Back then, when they attacked the four central duchies, Laurist led the armed forces of the four northern families' alliance to launch a surprise attack on the Sabaji Duchy. They wantonly plundered the three provinces of the Sabaji Duchy: Limad Province, Meishan Province, and Qixess Province. Adding on the allied forces of the nobles and the armed forces of the Fisablon Family who took advantage of the situation, these three provinces were like hell on earth. Close to 800,000 subjects became the spoils of war of the victors and were forced to migrate to the territories of their families. If not for the arrival of the second prince, the Chikseth Province might have become a barren wasteland like the Meishan and Limad provinces.
It had been almost ten years since the war, but the Meishan and Limad provinces had yet to recover and were sparsely populated. The serious banditry in the central region was closely related to the lack of effective supervision in these two provinces. As the second prince did not implement any preferential policies for the people's livelihood in order to reorganize the army, instead increasing taxes to exploit the farmers to obtain funds to support the army, the eleven provinces in the central region were rife with bandits. There were even many nobles who were dissatisfied with the second prince among them, making it even more difficult to pacify the situation.
This was especially so after the second prince trained three hundred thousand soldiers in the central region and sent them to the frontline to deal with the Trade Alliance. Without the suppression of these three hundred thousand soldiers, some mountain bandits with the support of certain people became influential. Incidents of robbing and attacking the kingdom's administrative institutions emerged one after another, and the eleven provinces in the central region became the most chaotic region in the kingdom. His Royal Highness had once sent a corps to unite with the armed forces of the local territories and nobles to suppress the bandits. However, when these bandits and horse bandits could not deal with the suppression troops, they would hide in the forests of Meishan Province and Limad Province. Faced with the vast uninhabited areas of these two provinces, the pursuing troops could only look at the forests and sigh, helplessly retreating.
It was only when the Norton Family's armed forces were prepared to attack the Madjik and Anderwerf Provinces that the Trade Alliance had conquered that the military outposts and supply camps in the eleven provinces in the central region were attacked by the bandits and highwaymen. Loriste ordered his eldest disciple Redi and Grandmaster Swordsman Hugh to lead the guards to assist Aire's personal guards in clearing out the outposts along the way. After eliminating a large number of bandits and highwaymen, the bandits and public order in the eleven provinces in the central region became a little more peaceful.
However, following the outbreak of the war between the Andinac Kingdom and the Trade Federation, the banditry in the eleven central provinces was revived and became more and more serious. The three-year bloody battle in the Magic Hill Plains had exhausted the vitality of the kingdom and the territory nobles. Even though Grand Duke Handa, Grand Duke Fulundor, and Duke Shahin had returned to their territories in the central region, they could only barely maintain the safety of their own territories. They could not do anything to the surrounding provinces.
After returning from the Magic Hill Plain, the Second Prince disbanded the remnants of the Kingdom's armed forces and dispersed them to various provinces under the direct jurisdiction of the Royal Family, preparing to form local garrisons to maintain order and local peace. However, due to the lack of funds, many of the plans were only on paper and could not be implemented. In the central provinces, the troops sent by the Second Prince could only protect the more important towns. They could do nothing to help the villages around the towns that were suffering from banditry.
Especially when the Second Prince's illegitimate son, Knight Wyksas, was acting as the capital's mayor. Due to the lack of cash, the Second Prince issued an order to collect taxes not in kind but only in cash. Many farmers in the central provinces could not afford the low price of grain and could not pay the taxes, so they had no choice but to turn to the mountain bandits and set off a larger scale of riots. They even took down a few towns.
If it wasn't for the second prince marrying a woman from the Fisabulon Family as his new queen and relying on the large amount of funds and weapons provided by the Fisabulon Family to reorganize the local garrison troops in these provinces and suppress the riot, it was likely that the spread of the riot would bring more trouble and more serious consequences to the second prince.
Now, the Second Prince had used the garrisons of the central provinces that suppressed the riots to rebuild the Gale Legion. He said that it was to deal with the mountain bandits and horse bandits, but arranging the Gale Legion to be stationed in the Meishan Province seemed a little thought-provoking. From a geographical point of view, there was nothing wrong with this decision. In fact, it showed the Second Prince's military experience. After all, the Meishan Province was the transportation hub between the northeast and the central regions. Not only did one have to pass through the Meishan Province from the Southern Province, even the Yungesandra Province had a main road across the Egret Lake Swamp to the Meishan Province.
To Laurist, the Second Prince sending the Gale Legion and the White Lion Legion to block the two exits of the northeast region did not affect the Norton Family, because the Second Prince could not block the sea route. But to the Northern Four Families Alliance, the Second Prince's actions were like a knife cutting through the relationship between the three northern families and the Şahin Family. This was especially so for the Snow Salt Chamber of Commerce, whose business covered the entire Empire. This meant that once the Snow Salt Chamber of Commerce left the sphere of influence of the Four Families Alliance, they would have to face the interrogation and extortion of the two legions. There might even be all sorts of accidents, and this was something the Four Families Alliance could not tolerate …
From a strategic point of view, the Gale Legion's deployment in the Meishan Province was a brilliant move. The Limad Province and the Southern Province were adjacent to each other. In the past two years, the Filim Family's strength had recovered, and Duke Filim had ordered his family to arm the Pegasus Legion to continuously attack the mountain bandits and horse bandits in the Limad Province. This was a preemptive method to prevent the Southern Province from being attacked. And because the Meishan Province was connected to the Snow Salt Chamber of Commerce's trade route to the central region, the Filim Family and the Şahin Family often sent troops to wipe them out. From a certain point of view, the trade route from the Southern Province to the central region, the Cribia Province of Duke Şahin's family was relatively safe.
But after the Gale Legion was stationed in the Meishan Province, this trade route was cut off. This deepened Laurist's suspicions that the second prince was the mastermind behind the Great Swordmaster's assassination of Duke Kempis. Otherwise, why would he set up a trap to disrupt the trade route against the Snow Salt Chamber of Commerce?
The real reason why Laurist scolded the second prince as an idiot was that even though the Norton Family had opened the door to wealth in the central and southern parts of the Galinthea Continent, he still couldn't give up the market of the thirty provinces of the Krisen Empire. And as an agent, the Snow Salt Chamber of Commerce ordered goods from the Norton Family's territory worth three to four million gold fords every year. The one to two million gold fords they earned every year became a link to maintain the interests of the Northern Alliance. Therefore, Laurist could not tolerate the second prince's actions against the Snow Salt Chamber of Commerce.
If the second prince had a close relationship with the alliance of the four families in the north, then his deployment of the Gale Legion in the Meishan Province might be welcomed by the four families in the north, because the Filim family in the southern province might even be able to provide the Gale Legion with provisions and other military supplies. But now that the relationship between the two sides was so tense, it was clear that the second prince had ulterior motives for stationing the Gale Legion in the Meishan Province.
Due to the current situation of the Meishan Province, the Gale Legion was unable to obtain supplies on the spot. The Limard Province, which was close to the southern province, was also impoverished. The two provinces on the other side, Chikseth Province and Samora Province, were in a terrible economic situation, and could not provide any help to the Gale Legion. All of the military supplies and rations that the Gale Legion needed had to be gathered from the provinces further south, and then transported thousands of miles across the provinces to the Meishan Province …
Just from the logistics point of view, Laurist did not believe that the second prince had deployed the Gale Legion in the Meishan Province to eliminate bandits and bandits. Why would a legion that could not even ensure the safety of their supply routes go to eliminate bandits? If they were truly prepared to eliminate bandits, then the correct method would be to rely on the family territories of Duke Handra and Duke Fulundor. They would start from the provinces further south in the central region that were less infested with bandits. They would attack steadily and cleanse the provinces one by one. Then, they would cooperate with the administration to control and pacify the citizens of the various provinces, and defend the towns and villages to the death. Only then would they be able to eliminate the bandits, and not go straight to the Meishan Province.
"Your Highness, Duke Kenniss has an urgent report. Three days ago, a caravan from the Snow Salt Merchant Guild left the Yungesandra Province and went through the Egret Lake Swamp to the central region. They lost contact with the Meishan Province. Duke Kenniss has asked Duke Filim to send the Pegasus Legion to assist in the investigation …" Genolio finally delivered the news Laurist had been waiting for.
"Haha, there's no need to think about it. Who else but the Gale Legion could swallow a caravan of over three thousand people? Use a messenger hawk to send a message to Freia. Have them work with Duke Shahin's family. Tell Count Filim to send the Pegasus Legion to seal off the province of Limad, "Laurist ordered.
After enduring for more than three months, the opportunity to act had finally arrived. Laurist had sent the Hunting Cavalry to the central region's territory of Duke Shahin's family, Cribia Province. On the surface, it looked like they had accepted Duke Shahin's invitation to guard against the bandits, but in reality, they had sent people to act as bandits to attack Gale Legion's supply lines. The Fierce Gale Legion, who were stationed in the Meishan Province under the orders of the Second Prince, had been extremely unbearable for the past three months. It was common for them to run out of food and pay, and the messengers they sent out were always mysteriously disappearing. It could be said that they had already been cut off from the outside world.
Under such circumstances, the caravan of the Snow Salt Chamber of Commerce passing through Meishan Province had undoubtedly become a fat sheep in the eyes of the Fierce Gale Legion. Not to mention anything else, the Fierce Gale Legion had to obtain some rations from the caravan to make up for the famine. It was normal for them to collect a generous sum of tribute money and tolls. Although the Snow Salt Merchant Guild was a famous merchant guild in the Empire, the officers of Gale Legion did not care about Duke Kempis. This was especially true for the commanders and the other higher-ups. They had already received a secret order from the second prince to make things difficult for the Snow Salt Merchant Guild. No one would miss such a good opportunity.
However, they did not expect the Snow Salt Merchant Guild to reject Gale Legion's request. Under normal circumstances, the correct way to deal with such a situation was to refuse the passage of the caravan if they were unwilling to pay the toll and tribute. The caravan had two choices: pay the fee and pass, or return home. However, Gale Legion was already suffering from the famine. How could they let go of such a fat sheep? They immediately swarmed up and attacked. Only after nearly a hundred of their men were injured or killed did they force the Snow Salt Merchant Guild's caravan back to their barracks.
It was only then that the commander of Gale Legion and the other higher-ups calmed down. Only then did they realize that they had caused a huge disaster. Most importantly, they had already started fighting, and both sides had lost many men. Gale Legion had lost nearly a hundred men, and the caravan had lost even more men in the process of resisting. If it had been a small caravan, the commander might have ordered for them to be silenced and their corpses thrown into the valley. However, the Snow Salt Merchant Guild's caravan had a total of three thousand men. This was not something that could be easily silenced. They could only imprison the caravan in the barracks and report to His Majesty …
However, as soon as Gale Legion sent a messenger to report to the second prince, they were attacked by the Hunting Cavalry Regiment, the Shahin Family's armed forces, and the Pegasus Army. Under the bombardment of dozens of cannons from the Norton Family's armed forces, the soldiers of Gale Legion quickly collapsed. They either put down their weapons and surrendered, or fled in all directions. However, under the tight blockade of the Hunting Cavalry Regiment and the Pegasus Army, they eventually became prisoners.
This was the biggest scandal of the new Krisen Empire in 1784. Originally, Gale Legion was one of the three major armies of the empire, and was responsible for wiping out the bandits within the empire's borders. However, no one expected that Gale Legion would suddenly become the largest bandit group. They had kidnapped a large caravan of more than three thousand people from the Snow Salt Merchant Guild and were prepared to kill them. Fortunately, the armed forces of the alliance of the four families in the north had arrived in time to rescue the members of the caravan. Before the caravan members were killed, they broke into the military camp and rescued them.
If not for the caravan of the Snow Salt Merchant Guild, and the armed forces of the four families of the Northern Alliance attacked Gale Legion, the second prince would definitely announce that the four families of the Northern Alliance were traitors. He would then call on all the nobles of the empire to unite and destroy the traitors led by the Norton Family. Even if they could not win, it would be good to vent the anger in the second prince's heart. They could even use the pressure of the nobles of the empire to force Loriste to agree to the second prince's harsh demands during negotiations …
However, this time, Gale Legion was caught red-handed. They had all the witnesses and material evidence. Furthermore, it was not the one-sided testimony of the caravan. A few simple-minded army officers thought that with the second prince's support, they would not go against what the army had done. This was especially true for the letter that was sent to the second prince. The messenger was intercepted halfway, and the letter fell into the hands of the Pegasus Army. On the letter was the personal handwriting and personal seal of Gale Legion, as well as the seal of the commander of Gale Legion. It was an indisputable fact. Even if the second prince wanted to defend himself, he would not be able to do so.
Duke Kempis wrote a novel-like notice of the kidnapping incident, accompanied by the confessions of the officers of Gale Legion, the oral accounts of the surviving members of the caravan, and the report letter written by the commander of Gale Legion to the second prince. He made countless copies and spread them everywhere. Almost every noble of the empire had a copy, and some were even sent to the Freedom Alliance. The second prince was so furious that it was said that he smashed every piece of furniture in his bedroom. However, in the end, he had no choice but to come out and clean up the mess. He personally wrote a letter of apology to Duke Kempis, admitting that he had used the wrong people and trusted the wrong people …
To the second prince, the kidnapping incident of Gale Legion was a fatal blow. Not only did his reputation plummet, but the annihilation of the entire Gale Legion, which he had painstakingly built, meant that the eleven provinces in the central region no longer had the presence of the empire's armed forces. The banditry there would continue, but the second prince did not have any more funds to reorganize the army.
Laurist was very happy. This time, he had slapped the second prince in the face. The second prince had no choice but to swallow this grievance. It was not that no one had noticed the confession of the officers of Gale Legion, that they had targeted the caravan because of the shortage of supplies. However, the following interrogation was very interesting. Why was the logistics of the legion lacking supplies? The answer was that the supply routes were often attacked by bandits and brigands. Furthermore, why did Gale Legion not go and wipe out the bandits and brigands who attacked the supply routes? The officers were speechless …
The second prince was also speechless. He also could not claim that the deployment of Gale Legion in Meishan Province was to deal with the alliance of the four northern families. This was something that everyone knew, and it would be even more awkward to point it out. That was why he did not care about the more than thirty thousand soldiers of Gale Legion who had been captured, as if there had never been such a legion. Of course, Laurist could not afford to keep such a group of good-for-nothings for nothing. With a wave of his hand, Gale Legion was sent to the newly established Side Mountain Province to do hard labor.
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