Two Hundred and Forty-Five Deceptive

The brand-new parchment was spread out on Earl Galvez's desk, with a wine glass on the upper edge and a pocket watch on the lower edge.

On the left hand of the pocket watch is the French signature of [Edward Kenway], and on the right hand is the English cursive script of [Alexander Hamilton]. The handwriting is handsome, just like him.

It's just that there is no one behind the desk. Lorraine is drinking wine on the sofa, Carmen is sitting beside him dignifiedly, and the count is standing by the window, looking at the construction site in the distance.

"Kenway..."

"I am here."

"Do you know why the Yankees agreed to this price?"

"Know part of it more or less."

"Tell me."

Lorraine put down his glass, stood up and cleared his throat.

"First of all, the blockade." He said softly, "I don't know whether the earl took all the business to Baltimore or the British blockade is really effective. In short, judging from the situation at the dock, there are very few smuggling ships in Baltimore."

"Your guesses are actually correct." The earl said something that surprised Lorraine, "Baltimore is the designated port of the Continental Army, and we are indeed the only ones conducting maritime trade with the Continental Army at this stage."

"But Chesapeake Bay is not Baltimore Bay. There are many ports in Virginia and Maryland, especially Norfolk in Virginia and Annapolis in Maryland. The scale of the transaction is not smaller than Baltimore."

"State Militia?"

"Maryland has the reputation of an old frontier state, and Virginia is a core war zone. Both states have a huge demand for arms and militias. They are areas that are really fighting desperately for the establishment of the nation."

"This way I can understand the behavior of the British." Lorraine solved a doubt, "Baltimore, Annapolis, and Norfolk, as well as those small ports for private smuggling. We have many friends, but it is estimated that Except for us, other trade lines are still in the traditional mode of subcontracting and distribution, and each fights on its own.”

"There are more smuggling ships, and the power of the formation's defense will be greater. The gains that are visible to the naked eye will attract more and more attention from the British, just like carrion placed there, it will always attract jackals to stop."

The earl smiled: "It seems that the first reason is established, the blockade. The Americans probably thought that we had suffered huge losses before you broke in by chance. After all, the losses in Maryland and Virginia were real, and the ship sank into the water. God There was no way of knowing where she wanted to go."

"Then, ambition." Lorraine stretched out his second finger, "Each contract can arm a standard grenadier regiment, build four, and the Continental Army will have the strength to organize battles, and ten is enough to lead the line It helps build the Continental Army’s prestige by launching a series of campaigns on the scale of Clinton’s Down South with the columns and the militia.”

"Since you can see this, you must also see the needs of France." The count turned to look at Lorraine, "France and the United States are friends, good friends. We helped them stand up and taught them to walk, but if Possibly, we just hope they never learn it in their lifetime."

"But children have to learn to walk." Lorraine looked back uncompromisingly, "Before learning to walk, they have already learned to speak and have the ability to express their wishes. If France doesn't want to teach him to walk again, he will Time to find new friends."

The earl's eyes turned sharp.

"Edward Kenway, you are a well-informed little man. Could it be that in some gloomy place, you have heard rumors that we have never heard? Is it Spain? Portugal? Denmark? Or Holland?"

"Why can't it be England?"

Lorraine is quite unaffected by the count,

Even, it seems more relaxed.

He paced back to the sofa, picked up the wine glass on the coffee table, and shook the ice cubes inside.

"Carmen, do you know the history of the War of Independence?"

Carmen never hesitated at such a critical moment.

"In 1773, Samuel Adams, a Bostonian, poured tea violently; in 1774, the Continental Congress was held in Philadelphia; in 1775, gunshots sounded in Lexington, and the militia officially clashed with the British army; a few months later, the Second Continental Congress The Declaration of Independence is issued, and the United States of America is established...”

"Enough is enough."

Lorraine patted Carmen's shoulder with a smile, turned around lazily, and looked at the earl for the second time.

"France is always overconfident, but they don't know the root of the United States' resistance to Britain. This war is like an adolescent child rebelling against his father. No matter how fierce the dispute is, the father is still the father."

"Count, please recall this war as objectively as possible, violence, quarrels, violence, leaving home, does the whole process look like a family farce?"

"It's okay for France to mix in with that kid when he's wandering. It's okay to give him a stick and teach him to fight. But a kid who can't survive on his own will always be homesick. When he gets homesick, he will forget the time he left Unhappy, forgetting father's determination, humiliating, begging for mercy."

"What can France get? Hate!" Lorraine raised his hand and raised his glass to the sky. "Father hates France for instigating children, and children hate France for bewitching and seductive. Neighbors and friends will only think that France is stupid and stupid when they see this joke." There is no cure!"

"There is only one way to prevent that child from going home. Let him be strong, let him be independent, let him remember France as a teacher, and replace the image of his father in his heart. What's more, we can tease his desire and make him miss his father property, making him feel that everything should belong to him.”

"Desire! Desire is the original sin. Even the Lord and the Father cannot erase it from the human heart. Once it takes root and sprouts, there is no room for family affection to turn back. Only hatred and jealousy will carry them through. This! What France should pursue!"

The study was eerily quiet.

Lorraine didn't speak, Carmen smiled and said nothing, the count walked back to the desk with a gloomy face, silently, looking at the new contract on the table.

"You...is this the reason why you dare to sign a new contract?"

"No." Lorraine replied as a matter of course, "My purpose is only to make money, and everything before is just gossip based on feelings."

"Can gossip bewitch people?"

Lorraine laughed.

He knew that the count was about to agree, and now there was only one last step needed, to use this kick to push away everything that had accumulated before, and to push away the count's shame and patriotic enthusiasm.

He said softly: "Count, you are wrong."

"wrong?"

"It is not my words that are demagogic, but your patriotism."

"Patriotic...bewitched?"

"Is it strange?" Lorraine beckoned and asked Carmen to refill the drink for him, "I guess you are hesitating, hesitating how to send today's gossip to His Majesty's desk, let him understand your loyalty, Your goodwill, of course, also has the ability."

"yes……"

"Let me guess again, you may be frustrated to find that there is no suitable passage around you, and the only one you can rely on seems to be the queen, and the queen..."

"Queen... what?"

"That lady is very nice, smart, beautiful, educated, talented, and has a good family, which ensures her political influence. However, you don't want to rely too much on her. It's just helpless to be a nepotism. If possible, You still hope to be the pillar of a political association, using your talents instead of the trust of the master to serve the country."

The count felt his mouth dry and bitter. He wanted to stop Lorraine from speaking, and wanted to know what Lorraine wanted to say.

He drank the wine on the desk in one gulp, letting the spicy taste slip through his mouth: "I think so, don't I?"

"It's not a question of right or wrong, it's just the same question. Joan of Arc must have thought about it back then."

"Saint... my lord?" The earl heard Joan of Arc from Lorraine for the second time, and the conversation was completely different from the last time, representing a completely different meaning, "You mean, I will be as lonely as the saint die."

"The end of a political career should be similar to a certain extent, right?" Lorraine leaned on the sofa and leaned down. "You, life is finally fulfilled, but you have forgotten who brought you the wish."

The Count woke up with a start!

Yes.

At that time, he paid a huge price for offending the whole of France in exchange for the queen's support. He actually forgot such an important matter.

Bernardo de Galvez, the first Earl of Louisiana, a member of the First French Parliament, and a rising political star during the Louis XVI period.

His image has already been determined, and none of the courtiers, courtiers, treacherous ministers, and favored ministers has anything to do with integrity, and it is impossible to wash away the brand of the queen.

This was his own choice, and he had no regrets when he chose, but now he almost forgot all about it.

Queen Mary is his support, not the king, and allegiance to the queen is allegiance, not France.

What does the queen need?

Do you want France to be strong and enduring? In her heart, France probably never faded.

Do you want His Majesty Louis to be grand? In her heart, her husband was probably grand in the first place.

The count met Queen Mary, and although they didn't talk for a long time, he was sure that was what she thought.

The Habsburg lady was by no means stupid, but her life had been out of touch with the world, and she had been out of touch for many years, and she could never sink back into the world...

All she wants is money!

The count glanced at the contract and asked softly, "Is this the gift you prepared for me?"

"Gifts or steps, who knows? I just want the goods anyway."

"Someone will bring you the goods you need, tell me now, is this a gift?"

Lorraine didn't seem to hear the earl's words, and just whispered there as if talking to himself.

"For the queen who loves money, smuggling should be very important, right? There are her agents and dealers here, but in her heart, who is more trustworthy..."