"Chinese cabbage is the most delicious thing in the world!"
In the spacious and bright living room, Duke Hawke expressed his opinions. He talked eloquently and kept talking about the benefits of cabbage. His excited expression was like a preacher from afar, wishing to draw everyone into his. Cabbage God Cult'.
Ma Wei has been looking for opportunities to interrupt, but unfortunately, Duke Hawke's cabbage theory seems to be inexhaustible, and he seems to be a chatterbox that has been suppressed for a long time, and he can't stop once he speaks.
Katerina sat on the edge, looking calm and composed on the surface, nodding and smiling from time to time, but in fact her fists were already clenched. If the palace etiquette she had received since childhood had not taught her to be calm no matter what happened, she would have exploded long ago.
Amidst the squeaking sound, the butler Lu Jin walked in from the side door carrying a tea set, his steps swaying from side to side. It was obvious that he had diarrhea and his legs were weak, but he still had to serve tea.
"It's just in time, try it quickly. This is the cabbage tea I invented two days ago!" Duke Hawke personally picked up the teapot and filled Mawei's people with amber tea: "I found that as long as the Stir the cabbage into a pulp and add it to the juice made from licorice, rock sugar, and black pepper, and you will get a whole new experience! Lu Jin and the others agreed after drinking it!"
The butler Lu Jin who was standing next to him swayed and quickly held onto the sofa to stabilize his fallen figure.
Looking at the spoonful of cabbage pulp that Duke Hawke scooped up from the tin can, Ma Wei and the others looked at each other and communicated quickly with their eyes.
Katerina shook her head without leaving a trace, and signaled Ma Wei and others not to drink, let alone have the idea of trying to try something new. As someone who has experienced it, she...
Have absolute say.
But Duke Hawke had no intention of letting go of the test subject that finally appeared. According to his own taste, he added two tablespoons of cabbage pulp to the tea cup in front of Ma Wei. After stirring evenly, the amber tea suddenly became richer. There are very few suspicious white particles.
"Father Mavey, Katerina, what are you doing standing still? Drink! You're welcome!"
"Duke Hawke..."
Ma Wei did not move the tea cup in front of him, and took the hand of Yunia to hold the tea cup, and said with a smile: "Actually, we came here this time to ask you to borrow the baking oven in the village."
"oh."
When it came to matters that had nothing to do with cabbage, Duke Hawke suddenly became less interested: "You can use that thing as you like. You don't need to say hello to me. Just go and discuss it with the villagers."
"Also, we want to buy some grain." Ma Wei proposed the next purpose: "It would be best if you are willing to sell it to us at the price before the surge."
"Chinese cabbage?"
"No, wheat flour."
"As for wheat flour..." Hawke thought for a moment and looked at the butler Lu Jin: "How much wheat flour have been harvested this year?"
"Taking into account the entire territory, there are almost 10 tons of wheat flour. In addition, there are also some crops such as oats, barley, and potatoes." Butler Lu Jin remembered clearly: "This year's harvest is good, it is a good year."
Katerina frowned: "Why only 10 tons? I remember that there are thousands of acres of farmland in Uncle Hawke's territory, which is very fertile. According to the general taxes levied by nobles, it should be at least 50 tons. right!"
"The master is different from those nobles." Butler Lu Jin straightened his back, with a touch of pride on his pale face: "The master never imposes excessive taxes. The farmers in the territory only need to pay 10% according to the harvest, and there are no other unnecessary taxes. Fu, the baking oven, mill, etc. are all free to use. All I want is cabbage, and there are hundreds of tons of cabbage stored in the cellar of the manor!"
"If you are short of food, you can go to the village to buy it from the farmers."
Duke Hawke said: "They should have food in their hands, but compared with those big nobles, it is just a drop in the bucket. It cannot solve the food ration problem of the refugees."
Only then did Ma Wei realize that although Duke Hawke was ridiculed as the Cabbage Duke, he was not stupid at all. In fact, he saw many things clearly and already knew the purpose of their trip.
"My niece hasn't visited me in 17 years. She suddenly came to visit during the war. What could be the reason?" Duke Hawke took a sip of cabbage tea and said quietly.
"Uncle...actually I..."
"Needless to say, uncle understands everything. You are busy and don't have time to come back to visit uncle, right? It's hard to come here today. You have to stay for one night anyway. I have developed a lot of cabbage dishes over the years, and I have to show you my skills. That’s all.”
"No, no, no, we have something to do, let's leave now, leave now..."
Katerina stood up suddenly, turned around and wanted to run away. It is hard to imagine what a princess who dared to fight with the enemy went through at the age of 6 to leave such a big psychological shadow. Just when she held the doorknob , when planning to leave the manor...
Duke Hawke suddenly said: "Half a month ago, a young man from the United States of America suddenly found me."
After a pause, Katerina turned her head and asked doubtfully: "United States of Citi?"
"Yes, his name is Finn Drost. He is from New York and is the head of Citigroup Federal Bank."
Her eyelids twitched slightly, Katerina narrowed her eyes: "What is he looking for you for?"
"He is not looking for me, but for you, Katerina Romanov."
Duke Hawke said in a deep voice: "He represents Citigroup Federal Bank and the Drost family, and wants to contact you through me. I was also surprised at first. Why did he want me to be the middleman? Later I found out that you , not in the Romanov Kingdom."
Glancing at Mavi, who was frowning, Katerina sat back on the sofa: "What does this Finn Drost want to do?"
"He said that Citigroup Federal Bank is willing to open war loans to Katerina Romanov with no upper limit." Duke Hawke said word by word: "Katerina, he is in the village. If necessary, I can introduce it to you, but you have to remember... there is no such thing as pie in the sky."
Katerina fell into deep thought. After a moment, she looked at Mawei who was sitting next to her and asked, "Father, what's your opinion?"
"He's so ambitious, let him get lost."
"But we are short of money and food."
"There are some things you cannot do, Your Highness."
Ma Wei picked up the cabbage tea on the table. Just as he was about to drink it, he suddenly remembered something was wrong and immediately put it down: "The United States of Citi has come to the door at this time. It seems to be a help in times of need, but in fact it is seeking greater interests. We must not cooperate with him."
"Father, you seem to be very hostile to the United States of America..."
"Hostility?" Ma Wei smiled: "You can say that, because from the beginning, I regarded them as my biggest opponents."
"Why?"
"because..."
Ma Wei didn't know how to explain it to Katerina, so he sighed and said, "Since you think it can be discussed, Your Highness, then meet with them. You will understand the specific situation then."
