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Chapter 229 The Wheel of History: Lao Tzu Rolls into a Windmill!

Wagner was able to succeed Tifa at first because he owed a favor. The other reason why he couldn't get on the stage was because he heard that Alexander was brave in bed. However, the reality is always different from the imagination. up.

"Your Majesty, are you sure that's what the 'truth' says?" Wagner tried to be as tactful as possible. Alexander was in a frenzy, "What did it say?"

"No, but it turned off the lighting of the chandelier, and the chandelier was produced in the Middle Kingdom, which is already an obvious hint!" Alexander said excitedly, "That's the 'truth', how could it be possible to say something directly Words must be for us to comprehend and feel, this is the attitude that the 'supreme truth' should have!"

Wagner let out a "hehe", pulled Alexander over and hugged him in his arms, and the two fell on the bed, listening to Alexander babbling a lot of nonsense.I have to say that hugging a hunk to sleep is not bad, but he is not in the mood now. When Alexander fell asleep again, he quietly took out the sheepskin scroll, used his fingers instead of a pen to convey the news, turned over and hugged the people around him, and touched it. On the chest.

Alas, enjoy the last moment, Alexander seems to be going crazy, Wagner gradually fell asleep with such thoughts.

Wang Qi was very careful about serving the king. Alexander summoned the ministers to discuss "how to destroy the Middle Kingdom" the next day.

After the ministers looked at each other, they first asked the obvious question: "Why are we destroying the Middle Kingdom?"

"I got an instruction about the truth." After sleeping, Alexander seemed to have calmed down a lot, his tone was no longer so agitated, but more like a discussion, and he asked after retelling what happened last night, " What do you think?"

Luoxie's relationship with the ruling class is much better than that of Gretel. Alexander is a sovereign monarch, and he will probably become headstrong after old age, but now he can still listen to bad things.

"The explanation is too... uncertain." A minister hesitated, "Have you heard about the God of Magic?"

Alexander pondered for a while: "I know, I know, but those mages have not been able to reach a unified statement until now. It seems that there is a collective hallucination. Everyone's statement is different. I am different. I have obvious actions and only Appear before me alone."

"The hint of truth is still too vague." Another minister with relatively high mage qualifications said disdainfully, "Those people are just grabbing power under the banner of truth, a group of ordinary people."

"It's not impossible to wipe out the Middle Kingdom, but...it's hard to wipe it out." Another minister grasped the point, "I mean, the Middle Kingdom was built from scratch by a group of ordinary people, even if we destroy it The city wall, they can completely rebuild the city in another place. The world is so big, do we have to patrol the world all the time in the future? Besides, they have nothing that cannot be moved. As long as people run away, they can rebuild. I heard their Technology does not require special qualifications, as long as it is not a fool after a period of study."

This is also a problem, both Alexander and the ministers frowned.

"The Middle Kingdom really needs to pay attention." The minister who spoke at the beginning changed his tone, "The god of civilization that day has given us a clear reminder."

When mentioning this, everyone's expressions became very ugly, especially for Alexander. He originally wanted to humiliate God War by limiting the range. Many mages began to reject the existing magic system and tried to find a new path of development. Some people joined the banner of Brian Langdon, in short, they fell to the Middle Kingdom. This is not good news.

"How many gods of civilization are there in the Middle Kingdom?" a minister asked.

Everyone looked at Wagner, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and say, "I heard that there are nearly twenty of them, but the exact number is unknown."

"So many?!" The ministers were in an uproar, "When did they have so many?"

"Look at what you're wearing now." Alexander has completely calmed down. The more important the moment is, the more he must keep his senses. Even if he doesn't say a word, it's better to be as dull as a log than to blurt it out. You can't take back what you say. This is the royal education that Alexander received since he was a child. "Your shoes come from the Middle Kingdom, clothes, magic coins, accessories, food, mirrors, including cement for building houses, and carriages. Which one is not from the Middle Kingdom?"

The hall fell silent for a while, and the ministers looked at each other for a while, all showing terrified expressions.

"When did it become like this?" A minister shouted, "When did things from other civilizations invade the magical country so smoothly?"

"That's not an invasion, we invited you here." Alexander shook his head and said, "Cotton clothes and silk are comfortable and beautiful, and they are cheap compared to magic items. The food is extremely delicious, cement is convenient and fast, and the carriage is too cheap Well, people in the Middle Kingdom never say anything about civilization, it's just that we simply can't resist the temptation."

"Your Majesty, you must have made a decision." A minister said loudly, with just the right expression of anger on his face, "Please tell us!"

"First of all, we have to find a way to restore the status of magic. Isn't it impossible for us to produce these products?" Alexander directly dismissed the option of not using these products, and even he was unwilling to change back to magic cloth clothes, "Do not use them at all Can magic be produced?"

"Yes." The ministers replied, "Some technologies are easy to find, such as soap paper and so on. There are many shops outside the Middle Kingdom. More complicated technologies are at best a matter of retrospective magic."

Alexander cheered up: "Everyone, first of all, we have to think about it. Is the production and sales of these common goods beneficial to us? Can we get tax?"

After thinking for a moment, the ministers shook their heads and showed gritted teeth. As the country where the "golden tax collector" originated, it was really painful not to collect taxes.

"Then, we can invite these merchants to come to Loschere to produce and sell them, and tell them that only the products produced by Loschere are truly pure and blessed by magic, while those outside of Loschere are evil and unclean, and once used, they will be polluted. It is no longer possible to improve the aptitude of magic, and it can also be said that the stagnation of magic aptitude in these years is because too many ordinary items are used!" Alexander's train of thought became smoother and smoother, "As for foreign products, enter Los Angeles All of them will be heavily taxed, and we will discuss the specific amount. I don’t think it is necessary to make foreign products feel unwelcome, but to improve the competitiveness of domestic products. After all, magic products must be more expensive than non-magic products. In this way, under the situation of ebb and flow, as long as the magic powers will gradually get used to our products, will this lead to a new god of civilization?"

Facing Alexander's expectant eyes, Wagner sighed: "Your Majesty, as long as the basic technology is not updated, a new god of civilization cannot be produced, and the beliefs of different countries will not change the god of civilization, let alone change the position of the god of civilization. Are you going to study New technology?"

"No." Alexander said categorically, "We must stick to the magic line and never give up magic because of a temporary trough!" He thought for a while and said, "Then attack the products of the Middle Kingdom, don't say they are not Popular, it makes sense to say that they are not clean and pure, after all, products without magic at all do not match the power of magic."

"I think the citizens will welcome it very much." A minister said with a smile, "It's not just the magic carriage company that has been robbed of its jobs by ordinary goods."

Both the king and the ministers laughed, and Wagner wore a business smile dedicated to the king's cavalry, thinking in his heart that he should send a message to the Gay Knights quickly.

Alexander indeed possessed considerable acumen. When Rochere officially released a long list, saying that these "ordinary commodities are the reason for the stagnation of magic aptitude", the citizens were not immediately excited. After all, everyone used such After a long time, some people's magic aptitude has improved. However, when Alexander announced the products that Luoxie will officially produce, and at the same time declared that these products are "pure and clean" products that mages should use, an undercurrent began to quietly arise.

"Why can't I return it?" A male mage waved a silk robe, "It's all broken!"

"Look clearly, this is silk, very thin and delicate, if you can't wash it by hand and have to use magic to wash it, then you can't blame us!" The clerk of the silk clothing store said with a look of disdain, "If you If you don’t know how to use such a good thing, then don’t use it, you don’t have the ability to get angry at me!”

The current silk technology has not yet reached a high enough level. Silk God is helping the silk weaving factory in Yuecheng to improve the loom to make the silk more flexible, thinner and tighter. However, even the modern silk is still not resistant to humidity and exposure , no matter which one will damage the delicate silk, coupled with the so-called "old silk like rotten grass", the service life of silk is indeed relatively short, and the environmental requirements are also high.

The male mage seemed to be stabbed at the sore spot by the clerk's words, he tore his clothes into pieces through gritted teeth, and roared angrily: "Your Majesty has already said that you ordinary goods are unclean and not pure enough, and my magic aptitude is Let you destroy these things!"

The clerk was taken aback, and reflexively said: "I am from Luoxie..."

"You are nothing!" The male mage took out his staff, "Get out of Loche, you defiler!" As soon as the words fell, a big fireball appeared at the tip of the staff, and he roared and swung out the magic staff like a baseball. As soon as the fireball smashed into the displayed clothes, it burned quickly, and the store was soon engulfed in flames.

The clerk ran away screaming, many people looked over, and the male mage yelled ferociously: "This is a thing of a different civilization! It is an unclean blasphemer! We should not use these non-magical products anymore, Only magic products are the purest and cleanest!"

This incident should have been an isolated case, but Alexander would not let go of this opportunity. Soon, he launched a magic soap, which was slightly more expensive than ordinary soap, but with the blessing of the "pure" concept, the price of Rochester soap The share quickly expanded to the entire industry, and those ordinary soap shops were robbed and stolen to varying degrees. After being discovered, the criminals not only showed no fear, but threatened the shop owners without fear, no matter how the shop owners explained that they were locals, it was useless , In the end, it can only close down.

Individual cases quickly turned into mass incidents. Finally, one day, hundreds of people surrounded the largest fabric store in the city, and after the massacre, hung the owner's body on the lintel.The thugs cheered, many of these people were former magic porcelain workers, magic cloth workers, and magic paper workers, not to mention the employees of the magic carriage firm. Life is about to return.

It is a pity that this is not the case in reality. When the new local weaving factories were established, they went to apply for jobs, but they were stumped by the interviewers.

"Do you understand Sixteen Zhimian?"

"I don't know."

"Can silkworms be raised?"

"Silkworm... what is it?"

"Is the loom always in use?"

"I don't understand."

The interviewer didn't ask a single magic-related question from the beginning to the end, until the interviewer protested: "Isn't this a magic cloth factory?"

"correct."

"Where are the jobs that require magic?"

"The position of making magic water is already full." The interviewer said coldly, "If you can use magic to do the jobs I mentioned above, you can also enter the job."

The interviewer left in dismay. He didn't understand, those "alien civilizations" were driven away, and the prices of magic items on the market became higher. Why didn't the good life come back?What's even more frightening is that due to the disappearance of cheap "alien civilizations", it has become impossible to maintain the previous standard of living. These unemployed or semi-employed people simply cannot afford expensive magic supplies and can only return to "alien civilizations" state before it appeared.

His Majesty the Great King just rightly threw out a new theory: alien civilizations are expanding, and in the process of Luoxie's pursuit of purity, other magical powers are degenerating, and the root of the degeneration is the Central Kingdom. As long as the Central Kingdom is cleared, Or take those dirty "alien civilizations" as their own, and use them after purification, then a bright future will appear.

The Rochers have renewed hope, yes, as long as they take the Middle Kingdom for themselves...Thinking of those products, some people who know in their hearts are already coveting her.

Alexander's timing was quite good. Although ordinary products have seized the market for magic goods on a large scale, relying on their previous capital, mages can live fairly well. Even because of the cheapness of ordinary items, their lives are better than before. A better quality of life. However, this is only a temporary illusion. Merchants in the Middle Kingdom will not hire local mages. The main reason is that the salaries required by mages are too high and they are really not good at technology. They are not willing to learn. Hire at most one or two people as consultants to solve some localization problems.In the long run, all the profits in the market have been taken away by the Middle Kingdom, and the Luoxiers will naturally gradually sit back and eat. By then, it will be a bit late for Alexander to appear to control the field again.

Cecil has learned a lot about the above situation. He is most fortunate that Wagner sent the news in a timely manner. The merchants in the Middle Kingdom quickly evacuated. Many people even gave up their inventory and shops. It can be said that they fled alone. Of course, these losses are not small. , but it's better than someone having an accident.Those who were originally complaining heard about what happened in Luoxie one after another during this period of time, and couldn't help but feel very grateful, and they became more and more respectful of His Majesty's judgment.

Cecil was very worried, and after thinking about it, he still proposed at the king's cavalry meeting: "Bring Wagner back."

"Why?" Tifa was the first to ask, "The current situation is not that urgent."

"No, I always think it's a bit strange that Alexander put Wagner by his side. How can I put it? If it were you, I would have been with you for many years, but Wagner is just a newcomer. Everyone in the Middle Kingdom has a close relationship with the Gay Knights. You know, to keep someone around who is likely to be a spy in this situation, I have a feeling that Alexander is not the kind of person who would do such a thing."

There was a moment of silence in the meeting room, Tifa's expression became more and more gloomy, and she quickly took out the parchment and wrote a code word on it: [Someone at home is critically ill, return quickly. 】

Wagner did not reply, and there was no news until the next day, which made everyone feel ominous.No matter how worried Cecil was about this matter, it was his turn to intervene. Langdon had already begun to make arrangements. The Gay Knights used to be an emotional group, and they will certainly be in the future.

Cecil has too many things to do, such as the world's first waterwheel.

After the invention of steam power, there was no need to study such things as waterwheels, but due to the setting of "National Fire", natural power in the wild should be used as much as possible, such as dams.

According to Cecil's design, the Highgarden Elves have set up two drops on each canal according to the terrain, one is tall and the other is short. Future cities will be built along the canals, so that the power of waterwheels can be used. Shipping can now be done by ship, further reducing costs.

When the first waterwheel was completed, Cecil went to cut the ribbon. This ceremony has become a must for new things in the Middle Kingdom. Even when people get married and have children, they will cut the ribbon. For the first time, I saw my parents cut the rope tied with a bow. , when holding out a baby, Cecil's expression was very funny.

After the ribbon-cutting, the fixture of the huge waterwheel was removed and turned slowly, driving the water in the canal into a higher channel and flowing into the pipeline to form simple running water. The water will reach the surrounding farmland along the pipeline. It is sprinkled from the nozzle higher than the crops to form the effect of a lawn sprinkler. When you want to turn it off, just tighten the water valve near the farmland, which is the same as the usage of tap water.

Because the drop of the canal is large enough, the waterwheel can be built very high and large, and the pressure of the pipeline is sufficient. For the farmers, it can be said that the labor is greatly saved. Irrigation of the farmland on the water-deficient grassland has always been a heavy work.

At present, the function of the waterwheel is still very small. Although Cecil is thinking about hydroelectric power generation, it is not easy to build a city that includes the waterwheel and the river. It needs to be carefully planned.

In contrast, there was another thing that caught Cecil's attention.

"Newborns are almost useless in magic?" Cecil asked suspiciously, "Are you sure?"

"I did a special test." Russell said worriedly, "All, I mean all, as long as the magic aptitude tests of those born in Yuecheng are all zero, they will not be able to use a single spell, not even the simplest interpretation magic!"

"Then how do they communicate?" Cecil asked.

"Use Chinese." Oakes said, "Now the official language of the Middle Kingdom has unofficially changed to Chinese, as long as you know Chinese, you can communicate freely."

Cecil was a little happy for a while, and he was a little subtle about the lack of magic. Although it is a boost to the development of industrial civilization, if they encounter opponents with both magic and industrial capabilities, these children will suffer in the future.

"A curse?" Tifa guessed.

Cecil laughed dryly: "I think it's more of a kind of...well, help than a curse."

"What kind of help is this?" Jory asked inexplicably. "What good is it for us?"

"It's probably just to eliminate magic." Cecil sighed and looked at Langdon. "I have to go to Maibei Valley."

The royal knights except Langdon were stunned.

"What are you going to Mai North Valley for?" Russell asked, "Don't try to avoid work."

Cecil shouted angrily: "I'm not! I'm not! Don't talk nonsense!"

In fact, "this time" really didn't happen. Cecil went to Mai Beigu to meet No. [-].

Mai Beigu retreated, and there were many merchants from Luoxie. They stayed here always looking for opportunities to go back and get some goods. However, the news from Luoxie got worse day by day, and in the end they could only stay in Mai Begu stared blankly, some bosses who had suffered huge losses could only admit that they had failed, thinking of quickly finding a job to make ends meet and pay off their debts.

Cecil arrived quietly without disturbing anyone. The magic energy well where No. [-] is located is no longer deserted as before. From time to time, children come to play, swaying magic energy and using magic to their heart's content.He first asked Cook, the teaching knight, to take the children away. Langdon resumed his cat form, and the two walked slowly down the steep weathered stairs to the bottom.

"Long time no see." The sky was lit up in blue, and Number Six's voice was a little low, "How are you doing?"

"Very good, how about you?" Cecil said by the way.

"Not very good, boring." Number Six sighed and said honestly.

Cecil smiled: "Well, I'm here this time to find something fun for you, so what, have you ever thought about the network update of Restoration Magic?"

Number Six suddenly let out a series of screams, and the door of the control room opened and closed violently to express excitement, like mouths that could not be closed.

"Really? Really? Really?" Number Six exclaimed happily, "Can I continue to do magic experiments?"

"There are restrictions." Langdon poured cold water on it, "Only Maibei Valley, we want to make this place...well, the stronghold of industrial mages."

Cecil couldn't help but cleared his throat. The title "Industrial Mage" is really strange, so it needs to be changed.

When No. [-] was happily talking about how many good ideas he had come up with, a group of dwarves was heading for Moon City. They brought their best works and vowed to compete with the rumored goddess of smelting.At the same time, in a certain house in the capital of Los Angeles, a woman was cursing. She knelt on the ground, covered her cheeks with blood, and cursed the thugs who killed her husband. The body still hangs on the burnt-black lintel to this day.

"If God can't hear you, let the devil hear you!" the woman said desperately and firmly.

After a while, a hoarse and ethereal voice sounded: "I'm listening."