Chapter 312
Chapter 312.
“A customs union?”
Myron and Henry asked together in surprise.
Paul nodded, “Yes, the Customs Union, a unified tax law between the members of the alliance, the abolition of barriers within the territory, the abolition of excise taxes and the collection of internal tariffs, and the free flow of goods.”
Mellon thought for a moment and understood Paul’s meaning, once this so-called Customs Union and the related tax exemption policy was established, it would definitely be greatly beneficial to the two places of Alda and Bairdine, now the people of these two places are not rich, the various industries developed by Paul’s hands are extremely reliant on exports, and the canning process relies on the “raw materials” such as fruits, vegetables, and meats from abroad. The canning process relied heavily on the importation of foreign fruits, vegetables, and meats as “raw materials”. With the disappearance of tariffs along the way, the best of both worlds could be realized.
Paul added on the side: “Of course, for the goods outside the alliance members, we still need to retain tariffs, to protect our own estates and various workshops!”
“Well …… that sounds good ……” Henry twirled his moustache as he contemplated all the possible benefits as well as the possible downsides of the retention proposal.
Paul seduced from the sidelines, “Lord Duke, if you support my proposal, I can open up some of the agricultural apparatus to your territory ……”
Henry was interested when he heard, “Oh? You’re talking about that magical [Harvester]?”
When he was running around in the Anti-Ultimatum Alliance, he had heard that Alda had created a magical agricultural machinery that could harvest grains from a large area of land in a short period of time with just one mule and one man.
“Oh, it’s not just the harvester.” Paul smiled, “There’s also a center tiller for plowing, a thresher for threshing – which can strip the ears of grain from the stalks before separating the grains, a strip planter for sowing – which can sow several rows at a time, as well as a guillotine hay cutter, root cutter, milling machine, and so on. root cutters, mills, and so on.”
Name after name of never-before-heard instruments popped out of Paul’s mouth, dazzling Henry with amazement. He couldn’t help but ask, “Good heavens, Paul, do you have a large number of strange instruments serving under you?”
Paul nodded, “Uh …… I did recruit a lot of odd instrumentalists from the south to realize some ideas for me that I came up with off the top of my head.”
In addition to Guy Burns, Hansel had recruited a number of unfulfilled Odd Mechanics from Jingyao and other places, and they had made great contributions to the “modernization of agriculture” in Arda and Bairdine.
“Oh, no wonder, you’ve got some great ideas with these.”
Hearing Henry’s words, Paul spat out his tongue in his heart, he also knew the construction and working principle of these machines because of the information he had collected in his previous life, and was able to manufacture them so quickly.
In the process of leading the army to Sente, Paul observed along the way and found that the Duke’s Territory Manda was a good place to develop agriculture, with fertile land, flat terrain, and abundant water resources.
He then had the idea of making Manda a [Great Granary], while the land under his direct control was fully utilized to pave the way for future industry.
Despite Paul’s very tempting conditions, Henry still did not immediately agree to Paul, “Paul, I’d better think about it again, I think I should find some more people to get together and discuss it.”
“Of course, of course.” Paul promised, “This kind of thing of course can’t be rushed, take your time, discuss more.”
Just then, the voice of the guards sounded at the door, “Lord Owen Schroeder has arrived–“
Henry said happily, “Knight Schroeder has finally arrived. Paul, you’re really too, to let your own soldiers stay outside the city, Schroeder’s temper is also eccentric, and he has to stay with the big-headed soldiers. You see, it’s inconvenient to find him to discuss a matter.”
Paul shook his head and retorted, “Being stationed inside the city will sap their will to fight, no, no, never.” While the two were talking, Schroeder came in, and he was followed by two others. Paul and Myron didn’t recognize them, but it was Henry who stood up at once, “Isn’t this Sir Hal Duke, the deputy commander of the Watcher’s Legion? What brings you to Sentry?”
Paul and Myron looked at each other, “The Watcher’s Legion?”
They knew that it was a legion stationed in the great valley of Nerodan in the northeastern part of the kingdom, directly loyal to His Majesty the King. The Watchers Legion had an important responsibility – defense against the orc invasion from the steppe.
Schroeder bowed to the three of them and turned to the two of them, Paul and Myron, and said, “Yes, these two are Sir Duke and his squire Arthur from the Watcher’s Legion, and Sir Duke is a good friend of mine from when I served in the Watcher’s Legion.”
Then thought Duke again and introduced Paul and the others.
Listening to Schroeder’s introduction, Paul remembered that Schroeder used to serve in the Watcher’s Legion, and from previous casual conversations, he seemed to have had to choose to return to his hometown because of a somewhat stagnant relationship with the lords of the northeast.
Hal Duke led the attendants to bow to Paul and the other three, he first greeted Henry and Myron, and finally turned to Paul: “Earl Paul Greiman, although I have already heard about it from Schroeder’s mouth, it still surprises me to see you so young.”
“Haha, thank you for your appreciation now.”
Henry invited Schroeder and Duke to sit down, while Arthur stood behind Duke.
Paul said, “Please ask Sir Duke to piggyback for a while, let’s talk about our side first, right away. It’s like this, the Lord Duke feels that Manda has many knights and troops following Maltz’s rebellion and can’t be trusted. He intends to create a new force and lend us a number of soldiers to protect the territory until then, I have no objection in principle, what do you think?”
Schroeder thought a little and replied, “I am in favor of it, the new soldiers are not practiced in a day or two, it is just this supply ……”
Henry interjects, “Please rest assured on this, the supply of Alda’s army in this place will be solved by me.”
Paul asked again, “How about two battalions of a thousand men selected?”
Schroeder nodded, “That’s fine, what do you think, Your Excellency the Duke?”
Henry said with a bit of toothache, “Over a thousand men, enough is enough.”
Paul had talked to him about the food treatment of Alda’s army, but for the sake of his own safety, admit it! He, a titular duke, could still afford to feed more than a thousand people.
So the three of them discussed some of the details of the garrison.
After discussing the garrison, Henry then looked at Hal Duke. With a hint of respect, he asked, “May I ask what matter Sir Duke came here for?”
Hal Duke first congratulated Henry on his ascension to the new Duke, and then stated the intention, “I came here to confirm your opinion of our Watcher’s Legion.”
(End of chapter)