Claude expressed his respect and disdain for the ministers' wishful thinking. He had an intense debate with Blancarte and was adamant about not agreeing to the three requests.
They refused to send more troops, invest in the railway lines in the eastern region, and refuse to lease the seaports entrusted to the autonomous military zone.
Claude sneered at Reddragon's request for reinforcements. Are the king and the court going to occupy Shiks forever or not?
If they really want to send more troops, the region won't be able to do anything about it.
Once the region retreats and Bleyotte shuts off their borders, Reddragon and the other standing corps can only wait for death in Shiks. With the land route closed and the sea route blocked, what use would it be even if they occupied a few prefectures in central Shiks?
Are they going to establish an independent principality?
The sole purpose of the region's plan to attack Shiks was to eliminate the biggest threat to Aueras and the region's arch-enemy.
Now that the plan was mostly successful, only the central prefectures and six western prefectures were left. The eleven northern prefectures could be ignored. No one would be willing to go to the highlands and die for nothing.
Now, Reddragon's request for more troops and a long-term occupation was no different from dragging the region down.
Claude and Blancarte made it clear that they could send more troops, but they would have to bear the consequences.
After Thundercrash and Stormwind retreated as planned, Reddragon and the standing corps were not to blame the region if anything happened to them.
It was supposed to be a quick and easy war. Since Reddragon insisted on a long-term occupation, the region would have to excuse itself.
Blancarte felt rather conflicted. The report sent to the royal capital by Reddragon stated that the prefectures in the center of Shiks were all prosperous regions with a large population, abundant resources, and thriving commerce. If they could occupy them for a long time, they could provide the kingdom with at least 200,000 crowns in tax revenue.
The taxes collected from the three prefectures that the Red Dragon Army currently occupied were enough to pay for a year's military expenses.
Of the fifteen central prefectures in Shiks, the national protectorate army had taken over five of them. The autonomous region had also taken over two prefectures along the road from Bleyotte to the royal capital. As for the remaining eight prefectures, Reddragon had taken over three, leaving five that hadn't been swept through.
That was why Reddragon requested for reinforcements in order to conquer the five prefectures as well. That way, the eight prefectures would be able to collect 1.6 million crowns in taxes a year, enough to cover the expenses of three standing corps.
That was the same as feeding the enemy. Having the Shiksans help Aueras raise a few standing corps to reduce the kingdom's expenses was a good idea.
However, Claude told Blancarte with a sneer that if the royal capital decided to station troops in Shiks, they might as well send a few more corps over. When the region retreated, the royal capital and Saint Cyprian would be given to the troops sent by the kingdom and they would be able to stay there for a while longer.
Blancarte knew that without Thundercrash and Stormwind as the main attackers and the eight Shiksan homecoming folk to maintain order, the Shiksan invasion plan wouldn't work.
Even Bleyotte was an ally of the region, not Aueras.
The only reason they allowed the royal corps to pass through was out of respect for the region's military.
Once the region retreated from Shiks, Bleyotte would have to close the land route. At that time, the royal capital would have to negotiate with Bleyotte whether they wanted to send troops or withdraw. They might even have to pay a toll to allow troops to pass through their country.
The same went for the sea route. Shiks had five ports along the southern coast. Two belonged to Bleyotte and three belonged to the national guard. Additionally, the kingdom didn't have as large a shipping fleet as the region.
Reddragon wanted to occupy the central prefectures of Shiks for a long time and collect taxes on the basis of being protected by the region's military.
If the region retreated from Shiks, Reddragon would be left alone. Even if the kingdom sent a few more standing corps, it wouldn't matter.
They would become a thorn in the side of the Shiksan resistance and the target of the Shiksan separatist factions. Those factions would attack and eliminate Reddragon as a show of patriotism and strength.
In fact, Reddragon would become the scapegoat for Shiks' demise.
As soon as the region retreated, the Shiksan factions that were propped up would turn on Reddragon.
They couldn't do anything to the region's military and were afraid of Thundercrash and Stormwind, but that didn't mean they were afraid of Reddragon.
Once the autonomous military district left, the National Defense Army might attack the Crimson Dragon Army to seize territory and expand their strength. Moreover, it would be perfectly justifiable …
Claude told Blancarte that Thundercrash would soon finish sweeping through the nine eastern prefectures and would return to the royal capital in two months' time to rest. Stormwind and Thundercrash would take turns attacking. Their first target would be the five prefectures in the central region that hadn't been swept through yet.
As for the separatist faction they would support, the region had already decided. After sweeping through the five central prefectures, they would hand them over to the Shiksan militant group known as the National Defence Front.
As such, it was best for Reddragon to give up on the idea of a long-term occupation. They would give up on the three conquered prefectures as soon as possible and attack the other prefectures. That way, they would be able to reap a huge profit before retreating.
Of course, if the royal capital insisted on sending more troops for a long-term occupation, the region wouldn't object as long as the kingdom didn't regret it in the future.
At the same time, they shouldn't expect the region to send reinforcements or anything like that. There were records to prove it. If anything were to happen in the future, the royal capital shouldn't push the blame onto the region. Either way, the region's military had already done its part by persuading them nicely.
Claude didn't want to dwell on the issue of sending reinforcements.
Next, Blancarte brought up the matter of building a railway, but Claude was still against it. He refused to let the region invest in the railway that would bypass most of the eastern region.
Blancarte tried his best to persuade Claude to use the spoils of war to invest in the railway, which would be beneficial to the nation and its citizens.
The returns would be great too. The profits from the construction of the railway were already several times the cost. All the shareholders of the railway companies had their fortunes multiplied.
Claude smirked and pulled out a map of the eastern regions of Freia. He asked Blancarte if the kingdom had invested a single crown in the eastern regions of the continent ever since King Frederick I ascended to the throne.
No, not at all. Even the garrison was entrusted to the region's military because the kingdom couldn't afford to pay for it.
The regions had been ravaged by war and the economy was in a slump. The revival of the handicraft industry was nowhere in sight, so they could only rely on farming to get some basic taxes to pay for their expenses.
A railway line like this in the eastern region was of strategic importance to the kingdom. It could heal the wounds of the people in various regions, increase the influence of the kingdom, and strengthen the consciousness of a country. Even if the kingdom had great economic difficulties, it should build this railway line first.
However, the only thing they could not do was to use the profits from their investments to entice the overseas autonomous region to build the Eastern Railway, because to the autonomous region, the railway line was meaningless …
Claude did some calculations for Blancarte on the spot. If the region invested in the railway line, it would take at least three to five decades for them to recoup their losses.
Blancarte wasn't convinced, but Claude used the data to prove it. The economies of the regions were in a slump and it would take a long time for the trade and handicraft industries to recover. Most of the towns and cities were connected by small traders. There weren't any large merchants that came to invest in them or set up workshops.
In addition, the autonomous military zone owned the entire eastern coastline. The huge ocean transportation fleet had already replaced the role of the eastern railway line.
In terms of distance and speed, the shipping fleet along the coastline was even faster than the train. After all, the train couldn't travel more than 15 kilometres per hour at the moment.
Therefore, the construction of the Eastern Region Railway Line was a waste of effort for the autonomous military area, and they would be treated as a fool …
Pawara angrily accused Claude of being a miser. Why didn't he invest so much of the wealth he got from Shiks into areas that would benefit the kingdom's economy?
Firstly, the spoils didn't belong to him, and not all of them belonged to the autonomous region's military. He still had to split the profits with the autonomous region's parliament, and a lot of the spoils had to be invested into the construction of Northbay.
Secondly, the region was in dire need of money. Don't forget that the western coast of Nubissia was still fighting for the freedom of the natives.
As the backer behind the scenes, the region had already invested more than ten million crowns into the project. They would need at least another thirty million crowns in the next few years.
As for recouping that investment, it would have to wait for the natives to stabilize. That would only happen a few years later.
Since the first two requests were rejected by Claude, Blancarte believed that the third request, which was even more unreliable, would be rejected by Claude as well.
As expected, Claude mocked the bigwigs of the royal court for their wishful thinking. Did they really think Claude was a fool for renting out a territory that was already under their control?
However, Blancarte couldn't understand why the region would be willing to spend so much money to rent Port Patkara from Bleyotte.
He said that after he received the news, he looked at the map for a long time and gathered all the information he could about it. He didn't find any difference between it and other ports.
Didn't the region say they were going to withdraw their troops from Shiks?
Why would they rent Port Patkara to give their subordinate forces a base of operations?
Claude picked up a red pen and drew a route between Beibu Bay and Port Patcara on the map. He told Blancarte that the route wasn't anything special from a military point of view. It was quite ordinary.
But from a business point of view, it didn't take much to figure out that it would become a famous golden sea route if it was developed.
Blancarte wasn't a fool. After a while, he finally understood why the region wanted to rent Port Patkara. It wasn't just to maintain the region's presence and influence in Shiks, it was also to reap a share of the profits from the maritime trade between the two regions in the future.
Whatever they invested now would be reaped in the next few years.
So Prime Minister Blancarte began to carefully study the port cities in the eastern part of the map, hoping to develop a port town in one of the coastal areas and get a share of the business of the Golden Sea Route.
Claude bluntly told him to stop dreaming. The royal capital hadn't invested a single penny in the eastern port cities and it would be difficult for them to reap any profits from the golden sea route.
Unless another 20 to 30 years passed and these port cities in the eastern region developed freely, they would not be able to reach a certain scale and obtain some leftovers from this Golden Sea Route …
But wasn't the Port of Florida doing well?
Blancarte pointed at the map and argued, unconvinced.
Port Floroc was the largest port city in Rimodra with the most complete facilities.
During the first great eastern war, it was also the base of operations for the five anti-Auerian nations.
Later on, Prince Hansbach returned to his new territory in the east after the kingdom's civil war. He was assassinated in the mayor's mansion in this port city.
After Aueras decided to intervene in the second Eastertide war, Thundercrash landed at Port Floric and caught the Alliance off guard. They then launched a surprise attack on Nasri's Polyvisia Capital from Sidins, laying the foundation for their victory in the second Eastertide war. Aueras was on the brink of extinction and became the hegemon of the Eastertide.
That was why Floroc became the most important supply base in the eastern part of Freia. All the docks and roads were maintained and repaired by the garrison. This was the main reason why Floroc seemed to be doing better than other port cities. It had nothing to do with the royal capital's indifference towards them.
Now that Blancarte said that Port Floroc was doing well, it gave Claude a chance to slap himself in the face.
Claude asked the prime minister, "Do you know why Port Floroc seems to be doing better than other port cities on the eastern coast?
That's because the shipping fleets of the region have always used Port Floroc as a supply base. Almost half of Rimodra's agricultural products are gathered there to be purchased by the shipping fleets.
On the other hand, the autonomous military zone had always been paying the price. It was a fair transaction, which allowed Florida's port to have a bit of a business atmosphere and vitality.
It was a pity that despite the region's efforts over the past few years, Port Floroc was still just a place to sell agricultural products and didn't become a large trading market.
Most of Rimodra's farmers and breeders would sell their goods to the region's logistics department before returning. Very few of them bought goods from the region.
The people in this area were more accustomed to the life of a self-sufficient, small-scale farming economy ….
Blancarte knew that he had come for nothing. Not only did Claude not agree to any of his three requests, he was even mocked for it.
That put Blancarte in a difficult spot.
But there was nothing he could do. Claude had already made it clear that the region wasn't going to cooperate.
Investing in railways was out of the question, and the region couldn't afford to give up on their own military power. They had the shipping fleets and didn't need to build railways to compete with them. Did they have nothing better to do?
As for renting, it was even more of a joke. The region didn't care about the half-abandoned port cities on the eastern coast.
Do you have any way to gather the funds for the construction of the eastern railway?
That was Blancarte's first question.
Claude's answer was to sell railway bonds at a high interest rate, such as a three-year or five-year loan with an interest rate of 15 to 25 percent.
He could sell a batch of bonds every year for a fixed amount of five million crowns.
The railway would take several years to build anyway, so he could slowly sell the bonds to raise the funds for a specific purpose.
If the interest rate was too high, he could sell more bonds and use the profits from the railway to pay it back.
Is there any port in the kingdom that the autonomous military district would want to rent?
That was Blancarte's second question.
"There is," Claude said, "Whitestag. If the kingdom is willing to rent Whitestag to the region, the region will be willing to pay twice as much as Port Patkara.
However, they would like to extend the lease to 99 years. "
Blancarte didn't say anything else. The kingdom wouldn't agree to such a request. Whitestag was an important city in the three southwestern prefectures. It was a port that led directly to the region.
When it developed, the trade between the two continents would make every inch of Whitestag worth its weight in gold. It would become a treasure trove for the kingdom.
Blancarte left with a melancholy look on his face.
Claude instructed his aide, Fachselin, "Has that Arbeit who calls himself my brother been waiting in the meeting room?
Let him in. I want to see what he has to say. "
Soon, Arbeit, whom he hadn't seen for more than two decades, appeared in Claude's office. Unlike how Claude remembered him to be, the miserly, hypocritical, disrespectful, and mischievous wastrel who hated his siblings was now a mature, middle-aged gentleman.
He thanked Fachselin politely and greeted Claude with a friendly smile. "Long time no see, Claude."
Claude stared at Arbeit expressionlessly. "I'd like to know. I chose the Han word when I was conferred the title. How did you get the Sang word?"
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