Both the host and the guests enjoyed the sumptuous banquet.
After the banquet, Laurist invited the vice chairman of the Peterson Merchant Association to his study for tea. Fatty Shi was the only one accompanying him.
The vice chairman handed over a letter personally written by Chairman Peterson. The letter stated bluntly that ever since they received news of the death of the third prince, the higher-ups of the merchant association had begun to argue over whether to continue using the northwestern region of the Redelis Kingdom as their territory. No one was willing to put themselves in front of the 300,000 soldiers commanded by the second prince.
Chairman Peterson believed that once the third prince died, the second prince would definitely launch an attack on the Redelis Kingdom in April or May. By then, the war would continue, and the northwestern region would soon be affected. If the Peterson Merchant Association continued to consolidate the northwestern region as their territory, the second prince would likely sweep away all the efforts the merchant association had made in the northwestern region of the Redelis Kingdom.
Currently, the war between the trade union and the Telimbo Kingdom was in a stalemate. The Peterson Merchant Association could no longer focus their attention on the Telimbo Kingdom, especially since the Twin Dragon Merchant Association and the Mayflower Merchant Association had clearly expressed their intention to take over the territory from the Telimbo Kingdom. The Peterson Merchant Association was even more unwilling to become Duke Lulm's defensive barrier alone. They had also decided to take a slice of the pie from the Telimbo Kingdom.
Now that the three major Chambers of Commerce had shifted their territory, the Chicant Chamber of Commerce had no choice but to give up on making Siloas Island their territory. If they insisted on occupying Siloas Island, not only would they become sworn enemies with the Norton family, they would also become the target of the second prince's attacks.
As the Norton family's territory, Silovas Island was within the Andinac Kingdom's territory. If the Chikede Merchant Association occupied it, it would be the same as ceding territory to the kingdom. For the second prince, who was determined to unify the former Crisen Empire, this was like a slap to his face. The Chikede Merchant Association could become enemies with a noble, but they could not withstand the wrath of the ruler of a kingdom, especially a king who had a powerful military force in his hands.
Looking at the letter, Laurist really wanted to laugh. President Peterson had spent a lot of time in the letter to tell Laurist that the situation had changed, and no one had any designs on his Cirvas Island. So, Laurist could do business with him without worry.
However, President Peterson also made three requests in the letter. First, the Peterson Chamber of Commerce wanted to monopolize the sea trade route from Hidden Gold Bay to Sirovas Island. After the interception at sea, it was impossible for the Chickford Merchant Union to establish a relationship with the Norton family again. Since that was the case, the Peterson Merchant Union did not hold back and obtained this trade route for free.
Secondly, because of the war, it was difficult for the Peterson Chamber of Commerce to gather more than two million Gold Fords to conduct a cash transaction with the Norton Family. Therefore, they could only barter. If the Norton Family needed anything, they could ask the Peterson Chamber of Commerce to purchase on their behalf. This would alleviate the problem of the Peterson Chamber of Commerce not having enough cash.
The main point of President Petersen's letter was the third request. Although it had only been a month since the war between the Commerce Confederation and the Telimbo Kingdom, President Petersen, as one of the seven leaders of the Commerce Confederation, had already noticed his greatest weakness. The Peterson Chamber of Commerce did not lack high-end combat power. What it lacked was an elite armed force that could charge into the enemy lines and follow orders obediently.
As one of the seven leaders of the Commerce Confederation, the Peterson Chamber of Commerce mainly dealt in furs and long-distance transportation. It also took into account construction, shipping, food, sauna, entertainment, and other industries. It did not lack manpower. For example, if the frontlines needed support, the Peterson Chamber of Commerce could mobilize people to form an armed force and rush to the Telimbo Kingdom at any time.
However, this would inevitably have a negative impact on the operations of the Peterson Chamber of Commerce. Moreover, the armed force of the Peterson Chamber of Commerce was more than enough for defensive battles, but it would be very difficult to order them to attack the enemy's army. This was not just President Petersen's idea. It was the consensus of the seven leaders of the Commerce Confederation when the Telimbo Kingdom was facing off against the allied forces of the other kingdoms.
After the implementation of the Lord system in the Commerce Confederation, the seven leaders would all be conferred the title of Duke and have a Grand Duchy. Therefore, it was urgent to form an elite standing armed force that belonged to the Chamber of Commerce.
The Double-Headed Dragon Chamber of Commerce was the first to act, and they were the most ruthless. They had the entire city defense force in their arms. President Cambert had already decided to comply with the resolution proposed by the Congress of the Confederation to disband the city defense force every year in October, allowing each city to form their own garrison to reduce military expenditure. He would transfer all the city defense force to the territory of the Chamber of Commerce to form a regular army.
The Mayflower Chamber of Commerce did not want to be outdone. The light cavalry patrol team in the Christoph Hills became their target. In any case, the Christos Hills would be divided into more than fifty fiefs after the enfeoffment system was implemented. The light cavalry patrol team was worried about the future. Now that they were in love with each other, the two of them were very passionate about each other …
The Ford Chamber of Commerce was very calm. When they took over the Prigas Province of the Duchy of Lulm, they had already taken over more than ten thousand soldiers of the Duchy's garrison. They were currently in the process of reorganizing.
The Livord Chamber of Commerce was not in a hurry. While they were persuading the Duchy of Mobia to join the Commerce Confederation, they also had their eyes on the Duchy's armed forces. They were now speeding up their operations.
The Chikder Chamber of Commerce originally had a lot of influence in the Invincible Fleet in Cangjin Bay. Moreover, they mainly relied on the sea, so they seemed to have no interest in forming their own armed garrison force. This might have something to do with the fact that their territory had not been settled yet.
As for the Visia Chamber of Commerce, their territory had also not been settled. However, when they invested in the iron mines of the Redelis Kingdom and the Iberian Kingdom, they had recruited a lot of desperadoes and formed several iron mine guard teams. As long as they had territory, they could merge these teams into a fighting force.
With this calculation, President Peterson began to feel anxious. It was true that his chamber of commerce had a lot of people. It was not a problem to deal with bandits and bandits on the way, or to fight with other chambers of commerce. However, it was more difficult to form a regular and elite armed force of the chamber of commerce. This was not something that could be done with just a lot of people. They had to go through strict military training before they could form an army. Moreover, with the Grand Duchy, the Peterson Chamber of Commerce had to have an armed force that could hold down the new territory.
Therefore, President Peterson set his sights on Laurist. His third request was for Laurist to provide him with a reliable plan to build an army. He also hoped that Laurist could open up the daily training of his family's armed forces to the people brought by the vice president. In this era, President Peterson's request could be considered extremely presumptuous. For many military nobles, training methods were their family's secrets.
President Peterson also understood Lollister's character. He went straight to the point and said in the letter that the Peterson Chamber of Commerce did not lack military talents, but the opinions of these military talents were either obtained from books or did not sound reliable at first glance. He did not want to form an armed caravan at all. It was a waste of time and effort, and he did not know what the results would be …
The Norton family was a traditional military noble of the former Crisen Empire. In particular, their performance in the past two years was even more impressive. This referred to the annihilation of the Grand Duke of the North and the 100,000 troops of the second prince in one battle. After that, they took down the capital of the Iberian Kingdom and forced Duke Fisablun's Ranger army to surrender …
Therefore, President Peterson hoped that Laurist would help him out on account of their past friendship. He believed that Laurist would definitely give him a satisfactory answer.
Yes, President Peterson's eyes are not bad. It seems that the military achievements and prestige of our family's armed forces have finally spread. Laurist was a little proud of himself. After reading it, he handed the letter to Fatty Shi.
Fatty Shi read the letter with a smile, then a frown, and finally a slight shake of his head …
Laurist understood what he meant. At first, Fatty Shi was happy for President Peterson's analysis because Silovas Island would not become a target for others. This meant that the original development plan could proceed as usual, and he would not have to leave Silovas Island.
The frown was because President Peterson had played a trick on the first and second requests. On one hand, he wanted to monopolize the trade route from Hidden Gold Bay to Silovas Island, but on the other hand, he was worried that Laurist would form another fleet to trade with. He deliberately said that he did not have enough cash and requested to barter with goods. His goal was to firmly control the import and export channels. That way, the Norton family would not have to form another trade fleet to save trouble.
He shook his head to reject President Peterson's third request. Fatty Shi had always believed that the elites of the Norton family's armed forces had surpassed the military forces of all the countries in this era. How could the methods of training soldiers be made public? Besides, the good relationship between the Peterson Chamber of Commerce and the Norton family did not mean that the trade union would change its hostile attitude towards the Andinac Kingdom. Helping the Peterson Chamber of Commerce build elite armed forces was simply an act of aiding the enemy.
However, Laurist did not think so. With a smile on his face, he agreed to all three of President Peterson's requests. He was so straightforward that even the vice president was very surprised. Laurist said that treating people with sincerity was a tradition of the Norton family. The Peterson Chamber of Commerce had come as a friend of the Norton family, so they would naturally be welcomed with good wine. The Norton family would definitely do their best to help and would not let their friend down.
After arranging to watch the daily training of the White Bird Town garrison and the Guards Battalion the next day, Laurist sent off the grateful vice president of the Peterson Chamber of Commerce.
As soon as he turned around, he saw Fatty Shi's angry face. Perhaps worried that the vice president, who was not far away, would hear the quarrel, Fatty Shi purposely lowered his voice. "Are you crazy? Why did you let them watch the daily training of the Guards Battalion? That is the training method of our family that cannot be divulged to outsiders! "
Laurist chuckled and patted Fatty Shi's shoulder. "Don't be nervous. Our family's training method is not so easily divulged …"
"Then are you trying to fool them?"
"Not really. For example, the Guards Battalion's daily training is nothing more than formation and battle drills. Such training is not a secret in most countries' standing armies. "For example, our family's army first used the training methods of the White Lion Legion of the Crisen Empire that Bofinger brought to us. "Then, as the convoy travelled north, we gradually added in all kinds of training methods. Finally, we merged them in the family's territory, and after the test of the Magical Beast Tide, we formed our Norton family's unique training method.
"To put it bluntly, our family's training method is nothing more than a few points. First, we strengthen the recruits' adherence to military discipline and orders in the recruit camp. Second, we will not accept those who have not awakened their fighting power into the family's armed forces. Third, after awakening their fighting power, they will have to go through three months of basic military training before they can be assigned to the regular army. Fourth, excellent equipment and generous treatment, as well as perfect logistical services, not only increase morale, but also loyalty and cohesion to the family. "Fifth, we also have preferential treatment for the families of soldiers and the follow-up care for the families of martyrs. This not only strengthens the family's soldiers' sense of honor and improves their status, but it also makes them more willing to sacrifice themselves and fight.
Let's put it this way. Unless the Peterson Chamber of Commerce completely transfers our training system and spends a few years to train them, they might be able to train an elite Chamber of Commerce army that looks similar on the surface. Otherwise, it would just be imitating a cat to draw a tiger. It would look good, but it would be useless.
"In fact, I think that the north journey has benefited our family's armed forces a lot. True elites are created by killing, not by training. It was precisely this long journey to the north that honed the armaments of the caravan. Thus, after they arrived at the family territory, they only needed a little reorganization and training to become a true elite force. Coupled with excellent equipment, they were invincible. "
Pouring a glass of fruit wine for Fatty Shi, Laurist talked about his plans. He was going to use this opportunity to help the Peterson Merchant Guild build its armed forces to sell the family's standard equipment to the Trade Alliance. The business of equipment and weapons had always been profitable. No matter how much the three allies in the north expanded their armaments, they were almost at their limit. Moreover, Duke Fisablun had exchanged enough cattle and sheep for standard equipment in the past two years, and there was no longer any chance to extract extra profits.
Originally, when he went to the capital of the Andinac Kingdom, Laurist's first goal was to hand over the hot gourd that was the second prince to the second prince. Secondly, he wanted to trade with the second prince for standard equipment. Who knew that the second prince's warehouse had almost become a rat's training ground in order to support the 300,000 soldiers. It would have been better if Laurist had not mentioned it. Now that he had mentioned the Second Prince's promise, it would be like a pie in the sky. Furthermore, Laurist did not want to invite trouble for himself, so he did not mention it.
The production of weapons in the Trade Alliance had always been in the hands of one of the Seven Magnates, the Visia Merchant Guild. However, Laurist believed that the Visia Merchant Guild couldn't immediately provide large quantities of standard equipment, especially when the Trade Alliance was preparing to implement the Lord system. Those who were conferred the title of Earl and above would definitely prepare to build their own territory's armed forces like the Seven Magnates. When it came to showing off, merchants were never willing to fall behind. If others had something they didn't, it would make them feel very embarrassed …
Under such circumstances, no matter how capable the Visia Merchant Guild was, they couldn't satisfy everyone's demand for standard equipment. So, the Norton Family's standard equipment could enter the trade alliance's military market through the Peterson Merchant Guild. As long as they could get a third of the orders, the Norton Family would no longer have to worry about the large amount of funds needed to develop their territory and expand their family's armed forces.
Fatty Shi's anger turned into joy, and he strongly requested to be given the job of selling the standard equipment to him. Laurist agreed. He believed that Fatty Shi would definitely be able to obtain the greatest profit for the family in the equipment trade.
The next morning, the people from the Peterson Chamber of Commerce went to watch the daily training of the White Bird Town garrison under the accompaniment of Lollister and Fatty Shi. Although the lame garrison captain, Victor, was working very hard under the observation of the Suzerain and the others, the White Bird Town garrison had a weak foundation, after all. They were ineffective and made many mistakes during training. The people from the Peterson Chamber of Commerce secretly curled their lips and showed disdain. They even privately said that the garrison was inferior to the Chamber of Commerce's current armed forces …
Laurist's expression was the same as usual. He didn't mind the rumors at all. After treating them to lunch and resting for a while, he took a carriage to Falama Village. The afternoon training of the 3rd Imperial Guard Battalion was about to begin.
A series of low and deep bugles sounded, and the empty wheat field was soon filled with guards in greyish-white uniforms who rushed out of the village. Then, under a series of short and sharp orders, they were divided into three rectangular phalanxes within a dozen blinks of an eye. They were lined up horizontally, and lined up sideways. No one made a sound. They were as silent as iron statues, motionless and awe-inspiring.
The people from the Peterson Merchant Guild were shocked. When an expert made a move, one could tell whether they were real or not. Just from the formation, it could be seen that this was a true elite force. The three square formations stood there. An army of 3,000 people wasn't a lot, but it gave off an extremely heavy and heavy feeling. It was as if they were facing a huge mountain, making people feel unshakable despair and helplessness …
The vice president took a deep breath and asked with a smile, "Is this the elite force of the Norton family?"
"Yes, you can say that. This is the 3rd Imperial Guard Battalion, formed not long ago …" Laurist nodded, but he was very dissatisfied. This kid Padt should be taught a lesson. Why did he take so long to line up? Was he thinking about that beautiful Marsha? This would make him forget that Marsha and her mother had already moved to the north.
The rest of the training didn't need to be described in detail. Anyway, the people from the Peterson Merchant Guild were already amazed by what they saw. It was an eye-opener for them to know how a real elite force was trained.
At this time, it was Fatty Shi's turn to speak. He listed out what an elite armed force needed, how to make them loyal to their family, how to increase their morale and courage, and how to make them obey orders and commands. If he did not always emphasize the role of excellent standard equipment for elite armed forces, he would have been more persuasive.
Ten days passed in the blink of an eye. The people from the Peterson Merchant Guild spent every day in the 3rd Imperial Guard Battalion. It was about time for them to go back, and Laurist was ready to return to the north. Just then, a piece of news came, and everyone was shocked.
Seven days ago, the second prince launched a surprise attack and captured the capital of the Redelis Kingdom …
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