Mid-February, Brittany's capital, Culona.
Members of the Brittany High Command gathered in front of the Culona Palace. Both sides of the street were packed with people, hundreds of flags were held high, and white snow was falling from the sky.
A grand state funeral was being held. The three portraits were held by the regent of the kingdom, Laun, Marshal Berhemond, and Kalad respectively. On both sides were the honor guards formed by the Knights of the Holy Grail and the old guards.
The Battle of Culona had come to an end. The Brittany army had withstood the pressure. As the Knight King's daughter, Suria had personally led the army and defeated 50000 enemies with 15000 men. Prince Sigwald was slain, and she had lost 5800 men to take out 40000 enemies. This was an epic victory.
This battle made Suria famous, and the nickname of the Flower of Brittany spread throughout the Old World. People were proud of the wise rule of the Sun King and his queen. At the same time, they were deeply proud of the Brittany's ability to maintain peace and stability in the face of such a terrible situation.
After Laing arrived in Culona, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry about the decisions Suria had made, including the recruitment of the nobles' private armies and the distribution of all the money in the Culona Royal Treasury. However, Laing didn't say much about it. Instead, he kept his promise.
As long as the nobles of Culona sent out their private armies and family members to participate in the war and made contributions, they were all rewarded. Leon awarded more than 70% of the nobles' fiefs and family properties to the nobles who escaped. He also selected 400 people from the nobles' private armies and the nobles' youths to form the 'Youth Guards' and gave 100 of them the title of 'Knights of the Kingdom'. The nobles and knights were quite satisfied. After the war ended, they began to focus on taking over the fiefs and properties, fighting for the vacant market share and rebuilding the abandoned manors outside the city.
The 4000 veterans and the temporarily retired soldiers suffered a great loss. By the end of the battle, there were less than 2200 left. Laing treated them separately, and the best of them, those who had made great contributions, and those who had achieved breakthroughs were used as replacements for the Old Guard. A total of 550 were recruited into the Old Guard, another 450 were recruited into Mu Xilon's Coldstream Guards, and the remaining 1300 were given the title of Honorable Freedman. They were transferred to other military jobs, and the families of those who died in the battle took over. Laing sent Berliat to arrange all of this.
Sulia had managed to defend 70% of the Kurona Plains, but another 30% had still fallen. A total of 60 thousand people had died in this catastrophe, and 350 thousand had lost their homes. Settling the victims was a huge problem, and Leon had immediately taken care of everything as soon as he arrived in Kurona.
At the same time, Laing announced that the three Marshals who died in the battle, Rokossovsky, Davu, and Roland, would be given a state funeral.
Brittany mourned the deaths of the three Marshals. Many people found that four of the ten Marshals that Laing had appointed had died in battle, forever leaving their homeland and the people they protected.
Suria took the opportunity to propose a 'war donation' to the knights, nobles, and merchants, and received an enthusiastic response.
The first wealthy merchant to volunteer was the president of the Estalian Merchant Alliance, Amancio Perez. This wealthy merchant relied on his good relationship with Laing and Forgan to transfer most of his wealth to Brittany the moment Estalia was in danger. Amancio's business focus was also placed in Brittany.
However, Amancio soon ran into difficulties. While the Estalian Merchant Alliance led by him didn't have a foundation in the Knight King, it was difficult for them to compete with the local merchants. Brittany knights and nobles also had a natural disdain for the Estalians. After all, they couldn't even protect their homes, so how could they still have the face to do business?
Therefore, in order to establish a good relationship with the nobles and gain their recognition, Amancio went all out. The Estalian Merchant Alliance gritted their teeth and took out 20,000 crowns, 120,000 exelantes, and a few hundred tons of goods. They were the first to donate to the Knight King, expressing their determination to stand firmly with the Knight King. President Amancio even made a speech, saying that he only trusted the Sun King and the Queen to build a community with a shared future in the Old World.
The second was Laing and Suria's personal merchant, Olief. He was already in his seventies and could be considered an old man among humans. However, he looked to be in his forties. In recent years, Olief's merchant alliance had relied on Laing and Suria's influence and the wood elves' monopoly to become one of the largest merchant guilds in the Old World. He was also quite trusted by the wood elves. When Olief was in his sixties, this old merchant reached the end of his life. When Queen Aleil received the news, she plucked a sprout from the Oak Tree and planted it in Olief's body.
The sprout and Olief coexisted. Olief relied on the wood elves' elixir of immortality to live a second life. He now had at least forty to fifty years of life left.
Olief also donated 100 thousand crowns and a few hundred tonnes of resources. He was even allowed to sit beside the Grail Knights, which was a symbol of the highest status for a merchant.
The third was Hadrian's chairman, Hadrian. He was also an old friend of Laing's. He was the one who bought Olica for Laing. Over the years, Hadrian had made a lot of money from the trade with Lucia. This year, he was in his fifties and had gone to Lucia many times to help Forgen. However, Hadrian's guild also suffered some losses during Tyrell's destruction, so he only donated 50 thousand crowns. Hadrian, on the other hand, donated the 60 thousand sheep they rescued from Tyrell to Laing.
The fourth one to step forward was the Agnew family, a local tycoon in Brittany. This family had been in business for hundreds of years. In recent years, they had been squeezed by the Olivier and Hadrian Chambers of Commerce, and their share had been reduced. Naturally, they did not want to fall behind, so they also took out a large amount of gold and silver. At the same time, they also sent 6000 war horses, 10000 mules, and 8000 boxes of wine to show their loyalty.
With these four wealthy merchants taking the lead, people from all walks of life enthusiastically donated money and goods, especially the new class of free citizens. These people had already begun to feel proud of their donations. They believed that the kingdom needed their donations and taxes, which were a symbol of their status and identity.
Just like that, everything that Sulia had spent and all the funds that Ryan had spent to deal with the aftermath of the incident returned to Ryan's hands after going around in circles. In fact, it was twice as much.
Devenhill's eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
So economics was that simple!
"It is, but you have to win. You have to convince everyone, including the nobles, the merchants, and the commoners that you have the ability to clean up the mess. You have the ability to protect them and maintain order." Laing put his hand on his son's shoulder and said slowly, "Naturally, everyone will be willing to contribute money and effort. The merchants need the most basic order, but they also look forward to a certain amount of chaos."
"Laing, what about Marlinburg?" Suria looked at her husband and son with satisfaction. The Knight King was proud of her victory. This battle had pushed her prestige to the peak. However, the Knight King was still holding a grudge against Perseus's army for the deaths of 60 thousand people and the displacement of 350 thousand people. She would hold this grudge against Marlinburg.
When Sigwald first landed on the Kurona Road, the rich merchants of Marlinburg were not prepared for battle. Instead, they secretly made a deal with Sigwald. They bought dozens of babies and children from the slums and 50 carts of offerings in exchange for Sigwald's promise not to approach Marlinburg.
Although the people of Perseus usually kept their promises as they pleased, Sigwald had come for Brittany in the first place. He accepted the gifts with a smile and turned to head towards Brittany.
This grudge must be settled.
"Don't rush." Laing shook his head. "Talleyrand is already on his way back. Marlinburg is still the territory of the Empire. We have to have a reason to attack."
"Isn't that enough?" Veronica, who was following behind Laing, was also indignant.
"As long as Master gives the order, I will send Urien and the others to flatten Marlinburg." Olica licked her lips. The Dark Elf Goddess obviously did not like Laing's conservative style. "Let me handle it."
"If we just want Marlinburg to cough up a large sum of money and throw a few scapegoats to take the blame, we can go there directly." Laing said slowly. "But if we want to take this opportunity to settle the score, we will have to add something to Marlinburg's roadside lamp. This is not enough. Furthermore, we are the Knight King. We must uphold justice."
"Justice? Tsk. " Olica grumbled in dissatisfaction, "Master is sometimes too conservative and too disciplined. What time is it now? If we just charge in with the army, how can those people from Marlin Castle be our match?" "Loot loot loot!" Veronica also waved her little fist. The female president could not help but drool at the thought of Marlinburg's shocking wealth.
"Don't rush. We have to be patient." Laing shook his head. "Marlinburg is a piece of fat meat, but how to eat it requires a method. Otherwise, if we force the rich merchants to fight to the death or there is a war, we will only get a small part of the spoils at most. We will also ruin our relationship with the Empire and the Old World gods."
Everyone was silent.
When the grand state funeral came to an end, Talleyrand, panting, rode to Laing on a horse. "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I'm here. I bring the latest news."
"What news?" Laing took the letter and opened it. His eyes lit up.
"Hey, isn't the opportunity here?"
"It seems that the Knight King Kingdom and the rich merchants of Marlinburg are going to have an intense economic war."
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