Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios After ordering Genolio to have a good rest, Laurist got out of bed, took a bath, and filled his stomach. As for the food shortage in Morent City, he had already expected it. He had come to this conclusion from the fact that more than half of the eight hundred ships organized by the Commerce Union were transporting food.
Moronte City had a population of more than a million, and there were more than two hundred thousand laborers and poor people outside the city, as well as the four hundred thousand Trade Alliance soldiers at the Mana Hill Plains. The daily consumption of food for these 1.7 million people would definitely be astronomical. The Mana Hill Plains used to be the famed granary of the Galinthia Continent, but it was now in ruins. There had been no harvest for the past two years. Moronte City could only rely on the barren Christos Hills for its food and meat supply. The Trade Alliance's food supply had always been under great pressure.
Tagger had come under orders to report another piece of bad news to Laurist. The neighboring fortress city, Thomas City, had been the food storage base for the four hundred thousand Trade Alliance soldiers at the frontlines. However, after it was captured, it was discovered that Thomas City had just sent most of its food storage to the frontlines, enough for the Trade Alliance soldiers at the frontlines to consume for about a month. Now, there was not much food left in Thomas City's warehouse. Even if all of it was sent back, it would only be enough for the one million people of Moronte City to consume for a day or two.
The Trade Alliance's plan was to wait for the transport fleet to arrive and use the food to fill the gap. However, they did not expect the Invincible Fleet to be completely annihilated, and the transport fleet became the Norton Family's spoils of war. Although Laurist was prepared for Moronte City's food shortage, he did not expect it to be so serious. The entire city was only left with fifteen days' worth of food, and most of it was coarse grains such as potatoes and oats. There were very few fine grains.
After the transport fleet surrendered, a portion of the food was unloaded at Cape Romani to be used for the daily consumption of the hundred thousand new recruits who were buried in the reefs by Schwald. The rest of the food was sent to Cilovas Island by the private ships. Laurist took the empty ships that were originally carrying the hundred thousand new recruits of the Trade Alliance to the port of Temenia. There, the Monolith Army and the Royal Guards boarded the ships, and then they landed in Moronte City.
The problem now was that Moronte City lacked food. Laurist's ships were unmanned, and Cilovas Island had food but no ships. There was no way to transport the food to Moronte City. As for the private ships that were originally transporting food, they happily purchased a large amount of goods produced by the Norton Family's territory after delivering the food to Syrovas Island. Currently, they were sailing towards the southern seas of the continent. It was already too late to hire them to transport the food.
Meanwhile, the North Sea Thunderbolt Fleet commanded by Sunbarwood was also heading towards the Hidden Gold Bay. They were here to escort the families of the surrendered Invincible Fleet's crew and sailors to the Sirovas Island so that they could reunite with their families … Everything was being carried out strictly according to the plan, but the lack of food in Morent City made all the efforts of the Laurist and Norton Family forces go up in smoke.
After Sunbarwood led the Thunderbolt Fleet to Cangjin Bay, he transported the families of the captives to Sirovas Island. He also brought the transport team there to transport the food stored on the island back. This round trip would take at least fifteen to sixteen days, and to Laurist, this time was the key to the success of the entire plan.
In another two or three days, Laurist estimated that the Trade Alliance's armed forces at the frontlines would react and receive the news that Moronte City had fallen. If the commander of the four hundred thousand Trade Alliance's armed forces was decisive, they would probably be able to reach Moronte City in ten days. Although Laurist had already made arrangements for the Flying Tiger Army and the Hunter Army to restrain the Trade Alliance's armed forces, the Trade Alliance still had over four hundred thousand people. If half of them were to be sent out, they would be able to resist the Flying Tiger Army and the Hunter Army's fierce attacks for a short period of time with the perfect defensive facilities on the Mana Hill Plains.
Laurist's original plan was to resist the Trade Alliance's armed forces' counterattack at Moronte City. As long as they could drag it out for seven or eight days and wait for the Flying Tiger Army and the Hunter Army to arrive, how could the Trade Alliance's armed forces not collapse when they were stuck in the middle? As long as they could get through this, the Norton Family would be able to reap great rewards.
But now, Moronte City lacked food. This was like pressing Laurist into the mouth of a volcano that was about to erupt. There were over a million residents in the twenty-fourth district of the outer city, and there were only two armies of around twenty-four thousand people maintaining order. Currently, they had suppressed a few small riots, which could be considered as a deterrent to the residents. They were temporarily in a state of peace. But if a large-scale rebellion broke out due to the lack of food, and with enemies coming from the outside, Moronte City might very well fall into the hands of the Trade Alliance again. When that happened, there was no need to say anything.
"Tagger, how did the original food supply in the twenty-fourth district of the outer city be settled?" Laurist asked.
"Your Highness, the Trade Alliance basically provides a batch of food to the grain shops in the twenty-fourth district of the outer city every half a month. Most of it is coarse grain. Then, every household can use their registered household register to go to the grain shops and purchase the grain at a fair price. Every household has a fixed amount, and if they exceed the fixed amount, they will have to pay more.
Not only this grain, but even meat, alcohol, cloth, leather, and other daily necessities are also purchased in fixed amounts. As long as it is within the fixed amount, the price is very low, but if it exceeds the fixed amount, they will have to pay several times the price. Now, there are even some dealers in Moronte City who specialize in reselling these fixed amounts. It is said that their monthly income is several gold fords … "Tagger opened a folder and reported.
Wait a minute, Laurist felt a little dizzy. Why does this sound so familiar? Isn't this the distribution plan during the period of the planned economy in my previous life? He remembered that when he was young, his grandfather and grandmother would always bring a lot of cloth, grain, meat, and so on when they went to buy things. There was one time when he was greedy and took a cloth to exchange for malt candy to eat. His grandfather found out and gave him a good beating. He remembered that his grandfather said that he didn't blame him for being greedy and wanting to eat candy. He beat him up because he took it without asking. That was stealing and had to be punished!
He really didn't know what the merchants of the Trade Alliance were thinking. They actually came up with a distribution system of a planned economy. Laurist asked curiously, "Didn't the residents of Moronte City protest about this? Also, how are the grain shops managing the distribution of these supplies? "
Tagger shook his head. "Your Highness, the residents of Moronte City are easily incited. The slogan of the Trade Alliance is that everything is for the frontline. They believe that as long as they defeat the Andinac Kingdom's invaders, everything will be restored to its original state. Suffering a little now is for them to live a happier life in the future. Moreover, although the grain on the fixed amount is coarse grain, it is cheap. There is also fine grain, but the price is a bit expensive. Many families would rather eat coarse grain and sell the fine grain ration to earn some extra money.
These days, I sent people into the twenty-fourth district of the outer city to investigate. They didn't find anything else, but they investigated these bits and pieces very clearly. According to those investigators, the cheapest food in Moronte City is potatoes and dried salted fish. The potatoes come from the Christopher Hills, while the dried salted fish was caught by the fishermen of Moronte City in Cangjin Bay a few years ago. No one used to eat it, but now it has become the main dish of the residents of the twenty-fourth district of the outer city.
Our family's armed forces have occupied Moronte City, and now there is no supply of potatoes and meat from the Christopher Hills. After Sir Beruk led the Monolith Corps to occupy the storage base outside the east gate, he found that the amount of potatoes and coarse grain in reserve was not much. After counting, it could only supply the residents of the twenty-fourth district of the outer city normally for about ten days. Unless each household's orders were reduced, it could only last for fourteen or fifteen days. There was a lot of dried salted fish, but it was not enough to fill the stomach.
All the fixed amount of supplies were under the responsibility of the various chambers of commerce of the Trade Alliance. For example, coarse grain, fine grain, and meat were under the responsibility of the Forde Chamber of Commerce. Cloth and leather were the old business of the Peterson Chamber of Commerce. Luxury condiments such as honey and spices belonged to the Mayflower Chamber of Commerce. The Leeward Chamber of Commerce took charge of the distribution of other living supplies. The Chikede Chamber of Commerce was in charge of seafood, while the Double-headed Dragon Chamber of Commerce was in charge of all kinds of rare ingredients, specially for the rich and nobles to purchase.
In short, the current division between the rich and the poor in Moronte City was very serious. The rich and powerful bought whatever they wanted to eat, while the poor and powerful could only rely on the distribution of these things to barely support their families. Not to mention other things, even the beef and mutton that everyone in our family's territory could afford to eat are sold at sky-high prices here, at least ten times higher than where we are. I heard that in the twenty-fourth district of the outer city, there are people who have organized a rat catching team to catch rats and sell their meat …
What is worth noting, Your Highness, is that after we occupied Moronte City, the shops of the chambers of commerce in the twenty-fourth district of the outer city have all closed their doors. In the past, the residents of the twenty-fourth district of the outer city were used to purchasing all the necessary food and living supplies in one go a few days before the distribution of the orders. Now there are less than three or four days until the next distribution of the orders, and those shops are still closed. Therefore, the residents of the twenty-fourth district of the outer city are now in a faint commotion. They are worried that they will not be able to buy food and living supplies … "
Laurist stroked his chin as he paced back and forth. After listening to Tagger's report, the situation was somewhat grim. The most important thing now was to pacify the residents of the twenty-fourth district of the outer city. Right now, maintaining stability was the most important. They could not let a rebellion break out in Moronte City at the critical moment of the battle. If that happened, all their previous efforts would be wasted.
"Have Torin, Berunik, and Jades come to see me immediately. Send someone to order Aire and Ovis to quickly transport all the supplies from Thomas City and Gipsies City back to Moronte City." Laurist gave two orders, and a few guards hurried away.
"Tagger, send a messenger hawk message. Have Baron Shredder and Manager Spear of the family's territory organize a transport fleet as soon as possible. Have them transport nearly a million magical beast furs stored in the family's territory, as well as all the living supplies in the inventory, to Sirovas Island and wait for my next order. At the same time, have Baron Shredder and Manager Spear bring a group of competent civil officials to Moronte City as soon as possible."
"Yes, Your Highness. I'll do it immediately," Tagger replied.
"Wait, Tagger. Send someone to inform the organizations in charge of managing the twenty-fourth district of the outer city of Moronte City. Invite them to a discussion in my name. The time is set for nine o 'clock tomorrow morning." Laurist stopped Tagger.
Torin was the father of the deputy commander of the North Sea Fleet, Torin. Because of his old age, he was only in charge of the logistics of the North Sea Fleet. This time, Laurist had asked him to lead a dozen large armed warships equipped with bronze cannons to block the estuary of Hidden Gold Bay. He had completed this task excellently.
Torin was the first to arrive, followed by Jades. The last one was Berunik from the storage base outside the east gate. Seeing that they had arrived, Laurist straightforwardly introduced the difficulties that the family's armed forces were currently facing and the current situation to them. Then, he began to appoint people.
"Uncle Torin, go to the fleet area and have Paciko cooperate with you. Recruit a batch of the sailors and crew of the Invincible Fleet that have surrendered. Send the remaining transport ships to Sirovas Island. Have Paciko transfer a battalion to be in charge of escorting them. Take as many transport ships as you can. We must depart before tomorrow afternoon. I'll give you twelve days. You must transport the food from Sirovas Island over.
Also, I'll write you a gag order. If you run into Sunbarwood's North Sea Fleet on the way, tell him not to come to Hidden Gold Bay. He should turn back to Sirovas Island and complete this food transport mission first. Do you understand? " The first person Laurist pointed at was Torin. The sooner he could transport the food from Sirovas Island, the sooner he could be at ease.
This time, Laurist deeply regretted sending the surrendered sailors and crew of the Fourth B Squadron and their families to Sirovas Island the day before yesterday. If he had known this would happen, he would have left it until today. Right now, the sailors and crew that remained in the fleet area either had no family or had relatives who died under the attack of the North Sea Fleet. They were all labeled as unreliable. It could be said that letting Torin lead the transport fleet on this trip was very risky.
"Yes, Your Highness. Don't worry, I will return with the food," Torin said. Time was precious. He excused himself and immediately went to the fleet area.
"Jedes, immediately seal off the trade area and start searching all the merchant guilds' warehouses. Move all the valuables you find to the inner city. Seal up the rest of the goods and submit them on a list. Wait for my next order."
"Yes, Your Highness." Jedes stood at attention and saluted.
"Berhunenet, take a battalion to the Christos Hills. Not to collect food, but to purchase it. Whether it's potatoes or other coarse grains, buy them all at half the market price. If the farmers there transport their food to Morent City on their own, we will buy them at double the market price. Also, we will buy the cattle and sheep at double the market price. Also, I'll only give you three days. You don't need to go deep into the Christos Hills, just spread the news of our purchases. Understood? "
"Understood, my lord. I will do it immediately," Berhunenet said.
The next day, Laurist met the leaders of the societies that had been invited in a spacious meeting room. Among them was Ledos, a former brother of Ell. However, they had not met for more than ten years. Ledos had a strange look in his eyes and did not greet Laurist. After all, there was a huge difference between the two of them. After Ell insisted on following Laurist, Ledos became the leader of the society. More than ten years had passed, and Ledos was still the leader of the society. However, Laurist had gone from a Black Iron Mercenary to a famous sword saint and the Duke of the North of the Andinac Kingdom.
"Gentlemen, the Norton Family is occupying Morent City for the sake of peace, not to plunder wealth," Laurist said shamelessly. He did not care if the people in the room believed him or not. After talking for a long time about how he wanted to achieve eternal peace between the two countries and force the Trade Union to sign a peace treaty to occupy Morent City, Lollister finally revealed his objective.
"The Norton Family promises not to plunder the citizens of the twenty-fourth district of the outer city as long as they do not rebel or rebel. I have already said that we are only opposing the trade unions that drag the innocent citizens of Morent City into this bloody war for their own ambitions. Therefore, even if we want to confiscate the resources of the trade unions, we will not implicate the citizens of the twenty-fourth district of the outer city.
"Please be quiet, everyone. I know what you want to say. Indeed, all the resources and food distribution of the citizens of the twenty-fourth district of the outer city are in the hands of the trade unions. If we confiscate the resources of the trade unions, the millions of citizens of Morent City will be trapped in a difficult situation. However, in order to express our sincerity in pursuing peace, we will not ignore these millions of citizens. All the resources of the trade unions must be confiscated, but the confiscated resources and food will be sold at a low price or distributed for free to the citizens of the twenty-fourth district of the outer city.
"Gentlemen, in the past, you were only in charge of the security, health, taxes, and other miscellaneous matters of the various communities. The trading of resources and food was in the hands of the large trade unions. Now that the trade unions are gone, I hope you can take on the heavy responsibility of resolving the problems of the citizens of the twenty-fourth district of the outer city. Assist us in distributing or selling the resources and food to the citizens of the communities in charge, maintaining the peace and stability of the twenty-fourth district of the outer city … "
The corner of Laurist's mouth curled up. "There is another piece of good news. In three days, we will distribute a batch of food to all the citizens of the twenty-fourth district of the outer city for free. Every household will receive ten catties of potatoes and one catty of dried salted fish according to the ration in the household register, regardless of whether they are adults or children. At the same time, we will take out the daily resources confiscated by the trade unions and sell them to all the citizens at a very low price. The sale of these resources will be left to you. "
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