"Your Highness, Grand Duke Norton, I, Serliham, would like to express my utmost respect to you on behalf of the Chikede Merchant Association. I wish you good health and good luck in all your endeavors …" Young Master Serliham respectfully greeted Laurist in a very standard manner.
"There's no need for formalities, Young Master Serliham. You and I are old acquaintances, so there's no need for formalities. I have always admired the eldest young master's talent, but it is a pity that the eldest young master gave me a great deal of trouble during the battle of the Romani Cape. Afterwards, he swaggered off, which made me regret not being able to see him again. I believe that if you stay by my side, you'll definitely be able to fill in the gaps for me. That kind of escape won't happen again. What do you think, Young Master? "Laurist asked with a smile.
"You must be joking, Your Highness," Young Master Serliham replied without changing his expression, "During the Battle of the Romani Cape, Serliham had used all his means, but to no avail. In the end, he had no choice but to flee in panic. Actually, due to the many years of war, the Chikede Merchant Association had run out of money and resources, and could not afford Serliham's ransom at all. To avoid such an awkward situation, Serliham had no choice but to leave. It was also thanks to Grand Duke Norton's magnanimity that he did not send his elites to pursue him, which allowed Serliham to survive. I, Serliham, thank Your Highness for fulfilling my wish. "
"Haha, you're really good with words, Serliham." Laurist smiled, "Alright, let's get down to business. Serliham, I'd like to ask if the Chikede Merchant Association intends to break away from the Commerce Alliance's control and become an independent kingdom. "
"Your Highness, to tell you the truth, the Chikede Merchant Association has indeed thought of becoming independent, but the problem is that although the Chikede Merchant Association is one of the seven giants of the Commerce Alliance, its economic lifeline has always been controlled by the Commerce Alliance. Your family should know that we, the Chikede Merchant Association, mainly focus on shipping and sea trade. However, we've been forced by your family's North Sea Fleet to the point where we can't set sail. Most of the trade routes on land are controlled by the Commerce Alliance. As for the goods, we purchase them from the Commerce Alliance's various merchant associations. Without the fleet, we wouldn't be able to purchase any goods. We would have no choice but to sit back and eat, trapped in this barren land. Therefore, we, the Chikert Merchant Association, are powerless in the face of the Grand Duke's suggestion even though we want to. "Young Master Serliham began to complain.
Laurist chuckled at Fatty Shi, who was standing to the side. He extended his hand and opened his palm. Fatty Shi shook his head and sighed. He frowned as he took out a gold coin from his pocket and reluctantly placed it in Lollister's palm.
Young Master Serliham was speechless. "Your Highness, what are you doing?"
Loriste replied casually, "It's nothing, Young Master Serliham. Baron Shredder and I made a bet on you. Baron Shredder believes that you will definitely agree to my proposal for the Chikede Merchant Association to break away from the Trade Union and become an independent kingdom, but at the same time, he will propose many conditions. However, I believe that you will tactfully reject my proposal. See, I've won. "
"Uh …" Young Master Serliham was speechless. If someone else did this, it would definitely be an insult to him. However, in front of Loriste, he didn't dare to do so. He had no choice. Currently, the Chikede Merchant Association was in a weaker position than him, so he could only swallow his anger.
Loriste tossed the gold coin in his hand into the air a few times before catching it. Finally, he threw the gold coin back to Fatty Shi. "Young Master Serliham, let's not play any tricks. Let's just lay it out and say it. In fact, Baron Shredder and I should have won the bet. From the moment you appeared in Morent City, it showed that the Chikede Merchant Association was very interested in my proposal.
You are a smart man. You should be able to see that the situation of the Trade Union is getting worse. Otherwise, the armed forces of the Chikede Merchant Association wouldn't have ambushed the newly established Visia Trade Union's territory when they retreated back to their territory and seized a large number of craftsmen and production materials. You should understand what this means to the Trade Union. It's a betrayal. That's why your merchant association reacted so positively to my proposal.
To the Norton Family, the Chikede Merchant Association is an outstretched claw of the Trade Union. They are our enemy. We still remember that your merchant association once contacted the active pirates along the Golden Coastline and caused us great losses. We had no choice but to impose a sea ban on your merchant association's territory. But now, we are willing to give your merchant association a chance to correct its mistakes. It's very simple. Break away from the Trade Union and become an independent kingdom. This should be very attractive to you.
I don't want to make things difficult for you, Young Master Serliham. I'm just not interested in haggling. If the Chikede Merchant Association doesn't want to break away from the Trade Union, then I'm sorry, but the Norton Family will still view your merchant association as an enemy. After all, we and the Trade Union have to fight it out, don't we? We have proposed many times for both sides to negotiate and sign an armistice to restore peace. But the Trade Union has been trampling on our sincerity. It is like a greedy wild dog, staring at the fat meat that doesn't belong to it and drooling.
So before we completely dispel the ambitious appetite of the Trade Union, I have already given up on negotiating with them. Next, we will launch a new war against them. Young Master Serliham, you are a smart man. If you want to go ashore before the broken ship of the Trade Union sinks, I think we should be more magnanimous. If your merchant association has any request, you can just list it out. As long as it's not too much, we will be happy to see the Chikede Merchant Association become an independent kingdom in the south-central part of the continent. "
Young Master Serliham's face turned red. He took a step forward and bowed his head again. "Your Highness, as you said, the Chikede Merchant Association really wants to break away from the Trade Union and become independent. In fact, the war with your family and the Andinac Kingdom has exhausted the reserves of the merchant associations in the Trade Union. But under the threat of the other large merchant associations, the Chikede Merchant Association has no choice but to continue to participate in this war.
We have long wanted to stop the war and negotiate to end this senseless war with heavy casualties. But our words carry little weight, and no one is willing to take our opinions to heart. They even blamed the annihilation of the Invincible Fleet on our merchant association. Ignoring the fact that our armed fleet was also destroyed, they forced us to gather pirates to attack your family's merchant fleet. At the same time, they forced us to raise food supplies and recruit soldiers for the Trade Union in several southern provinces.
We've had enough of the Commerce Alliance's oppression and pressure, especially after we lost our armed fleet and severed our sea transportation and trade. Our status in the Commerce Alliance has plummeted. We've been ordered around like slaves. "" That's right. "Jiang Chen's eyes lit up. After receiving the Grand Duke's proposal, it was as if we had found the sweet dew after a long drought. It's just that we used to be enemies with your family and caused a lot of losses to your family, so many people have doubts.
This time, I have come to Moronte City to see His Highness on behalf of the Chikede Merchant Association to reach an understanding with your family. At the same time, I am also giving an official reply to the Grand Duke's proposal. We, the Chikede Merchant Association, are very willing to break away from the Trade Union and become independent. But because our merchant association is weak, I am afraid it will be difficult for us to resist the Trade Union's counterattack after we become independent. So we hope to receive your family's help to ensure that we will not be attacked by other parties after we become independent … "
Laurist nodded with satisfaction. "That's right, Young Master Theringham. Since your merchant association wants to become independent, our family is willing to help you achieve your wish. Don't worry, the conditions I can agree to in the letter are not empty words. How about this, you and Baron Shredder discuss the specific conditions and requests. As long as they are not too excessive, the Norton family is very willing to reach an agreement with your merchant association and help you obtain independence. "
Two days later, Fatty Shi came to see Laurist with a document. "Your Highness, this is the agreement we have reached with Young Master Theringham."
After placing the document in front of Laurist, Fatty Shi sighed deeply. "Your Highness, the Chikede Merchant Association has long wanted to be independent, and their ambition is not small."
"What's wrong?" Laurist asked.
Fatty Shi walked to the side of the map hanging on the wall and pointed at the areas around the Chikede Merchant Association's territory. "Look here, Your Highness. What the Chikede Merchant Association wants is not the independence of the original merchant association's territory. On the contrary, they want to take over these two areas. These were originally the territories of the Lauder Grand Duchy and the Inca Kingdom. Now, they are the five provinces of the trade union. The Chikede Merchant Association is preparing to take over these two areas. That way, they will have seven provinces after becoming the Chikede Kingdom. They can be considered a large country in the central and southern part of the continent.
I asked Young Master Theringham why the Chikede Merchant Association insisted on taking over these two areas. He even confidently and eloquently said that the Chikede Merchant Association's territory is the former Ulubaha Duchy, which has always been known for its high mountains, dense forests, and barren fields. If they can take over these five provinces from the trade union's territory, the Chikede Merchant Association will not have to worry about the future famine of the independent kingdom. I can only agree with his reasoning and tacitly agree that the independent Chikede Kingdom will take over these two areas and five provinces … "
Laurist laughed heartily. "Ambition is a good thing. If the Chikede Merchant Association was only independent in its own merchant association territory, I would look down on them. Everywhere is the trade union's territory. What does it have to do with our family how many provinces it wants to take over? The more provinces it takes over, the greater the blow to the trade union. Only if it has the ability to take over and defend it, then it will be its kingdom's territory. However, it seems that the Chikede Merchant Association has a sense of propriety and only wants these two areas and five provinces. "
Fatty Shi complained with dissatisfaction, "Your Highness, I have never understood why you would help the Chikede Merchant Association break away from the trade union and obtain the status of an independent kingdom. In reality, the Chikede Merchant Association is our family's enemy. They have caused great losses to our family. Now, not only can we not take revenge, we have to reach an understanding with them and even help them become a kingdom. To tell the truth, this feels terrible. "
"I understand your feelings, Shredder." Laurist also sighed. "But I have no other choice, even if I am a Sword Saint. Look at the map and you will understand. The Chikede Merchant Association is thousands of miles away from Morent City, on the other side of the Titanic Mountains. Its territory is just as Young Master Serliham claimed, with high mountains and dense forests and barren fields. We cannot mobilize our family's armed army to carry out a punitive expedition. That is not a price our family can afford.
And we should know what Young Master Serliham hasn't said yet. You have also seen the information about the Chikede Merchant Association's territory submitted by Tagger. The Chikede Merchant Association's territory was originally the Grand Duchy of Ulubaha. Most of the people there were poor and brave. In the past, apart from being soldiers and being rented out by the Grand Duchy of Ulubaha to earn money, the other way out was to become pirates and pirates. There was a rumor among the private ship owners that 70% of the pirates on the Golden Coastline came from the Grand Duchy of Ulubaha.
After the Chikede Merchant Association took control of the Grand Duchy of Ulubaha, the problem of pirates was greatly controlled and improved. The Chikede Merchant Association also wantonly recruited these coastal residents, greatly strengthening its maritime power. But now that the Chikede Merchant Association's fleet was gone, many coastal residents became pirates again. And now, the Golden Sea Route has become lively because of the increase in the number of private ship owners, giving these pirates more opportunities. In the second half of last year, 17 private ship owners were robbed by pirates, and six of them died at the hands of pirates.
Our family's fleet has now controlled the Golden Coastline of the Sunshine Sea, but if we want to become the hegemon of the southern seas, we must suppress the increasingly rampant pirate activities and protect the merchant ships and maritime trade in the Golden Sea Route. Although our family has issued a sea ban on the Chikede Merchant Association's territory, we are not allowed to set sail. But do you believe that this sea ban will work? Our family's fleet can't always stay in the Chikede Merchant Association's territory.
So, we must obtain the cooperation of the Chikede Merchant Association to effectively eliminate the pirates. This is one aspect. The other aspect is that compared to the Trade Alliance, the Chikede Merchant Association is a card we can use. Helping them break away from the Trade Alliance and become independent will be a fatal blow to the Trade Alliance. Just like those neatly arranged dominoes, the Chikede Merchant Association will be the first domino to be toppled. It will bring about an earth-shattering change to the Trade Alliance. "
Fatty Shi nodded helplessly: "Your Highness, this is what you meant by choosing the lesser of two evils. The enemy of our enemy is our ally. Forget it, you don't have to worry about me. Take a look at the documents, I've ticked all the boxes that I can agree to. But I can't agree to your guarantee that they won't be threatened by the Storm Sword Saint after they become independent … "
"Don't worry, I'll write a letter for them to bring to the Storm Sword Saint. I believe that old man will give me face and guarantee that he won't threaten their merchant association for the sake of the Trade Alliance," Laurist said.
Fatty Shi continued to report: "As for the other conditions, such as allowing them to reorganize their merchant fleet to conduct maritime trade and setting up shop in Morent City to purchase goods, I've already requested that they follow our family's rules and the Freedom Alliance's rules. Young Master Serliham has agreed. Also, regarding the sales of goods produced in our family's territory, I've also followed the agreement with the Chigda Kingdom's Mermaid Merchant Association and only gave them the exclusive right to sell goods in their own kingdom's territory.
Also, Young Master Serliham has requested that our family's armed forces must once again deal a heavy blow to the Trade Alliance before they declare independence. He's worried that our family will go back on their word and become the target of the Trade Alliance's armed forces after they declare independence. Our family's armed forces will not make a move and watch the Trade Alliance's armed forces mobilize their army to attack them. That's why Young Master Serliham is willing to stay and watch our family's armed forces launch a new expedition against the Trade Alliance. "
"Alright, no problem. It's normal for them to be worried that we'll backstab them. After all, we haven't reached the stage where we can trust each other. Let that Serliham stay. The commanders of the various armies will arrive in two days. After the military meeting, we'll begin our operation against the Trade Alliance, "Laurist said.
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