There was a saying that went, 'Bored to death, busy to death'. Lollister felt that he was too bored right now. Even though the Norton Family had taken over four provinces of the Trade Union and caused a huge change in the Galinthea Continent, the restoration of four countries, the signing of mutual aid and friendship agreements with sixteen countries in the central and southern regions, the independence of the Chikder Kingdom and the Mayflower Chamber of Commerce from the Trade Union, these events had nothing to do with Lollister. In any case, he felt that he was going to rot from boredom.
On the contrary, Fatty Shi, Malek, Redi, Aire, Schwald, and the other high-ranking members of the Norton Family were extremely busy. Just like Fatty Shi had said, they did not even have time to close their eyes and have a good night's sleep. At most, they would sleep for four to five hours a day. When they opened their eyes, they would have to focus on negotiating agreements, mediating disputes, dividing interests, and signing agreements with the envoys from the sixteen countries in the central and southern regions. Just drinking alone would cause him to vomit a few times a day. The envoys from the countries in the central and southern regions were not good at other things, but they were good at drinking and bragging. Only by drinking to their heart's content would they not worry about the details and sign the agreements.
Even Malek, who was known as the Iron Masked Man, vomited four to five times. One could imagine how difficult it was to receive the envoys from the countries in the central and southern regions. However, all of this had nothing to do with Lollister. It could be said that the identity of a Sword Saint made Lollister feel like he was above the common people. If it was just the identity of the Duke of the Northern Lands, then there would be no lack of Dukes among the envoys. Lollister would have to personally receive them, or else it would be rude. However, Lollister was still a Sword Saint. In the end, even the envoys from the Dukes had to respectfully greet and give gifts to Lollister. Those with lower statuses did not even have the right to meet him.
The chief executive of the Freedom Alliance, Ledos, who was also so busy that his face was stiff from all smiles, couldn't help but envy Laurist's leisure. But it couldn't be helped. The nobles were all about status, and Laurist would only appear to receive them for a while if the king came personally. Just as Fatty Shi had said, a Sword Sage should act like a Sword Sage. He had to put on airs, because this was not just about him alone. He represented the dignity and face of the Norton Family, as well as all the members of the Norton Family and the countless ancestors who had served the Norton Family for the past 300 years …
Just like Fatty Shi had said, a Sword Saint had to look like a Sword Saint. He had to put on airs because this did not concern him alone. He represented the dignity and dignity of the Norton Family. This was because he represented the Sword Saint '. He represented everyone in the Norton Family members and the countless ancestors who had served the family for the past three hundred years … Fatty Shi had Shi and had no say. But in, he had to say, "Sword." Sword Six::: In: Saint: Hence, Fatty Shi and the others sent many beauties to Laurist, including the gifts from the noble envoys.
Laurist was not interested. If he was still a mercenary in Morant City and had so many beauties by his side, Laurist would definitely be overjoyed. With so many beauties at his disposal, it was simply a man's paradise. Just the bare flesh screen alone was enough to fill a few. But now that Lollister was over forty years old, his temperament had started to settle down, and he was no longer as impulsive as when he was young. Wasn't that the case with women? The more there were, the more troublesome it was. He already had a beautiful wife and four concubines at home, two lovers outside, and a large group of children. Laurist could not be bothered to provoke these beauties.
Of course, this wasn't because Laurist was being pretentious or pretentious. It was mainly because although these beauties were all beauties, they paled in comparison to Laurist's wives and two lovers. Not to mention Princess Silvia's elf-like beauty, Anna's gentleness, Fina's naivety, Aridoli's heroic spirit, and Tracy's intellectual nature. Even Daisy and Maria, the two concubines from small noble families, were extraordinarily beautiful.
Therefore, Laurist's standards were naturally higher. None of the beauties that were sent were particularly outstanding, and none of them were peerless beauties that could cause the downfall of nations. Those that could make Laurist's eyes light up were just like the gifts from the noble envoys of the southern and central countries. There were also many beauties among the gifts, but most of them were dancers for entertainment. Laurist could not be bothered to recruit a few of them. This was also the best way to avoid trouble when he returned to his family's territory.
After signing the 'Galint Continent's Twenty-One Central and Southern Countries Agreement', Laurist returned to the Breen Villa in Morant City ahead of his family's armed forces. Before leaving, he betrothed all the beauties that were sent to his family's armed forces to the meritorious soldiers who had yet to marry. Naturally, he won the loyalty and cheers of his family's soldiers. As for those beauties, well, no one would consider their feelings. After all, they were either captives of the Norton Family's armed forces or gifts from the nobles of other countries. To be able to marry a good husband was already their greatest fortune.
After returning to the Breen Villa, Laurist discovered that Tagger had appeared in front of him.
"Your Highness, His Majesty the King has returned to the Imperial Capital," Tagger reported.
Last November, His Majesty the Second Prince got married again in the territory of the Fisablon Family. It was said that Duke Fisablon had gathered all the beauties of a suitable age for His Majesty the Second Prince to choose from. That was probably what the old man was thinking. As long as His Majesty the Second Prince fancied her, Duke Fisablon would adopt her as his daughter and marry her off to His Majesty the Second Prince.
Although His Majesty's second marriage was in November, and Laurist had returned to the Northern Lands, he was mainly accompanying Princess Sylvia and Daisy so that they could give birth smoothly. He couldn't be bothered to attend some wedding. That was why he concealed the news of his return and sent Bofinger and Head Supervisor Cordan to represent himself and the Norton Family to send gifts and attend His Majesty's second wedding.
"His Majesty the King had issued an edict before he arrived at the Imperial Capital to remove Knight Weixas from his position as the acting city guard. Instead, he handed over the position to His Majesty the Royal Guards, Knight Leapired. Now, Knight Weixas is idle. " Tagger continued to report, "Your Highness, there's another piece of news, but it hasn't been confirmed yet. It's said that the new queen is already pregnant. She should be around three or four months pregnant now … "
"It seems that His Majesty the King has worked hard to make the new queen pregnant so quickly. If she gives birth to a boy, I think that bastard Knight Weixas will be out of luck. The best outcome would be to be sent far away to be a small lord. "Laurist laughed.
That Knight Weixas was looking for death. After being rejected by Baron Camorra, he actually wanted to use the royal armed forces to attack Kirin Port, and even wanted to capture Baron Camorra and bring him to the Imperial Capital. But for the first time, he sent out a team of a hundred royal guards. This should be the most reliable military force he had at his disposal. But these royal guards were not very lucky. They thought that this was a very easy plundering trip, and that they could make a fortune from the new Kirin Port market. They also didn't think that any nobles would have the guts to offend these royal guards, because behind them stood the crown prince, Knight Weixas.
These royal guards had forgotten about the Norton Family and the sword saint Laurist. Perhaps they were used to swaggering around in the Imperial Capital. Another reason was that most of them were friends of Knight Weixas, and because of their friendship, they got a job in the royal guards. They couldn't come into contact with the facts that the nobles knew about, and no one told them about the Norton Family's prestige. In the eyes of some observant people, this team of royal guards was actually just a pawn to test the Norton Family.
So it was easy to imagine what happened to this team of royal guards. They were surrounded and disarmed by the Kirin Port's city defense team, and then they were beaten up. No one paid any attention to the Crown Prince's orders that they were shouting. Instead, they stripped them naked, tied their hands behind their backs, confiscated their war horses, and escorted them back to the imperial capital with their buttocks bare. As a result, these naked royal guards caused a commotion as soon as they entered the city. The incident of a hundred people running around naked was really too eye-catching. Therefore, countless onlookers gathered on both sides of the road, commenting on the objects hanging from the crotch of these royal guards, causing these royal guards psychological damage that could never be healed …
Knight Weixas was furious. How dare this! The Norton Family didn't even respect him, the crown prince, the future king of the Andinac Kingdom, and even humiliated the royal guards, who represented the royal family's dignity. This was a provocation to the Andinac Royal Family, and also the biggest humiliation he had ever suffered! Even the head of the Norton Family, the Duke of the North, and the new sword saint had to give the Andinac Royal Family an explanation. Knight Weixas wanted to scold him in front of Laurist.
He didn't know where he heard that even sword saints had to respect and obey the king, but Knight Weixas didn't care about the Norton Family at all. Since the royal guards weren't good enough, he wanted to see how the royal guards would turn out. But after the order was given, the royal guards didn't move. The order was like a stone sinking into the ocean, not even a response.
Knight Weixas was furious. He directly rode to the royal guards' encampment and called for the head of the army, Knight Lippred, to immediately lead the army to Kirin Port and capture all the Norton Family members who had humiliated the royal guards back to the capital for him to deal with. The Knight of Leapired didn't pay attention to him. Instead, he softly advised him to calm down. Everything would be handled by the second prince when he came back, and the Knight of Wyksas should just do his job as the acting mayor.
Knight Lippred was even angrier. He publicly accused Lippred of not obeying his orders as the crown prince. Was he trying to betray the kingdom? His words were so harsh that Lippred had no choice but to take out the secret order given to him by the second prince. The meaning of the secret order was very simple: Lippred was to observe Knight Weixas' every move in the capital, and he could even forcibly stop Knight Weixas from making a mistake at a critical moment.
This time, Knight Weixas was dumbfounded. He didn't expect the second prince to have this hidden card. However, it seemed that this secret order should be real. Knight Lipired had followed the second prince for more than 20 years, and all the nobles in the capital knew that he was a loyal follower of the second prince. This was the main reason why he was appointed as the head of the Royal Guards in the capital. The second prince trusted him very much.
Lippred also knew the second prince's expectations for Knight Weixas, so after showing the secret order, he still tried to persuade Knight Weixas not to be fooled by the slanderous slander. Since the second prince had agreed to let the Norton Family develop Kirin Port, he naturally had a plan in mind. As the acting city guard of the capital, Knight Weixas, it was best not to get involved. He just had to seriously carry out the food trade agreement signed by the second prince and Lollister to avoid ruining the second prince's arranged plan.
The Knight of Wyksas returned resentfully. Without the possibility of using force against the Norton family and Chilin Port, the Knight of Wyksas angrily refused to carry out the food trade agreement. The excuse was that the Norton family's purchase price was too low. Baron Camorra didn't care. Since it was you who refused to give up on this source of wealth, I won't be polite anymore. So there was an endless stream of food ships from the north to Moronte City. The two million gold coins that were originally the second prince's income became an extra profit for the Norton Family.
In June, the Andinac Kingdom's treasury was as poor as a church mouse, but the granary was piled up like a mountain. But the problem was that they couldn't pay the kingdom's armed soldiers and civil and military officials. They couldn't just give everyone a few bags of food. The second prince wasn't an expert in developing the people's lives and commanding wars. Although food production had been restored, the kingdom's business had yet to recover. Almost all the business was controlled by Duke Kenneth's Snow Salt Chamber of Commerce.
And the kingdom didn't mint their own gold coins. Instead, they used gold coins. The bloody battle on the Mana Hill Plain that lasted more than three years had consumed most of the kingdom's gold and silver reserves. The second prince lacked a large amount of money to restore the kingdom's economy and business. After all, taxes were mostly replaced by goods and food, and the circulation of gold and silver coins in the market was getting less and less.
Under such circumstances, the food trade agreement between the second prince and Lollister could be said to be an important pillar of saving the kingdom's economy. As long as there was no war, the kingdom didn't need to store so much food and all kinds of materials. Using the food produced by the kingdom in exchange for more than two million gold coins could be used to pay the civil and military officials and the kingdom's armed forces. Almost a million gold coins could also be invested into mining and other industries that could restore the people's lives and economy. In less than four or five years, the kingdom's economy could be restored to its original level.
Unfortunately, the second prince's plan was artificially interrupted by the greed of Knight Wyksas. After the gold and silver in the treasury was spent, Knight Wyksas became anxious and hurriedly sent someone to the Qilin Port to say that he was willing to continue the food trade. But Baron Camorra refused. According to the agreement, the trade should be completed before June. Now that it had expired in August, who could the traded food be sold to? So there was no need to think about it this year. Next year, they could continue the agreement …
Knight Wyksas, who had no choice but to accept the suggestion of his subordinates. First, he delayed the payment of his salary for three months, which could be replaced with food. Then, he changed the taxes for the second half of the year that would be paid in September to collecting cash. Even the tithe paid by all the kingdom's nobles was no exception. They didn't accept food or goods, only gold and silver coins. After the taxes were paid in the second half of the year, the treasury would have gold coins, and they could make up for the salary and all kinds of welfare subsidies. The third suggestion was to expand the mining of gold and silver, increase the treasury's gold and silver reserves, and then find a way to let the kingdom mint its own gold and silver coins to replace the gold coins.
In fact, out of these three suggestions, only the first one was slightly reliable. The second one was just nonsense. Compared to most of the nobles who had gold and silver coins in reserve, changing the tithe to cash was criticized, but it was still passable. But for those farmers, it was a disaster. Originally, they used food to pay the taxes, and the remaining harvest was enough for their family to eat and wear. But now, instead of collecting food and only collecting cash, the farmers were forced to sell the food first and then pay the taxes. The result was that food was getting cheaper and less valuable. Some farmers even sold all their harvest and still couldn't pay the taxes. The kingdom that had originally calmed down began to break out again.
As for the third suggestion, it was pure bullshit. The kingdom should mint its own gold and silver coins, but it was not Knight Wyksas's turn to make the decision. And the second prince didn't have this idea because there wasn't enough gold and silver reserves in the treasury. Knight Wyksas's subordinates came up with this idea because they knew that Knight Wyksas liked to do big things, and on the other hand, they wanted to take this opportunity to fill their own pockets. Knight Wyksas would take the blame for everything anyway. He was the crown prince, so the second prince wouldn't do anything to him …
At the end of September, the second prince's messenger arrived. The second prince and the new queen were already on their way back to the capital. Along with this news came a decree from the second prince, which removed Knight Wyksas from his position as the acting mayor of the capital, and made the commander of the army Lippred became the new acting mayor. At the same time, another secret order was given to Knight Lippred, which was to arrest all of Knight Wyksas's henchmen and wait for the second prince to return to the capital to deal with them.
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