What's wrong with building a steel torrent in a dungeon?

Two girls depend on each other in the slums, they are truly a family!!!

Margaret immediately thought of her initial defeat in the dungeon. It was all caused by the Saint in front of her. She was afraid that her battle plan had just been released and was sent to Fran.

Thinking of this, a hint of anger immediately appeared on her face!

"Hehe! We had no choice at that time." Fran said with a guilty conscience.

"It was not unfair that we lost that expedition to Orila City." Wallenstein on the side sighed with relief.

"Humph! Do you know how badly I lost?!" Margaret said, "Christina, I trusted you so much at that time! I told you everything in detail, but I didn't expect..."

Christina also turned her head away guiltily.

"What Vienna Alliance?" Margaret slammed the table heavily and said angrily, "You two are simply colluding to deceive me! You set a trap for me."

"Although..." Fran said, "Didn't you organize the Vienna Alliance? You were the one who pulled us in."

Ahem, sister, please say less. If Margaret faints due to high blood pressure, where can you find another obedient and beautiful emperor to negotiate with the Northern Alliance? Christina pulled the corner of Laflan's clothes worriedly.

"Right, right, right! It's all my fault!" Margaret was so angry that she even smiled. "I planned everything and hoped to alienate and check you two! I didn't expect that after all this time, the clown turned out to be me. The entire organization is undercover except me!"

But at this moment, Margaret remembered that she had secretly talked with Christina and expressed her intention to take Fran as a concubine. Her face suddenly turned red and her words became incoherent: "That is to say, you two can talk about everything, no... no secrets? Even that matter,

already?"

"What?" Christina asked quickly.

"It was that day... in the dungeon, I went to your room at night..." Margaret's voice became smaller and smaller.

That day, Margaret found Christina and vowed to take Fran into her harem.

If the two really have this kind of relationship, then it doesn't mean...

Thinking of this, Margaret's blush became more and more obvious.

"I didn't tell Fran about this." Christina glanced at Fran, and Fran's eyes were full of innocence and confusion. I don't know if she was pretending not to know, or if she really forgot.

But Christina prefers the latter

"That's true!" said Margaret.

"Really!" Christina said quickly, "I swear in the name of the Twelve Pillar Gods that I did not tell Fran about this!"

Hearing Christina's solemn oath, Margaret couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

But when you came to see me at night, Fran was curled up under my skirt and heard everything clearly. There was no need for me to reveal anything! So there is nothing wrong with what I said.

Christina felt more confident when she realized that she had not lied but only concealed part of the truth.

"Okay, my beloved Majesty!" Christina said, "Actually... we had no choice in this matter! If my relationship with Fran was exposed at that time, I would lose my position as the Saint, and I'm afraid my life would be in danger. In other words, except for your first attack on Orila City, we have no other

They teamed up to trick you!"

After hearing this, Margaret fell into a brief silence.

Since the establishment of the Alliance of Vienna, although she and Fran were wary of each other, they generally helped each other and got what they needed.

The southern expedition to Biesund Port, the anti-Vienna Alliance, the War of the Two Emperors, and the northern aid to the Feruman Empire! In all the wars, big and small, Christina helped to prepare military pay and supplies, and Fran provided weapons and ammunition (although not free).

Without the solid support provided by these two, it would be difficult for Margaret to integrate the Holy Roel Empire.

In the subsequent undead disaster, Fran turned the tide, not only saving Margaret's life and restoring her confidence, but also saving the people of the entire Holy Roll Empire from being slaughtered by the undead.

For all these reasons alone, Fran and Christina are already unparalleled allies.

Seeing Margaret's eyes relax, Christina took the opportunity to say: "So these little episodes in the past, why not let them be turned over, okay? For us, for the Holy Rohr Empire, and for the Vienna Alliance, we still have a long way to go in the future! In front of us, there are two alliances, the Northern Alliance and the Chinese Alliance.

giant."

After hearing this, Margaret sighed deeply and said nothing more in the end.

This is considered as tacit agreement that this matter is temporarily over.

"But..." Christina paused, then covered her mouth and chuckled, "Don't you think what we are doing now is familiar?"

"Deja vu! You mean!" Margaret and Wallenstein suddenly came to their senses.

"What we are planning now is what my sister and I planned back then, isn't it? In other words, now the three of us sisters are united and using the same method to deal with the Northern Alliance and the Chinese Alliance. In this way, will Your Majesty feel a little relieved?"

Three sisters?

Three sisters!!

Hearing this, Margaret's somewhat depressed eyes were immediately filled with excitement.

Chapter 267 Are you going to break me?

If I can avoid the loss I have suffered in the future, it would be a great thing, but I always feel uncomfortable because I have suffered a loss.

Not only did he avoid the loss he had suffered, but he even managed to play the pig and eat the tiger and kill it. This is a common plot in a cool novel.

But! If you can make your enemy suffer the same loss as you did, then that is the real pleasure!!!

It would be great if I could make the Northern Alliance and the Chinese Alliance suffer the same setback.

Margaret knew that she had lost her composure just now, so she quickly sat back in her seat and resumed her queenly demeanor.

She said, "I think you have all read the list and plan I sent you some time ago."

Fran nodded, and then said: "Most of those on the list are old nobles. Except for a few dukes such as Grand Duke Hastings, the others are just small fish and shrimps, not worth worrying about. In order to avoid alerting the enemy, we have not touched them for the time being."

"What's the Northern Alliance's next plan? How do you think we should deal with the enemy?" Margaret said, "You made me agree to their conscription plan. Thanks to you, City Lord, my reputation is now completely ruined. This isn't your conspiracy, is it? You ruined it and then took over?"

What does it mean to be broken?

And your majesty, if Fran really wanted to replace you, she would have done it long ago. Maybe now you are happily warming her bed. Wallenstein thought to himself

"Hehe! How could that be! I, Fran, am the most moral person, especially to my allies." Fran said hurriedly, but after what happened with her sister, this sentence didn't seem to be convincing.

"So what are you going to do next? The Northern Alliance's plan is simple. They know they can't defeat you economically, so they plan to use force to coerce you. First they arm an army that obeys their orders, and then they gradually erode your sphere of influence in my name, constantly threatening Vienna. Are you really going to watch the elves train an army in the Holy Roel Empire?"

"Yes," Fran admitted.

"I have to remind you, Fran," Margaret said, "Although you have easily hindered the elves' recruitment plan, they will obviously not give up. The elves have decided to spend a large sum of money to recruit new soldiers."

Wallenstein also added: "The price they offer now is indeed not enough to recruit enough soldiers. But as the price increases, a large number of young people will be attracted sooner or later. I wonder if the city lord has a chance of winning against them in terms of money."

"When it comes to spending money, I'm not really afraid of them, but I don't plan to do that," Fran said.

"What? How can I compete with you without spending money?" Margaret said, "Flan, I have to say that you really underestimate the military threat! We have an old saying in the Holy Roer Empire: if the neighbor stores food, I store guns. The neighbor is my granary."

"And as long as they have the command of this army, the elves and dwarves can use this as an excuse to send troops to assist." Wallenstein said, "For example, they can use the excuse that a soldier is lost near Vienna and they want to come in to search for him. They can use this excuse for three days and three nights without repeating the same thing."

"So... I think we have to compete with them for soldiers! Besides, compared to your strength, your army is too small. You should expand it." Margaret said, "With me as an insider and your financial support, I believe you will be able to recruit soldiers much faster than them."

"No? Quite the contrary..." Fran said, "I plan to do nothing and let them continue to recruit soldiers."

"What?" Margaret and Wallenstein asked in unison.

"I know you are anxious, but don't worry." Fran said, "Do you know who is specifically responsible for this recruitment plan?"

"Of course it's an elf." Margaret answered without thinking.

"The city lord is probably asking about the person who will be responsible for the implementation," Wallenstein said, "If nothing unexpected happens, it should be handed over to the Duke of Normandy."

Margaret also said: "The Duke of Normandy is the former Minister of Military Affairs of the Holy Roll Empire and concurrently the Deputy Commander of the National Defense Army. He has extensive experience in recruiting soldiers and has extensive personal connections with many noble generals and officers. It is perfect for him, a local, to help recruit soldiers."

"So what about his style... or personal ethics?" Fran asked.

"Not very good." Wallenstein said, "He is a very greedy person, and his methods of making money are very powerful, otherwise there wouldn't be so many empty salaries in the National Defense Army back then."

"Not only that..." Margaret said, "He is the leader of the generals and nobles today. Many noble generals regard him as their boss... But you also know the morality of noble generals. If the front is tight, the back will be tight. I think I understand what the city lord means. If you hand over the recruitment plan to this kind of person, it is doomed to fail."

After hearing this, Wallenstein frowned and said, "But the elves are not fools. If the Duke of Normandy fails to accomplish anything but causes trouble, the elves will replace him without hesitation and replace him with someone who can do things."

"What can be done if he is replaced?" Margaret said with disdainful smile: "The Duke of Normandy is just a microcosm of many noble generals. It will be the same no matter who comes to power. Even if he wants to be honest and do the tasks assigned by the elves honestly, his subordinates will not be willing to do so! If he does not feed his greedy subordinates, who will be willing to recruit soldiers for him in the middle of winter! He can't recruit soldiers one by one by himself. In comparison, the Duke of Normandy is still quite capable."

"Are these people so despicable?" Christina frowned.

"Hmph! The military of the Holy Roll Empire is full of insects. It's impossible to manage the army with people like them, so when I rebuilt the troops, I simply left these insects outside." After hearing this, Margaret said angrily.

"So, unless the Northern Alliance ignores these local tyrants and recruits soldiers on their own, no matter how much money is raised, how much will be left in the hands of the soldiers? In this case, no one would be willing to join the army." Fran said: "The military pay will definitely be deducted, but the elf master's mission must be completed on time, so in order to prevent his position from being replaced by the elves. What do you think the Duke of Normandy will do?"

Margaret and Wallenstein hesitated for a moment, then said in unison:

"Conscript men!"

After she finished speaking, Margaret immediately shook her head and said, "No, no! I can't let them do this! If they really have to conscript men, not only will a large number of people die, but I'm afraid I'll also be infamous for eternity."

"There won't be a large number of deaths." Fran said, "With the dwarves here this time, there will be enough food. No matter how much the Duke of Normandy cuts the bill, he will at least give the soldiers the minimum food standard. Even if they have to eat pickled cucumbers and kimchi bean sprouts for every meal, at least they won't starve to death like the conscripts in the past. After all, for them, if a soldier dies, they have to recruit new ones."

"What about my reputation? Even if I am your puppet emperor, is my reputation so worthless?" Margaret said unhappily.

Ugh! When did you become my puppet emperor? That's too harsh!

Fran felt guilty.

Happy Programmers Day!

Chapter 268 Counterattack Plan

Fran quickly said: "Of course I have considered your Majesty's reputation! After all, you are our important ally?"

"Is it just because of the important ally?" Margaret asked.

"No...what else? Aren't important allies enough?"

"Forget it..." Margaret said, "Then how are you going to protect my reputation? They definitely won't ask for my consent before they conscript men, and I can't stop them for the sake of the elves."

"The people's will lies in your heart, not your reputation." Fran said, "After learning that the other party wanted to conscript men, your first reaction was to feel sorry for the people. This shows that Your Majesty is thinking about them... So just follow your heart."

"Follow your heart?"

"For example, go to the military camp more often to comfort them and bring them some meat, milk, eggs and so on. Bring them whatever they need." Fran said.

"Will this help to restore my reputation?" Margaret said, "Why do I feel like I will be accused of being hypocritical? On the one hand, I helped the tyrant to commit atrocities and allowed my nobles to capture men, and on the other hand, I pretended to be a good person and went to offer condolences."

"Ahem! Of course, following your heart is one thing, but taking advantage of the opportunity to create momentum (put on a show) is also very important." Fran said: "The first step is to let everyone know that it was not your intention to conscript men. You can just act as if your power has been taken away."

"I've been sidelined now." Margaret said sourly.

"Ahem!" Fran ignored this and continued, "Not only that, given your high reputation among the people, we can fan the flames among the people, no, spread the truth, saying that His Majesty was coerced by the elves and that the power was seized by the shameless nobles! We can even pull out another

The rebels, in the name of driving out foreign enemies, are making things worse. Anyway... there are many ways."

At this point, Fran took out a booklet from behind her skirt without any hurry.

"This is..." Margaret took the booklet with body temperature and flipped through a few pages. It turned out that all it taught were methods of public opinion warfare, which made Margaret secretly frightened.

If Fran had used these methods on herself, she would probably become a tyrant that everyone would bully... No, she would become a tyrant that everyone would hate.

Moreover, only Fran can use these methods! No one else can use them at all.

The ruling group of the Holy Roel Empire does not care about the lives of the grassroots at all. They delegate power through layers of fiefdoms, resulting in the orders of the upper nobles being unable to reach the villages and towns. The villages and towns have real power at the grassroots level, but they do not have the vision and resources of the upper nobles!

But Fran is different. Through the trade routes opened up by the Jingxi Chamber of Commerce, she has already infiltrated the villages and towns in the Holy Roer Empire. For this reason, she even opened a chain store - Pindaodao.

The goods in this kind of chain store are mostly daily necessities for the people, with a wide variety of products, good quality and low prices. Even if the goods are out of stock at the moment, you can register and place an order, and wait for the next batch of goods to be shipped from warehouses in big cities. Therefore, the flow of people in Pindaodao stores is extremely large.

From the perspective of profit margin, these knife shops are a complete failure. They cannot be compared with other businesses of the Jingxi Chamber of Commerce. Most of them are even in a state of long-term losses. However, Fulan requires that these shops must be preserved and kept open even if they lose money.

At first, everyone thought that this was just a failed investment of Fran, but when these scattered shops were integrated and burst out with unparalleled grassroots influence, everyone was surprised. Such power was unimaginable to those nobles sitting in the clouds.

With these powerful grassroots tentacles, Fran can implement the methods in her booklet! Otherwise, it would be just a battle where a god of war cannot fight without soldiers.

When she thought that Margaret would use Fran's terrifying power to secretly compete with the elves, her heart was once again filled with the desire to fight! Although this time it was not a war in the traditional sense.

"I have another question." At this time, Wallenstein said, "Since the city lord has such means, why not mobilize public opinion and directly thwart the elves' plan to recruit soldiers? Even if it cannot be thwarted, it can greatly slow down their progress. Using such a powerful force, just to restore your majesty's reputation,

It feels like it’s not being used to its full potential.”

"Because I don't want to passively wait for the Northern Alliance and the Chinese Alliance to attack me." Fran said: "Since they want to infiltrate me through the military, I will naturally fight them in their own way."

"How do we do that?" they asked in confusion.

"Um... well. I'm going to infiltrate them the same way I infiltrated the Fourth Legion back then." Fran said a little embarrassedly.

"Infiltrate the Fourth Legion? When did it happen?" Margaret asked in confusion, but Wallenstein, the commander of the Fourth Legion and the victim, immediately understood what was going on.

After Wallenstein's explanation, Margaret suddenly understood. She looked at Wallenstein angrily and said, "You, you, you! You dared to let officers from Orila City into the army! You, you, you! This is treason, do you know that?"

"I had no choice." Wallenstein said aggrievedly, "Your Majesty wanted the musket so urgently at that time. I had no choice but to make a deal with Lord Fran."

Margaret recalled that she ignored her own strength and forced Wallenstein to make hundreds of muskets a month. At that time, she didn't know the details of musket forging. Now she thought that it was really too much to ask! It was impossible for Wallenstein to make it, so he could only trade with Franpy privately. Of course, there was no