"Your Highness, aren't you being too hypocritical? You obviously want to remove him from the family's core, yet you put it in such a nice way, leaving his name in the annals of history, and this concerns the family's long-term stability for the next hundred years … "Watching Hansk rush out, Genolio closed the study door. Fatty Shi stretched lazily and said," Actually, we've already coordinated all the departments and set up an independent construction department responsible for this project. As long as it goes according to plan, it doesn't matter if Hansk is there or not, even Your Highness's name is fine. I'm thinking that Hansk's expression will be very good when he understands. " “
"So what if I don't do that? Quarrel with him? Didn't you see how he looked like he was about to quarrel when he came in? If we really quarrel with him, everyone in the family will be anxious. After all, he's an old official of the family, so we have to give him some face. " Loriste shrugged. "Old officials like Hansk believe that the family has already reached its peak. They have already achieved success and recognition, and now they just need to protect this family business. So they strongly oppose some of our new measures, believing that everything should be stable. But they don't know that it's a chaotic world now, and if we don't advance, we'll fall behind. Although the family occupies the entire North and has influence over the five provinces, it's not like we don't have enemies outside. They can't see the situation clearly, so do they really think the world is at peace?
Hansk is the head of the civil officials left behind by the family, and has now become the flag of the conservative faction. Don't think I don't know that the civil officials he promotes are basically from Maple Forest Manor. He thinks that these are the old people of the family who are reliable. Even if they don't have much ability, he forcefully pushes them up, and he also rejects outsiders like you who followed me to the North. Some of the problems that arise from the implementation of the family's official documents and policies are pushed around by the various administrative departments. You should have seen the report submitted by Tagle. Last year, the three mayors of Fengle Plain were all from his faction.
For example, most of the middle-level civil officials who opposed my marriage with Sylvia were from Maple Forest Manor's faction. I originally didn't care about all of this, thinking that it's normal for factions to appear when there are so many people in the family, as long as it doesn't interfere with official matters. If it wasn't for Director Kordan's reminder, I wouldn't have expected that two-thirds of the middle-ranking officials in the family would respond to Director Hansk's call. So if he doesn't go out into the wilderness and eat dirt, who else will? Even if he understands, there's nothing he can do. I didn't lie to him. Completing the planning of the roads and transportation facilities in the Northern Lands will indeed leave his name in the annals of history. Carriage tracks are something new. "
"Your Highness, don't forget that we have already made comprehensive preparations for the planned transportation infrastructure in the Northern Lands. With the addition of the seventy to eighty thousand mountain barbarians, I estimate that it will be completed in two or three years at most. What are you going to do with Director Hansk when he returns with a great reputation? Fatty Shi reminded him.
Laurist smiled. "Don't worry. The Winston and Delemark Provinces have already entered the family's sphere of influence. These two provinces also need to redesign their road infrastructure. At the very least, we need to build horse carriages to speed up the transportation of resources. This is also the key to the family's control over these two provinces. Once these two provinces are completed, there are also our allies in the Southern Province and Sidrgrad Province. For the next ten years, Head Supervisor Hansk will be forgotten at the construction site. He still wants to return to the core of the family? Haha … "
Fatty Shi was tongue-tied. After a long while, he finally said, "Loke, you are becoming more and more like a Grand Duke …"
"Can I take that as a compliment?" Laurist leaned back in his large chair. "In the blink of an eye, it has been almost fourteen years since I returned to the family territory. People change. If the me from fourteen years ago appeared in front of me, I would definitely not be able to recognize myself. I remember that when I had just returned to the family territory, the residents of Beiye Town rebelled. I led the family's armed forces and attacked. When I found that the enemies were all old, weak, women, and children, I could not bear to attack, which led to the failure of the siege. But now, I can order my soldiers to chop off the heads of hundreds of thousands of captives without any hesitation!
What are nobles? After more than ten years as a lord, I finally understood that your passion cannot change the world. On the contrary, it is the world that changes you. Just like me, at first, I only wanted to protect the family territory. But every time, I was forced to fight back. I led you on expeditions, and in the end, the entire Northern Lands came under the family's jurisdiction. When I became the Grand Duke of the Northern Lands, I realized that this position was like sitting on top of a volcano. If I did not expand and forge ahead, what awaited me was the destruction of the family … "
Someone knocked on the door again, interrupting Laurist's long speech that was filled with emotions. Genolio pushed the door open and entered. "Your Highness, Lord Tagger wants to see you."
This time, Tagger brought a lot of new information about the war between the Ford Commercial Alliance and the Southern Kingdom's Allied Forces.
"Hmm … The Southern Kingdom's Allied Forces started the war first, and the Commercial Alliance was forced to fight back?" Laurist had always thought that the Commercial Alliance started the war to break the commercial blockade of the Southern Kingdom.
"Yes, Your Highness." Tagger found a newspaper and placed it in front of Laurist. "This was a large-scale conflict between the two sides in November last year. The Southern Kingdom's Allied Forces first attacked a barracks guarded by the Commercial Alliance's self-defense corps. After killing more than three hundred people, they forcibly occupied the camp. The Commercial Alliance then sent out their corps to retaliate. Both sides fought for the camp for more than twenty days, and only returned to their camps when winter came. "
"Was there no result from their negotiations?" Fatty Shi asked from the side.
"There was no result at all. Three months ago, a Fariqiu Times published a secret article about the negotiations between the two sides. It's here." Tagger found the Fariqiu Times from the pile of newspapers. "It said that the Southern Kingdom requested to raise the tax on the Commercial Alliance's commercial activities from ten percent to twenty percent of the total trade volume. In the end, they were rejected by the Commercial Alliance. The Commercial Alliance's request for the various countries to restore trade routes was also rejected … "
"Then what's the current situation of the Commercial Alliance?" Laurist asked.
"Your Highness, this is the report that Knight Rummond wrote for you at the frontline. Just as you expected, he was forced to join the army because of the lack of potions and healers at the frontline. Although he is at the frontline, his safety is not a problem. Moreover, we have already sent two Silver-ranked experts to protect him. "Tagger took out a few pieces of paper and handed it to Laurist.
Laurist quickly skimmed through it. In the letter, Rummond complained about his bad luck and being forced to join the military. Other than the fact that his seven wives were too wasteful, he was also worried about his sixteen children. He begged Laurist to let Laurist adopt his sixteen children if anything happened to him. At the same time, he would give each of his seven wives a decent pension so that they could live the rest of their lives without having to worry about food and clothing.
Just when Laurist was fuming at the nonsense and incongruity in Rummond's letter, Rummond finally got down to business before Laurist tore the letter into pieces. After giving a brief report on the situation after the start of the war, Rummond discovered a very strange phenomenon. Both sides seemed to be fighting a tacit battle. Both sides held back their strength. Several famous merchant armies belonging to the seven giants of the Commercial Alliance did not go to the frontline. The South-Central Kingdom's coalition seemed to be satisfied with the small skirmishes at the frontline and did not send a large army. Every time the frontline attacked, it was the armed forces of a few kingdoms and duchies who were in charge of the war. They were badly battered by the complete defensive facilities of the Commercial Alliance.
"The commander of the South-Central Kingdom's coalition is Duke Roffey Fausta of the Chigda Kingdom, a great swordsman." Laurist looked at the letter and muttered, "This name sounds a little familiar. Tagger, do you have any personal information on this great swordsman duke? "
Tagger shook his head, "No, Your Highness. The South-Central Kingdom is too far away from our family's territory. Our intelligence personnel are unable to arrange for such a far place."
However, Fatty Shi replied leisurely, "I know this person. He went to Morent City 15 or 16 years ago. However, he was only a Marquis at the 1-star Gold rank at that time. I remember him because he married the most beautiful flower of Dawn Academy, a girl with the surname Windsor … "
Laurist felt a 'boom' in his head as the memories buried deep in his heart surged up. He remembered that night under the alluring moonlight. The girl he first loved snuggled up to the middle-aged gentleman, holding his arm and whispering intimately … At that time, his heart ached as if it was being cut by a knife. He struggled to return to his residence, but the middle-aged gentleman appeared at his bedside the next day and politely asked him to leave the girl's house. He did not remember the man's appearance. He only remembered that there was a golden firebird emblem pinned to his chest …
The only first love he had in his two lives. Was that girl who was like an elf under the silver moonlight still doing well? She was married to this Duke Roffey Fausta. It had been 15 or 16 years, and there was no news from them. The passage of time had not only healed the wound in his heart, but even his memory was about to fade away.
Laurist looked at Fatty Shi gratefully. Because Tagger was present, he used such a tactful excuse to remind him. However, as his memory came back, Laurist remembered the past. At the same time, he also thought that this Duke Roffey Fausta was not a simple noble. Back then, he helped his first love formulate a series of plans for the revival of his family, but this Duke had completely destroyed them. In the end, he succeeded in getting the beauty.
Looking at the confrontation and small skirmishes between the Commerce Alliance and the South-Central Kingdom's Allied Forces, Laurist frowned, "This is not normal. This Duke Fausta can't be this weak, right? As the commander of the 200,000 South-Central Kingdom's Allied Forces, how could he be stumped by such a simple line of defense from the Commerce Alliance? If such a line of defense were to face us, any of our family's legions would be able to wipe out the enemy in three days … "
"Your Highness, it is a little strange." Fatty Shi said thoughtfully, "I remember that one of the seven giants of the Commerce Alliance, the Chikder Merchant Association, which ranks last, seized the Duchy of Ulubaha as their territory. This Duchy of Ulubaha is located at the end of the Golden Coastline, separated from the Commerce Alliance by the Titanic Mountain Range. In other words, it is sandwiched between the 24 South-Central Kingdoms, and is only one duchy away from the Chikder Kingdom. Since the South-Central Kingdom's Allied Forces have sent troops to the Commerce Alliance, why didn't they first destroy the territory of the Chikder Merchant Association that is sandwiched between them? Logically speaking, this is indeed very abnormal. "
Laurist rang the bell to summon someone. Genolio knocked on the door and entered. "Your Highness, what can I do for you?"
"Go to the accounting department and bring me the transaction records of our family on Cilovas Island, the Peterson Merchant Association, and the Chikder Merchant Association for the past six months," Laurist ordered as he got up to get a roll of the map of the Galinthea Continent.
"Yes, Your Highness."
The transaction records were quickly brought over, and Fatty Shi and Tagger did a simple check. "Your Highness, the transaction records between the Peterson Merchant Association and our family have not changed in the past six months. They are all the same list of supplies, and there are no special requests for additional supplies. The good news is that the Peterson Merchant Association has been gradually repaying our family's debts for the past six months. Currently, they only owe our family about 300,000 gold fords, and it is estimated that they will be able to pay off all their debts in another year. "
Laurist was not satisfied. "Didn't they ask our family to sell food to them?"
"No, Your Highness." Fatty Shi shook his head. "Two years ago, the imperial capital and the two provinces in the southwest had good weather, and they had a great harvest of food. The Commerce Alliance has occupied several provinces of the former Empire, and they are adjacent to the two provinces in the southwest. I believe that they have also had a great harvest, and the problem of the Commerce Alliance's food shortage should have been solved long ago. "
Tagger said, "Your Highness, the Chikder Merchant Association has been trading more and more supplies with us every time. In addition to the two-thirds share of spices, the supplies they have increased are basically all kinds of daily necessities and luxury goods produced by our family. Our intelligence personnel have probed the sailors of their fleet, and it is said that these daily necessities and luxury goods are all shipped to the Romon Empire and the Havestan Khaganate for sale. They also praised that these goods of ours sell very quickly there, and the supply cannot meet the demand. "
"Did they also ask to buy our armaments and weapons?"
"No." Tagger shook his head.
"I smell a conspiracy," Fatty Shi said, shaking his head.
Laurist rubbed his chin and said thoughtfully, "Look at the map of the continent. The southernmost Romon Empire and the Havestan Khaganate have started a war again after 20 to 30 years of peace. This time, they cooperated very well and first destroyed the Kingdom of Keiliah, which was caught in the middle, and then fought to their heart's content. In the south central region, the Commerce Alliance and the 24 countries of the south central region have started a war, and the continent is full of flames. On the other hand, the northern region of the continent, which we have been fighting for more than 10 years, has calmed down. This feeling is really strange … "
Fatty Shi was thinking of another question, "The Sword Saint of the Kingdom of Keiliah was destroyed, and the Storm Sword Saint's whereabouts are unknown. This is really interesting. I wonder if the two Sword Saints of the Romon Empire and the Havestan Khaganate worked together to force the Storm Sword Saint to leave. "
Tagger asked, "Lord Shredder, there are a total of four famous Sword Saints on the continent, and they are all in the south of the continent. Other than the Romon Empire and the Havestan Khaganate, the remaining ones are the missing Storm Sword Saint and the Chigda Kingdom's Flying Fire Sword Saint, right?"
Fatty Shi nodded, "Yes, but the Chigda Kingdom's Flying Fire Sword Saint is said to have lived in seclusion for more than 20 years, and has never appeared in front of people. I don't know if he is still alive. In addition, the former Krisen Empire once had two Sword Saints, but they both fell in the hundred years of war with the Commerce Alliance. The Commerce Alliance also had a Sword Saint, but he died together with the Empire's Sword Saint. After that, the Commerce Alliance plotted to trap the Empire's other Sword Saint on the battlefield. Of course, they paid an extremely tragic price, and also created the history of using a Great Swordmaster to kill a Sword Saint. "
Fatty Shi was very familiar with these miscellaneous histories.
Laurist said, "Alright, the Sword Saints are too far away from us. The struggle for hegemony on the continent still depends on the armed forces of each country. Tagger, I hope you can transfer a group of reliable and shrewd intelligence agents to the south central region of the continent to see what the situation is like, especially to understand information about the outstanding people in the south central region, such as the personal and family situation of the commander of the coalition army, Duke Roger Forster. It can be a little longer, I believe that the flames over there won't die down so quickly. Although the two wars over there are very far from our family territory, I hope to know more about the situation. "
"Yes, Your Highness."
…
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