Chapter 106 A helpless conservative plan
The difficulty that Elizabeth mentioned is mainly because once a city has an army, it will increase the risk of disobedience for the surrounding forces.

"Let's talk about the assassination business first. Since we are going to do it, we have to make it bigger and stronger. To do this, we can give more benefits to the killers. As for mercenaries, the situation in the Impossible City will change after the Blood Moon incident. Just because it is difficult to operate now does not mean that the situation will remain unchanged." Li De said slowly.

"I understand, but my lord, if there is not enough business, forming an army on its own may result in huge losses." Elizabeth immediately saw the disadvantages of forming a private mercenary army.

"Elizabeth, some things can actually be adjusted." Reed said with a smile.

"Master, I don't quite understand." Elizabeth really didn't understand what Reed meant.

"You don't necessarily have to use your own money to support the army. If the army you form serves the order of the entire Lawless City, then shouldn't the entire Lawless City's forces pay for it? Spending only one-third of the money to maintain an army that obeys your orders is not a loss no matter how you look at it!" Li De said slowly.

"But in this case, can't the other two high tower forces also form their own? There's no need to spend money to maintain an army for others. If they also have ideas, things may get out of control. If there is only one mercenary army, the surrounding forces may still acquiesce, but if there are three, it is very likely to attract external intervention." Elizabeth frowned slightly and murmured with a serious look.

"If they dare to set up their own army, then we will fight them until they can't hold on any longer. This time, I went to the Shadow World to complete the mission and harvested more gold than the total amount of this world, so we have more than money. We are not afraid of anyone. Of course, we have sticks and carrots." Reed looked at Elizabeth and said.

"Master, do you mean to split off part of the current business of the Dark Tower?" Elizabeth asked tentatively.

"Well, even if we solve the Crimson Tower, new tower forces will still emerge. After all, without the three major towers to restrain each other, those forces from the outside will not feel at ease. Therefore, the third tower force will be established sooner or later. Instead of waiting for the new force to compete for business, it is better to plan for the other party in advance, so that the entire lawless city can become more orderly." Li De nodded and said.

"Then master, what business should we divide up?" Elizabeth continued to ask.

"What do you think?" Li De asked back.

"Since we are setting up a mercenary army, the intelligence network must not be touched. In addition, the reorganization of the assassination organization will definitely affect the interests of [Juelang]. So if we want to do it smoothly, there must be an exchange. If the master has no objection, I plan to give up the three major businesses of casinos, arms smuggling, and bulk daily necessities trading." Elizabeth said after thinking about it.

"Tell me what you think!" Li De neither nodded nor shook his head, but continued to ask.

"Since the master has made a huge profit this time, we don't have to worry about the funds. In this way, handing over the financial power of the casino to others can make the outside world feel at ease. After all, our lack of financial resources means that there is a bottleneck. The same is true for the trading of bulk daily necessities that control logistics.

Only when the finances and logistics are in the hands of those people, they can feel at ease and allow us to build up the army. As long as there are no such obstacles, it will be much easier to build up the army. When they find out that we have other financial and logistical support, it will be too late to stop them.

Unless we send troops to attack them, the power of the city will be in our favor if we have military power. If they don't want to give us the annual military expenditure and logistics, we can just take it ourselves. As for the arms smuggling, I plan to exchange it with the [Juelang] organization for resources."

After listening to Elizabeth's analysis, Reed nodded.

It was obvious that Elizabeth understood the meaning of Reed's previous words, which was that there was no need to worry about funding issues.

Now that there is no shortage of money, all finance-related businesses can be handed over. As for logistics and supplies, the Siyue Chamber of Commerce in the Shadow Courtyard also exists, so it can also be transferred out to give people peace of mind.

After all, with the magic bag and teleportation magic, the logistical supplies of the Siyue Chamber of Commerce can enter the lawless city at any time, and there is no need to worry about the army being short of food and clothing.

So looking back, the real trouble is how to get the outside world to acquiesce in the Black Tower to form a formal army. This is the key.

"Have you thought about what to say to the outside world?" Li De continued to ask.

"I will need some time to work out the details, but the general direction has been determined. Impossible City was inevitably hit hard after the Blood Moon incident, and if it wants to revive, it must have enough military force to stabilize people's hearts. I can use this as a starting point for negotiations. I believe that after making enough concessions, those behind the scenes should compromise." Elizabeth said after coming down.

"Elizabeth, you must be careful about the degree here. You must know when to stop making concessions. If you meet someone who refuses to agree, then let him die. After all, our carrot and stick strategy also applies to those self-righteous guys. If anyone asks about it later, you can lead the clues to my sister Claire. I believe that those who find out will understand who is behind you." Reed said.

Reed intends to make full use of Alexia's identity.

In fact, after his deduction, he found that Alexia's personal guards could not be expanded on a large scale, even if Claire was the one who stepped forward.

Because the princess's personal guards, who have the second right of inheritance, are different from the others, the issue of their treatment alone requires a considerable amount of money.

After all, if the treatment of Alexia's guards is poor, it would be a loss of face for Alexia, so the treatment of the guards must at least be comparable to that of the Knights.

Not to mention other things, just the food expenses of at least 5000 yuan per person per day is a huge expense.

5000 per person, so people would need gold rings, which is equivalent to the expenditure of five gold rings a day.

In a year, the food expenses alone would cost 1825 gold rings, which is nearly 2 million rings of gold.

And this is just the food expense, it does not include the cost of personal equipment.

Especially the monthly military pay for each person, which accounts for the bulk of military expenditure. After all, the monthly fixed salary of the knights of the Knights Templar needs to be paid with gold rings.

So in the original book, when the First Princess Alice could not get financial support from the Kingdom of Midgar, the Scarlet Knights she formed consisted of only eight people.

In addition to the problem of not being able to distinguish between friends and foes in the original work, her own financial resources can only support this eight-member knight group for ten or eight years. In other words, after the number of people is increased, the time her financial support time will drop sharply.

Therefore, Li De had to give up the idea of ​​expanding the Personal Guard. It was not because he had no money, but even if he had money he could not be so ostentatious.

After all, when Alexia herself is unable to come up with such a huge amount of funds, anyone who comes forward to support her will stand out.

For the nobles, the first thing they would think about is what the Siyue Chamber of Commerce wants to do by supporting the Second Princess so strongly, and whether she is eyeing the position of king.

After all, the real reason of having too much money and nowhere to spend it is unreasonable and cannot be used as an excuse. The only thing that the nobles find reasonable is that Alexia wants to fight for the throne.

However, this is not a reason not to expand on a large scale. The real reason is that once it is directly affiliated with Alexia, there will inevitably be people who want to jump out and reap the benefits.

After all, Claire's title was at most the sixth-rank baronet in a short period of time, and he could not compete with those people with high titles in the royal circle.

It is only a matter of time before the position of head of the Royal Guard is taken away. You must know that when there are benefits, those nobles will be very greedy, so there is no need to expand the Royal Guard.

Of course, this does not mean that Li De has no other means to increase Alexia's military power.

In fact, there are many ways, and the best way is to let the Siyue Chamber of Commerce directly form a guard team belonging to the Chamber of Commerce.

Since they were not the princess' personal guard, they did not need to be treated the same as the Knights. Also, no matter whether the guards were orcs or elves, they did not need to be taken seriously. As long as Alexia could call on the guards through Claire at any time, that was enough.

After all, from the outside world's perspective, this is equivalent to the Siyue Chamber of Commerce providing troops for Alexia.

On the one hand, it increased Alexia's voice, and on the other hand, it also allowed the guards of the Siyue Chamber of Commerce to use Alexia's name.

You know, with this title, at least in the Kingdom of Midgar, no one will jump out to question the legitimacy of the Guard, which can avoid a lot of unnecessary trouble and is a win-win situation.

As for whether other kingdoms would be afraid of the Siyue Chamber of Commerce and boycott it, there is no need to worry about it.

Because in different kingdoms, the Siyue Chamber of Commerce will choose different royal members to support.

For example, in the Kingdom of Oriana, the guards of the Siyue Chamber of Commerce will provide military assistance to Princess Rose Oriana, who has the only legal right of inheritance.

With the Siyue Chamber of Commerce as an example, after the blood moon, Elizabeth can follow suit and get Alexia and Rose Auriana to endorse her.

After all, after the appearance of the first guard team that was not entirely mercenaries, the appearance of mercenaries was not so unacceptable.

"Yes, master. I understand." Elizabeth nodded and said.

"Elizabeth, how many troops do you plan to recruit later?" Reed asked casually.

"I think a full-strength knight order should be within an acceptable range," Elizabeth said with a hint of uncertainty after considering it.

"A fully-staffed knight order?" Li De's voice was a little low when he heard this.

Reed was not clear about other worlds, but he had no choice but to know the Knights of the Kingdom of Midgar in the real world.

According to the staffing of the Knights of the Kingdom of Midgar, the full strength is only 30 people in a 30× square formation.

And nine hundred people is just a drop in the bucket compared to the huge population of the Impossible City.

However, Reed also understood Elizabeth's concerns, because professional soldiers are different from street thugs.

But after paying so much, he only got a place in the full knight order, which made Li De somewhat unwilling.

Seeing Reed's expression, Elizabeth realized that the numbers she reported were too conservative.

But she was just speaking the truth, because she really didn't think that having more than one full knight order would be accepted by the surrounding forces.

Apart from anything else, that slutty fox in the Pure White Tower would definitely not be able to accept more troops being stationed in the lawless city.

Because too many of them will cause the balance within the city to be disrupted, which will definitely not be allowed by the surrounding kingdoms.

Even if Alexia and Rose Auriana were to endorse it, it wouldn't work.

Alexia is particularly important here, because including the guards, she already has the command of at least two knight orders.

Yes, at least two words are used here.

Because the knights within the Kingdom of Midgar are not counted here.

Of course, although there are many knight orders within the Kingdom of Midgar, the relationship between the knight orders is somewhat incompatible due to the issue of aristocratic factions.

As for the knights that Alexia can mobilize, her sister Alice has direct command authority, so it can make up the numbers but it cannot be considered as Alexia's own military power.

But with the command of two knightly orders, the royal faction's voice would be increased.

Even though the guards of the Siyue Chamber of Commerce are not directly affiliated with the mercenary group of the Impossible City, they can still provoke the fragile hearts of other factions within the Kingdom of Midgar.

Therefore, if the number of these two armies is too large, they will first face resistance from the major noble factions of the Kingdom of Midgar.

It was because of these considerations that Elizabeth had to be conservative.

Of course, the number of mercenaries in the group can only be so many, but it does not mean that the power of the Dark Tower can only consist of this number of people.

Whether it is the intelligence department or the killer organization, they can appropriately increase the number of combat-capable logistics personnel. After all, we can't let the mercenary group handle everything.

Of course, if there are too many of these people, it will definitely irritate the nerves of the surrounding forces, so the number still has to be limited.

After a little thought, Reed understood Elizabeth's conservative reasons.

But understanding is one thing, and feeling unwilling is another.

After all, one thing is well known, that is, the Rabbit family’s army has an absolute fear of insufficient firepower.

Although Li De does not have this disease, after possessing financial resources that rival this world, Li De always wants to spend money in revenge.

But luxury goods could not satisfy Li De's wishes at all.

Only spending like the military, which costs tens of billions or even hundreds of billions of dollars, can give Li Dedai a sense of satisfaction.

But at this moment, Li De had to face the frustration of not being able to spend his money.

This is fucked up!
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(End of this chapter)