dognovel Chapter 51 A Brief Peace
Chapter 51 A Brief Peace
"Your Highness~"
Alice sneaked back to the Hong Kong Coliseum from the university and saw Raffis waiting at the door, looking at her with slight annoyance. Alice swallowed and pretended that nothing had happened.
"Ah! It's Lafis, the weather is so nice, hahaha~"
Alice wanted to say that the sun was shining brightly, but when she looked up, it was already night. Alice just laughed it off and changed the subject to ease the awkwardness.
"Hmm...any news from the front, Rafis?"
"That's exactly what I wanted to report to you. According to the Ministry of Defense, the 1st Infantry Division of the Amelansi Vanguard Army, in cooperation with the Saxon peasant uprising army, annihilated Grant's Central Mercenary Regiment. Duke Grant was killed in battle, and the rest surrendered."
"Peasant uprising army?"
“That’s right, Your Highness. Due to Grant’s policies, the peasants under his rule rose up in rebellion and, in cooperation with the First Division, captured the Ruhr Fortress, which Grant claimed to have managed for a century.”
"Laughable. At a time like this, you still dare to play the scorched earth trick?"
Alice couldn't help but give Grant a thumbs up. Pointing a gun at the lower classes at this point? Was he afraid of not dying fast enough?
But this is not surprising. To these nobles, peasants were not considered human beings. To them, they were merely two-legged sheep that could produce wealth, just numbers.
However, this is a good thing. Now that all the real power is gone, we can clean up the Saxony and Ruhr regions. The former is a vast plain, and the latter is a region rich in minerals, suitable for industrial development. The central city of the Ruhr region, Essen, is also a famous center of handicrafts, especially skilled in forging.
Alice didn't stop for a moment. As a high-ranking vampire, she didn't need much rest. She was neither afraid of ultraviolet rays nor darkness, making her a top-notch laborer.
"Tomorrow morning, summon Anders from the Industrial Committee, Laktara from the Education Committee, Lak Aevich from the Commerce Committee, and Viktor Andreevich, the Minister of the Interior... and so on, and also summon Li Ping from the Agriculture Committee."
"Yes, ma'am."
Alice had long coveted Grant's territory, which was a truly fertile land. However, it still needed to be inspected by the National Geological Society and then reviewed by the National Planning Bureau. Nevertheless, this grand blueprint could begin to be drawn up now.
"In the Saxony region, specifically the Great Mill area, the construction of the Saxony National Demonstration Farm and National Agricultural University will be jointly handled by the Agricultural Committee and the Education Committee."
Alice had personally visited the Saxony region, the town of Great Mill which she had conquered. The agricultural potential of that plain was as limitless as that of the north, and its latitude was relatively low with less moisture. The water source for the Saxony River, a tributary of the Rhine, came partly from the snow and ice of the high mountains and partly from the Rhine itself, so there was no need to worry about water. Moreover, the climate and relatively higher temperatures further south made it more suitable for serving as a demonstration farm.
"The reorganization of the Ruhr region, the establishment of the Ruhr Economic Development Zone, the formulation of industry-friendly policies, and the transformation of the local economic structure are essential for industrialization."
The Ruhr region is about the size of a small province, but it has a large population and is dominated by handicrafts. Its mining industry is thriving and it is the main source of minerals for the entire Demon Realm.
The term "Demon Realm" originates from the southern humans. In reality, the northern part of the continent, ruled by vampires and predominantly populated by demons and orcs, is officially known as the "Unified Crimson Empire." Of course, it is neither unified, nor crimson, nor an empire now.
Alice knew that a new war was inevitable. She didn't believe that the bastard in the South would let her grow stronger. Sooner or later, the other side would also be using flintlock muskets. Technological diffusion was unavoidable. The vanguard had lost quite a few rifles in this battle, including the last one. Perhaps in the next war, both sides would enter a new kind of warfare.
In this period of peace, which may be short or long, Alice has only one goal: industrialization! Modernization!
Of course, there will be difficulties, and things will not go as smoothly as Alice's plan. But in any case, the tide of the times is unstoppable. Whether it is the increasing number of reading records in the Great Library, the rising chimneys in the city of Hira, or the construction of modern infrastructure in Trian, change has arrived.
"Exploration, expansion, blood and steel—"
Alice opened the map of the continent, a map made a hundred years ago by an explorer who had traveled across the continent. To Alice, the map seemed a little too accurate.
"Alice?"
"Ah, Mother?"
"Are you... looking at a map?"
Alicia knew that Alice liked to look at maps and draw on them with a pencil, as if she were playing a child's coloring game, except that the colors she filled in were patches of land.
"Yes, I'm thinking about how to ensure our country still has influence in the distant future."
"how?"
"If this map is correct, our country is only this big. To our north is a wasteland, to the west of the north is the Duchy of Pilm of the dwarves, to the south are the Holy See of the humans, the Duchy of Brittany, and the Atlantis Islands, to our west is the ocean, to the east are the desert empire, the Lasvia Empire, the Duchy of Orovia, the Balkan Empire, all the way to the elven Seris Empire in the east."
"In comparison, our country is so small and so inconspicuous."
If the entire Western continent was Europe in its previous life, then Alice's Amelia is currently only the size of Germany.
"In the future of our world, although small countries may temporarily become the world's hegemon by relying on technology, in the end, countries with larger land areas and more people will still be the winners."
"The nationalism I advocate is a double-edged sword. It can unite our people as well as the people of other countries. When this ideology spreads, we will lose the opportunity to become a large country."
Alice wanted land bordering the core of her homeland, not overseas colonies. The two were completely different. Land bordering the core would be quickly assimilated, while overseas colonies would not, and history has proven this to be true.
"So we must take advantage of this time to make our country a great nation, and with our steel and blood, win land for our future!"
Alice emphasized each word with unwavering conviction.
New technologies will inevitably spread, and new ideas will surely dominate the world. Even backward countries will have brave individuals who refuse to be slaves. When that time comes, the world will be different, and they will no longer be able to simply use guns and cannons to determine national borders.
Now that we have this opportunity, let's go for it! No matter how barren the land is, how harsh the environment is, or how extreme the territorial waters are, every inch of land belongs to our motherland!