Kingdombuilding: All My Inventions Are Novelty

”My Lord, I’m not thinking about that. I’m just wondering, now that the Brambleford Army has engineers, logistics troops, and even a navy, these are military branches the Eldorian Empire never had before. But you seem so confident in reforming the army. I just don’t understand.”

Simon smiled. The Eldorian Empire’s military system was still stuck in the age of swords and spears. Now that he was shifting to the age of firearms, of course, many people opposed it.

But Simon had no choice. Western armies were already using firearms and had started organizing professional engineering and logistics units.

He was simply trying to catch up.

He said. ”Back in Eldora, I explained to Father where cannons came from. The idea to reform the army also came from warnings by a Western missionary. The Eldorian Empire is no longer a powerful nation. We’re poor and weak, easy for foreigners to bully. If we want to rise again, we must dare to reform.”

Baldwin stayed silent. It was Simon who had developed cannons in a time of crisis and used them to defend Dunmere City.

He suddenly realized his knowledge couldn’t keep up with this prince of the Eldorian Empire. Perhaps the things he worried about were just petty in Simon’s eyes. And facts had shown Simon’s actions were correct. After hesitating, Baldwin decided to trust him.

”I was overthinking it. This reform affects a lot of things, but I believe Your Highness is doing this for the people of your territory.” Baldwin said seriously.

Simon nodded. ”I feel at ease knowing you trust me. I just don’t want officials and generals coming to the castle to argue and slow me down.”

Baldwin laughed. Simon was clearly worried he’d once again lead a group of officials to stop the reforms, just like he did in Eldora.

Back then, he’d strongly opposed such dangerous changes; no wonder Alaric disliked Baldwin so much.

”Things are different now. You are a wise ruler!” Baldwin said, his eyes showing a deeper meaning.

Simon immediately sensed it. He looked at Baldwin, who only smiled back.

In Baldwin’s eyes, Simon saw hope, the kind of hope loyal ministers have when they ask a worthy prince to fight for the throne.

Maybe Baldwin never dared to think like this before. But now that Brambleford was growing strong, he couldn’t be sure what other officials and generals were thinking either.

Realizing he may have said too much, Baldwin suddenly changed the subject. ”My Lord, it’s been over a month since Desmond set sail. I wonder how he’s doing?”

”Yes,” Simon replied, worried. He was most concerned about Desmond’s fleet. Were they alive or dead?

At that very moment, Desmond, still sailing on the sea, sneezed.

A sailor came up behind him and said. ”Captain, the red-haired foreigner has woken up.”

”Call the translator,” Desmond said as he rubbed his nose and looked out at the ocean.

Since leaving Ashenford, they had been heading toward the Strait of Malacca. Along the way, they encountered many pirates. But each time, they used cannons to destroy them.

However, the further west they sailed, the more dangerous the pirates became. Some even had ships with cannons.

This shocked them. To complete Simon’s mission, they avoided fighting when possible.

The pirates also didn’t want to attack them; they were heavily armed and not worth the risk.

Aside from pirates, they also saw many broken warships drifting on the sea. Today, they saw more than ten wrecked sailing warships.

Dead bodies floated everywhere. These people wore strange red clothes and looked different from people of the Eldorian Empire.

At that moment, Desmond truly understood that Simon wasn’t just making things up; there really were Western nations out there.

These foreigners also had sailing warships, cannons, and even strange stick-like weapons.

Passing through what seemed to be a battlefield at sea, they had fished up many odd objects. That stick-like weapon was one of them.

Inside the cabin, Desmond saw the now-awake Westerner.

The translator arrived too. He and Desmond exchanged a glance, and the translator asked a question in English.

The man in the red uniform replied quickly.

”What did he say?” Desmond asked eagerly.

”He said he’s from Great Britain, part of the Third Fleet, and is a navy officer. They were attacked by the Dutch in this area. He’s asking if we can take him to the nearest colony.”

Desmond began to sweat. He picked up the stick-like object and asked the translator. ”Great Britain, isn’t that the England His Highness talked about? Ask him what this thing is.”

The translator spoke again, then looked strangely at Desmond before replying. ”He said it’s a flintlock gun. If you like it, he can give you many, as long as you take him to the colony.”

Desmond’s heart sank. Simon had told him about many things before they set sail, and now all of it was proving true.

”Tell him we can take him to the colony, but he has to answer some questions,” Desmond said, handing the translator a booklet with questions written by Simon.

The translator asked the questions one by one, and the British officer answered without hesitation.

After one hourglass of time, the translator returned the filled-in booklet to Desmond.

Desmond’s face turned grim after reading the answers.

He said. ”Tell him we don’t want flintlock guns. But can he give us seeds of potatoes, peanuts, and corn instead?”

The translator asked, and the British man smiled and answered.

”He said that’s easy. There’s plenty of food in the colonies, including potatoes, peanuts, and corn.” The translator reported.

Desmond thought for a moment. ”Take him to the colony. If we get what His Highness needs, we’ll sail back right away. The sea is now occupied by the Dutch, and the Dutch are also trading with the Latins. We have to return and report to His Highness.”

Everyone nodded. Their goal wasn’t to explore the worl;, it was to gather information.

Now that they had what they needed, there was no point in continuing the voyage. The further they went, the more dangerous it became.

They had to protect Brambleford’s only three galleons.