Ever since
First, when Lorist called a meeting of the family knights to explain his plan of transporting a batch of supplies back to the family, he was ridiculed by Fatty Shi. As a family knight, Fatty Shi didn't give Lorist, the soon-to-be head of the
Fatty Shi said that a thriving family with potential should have the ability to reform itself and adapt to changes in the environment, rather than stubbornly clinging to outdated traditions. Unfortunately, Lorist's plan to transport supplies seemed more like a way to prolong the Norton family's death throes, rather than considering how to achieve sustainable development for it.
Lorist's face flushed with shame and a hint of guilt, because Fatty Shi had hit the nail on the head. His original intention was indeed to send a batch of supplies to the family, then wash his hands of it and return to
Fatty Shi was now in full swing. He believed that the Norton family had fallen to this state for only one real reason: a vast territory with a sparse population. As long as this problem was solved, nothing could stop the Norton family's rise.
As for the winter monster tides, Fatty Shi didn't think it was a problem. The Norton family could hold its current safe zone. With sufficient manpower, they could expand that safe area. As long as the defensive facilities were solid, the monster tides might just become a way for the family to harvest a large batch of furs every winter.
Regarding the mountain barbarians, Fatty Shi said he had consulted Sedecamp and discovered an important fact everyone had overlooked. Over the past century, the conflict between the Norton family and the mountain barbarians had escalated, but mostly the family was on the defensive, never taking the initiative. They always reacted to the barbarians coming down the mountain to harass, sending troops to drive them back. If they could annihilate the barbarians once or twice when they came down, the family would enjoy long-term peace instead of this endless entanglement. So, to deal with them, they had to root out their nest, kill all those who resisted, and put the rest to work building roads, mining, and reclaiming wasteland. There was plenty for them to do. Fatty Shi's voice was full of killing intent.
The third difficulty facing the Norton family was the territorial guard. Fatty Shi believed the root of this problem was the insufficient population of the domain, leading to deep entanglements between the family and the guard members' households, making it hard to clean house. The former Krisen Empire had suffered six years of civil war, the people were impoverished, and refugees and bandits were everywhere. Heading north now was the perfect opportunity to gather them, select able-bodied men with families to form a family army, suppress bandits along the way, and train troops. By the time they reached the Northland, they would have an elite force that could crush the territorial guard. Furthermore, the refugees they gathered would exactly fill the population shortage. It was a multiple-win strategy.
As for the territory disputes, Fatty Shi didn't care at all. He considered it a trivial matter not worth mentioning. When we return with our troops, if that Viscount fellow knows what's good for him, he will dutifully hand over the mine and cough up his ill-gotten gains. Otherwise, we can take the opportunity to start a feudal war, wipe out that whole stupid family, and occupy his domain. The Norton family wouldn't mind expanding its territory.
The only troublesome matter was Duke Lugins. This Duke was greedy by nature and used every trick in the book to extort assets from the nobles under him, like a leech clinging to the Norton family sucking their blood. With their current lack of strength, the Norton family had no choice but to endure the constant pain of this blood loss. It was up to Lorist to decide how to handle this Duke. Fatty Shi's suggestion was straightforward: if their army was strong enough, directly slap this Duke out of existence. If they couldn't confront him head-on, they would have to bear with him for a while longer and pretend to comply.
Fatty Shi pulled over a latest map of the former Krisen Empire and pointed at it. "Everyone look. The former Krisen Empire is now divided into three kingdoms and seven duchies. Among them, the Duchy of Lurum, which is adjacent to the Farichu Plains, has already pledged allegiance to the Forde Commercial Alliance. Next is the First Prince's Kingdom of Rydelis, which occupies seven of the original twenty-nine provinces of the Krisen Empire, giving it the largest territory and the greatest strength. Then there are the Duchy of Faker, the Duchy of Folendo, the Duchy of Handra, and the Duchy of Sabagi. These four duchies occupy the richest central regions of the former Krisen Empire and have formed an offensive and defensive alliance. They are currently in constant conflict and entanglement with the Kingdom of Rydelis."
"The Third Prince's Kingdom of Andinac has the smallest territory, only three provinces, but the former imperial capital is under his control. He was also the favored imperial successor of the old Emperor and enjoys high prestige among the empire's nobles and subjects. If not for the Commercial Alliance instigating the First and Second Princes into rebellion, he should have been the new Emperor of the empire. Due to the Alliance's suppression, his strength is now the weakest, even inferior to that of some duchies. He should be someone the Norton family seeks friendship with. Even if the Norton family must pledge allegiance, it should be to him, because he represents the imperial lineage of the Krisen Empire."
He is fond of scheming in private, but his ability to govern the state and command the army is mediocre. To put it bluntly, the nobles of the Kingdom of Iberia are nothing but a heap of loose sand. They are nominally subordinate to the
"The Kingdom of Iberia occupies the northeastern region of the former Krisen Empire, a total of five provinces, including the Northland Plateau. There is also the Duchy of Madras, which nominally belongs to the kingdom. The current enemy the Kingdom of Iberia is fighting is the Duchy of Melaine, because it is a steadfast loyalist of the Third Prince and blocks the Second Prince's ambition for the former imperial capital. If the Second Prince wants to capture the former imperial capital, he must first conquer the Duchy of Melaine. However, Grand Duke Melaine is the former military commander of the empire, and his troops are all elites of the former Imperial Defense Force. As a result, the Second Prince's campaigns against the Duchy of Melaine over the past two consecutive years have been in vain, costing him soldiers and generals."
"The Second Prince has two dukes, seven marquises, nineteen counts, over forty viscounts, and over a hundred barons under his command. Among them, more than ninety titles were newly conferred by the Second Prince himself. The reason he enfeoffed so many nobles was simply to sell ranks and titles for the founding of his kingdom. It even led to the joke of a newly titled marquis having a fief smaller than his neighbor's barony. Of the two dukes, one is his father-in-law, Grand Duke Fisablen. This Duke was originally the commander of the imperial border legion, responsible for dealing with the barbarian riders on the Northeastern Steppes. During the three-prince succession war, he supported his son-in-law. With the greatest military strength, it can be said that Grand Duke Fisablen single-handedly orchestrated the establishment of the Kingdom of Iberia."
"The second duke is Grand Duke Lugins of the Northland. Everyone look at the map. The Northland Plateau takes up half the area of the Kingdom of Iberia. However, while the land is vast, the population is sparse. Look at the Norton family's territory. It occupies a third of the Northland's area, all of it undeveloped wilderness. Grand Duke Lugins's territory is the most prosperous southern part of the Northland Plateau, just across the
"When the Kingdom of Iberia was established this time, to gain Duke Lugins's support, the Second Prince agreed to place all the territorial nobles on the Northland Plateau under his command. This is why the Second Prince transferred the Norton family's allegiance to Duke Lugins. However, the Second Prince also played a trick. He conferred titles on over ninety nobles in one go, and among them, over forty were enfeoffed on the sparsely populated Northland Plateau. That Viscount whose territory borders the Norton family's land is one of them."
"The Second Prince paid lip service by saying the enfeoffment of so many new nobles in the Northland was to accelerate the development of the Northland Plateau, but in reality, it was to cause trouble for Duke Lugins and insert obstacles in his way. After the enfeoffment, countless conflicts erupted between the new and old nobles of the Northland. Several territorial wars occurred, and already three new nobles and one old noble were killed and their families destroyed. Duke Lugins has also changed his initial strategy of suppressing the conflicts between new and old nobles. He even secretly fans the flames, supporting territorial conflicts and wars to drain the family strength of the Northland nobles, thereby forcing them to pledge allegiance to him. As a result, the Northland is now in turmoil and conflict, with every territorial noble gathering private armies for self-preservation."
"This is the current external situation of the family's territory in the Northland. It is a perfect opportunity to fish in troubled waters. If we are strong enough, we might even be able to unify the entire Northland Plateau. This is also why I believe Lord Lock's plan to transport a batch of supplies to the Northland is not feasible. Transporting supplies will only make us a target for everyone's greed. A huge convoy of wagons will tempt every lord or bandit to take a bite out of us. On the other hand, by gathering a band of refugees, every lord will worry that we are targeting them. As for the bandits, they will be the training target and eradication focus of our family army. We should minimize casualties. The strong and capable backbone of them will become members of the Suicide Corps, the vanguard for besieging cities and taking fortresses. Those who are not the elites will still be our laborers, following us to the Northland to reclaim wasteland." Fatty Shi finished stating his northern campaign strategy.
Everyone applauded enthusiastically, Lorist included. Fatty Shi had always possessed a great sense of the big picture, which could be seen from when he led their adventure squad on mercenary missions back in the day. He never accepted any mission that exceeded the squad's capabilities. Over the years, his adventure team had experienced injuries, but no one had ever died—proof of his unparalleled ability to steer clear of danger.
Unfortunately, Fatty Shi was unaware that Lorist only wanted to transport a batch of supplies to the family and then extricate himself from the whole affair. This time, Fatty Shi had been provoked by his father, grinding his teeth and making a firm resolve to settle down in Northland and earn himself a hereditary title, so his considerations were extremely long-term.
Lorist weakly raised an objection, saying that Fatty Shi's strategy was good, but the cost of gathering refugees was too great. If ten thousand refugees reached the family territory in the north, it would bring more trouble to the family, because the territory had no surplus arable land left to cultivate, and the Northland was desolate; the food needed for so many refugees would be unaffordable, etc.
Yuri said, "If we had a year or two's worth of food reserves, the territory could achieve great development. But what if, along the way, more refugees join and the territorial nobles refuse to sell us food?" "What to do? Are the swords in our hands just for show? If they don't want to sell, we'll force them to sell! We're just a refugee convoy, not trying to conquer their territory. As long as we leave their territory afterward, it's fine. These territorial nobles won't even muster their armies to fight us, because even if they defeat us, it would greatly deplete their own strength and give other lords an opportunity. So their best strategy is to give us food and get us to leave their territory as soon as possible," Fatty Shi said.
When the refugees arrived at the territory and there was no farmland? That wasn't a problem. Fatty Shi said to have these refugees mine, build roads, construct castles, and hunt magical beasts. As long as the safe area of the family territory expanded, there would be no shortage of wasteland to reclaim. Fatty Shi said many items could be removed from the list, like the ten cartloads of iron ingots that Lorist had listed. Those were heavy and inconvenient to transport. Instead of buying iron ingots, it was better to find professionals who could prospect and smelt iron. Pointing at the map of the family territory, Fatty Shi said, "I don't believe that such a large area doesn't have the mineral resources we need."
Fatty Shi asked Lorist how much gold Forde he had originally prepared to purchase supplies. Lorist gritted his teeth and said ten thousand gold coins. Fatty Shi said, "Why keep the other twenty thousand? Planning to let them breed? Everyone on this trip is determined to go with you to the Northland with no thought of return. How can we not be fully prepared? Hand over all the money; I'll be responsible for preparing the supplies for the northward journey."
"F**k, that damned Fatty has calculated my money so precisely." The share delivered by Ergang the day before yesterday and his previous savings had thus fallen into Fatty Shi's hands. Lorist found himself with almost nothing left and couldn't help lamenting, "How am I supposed to go back to Morant City and live carefree like this?"
Fatty Shi had taken control of the finances and was enthusiastically discussing with everyone what should be prepared. The supplies still needed to be purchased were mainly of three types: weapons and equipment, food and clothing, and transport vehicles. These were not urgent; the most important thing was to get a reliable armed force. As for hiring mercenaries outright, Fatty Shi considered it unreliable. He knew well the habits of those hired mercenaries; they could fight when things went smoothly, but if casualties grew a bit, they would all run away.
"Here." Bodefinger pointed at a black dot on the map. Lorist looked and saw it was a port city, marked as Nubit Port.
Bodefinger said, "This is the Haneabada Kingdom, an archipelago nation. This country does not forbid slave trade. Therefore, Nubit Port is the largest slave trade port in Galentea. We can go to this place to purchase a batch of slaves and form a family armed force."
"I know of this place," Fatty Shi said. "I've never been there, and I don't know the market. I've only heard that it's lawless and extremely chaotic."
Bodefinger said, "I took a mercenary job there last time to pick up a batch of slaves. I've been there once, and it is indeed very chaotic. But I ran into a few acquaintances, all former comrades from the army. They're working as bodyguards in that port city now. I want to get in touch with them to ask about the market. Still, it might be better to wait a few days. I'm on the verge of advancing to the Gold rank. It would be better to go there once I've become a Gold-rank swordsman."
The advancement through the four ranks of battleforce—Bronze,
Fatty Shi nodded and said, "Alright, I'll go with you when the time comes. Lorist can take care of things here himself."
Bodefinger posed a question: "Sir Shrade, I know you've never been to the North, but how are you so familiar with the situation there?"
Fatty Shi replied, "It's simple. The people the Forde Commercial Alliance sent to mediate the dispute between the three princes of the former Krisen Empire and negotiate with the various kingdoms and duchies have returned. I visited one of the members through a connection and bought his diary of everything he saw and heard on the trip at a high price. After studying it carefully, I understood the situation in the Northland."
Bodefinger lowered his head in a respectful gesture. "Sir Shrade, you have our gratitude for your dedication."
Fatty Shi nodded in return. "There's no need to be so polite. This is what I should do for the family."
At this point, Yuri proposed an idea. He believed that there were many disillusioned senior students at
Fatty Shi highly praised this idea. He assigned Telman and Yuri to handle the matter. The requirements were: good character, Silver-rank strength, and they must be informed of the danger of the journey. If they wanted to return once they reached the Northland, each would be given a reward of twenty Forde gold coins. If they were willing to join the Norton Family, they would be accepted as family knights by Lord Locke, but this would only happen after reaching the Northland.
Fatty Shi also tasked Telman and Yuri with finding professionals who might want to accompany Lord Locke to the Northland—alchemists, blacksmiths, anyone with a skill to offer. "The family territory can't develop without these people," Fatty Shi said.
Bogdefinger nodded approvingly.
The family knights' meeting regarding the northward strategy thus concluded. Bogdefinger went back to his training, Telman and Yuri set off to carry out Fatty Shi's instructions, and Fatty Shi himself was busier than ever, as he had to haggle with cunning merchants and prepare the supplies for the journey. Everyone bowed to Lorist in farewell and then dispersed, leaving the room empty in an instant.
Lorist sat alone in the study, stunned for a long time, until he finally understood: it was over—he really had to go back and be a lord again…