Alchemists do not need self-cultivation

"Our school is very fortunate to have invited Lieutenant General Isaac Yao from Amestoris to give a speech this time."

The principal was speaking on the podium in the public classroom, and all the seats below were already full.

Isaac and Violet stood behind the headmaster, with Isaac himself watching the students below.

But I always felt there was something wrong with it.

"Now, I will hand over the class to His Excellency Isaac."

clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap...

Sparse applause rang out from the audience, and Isaac stepped onto the stage amidst the applause.

Now he finally knows where the problem lies.

Queen Mayfair College is supposed to be co-educational, but at this moment, 90 percent of the students sitting in the audience are girls.

Looking at the beautiful young female students staring at him from below the stage, Isaac found that he had lost the desire to even speak.

"Um, well... I didn't know there were so many girls here this time, but what I wanted to say was..."

Isaac said.

"What I'm about to say probably won't interest you much."

Chapter 947: Openly Confronting People

The moment Isaac stood on the podium, all one hundred-plus students below looked at him.

Many people have only seen him in newspapers. In the newspapers, Isaac has a handsome face and a tall and straight figure, always wearing the same military uniform, which is the epitome of a public figure.

Apart from a news photo of him giving the middle finger during an international conference.

At a young age, he wielded immense power and owned a large corporation spanning the globe, making him more powerful than even the queen of his country.

The key is that I'm single.

Beneath his handsome appearance, there are rumors that he has the blood of a noble family from the new country.

The key is that I'm single.

For many reasons, a group of young noble ladies from Queen Mayfair College, in the prime of their youth, were drawn to the public classroom. Some even took a short time to touch up their makeup, hoping to leave a good impression on Isaac.

However, Isaac merely glanced at the numerous students below the stage, without lingering on any of them for even a second.

After glancing at the students, Isaac learned two things.

First, he noticed that there were very few boys present, only a handful; the majority were girls.

As for the second point, he discovered that the princess he had met once before was also there, as were the two spies who had appeared in Amestris earlier.

One of them was Ange, whom he had met yesterday. This time, she wasn't wearing a wig but had changed back into her original short silver-white hair and was wearing glasses, looking at Isaac on stage with expectant eyes.

Of course, Isaac knew that her expression was fake. A spy as good as her could not be trusted not only by her words, but also by her expressions.

Another one was Dorothy, who was also one of the most well-built students. She was looking at Isaac with great interest.

Isaac took a deep breath and slowly said to the students below the stage: "I believe many of you know me. I am Lieutenant General Isaac Yao of Amestoris. I was invited by the Duke and Queen of your country to come and help the Kingdom of Albion with some work. I received a request from your principal last night, asking me to come and say a few words to you."

Looking at the students' expressions, he continued, "I didn't expect that most of the attendees would be girls. I'm the kind of man who has spent half his life on the battlefield, so what I say probably won't interest you ladies. But since I've been invited, I'll share some of my own opinions. If you can listen, great; if not, feel free to leave."

Hearing Isaac's words, many girls felt a little disappointed.

In their expectations, Isaac should be a very witty and charming person, just like the noble gentlemen they usually met.

But the way he speaks now, like an old scholar, makes them feel a little disappointed.

"Lord Isaac, please don't worry about it."

One of the girls raised her hand.

"I will listen to whatever you say."

This girl probably wanted to show off in front of Isaac. After hearing her say that, the girls around her all chimed in.

Isaac wasn't the type to be considerate of others' feelings. He stood on the podium and said, "Let me tell you something you all know. Ten years ago, the once-powerful Kingdom of Albion suddenly split apart. The capital, London, was separated by a wall, becoming two countries, one to the east and one to the west. I know many of you experienced the kingdom's division, but most of you didn't suffer any real harm. This is understandable, as all of you here are wealthy and powerful, and you were well protected before the war began."

Isaac looked around and continued:

"But I hope everyone here will think carefully about what you should do if war breaks out?"

The students below the stage looked at each other and began to whisper among themselves.

They never expected Isaac to ask that question directly.

Judging from their expressions, Isaac roughly understood something.

These students probably haven't thought about what would happen if war really broke out, or they simply haven't considered that war could break out between the two countries.

“I know what you’re thinking. You probably think that since the two countries have been at peace for ten years, war can’t break out so quickly,” Isaac said. “Perhaps, as you think, the ruling party on the Republic’s side is conservative and they don’t want to start a war either. But who among you could have imagined that the reason for the country’s division was a group of commoners who were submissive to your nobles?”

"grown ups."

It was the same girl from before; she raised her hand once again.

"If war breaks out again, the kingdom will surely be victorious."

"Oh?" Isaac glanced at the girl briefly. "May I ask this student's name?"

“My name is Lily,” the girl said, head held high. “Lily Gwyneth Paltrow.”

Isaac had heard of the name Gwyneth Paltrow before; he was the High Judge of the Kingdom. This family had previously invited Isaac to visit their estate. I never expected that the High Judge's daughter was also studying at the academy.

"Gwyneth Paltrow, what are your reasons for believing the Kingdom will win?"

"Of course, with our wise Queen and the ministers of the army, how could those barbarians on the west side possibly be a match for us?"

She answered proudly, thinking that her confident reply might earn Isaac's respect.

However, it does not.

Is this your answer?

"Huh?"

"Yes, thank you for your answer. Please have a seat, Mr. Gwyneth."

After she sat down, Isaac looked at his puzzled classmate and replied, "What you see is the proud history of the kingdom, the high-ranking leaders, and the identity of the former colonists of the Western Republic, but what I see is different from what you see."

“What I see is the Republic’s ever-improving industrial level, excellent weapons factories, production capacity that can meet domestic demand in a short time, and anti-gravity material research that surpasses the Kingdom’s,” Isaac said. “At the same time, I also see the Kingdom’s class contradictions and arrogance, as well as a series of difficulties that you know about but are unwilling to face.”

Isaac's words instantly stirred up the students in the audience.

This is openly offending people.

The principal, who was standing nearby, realized that things were going badly and quickly stepped forward to pull Isaac away.

"Lord Isaac, this..."

"No, Principal, please let him continue."

"Huh?"

The principal looked up and saw the princess standing up with a smile on her face.

"your Highness……"

"Please let him continue. I also want to know the problems facing the kingdom."

Chapter 948: Lecture

"Let him continue. I want to know the problems facing this country."

"your Highness……"

"Ok?"

Isaac raised an eyebrow and looked at the princess in front of him.

She remained as elegant as ever, and always had a smile on her face.

As he recalled how she had approached him a few months ago, wanting his help to become queen, a slow smile crept onto Isaac's lips.

"Your Highness, what would you like to know?"

"I want to know what exactly went wrong with this country, why it split up, and what we should do in the future?" the princess asked.

The surrounding classmates all looked towards the princess. They themselves had only a superficial understanding of the various phenomena that had occurred in this country, and were basically content with the status quo and living their lives as usual.

But they still wanted to see how Isaac would answer the princess's question.

"Your question is quite broad, and it's difficult for me to explain it clearly in a short time."

"Please feel free to speak."

“To put it simply, I’m completely clueless when it comes to politics, so it’s difficult for me to analyze issues from the perspective of your system,” Isaac said. “I’ll analyze it for you using what I’m good at.”

Isaac cleared his throat with two dry coughs and continued:

"First of all, the Kingdom of Albion had a large number of colonies at that time. They stationed troops in the conquered colonies to ensure control over their regimes and turned their lands into sources of raw materials and markets for goods to support their own economy. This was the kingdom's earliest accumulation of capital."

Isaac picked up a piece of chalk and drew a piece of land from the Kingdom of Albion on the blackboard, then drew a few arrows.

"Since the kingdom is a source of anti-gravity matter, you can mass-produce the most advanced airships of the time to control all your colonies. However, air fleets and a large army require expenditures. With the agricultural resources provided by the colonies, your country can vigorously develop industrialization, which created the earliest batch of capitalists in your country, but widened the gap between the rich and the poor, and new problems also arose."

Looking at the intricate lines drawn on the blackboard, Isaac turned to the students and said, "If the Kingdom of Albion excludes those colonies, its territory is very small. If you develop industrialization in such a small territory, without the resources supplied by the colonies, the backlash the kingdom will face will be very severe."

"At the same time, in order to keep supplying the colonies with resources, the kingdom must increase their production capacity. The kingdom must invest funds to transform the colonies, which is equivalent to giving the colonies technological support. However, the resentment generated by the long-term exploitation of the colonies has already been sown. I don't need to say more about what they will do after they get the technology."

By this time, some students had already left the classroom.

Not all students were interested in what Isaac was saying, especially since it was based on a critique of the Kingdom.

But Isaac ignored them and continued, “The reason why the Kingdom of Albion was able to become one of the top powers at the time was because of its colonial aggression. In order to maintain its advantage, you could only invest all your money in the construction of the army. However, while investing funds in the colonies to help them complete their construction, you also spent money to maintain the army. This easily led to an imbalance between income and expenditure, and at this point, the kingdom began to decline.”

"As for industry, after the split, the western countries were the original colony inhabitants. They regarded the kingdom as an enemy from the beginning. After learning that the kingdom had a huge army, they had to develop their own industrial strength to fight against it, otherwise they would be easily counterattacked by the kingdom. But unfortunately, the kingdom did not develop its own industrial capacity during this period and still used the same old methods."

"Finally, due to its colonial history, the kingdom is feared by many countries in the world, and they will not allow you to return to the old power it once was."

When Isaac finished speaking, a third of the students had already left the classroom, but the rest were listening attentively.

"Ask a question."

At this moment, the princess raised her hand.

"Please speak."

"What can help the kingdom out of this predicament?" the princess asked. "Would it be possible to sit down and talk with the kingdoms to the west?"