"It's a meeting. Everyone is serious. Those who chat can collect it. You have affected the people who drink tea with pine nuts."

Roger knocked on the table "bangbang", and then he turned to Elvira:

"My Home Secretary, do you have any good news to tell everyone?"

Roger actually knew what Elvira wanted to say.

But he just likes to let Elvira report at the meeting, and he feels it feels more ritual.

Elvira took the sheepskin paper and said:

“The following is a summary of our income and expenditure in Sicily…

“Famines have eased everywhere, which has led to a decrease in our food exports.

“The military’s spending has increased dramatically, putting a lot of pressure on our money bags.

“But overall, the situation is still optimistic.

“The import and export trade between Palermo and Syracuse continues to rise.

“Our income is still much greater than our expenses.”

Roger smiled proudly.

Over the years, he has adhered to Adelaide's strategy of making a fortune in silence, and has been doing a prosperous monopoly on trade.

He knew that Christian countries along the Mediterranean were jealous of Sicily and tried every means to make trouble.

Roger has heard rumors more than once.

What are the things like "Roger was actually a fan of affair with the Arabs" and "Sicilians are not pious enough, they worship Satan" and so on.

But he just survived and refused to go to war with the Arabs.

Elvira continues:

"The sugar cane we smuggled from the Arab countries has been successfully tested in the southern Sicily region and has now begun to grow in large quantities."

Roger interrupted, and he asked Muttier: "Does the spies sent out have news back?"

Muttier said: "Mr. Earl, the equipment, processes and spies for sugar making have been reported."

Elvira added: "We have already started trying to make sugar according to the information of the spies, but the sugar produced is average and the output is less than that of the Arabs."

"The spies have bribed several masters of sugar making and are now preparing to transfer them and their families."

Roger remembers seeing it online before that somewhere in Fujian still uses the traditional method to make brown sugar, and it seems that it is burning it continuously in a few large pots.

He shook his head and stopped recalling. There was only a rough introduction online, but the real secret was not revealed.

Moreover, this job is clearly dependent on craftsmanship, and it cannot be done with just a few words of theory.

He thought, it doesn’t matter how much sugar is boiled, the key is to break the Arab monopoly on sugar.

As long as you can take out the candy yourself, you can snatch the price in the trade and grab the Arab profits.

He thought, therefore, maintaining trade with the Arabs was the most important thing.

Roger ordered: "Remember, there are some things that can be done, but not said.

"Anyway, the Arabs cannot be given evidence that we Sicilians steal their technology."

"But, my dear, as long as we take out our candy, don't they know who stole their technology?"

"Who said that we didn't steal it, we asked about the technology that others bought.

"Yes, Venetians, just talk about the technology I bought from Venetians.

"So it was stolen by the Venetians, it has nothing to do with us."

Muttier said in surprise: "Ah? Can you still cheat like this?"

Roger glared at him: "What's wrong with that?

"Tell the spy to leave some evidence when retreating.

“For example, drawing a lion with wings on the wall and writing something like ‘The Venetians are here’.

"Splash dirty water on them, these guys are not clean anyway."

Roger was complacent about his wit, and he asked Mutelyi again:

"Have you got the manufacturing process of hemp paper?"

Mutelyi looked embarrassed: "Sir, this matter is really difficult. The Arabs are very careful and the spy can't get in."

"Spend money, buy it, don't save money for me, dig up their craftsmen for me."

Muttier said aggrievedly: "It's really not possible, I can see it all."

Elvira interrupted, "Dear, did you give me the 12 processes of making hemp paper for chopping, drying, papermaking, and drying paper last time? Why didn't it be made by Muttier?"

Luo Jie thought, of course not, that was the "max paper" making technique that later generations of Xiangfen Dengzhuang had been committed to for thousands of years, but there were only simple theoretical introductions on the Internet.

He casually said: "Papermaking is from the East. When I was in Catalonia, I heard the minstrel say it."

Roger is pushing all kinds of messy things to Catalonia now.

Anyway, he has been there, but Elvira has never been there, so what he can say.

He was afraid that Elvira would ask, so he asked:

"Did you ask someone to make that hemp paper?"

Elvira took out a hard piece of stuff from under the table, like a brick or a foam.

She gave it to Roger: "Just create this."

Roger felt that it was still a technical issue. He thought that professional things still need professionals to do.

But he thought, these Westerners were really bad, and the things that Chinese people could do with drums were told about the general craftsmanship, but they could not do it.

Roger knew that this was too urgent, he said:

"Elvira, you keep asking people to try. Muttier, the same thing, things must be done, but you must not get evidence, it proves that we did it."

Roger turned to look at Danny again: "Danny, you should still hold on to the matter of the permanent army."

Danny was still drinking mint tea with a smile just now, but in the blink of an eye he turned into a sad face.

Roger felt that Danny must have bitten the chameleon and evolved like Spider-Man.

He could actually guess what Danny wanted to say.

As expected, Danny said in a crying voice: "Sir, that equipment..."

Roger looked at Elvira with helpless eyes.

Elvira slapped the table with a "small": "Don't even think about it!"

Roger saw Elvira's right side, "Navy Marshal" Dulles seemed to want to say something, but was slapped by Elvira and shrunk back.

Elvira raised her eyebrows: "You know how much does it cost to spend these more than 5,000 people in a year for food and drink, and their salary?"

Roger saw Dulles like a tortoise, and only knew to drink mint tea. It seemed that what he wanted to say was choking in his throat, but now he wanted to use tea to rush it into his stomach.

But Elvira did not let Dulles go.

"And you, Dulles, don't think that if you don't speak, I won't see you.

"Your navy is like Levi'anson, the giant crocodile that God showed to Job in a whirlwind in the Book of Job.

"You are devouring gold coins faster than the Glutty Morok."

Dulles looked aggrieved: "But this is the instruction of the Count. He said that Sicily is an island, and the development of the island country is only one way to conquer the ocean."

Danny echoed that although he and Dulles had quarreled over the resource, they were now standing in a trench.

"Yes, yes, the adults said, without a strong army to protect, Sicily would be like a child, walking in the downtown area with a large chunk of gold."

Roger said twice, and concluded seriously:

"Elvira, the money you should spend is still needed."

"Bang"

Elvira slapped the table again, and the three men shrank their necks together.
Chapter completed!