Infrastructure Throne

The first negotiation between Beiyuan Kingdom and the Alliance of Northern Cities took place on a midsummer afternoon.

The scorching sun shines through the layered tree shadows, casting a series of mottled light and shadows on the bay red wood floor, and the tired cicadas cry weakly.

The negotiating envoy of the Zhucheng Alliance paced back and forth in the conference hall. It was too hot. He held a silk handkerchief in his hand and kept wiping away his sweat.

Before leaving, facing the nobles of the Zhucheng Alliance, the negotiator vowed to complete the task.

There are many cities in the north, and there are many aristocratic families, big and small. According to their thinking, Beiyuan Kingdom will attack one by one. I don't know how many years and how much it will take to unify them.

Now, the nobles of Zhucheng took the initiative to show their favor and were willing to serve Beiyuan King as their master. Isn't it that both sides are happy?It is obvious that the nobles, as lords, govern the place for the monarch.

The envoy originally wanted to meet His Majesty the Monarch, and with his eloquent ability to persuade Shen Qingze, in the future history of the unified Beiyuan Empire, he would be a hero for the peaceful unification, his name will go down in history, and he could also save the nobles' dignity. Power is rewarded.

Unexpectedly, after arriving in Yuanliu City, he lived in the temporary embassy for a week. Not to mention His Majesty, he could not even see a single important minister. Only a few little-known officials from the so-called "Ministry of Foreign Affairs" received him. .

The envoy was secretly annoyed, Beiyuan Kingdom would have to pay the price for its arrogance sooner or later!

After sitting for half a day, the envoy finally waited for the foreign minister of Beiyuan Kingdom who came to negotiate. The envoy was determined and was about to throw out the carefully prepared manuscripts one by one. Unexpectedly, the other party handed over a document with the monarch's seal. .

"You don't need to read it, there are no words in it." The foreign minister shrugged and sat on the other side of the negotiating table with his fingers crossed.

The envoy's hand froze when he was about to read the document, and he frowned: "What do you mean, Your Excellency?"

The foreign minister said sternly: "After friendly consultations and a full exchange of views, we regret your insistence on the opinion. It is not constructive, and we will not adopt it, and urge you to return to the shore in time. Futile resistance is It's pointless, please don't continue to be obsessed."

messenger:"……"

Where is the friendly negotiation?Where is the exchange of ideas?It is clear that you are the only ones who unilaterally refuse it!

The envoy suppressed the blue veins popping out of his forehead, took a big gulp of cold tea, and finally couldn't help but growl: "You guys don't have the sincerity to negotiate at all!"

The Foreign Secretary raised an eyebrow.

The messenger grabbed the silk handkerchief in his hand and sat back in the chair, as if regaining his own rhythm:

"I advise His Majesty the Monarch of your country not to deceive others too much. After all, you only have four cities, but we have more than twenty members in the Northern Cities Alliance! Our combined population and army are several times that of yours!"

"What's more." The envoy completely calmed down his anger, and the corner of his mouth once again evoked a confident smile, "The Manxi allies and the Great Xia Kingdom also have a deep embankment against Beiyuan. If His Majesty is willing to accept our proposal of enfeoffment and autonomy, we can send People lobbied the two empires to lift the blockade on Beiyuan."

The envoy leaned forward and put his hands on the negotiating table: "Otherwise, if we continue, we will not only prohibit civilians from entering and leaving, I am afraid that Beiyuan's products will rot in the warehouse and cannot be sold anymore."

The corner of the foreign minister's mouth raised a thread: "Don't bother your Excellency, please go back, oh yes, before you leave, you can bring some local products from Yuanliu City, so as not to return empty-handed."

The messenger's face darkened: "You will regret your arrogance today!"

※※※

The negotiations broke down completely, and Beiyuan unceremoniously rejected the Zhucheng Alliance's request for enfeoffment and autonomy. The news swept all the cities in the Northland like a hurricane in just half a month.

Beiyuan's determination and aggressive posture made the nobles in the northern cities feel as uncomfortable as swallowing flies.

They didn't understand at all that as long as they backed down a bit and handed over the "little" rights to the nobles, the Beiyuan King would immediately enjoy the great glory of unifying the Northland, and be on an equal footing with the emperors of the three great empires.

But Shen Qingze was as if his mouth was stuck with glue, he wouldn't let go, he clings to his rights and refuses to give in at all!

Even more than a hundred years ago, when the Northland was a unified kingdom, the people in power at that time were not as dictatorial as Shen Qingze!

"It's simply arrogant! Did he think that he would be invincible after repelling the two orc tribes and stealing the authority of Mingzhu City?" The lord of Moon City angrily smashed the goblet in his hand.

"My lord, calm down." The envoy who returned to his mission swallowed with difficulty.

"We have a large number of people in the Zhucheng Alliance, and there are two major empires secretly supporting us. As long as we continue to prohibit the population from fleeing to Beiyuan, and strictly prohibit the sale of the other party's goods, Beiyuan will collapse on its own in a short time!"

"They are just a palm-sized territory with a population of several 10, which is nothing in the Dawn Continent. Even if they barely maintain self-sufficiency, they are powerless to attack us!"

City Lord Moon hesitated and said: "Then what is the attitude of the Blue Sky Business Alliance? I heard that the royal family of the Blue Sky King City has a good impression of Shen Qingze, and they often have trade contacts. If the Blue Sky Business Alliance chooses to support Beiyuan..."

The envoy laughed loudly: "My lord, you are too worried. The Blue Sky Merchant Alliance is far away at the southern end of the mainland, and the road in between is far away. As long as we block the waterway and block the land route, even if the Blue Sky City is willing to open to Beiyuan, it will not help!"

"I dare to assert that Beiyuan is sealed in a corner of the Northland, unless Shen Qingze compromises with us nobles, within three to five years, Beiyuan will definitely decline!"

※※※

Yuanliu City.The warm golden morning light gradually spreads over the palace, and the glazed tiles reflect a colorful and magnificent glow.

In the meeting room, there is a rectangular black lacquered wooden table, surrounded by important ministers in charge of various ministries.

A ten-meter-wide topographic map of the central part of the Dawn Continent hangs from the ceiling and covers an entire wall.

On the map, a black handwriting started from Yuanliu City, went south along the Chiyuan River's tributaries, and turned overland at Moon City, delineating a map of the most commonly used trading routes to and from the southern Blue Sky Merchant Alliance.

Among them, the land route has to pass through the territories of the two empires, and each checkpoint has high tolls. Under the current situation of intensified blockade, the land route has become more and more unsafe.

Due to the complex water system and the impassability between the north and the south, it takes a lot of detours to travel by water, which takes a long time, and there are endless water bandits looting.

No matter how you look at it, it is almost impossible to break the game from here.

The atmosphere in the meeting hall was dignified. At the long table, the ministers frowned and thought hard. No matter what, they could not think of the intention of His Majesty to draw this line.

Holding a vermilion pen, Shen Qingze drew another route on the huge map - it was an intermittent waterway, along the direction of the tributary of the Chiyuan River, across the three water systems of the mainland, the route was divided into three sections, If they are linked together, it will be the shortest route between north and south.

It's a pity that there is no circulation between the three water systems.

After staring at the map for a long while, the chancellor of the exchequer, Luo Xin, blinked his small eyes, and suddenly remembered that two years ago, when His Majesty was negotiating a trade agreement with Prince Shelley of the elf tribe, he mentioned that he wanted to dig an artificial canal connecting the north and the south. !

At that time, because the conditions were immature and the cost was too high, almost everyone opposed it, so they persuaded His Majesty to give up this crazy idea. Could it be that His Majesty wants to bring up the old matter again now?

Obviously, Luo Xin was not the only one who thought of this, the ministers were more or less aware of this, and looked at Shen Qingze with complicated expressions.

Luo Xin loosened his collar, and said dryly: "Your Majesty, do you want to completely dig through this waterway?"

Stared at by the minister's almost terrified gaze, Shen Qingze held the vermilion pen, tapped slowly on the map, and said lightly the words that made everyone present fall into a coma:

"I want to build an artificial Grand Canal running from north to south on the basis of several water systems, and from then on, I will completely get rid of the constraints of the Zhucheng Alliance and the two empires geographically."

The ministers were speechless for a moment, this is too crazy!

Not to mention the complexity of the north-south water system, the part that needs to be manually excavated is at least more than [-] kilometers in total. I don’t know how many people will be mobilized. What Beiyuan lacks most now is manpower.

What's more, even if there is enough manpower, how to safely transport the peasants to the site that needs to be excavated is also a big problem.

Moreover, I don't know how many cities will pass through on this road. The aristocratic rulers of these cities will never allow Beiyuan to dig canals under their noses!

Your Majesty the King is so wise, why is he so obsessed with this crazy idea that is not feasible at all? !

Everyone cast their eyes for help to the silent city lord, if Yan Zui was willing to persuade him, His Majesty would certainly obey.

Yan Zui rested his cheek with one hand, looked at Shen Qingze: "Your Majesty, do you have a plan?"

All the ministers thumped in their hearts, and they all had an ominous premonition at the same time.

Sure enough, with a slight wave of Shen Qingze's hand, an attendant delivered the sealed draft to everyone at the long table.

Everyone held the thin sheets of paper in both hands, trembling and not even daring to open them.

However, Shen Qingze's deep voice was like a devil, and it sounded coldly in everyone's ears:

"If you want to completely break the surrounding blockade, there are only two ways out. One is to use force and become an enemy of the whole world. Obviously, this is not beneficial. Frequent wars will slow down our development. The two empires will also participate in it. They Just need an excuse to attack us."

"So, I choose the second way."

On the map, he highlighted the areas that needed to be excavated, mainly in the south of Moon City and the north of the border of the Blue Sky Merchant Alliance.

Teng Changqing frowned: "Your Majesty, but we can't find so many civilian husbands."

Shen Qingze said calmly: "Oh, there are many Grand Canyons."

All the ministers opened their mouths in astonishment, and the whispering in the meeting hall stopped abruptly. Your Majesty plans to let the orcs help Beiyuan dig a canal?This ridiculous idea is even scarier than digging artificial canals under the noses of the Zhucheng Alliance and the two empires!

Teng Changqing wiped the sweat from his forehead and stammered: "Can they really handle such a large and complicated project? What about food, drink and logistics?"

Shen Qingze glanced at him with disdainful eyes: "What age is it, who said you have to dig it with your hands?"

Everyone was startled.

Shen Qingze said every word: "The steam engine doesn't need to eat or drink, and it won't be tired."