CHAPTER 1544: CHAPTER 1461: I WANT TO RENOVATE THE PALACE

"More resources? I might as well give them the throne!" Laines the Second banged on the table, shouting at his ministers.

He was truly enraged because his subordinates were on the verge of handing his Empire over to Dorne the First! Ever since he ascended the throne, nothing had gone smoothly, and being the Emperor was becoming increasingly meaningless.

"I want to build a palace! You all keep saying there’s no money! Now, you’re ready to send so much grain, steel, oil... to Dorne! Are you ministers of the Laines Empire or ministers of Dorne? Hmm?" Laines the Second issued a sharp challenge that made his ministers bow their heads in silence during the court session.

It was a question of their loyalty and the most serious accusation. If they were indeed selling out the country, their heads would indeed be on the chopping block.

"Your Majesty! We are also striving for a safer environment for the Laines Empire." The Foreign Minister glanced at his colleagues pretending to be dead and had no choice but to stand up and say, "If Dorne falls into chaos, and the Great Tang Empire seizes the opportunity, we won’t have a natural barrier to stop the expansion of the Tang Country."

"If we just maintain good relations with the Great Tang Empire, do we need to worry about an invasion from the Tang Country?" Laines the Second angrily questioned the Foreign Minister, "They’ve occupied the Western Continent, such a vast territory! Do they really need to come to the Eastern Continent?"

Despite his narrow-mindedness, which earned the disdain of many ministers, being complacent was indeed a way to muddle through. By playing ostrich and pretending not to see, many difficulties indeed become trivial.

Moreover, if the sky falls, the taller ones will prop it up. Even if the Dorne Empire falls into chaos first, the Great Tang Empire would initially invade Dorne, absorbing regions like Gobur, making an attack on the Laines Empire still distant, at least a year or two away.

But aiding Dorne is akin to cutting flesh from the Laines Empire right now, and the feeling is entirely different.

"I said to spend money to select some beauties, you said there’s no money! I said to spend money to renovate the palace, you also said there’s no money! Now you can suddenly produce millions to support Dorne? Finance Minister, explain! Explain this to me! What the hell is this reasoning?" Laines the Second stood up, walked over to a minister, and questioned vehemently.

The Finance Minister dared not answer and bowed his head, pretending to be dead. He actually couldn’t raise much money to support Dorne; most of the funds were siphoned from various projects.

Everyone understands the principle of shared danger, so they’d rather take less to support Dorne temporarily, buying everyone more time.

But the Emperor of this country... previously when spending was proposed, no one agreed. This stark contrast indeed was something the Emperor found hard to accept.

If it were a wise Emperor, a few explanations might suffice to smooth things over. But facing one not known for discernment, everyone found it very difficult.

"Your Majesty! Shared danger..." Somi, the Foreign Minister, attempted to reason, considering that if the Tang people invaded, losing the country would be the most unacceptable thing for an Emperor, wouldn’t it?

But barely halfway through his sentence, Laines the Second spat back: "I’m already freezing, what’s the use of talking about shared danger? Tens of thousands of barrels of fuel! A hundred thousand tons of grain! My subjects are still starving, and you just take the grain out to give to others?"

He finally thought of the people of Laines... His distress for the starving citizens seemed absent before. Moreover, he didn’t feel troubled about wasting resources when planning to renovate the palace.

"I don’t care! If these things can be squeezed out to aid Dorne, part of them can be held back for ourselves! Ten thousand barrels of fuel, twenty thousand tons of grain! Not a bit more!" Laines the Second held up two fingers firmly.

In his view, anyway, there are still the Suthers Empire, Poplar Empire, and Ice Cold Empire further north; everyone should contribute, right...

Everyone should chip in...

But in reality, after the Tang Country sidelined all the countries on the Eastern Continent, showing no interest in eastward focus, all nations began to slack off in supporting Dorne.

This is also why Dorne began to falter: the resources they could obtain from countries around the world dwindled, given less and less each time, eventually failing to offset the consumption of Dorne’s nationwide war preparations.

Actually, there was no way to refute the Emperor in such matters, and the ministers, including Somi, knew this was almost the limit.

They indeed had no way to provide substantial aid to Dorne without letting the Emperor squander a penny.

So these ministers gradually dispersed, leaving only Laines the Second panting on the throne.

...

The Poplar Empire was no different. After producing millions of gold coins worth of resources, the elven nobility and ministers also began to express dissatisfaction with aiding Dorne.

They believed the Laines Empire should contribute more, given their more northern position on the Eastern Continent and closer international relations with the Great Tang Empire, making it unnecessary to fully support Dorne.

The further northern Ice Cold Empire was willing to offer more oil, but the dwarves feared their assistance might draw the Great Tang Empire’s attention northward.

After all, besides Dorne, the most suitable landing point is their Ice Cold Empire: there is Shen Island acting as a stepping stone between them and the Great Tang Empire-controlled Western Continent.

If the Great Tang Empire were really provoked, declaring war directly on the Ice Cold Empire and landing near Eternal Winter Port isn’t impossible...

Therefore, the aid the Ice Cold Empire gave to Dorne was also reduced to a relatively small extent. But their aid was offered more readily and more often.

The Empire of Nanla, influenced by Mo Kangsen, always maintained a good relationship with the Great Tang Empire. Hence, Nanla’s aid to Dorne was not much, being the kind that is better than none.

Dorne didn’t expect much from the Empire of Nanla, relying more on the aid from the Laines Empire and the Poplar and Ice Cold Empires.

The Suthers Empire also gave quite a bit of support, but because they lacked a coast, they were not very proactive in countering the Great Tang Empire’s landing.

These empires all had their reasons, and they all began to reduce their support for Dorne, making the situation on Dorne’s side even more difficult.