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

Those grand dukes were a little nervous when facing Margaret. After all, the title of the God of War was not boasted. The iron army under her command was also full of military merits and had a great reputation. Some grand dukes even wanted to kneel down and beg for mercy. However, now, the nobles of the entire empire stood behind them, which gave them enough courage and confidence.

Relying on huge amounts of money, food and supplies, these archdukes quickly assembled an army of 50,000 people. They even paid to recruit a large number of brave and skilled mercenaries from abroad, preparing to take Vienna in one fell swoop.

However, at this critical moment, Margaret did not show any panic. Not long after the announcement of the Alliance of Vienna, she did another shocking thing - visiting the city of Orilla with the Saint.

This was probably the first emperor of the Holy Roll Empire/Roll Empire who entered the city of Orila not as a prisoner, which naturally attracted a lot of abuse from the nobles.

Many people interpreted this visit as Margaret's determination to stick to the Vienna Alliance to the end, and it had more symbolic significance than practical significance.

But Margaret didn't think so much. She had three things to do when she went to Orila City.

Fair! Fair... (fly)

Buy firearms! Receive prisoners! Learn to train soldiers!

Chapter 87 Tariffs and Prisoners (Monthly Tickets Plus)

At Thermopylae, when Count Tilly and a group of spirit-clad knights saw Margaret, they rushed up to her and knelt at her feet, crying like tearful people.

"Your Majesty! I am ashamed of your trust!"

"Your Majesty is here to pick us up!"

"Very good……"

Reunion between life and death, harmony between master and servant, this is truly a "heartwarming" picture.

Thinking that she was the one who caused this scene, Fran couldn't help but wipe away her "crocodile' tears"

"Alright, alright, get up." Margaret looked at the knights in miner's clothes, and helped them up personally, regardless of their dirty bodies. "You were not captured because of cowardice, so don't feel guilty. Stand up, you are still brave knights."

After hearing this, these people stood up.

"At the same time, I would like to thank Lord Fran. I admire your chivalry. Not only did you not abuse them, but you also gave them humanitarian treatment. During their time in Orila City, they have become stronger. I want to salute you." As she spoke, Margaret slowly bowed to Fran.

This is not nonsense. After eating, you can mine. How can you not be strong?

It must be said that Margaret is quite good at winning people's hearts. Under her various consolations, these spirit-clad knights were moved to tears.

Of course, this honor was limited to the Spirit Knights, not ordinary soldiers. Margaret did not even meet with the ordinary soldiers of the Holy Roll Empire who were still working in the mines across the wall. As for whether they were disappointed or not, the great Queen Margaret did not care.

After the successful handover of the prisoners, Margaret was in a good mood. Fran invited Margaret to visit the military camp to see the firearms and see if she could make some money.

"stand at attention!"

"salute!"

Fran, Margaret and Christina had just arrived at the military camp. The soldiers on both sides held their guns against their chests with their left hands and saluted with their right hands. Their movements were neat, vigorous and powerful.

Such momentum obviously shocked Margaret deeply.

However, when she used her mental power to scan these soldiers, she found that most of them were civilians with no rank (lower than the second rank). This shocked her again, and at the same time, she had a little doubt. Why did Fran spend so much effort to train these ordinary people in discipline? They were not the main force on the battlefield.

Several people came to the shooting range, and a row of targets had been erected densely in front of them.

"Is this the musket?" Margaret touched the musket handed to her by Fran. She found that it had undergone significant changes compared to the first musket she seized.

Fran obviously noticed Margaret's doubts, so she quickly said, "Since our first cordial exchange with the Imperial Army, we have made some minor improvements on the original basis."

You call this a small improvement?

And the speed of improvement is too fast. You know, once a weapon is formed, it is rarely changed! But this musket, both in size and workmanship, is different from the original one.

"Your Majesty and the Saint, why don't you try it yourself?" Fran said

"Great!" Both of them were very interested in firearms. Although Christina had known that her sister was tinkering with this thing for a long time, she had never really used it.

After simply teaching the two how to aim and fire, the two most powerful women in the Holy Roll Empire raised their rifles at the same time, aimed, and pulled the trigger.

I have to say, beauty with a gun is really a unique look.

bang bang!

The bullets were fired and flew up into the sky. It was their first time firing and they were obviously not aware of the recoil of the musket.

However, although the bullet did not hit the target, its power and momentum were enough to shock Margaret and Christina.

"Very good! With such a powerful weapon, no wonder I lost so miserably." Margaret examined the musket with satisfaction, then pointed at her two trusted generals and said, "You two should try it too."

Count Tilly and Count Wallenstein walked forward and fired in the same way as before. However, they did not leave the shooting range after doing all this, but continued to ask the soldiers beside them for advice, and only left after they had learned all the loading and maintenance.

Afterwards, Fran tested the artillery. The smoke from the simultaneous firing of more than ten artillery pieces directly covered the shooting range, which made Margaret very excited.

"This weapon is so amazing!" Margaret said, "I really want to buy 10,000 muskets and 10,000 cannons."

"The price of ten thousand muskets is five million magic crystal coins, and ten thousand cannons is ten billion magic crystal coins in total. The total price is one billion and a half million! I'll round off the number and call it ten billion. Consider these ten thousand muskets as a gift to you." Fran quickly reported a series of numbers.

Upon hearing this number, the corners of Margaret's mouth twitched slightly.

Ten billion magic crystal coins, you might not be able to get them even if you sold the entire Vienna.

"Lord Fran, isn't this price a bit too high?" Wallenstein came up and said, "I can understand the price of the musket, but this cannon... I have also learned a little bit of engineering. Excuse me, it is actually just enlarging the barrel of the musket and filling it with more ammunition. Although it is cast

The cost is higher, but it can’t be as high as 100,000 magic crystal coins per piece.”

It seems that the blonde sister in front of her is an expert. Franxin smiled and said, "As for this, you get what you pay for."

"I wonder how much Lord Fran knows about magic?" Wallenstein said, "It doesn't take 100,000 magic crystals to train a magician from childhood! But I guarantee that a magician's role on the battlefield is far greater than that of artillery."

"Well, the price of the cannon is indeed a bit high. But that's because the casting process is not perfect. It takes a lot of effort to make a cannon. It can indeed be cheaper now." Fran said.

In fact, the prices of the muskets and cannons were all made up by her. If she really ordered one 100,000 magic crystal coins, no force would buy it. Once they understood the principles of the muskets, they would be able to forge one themselves. By then, they would be the only ones to suffer.

She had to set a price that would allow her to make a tidy profit, but not so high that the other party would grit their teeth and consider making it themselves.

"Lady Fran, have you heard of the Anti-Vienna Alliance recently?" asked Wallenstein.

"I have heard a little bit about it. I heard that they are planning to support the archdukes south of Vienna to jointly deal with Her Majesty Margaret."

"It's not a plan, they are already doing it." Tilly stepped forward and said, "Now, the Vienna Alliance is standing against all the nobles of the Holy Roll Empire. If we don't work together at this time, the Vienna Alliance may be stillborn."

Wallenstein also said: "Lord Fran, you are also a member of the alliance. The larger the land the alliance obtains, the more areas the monsters of Orila City can travel freely, and the wider the market you get! Besides, our record is also crucial to the promotion of firearms! You don't want to lose because of us.

War has given firearms a bad name, hasn’t it?”

At this point, Wallenstein paused, and then continued: "When one prospers, all prosper, and when one suffers, all suffer. When you help us, you are also helping yourself! So when you provide us with firearms, you are also investing in yourself, right?"

After hearing this, Fran couldn't help but look at the blonde beauty Wallenstein with new eyes. She was born in logistics, and her speaking skills were different.

Wallenstein knew very well that it was useless to talk to Fran about justice and unity, so he offered tangible benefits. The Vienna Alliance was more of an economic alliance than a military alliance. Wallenstein was very clear about this and his vision was much higher than Tilly's.

Of course, if she hadn't deliberately worn clothes that revealed the cleavage on her chest, Fran would have been more favorable toward her.

"What Count Wallenstein said makes sense. Listening to your words is worth ten years of study... ah, it's worth ten years of reading." Fran said: "If that's the case, the price of firearms can be further reduced, but I also have a new request."

"Whatever you want, just tell me." Margaret was already worried about the price, and when she heard that Fran was willing to give in on the price, she said happily.

"You can't charge tariffs on goods from Orila City." Fran said.

Margaret said without thinking: "That's no problem!"

To be honest, all the transactions with Orila City so far were conducted in the form of smuggling, and no customs duties were ever collected. Moreover, what goods could Orila City have? They were nothing more than minerals, and at most arms. So Margaret was fearless.

"Wait a minute..." Wallenstein said, "It's fine if we don't charge tariffs. But this is limited to the City Lord's Jingxi Chamber of Commerce. We still have to charge corresponding tariffs to other chambers of commerce. Is that a problem?"

"no problem!"

Fran understood what Wallenstein meant.

If the tariffs are exempted for Aurora City as a whole, it is inevitable that some unscrupulous chambers of commerce will change their registered locations to Aurora City to evade taxes. Wallenstein's proposal is to plug this loophole. Although they can still cooperate with Fran and pretend to be the goods of Jingxi Chamber of Commerce, this will obviously reduce the number of chambers of commerce evading taxes.

Moreover, they can also strictly control only the Jingxi Chamber of Commerce.

"And...if we open up tariffs, should the city of Orila also open up taxes to us accordingly?" Wallenstein continued.

"Um... well, I just defeated the Yellow Four Wolfs and I'm out of money." Fran said, "If there is no taxation, wouldn't it mean that I won't have a stable source of taxation if I'm not the city lord? Without money, I can't expand the scale of the workshop, and I can't provide you with enough muskets. What do you think?"

"But you won't always be short of money. And after we fight the Anti-Vienna Alliance, other forces will definitely order firearms from you crazily. By then, you will definitely be richer than the richest duke in the Holy Roer Empire." Wallenstein argued: "I think it's better to set a one-year deadline. After one year, the city of Orila will be

Tariffs must also be liberalized.”

"In return, I just want the Chamber of Commerce under Her Majesty Margaret to be exempted from tariffs!" Fran added.

At this point, Fran's evaluation of Wallenstein reached a higher level.

This blonde beauty is indeed very thoughtful. She has a business mind and understands the twists and turns involved. What he lacks most at the moment is such talent. It would be great if there is a way to get her.

However, no matter how careful Wallenstein was, he could not have guessed that Fran had something called a steam engine in her hand.

A year later, it is still unclear who is dumping goods on whom.

In January 2023, the first monthly ticket accumulation reached 1 and additional updates were added. Thank you everyone

Chapter 88: Night Attack on the Saint (Rewards and Extra Updates)

Margaret then watched the drills of the musket and artillery units.

Tilly and Wallenstein were particularly interested in these tactics and watched them intently, fearing that they would miss even the slightest detail.

After all, getting a weapon is one thing, and how to use it is another. The emergence of firearms will inevitably subvert traditional tactics, and Fran is the only one who has used firearms in combat.

During the visit, the three of them communicated very harmoniously. If you don't know, you might think that they were two older sisters taking their (underdeveloped) younger sister out for an outing. You would never have thought that these three forces were incompatible before and wanted to kill each other.

It can be said that this is the sweetest honeymoon period of the Vienna Alliance. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the three parties walked and talked, and finalized a large number of treaties, which were then written down by the clerk.

At this point, the Alliance of Vienna was truly established.

The day's journey passed quickly. At night, Margaret and Christina stayed in the city of Orilla to express their trust in Fran.

Although Margaret was also a strong person, she was still far behind Christina. After visiting so many places in one day, coupled with the dim environment of the dungeon, she quickly became tired, so she went back to her room early to sleep. Christina was still in the study room prepared by Fran for the two of them, watching

It seems that he still wants to deal with some internal church affairs.

Looking at the bright lights in the study, Fran had a little thought in her mind.

We found a saint girl alone!

Isn't this a chance for Fran to punish the Saint at night?

So she took advantage of the dead of night, bribed the guard at the door, and quietly went into the study.

"Why are you here?" Christina was sitting upright on a chair. She was surprised to see Fran coming, but when she saw the cunning in Fran's eyes, she immediately asked alertly, "What do you want to do?"

"think!"

Christina: ???

"Sister, I haven't seen you for so long. I miss you so much." Fran immediately sat on Christina's lap.

"But... this is a public area, Margaret may come back at any time. And... Christina lowered her voice and said, "Fanti is still outside. It would be bad if she heard it."

"Don't worry, I just looked at the candlelight and Margaret went to bed early. Besides, the sound insulation facilities here are very good, Miss Vanti will definitely not hear it." Fran said.

"But this is... too exciting...

"That's why I came!" said Fran.

"Well, you'd better make sure no one comes!" Seeing Fran's look, Christina smiled coquettishly and then kissed her.

Fran's hands deftly groped around Christina's waist, and then her skirt fell off, and then Fran bent down.

"what are you up to?"

"Sister, you write yours! I'll play mine!" said Fran.

"You are so versatile!" Christina wanted to say something, but she felt her underwear being touched down by Fran. She was still wearing a gorgeous saint's top, but underneath... When she thought of this, Christina's face flushed.

But then her face became even redder, and the hand holding the pen began to tremble slightly.

However, at this moment, she suddenly heard two knocks on the door.

"Oh no! Margaret is here!" Christina was shocked.

Knocking on the door was the secret signal between her and Vanti. One knock meant someone was coming in, and two knocks meant Margaret was coming in.

"Ah! What should I do?" Fran looked at herself, then at Christina, and was at a loss for a moment!

The saint's clothing is known to be complicated to wear, and it is impossible to put it on again in such a short time.

"Squat down!" Christina said quickly, and then covered her smooth thighs with her skirt. Fortunately, her skirt was very large, enough to accommodate the petite Fran.

"Lady Saint, I'm coming in." After doing all this, Christina heard Margaret's voice.

"Please come in." Christina cleared her throat and tried to speak in a normal tone.