"Grand Duke Fisablon has authorized Princess Silvia to purchase 70,000 sets of standard equipment for the 103 Cavalrymen and 50,000 sets of standard equipment for embedded warriors from the Norton Family. At the same time, the list of daily necessities purchased from the Norton Family is as follows … The total amount is 1,270,000 gold fords."
An old man with a goatee who looked like a general manager read out the list in his hand and respectfully presented it to Shihuard. Shihuard then passed the list to Lollister.
After looking at the list for a long time, Lollister looked at Princess Silvia who was sitting on his left with a ruminating expression. "Your Highness, the Fisablon Family has purchased 100,000 sets of standard equipment for the 103 Cavalrymen from our family, and there are still 20,000 sets that can only be delivered next year. Only then can the agreement be completed. This is an agreement that you personally signed, so I don't think you've forgotten about it so quickly, right?
Even if a set of standard equipment for the 103 Cavalrymen is preferential to your family, it still costs 65 gold fords per set. 70,000 sets of standard equipment for embedded warriors cost 35 gold fords per set, so 50,000 sets would cost about 1,800,000 gold fords. In addition, more than 1,200,000 gold fords for daily necessities, the total amount would be close to 8,000,000 gold fords. Your Highness, can you tell me how the Fisablon Family is going to pay for this? "
Princess Silvia smiled like a flower. "Brother Locke, this time, the standard equipment and daily necessities that our family has purchased will all be paid in cash. We will use horseshoe gold for the transaction."
Horseshoe gold? Lollister was stunned. This was the currency used among the grassland barbarian tribes. Generally speaking, the grassland barbarian tribes were used to barter with each other. However, when it came to large transactions or goods brought by foreign merchants, they would also use horseshoe-shaped gold as currency. A normal transaction price was one hundred gold fords for a piece of horseshoe gold.
Even if the Fisablon Family had annihilated nearly a hundred grassland barbarian tribes in the northeast plains, they wouldn't be able to seize so much horseshoe gold. This was close to 8,000,000 gold fords. If nearly a hundred grassland barbarian tribes could have 80,000 horseshoe gold, then the grassland barbarian tribes in the northeast plains would have been wiped out long ago.
However, the Fisablon Family had been entrenched in the Northeast Prairie for decades. This time, they had emptied their family's treasury. Perhaps they could gather so much horseshoe gold. Then, the question was, why would the Fisabulon Family request to purchase so many resources and armaments at this time? What was that old fox, Grand Duke Fisabulon, planning?
Laurist stroked his chin and pondered for a moment before asking Princess Sylvia again.
"It's said that Grand Duke Fisablun has already reorganized two legions under his command. With an establishment of 92,000 people, the standard equipment provided by our Family didn't slow down the speed of the Fisablun Family's army. Furthermore, with the quality of the standard equipment produced by our Family, I don't believe that they would consume so much in the battle against the Grassland Barbarians, to the extent that the Fisablun Family would need to purchase another 70,000 sets of standard equipment. Can you tell me the real reason?
Please forgive my rudeness, Your Highness. It is not that the Norton Family is unwilling to make this deal, but it is obvious that Duke Fisablen is expanding his military strength with this purchase. Your family already has two regular cavalry legions, and he is purchasing 70,000 sets of standard equipment for the 103 cavalrymen. It is obvious that he is preparing to build another legion. As neighbors of the Northern Lands, we have doubts about the Fisablun Family's actions. To be honest, we are not willing to meet you on the battlefield. Before we know where Duke Fisablen is pointing his sword, we cannot agree to your purchase request. "
Princess Sylvia giggled. "My grandfather is right. He said that if we don't tell you the real reason for our expansion, you will not agree to this arms purchase deal. My grandfather told me to tell you that the Fisablun Family has no intention of changing the current situation and future of the Iberian Kingdom. If it was ten years later, my grandfather might still want to push my younger brother Horix to the throne, but since poor Horix was found to have a congenital heart defect by a pharmacist, my grandfather has no intention of doing so … "
Horix was the legitimate heir of the Iberian Kingdom. As the king of the kingdom, the second prince, Iberia, went to seek support from his father-in-law, Duke Fisablen, in order to send troops to the Duchy of Madras. As a result, the Duke locked him with his daughter, the Queen of the kingdom, and used drugs to make the Queen pregnant, and then gave birth to the little prince, Horix.
In fact, everyone knew that the marriage between the second prince and Duke Fisablen's daughter was actually a political marriage. The second prince had a bad reputation in the former Crimson Empire, and Duke Fisablen's daughter was also a slut, famous for her debauchery in the northeast prairie. After the two got married, the second prince established the Iberian Kingdom with the support of Duke Fisablen. The marriage between the king and the queen was on paper. The two had their own private lives, and no one was in the way of the other. The queen gave birth to two children, and the second prince was not inferior. He had three illegitimate children.
In the end, Duke Fisablen could not stand it anymore. He forced the king and the queen to lock them in a room and provided drugs so that the strange couple could have a normal married life. But when they finally gave birth to the heir named Horix, neither the second prince nor the queen loved the product of the drugs and treated it as nothing. It was just thrown into the Fisablen family, and more often than not, it was Princess Silvia who raised Horix.
"Huh? What did His Royal Highness Horix get? "Laurist was surprised.
"Congenital heart defect." Princess Sylvia sighed deeply. "My grandfather was very regretful. He said that it was his fault. He shouldn't have forced His Majesty and his wife to use the aphrodisiac, which caused Horix's heart to not fully develop. The pharmacist said that it would be difficult for Horix to live past the age of twenty. The older he grew, the heavier the burden on his heart. He could not train his qi, and even reading and writing for a long time was a danger to him. This is a congenital and incurable disease. There is no way to cure it. "
As she spoke, Princess Silvia's eyes were filled with tears. After all, she was the one who raised Horix. Being diagnosed with such a disease was not a small blow to her.
"Your Royal Highness, I am very sorry." Laurist expressed his apology.
"It's okay. I'm used to it." Princess Sylvia took a white silk handkerchief from the swordswoman and wiped her reddened eyes. "Chief Puro, please bring me the family's map."
Phullo was the old man with a goatee who had been reading out the list of supplies. He was also Princess Sylvia's supervisor. When he heard Princess Sylvia's summons, he hurriedly stepped forward with the map in hand and a maidservant in tow. Then, he and the maidservant each unfurled the map.
This was a complete map of the Northeast Prairie. It was the most complete and clear map of the Northeast Prairie that Laurist had seen so far. Even the source of every spring on the prairie was marked on the map.
The Northeast Prairie was described in some geography books as originating from the Demonic Dragon Mountain Range. It was located northeast of the human settlements of the Galinthea Continent. The terrain was slightly undulating, like a large green carpet laid at the foot of the Demonic Dragon Mountain Range. Its area was estimated to be the size of five Northern Lands. It was vast and boundless. It was said that it would take a month to walk from the southern end of the Northeast Prairie to the northern end on a fast horse.
Just like the active Mountain Barbarian tribes in the Demonic Dragon Mountain Range, the biggest scourge of the Northeast Prairie was the Grass Barbarian tribe. It was said that the Grass Barbarian tribe was a variant of the Mountain Barbarian tribe. They had transformed from the Mountain Barbarian tribe into a nomadic tribe. They lived on horseback since childhood, herding, hunting, and constantly swept through the human settlements around the Northeast Prairie, plundering all the supplies and manpower they needed. These Grass Barbarians on horseback had a specific name: the Grass Barbarian Cavalry. They were the most elite warriors of the Grass Barbarian tribe in the Northeast Prairie.
Before the establishment of the Christen Empire, the Grass Barbarian Cavalry had always been a thorn in the side of the Winston Province and the Southern Province. The largest invasion of the Grass Barbarian Cavalry was more than a hundred thousand cavalry. They penetrated deep into the Great Ontario Plains and drank horses at Egret Lake. All the nobles along the way could only stay in their own castles and desperately resist. They had no way to resist the Grass Barbarian Cavalry. They could only sit and watch the Grass Barbarian Cavalry run amok in the wilderness. That was the greatest damage that the Grass Barbarian Cavalry had caused to the human settlements. It was also the last glory of the Grass Barbarian Cavalry.
After the establishment of the Christen Empire, the founding emperor, Christen the First, sent troops to conquer the Northeast Prairie. He fought with the Grass Barbarian Cavalry for half a year, paying extremely heavy casualties. He wiped out nearly a hundred thousand Grass Barbarian Cavalry, expanded thousands of miles of land, and established the Muye Plain Province. In one fell swoop, he cut off the Grass Barbarian Cavalry from invading the human settlements. He separated the Northeast Prairie from the other provinces of the Empire. He stationed a large number of troops in the Muye Plain Province, making it impossible for the Grass Barbarian Cavalry to take another step.
When Grand Duke Fisablun expanded thousands of miles of land for the Empire and established the Eastern Wasteland Province. The Grass Barbarian tribes in the Northeast Prairie could no longer do anything. Apart from occasionally gathering ten to twenty thousand Grass Barbarian Cavalry to raid the Eastern Wasteland Province and the Muye Plain Province, most of the time, they were beaten up by the two roaming cavalry regiments under the command of the Fisablun Family. This was especially true during the civil war of the Empire. Even if the flames of war raged in the Empire, the Grass Barbarian tribes in the Northeast Prairie couldn't take the opportunity to invade the interior of the Empire. The roaming cavalry regiments of the Fisablun Family were like an insurmountable moat in front of them.
Princess Sylvia stood up and arrived in front of the opened map of the Northeast Prairie. She stretched out her hand and pointed, proudly declaring, "On the 21st of June this year, 70,000 elites of the Fisablun Family launched a surprise attack on the Greater and Lesser Gold Rivers. They wiped out more than 200,000 people from the Grass Barbarian Hubert Tribe. With 18,000 casualties, they captured the Greater and Lesser Gold Rivers in one fell swoop. My grandfather announced that the Greater and Lesser Gold Rivers would be under the jurisdiction of the Fisablun Family from now on. "
"Hiss …" The people present couldn't help but gasp in surprise, especially Count Kenneth. He rushed to the front of the map and clicked his tongue as he looked at it. "You guys actually passed through the Forest of Disorientation and the Wailing Ghost Cliff. No wonder you could launch a surprise attack on the Greater and Lesser Gold Rivers. This time, the Fisablun Family has struck it big …"
Although the terrain of the Northeast Prairie was flat, it wasn't without the existence of mountains and hills. From the map, it could be seen that the Eastern Wasteland Province and the Greater and Lesser Gold Rivers were very close. However, there was also a boundless forest and continuous hills and cliffs. It was easy to lose one's sense of direction if one entered by mistake, and it would be very difficult to get out once one entered. Regardless of whether it was the roaming cavalry of the Fisablun Family or the Grass Barbarian Cavalry, they all viewed the Forest of Disorientation and the Wailing Ghost Cliff as a dead end. Both sides saw this place as a natural defensive barrier for themselves.
The Greater and Lesser Gold Rivers were famous gold mines in the Galinthia Continent. More than two thousand years ago, during the Magic Civilization Era, there were spellcasters who had investigated this area and recorded it in a book called Exploration of the Geography of Galinthia. This book had been passed down to the present day. However, during the Magic Civilization Era, gold was not a valuable mineral material for spellcasters. Its value was far less than those magical metals. During the end of the Magic Civilization Era and the Thousand Years of Darkness, even if they knew that the Greater and Lesser Gold Rivers were rich in gold mines, no one had the means to mine them.
After the Thousand Years of Darkness, the Grass Barbarian Cavalry wreaked havoc in the Greater and Lesser Gold Rivers. The Grass Barbarian tribes that surrounded the hilly region also engaged in a frenzied slaughter and competition. In the end, the tribes that occupied the Greater and Lesser Gold Rivers were the top three in terms of strength among the Grass Barbarian tribes. The Hubet Tribe that Princess Silvia had mentioned was a very powerful Grass Barbarian tribe. They had thirty thousand armor, and the number of strong cavalrymen, men, women, and children who could mount their horses and fight was no less than one hundred and fifty to sixty thousand strong cavalrymen. However, no one had expected that they would be wiped out by the elite cavalry of the Fisablun Family in one day …
Laurist now understood where Princess Silvia's confidence in coming here to purchase military equipment came from. It was obvious that the horseshoe gold that she had mentioned this time was definitely what the Fisablun Family had seized from the Greater and Lesser Gold Rivers. He did not expect that after the Norton Family had destroyed the Haneabada Kingdom, the Fisablun Family of the Northeastern Great Plains did not want to be outdone. They launched a surprise attack and occupied the Greater and Lesser Gold Rivers, wiping out more than two hundred thousand Grass Barbarians.
Earl Kenneth was very excited. "Brother Locke, it seems like the Fisablun Family is rich. Our Snow Salt Merchant Guild can expand our trade with them. Did you know that the Greater and Lesser Gold Rivers are rich in gold mines? The most conservative estimate is that the gold sand produced every year is worth at least one and a half million gold coins. It's much better than the mine that our family has spent a lot of effort to produce at most three hundred thousand gold coins. Moreover, our family's small mine is in danger of drying up. The gold sand produced is getting less and less, and the cost of mining is getting higher and higher … "
Laurist looked at the map. If the Eastern Barren Province was in the middle, then the Greater and Lesser Gold Rivers were like two antennae. Since the foundation of the Greater and Lesser Gold Rivers had been established, the large amount of military equipment that the Fisablun Family had purchased was obviously in preparation for the establishment of the Ranger Corps in the Greater and Lesser Gold Rivers. In fact, the hilly terrain of the Greater and Lesser Gold Rivers was more suitable for humans than the Grass Barbarian Tribe. As long as they built a fortress in the dangerous terrain, the Greater and Lesser Gold Rivers would be impregnable. The Grass Barbarian Tribe would no longer be able to encroach on this rich land of gold mines.
"Congratulations to the Fisablun Family, Your Highness." Laurist congratulated Princess Silvia. "I agree to this military trade and will supervise the production department to produce this batch of standard equipment with good quality and quantity as soon as possible to deliver to the Fisablun Family. This is to express my admiration for the Grand Duke. Please convey my respect to the Grand Duke of Fisablun. At the same time, I admire the Grand Duke for not directing the elites of the family towards the interior of the Greater and Lesser Gold Rivers. Instead, he abided by his promise to guard the borders of the former Empire and expand its territory once again …
In order to express my respect and condolences to the Fisablun Family and the soldiers who conquered the Greater and Lesser Gold Rivers, I will donate daily necessities worth a million gold fords to the Fisablun Family. I hope that the Grand Duke can pass these necessities to the brave warriors who fought bravely and the families of the martyrs who sacrificed their lives. This is to express the Norton Family's admiration and friendship towards them. "
This was a huge donation of a million gold fords. Even Princess Silvia was shocked. "Thank you, Brother Locke …"
The agreement was signed smoothly. Laurist promised to complete the purchase of military equipment and daily necessities within two years. At the same time, he would donate daily necessities worth a million gold fords. The Fisablun Family did not hesitate either. With Princess Silvia as their representative, they signed the purchase order worth eight million gold fords. At the same time, they paid twenty thousand horseshoe gold fords in advance.
After completing this transaction and receiving Laurist's promise to participate in the Knight's Tournament in Windbury next May, Princess Silvia could finally relax and enjoy the Norton Family's territory. Hunting, picnics, dancing, and sea fishing. She only left reluctantly at the end of November. Before she left, she did not forget to remind Laurist not to forget about the Knight's Tournament in May …
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