Dole City's location was very strange.
This city originally belonged to the Frankish Kingdom and was located to the north of the Frankish Kingdom, close to the border between the Frankish Kingdom and the Malor Empire.
This was because the Frankish Kingdom and the Marlow Empire were separated by a mountain range to the north. Dole City was at the exit of a valley that was different in number, so it could be considered a chokepoint that connected the Frankish Kingdom and the Marlow Empire.
Before, the Frankish Kingdom and the Malor Empire had a good relationship and could be considered allies, so Dole City was only a transportation hub.
But now that the Frankish Kingdom was destroyed, the area where Dole City was located was divided under the name of the Drake Duchy. Dole City had changed and its strategic position was very clear.
If the Malor Empire wanted to invade again, Dole City was a point that couldn't be ignored.
So Xu Yi cooperated with the Drake Duchy this time and prepared to build a complete city defense system for the Drake Duchy. With this, they could resist the invasion of the Malor Empire. Dole City became the first choice.
This system was like what Xu Yi said. The goal of developing this system was to provide a complete defense system based on military magic machines for the entire city. With this, they could easily resist the attack of the Malor Empire's army.
The final goal was that even if the other side sent out Arch Magi, they could still complete the defense and make Dole City as solid as soup.
But this system had a very serious problem and that was that the cost of production was too high.
Just Dole City alone wasn't that big. If they wanted to set up this system, according to New Flyer's budget, they would need to invest at least eight million gold coins.
So even if New Flyer made a move, they wouldn't be able to set up this system in all the cities controlled by the Drake Duchy. They could only choose a few cities to set up.
Dole City was only one of them. Afterwards, they would set up this system in the cities near the Malor Empire in the north of the Drake Duchy, completely sealing off the route that the Malor Empire could use to invade the Drake Duchy.
For this, the Drake Duchy estimated that the total investment would reach seventy million gold coins.
Although the Drake Duchy had been developing the magic machine industry over the years, guaranteeing their financial income, they couldn't take out such a large investment.
Thus, according to the agreement between the two sides, the Drake Duchy would sell a third of the one hundred and seventy thousand square kilometers of the Frankish Kingdom's mineral resources to the New Flyer. They would develop the remaining mineral resources with the New Flyer as payment.
As this agreement involved too many mineral resources, there were even some discordant voices within the Delar Duchy. They claimed that Grand Duchess Carolyn was simply using the mineral resources that she had obtained with great difficulty to please the New Flyer. It could even be said that she was a traitor!
But from a practical point of view, with the Drake Duchy's current capabilities, it was impossible for them to effectively develop these mineral resources. On the other hand, if they were handed over to New Flyer, they would be able to make full use of them.
The most important thing was that the Drake Duchy couldn't do without the New Flyer.
If they lost the support of the New Flyer, the Drake Duchy wouldn't have been able to develop to this point and wouldn't have been able to resist a giant like the Malor Empire.
So compared to the voices of doubt and opposition, the voices of support for Grand Duchess Carolyn were the most numerous in the Drake Duchy.
This time, the Drake Duchy had annexed a hundred and seventy thousand square kilometers of the Frankish Kingdom's land, allowing the Drake Duchy's territory to expand by close to twenty times. It could be said that this was the greatest achievement the Drake Duchy had made in the three hundred years since its establishment. It was an achievement that even the previous Grand Dukes didn't dare imagine.
With the support of this achievement, there was no need to doubt Grand Duchess Carolyn's prestige.
Because of this, there were many nobles in the Drake Duchy that wanted Grand Duchess Carolyn to be crowned king, but they were all rejected by Grand Duchess Carolyn.
"How could I not understand the thoughts of these fellows." Grand Duchess Carolyn's beautiful face revealed a smile of disdain.
"They are just hoping that after I am crowned king, they will redistribute the land.
Hmph, these fellows are all staring fixedly at this new piece of land that they've just obtained.
These ignorant fellows must be thinking about getting a bigger piece of land right now. "
"This is very normal, after all, they are nobles.
Obtaining more land is a tradition of nobles and also represents the glory of nobles. "Xu Yi said with a smile.
"Che, even if I give them a large piece of land, do they have the ability to defend it?" The ridicule on Grand Duchess Carolyn's face became deeper.
"Just like you.
Xu Yi, you seem to have the title of Count in the Principality of Constantine, right?
Does the amount of land you have under your name have any effect on you?
Could it be that people will look down on you because your land isn't big enough? "
"I've always emphasized that my identity is a merchant. Whether it's a noble or a magician, it's just a side effect."
Xu Yi shrugged and said with a relaxed expression, "There's no point in comparing the size of your territory with me. You might as well compare the amount of money you earn every year."
"Amount of money you earn every year?" Grand Duchess Carolyn looked Xu Yi up and down and narrowed her eyes slightly.
"Xu Yi, can you tell me how much money your New Flyer makes in a year?"
Xu Yi immediately laughed in spite of himself, "This isn't some shameful secret, you don't need to use this kind of tone to ask.
To tell you the truth, our Chamber of Commerce made about 150 million gold coins last year. "
"150 million gold coins!" Grand Duchess Carolyn immediately sucked in a breath of cold air.
"Oh my god!
I always knew that your Chamber of Commerce made a lot of money, but I never thought that it would be this much!
Our Duchy's annual revenue doesn't even reach 20 million gold coins! "
"That was when you were still a small Duchy.
Now that you've obtained such a large piece of territory, as long as you operate it well, I think that in a few years, your annual revenue will easily surpass ours. "Xu Yi smiled.
"Also, I need to tell you something else, and that is that our Chamber of Commerce's income report at the end of this year is going to be very ugly."
"That's not strange. After all, your New Flyer's guards also directly participated in the war this year.
War is something that costs a lot of money. If it wasn't for the military magic machines that you produced having an absolute advantage in battle strength, then the war would have dragged on for a long time. No matter if it was our Duchy or your Chamber of Commerce, we would definitely have been dragged down by the Malor Empire and the Kandla Empire. "
"You're right, so we can't drag it out. We have to end this war in the shortest time possible." Xu Yi said with a serious expression.
"How do we do that?" Grand Duchess Carolyn frowned.
"The Malor Empire and the Kandla Empire's foundations are too deep. They also have so many mages holding the fort. When we face them, we can only be completely passive. When we end the war is completely up to them."
"That's not necessarily true.
As long as we hurt them and let them know that continuing the war will only cause them more harm, they'll take the initiative to end the war. "Xu Yi revealed a dangerous smile.
"First, I need to tell them that mages aren't that safe."
Grand Duchess Carolyn looked at Xu Yi in confusion.
In the past few years of interaction, Xu Yi had shown more than once that he didn't care about mages, or even disdained them. This made her feel very strange.
It was reasonable to say that Xu Yi was already a mage, so he should know better than anyone how terrifying a mage's abilities were.
Although the military magic machines developed by New Flyer were also powerful, the most terrifying thing about mages was that they were far more flexible than military magic machines. It was very difficult to truly restrict them.
Moreover, mages didn't have to expend a lot of effort to use forbidden magic like great mages. Once a mage was allowed to use their full strength, the destructive power they caused was abnormally terrifying.
If it was just defense, then perhaps there was still a way.
However, if they wanted to counterattack, then it would be a huge headache due to the destructive power of mages.
This was also why Grand Duchess Carolyn believed that even though they'd easily defeated the regular armies of the Kandla Empire, the Malor Empire, and the other countries, they were still at an absolute disadvantage in the overall situation.
With the military magic machines produced by New Flyer, they could easily defend against the attacks of the two empires, but it was basically impossible for them to counterattack.
Not to mention mages, just the foundations of both sides were too far apart.
"Our best choice now should be to consolidate our current gains and absorb them properly, then increase our own strength. Only then will we have the capital to truly contend against the two empires.
I don't think it's a good choice to act rashly … "Grand Duchess Carolyn couldn't help but advise when she heard the trace of madness in Xu Yi's words.
"This is your choice as the ruler of a country, it's not wrong.
However … "Xu Yi smiled and patted her shoulder.
"Have you ever thought of a question? What is the reason why we're able to easily defeat the two empires on the battlefield?"
"Of course it's because of the military magic machines provided by your Chamber of Commerce. What else could it be?" Grand Duchess Carolyn asked in puzzlement.
"That's right, but it's not completely accurate." Xu Yi shook his head lightly.
"In fact, in the many battles we've had with the two empires this time, we've discovered that the two empires have done a certain amount of research on military magic machines, and many of them have been put into practical use.
The reason why we're able to easily defeat them is because of the technological advantage our Chamber of Commerce has in military magic machines.
Have you ever thought about what would happen if our Chamber of Commerce loses our technological advantage over time? "
Grand Duchess Carolyn's expression changed slightly, "It can't be … Your Chamber of Commerce's military magic machines are clearly so much stronger than theirs. How could they possibly catch up?"
"There's nothing impossible in this world.
That's why we have to take advantage of the fact that they're still at an absolute disadvantage in this area to fight for enough benefits for ourselves. "
"Don't tell me you plan to …" Carolyn looked at Xu Yi in bewilderment.
Xu Yi smiled and patted her shoulder again, "Wait for my good news."