Mond (6)

The next day.

This time, Alex sat in the guest room, no longer as a traveler or the partner of a nobleman.

"Your Highness the Ninth Prince, what is the purpose of coming to my territory?"

Leon put his hand on his forehead.

He had seen many lords of territories who were either avoided, despised, or flattered to the extreme, but this was the first time he had seen someone who simply despised someone like the Duke of Leon.

Just like their usual attitude towards the central government, they disdain all members of the royal family equally.

Alex found this situation extremely novel.

"Although my sister asked me to do something, I am also here to travel."

Duke Leon gave him a look that said "I don't believe that" and let him figure it out himself.

He then asked, "What are you and I... the Duchess talking about? Do you need to use soundproofing magic?"

He glanced at Inger, who shrugged.

Madam Danshu smiled and said, "Why do you blame them? I asked Master Neka to do this. I just told them a story."

Duke Leon looked at her helplessly: "You are talking about that again."

"Well, if you don't believe it, there will naturally be others who do." Madam Dan Shu winked at the two of them playfully.

Alex smiled and said, "The Duchess is very talkative. We had a great time chatting."

Duke Leon suddenly realized something and turned to Inger again: "Neka? That Neka? The second young master?"

He looked at Alex and Inger twice and said meaningfully, "I thought you two had a bad relationship."

Inger nodded: "Indeed."

Alex laughed and said, "No, but this has to be kept secret."

Inger looked at him in silence.

The four of them had no other servants with them, only the Duke of Leon's most trusted butler.

He waved his hand, signaling him to start recording, "Okay, let's get down to business. What does Her Royal Highness want you to do?"

"I heard that there are signs of trade exchanges between the Mondstadt border and the Levi's border."

"This has always existed." Duke Leon replied calmly, "Although the situation is a little tense now, it is not wartime after all, and the central government has not issued a decree to prohibit cross-border trade. I have no reason to prevent the free trade of the people in the territory."

"So what are the goods that are usually traded?"

"For exports, it's regular food crops, specialty fruits and vegetables, weaving machinery, some finished clothing and accessories, books, coal, etc. If you want to know about this, you can ask the Ministry of Trade for the account book. There will be registration for entry and exit."

"If it's possible, can we watch it now?"

Leon directly ordered someone to get it and did not let the other party in. The butler delivered it to him.

Alex and Inger looked through it separately.

Inger felt a headache looking at the handwritten account book. In his previous life, he had always used convenient AI tools, and he was really not used to collecting and reading such raw data.

Fortunately, his memory is good enough.

In the end, the two came to the same conclusion: grain exports have increased several times in the past two years. Especially for wheat and other grains that are easy to store, the growth has been gradual.

One reason is that domestic production has indeed been better in recent years, and the other is that the demand from Li Wei'er has increased.

Duke Leon didn't seem to pay attention to this. He looked at the data extracted by the two and fell into deep thought.

Inger extracted the knowledge he had learned from the library and combined it with the actual situation. He looked at Alex and said, "Do you remember how Emperor Li Weier responded when His Majesty the Emperor gave Li Weier a gift a few years ago?"

This matter is almost known to everyone. The current Sufpi showed weakness to Levitra a few years ago and took the initiative to "pay tribute", which was shameful to everyone. After the eldest princess came to power, such things no longer happened.

Alex dug out some things from his distant memories. "He doesn't want beautiful women, gorgeous clothes, gemstone jewelry, or gold and silver utensils. He only wants magic stones of equivalent value, food, seeds, books, some craftsmen and farmers."

"The average altitude of the territory of Levi is much higher than that of Chunie. Their main food crop now is red claw wheat, which is cold-resistant and heat-resistant, but tastes bad and can only be used to satisfy hunger. This is because their soil is not as good as the black soil on the west side of Sarambra and the good soil in Chunie. Fine wheat is almost impossible to grow, so crops need to be imported from the two countries. But in recent years, they have successfully introduced and cultivated some crops, and the climate has also tended to warm up. Food production has also been increasing, but more food is imported. Don't you think this is strange?"

Duke Leon nodded and asked, "You mean they are preparing for war?"

"The biggest possibility. Besides, their population growth this year is not that big."

Alex pointed at the data and said, "And what they export are things that have ornamental value but very little practical value, such as ethnic minority costumes, some pottery, animal bone products, etc."

Leon frowned, and the way he looked at the two of them changed slightly.

"This is definitely not a spontaneous act of the caravan. There must be official support," said Alex.

Inger looked at the list of crops and suddenly an idea occurred to him. He asked Alex, "Are these the main crops in our country?"

Because he had also read the encyclopedia of plants, he was able to match the nouns with the actual objects one by one, but he found that many of these crops were missing that he had often eaten in his previous life.

"Yeah, what's wrong?"

"Is there... something like..." He paused for a long time because he didn't know how to pronounce these words in Chuuni language, "The fruit grows under the soil..."

"Radish?"

"No, not a radish, but one with a yellow or brown skin, slightly soft, and crispy when uncooked... or a golden fruit like a corn cob."

[I have been here for a while, and this world has no corn, potatoes, or sweet potatoes.]

“………Do you mean the mud ball or mud melon? What is the yellow stick?” Alex hesitated and asked.

"The country over there in Hongyan has more of this kind of crop, which is said to be more drought-resistant, but they eat very little of it, and they don't grow it widely. We also have it in some rural areas here, but people don't eat it much," said Mrs. Dan Shu.

In short, it is the weeds that can be seen everywhere but even dogs don't chew them.

Inger searched his mind and was surprised to find that there were no high-level famine-reserve crops among the plants in the existing countries.

“How many large-scale famines have there been in mainland China’s history?”

"…What is famine?"

[Damn, there’s not even a famine…]

He thought about it carefully. The population of this country has not yet exploded, and the arable land is of good quality. Although the medical technology is not advanced, there is magic, and there is no plague like the Black Death spreading. No matter how severe the war is, there will be no famine. The environment is very clean because of the existence of magic.

[I originally thought that the isolation between the East and West continents prevented the introduction of crops, but high-starch tuberous plants already exist in the country, but no one is using them... What a waste of natural resources...]

You have to know that war consumes a lot of food, not to mention the later wars with the demons, which polluted the land. No wonder there were starving people everywhere at that time, because humans had no experience in dealing with famine.

Inger was sweating profusely and his head started to hurt again.

Is the goddess treating humans like flowers in a greenhouse? Or is this a comic book world so all other things outside the settings are ignored? No wonder so many people died in the end.

Inger said to Alex, "I am interested in these crops. Let's go to the village for a walk."

Alex looked at him strangely. "They're everywhere on the roadsides in the suburbs. You can dig them up with a shovel... Do you want to eat them?"

"I'd give it a try if I could." See what the problem is.

But he himself is not an industry expert, and he has been considering inviting some botanical experts to various locations to investigate the varieties of wasteland reserve plants.

The three of them looked at him with strange eyes.

He concluded calmly: "Then I guess there is no need for us to give any advice on this matter. The Duke will take care of it."

Alex added: "Don't forget the smuggling investigation."

Duke Leon nodded.

Inger continued to bring up the next topic: "You should have heard about the news that the Central Territory has opened up the fourth-level gradient, that is, the magical insulated stone mine."

"We are still in the process of preparing for the probe, but it is a lot of work."

"I see that most of the knights' hunting weapons are bows and arrows."

"None of us likes to use hunting rifles. They explode easily."

[Ah, the development of weapons in this world is indeed a bit slow... After all, it is a world of swords and magic...]

"What if a weapon made of magical insulative stone, such as a spear, pierces the body of a knight or wizard?"

A strange look flashed in Leon's eyes.

Inger simply nodded and left the rest to him.

Alex asked, "I saw the Duke's mount earlier. It seemed to be a monster?"

They took the lead in giving a lot of things, and the Duke was not stingy. "Yes, it was tamed by our knights. It's called Black Shadow. Compared with ordinary war horses, it is more suitable for running on complex terrains. The pads on its limbs have been processed, and the sound of movement is extremely low. It has stronger endurance and strength, strong agility, high explosive power, is not afraid of low temperatures, and can move freely at night. It's just that it's difficult to tame. Currently, only the elite in the knights have it."

Alex seems to like this kind of mount very much.

Inger had a different idea. "How does the speed of movement compare to the speed of the bullets fired?"

"..." Several people fell silent at the same time.

Inger continued, "Also, the current mechanical revolution is developing rapidly. Suppose that in the near future, a small carriage made of steel machinery that can be ridden by one or several people will appear. Bullets and swords will be useless to them... Firearms will still be modified and developed, but the skin of humans and monsters is nothing more than a large moving target for bullets..."

[Tanks were developed before World War I. They may not exist now, but the emergence of armored vehicles is foreseeable...]

Inger looked at the three silent people and smiled. "Of course, it may be that I am overly worried. I will just ignore it."

Alex thought: [His predictions are based on reality.]

Although these things did not happen so quickly in the reality he experienced, there were clues. However, due to the invasion of the demons, everything was delayed.

Duke Leon and Lady Danshu looked at each other, and he said, "I am not a rigid old antique who cannot adapt. Thank you for reminding me. I will keep your words in mind."

Inger smiled but said nothing.

[Yes, work hard and do your job well, so that my chances of survival will be greater.]

"By the way, I also want to know how the magic detection network between the castle and the border works? The border is not short, right? How do they achieve timely response?"

Logically speaking, the detection of ordinary wizards cannot last for long and does not have a large range.

Madam Danshu smiled and explained: "Xilia knows this very well, but I also know one thing, it is the effect of the magic shock stone."

"This type of magic stone has only one function, vibration. It will oscillate the magic extended by the caster evenly around itself. The magic will weaken as the radius increases, but when the total amount of magic does not increase, this This kind of detection greatly expands the detection range. We set up equidistant detectors at the border. At several outposts, wizards will alternately conduct detections at a certain frequency at irregular times, so that the entire border can be fully monitored for intruders. Intruders will be dealt with by the knights stationed at the station. This shock ability can only be used for detection. This was also thought up by our second child, Helia.”

Inger's eyes lit up.

Alex said: "You also attach great importance to wizard training."

Leon said: "Quine used to have the most wizards among the three countries. The Cathedral of the Goddess was built in Quine. However, the previous emperor was a martial artist, so knights became the dominant force in the past few decades. The role of wizards cannot be ignored. They play a big role in all aspects of construction."

Inger nodded repeatedly, and he looked at Mrs. Danshu again, "I heard that the Duchess is funding education."

"Yes."

Alex continued, "The compulsory education bill has been passed. It is currently only being implemented in the central government's direct jurisdiction. The emergence and development of the mechanical revolution requires more talents. I personally hope that not only the nobles can receive knowledge and education, but most people can have the opportunity to be exposed to these. And more people can have the opportunity to become knights or wizards."

Madam Danshu and Leon pondered for a while, and Leon said, "Well, we have considered this matter, but we still need to discuss it carefully with the Political Affairs Committee."

At this moment a bell rang outside.

Madam Danshu narrowed her eyes and said, "It's time for lunch. You two should stay and have lunch before leaving."

Leon's attitude softened a lot at this moment. "Please do this."

"Of course." Alex stood up and said with a smile: "After talking with the Duke, I am sure that it is the most reassuring thing to hand over the border to His Excellency the Duke."

Leon restrained his disparity.

[This tone doesn’t sound like a prince’s. It sounds more like…]

Inger poked Alex in the side with his elbow expressionlessly, "Of course, the Duke is much older than you, and he is your elder."

"Ouch" Alex deliberately covered his waist and bent down.

Madam Dan Shu looked at the two of them with interest.

The two people who were talking just now seemed like knowledgeable, experienced and discerning adults, but now they showed a liveliness that was consistent with their age.

A magical pair.

The new article has been opened for copywriting. If you are interested, you can go and take a look. However, for now, I have only opened the expected copywriting and put the cover, and have only done a little bit of setting. I plan to finish writing this article and then prepare for the next one.

Thanks to the readers who are still reading this book. It gave me the motivation to continue writing.

The visa application is still in progress. Anyway, I will apply every time the 7 days are up.

I hope I can finish writing this book, so that I can give myself an explanation.