The king looked at the silent crowd, he knew what his subjects were worried about.

"You are all people I can trust, and your family has always been loyal to the kingdom, so I have nothing to hide from you."

"In my opinion, power..."

Rodney paused, then raised his voice.

"Power itself does not matter justice or evil. Killing people with magic is a crime, but is killing people with a sword noble?"

"The difference is the motivation for using power, of course... maybe also the result of using power."

"Specifically, [magic] is not evil, but [using magic to do evil] is evil, just as [sword] is not evil, but [using sword to do evil] is evil."

"If magic can be used to protect the people of Aldor, wouldn't it be a good thing?"

Rupert stroked the beard on his chin and glanced at his colleagues present, but no one spoke.

Well, as His Majesty's most trusted minister, he has to say a few words.

"Your Majesty is right!"

The Prime Minister agreed loudly, "We can't stick to traditional impressions."

The Minister of Foreign Affairs asked with great concern: "So where is the Holy See?"

Rupert responded: "Keep a low profile. If we are discovered, we will never admit it, or find a few scapegoats to deal with it. As long as we don't publicly promote heresy, the Holy See has nothing to do, and with the current situation, they have no energy. "

After some discussion, the ministers agreed on this point, and swore to the king to keep it secret.

The king groaned helplessly: "Since we may need a longer time to find out the opponent's hole cards, then the strategy against Giles has to be adjusted. For now, don't aim to eliminate him quickly, but turn to restraining him." He continues to grow. If ordinary force cannot resist magic, no matter how much we accumulate, it will be useless. Therefore, the preparations for the Southern Expedition can be temporarily slowed down, but the necessary deterrence must still be maintained..."

Catherine was still unwilling, she interrupted her father, "Your Majesty, please give me one more...!"

The king looked at his daughter.

"Catherine, I understand your reluctance. As an old king, I am more reconciled than you. But the kingdom really needs time. That unknown force may be a treasure or a poison to us, no matter Whether it’s a treasure or a poison, we all need to find him, just like an adventurer looking for treasure, it takes time and energy, and it doesn’t happen overnight.”

"Yes, I see."

Catherine tried her best to calm down her mood, determined to investigate the hole cards behind Giles and find out a way to restrain them.

"Since it is to restrain Giles' power, Your Majesty, I have a suggestion."

So said the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Earl Nayink Scarlet.

The king nodded to him, "Say it."

Earl Scarlet: "We should first cut off Giles' financial resources, and focus on the trade of several cash crops in the south."

"What are they?" asked the king.

Earl Scarlett replied: "The first is tea. The south of the kingdom is mountainous and not suitable for growing food, but there are many tea trees, and a large amount of tea is sold to various parts of the kingdom and foreign countries every year. We should ban Giles Even if the tea produced on the chassis is not banned, heavy taxes will be imposed to restrict its circulation. As long as the merchants lose money due to tax payment, the tea in the south cannot be sold."

"Secondly, there are some precious woods that are special products in the south. The woods there are very popular. The nobles like to use southern woods to build palaces and furniture."

The king nodded, "Good idea, I think it can be effective, in order to prevent Giles from taking risks, let's use taxation."

He ordered the clerk to record the words of the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Palace Chancellor Rupert added: "Just now Nayinke mentioned that the grain production in the south is low, so I think merchants should be prohibited from selling grain to the south. Moreover, all the lords who are loyal to the royal family should be ordered to take measures against tea, wood and grain. implement."

"Seconded."

"I also agree."

As soon as Rupert's proposal came out, all the ministers expressed their approval.

King Capital Jingyao This city is located on a piece of land known as the Plenty Plain. As the name suggests, this large plain is densely covered with rivers and rich in water sources. It is very suitable for planting crops. It is the largest food producing area in the entire Aldo Kingdom. It is somewhat exaggerated. Rumor has it that as long as the harvest on the Plenty Plains is good, people in Aldo will not go hungry. Firmly controlling the Plenty Plain is one of the important reasons why the Rodney family has been able to sit firmly on the throne so far.

Catherine frowned, "Prohibiting the flow of food will affect people's livelihood. The south is still the kingdom's land in name, and the people there are also our people."

Rupert looked at the princess who couldn't bear it, and persuaded with regret: "Your Highness, any victory is not free, and this is the price of defeating Giles. And if the people there are hungry, they will be the first to oppose it." It should be Giles, which will help us recover the South."

Listening to the discussions of the ministers, the king thought for a while and said: "It is better not to prohibit it directly. This will damage the prestige of the royal family. Just like tea, it should be restricted by raising taxes."

The Foreign Secretary asked: "Will the same be done with the Veblens who helped Giles?"

The Grand Duke of Veblen jumped repeatedly during the rebellion, and finally jumped to Giles' side. After the war, he shyly sent envoys to Jingyao to show his loyalty.

The king pretended to him, and for the time being, he had nothing to do with the Veblen family. This family's territory was the Paradise Basin located in the east of the kingdom. To enter and exit, one had to walk extremely steep mountain roads. Holding a few passes could stop enemies several times stronger than the defenders. military.

But don't even think about continuing to marry the royal family.

Hearing the foreign minister's question, the king shook his head.

He expressed his considerations: "Concentrate on attacking one enemy, and only target Giles, which can have the effect of dividing him and Veblen. If we deal with both of them at the same time, it may once again promote the union of these two traitors."

"Moreover, the southeastern border of the kingdom—the Cloud and Mist Mountains in the south of the Paradise Basin~lightnovelpub.net~ The lords there still maintain their loyalty to the royal family. Once Veblen and Giles unite again, the Cloud and Mist will be completely isolated For the connection between the mountains and us, we should let Veblen go for now."

Rupert said: "There is a problem now. On land, we can block Giles, but on the sea, we can't do anything for the time being. The Royal Navy originally stationed in Westport was destroyed during the rebellion."

Earl Merlin, the head of intelligence, said: "It's not a big problem. The trade between the kingdom's territories and the Giles territory is mainly through land, and the land trade route must pass through the king's territory. As for the corner bay, those merchants are busy. The merchant ships converted into battleships are in response to the tense situation, and my rebellion war is about to break out soon. The only worry is..."

Catherine looked at him, "Northwest Gulf?"

Earl Merlin nodded and confirmed, "Yes, the Northwest Gulf. In recent years, the maritime trade there has developed very rapidly, and it is far from the desolate place it used to be. The merchants in the Gulf drove their galleys to run around They came and went. During the counter-insurgency war, because of the consideration of the royal family, the merchant ships of the Northwesters stopped docking in Giles’ territory for a while, but after the war ended, some merchant ships went there.”