to occupy this position, but honestly offered to resign. He was originally not a faction, but a neutral faction. If he had to say his position, he was slightly inclined to the old emperor Augustine VI.After Prince Chen came to power, Baron Sark was really afraid of the bloody scene on the day of the coup d'état. He had made up his mind to leave the imperial capital with his family and go back to his hometown for a relaxed rich man after he handed over his position as the head of the Public Security Department. live.

But unexpectedly, his practice of being very knowledgeable about current affairs was actually appreciated by Prince Chen.For this kind of person who knows how to advance and retreat, and has a sense of proportion, Prince Chen has a good impression of him.He rejected his request to return to his hometown, and instead transferred him to the Imperial Treasury.Sac was originally a cautious person in doing things. After joining the Financial Secretary, because he was not a direct descendant of Prince Chen, he worked even harder in his work, and he did not dare to give anyone any excuses.As a result, he did a great job and was promoted by Prince Chen.After more than a year, it seems that he has become an upstart figure in the regent group.In the Financial Secretary of the Empire, although there are several big bosses above him, everyone regards him as the confidant of the Prince Regent, and regards him as the second person besides the Minister of Finance.

There are also rumors that in a few years, after the Chancellor of the Exchequer retires, he will be the next Chancellor of the Exchequer. Therefore, he is qualified to enter this small room to talk today.Du Wei, Earl of Villa, Delan Mountain Warcraft, plus this Baron Sark, can almost be counted as several giants of the Regent King Group. "My lord duke." Baron Sark coughed, and then solemnly said: "Actually... after you left the palace this afternoon, I was immediately called into the palace by His Royal Highness the Regent. Well, His Highness told me something The matter is about the production and supply of some military materials in the future, His Highness means, in terms of finances, let me lead someone to make a budget and plan..." Du Wei's eyes lit up, and he looked at Earl Villa and the Delan Mountain monster.One of these two people is responsible for managing the royal family's property, and the other is the largest arms dealer in the empire. They invited themselves in, probably because they wanted to get a share of this big cake. Thinking of this, Du Wei made a haha, and said, "Well, just right, I'm going to discuss this matter with Uncle Villa. Since you are also interested in Delanshan Warcraft, we might as well talk about cooperation thing." De Lanshan's fat face was shaking, and he laughed quickly: "I'm interested, I'm interested! Of course I'm interested!" Du Wei pondered for a while, and immediately made a decision.To provide such a big business for the imperial military, relying on his own strength, it is really difficult. Moreover, in the northwest, manpower and material resources are limited after all.In the next two to three years, the main force will be spent on expanding China's armaments.If the main financial and human resources are spent on this business, then I am afraid that it will delay the development of military forces in the Northwest.Although these businesses are huge, the real core part of them is just the fuel and gunpowder of the hot air balloon. Others... The technology content is not high, and the cost is huge, and the profit is relatively low. You might as well let it out to others. I am happy to be a favor. With an idea in mind, Du Wei took the initiative to put forward his own plan: give up the production of hot air balloons, and let Count Villa and De Lanshan distribute it.Hot air balloons have already been imitated by people outside, but most of them are useless, worse than those under Du Wei's banner, and there are some in the hands of Delanshan Warcraft. The four of them talked about the second half of the night in this room, and basically decided on the matter.Delan Mountain Warcraft, Du Wei, and Earl Villa, the three of them jointly chose a piece of land near the imperial capital, and then opened a factory specializing in the production of hot air balloons for the military, which is what Du Wei said in front of Prince Chen "Boeing Aviation". In terms of investment, Delan Mountain and the Earl of Villa will share equally, and in terms of profit, Du Wei can share 20% of the profit at the cost of providing hot air balloon production technology, and the other 80% will be shared between Delan Mountain and Villa. People split half and half. And Baron Sark is in charge of the procurement of the Financial Secretary - there is no need to elaborate on the benefits of this.Anyway, both Delanshan Warcraft and Earl Villa are willing to share half of the benefits as the cost of management. Among them, some need to be given to the military bosses, and Baron Sark himself. As for things like gunpowder and fuel, Count Villa and the others knew that Du Wei would never let everyone do this kind of core thing, so they didn't even mention it. After talking all night, Du Wei is a magician, full of energy, but it's nothing.Both Villa and Delanshan were exhausted, but such a large deal would bring a lot of benefits in the future, which also made everyone very excited. But in the end, Du Wei made an additional request. "The production of hot air balloons will require a large amount of leather goods. Our joint factory must purchase from outside... On the mainland, although cattle and sheep are also produced in the north, they are a minority after all. In terms of price and quality, they are somewhat inferior. Therefore, I suggest that all sources of goods be purchased from the grassland! At least until our empire breaks with the grassland people in the future, the source of this purchase must be purchased from the grassland! This must be done!" Count Villa and Delan Shan thought for a while, and Delan Shan said: "Your Excellency is right. Grassland people are good at herding, and their cattle and sheep are indeed high-quality. But... this is an army after all. If we purchase materials from the prairie people, if we break up with the prairie people in the future, we will have no source, and in case production is delayed..." Earl Villa thought a little further, and said, "Du Wei, if we purchase such a big business from the prairie people, no matter how low the price is, I'm afraid it will make the prairie people a lot of money. In the long run, they But our enemy, such a big business, is equivalent to benefiting them, isn't it an act of capitalizing on the enemy? I'm afraid..." Du Wei smiled, and he said slowly: "Everyone, I am in the northwest, how can I not know the situation of the grassland people? I understand what the two of you said. However, I naturally have my plan. And... On the item I just mentioned, one more point should be noted: the furs purchased do not use cowhide, only sheepskin! That is to say, we only buy sheep, not cattle for grassland people!" "Only buy sheep?" Delanshan Warcraft and Earl Villa looked at each other. They didn't understand what Du Wei meant, but seeing the young Duke's resolute expression, they thought to themselves Anyway, this is not an important thing, cowhide and sheepskin are all used in the same way. Probably this duke is particularly fond of sheep... Instead, Baron Sark accidentally said a joke: "Only buy sheep, not cattle... Such a big business may require hundreds of thousands of sheep every year, which is not enough! Such a large demand, coupled with profitable Figure, those prairie people will probably raise more sheep in the future, and no more cattle! Haha! I’m afraid we will have to buy some beef in the north of the empire if we want to eat authentic prairie beef. It's that easy, hahaha..." These words made Du Wei's eyes flash a little light, but no one noticed it. Only Du Wei himself knew that this article was really an extremely vicious plan against the prairie people! ! Du Wei knew about this poisonous trick in his previous life!It's just that at that time, this strategy was used by the country called Japan to deal with Du Wei's motherland.It also once caused Du Wei's motherland to suffer a lot. Sheep are animals that are completely different from cows. When grazing on the grassland, although cattle and sheep all eat grass the same.But sheep are different from cattle.When animals like sheep eat grass, they always eat the grass roots together!In this way, if a large number of sheep are herded, it is easy to dry up the pasture! What resource is the most important on the grassland?Not gold and silver!But their vast and rich pastures!With the grassland, they can graze and breed a large number of war horses!In this way, using this invisible soft knife will make the prairie people feel profitable and raise a large number of sheep, but after two or three years, the prairie people will suddenly find that a large area of ​​their pasture is withered and barren! At that time, let's see what they will use to graze war horses! Moreover, on the grassland, all the tribes live after chasing aquatic plants, and every piece of lush grassland is the lifeblood of the tribe and the most important property of the tribe! A few years later, a large area of ​​grassland on the grassland was barren.There are still so many tribes, and the population is still the same.But the grassland has been greatly reduced, which will inevitably cause fierce competition between their tribes before!Often in order to compete for a piece of pasture, it may trigger a war between tribes! Such a poisonous plan... Although Earl Villa and De Lanshan are smart, they cannot understand without the experience of Du Wei's previous life. Du Wei didn't move his face and didn't explain much, but he sneered in his heart...