"This is the largest military factory in Nasri, the royal family's military factory in Camben Valley.
However, after some inspection, we found that the machinery here isn't much different from the ones in the Pallevia factory we robbed in Whitestag. It's not the most advanced on Freia.
According to the royal court's request, all military factories and factories in the Nasri region that belonged to the royal family have been shut down.
I wonder how many of them will still be usable in three years … "
Claude brought Bolonik and the rest to a valley, Camben Valley. It was the largest and most famous military factory in Nasri, capable of producing light and medium cannons.
It was said that the royal family owned 69% of the shares in the factory and the weapons it produced were used to arm Nasri's standing corps.
Compared to the scale of the factory, the other two in Nasri were nothing more than workshops. They could only be used to repair firearms and produce spare parts for weapons, as well as general military supplies.
No matter what, Bolonik had been with Claude for a long time. Seeing Claude bring them there, he naturally knew what he was up to.
He raised his eyebrows at Claude. "What, you're going to dismantle this place?"
Claude smiled. "You know, if these machines are left unattended, they'll be nothing more than a pile of scrap metal in three years.
Especially these water-powered machines, we can imagine how rusty they will be in the future.
Isn't there going to be a special envoy from the royal court in a month? Isn't his goal to transport the gold and silver we seized from the Nasrian treasury back to the royal capital and seal up the Nasrian royal family's real estate?
What I'm trying to say is that we should first dismantle everything and sell it. Otherwise, it'll be wasted. "
Since Fredrey the First and the royal court insisted on leaving Thundercrash and Monolith in the newly conquered regions, Claude wouldn't stand on ceremony. He would first seek some compensation for himself and the two corps. That was the biggest difference between him and Bolonik.
General Bolonik was an old-fashioned, traditional, and loyal soldier. He would not doubt the orders given by his superior, just as he believed what the Prime Minister of the kingdom, Marquis Blancarte, had told him in private. The kingdom was going to entrust the newly occupied territory to two corps of the overseas autonomous military zone as compensation.
Claude, however, wouldn't believe such empty promises. No matter how nice they sounded in private, it didn't mean anything. As long as the royal court didn't issue an official order, everything was just an empty promise.
Bolonik even argued with Claude about that. He believed that Fredrey the First and the royal court were right.
Because the kingdom was in dire need of money, the best strategy was to do nothing and collect taxes and tributes from the newly conquered territories for a few years. After accumulating some funds for the royal family and the treasury, they could make other plans.
Nothing could be done without money, and that was the same for a kingdom.
After a few years of cruel war, Aueras had become a battered and battered ship.
It urgently needed a period of stable time to recover its vitality.
Leaving the two corps of the autonomous region to guard the newly conquered regions was something they had no choice but to do.
Since Thundercrash and Monolith didn't need the kingdom to pay for their military expenses and the newly conquered regions were obtained through the two corps' hard work, the kingdom could only use the profits from the newly conquered regions for the next three years to thank the two corps for their contributions. That could be considered a deal in itself.
However, Claude's question left Bolonik speechless. The newly conquered regions were twice the size of the kingdom's main territory and their population wasn't much smaller than that of the kingdom's main territory.
This was a huge market. If the kingdom allowed the Thundercrash and Monolith Corps to guard the area for three years to collect taxes for the kingdom, then they would only need to transport the goods produced by the overseas autonomous region to these areas for sale and they would be able to reap huge profits.
The problem was, would the old nobles of the kingdom be willing to hand over such a huge profit to the two corps and watch the merchants of the autonomous region prosper?
Bolonik couldn't answer that.
The old nobles of the kingdom were the ones who pushed King Frederick to the throne and their contributions couldn't be ignored. Additionally, they had suffered huge losses in the past few years of war. How would King Frederick and the royal court compensate them?
Which family didn't have a few workshops to produce daily necessities? In order to let the two corps of the autonomous region return to the kingdom to fight in the war, the kingdom had already touched the old nobles' bottom line. They loosened the trade restrictions in the various prefectures of the kingdom and allowed the autonomous region to set up ten trading companies to conduct all sorts of free trade. That was equivalent to giving up the pricing and trading rights of the old nobles.
Back then, the kingdom was forced to the brink of extinction by the alliance and the old nobles had no choice but to bow their heads.
Now that the war was over and Aueras was the final victor, the old nobles of the kingdom would naturally think of ways to make up for their losses elsewhere.
Claude believed that handing over the newly conquered regions to Thundercrash and Monolith would definitely cause a huge uproar in the royal court.
Just because the kingdom didn't have money didn't mean that the old noble families didn't have money either. Otherwise, the Red Dragon Legion and Gryphon Legion wouldn't have been able to survive after the kingdom's Ministry of the Army had cut off their supplies and salaries for half a year.
In troubled times, having soldiers in one's hands was the greatest thing to rely on. They were also old noble families of the kingdom. They were willing to fork out money to maintain these two legions because they believed that the investment they made now would bring them greater returns and benefits in the future.
So, Claude knew that even the best promises were useless if they couldn't be fulfilled.
He didn't have the authority to touch the land and mines, so he took the opportunity to sell everything he could as payment for the two corps to guard the newly conquered regions for free.
While the machinery in Nasri's largest military industry wasn't the most advanced, he could sell them all for at least two to three million crowns if they were all dismantled and shipped to the region. That was more than enough to cover two corps' military expenses for a year or two.
What the region needed the most at the moment was large scale forging and refining machinery.
The military manufacturing in the Autonomous Territory had already satisfied the production needs, but the demand for large machinery and equipment for forging and refining was still very strong among the citizens. Not to mention, just the production of the railway tracks and the shipbuilding workshops that the citizens had invested in were also preparing to build fully iron hulled transport ships.
General Skri's letter to Claude stated that the demand for large-scale forging and refining machinery from Freia wouldn't be able to meet the demand.
Since the royal court was prepared to seal off the military industry, Claude didn't mind dismantling all of it and shipping it back to the region.
So what if the kingdom's envoy came to see him?
There was nothing he could do to stop Claude's orders. At most, he would just have to compensate them according to the price of scrap three years later. It wouldn't take more than a few tens of thousands of crowns to settle, so there was no need to make a fuss about it.
"I've already sent someone to register the technicians working in the military industry. Most of them have agreed to migrate with their families to the region. There's a total of three thousand of them and ten thousand of their families.
I've already written a letter to General Skri and Mister Weyblon. They'll arrange the personal properties and jobs of these skilled immigrants. The best ones will be given priority to join our military industry, and the rest will be assigned to railway companies and shipbuilding workshops … "
Claude and Bolonik strolled along the path of the military industry. The guards were spread out more than ten metres away to avoid disturbing the two generals' private conversation.
"Alright." Bolonik nodded. "Then, the next time we transport the captives to the region, they'll be given priority.
By the way, Claude, a few of my strategists suggested using the eastern route next time. That way, we can save four to five days of travel and avoid the hassle of sailing along the kingdom's coastline. What do you think? "
Currently, the convoy escorted by the region's fleet departed from Port Cobicus in Tyrrsim. They would pass through the Silent Ocean and Stormy Sea to reach Whitestag before heading east along the kingdom's coastline to Port Floria in Rimodra. It was a rather long journey.
At the same time, the supplies from Port Floria to the capital of Polyvisia would take a month's journey by land and a month's journey by sea.
To put it simply, the supplies from the region to the capital of Polyvisia would take a month's journey by sea and a month's journey by land. Two months would be spent on the road.
Currently, the hundred thousand Nasrian captives were searching for their families and preparing to force them to migrate to Arturas to grow tobacco.
If they used the old route, it would take more than two months.
Claude shook his head. "That won't do. It's best to take the western route. The eastern route is too dangerous for us.
At the very least, we can't guarantee a safe passage through the Nubali Isles. That's a pirate's paradise.
Before the trade route between Whitestag and Tyrrsim was opened, the kingdom's Fearless escorted convoys along the eastern route. They were attacked by pirates every time and suffered heavy losses. The eastern route was known as the Path of Blood.
"Even though we have an ironclad fleet and are invincible at sea, we still have a lot of casualties.
"Last year, we fought Seaking's fleet with Shiks and suffered heavy casualties as well.
"Most of the ironclads have returned to Port Patres for major repairs. It'll take at least seven to eight months for them to recover.
Currently, there are only four Ironclad Destroyers in good condition patrolling the coastal waters of Florida. Do you think these four Ironclad Destroyers and the patrol fleet can escort such a huge transport fleet of more than 300 ships safely through the waters of Pirate's Paradise on the eastern front?
"If we're only transporting supplies, I wouldn't object to taking the eastern route. Even if we're attacked by pirates, we'll only lose supplies and not lives.
"But we're transporting a hundred thousand captives and their families, so we shouldn't take that risk.
"If we go through the kingdom's coastal waters, we'll just have to run into local officials making things difficult for us.
"Don't forget, we still have guns in our hands. Nobody dares to offend us now. If worse comes to worst, we can just send the families of the officials who make things difficult for us to the region to grow tobacco.
"It's not like we don't have to pay for our supplies at the coastal towns. Every time we resupply, we'll bring in some income for the region.
If they still make things difficult for our local administrative officials in such a situation, they're making an enemy out of our overseas autonomous military zone, so we don't have to be polite or care about anything. Just take action. We won't lose this lawsuit even if it's brought to His Majesty. If anything really happens, our two armies will take responsibility. I believe His Majesty and the royal court will give us face … "
Hearing Claude's words, Bolonik laughed heartily.
"Claude, there are five of us in the region. Allen is brave, but not good at strategy. Piccolo is honest and steady, but he's a good person. Skri is thoughtful, but he has too many misgivings. As I'm getting older, I've started to think a lot and have become less courageous. I don't want to offend anyone.
"You're the only one who's not afraid of any risks.
It's all thanks to you that we're where we are today. Without you, we wouldn't be where we are now.
No wonder Marshal Michelci told me that you're the only one I can rely on in a critical moment. He told me not to overthink things and to support any decision you make in the war zone when we're faced with a difficult situation.
That's because you'll always be able to find a way for us when there's no way out. Just like when you were practicing the sand table, your ingenious tactics and tactics gave all of us a headache … "
Claude didn't say anything and only patted Bolonik's left shoulder.
Their friendship didn't need to be expressed in words. After so many years of hardship, the five generals of the region had become one.
However, when Bolonik mentioned Marshal Michelic, Claude felt a little sad. If not for the marshal's high regard and promotion, Claude wouldn't have been able to reach such a high position in just a few decades.
"Have we found out where Marshal Michelic is in the kingdom?" Claude asked.
Bolonik shook his head. "No. From what we heard, Marshal Michelic brought his family back to his hometown to recuperate after he was assassinated in the royal capital.
His hometown is a small village in the hills of Pulligassen, northeast of the kingdom. The people we sent there found that the village was burned to the ground before the kingdom's civil war.
There weren't any highlanders in the area, so we don't know if Marshal Michelic is dead or alive. I'm starting to suspect that someone murdered the marshal's family. "
"Forget it. The truth will come to light one day. If Marshal Michelic's family was murdered, we'll definitely avenge him."
"Of course." Bolonik nodded. "He's our teacher. It's only right for a student to avenge him. I won't let the culprit off!"
The two of them walked a few more steps before Claude asked, "Is the kingdom's financial situation really that bad?
Is that why they're sending envoys to transport the millions of crowns of gold and silver?
Thinking about it, it's quite funny. They didn't even have a suitable supervisor and even got boycotted by the officials.
But when they send envoys to transport the gold and silver, there's a lot of people fighting over them.
By the way, have we distributed the spoils?
I don't want the envoy to get any ideas when he sees how much we have. "
General Bolonik was in charge of this matter. He smiled and replied, "Don't worry. Twenty million gold and silver coins and gold and silver reserves have been shipped to the Dominion and will be deposited into the Minsheng Bank. Apart from repaying the previous loans, the rest will be used as military funds for our military region.
"There's also more expensive jewellery and art pieces worth tens of millions of crowns. Apart from auctioning a portion in the region, the rest will be given to the five of us.
"As for the gold and silver tableware, it'll be up to the soldiers of our two corps to choose whether they want it or get a cash reward.
"After deducting the cost of compensating the casualties, every soldier of our corps will get 80 to 100 crowns in bounty or commemorative items of similar value. Officers will get double that.
"No wonder you said that war can be used to earn money.
"Most of what's left in the capital's warehouses are gold-plated bronze and glassware. They fill up three to four warehouses and are worth only around one to two hundred thousand crowns.
"I purposely left them in the warehouses so that the envoy can see that they're the spoils of war and not the gold and silver.
We'll sell them to merchants after fooling the envoy. That way, we'll have more funds. "
Thundercrash's spoils of war from Nasri, the three duchies and the Shiksan enclave amounted to 56 million crowns.
Among them, 20 million crowns of gold and silver were shipped back to the region and deposited in the Minsheng Bank. It would be used to pay off the military's loans.
In addition, ten million crowns worth of precious jewels and art treasures belonged to the five generals. They would auction off a portion of it in the autonomous region, and the rest of the jewels and art treasures would be divided among the five generals.
Claude estimated that he would earn at least two million crowns. Of course, he was more interested in the treasures. The jewels and art treasures could be passed down to future generations of the family.
The remaining 20 million crowns would be given to the soldiers of the two corps, apart from the generous compensation for the casualties and the rewards given to the soldiers of the Ironclad Fleet and the Patrol Fleet.
For example, Berklin would be given a hundred thousand crowns, while the most ordinary soldier would receive a reward of eighty to a hundred crowns.