"Your Highness, in October and November, the shipments of daily necessities and goods produced by our family territory have doubled compared to the previous two months. Perhaps it was because winter and the rainy season were approaching, but the Southern Sea's private ship owners knew that this would be their last purchase of the year, so the types of goods they purchased were more high-end and luxurious. In the past two months alone, our family's total income has reached more than 3,000,000 gold fords.
Furthermore, the 400,000 pieces of winter clothing made from the fur of magical beasts were sold out in less than half a month by the residents of Moronte City. At the same time, our family was protested by the Allied Garment Makers and Tailors Association of Moronte City. They felt that it was a reckless waste of precious magical beasts' fur to make winter clothing that had no distinguishing features. This caused them to spend even more effort to rectify it. Therefore, they requested that our family provide the fur of magical beasts directly next time … "
Director Spear's face was full of happiness. Now, she finally understood why Laurist insisted on investing a huge sum of money to revive Morent City's commercial economy. Not to mention anything else, in the past two years, nearly 60% of the backlog of goods and goods in the family territory had been sold out in Morent City within half a year. As the middleman of the trade, the Norton Family had earned nearly five million gold fords.
This was only the profit from the trade. The biggest benefit was that the Norton Family's territory had been in a slump for the past two years. All of the factories and workshops were operating at full capacity under the encouragement of the Norton Family's large orders. This also led to the prosperity of all the industries in the Norton Family's territory. Director Spear knew very well that the family's income would increase by a large margin at the end of this year.
Laurist had nothing to say. He only told Director Spear to strictly control the quality of the goods and not let a rat's poop spoil the whole pot of porridge. At the same time, he implemented a strict entry system for the new factories and workshops that were ready to be built due to the improvement of the market in the family territory. This was to prevent the oversupply of one industry from causing undesirable competition and destroying the healthy development of the entire industry …
Director Spear retreated respectfully. Next was Admiral Sunbarwood of the North Sea Fleet. He was here to bid farewell. At the end of the year, the North Sea Fleet would escort a transport fleet of nearly 100 ships to the Chigda Kingdom to complete the supply agreement with the Mermaid Chamber of Commerce. They would return in April or May next year, loaded with local products and raw materials from the southern part of the continent. To the Norton Family, this was a business journey for them.
Although the southern seas were calm, the hostile Chikede Merchant Group and the pirates still posed a considerable threat to the North Sea Fleet's transport fleet. This time, Sunbarwood was leading 12 Thunderbolt Battleships to escort close to 100 large ocean-going merchant ships to the Chigda Kingdom. The round trip would take more than two months, and it could be considered as an adventure and training trip to test the North Sea Fleet's military suppression of the Southern Sea Region.
After Sumbarwood was Fatty Shi, but Princess Silvia had suddenly appeared. She brought two pieces of good news to Laurist. Laurist had become a father again. On the 21st of October, Maria had given birth to a young son in her family's territory, and on the 27th of October, Anna had given birth to a daughter in Baron Dina's territory. Currently, both mother and daughter were very healthy.
These were indeed two pieces of good news. Laurist now had a big family. He already had three sons and three daughters on the family register. This didn't include the second son he had with Elina, who was adopted by Krisya's cousin, and the son and daughter born to him by Lady Aridoli of Baron Dina's territory. This was because the proud Aridoli had given birth to both of her children with the surname Dina and recorded them in the Dina family tree. Unlike Miss Tresti, who had given birth to two daughters with the surname Nicole, they were still recorded in the Norton family register. However, Laurist had single-handedly changed the situation of the Norton Family's small population. This was indeed worthy of celebration. For this, Laurist specially opened two bottles of wine to celebrate with Fatty Shi.
Fatty Shi was here to report on the sale of farms in Thomas City and Gipsies City. Thirty thousand households, nearly one hundred and forty thousand residents of Morrent, had bought the farms around the two fortresses in cash or on credit. Just half of the income from the sale of these farms was enough to make the autonomous council of Morrent City nearly two million gold fords. Coupled with the loan from the Norton family, the autonomous council could be said to be filthy rich.
"… Currently, the faction led by Ledos in the Morent City Autonomous Committee has requested to strengthen the armed forces of the Freedom Alliance. Their suggestion is to form four more Freedom Regiments. Two of them will be distributed in Morent City, and the other two will be sent to Christos Hills. One will be stationed in Elbani Port, and the other will be formed as a light cavalry regiment responsible for patrolling and guarding the Christos Hills …"
"Wait, isn't Ledos a little too impatient?" Laurist asked. "Everyone knows that Elbani Port is now in ruins. Didn't Ferocious Tiger Ross just send a letter two days ago complaining that they still have to order the soldiers to help the refugees in Elbani Port build wooden houses for the winter and rebuild the docks to accommodate the ships transporting supplies? That's a ruin without even a city wall. Is there a need to send a regiment to guard it? "
"Your Highness, it's precisely because that place is in ruins and has no value in defending it that Ledos wants to send a regiment to guard it." Fatty Shi smiled. "Do you think I don't know what they are planning? It's very simple. Once the rainy season is over and it's April, they will announce the establishment of the Freedom Alliance and break away from the control of the Trade Union. Once this news reaches the Trade Union, it will be like poking a hornet's nest. The Trade Union is very likely to gather an army to attack the Mana Hill Plain. They will never allow a Freedom Alliance to separate Morent City from the Mana Hill Plain.
The Christos Hills were of no value to the Trade Federation. As long as they occupied Morent City and Mana Dune Plain, the Christos Hills would naturally fall into the hands of the victors. Therefore, compared to the Mana Hill Plain and Morent City, the Christopher Hills is the safest place. The autonomous committee's plan is to transfer the Flying Tiger Regiment back to the frontlines of the Mana Hill Plain. This is the main reason why they are preparing to replace the Flying Tiger Regiment with a new regiment with terrible combat power. "
Laurist shook his head. "Tell Ledos that there's no need to rush to expand the armed forces. In fact, after the establishment of the Freedom Alliance, even if the Trade Union has any reaction, they will target our armed forces. To be more precise, they should be targeting me. As long as I am here, they will not attack the few fortresses on the Mana Hill Plain. "
"Your Highness, you mean …" Fatty Shi seemed to understand.
"The Storm Sword Saint." Laurist tapped the table. "Before this old man recovers, the Trade Union's armed forces will not dare to act rashly. The Trade Union's armed forces will only launch a large-scale attack on the Mana Hill Plain after this old man comes out and holds me back. I estimate that the Storm Sword Saint will challenge me in August next year. The last time we attacked Morent City, this old man escaped too quickly. Otherwise, things would not be so troublesome now. "
With the withdrawal of the Andinac Kingdom's allied forces, the few fortresses on the Mana Hill Plain were taken over by the Freedom Army, the Norton Family's armed forces were mobilized, the Monolith Regiment returned to the family's territory, and the Flying Tiger Regiment occupied the Christopher Hills. Laurist did not believe that the Trade Union was completely unaware of all these changes. He even suspected that the situation in Morent City, such as the preparations for the establishment of the Freedom Alliance, had already been grasped by the Trade Union. Although the Trade Union had been foolish enough to send a few batches of spies to their deaths, they had a deep foundation in Morent City and had been operating for many years. It was very easy for them to just pass on information without making any small movements.
If the Trade Union had indeed understood the true situation in Morent City, and knew of Laurist and the Morent City's autonomous committee's plans to establish the Freedom Alliance, then it was worth pondering why they were still biding their time. Laurist thought about it, and the only explanation was that the Trade Union was waiting for the Storm Sword Saint to return, so that he could offset the threat of a new Sword Saint. This way, the Trade Union's armed forces would be able to attack without any qualms, reclaim the Mana Hill Plain and Morent City, and strangle the Freedom Alliance in its infancy.
"I understand. The key to this war is still the battle between Your Highness and the Storm Sword Saint," Fatty Shi said.
"No, the battle between me and the Storm Sword Saint is not important," Laurist said. "The key is the battle between our family's armed forces and the Trade Union's armed forces."
Laurist explained, "The battle between me and the Storm Sword Saint is only a deterrent to both sides. The Trade Union does not have to worry that I will assassinate the upper echelons of the Trade Union out of humiliation, because I also have to worry that the Storm Sword Saint will do the same to our upper echelons. Under such circumstances, the Trade Union's armed forces, who have the upper hand in terms of high-end combat power, can easily seize the initiative on the battlefield. Even if our family's armed forces are equipped with better long-range weapons, we have no good way to deal with the individual assaults of those Great Swordsmen and Golden Swordsmen … "
Fatty Shi understood what Laurist meant. If the Norton Family's armed forces had adopted the same defensive strategy when the Trade Union launched a large-scale attack on the Mana Hill Plain, then they would be able to defend against the attack of a large army, but they would not be able to defend against the surprise attacks and night assaults of the Great Swordsmen and Golden Swordsmen sent by the Trade Union. This was a unique method of high-end combat power that the Trade Union had brought during the Glass War. Other than the Trade Union, no other country could imitate it, because they did not have that many high-end combat power.
"If we had known, we would not have let the Trade Union redeem those Great Swordsmen and Golden Swordsmen," Fatty Shi said in distress. The Norton Family had less than twenty Golden Knights. Other than the original sixteen Golden Knights, only Parker and Peter had been promoted in the past two years, and a female Knight, Christie, had returned to the family. There was also Princess Sylvia. Although she was also a two-star Golden Warrior, no one would agree to let her, the matriarch of the family, ride on a horse into the battlefield. As for the Great Swordsmen, only Redi and Theseus were loyal to the family. Fatty Shi's grandfather, Frederick, was just a bystander, and Great Swordsmen Shandi was just a bystander.
"This is the report on the Trade Union's armed forces that Tagger submitted." Laurist took out a thick blue folder from his desk drawer and threw it on the table. "While we were busy, the Trade Union did not stay idle. While they were training their troops, they also eased their relations with the countries in the central and southern parts of the continent, signing a few agreements that were disadvantageous to them. They even talked about the threat of the unification of the north to the countries in the central and southern parts of the continent, pretending to be the last line of defense against the invasion of the northern barbarians. In the eyes of the Trade Union, we are the barbarians from the north. No wonder they refused to negotiate with us … "
Fatty Shi chuckled. "Is it effective?"
"I'm not sure if it was effective, but after the Trade Union signed an agreement with the countries in the central and southern parts of the continent, the trade route to the southern parts of the continent has been opened to them. At the same time, the Trade Union was allowed to recruit mercenaries from those countries to strengthen their armed forces. " Laurist flipped open the blue folder and pointed at one of the pages, "It's said that the Trade Alliance allocated the annexed Camet Duchy near the Titanic Mountain Range to the newly established Visia Chamber of Commerce as their territory. Camet Duchy has a small iron mine in the central and southern parts of the continent, and the mountains are high and the forests are dense. According to the investigation of our spies, there is evidence that the Visia Trade Union has set up a production base in a valley. They used the same hydraulic machinery as our family to refine military weapons, and they even bought a lot of iron ingots from the Dwarf Kingdom … "
"These despicable businessmen! Their hydraulic machinery was stolen from our family's territory!" Fatty Shi cursed angrily.
Back then, Laurist and the Storm Sword Saint both suffered heavy losses, and the Trade Union sent many great swordsmen to assassinate Laurist. They did not find Laurist's whereabouts, but they turned the Norton Family's territory upside down. Master Sid's Darksteel production base was no exception, and many weapons and equipment blueprints were stolen. As for the hydraulic machinery, as long as they saw it and described it, there would naturally be smart people who would quickly understand the benefits it would bring to the forging industry. They would only need to put in some effort to imitate it.
"The Trade Union is in such a hurry to reestablish the Visia Trade Union. I guess their goal is to reorganize their military. From this, it can be seen that when the Trade Union's armed forces attack, it will be a decisive battle with us. This battle will determine who will be the victor of the Mana Hill Plains and Moronte City. If the Trade Union loses, it means that the Freedom Alliance will have a firm foothold, and we will no longer have to worry about the Trade Union's threat. If we lose, then the blood, sweat, and tears we spent on Moronte City, and the huge investment here, will all be for naught. We can only retreat back to the north with our faces covered in dust. "
"Your Highness, are you confident in this battle?" Fatty Shi asked.
"I don't know." Laurist laughed involuntarily. "How can we be a hundred percent sure about war? All we can do is try our best to win. However, I believe that the Norton Family's armed forces will not fail. We are not without countermeasures against the Trade Union's high-end military assault tactics. When the decisive battle comes, the Trade Union will be shocked. "
… …
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