Alien Knights

"Is everyone here?"

In the meeting hall of the Knights Headquarters, Cumberland sat at one end of the long table, looked at dozens of kingdom officials around him, cleared his throat, and said, "Now that everyone has arrived, let's start this week's kingdom council."

"Let me talk about military developments first." Cumberland stroked his beard and said while thinking: "According to the scout's report, the barbarians who plundered the wealth of the Silver Ring Kingdom waged a war with the church army for more than half a month. The final result of the battle was that both sides suffered losses. Although the barbarian coalition transferred most of the wealth, they lost one-fifth of their troops. Although the church army successfully used ambushes and lures to make the battle loss ratio lower than that of the barbarian coalition, they fell for the opponent's strategy and did not lose one fifth of their troops. The property that can hold the silver ring."

The crutches were placed next to the chair, and Huggins, who had just recovered from his injury, asked curiously, "Did you fall into a trick?"

"The barbarians divided the main force into two parts. The part with a larger number of people, in the convoy transporting property, the boxes were actually filled with stones and wood. The other troop carrying real treasures took advantage of the gap between the battle and sneaked back to the northern border from the mountain trail."

Alfonso sat at the table. The assassination of the king left indelible burns on his face: "I have a question. Which force in the north does the barbarian army responsible for luring the enemy belong to?"

Cumberland glanced at the questioner approvingly, nodded and said, "That's a good question. The barbarian troops used as bait are mainly the regular army and servants of the Kingdom of Ulster in the northern continent. After confirmation by the scouts, the church army's ambush against the Kingdom of Ulster was actually tipped off by someone in advance. I suspect that this incident of enticing the enemy is an internal strife within the barbarian coalition forces. In other words, the Kingdom of Ulster was tricked by its allies during this retreat."

Huggins thought for a while, and said, "That is to say, after this incident of internal strife, a war may break out among the northern barbarians?"

"It is possible that it is not the style of the northerners to choose to endure after suffering a loss." Cumberland looked at the scenery outside the window and said slowly: "The Kingdom of Ulster is the most powerful country in the north. After this battle, although its vitality has been greatly damaged, the foundation of the kingdom is still there. Through the mobilization of the whole country and the formation of slaves, they can easily rebuild an army in a short period of time."

Huggins breathed a sigh of relief: "In other words, the threat from the north can be ignored for a short time?"

Cumberland nodded, but the expression on his face remained serious.

All the kingdom officials present had little knowledge of the military situation, and it was inconvenient for them to speak about this discussion, with the exception of one person.

Emerson, who was the chief privy officer, suddenly interjected: "Why didn't the army from the Holy Acropolis participate in this battle?"

Cumberland looked at this former boss and friend, frowned and replied, "Honestly, I don't know."

Then, he said, "There is no reason why the Holy Acropolis, as a member of the church coalition, should not participate in a war for property like this, but according to the report of the scouts, there is indeed no flag of the Holy Guard on the battlefield."

Alfonso turned his head to Cumberland: "Is it possible that there was also an internal strife between the church army and the holy acropolis? I heard that in the battle of Watch Canyon, the church army left tens of thousands of people and the holy guard and left the battlefield first."

The latter thought for a while, and finally shook his head: "The relationship between the church and the Holy Acropolis may be cracked because of this matter, but it has not yet reached the point of a complete breakdown. Besides, based on my understanding of the King of the Holy Acropolis, wherever there is a war, there is the figure of the old lion. Therefore, there may be other reasons for the absence of the Holy Acropolis in this battle..."

Emerson stroked his beard and said with some regret: "If we can establish an embassy in the Holy Acropolis, we can get some specific information... Unfortunately, the king must come forward to establish diplomatic relations with other countries..."

After saying this, he looked towards the throne at the top of the hall, which was empty.

Cultivator Joe couldn't hold back at this time, and said anxiously: "Thirteen days! It has been thirteen days since His Majesty summoned us last time! Why is there no news at all today?!"

Master Terrence, who was flipping through the academy report, glanced at the monk, and said slowly, "Your Majesty has his own affairs, and we courtiers just need to go about our own affairs according to his intention."

Seeing that the monk opened his mouth and wanted to argue, Cumberland quickly changed the subject: "Joe! Regarding the agricultural development plan that His Majesty explained, what progress have you made?"

Being interrupted, Joe was displeased, but he still reported the facts: "Let's talk about the experimental field first. Since the "rhizobia planting method" taught by His Majesty was used, the unit yield of bean crops is expected to increase by 50%. And the most important thing is that the disease resistance of the crops has been greatly improved, which has effectively improved the survival rate of the plants. If the technology is promoted, I believe it will take less than half a year for the first batch of harvest to be put into the warehouse."

"As for encouraging immigrants from outside the city to work in agriculture. As of yesterday, a total of more than 2,600 people had signed up, and after screening, 940 people were confirmed to be qualified to work in agriculture. The basic cultivated land has been distributed over 30 square kilometers, and farm tools and seeds have been allocated. Next, I will contact scholars from the Department of Agriculture at Muxi College to teach the "rhizobia planting method" technology to the immigrants who are farming, so as to ensure that the first batch of crops can be harvested smoothly before winter this year."

Cumberland nodded happily, and turned his attention to the Raglans next door to the monk.

The chubby Mrs. Raglan, wearing a newly bought "Liliel" brand dress, smiled and said to other officials: "As the chief economic advisor of the kingdom, this week is our first week in office. We are mainly responsible for the operation of the port area, the market area and the royal family's industry. Compared with the previous week, the cargo volume at the port this week has increased by 26%, and the total transaction volume in the market area has increased by 19%. As for the investment shops currently operated by the royal family, such as perfume, flowers and clothing, they have undergone industrial upgrading. and sales expansion, realized a total of 900,000 silver-months of net profit..."

puff!

Emerson sprayed the tea on the table in one gulp.

The book in Terrence's hand was also inadvertently torn in half because of surprise.

Cumberland rubbed his temples with his fingers, collected himself, and said to Mrs. Raglan: "As for the profits of the royal family's property, you only need to count the data for this week, and you don't need to add the previous figures."

Mrs. Raglan blinked innocently: "I'm talking about this week's net profit..."

With a ghostly expression, Huggins whispered to Alfonso: "I earned 900,000 silver months a week, which is 90,000 gold, and a good horse is only 90 gold. That is to say, the king can easily form a cavalry regiment every week?!"

Mr. Raglan pressed his forehead on the table with a constipated face, and muttered in a low voice, "Although we received the money, I'm afraid we won't be able to deliver the goods on time..."

After a while, Cumberland turned his head to Terrence, and said with difficulty: "Master Terrence, let's talk about the official examination."

"Oh, oh. Okay." Terrence put the two halves of the torn book together, and calmly said: "The examination results of the legal professional officials have come out, but the final result needs to be approved by His Majesty. Except for the confirmation of the list, other work has already begun. The site selection of the Muxi Grand Court has been completed, and the renovation, installation, and interior decoration have started. In addition, the basic constitution of the Kingdom and a series of civil and criminal laws have also been revised, just waiting for His Majesty's review..."

After waiting for Terrence to finish his speech, his disciple, Elijah, reported on the construction progress of Muxi Cathedral and Muxi King City: "The main construction progress of Muxi Cathedral has exceeded 50%, but the craftsmen had to stop work. Because the next murals and oracles need to be approved by the king before they can be drawn and sketched. The same is true for Muxi King City. The outer walls and public parts have been completed, and the plan for the inner city needs the king's approval before proceeding."

Cumberland listened to a few more speakers.

Mary needs the king to decide on the plan for the relocation and audit of the royal treasury.

Ulysses' plans for the expansion of the academy required the king's approval.

How to properly handle Huggins' remaining issues about Silver Ring City requires the King to make up his mind.

Friar Joe wants to change Kendy's punishment plan from imprisonment to a fine, which also requires the king's consent.

Listening to more and more people's questions, Cumberland, who had a splitting headache, turned his gaze to the empty throne and let out a long sigh.

"Your Majesty, where did you go...?"