Vientiane Throne of Civilization

Chapter 1971 Paid Assistance (Part Two)

Just as Hilke said at the beginning, this is indeed a complicated problem.

It was even more complicated than Wright had initially anticipated.

Given that they have reached a paid assistance agreement, the question is whether they want Da Zhou to act quickly or slowly.

Wright instinctively wanted to act quickly, lest things get complicated.

The price of moving quickly is that they need to lay railways in the elven forest. With railway transportation, the construction efficiency of this coastal area can be increased by at least four or five times.

At this point, another problem arose.

Laying railways also incurs costs, and for this project, they also need to arrange a transport train here.

Under these circumstances, you can't just finish the project here and then dismantle the railway, can you?
While it's not impossible to do it this way, it would require a much higher cost.

This cost will definitely fall on the shoulders of the elves.

If it is not demolished, then who owns the railway and the transport trains?

If the elves wanted to buy out the contract and have the Great Zhou army work for them, that would certainly be possible, but the price would definitely not be cheap; in fact, it would be an astronomical sum for the elves.

Wright's heart skipped a beat when he heard the offer.

From the moment he decided to seek paid assistance from Da Zhou, Wright was already mentally prepared to sell one or two mines.

But this number still completely exceeded his expectations.

Seeing Wright's hesitant expression, Kong Daqian seized the opportunity to make a suggestion.

"Or we could do it this way: laying the railway requires a route. If His Majesty the Elf King is willing to give this route to our Great Zhou, then we, the Great Zhou, can handle both the laying of the railway and the transportation of the trains."

"The ownership of the railway and transport trains also belongs to our Great Zhou, but your side can also obtain the right to use these transport trains in the future. Of course, depending on the circumstances, you will have to purchase tickets or pay transportation fees."

"Furthermore, considering that your wood elf mages can assist in clearing trees during the construction process, the cost of this project can be controlled within 50,000 silver coins."

Wright was a little confused after hearing these words.

The main reason is that he had never encountered anything like this before.

"Please wait a moment, let me think about it."

After thinking it over for a while, Wright finally spoke slowly...

"Does that mean we paid 50,000 silver coins only to obtain the right to use the railway and transport trains, and we still have to buy tickets or pay transportation fees every time we use them?"

"That's it."

Wright felt a chill run down his spine; compared to the astronomical sums he had seen before, fifty thousand silver coins did seem rather insignificant.

Even in Kong Daqian's view, the 50,000 silver coins were basically just a token gesture.

But for Wright, it was still a huge sum of money.

Seeing Wright's reaction, Kong Daqian decided to explain.

"You see, the only use of laying this railway and opening up transport trains is to facilitate the construction of coastal defenses. It may provide you with convenient transportation and movement, but in daily life, it is of no use to our Great Zhou."

"If you didn't have this need, we wouldn't even need to lay a railway here and arrange transport trains. Do you understand?" "Under this premise, both the railway and the transport trains require routine maintenance, and their operation consumes fuel. This cost is ongoing..."

When Kong Daqian finally settled the score, Wright was even a little embarrassed.

Following this line of thought, Wright thought about it carefully and realized that the Great Zhou did not have this need. Once the railway was laid and the coastal defense line was completed, it would basically only provide convenience for their Elven race.

Even the construction of coastal defenses was intended to help the Elven race resist the invasion of the Dark Elves, which was also a need of the Elven race itself.

What else is there to say? He can't expect Da Zhou to provide manpower, effort, and money, can he?

Wright wanted to buy out the entire railway and transport trains, but he would have to add a zero to the price.

Considering that other expenses were still uncertain, Wright decided to put the matter on hold for now.

"Of course, that's no problem. Let's talk about the coast first."

Kong Daqian didn't hesitate at all, and then took out another document.

"Regarding coastal defense, we offer two options. One option is simple defense: our Great Zhou will build defensive facilities and deploy a certain number of garrison troops. If the Dark Elf warships approach, we will assist your forces in repelling them."

"Another option is to build more docks and ships on top of the existing defenses, so that we can take the initiative to attack and wipe out the dark elves."

The second option would undoubtedly require a greater investment.

Having learned from previous experience and having a general idea of ​​the economic situation of the elves, or rather, Wright's expectations, Kong Daqian also took the opportunity to propose a price reduction plan.

"Just like the previous railway construction project, if you are willing to give the coastal area directly to our Great Zhou, we can reduce the cost to a certain extent."

Compared to the previous railway, this coastal area is of greater significance to their Great Zhou.

Because as long as they occupy this area, even if they have no interest in the poor land of the Orc Alliance in the future, they can at least go out to sea from here to explore, instead of being directly trapped inland. This is equivalent to revitalizing this area.

For Wright, it was undoubtedly tempting; the reduction in costs was only one aspect.

Another very important point is that once this area falls into the hands of the Great Zhou, it will become their obligation to defend this area.

Their side of the Elf Forest was essentially under the semi-permanent protection of the Great Zhou.

Other forces might also have concerns about future developments.

But the elves are different. Apart from the dark elves, the other elves never even considered expanding outwards.

Before this, the entire area from the beach to the edge of the forest was basically just left empty.

To be honest, the elves didn't even consider this area their territory.

This resulted in Wright surprisingly not showing much hesitation in this discussion, and while directly assigning the coastal area to the Great Zhou, he chose the second option.

When it came back to discussing the railway plan, Wright didn't dwell on it anymore and directly chose the option that only required paying 50,000 silver coins to obtain the right to use it.

Otherwise, how can you expect them to maintain the railways and trains themselves, and solve the train fuel problem?

This is something the elves can't solve.

(End of this chapter)