The Sun King's Evidence

When Talleyrand personally carried Lane's letter overland to Marienburg, even a fool knew the seriousness of the problem.

As a foreign minister who was very afraid of death, the high-spirited lame man was simply unwilling when asked by Ryan to deliver a letter, but he couldn't shirk it, so he could only show his face. He was even a little angry and told Ryan: "Your Majesty, When you need a lamp, the servants won’t bring in the sofa.”

"But I need you. I firmly believe that when I need you, Talleyrand, you can be a desk lamp or a sofa." This was Sulia's answer.

Talleyrand agreed to the request to deliver the letter and investigate without further words. For the sake of convenience and speed, he only brought a few attendants with him. It happened that Lingard was hanging around behind Berhemond, so Ryan asked Lingard escorted Talleyrand to Marienburg.

Arriving at Le Angoulant by boat, in Coulona, ​​one person and three horses galloped wildly. After six days of driving, Talleyrand and others finally arrived at the outskirts of Marienburg.

At this time, Marienburg seems to be cast in a very dark light and shadow. Since the last time it was plundered by the Brittanians, Marienburg has been in a lot of depression. Now there is news that there seems to be a Chaos fleet on the Talon Sea. is approaching, Marienburg is even more panicked, but whenever the people of Marienburg see the tens of meters high city walls, the spire wizard towers, the hundreds of warships moored in the port and the legendary mercenaries. The troops suddenly felt a lot more at ease.

Let them come!

After getting off the horse, Talleyrand was still complaining secretly. The high-spirited cripple really didn't want to go through this hard work. He had just made up his mind to send the letter and find out the situation and run away immediately. Lingard on the other side was very happy. Looking at the city walls of Marienburg and the dozens of cannons on it with interest, the 28-year-old Holy Grail Knight said with great interest: "It's not easy for us to have a chance, but my great-grandfather never allowed us to come here."

"Here? Marienburg?" Talleyrand looked at the young Holy Grail Knight. Of course he knew that the Holy Grail Knight, nicknamed "Emperor Lin", was born in a famous family and had proven his ability, and he was so young. After winning the Holy Grail, he will naturally have the brightest future, so the lame man was happy to chat with him for a few more words: "Actually, it's just that. It's generally more prosperous than Bordeaux, and more cunning than those big merchants. The goods Just make it richer.”

"Really?" As soon as he entered the city, Lingard was shocked by the world in front of him. What came face to face were two rows of tall houses and extremely crowded streets, endless flow of people and dozens of open shops. There is a vitality that cannot be felt in Bastogne. Human beings are selling, discussing, traders, and there are a large number of fleets and fleets moving back and forth on the roads and waterways of the city. What makes Lingard even more interesting is that the streets There were many well-dressed women standing at the entrances of many alleys. As soon as they saw Talleyrand and his entourage, they couldn't help but wave. The key point was that they were wearing a dark red suit of a Breton noble. Talleyrand, who was wearing a formal dress, and Lingard, who was wearing a full set of chain mail and breastplate, a golden cross helmet with a red dragon statue hanging on his waist, and a Holy Grail pattern on his robe and cloak.

There are also girls on the street who take the initiative to send flowers, with various addresses and their names mixed in the flowers.

A whole street is strung together with ropes, and people with wooden signs behind them are moving forward under the whipping of patrols and guards. Men, women, old and young, crying, numb, confused, Already too hungry to walk, the more chaotic the era, the more profit there will be for profiteers.

"I heard that since the fall of Kislev, a large number of Kislev beauties have been living among the people. They are very willing to marry Bretons." Lingard and Talleyrand both accepted the small note. Come on, the Holy Grail Knight said a witticism very lively: "We Bastogne folk always say that there are a lot of blond girls crying and wanting to marry to Britannia, and they are afraid of Britannia. Nyanians look down on them.”

"Want to marry a Breton (×)."

"I want to marry a Britannian noble, a free citizen who is at least a sergeant or above, especially a Holy Grail Knight and Old Guard like you who was born into the Red Dragon Duke family (√)."

Talleyrand corrected Lingard with a smile, and the lame man laughed loudly:

"The beauties of Kislev who lost their country hate to marry and admire the charm of Brittanians and chivalry culture (×)."

"A country bumpkin serf who has no house or land and feels good about himself wants to pick up a young, beautiful, blond, big-waisted, long-legged, hairy wife for free (√)."

"Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!" Lingard and Talleyrand looked at each other and burst into laughter.

Lingard told Talleyrand that his great-grandfather Berhemond had recently acquired about seven or eight young and beautiful Kislev beauties from his private estate in Bastogne, and Berhemond asked them to wear them. Dressed in a bunny girl costume, she danced as a bunny waiter and then took turns serving wine. The old Duke liked this tune the most. After Lingard came back, Bochmond also let him enjoy it once. Of course, only a small number of beauties could stay. To become a member of the old duke's backyard, most of the time you have to serve for three to five years and then change the group.

Talleyrand told Lingard that he had an entire team of maids in his manor, 80% of whom were Kislev beauties. He had always enjoyed these beauties at will. When he was about 25 years old, Talleyrand Pay them a severance package and let them pack their things and leave, and these Mao girls will often find an honest free man to marry in Musilon.

The moment they finished speaking, Talleyrand and Lingard suddenly had an indescribable tacit understanding and a telepathy unique to men. Both sides couldn't help but reach out and hold hands tightly.

From today on, we are gay!

"Let me guess, is this kind of speech particularly popular among the people, especially serfs?" Talleyrand said with a smile: "Because everyone is particularly willing to believe in this kind of thing that is beneficial to themselves and can get something for nothing. People always It’s the inclination to believe.”

"Yeah." Lingard made a face, and he twisted his body directly on the street and picked a "Breton dance": "Am I full of charm like this?"

"You? Your Emperor Lin is full of charm even when you stand upside down in front of those Kislev beauties." Talleyrand twitched his lips: "Knight of the Holy Grail, Blood of the Red Dragon, Great Pope of the Badlands Tour, unlimited furious."

"What about you?" Lingard laughed.

"I am an elf, a high elf." Talleyrand smiled very sincerely: "That's it, that's enough."

Emperor Lin's face suddenly fell into disbelief. He had already seen how many advantages and charm the High Essence had over humans in terms of race alone.

Talleyrand has made many achievements in diplomacy since he worked for His Majesty the Sun King. One of his great advantages is that he is a high-elf elf. It is said that he is also a member of the famous high-elf Bennist family. This alone, even if it is a status The great nobles who crushed him would give him enough respect because he was from a high-ranking family and a close minister of the Sun King.

This topic can no longer be discussed.

The famous Shield Block does not seem to be as prosperous as it used to be. It is the gathering place for Marienburg's major chambers of commerce, guilds, and churches. When Talleyrand and Lingard came to the Shield Block, the streets were full of merchants. Private armies and mercenaries were maintaining order, and their number was three times that of before. When they saw Talleyrand and his entourage appearing, the faces of these private armies could not help but show disgust, but then they turned into fear. , checked the paperwork briefly, and then let it go.

Arriving at the Marienburg City Council Hall, where a meeting was in progress and could not be entered, Muller, Archduke Schulz's deputy, came out to receive Talleyrand and Lingard, took them to the reception room to wait and told them the latest news.

Soon, Talleyrand and Lingard learned two major news.

First, the Marienburg City Council received an urgent document from the Imperial Palace. The Imperial Palace requested the Marienburg City Council to immediately subscribe for a "war bond" worth approximately 3.8 million gold marks in the name of Karl Franz, and also requested that it be temporarily Requisition all supplies in Marienburg and all gold in the banks.

This was of course unanimously rejected by both chambers of Marienburg.

"Our defense is our obligation, your defense is your obligation." This was the official answer of the upper and lower houses of Marienburg.

The second is that because the plan to ask for help from the Empire or the Kingdom of Knights has never been passed, Archduke Schulz chose to resign. Marienburg is now preparing to elect a new Grand Duke. After all, Schulz is resolute and plans to resign within five days. Just leave office.

After saying this, Muller temporarily left, leaving Talleyrand and Lingard to their own devices.

"His Majesty asked us to deliver a message, and also asked us to find out whether Marienburg intends to defend it." Lingard said to Talleyrand, he was a little anxious: "But what should we do now?"

"Don't worry." Talleyrand picked up the famous Da Hongpao tea that Schulz imported from China's Fujian Province across thousands of rivers and mountains. The high-spirited lame man could be said to be calm and relaxed: "Although Schulz failed to pass the proposal, The big merchants in Marienburg obviously didn’t pass any other proposals!”

"Huh?" Lingard didn't understand what Talleyrand was saying.

"Let me tell you an Ulthuan joke." Talleyrand tasted Cathay's finest red robe. The high-spirited cripple knew that this tea was more expensive than gold of equal weight in the old world: "There was once a Caledor People asked on the streets of Lothern, what was the greatest failure of King Finubar after he had been in power for so many years?"

"Immediately someone answered: He didn't do anything!"

"Then the Savrian asked on the streets of Lothern, "So what is the greatest achievement of the One Piece King Finubar after he has been in power for so many years?"

"At this time, almost all Lotherns shouted happily: He didn't do anything!"

After saying this, Talleyrand couldn't help but laugh. He put down his tea cup: "Marinburg is Lothern, a business-led society, a capital-led society. Big capitalists and powerful people will always have an idea. They Always expect that things will get better on their own, always expect that everything will be fine next, always expect to invest less and produce more.”

"I still don't understand it a bit," Lingard continued to express confusion.

Talleyrand suddenly felt bored. Talking to Lingard was really not as fun as talking to Ryan. Usually when talking to Ryan, Ryan would have completely understood the classic Ulthuan joke, but the Holy Grail Knight in front of him was really too young.

Talleyrand hated talking about it. The lame man thought about it and changed another metaphor: "Let me give you another example. My senior and teacher Arsène once went to Nipeng and served as a military officer in Nipeng for a period of time. Advisor, do you know how the famous retainers and businessmen over there faced problems and mistakes?"

"It's actually very simple, the classic three-piece suit, apology, bowing, and sitting down." Talleyrand continued: "Then it will be fine. They don't need to do anything. Everything essentially remains the same. They will dare to do it next time."

Now Lingard understood a little bit. He used one of the most classic sayings of the Dwarves: "If it's not broken, don't fix it?"

"That's not the case." Talleyrand thought that Lingard finally understood a little bit what he meant. He played with his extremely luxurious crutches: "I think we will know the answer soon."

"The answer is... nothing has changed. We will not ask for help, we will not agree to the empire's request for assistance, and we will not escape. Everything will continue as it is." Schultz strode in from the outside, the Grand Duke of Marienburg had a clear look on his face. Very angry and deeply chilled, he sat down on the sofa and cursed: "88% of all the citizens of Marienburg with a net worth of more than 1,000 gold coins believe that the empire should immediately seek help or at least strengthen it on a large scale. Urban defense, but the 12% of people think that it is not necessary. Those things are 'unnecessary costs'. Unfortunately, Mr. Talleyrand, and the Knight of the Holy Grail, these 12% of people in the upper and lower houses account for mainstream.”

"My Grand Duke..."

"I'm almost no longer an archduke."

"You still are." Talleyrand paused and then said: "It's normal, isn't it? The 80-20 rule, 20% of people control 80% of the wealth."

"In Marienburg, 13% of the people hold 86% of the wealth." Schulz corrected Talleyrand's estimate. He took the letter from Talleyrand. The content of Lane's letter was obviously not much. He read After a few glances, he nodded slightly and sighed: "That's fine."

"Okay?" Talleyrand asked.

"In the House of Lords and the Lower House, it can be said that the vast majority of people are reluctant to cut their flesh." Schulz sighed: "The truly valuable things in Marienburg have never been the gold, weapons and equipment, jewelry or rare items in banks and chambers of commerce. Rare objects, but fixed assets and channel resources, such as real estate, purchase channels, trade channels, fixed business contracts, etc. If they are to be withdrawn, most of the net worth will be greatly reduced. Now it has become a foregone conclusion to refuse to ask for help. I will ask Let’s see which congressmen are willing to evacuate.”

"So, Marienburg is planning to defend it?" Talleyrand asked the core and most important question.

"That's right." Schulz nodded: "Most people don't plan to change anything. They don't ask for help, they don't evacuate, and they don't recruit or form new armies on a large scale. But it doesn't mean they do nothing, Marienburg. Aren't there dozens of legendary mercenary groups, pirate privateers, sailor armed forces, city defense troops, and three land-speed ships ordered from Nuer? The parliament plans to mobilize them all."

"Can you resist the Chaos army with just these?" Lingard said in confusion.

"In addition, there are dozens of meters high city walls, countless artillery, six spire wizard towers, and hundreds of warships moored in the pier." Schulz added: "Everyone thinks that the city is not invincible. Attack, and there is also a force, a large ogre warband and the legendary ogre warlord Gorob-Maw. The Council believes that they can be hired to defend the city if necessary. Marienburg has the ability to protect itself at any time. .”

"This has also greatly affected the perception of most merchants and citizens. You must know that Marienburg has never fought a defensive battle since the Great Holy War."

"Then, my Grand Duke, do you plan to come with us?" Talleyrand asked.

The Marienburg branch of the Church of the Lady of the Lake and a large number of Britannian Chamber of Commerce and other personnel will withdraw from Marienburg together with Talleyrand.

"Give me five days." Schultz nodded: "Me, Blackbeard Teach's Mannann Blade, and those big trench merchants who are willing to leave with us will sell all their real estate within four days. , and will follow you to retreat to Britannia."

"Withdrawing to Britannia, isn't it an empire?" Lingard asked confusedly.

"Everyone generally believes that Britannia is safer now." Schulz smiled: "From top to bottom, it is generally believed that, furthermore, withdrawing to the empire... probably their huge wealth will either be expropriated or directly confiscated. "

"Then if you rush to sell real estate now, you must suffer a lot of losses, right?" Lingard kept asking.

"Significant shrinkage, but... at least there will be tomorrow." Schulz nodded heavily: "Okay, that's it!"

At the end of April 2525 in the Imperial Calendar, Archduke Schulz of Marienburg resigned, and the new Archduke Valverde took over. The first thing Valverde did after taking office was to launch a "war fundraiser" and at the same time told everyone not to panic, as the invasion of chaos "Preventable and controllable".

Valverde once again rejected the empire's request for assistance and did not intend to ask for help from the empire or the Kingdom of Knights. However, the new Grand Duke and the upper and lower chambers also tried to hire and summon all the mercenary corps near Marienburg.

"Didi~ Meituan's field office has new orders, real-time orders from Marienburg!"

The mercenaries were summoned.

At the same time, Archduke Schulz of Marienburg, Viscount Casanova, president of the League of Gentlemen, Bernard Arnault, president of the Louis Vuitton Chamber of Commerce, and six businessmen in the House of Commons decided to give up their positions as members. Sold all real estate in Marienburg and evacuated to Brittany.

Viscount Casanova also made a joke when he entered the country at the Curona border. Because he deliberately kept a low profile, was not well-dressed, was not talkative, and wore a classic dockworker's peaked cap on his head, the border officer thought he was He was a worker, so he stopped him and asked, "Excuse me, do you have any special skills? We don't want people here who just work hard."

"Me?" Viscount Casanova was stunned for a moment.

"That's right, it's you. Do you have any special skills?"

"I'm rich."

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