MTL - Black Iron’s Glory-Chapter 554 The visit of Prime Minister Blanchard

Chapter 554 The Intention of Prime Minister Blanchard

The pier of White Deer City is filled with a warm welcome atmosphere, military bands, honor guards, onlookers, waving flags, red carpets, the long-awaited general of the navy fleet, the prime minister and local officials. This welcoming ceremony was a bit grander than expected, and Claude really couldn't figure out what was going on ...

The smiling Prime Minister of the Kingdom, Claude Marquis Blanchard, still knows, and has to admit that this guy is an old fox, and it is difficult to deal with. He is His Majesty the King and is deeply convinced. It was only that Claude had greatly embarrassed the king and the queen when the soldiers came to the king, or was the Prime Minister Blanchard reconciled, so that both sides had ladders to step down. It stands to reason that Claude should be a very taboo character in the royal family. What is this old fox trying to greet with such fanfare?

No one can do superficial engineering. Claude got off the ship and embraced Prime Minister Blanchard enthusiastically. He behaved very close, just like a close old friend who hadn't met for 20 years. Then he reviewed the guard of honor and came to welcome him. The naval generals, local officials shook hands one by one, and finally gave a speech to the gathered spectators. After a nonsense, they shouted the slogan of His Majesty the King.

The next is the transfer ceremony of the iron armored warships. This is the third and last batch of six iron armored warships transferred to the Kingdom Admiralty. The first two batches have delivered six iron armoured destroyers and four iron armoured ocean carriers. The two armoured cruisers and four armoured destroyers to be transferred now. After completing the transfer ceremony, it means that the overseas dominion and the kingdom's domestic arms business have all been reached.

The six armored ships to be transferred to the Kingdom Admiralty have been modified and refurbished, and their armor has been repainted. The warships of the overseas dominion are all black and gray, and the six iron armored warships are painted silver and white. From the appearance, they are very noble and beautiful. The generals who came to receive the Navy Department expressed satisfaction. After entering the cabin, you will find that the iron walls inside are packed with walnut wood boards very luxuriously, and the iron walls of the iron armored battleship cabins of the Autonomous Command Area are completely coated with white paint ...

"Why are your guns different from ours?" Prime Minister Blanchard went on a warship tour and asked Crowd a sentence. Of the six iron armored warships transferred to the Kingdom Admiralty, the only one that clearly differs from the warships in the autonomous region is the guns. The ironclad warships of the Dominion Commandership are fully enclosed guns, and the six ironclad warships transferred to the Kingdom Admiralty are equipped with semi-open cannon mounted heavy artillery gun mounts.

"This is a requirement of your Admiralty." Claude explained: "If you use the same guns as us, then all of your artillery shells will need to be purchased from our Autonomous Command. So your Admiralty ’s inspection is considered to be still It's better to equip this old-fashioned heavy artillery, at least you can guarantee the supply of ammunition. After the ship's guns are improved in the future, the warships can be replaced with the latest artillery ... "

Many words need not be made clear. For example, the first four iron armored destroyers transferred to the Royal Navy Department, one of them was directly pulled into the dock and disassembled for research and description by the Royal Navy Department ’s warship designers. It is said that the kingdom has seized four or five secret agents of other countries carrying structural drawings of warships, and even involved an aristocratic officer of the Admiralty. Her Majesty also ignited a great deal of fire.

Claude was very polite, but in fact it was his idea. Iron armored warships can be provided to the kingdom after modification, but new guns cannot be provided. All can be disassembled and replaced with heavy forehead artillery on kingdom sails. For the first time, the General Admiral of the Kingdom also expressed protests, but General Murriet told them that all the artillery shells for the same naval guns had to be purchased from the Autonomous Territory, and one round of ten kronor, So the dissent was gone.

Anyway, the first iron armored warship built by the Autonomous Leadership Zone was also loaded with this heavy foreboding fire paper. And the agreement with the kingdom of the sixteen iron armored ships did not say what artillery was used, this cheap must be accounted for. Brighten up the drawings and tell the Kingdom Navy that the new naval guns are all rear-loaded. If you want them, you have to spend real money to buy them. Not to mention, the purchase price of that shell made the Kingdom Admiralty intimidated ...

You need to know that just training a gunner requires a ship gun to hit nearly a hundred shells in order to become familiar. A steel armored ship adds up to a dozen guns on the front, back, left, right, and right. A headache for the generals of the Kingdom Admiralty. So in the end they decided to stay the same, at least the ammunition for this heavy-loaded artillery can be provided.

The Prime Minister Blanchard also said this, and the transfer ceremony was quickly completed. The trained naval forces and officers of the Kingdom Admiralty boarded six warships and raised the Sterling royal emblem banner of the Kingdom of Ovilas and the Navy's flag, indicating that the six iron armored warships had been under the command of the Kingdom Admiralty under. The crowd on the shore cheered for a while, and many people waved their handkerchiefs and small flags towards the armored ships ...

"Lord Marshal, let's get in the car and take you somewhere." Prime Minister Blanchard motioned to Crowd to ride in a carriage with him.

Claude entered the compartment, Lieutenant Captain Fahselin stepped into the driver's seat in front of the compartment, and sat next to the coachman. The big man Gemi took the guard squadron on horseback on both sides.

The carriage ran on the flat bluestone street, and Crow admired the street view through the glass of the window. Unlike a piece of ruins seen before, White Deer City has been rebuilt. There are no more shacks built of low wooden planks. The streets are lined with newly-built two or three-story buildings. They are neat and beautiful and can be seen. Out, White Deer City restored a bit of the old days.

"Need a glass of fruit wine?" Prime Minister Blanchard took a bottle of fruit wine and two silver wine glasses from a small wine cabinet next to his seat.

"Thank you, I'm not thirsty," Claude said. "Where are we going?"

"Your home." Prime Minister Blanchard said, "This is your majesty's special grant for your construction, and also sent three famous architects from Wangdu. After a year of construction, just completed, you came back, So it's a coincidence ... "

Claude was surprised: "My home?"

What I remember in my head is the familiar big red brick house, but wasn't the big red brick house destroyed during the kingdom's civil war? When Crowd passed the White Deer City back to the overseas dominion in the past few years, he scanned the tomb for Mr. Morsan. The big red brick house he saw then was a ruin. It is said that many artillery shells were destroyed during the civil war in the kingdom, and even the shelves of doors and windows were picked up by refugees to set up shacks.

Claude had thought of rebuilding the big red brick house, but that would have made Bailu City a waste of time, lacking manpower and material resources, and not even qualified construction engineers could be found. Claude had no choice but to return to the overseas dominion.

Now listening to Prime Minister Blanchard's words, Claude remembered the report sent by the butler of Svenson. His mother and Kefner returned to White Hart in September last year, and they had a lawsuit with Queen Christie. Return 5,000 acres of Field Forest, which was annexed by Normanly Forest. In the end, Her Majesty Frederick I came forward and settled the lawsuit in exchange for the ownership of the 5,000 acres of Field Forest Farm with a mansion in the capital and a manor in the suburbs of the capital.

Crowd rubbed the corner of his eyebrow, and found that he had too many things in his mind, something he couldn't remember about the big red brick house. I forgot if the butler of Svensson had reported the big red brick house last time, just remember that Her Majesty chased an honored Viscount or something to his dead father, and drained his mother's moved tears, Kefner and her two children went to Wangdu.

Claude patted his forehead again. The latest report about his mother and Kefner should have been two months ago. It seems that the mother and Kefner quarreled for some reason. My mother lived in Wangdu's mansion, and Kefney lived in the manor on the outskirts with her two children. The butler of Svensson and Sergeant Coster and the old servants followed Kevney's mother and son to the manor. There was no one on the mother's side. What they did was unknown to them ...

Claude was too concerned about the Dominion Command. He didn't pay much attention to the report of the mother and Kefner, and only remembered that the mother and Kefner seemed to be in conflict because of the 30% dividend of the tobacco factory. . It seems that because the mother's hospitality expenses in the Wangdu Mansion were overrun and asked Kefney to transfer the proceeds of this tobacco to her, Kefuni was unwilling to quarrel and separate. Kefuni was so angry that she took her two children to the manor house.

"You should go back to the king to see it." Prime Minister Blanchard seemed to know what Crowd was thinking, shook his head and said, "Your mother and your wife's quarrel is a little bit big and it has become the capital of the king. A hot topic, the favorite gossip object of the citizens. If it is not Her Majesty the King, your wife and children will even be driven out of the manor by your mother. "

"Eh?" Claude felt a little headache. "Why are they arguing? They were in the presence of Her Majesty the King ..."

"As the Prime Minister, I can't say the gossips of these noble families behind my back." Prime Minister Blanchard said solemnly: "You can just send a person to the king to find out why, right, you have a big brother, He returned to your mother ... "

Albert? How many years has he disappeared, where did it come from? Claude had always thought that his cheap big brother was long gone. At that time, his father jumped off the building and committed suicide. The guy found a prostitute and brought Zhang a signature note that he gave up inheriting the family property. Then he disappeared from White Deer City and disappeared without any responsibility. That is, when the mother was in the Dominion, she sometimes mentioned him and said with tears that Albert didn't know whether it was alive or dead.

Anyway, Claude, his sister Anna, and brother Browick didn't miss this big brother at all, and they all considered him dead. At that time, Albert didn't look like a big brother. He regarded his three younger brothers and sisters as nails, for fear that they and they would **** their father's property. As a result of his father's accident, he never went home again. After his father committed suicide due to debts, he simply left Bailucheng without knowing where he was going.

The carriage stopped, and Lieutenant Captain Fahselin opened the door. Claude stopped his imagination, got out of the carriage, and saw the magnificent mansion building at a glance.

This was built on the original site of the large red brick house, which is completely different from the original appearance. It is more than a large red brick house, but looks like a palace-like building. Four floors, plus five lofts, spires, cornices, a row of white stone pillars and ten-grade granite steps. There is also a fountain in the middle of the small square where the carriage is parked in front of the main entrance, surrounded by a large square of grass.

As if occupying the area of ​​the original neighbor's house and the street, Claude looked at the square grass around him, recalling the impression of the original big red brick house and the surrounding neighborhood houses.

"Look, is it the same as the original?" Prime Minister Blanchard laughed: "Of course, we can not completely restore the home of Marshal Your Excellency, but we still try our best to be consistent with the original, so as not to make Marshal Your Excellency Feeling homeless as a kid ... "

Claude smiled bitterly: "I am very grateful to Her Majesty for your love and for making the Prime Minister bother you. But my home is a Hogo-style red brick apartment building, not such a palace-like mansion. My father is also just a small town administrator. Do you think it is possible for him to own such a luxurious mansion as his own home? "

"No ..." Prime Minister Blanchard was a little puzzled: "But when our architect showed the rendering of the mansion building to your mother, your mother said that the original home was this Looks like it's just worn out ... "

"My mother said?" Claude was surprised, but immediately understood. Needless to say, it must be that the mother abandoned the old red brick house that was too old-fashioned and swollen and fat to be described as such a palace-style mansion building, but she did not understand that the more she did, the more ridiculous it was.

"Go in and see," Prime Minister Blanchard invited.

How to say, this mansion is really luxurious, even more beautiful than the white palace building of Normanly Forest Farm. The lobby on the first floor is enough to hold a ball for nearly a hundred people. The second floor is the guest room, and the third and fourth floors are the main living room. There are also five lofts above, which is double the area of ​​the loft that Crow lived in. Equipped with a complete bathroom shower.

Prime Minister Blanchard said that to take care of the mansion requires a housekeeper, four servants, a gardener, a groom, and two chefs, which together cost six kroner per month for labor expenses. It was only after the housekeeper sent the bill to Wang Du Clud's mother that he had not received a reply. Now the housekeeper servants have not received their salary for two months.

Because this mansion was built by His Majesty's private funds, the local administration can only pay a little maintenance fee to keep the housekeepers in a way that they can maintain their food and clothing. The salary has to be sent to the king to discuss with Claude's mother. After all, such a beautiful mansion, if it is not maintained, will soon be damaged and decayed, and then it will be the face of His Majesty.

Claude can only recognize the injustice, he invited the housekeeper to tell him that he would open an account in the White Minsheng Overseas Minsheng Bank, and would deposit one hundred kronor each year as a housekeeper servant. Their salary and Living welfare assistance. The extra money is used to maintain the mansion. If there is a large amount of expenditure, you can write to report to yourself, as long as the accounts are clear, there is no problem.

Then Claude gave the housekeeper servants three months of salary and welfare benefits, and arranged for his men to live in this palace-style mansion. Under the joyful and entertaining reception of the housekeeper's servant, Claude and Prime Minister Blanchard had a good dinner, and then came to the study on the third floor, where the lieutenant Captain Fahselin brought two bottles of good fruit wine. .

"... As the Prime Minister of the Kingdom, you came to White Deer City to meet me. I believe you are not here to introduce me to a new home, or to let me know the current situation of my mother and wife in the capital city. What's the matter? Just tell me, you know I hate **** and guessing. "Claude lit a cigar and opened his door.

Prime Minister Blanchard played with the cigar that Claude threw at him: "Well, I heard that you are coming back this time to start the Hicks Kingdom? Is it true ..."

Nima and Claude wanted to curse. They had just gotten news when they had just arrived in the Kingdom of the Kingdom. The Prime Minister of the Kingdom came to meet with him. Needless to say, it must have been revealed by the general of the military headquarters. Knowing that Claude's intentions for the Hicks Kingdom were explained at a meeting of senior military officers, explaining why he wanted to attack the Hicks Kingdom. This meeting is confidential to the people below, and no military rank without generals can participate in this military meeting.

Obviously, among these promoted generals, who must be the loyalty of the kingdom, just like Marshal Bolonick, only the kingdom's deeds are obeyed. Just after the meeting was over on his own side, Wang Du had received the news. Claude wondered whether the meeting minutes had been sent to Wang Du.

Claude took two puffs of cigarettes: "Why, you suspect that I'm deceiving you? Rest assured, I didn't want to fight against the king. I'm not an ambitionist, and I don't want to be a rebellious kingdom. This time I came back, I really wanted to fight The Kingdom of Kings started, who told them that the war with the kingdom had not ended. As an army of overseas dominions, they were justified.

"We are just weird, not to doubt your intentions," said Prime Minister Blanchard. "The staff of the Kingdom Army has organized a sand table deduction, and believes that there are only two ways to attack the Hicks Kingdom, one on land and two at sea. Land There are two kingdoms separated from each other. This road is not accessible, so you can only carry troops from the sea to conduct the landing war. They think that your plan is to let the Thunder Corps board the ship and pass by sea, but that is the land of the Hicks Kingdom. Being able to fight is just a dead end. So Your Majesty asked me to come and persuade you, don't be so impulsive ... "

Claude laughed: "I know exactly what I'm going to do. In fact, I'm pretty sure I will win. But now I have to consider some situations, and I won't send troops to attack Hicks Kingdom immediately. of......"