Becoming a winner in life starts with becoming a shadow

The difficulty Elizabeth mentioned is mainly because once the Impossible City has an army, the surrounding forces will increase the risk of disobedience.

"Let's talk about the assassination business first. Since we want to do it, we must make it bigger and stronger, and we can give more benefits to the killers. As for the mercenaries, the situation in the Impossible City will change after the blood moon incident. It is not easy to operate now, but it does not mean that the situation will remain unchanged." Li De said slowly.

"I understand, but Master, if there is not enough business, forming an army alone may face huge losses." Elizabeth immediately saw the disadvantages of forming a private mercenary army.

"Elizabeth, some things can actually be changed." Li De smiled and said.

"Master, I don't quite understand." Elizabeth really didn't understand what Li De meant.

"The army doesn't necessarily have to be supported by yourself. If the army you formed serves the order of the entire Impossible City, shouldn't the entire Impossible City pay for it? Only spending one-third of the money to raise an army that obeys you is not a loss no matter how you look at it!" Li De said slowly.

"But in this case, can't the other two major tower forces also form their own? There is no need to spend money to support the army for others. If they also have ideas, things may get out of control. The surrounding forces may acquiesce to one mercenary, but if there are three, it is very likely to attract external intervention." Elizabeth frowned slightly and murmured with a serious look.

"If they dare to establish their own army, then fight until they can't hold on. This time I went to the Shadow World to complete the mission and harvested more gold than the total of this world, so it's more than money. We are not afraid of anyone. Of course, there are sticks, and carrots are also necessary." Li De looked at Elizabeth and said.

"Master, do you mean to divide part of the current business of the Black Tower?" Elizabeth asked tentatively.

"Well, even if we solve the Crimson Tower, new tower forces will still emerge. After all, without the three towers to check each other, those forces outside will not feel at ease. Therefore, the third tower force will be established sooner or later. Instead of waiting for the new forces to compete for business, it is better to plan for the other party in advance, so that the entire city can become more orderly." Li De nodded and said.

"Then master, what business should we divide?" Elizabeth continued to ask.

"What do you think?" Li De asked back.

"Since we want to set up a mercenary army, the intelligence network must not be moved. In addition, the reorganization of the assassination organization will definitely touch the interests of [Juelang], so if we want to do it smoothly, there must be an exchange. If the master does not object, I plan to give up the three major businesses of casinos, arms smuggling and bulk daily necessities trading." Elizabeth said after thinking about it.

"Tell me what you think!" Li De did not nod or shake his head, but continued to ask.

"Since the master has made a huge profit this time, we don't have to worry about the funds. In this way, handing over the financial power of the casino can make the outside world feel at ease. After all, our lack of financial resources means that there is a bottleneck. Similarly, the transaction of large-scale daily necessities that control logistics is also the same.

Only when the finances and logistics are in the hands of those people can they feel at ease and allow us to build an army. As long as there are no such obstacles, it will be much easier to build an army. When they find out that we have other financial and logistical support, it will be too late to stop it.

At that time, unless the army is sent to attack, otherwise the right to speak in the city will be biased towards us with military power. At that time, if they don't want to give us the annual military expenditure and logistics, they can take it themselves. As for the last part of arms smuggling, I plan to use it to exchange resources with the [Juelang] organization."

After listening to Elizabeth's analysis, Li De nodded.

It is obvious that Elizabeth understood the meaning of Li De's previous words, that is, there is no need to consider the issue of funds.

Since there is no shortage of money, all financial-related businesses can be given up. As for the logistics and supplies, there is also the Siyue Chamber of Commerce in the Shadow Courtyard, which can also be transferred out to make people feel at ease.

After all, with magic bags and teleportation magic, the logistics of the Siyue Chamber of Commerce can enter the Impossible City at any time, and there is no need to worry about the army being short of food and clothing.

So looking back, the real trouble is how to get the outside world to acquiesce to the formation of a formal army by the Black Tower. This is the key.

"Have you thought about the external rhetoric?" Li De continued to ask.

"It will take me a little time to be specific, but the general direction has been determined. After the blood moon incident, the Impossible City must have been severely damaged, and in order to regain its vitality, it must have enough military force to stabilize people's hearts. I can use this as a starting point for negotiation. I believe that after making enough concessions, those behind the scenes should compromise." Elizabeth said after coming down.

"Elizabeth, you must be careful about the degree here. You must know when to stop making concessions. If you really meet someone who refuses to agree, then let him die. After all, our carrot and stick strategy also applies to those self-righteous guys. If someone asks about it later, you can lead the clues to my sister Claire. I believe that those who find out about this will understand who is standing behind you." Li De said.

Li De intends to use Alexia's identity to the extreme.

In fact, after his deduction, he found that Alexia's guards could not be expanded on a large scale, even if Claire came forward.

Because the princess's guards, who have the second right of succession, are different from others, the treatment alone requires a lot of money.

After all, if the treatment of Alexia's guards is poor, it will be a loss of face for Alexia, so the treatment of the guards must at least be comparable to that of the Knights.

Let alone other things, the food expenses of at least 5,000 rings per person per day is a huge expense.

5,000 per person, 100 people will have 500,000 rings, which is an expenditure of five gold rings a day.

In a year, the food expenses alone will cost 1,825 gold rings, which is an expenditure of nearly 200 million rings.

And this is the food expenses, not counting the expenses of personal equipment needs.

Especially the monthly military pay per person, which accounts for the bulk of the military expenditure, after all, the monthly fixed salary of the knights of the Knights' Order needs to be paid with gold rings.

So in the original book, when the first princess Alice could not get the financial support of the Kingdom of Midgar, she formed the Scarlet Knights herself, which only had eight people.

In addition to the problem of not being able to distinguish between enemies and friends in the original book, it is more that her own financial resources can only support this eight-person knight group for ten or eight years, that is to say, after increasing the number of people, her financial support time will drop sharply.

Therefore, Li De had to give up the idea of ​​expanding the guards. It's not that he has no money, but he can't be so ostentatious even if he has money.

After all, when Alexia herself cannot come up with such a huge amount of funds, whoever stands up to support will appear unusually eye-catching.

For the nobles, the first thing they will think about is what you, the Siyue Chamber of Commerce, want to do by supporting the second princess so strongly, whether you are aiming at the position of king.

After all, the real reason of having too much money to spend is unreasonable and cannot be used as an excuse. The only reason that makes the nobles feel reasonable is that Alexia wants to compete for the throne.

However, this is not a reason for not expanding. The real reason is that once it is directly affiliated with Alexia, someone will definitely want to jump out and pick peaches.

After all, Claire's title can only get the sixth-class baron in a short time, and she can't compete with those high-ranking people in the royal circle.

It is only a matter of time before the position of the head of the guard is taken away. You must know that when there are benefits, those nobles will be very greedy, so there is no need to expand the guard.

Of course, this does not mean that Li De has no other means to increase the military power in Alexia's hands.

In fact, there are many ways, and the best way is to let the Siyue Chamber of Commerce directly form a guard belonging to the chamber of commerce.

Since it is not the princess's guard, there is no need to compare the treatment of the Knights. In addition, the members of the guard, whether they are orcs or elves, do not need to be so concerned. As long as Alexia can call on this guard team through Claire at any time, that's enough.

After all, in the eyes of the outside world, this is equivalent to the Siyue Chamber of Commerce raising troops for Alexia.

On the one hand, it increases Alexia's voice, and on the other hand, it also allows the Siyue Chamber of Commerce's guard team to use Alexia's name.

You know, with this name, at least in the Kingdom of Midgar, no one will jump out to question the legitimacy of the guard team, which can save a lot of unnecessary trouble, and it is a win-win situation.

As for whether other kingdoms will be afraid of the Siyue Chamber of Commerce and resist it, there is no need to worry.

Because in different kingdoms, the Siyue Chamber of Commerce will choose different royal family members to support.

For example, in the Kingdom of Oriana, the Siyue Chamber of Commerce's guard team will provide military assistance to Princess Rose Oriana, who has the only legal right of inheritance.

And with the Siyue Chamber of Commerce as an example, after the blood moon, Elizabeth can follow suit and pull Alexia and Rose Oriana to endorse herself.

After all, after the first escort team that was not completely mercenary appeared, it was not so difficult to accept the appearance of mercenaries.

"Yes, Master, I understand." Elizabeth nodded and said.

"Elizabeth, how many troops do you plan to recruit in the future?" Li De asked casually.

"I think the number of a fully staffed knight group should be within the acceptable range." Elizabeth thought about it and said with a hint of uncertainty.

"A fully staffed knight group?" Li De's voice was a little low when he heard it.

Li De didn't know about other worlds, but he didn't want to know about the Knights of the Kingdom of Midgar in the shadow world.

According to the staff of the Knights of the Kingdom of Midgar, the full staff is only 30×30 square formations of 900 people.

And 900 people are a drop in the bucket for the huge population of the city.

However, Li De also understood Elizabeth's concerns, because professional soldiers are different from street thugs.

But paying so much, but only getting a full quota of knights, which made Li De somewhat unwilling.

Seeing Reed's expression, Elizabeth knew that the number she reported was too conservative.

But she was just telling the truth, because she really didn't think that more than one full-strength knight order would be accepted by the surrounding forces.

Apart from anything else, the fox in the Pure White Tower would definitely not accept more troops stationed in the lawless city.

Because too many people will cause the balance within the city to be broken, this will definitely not be allowed by the surrounding kingdoms.

Even if Alexia and Rose Oliana are brought in to endorse it, it will not work.

Alexia is especially important here, because including the guards, she already has the command of at least two knight groups.

Yes, at least two words are used here.

Because the knight groups within the Kingdom of Midgar are not counted here.

Of course, although there are many knight groups within the Kingdom of Midgar, the relationship between the knight groups is somewhat incompatible due to the issue of noble factions.

And the knight groups that Alexia can mobilize, her sister Alice has direct command rights, so it can make up the numbers but it cannot be regarded as Alexia's military power alone.

But with the command of two knight groups, it is equivalent to increasing the voice of the royal faction.

Even though the guards of the Siyue Chamber of Commerce and the mercenary group of the Impossible City are not directly affiliated, they can still provoke the fragile glass hearts of other factions within the Kingdom of Midgar.

Therefore, if the number of these two armies is too large, they will first face resistance from the major noble factions of the Kingdom of Midgar.

It is precisely because of these considerations that Elizabeth has to be conservative.

Of course, the number of mercenaries can only be so many, but it does not mean that the forces of the Black Tower can only have this many people.

Whether it is the intelligence department or the killer organization, they can appropriately increase the logistical personnel with combat effectiveness. After all, they can't let the mercenaries handle everything.

Of course, if there are too many of these people, it will definitely stimulate the nerves of the surrounding forces, so the number still has to be limited.

As for Elizabeth's considerations, Li De understood her conservative difficulties after thinking about it for a while.

But understanding is one thing, and being unwilling is another.

After all, one thing is well known, that is, the army of the Rabbit family has an absolute fear of insufficient firepower.

Although Li De does not have this disease, after having the financial resources to rival this world, Li De always wants to spend in revenge.

But luxury goods can't satisfy Li De's wishes at all.

Only the consumption of tens of billions of yuan like the military can give Li De a sense of satisfaction.

But at this moment, Li De has to face the frustration of not being able to spend money.

This is fucked up!

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