I, the prince in distress, send money

Chapter 470 Changes
The sudden collapse and near-complete takeover of the Kingdom of Minicia, like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, stirred up a huge wave in the diplomatic circles of neighboring countries.

Among them, the most shocked were the Leterian Empire and the Bohemian Empire, which had intricate connections with Minicia and were themselves powerful continental powers.

The city of Wortradnoy, located on the edge of the storm's eye, was no longer the frontline command center, but its unique location and relatively stable environment instantly made it the focus of intelligence and diplomatic activities between the two empires.

This city, which had been somewhat desolate due to the war, seemed to be injected with a kind of tense vitality overnight.

Inside the embassy of the Reteria Empire, the lights often shone brightly all night.

The sound of the messenger's hooves was particularly rapid on the cobblestone streets, as encrypted letters were delivered day and night without ceasing.

Prince Hornloe became increasingly active, attending parties of Bagnian nobles everywhere, or finding excuses to host banquets and invite them to attend.

Then, they attempted to piece together the truth and details of the surrender of the Kingdom of Minicia from their conversations, and most importantly... the true combat strength and behavior patterns of the Bagnian core force known as the "King's Guard".

However, such attempts did not yield much result. The reason was simple: there were too few people of high status in the Kingdom of Bagnia, and not many people were able to know the situation at the front in a timely manner. Those who did know were all very busy.

Meanwhile, the diplomats of the Retalia Empire exhibited a different style, being more pragmatic.

Its representative, a slightly younger man dressed in a well-tailored but somewhat fashionable diplomatic uniform, made the event more public.

He not only made contact with the remaining Minician forces, but also attempted to request visits to officials at all levels in Bagnia, and even some well-known figures among the players, under the guise of good neighborliness and regional stability.

"Our Retalia Empire has always maintained the most open attitude towards new technologies,"

During an informal afternoon tea, the Retalia representative smiled and spoke to a player who was in charge of logistics, a Bagnian official.

"The logistical efficiency of your country's military is astonishing. I wonder if we might have the honor of sending some observers to learn from your country's advanced... uh, logistics management experience?"

He skillfully avoided direct military probing, steer the conversation toward the seemingly harmless field of logistics.

Without relevant training, many people would actually be fooled and easily reveal the information that the Reteria Empire wanted to know. After all, the two countries have a good relationship due to the trade in saltpeter fields, and neither side is very wary.

The salons and taverns of Wattradnoy were packed with all sorts of strangers.

They were well-dressed and spoke elegantly, raising their glasses to each other in greeting, but their eyes were filled with scrutiny and calculation. The Leterians and Bohemians also maintained a polite but distant distance from each other, and when they occasionally met, their words of greeting were tinged with undercurrents of probing.

They were all eager to know Bagnia's true strength, especially the upper limit of the King's Guard's combat power.

How does logistics, centered around railways and trains, operate at such a high speed?

Secondly, there's Chris's intention: after Bagnia annexed Minicia, who would be the next target of this king who was half Minisian?

Will he recuperate or continue waging wars abroad?
Then there are the origins, motives, and behavioral logic of those royal guards, which are the most prominent and unsolvable questions in all diplomatic briefings.

Finally, there is the stability of the two combined regimes, and whether Chris can successfully integrate the former territory of Minicia.
Are there any exploitable internal contradictions among them?

The frequent activities of the two great empires created a tense atmosphere over Votradnoy, as if a storm was brewing.

The city's fate seems to have shifted once again, turning it into a diplomatic outpost and an intelligence battlefield.

In the realm of diplomacy, everyone understands that the fate of Minicia is not merely the demise of a kingdom, but a complete disruption of the continent's existing power balance. A new storm is brewing, and this time, it may not be confined to the battlefield.

Chris and his Kingdom of Bagnia, while enjoying the fruits of victory, will inevitably be thrust into the eye of the storm of international politics, facing comprehensive scrutiny and challenges from established empires.

But the changes came very quickly.

While Chris was busy planning the bureaucracy for the new territory, as well as agriculture, industry, and transportation routes, he was soon informed that something had gone wrong in the smuggling of nitrates between the Kingdom of Bagnia and the Empire of Bohemia.

The smuggling warehouse located on the border between the two countries was raided by the border patrol of the Bohemian Empire.

Upon hearing this, Chris looked up from the pile of maps and planning documents on the table, his brows furrowing slightly as he glanced at Connie, but quickly relaxed, revealing a hint of understanding.

What reply did Popoli give us?

He said it was a misunderstanding...

Connie was annoyed, and she cursed with the swear words she had learned from the players.

"Damn it, Your Majesty, we should teach him a lesson. Popoli has clearly made too much money and gotten arrogant!"

"It's not that he's gotten arrogant; it's that our relationship with the Bohemian Empire is about to change."

Chris shook his head.

"Let's leave it at that, and let's end our smuggling deal with Popoli as well."

"Ah... do we really have to stop?"

"Stop... From now on, the Bohemian Empire will not allow a single piece of saltpeter to cross the border, and our smuggling trade with the Popoli will no longer yield saltpeter. Therefore, such transactions can be stopped."

Chris rubbed his temples, clearly troubled.

"This is one of the aftereffects of annexing the Kingdom of Minicia. The Bohemian Empire is starting to be wary of us. Fortunately, in another month, we will no longer lack nitrates, and the nitrate islands overseas will soon be ready for mining."

This news calmed Connie down a little, but she quickly moved on to reporting other things.

"Your Majesty, our personnel in Vortradnoy have reported that the military attaché and several commercial attachés from the Bohemian Embassy have been unusually active, making multiple attempts to contact mid-level officials in the railway system, especially those responsible for the logistics of railway stations, and they have offered very high salaries for their services."

Connie paused for a moment, then continued.

"Is there anything the intelligence agency can do?"

Do something?
Chris only needed to glance at Connie's expression to know what she was up to... Coming from the lower rungs of Niama, she hadn't shaken off her gangster habits.

"No, you don't need to do anything. Let them do what they want. There's no way to stop this kind of thing. You just need to send someone to keep an eye on them and make sure they're not doing anything illegal, that the people they recruited are doing it willingly, and that they haven't encountered any threats, kidnappings, or extortions. Don't worry about anything else."

"All right……"

(End of this chapter)