Black Iron’s Glory

Chapter 476: The Special Envoy of the Kingdom is here.

Unexpectedly, by the end of June, the so-called Special Envoy of the Kingdom was still late. It was strange that the victory of the Overseas War Zone over the Hicks kingdom over the colony had been for more than half a year, but the kingdom itself still seemed unresponsive.

Even General Bolognick, who was in bed under the pretext of being sick, could not continue to shut his doors at home to pay his respects, and the situation under his administration had not been volatile for such a long time, and both the inhabitants of the Kingdom and the stationed forces everywhere had calmed down by the passage of time. Anyway, the tragic events that took place in the mainland of the kingdom were far from the overseas jurisdiction. Stirling XI was ridiculous again, and it was just a chatter at the end of the street. The inhabitants of the direct jurisdiction did not have any pain in cutting their skin...

The reaction of the local garrisons and the two immediate regiments also went from initial excitement to subsequent disregard. The victories achieved in the war zones of the Territories depend on their own efforts and not on the support of the Kingdom itself. The generals have become accustomed to obeying orders from theatre commands and have little feeling for kings far from the sky. After learning about the state of the kingdom itself and the absurdity of the new king, no one can hope for the so-called envoy of the kingdom.

General Bolognick had to come out of the mountains, acting as commander-in-chief of the theatre, and he had no reason to be sick at home for two months. General Bolognick came forward to preside over the first distant cruise of the integrated battlezone cruise fleet at Port Patrez under Robisto's command.

Claude was not concerned that General Bolognick had returned to preside over the size of the theatre headquarters, and he simply briefed General Bolognick on the matters handled during those two months and forwarded them to him, as if the two had handed over their duties normally. Claude was then busy with the integration and discipline patrols of the two regiments, as well as the garrisons throughout the area of direct jurisdiction, and had no time to be trapped in theatre headquarters by these administrative matters.

Currently, the new Rocky Mountain Territory is still under military control and no inhabitants of the Kingdom have migrated. The Mining and Commerce Association, however, was very keen on the gold and silver mineral resources of the Red Rocky Mountains, and on several occasions proposed to enter the area for exploitation, but were suppressed by General Claude United Skerry. The pretext was instability at a time of local unrest and the temporary suspension of immigration and development services. This is actually a hindhand that Claude prepared for the immediate battlefield. It is nothing more than to follow my lead, to oppose my death, depending on what happens in the battlefield when the Royal Special Envoy arrives.

Since the end of the war last year, the total number of casualties in the Legion of Thunder and the Rock Legion, as well as in the local guard regiments that participated in the war, was approximately 20,000, plus the personnel drawn from both regiments by Colonel Muried, the new leader of the Ocean Cruiser fleet, and preparations for the formation of two new local guard regiments to be deployed under the direct authority of the Rocky Mountains. More than 10,000 additional recruits would be required to fully accommodate the entire pool of reserve divisions deployed in the two immediate jurisdictions of Cromwell and Bering Ghana in addition to the troop vacancies.

The last clashes between General Claude and General Bockall were also due to these events, which led General Bocknik to believe that the colonial war had ended and that the future of the two regiments was no longer determined by theatre commands, but by the Kingdom's envoys. If the orders received were to dissolve the regiment, then there was no need to rectify the full composition and waste money.

So General Bolognick, on the one hand, made frequent visits to local garrisons to publicize that the Royal Special Envoy would reward and promote all officers and soldiers involved in the colonial war, and, on the other hand, delayed signing orders not to integrate troops and recruit new recruits, which eventually left Claude intolerable and scolded him.

In Claude's view, iron strikes still have to be hard on their own, and the most important thing in this world is to master the armed forces that protect themselves and their families. Since all three of the kingdom's main battlefield ace regiments are acting on their own, the forces in the direct territorial theatre have not tried to emulate it. It is intolerable that General Bolognick should hesitate to make arrangements for the restructuring of the theatre forces in fear of his future reputation.

Fortunately, General Bolognick was scolded by Claude on the pretext of being sick and hiding at home for two months. Claude gave orders in his own name for the whole army and the recruitment of new recruits, and was then trapped in theatre headquarters by a great deal of trivial administrative affairs throughout the entire theatre. Now that General Bolognick is “sick”, Claude throws these administrative matters at him and goes to the army himself to inspect the progress of training for the whole army and recruits.

The busy hours passed quickly, with the Kingdom's envoy still missing in July and the Kingdom's envoy still missing in August. Much has happened in the battle zone of the direct administration in the past two months, starting with the initial formation of the cruise fleet of the ocean, which went around the ocean for a long time, and there were no leaks in the last 10 days, indicating that Muried, the new leader of the fleet, is still qualified.

Then the steam locomotive, developed by Master Byrd, finally passed the acceptance inspection and entered the practical phase. The Overseas Territories Railway Corporation, prepared by Claude, has finally opened and is preparing to build railroads across the Territories. At the current level of steam locomotives, of course, the laying should be classified as a light rail. The first railway runs from Port Vibato to Wickham Castle, under Cromwell, to Beringana and up to the banks of the Dolinibara River.

The third major event was the production of the first cigarettes and cigars at Yariq's butler's tobacco factory, where Claude asked him to work with Mr. Rubywell, Boquer's father, to distribute the cigarettes and cigars wholesale in various jurisdictions to his family comptoirs. It is also Claude's old concern to have Mr. Rubiewell's family comptobacco firm take advantage of the heat of tobacco sales to keep a firm foothold in the Territory's war zone.

One last thing was that Eriksson had finally sent someone to contact Bok Al, who was still dealing with the Nikantha people in the Rocky Hills. Someone couldn't help but find Mr. Rubiewell and Mr. Rubiewell brought him to Claude. Looking at the list of purchases before us, mostly grass and daily commodities, the quantity is not particularly large, and it is estimated that the grass will consume more than 20,000 people for three months.

Claude knew that it was only a test by Ericsson, because the direct jurisdiction of the war zone was very strict on large food deals, and the relationship had to be registered clearly, and there would be surprise checks in the future on what food was used for in the past. The occasional purchase of hundreds of kilograms of food by agents deployed in the direct jurisdiction war zone is generally unnoticed, but more than two or three kilograms of food will attract the attention of the patrol police and become the subject of surveillance in the war zone.

So if Eriksson wants to buy large amounts of food in the war zone, he can only contact Bok Al or Claude, but as Claude's teenage friend, he was angry with the Claudes because his father, Captain Otruni, was attacked by pirates, and the relationship broke down, so he had to find Bok Al, but eventually he needed Claude's consent to be allowed to trade.

Claude signed the trade list, and trading with Ericsson's Black Sail Pirate forces is naturally a buffalo business. But at the same time, in order to receive a letter from Eriksson, Mr. Rubiewell will be in charge of the matter. The price of the sale was also fair, with a mere 50 per cent addition to the market price in the direct jurisdiction, while Eriksson was paid for by national gold and silver coins at the rate of exchange issued by the Overseas Minsheng Bank against the gold and kroner, which could also be offset by other goods.

With only grass and daily commodities bought in July and a list of all kinds of wool and leather goods, as well as consumables such as low-priced spirits, coming in August, it appears that Ericsson is preparing the Black Sail Pirate for the winter. Several bison agents ignored the pirates who had come to purchase them, selling to them a large number of seized Royal Hicks Army winter-style fur coats at high prices, and saying that they could also trade if they needed arms.

Mr. Rubiewell came to Claude with some concern and found it highly inappropriate to sell military supplies and arms to Blacksail pirates. Claude replied with a laugh that what was sold to Black Sail Island was seizures from the Kingdom of the Hicks, and that for the direct jurisdiction war zone, whether military supplies or arms, was garbage, taking up space in the warehouse. The Black Sail Pirates sold to Ericsson mainly compensate for military expenditures, but also to be able to effectively extrapolate the true strength of the Black Sail Pirates based on the quantity of goods sold.

In early September, the envoy of the Kingdom, thought not to have appeared, finally appeared in the port of Cobichous under the direct authority of Tyrsim, this time with seven envoys, arguably a mission, escorting them to seven pelagic battleships of the Kingdom's newly formed storm fleet and a naval battalion. To be clear, the seven pelagic battleships all escaped from White Deer City, hiding in the port of Cobichous from the Kingdom's civil war, and then returned to some of the dozen battleships on the Kingdom's mainland.

This time the Special Envoy was escorted to a distant-water battleship that was supposed to be eight, but one was sunk into the sea by Blacksail pirates. The reason why the Royal Mission arrived so late in the direct overseas jurisdiction was that the Black Sail pirates had ravaged the coastal areas of the Kingdom itself, and all coastal ports, towns and fishing villages had been plundered by the Black Sail pirates.

Fortunately, the Black Sail pirates did not kill, but recruited sailors, craftsmen and displaced persons to loot officials and wealthy people in those places. Several places where liquidation and accountability ambassadors were captured by Blacksail pirates and hung directly at the gates of the city, the trees at these heights, instead gave Blacksail pirates a good reputation in the folk of the kingdom itself, and even some volunteered to go to the coastal zone to find Blacksail pirates...

Since the king learned that the Overseas Territories had defeated the Kingdom of Hicks and won this colonial victory, it has been a joy. This is the only proud and surprising news about the kingdom of Auvellas in recent years for the old aristocratic family. The end of this colonial war meant that the war-torn mainland of the Kingdom could soon heal the wounds of the war and revive the economy as long as it was supplied with constant resources from overseas direct jurisdictions.

For the emerging business aristocrats, the kingdom is almost torn by them, and there is not much oil to squeeze out. Now that the Overseas Territories have ended the war, they become a super attractive chunk of fat. The pelagic trade between the two continents, the input of local specialities and resources, could well be trafficked by them to other countries of the Farea continent. This means countless wealth and profits, and this path must be in their hands.

As for Sterling XI, the proud Prince of Wedelec, who was immersed in the luxury of flowering wine, was pleased to see another source of wealth to harvest. During this time he has complained several times about the decline in reception specifications for banquets and proms, but the head of his court has clearly told him that this is all he can get in Kings. Besides, His Majesty the Wise King needs to save some money, otherwise the King will soon have no money to spend on him.

Well, after the victory of Wise Sterling XI over his big brother, Prince Hansburg, it was just over a year before he came into power to promulgate three laws imposing new taxes, all of which were attributed to his royal treasury for his enjoyment and not to the Ministry of Finance of the Kingdom.

Even on several occasions, the wise Sterling XI spoke at court gatherings, arguing that the taxes paid by the inhabitants of the Kingdom were still too small. Now that the kingdom is in a difficult situation and in financial difficulty, the wealthy inhabitants of the kingdom should offer to donate half of their property in return for the kingdom's grace...

These, of course, are rumours from the people of the kingdom itself, but in the eyes of the vast majority of the people of the kingdom, the new Sterling XI has been equated with the Dizzy King. Even the old-fashioned aristocratic power now does not look forward to seeing the new king, only the emerging business aristocrats gathered beside Sterling XI for their interests and power, protecting the new king like a bunch of bad dogs representing their interests.

After obtaining news and confirmation of the end of the colonial war, Wang Tingli quarrelled for more than a month over the power to send representatives of which forces as envoys to take over the war zone as overseas territories of the mainland of Nubicia and the proceeds of the various jurisdictions, the old-fashioned aristocratic and emerging commercial aristocratic forces almost punched their brains out, and no one objected to anyone. Even the governors and governors of each direct administration have come up with several quick moves, waiting for His Majesty the Wise King to decide.

With regard to the disposition of war zones under the direct jurisdiction, this was the only agreement reached among the old noblemen and emerging business nobles that both sides believed that jurisdiction over each jurisdiction, as a theatre model, must be withdrawn by the Kingdom and that the former system of governorship must be restored to each territory. As for the Thunder Regiment and the Rock Regiment, which acquired this colonial war for the Kingdom, they were locally armed and disbanded and dismantled by the incoming Governors and Superintendents. The Kingdom's overseas jurisdictions do not need to retain these two heavily armed regiments.

There are also plans to deal with the five generals of the war zone and the officers large and small of the two regiments. His Majesty the Merciful King is unwilling to pursue the crimes and faults of these soldiers who have made minor achievements for the kingdom. If he decides to release them with great mercy, he will demote them from the ranks of the Royal Army with honor. He will then spend the rest of his life overseas under the direct authority of the cattle farm and not return them to the kingdom itself.

It was only after half a month of continuing quarrels between the various forces of the Royal Court that they finally came up with an agreed solution for the Overseas Territories and presented it to the wise Sterling XI that it was discovered that they did not possess an oceanic fleet that could only achieve that goal. The original programme to escort a regiment to the Overseas Territories to take over all powers in the theatre by force was abrogated, and the quarrels and consultations over the past two months have been in vain.

Fortunately, there was also a wise minister of the kingdom, who offered a way to Sterling XI. Didn't this victory over the Hicks Kingdom capture the United Fleet leased by the Hicks Kingdom? A small number of individuals were sent to overseas jurisdictions to take over power in the theatre, and then local recruiters were recruited to assemble the combined fleet to convey the property, wealth and resources of overseas jurisdictions. After returning to the kingdom itself, the crew of the sailors recruited from overseas jurisdictions will be dismissed, and a trusted naval general will be assigned to consolidate the combined fleet.

In this way, the Kingdom has a strong oceanic fleet, which will ensure that the resources and wealth of the Overseas Territories are channelled far and wide to the mainland of the Kingdom. As for the survival of the crew of sailors recruited from overseas jurisdictions, it was none of the business of the big men. When you get back to the kingdom, you can break them up without even spending a penny, or you can take them all to a labor camp. It's good to add a free green and strong labor force to the kingdom...

Sterling XI had already begun to be impatient, and the royal court was increasingly strained in its use, and the finances of the inner treasury were overstretched, waiting to scrape a fortune from overseas jurisdictions to fill everyone's backpacks. How could it withstand such delays and inefficiencies as the royal court?

So this proposal was happily adopted by His Majesty the Wise and the Great King, who, after scolding all the ministers at the Royal Court, directly named two representatives of the old-fashioned aristocratic family power and five emerging commercial aristocratic power to take over all the powers of the war zone as envoys of the Kingdom overseas, the governors or whatever, and so on.

In order to acquire the wealth of the Overseas Territories, Sterling XI also exempted eight of the twenty-three distant-water battleships of the newly formed Stormfleet Cruise Subfleet, which he regarded as the root of his life, to escort the Royal Mission to the Overseas Territories and also as the backbone force for the formation of that joint fleet.

Before the departure of the Royal Mission, His Majesty the wise and great King repeatedly advised them that, in order to punish disrespect for him by the Overseas Territories during the Civil War of the Kingdom, and not to pay taxes and donations to the Crown, the first thing they had to do when they arrived in the Direct Territories war zone to take over power was to collect taxes and donations that had not been paid by the Overseas Territories over the years and to impose a 10-fold fine.

In the minds of the powerful adults of these kingdoms, the Overseas Territories remain the impression of the original vast area of their hearts and minds as the only source of resources in the kingdom. Perhaps because of this war with the Kingdom of Hicks, it is now even worse. If His Majesty wants to scrape, scrape it. No one regards overseas territories as the mainland of the kingdom. The dying and living of the inhabitants of the kingdom who relocate there is none of their business...

Only when the envoys of these kingdoms embarked on a battleship and set sail, did they encounter black sail pirates coming to the mainland coast of the kingdom to pillage, and eight ocean warships were chased by more than a dozen black sail pirate ships with no way in or out of the sea and sunk a battleship. It had to return to the waters controlled by the new storm fleet, and the return of the Royal Special Envoy to the King had been verbally abused by Sterling XI.

After two months, the black sail pirates ravaging the mainland coast of the kingdom finally stopped and returned to their nest full of joy. The Royal Mission then embarked again and hurried to the Overseas Territories.