"...Count Mileidas came to
"Aligomai Province was originally the territory of the Delia Duchy, a neighboring state of the former Trinbo Kingdom that was annexed by the Trade Alliance during the Glass War. When the city gate catches fire, the fish in the moat suffer too. Because they coveted the astronomical bounty offered by Trinbo VII, two Sword Saints patronized by the Delia Duchy assassinated a Sword Saint of the Trade Alliance. In the later stages of the Glass War, the Alliance used this as a pretext to invade the Delia Duchy and wipe out that small state."
"After the Delia Duchy was annexed by the Trade Alliance, its original five commanderies were likewise divided into two provinces — Aligomai Province and Toskao Province — with the Reverse Flow River, which originates in the Sunset Mountains, serving as the border between them. So after Aligomai Province secedes from the Trade Alliance, there's no need to worry about an armed attack from the Alliance, as the terrain there is unfavorable for large troop movements. The key area we need to focus on is the Peterson Commerce's territory of Charbuko Province. It connects directly to Kuwadero Province, and the terrain is flat and open. If the Trade Alliance decides to retaliate against Grand Duke Peterson, they will certainly attack Charbuko Province through there."
"Count Mileidas, representing Grand Duke Peterson, put forward three demands. First, that our Family's armed forces deploy into the Peterson Commerce's territory to help Grand Duke Peterson repel retaliatory attacks from Trade Alliance forces, or alternatively, attack Kuwadero Province and establish defensive positions there. Second, that we help the seceding Peterson Kingdom join the already-established twenty-one-nation agreement of south-central Galentea, becoming the twenty-second signatory. Third, that our Family provide them with military aid to help build a kingdom-level armed force capable of defending their territory."
"If we agree to their demands, Grand Duke Peterson will host a New Year celebration to convene the nobles of his territory and discuss secession from the Trade Alliance, while taking repressive measures against those commerce nobles who remain fanatically loyal to the Alliance. Count Mileidas will take similar action in Aligomai Province. After next year's rainy season, Grand Duke Peterson will announce his secession from the Trade Alliance, establish an independent kingdom, and declare himself king. I believe this move by Grand Duke Peterson will deal a fatal blow to the Trade Alliance."
"Oh, Your Grace — Count Mileidas also revealed a very important piece of intelligence. The Trade Alliance lacks sufficient salt. Currently, none of the seven provinces under the Alliance possess rock salt mines. The Peterson Commerce, however, managed to plunder a large quantity of rock salt from the salt-producing Wayago Kingdom a few years ago — enough to sustain the entire Trade Alliance's consumption for three or four years. Count Mileidas has long suspected that Grand Duke Cambelite's proposal at the Trade Alliance's ruling council meeting in November to merge commerce territories was aimed precisely at seizing this stockpile of rock salt. What's laughable is that Grand Duke Peterson didn't understand the importance of this salt to the Trade Alliance and actually voted in favor."
"Therefore, Count Mileidas hopes we can make our decision as quickly as possible and deploy our Family's armed forces to the Peterson Commerce's territory before next year's rainy season arrives. In April next year, the Trade Alliance will begin executing the territory-merger resolution, and Count Mileidas fears that Grand Duke Cambelite will dispatch his trusted subordinates to the Peterson Commerce's territory to seize control of the salt warehouses immediately. If we agree to their three demands, then the moment Grand Duke Peterson announces independence next year, the Trade Alliance won't last more than half a year without that salt."
Lorist didn't respond immediately. He simply tapped the table lightly with his index finger. They were all old and cunning foxes indeed — worthy of being one of the seven great commerce giants of the Trade Alliance. Even at a time like this, Grand Duke Peterson was still playing mind games with him. It was simple enough: he had presented Grand Duke Peterson with a dilemma, to see which path he would choose. Now Grand Duke Peterson had turned around and presented him with a dilemma of his own — one that would determine how long the war with the Trade Alliance would last.
The crux of the matter lay in the scale of military aid the
If relations broke down completely, Lorist wouldn't feel at ease entrusting the Family's armed forces with a retreat route through Peterson Commerce territory.
"This Count Mileidas — his name sounds somewhat familiar. Has anyone looked into his background?" Lorist asked.
Fatty Shi nodded. "Lord Tigell has already provided us with detailed investigation materials. Come to think of it, this Count Mileidas could almost be considered an acquaintance of ours. Do you remember the Dosleg Grand Hotel? It's owned by his family. And when you mention the Mileidas Commerce — a guild that specializes in hotels and taverns — that should ring a bell..."
"Oh, so it's him. No wonder the name sounded familiar." Lorist slapped his forehead. Fatty Shi was right — the Mileidas Commerce was far from unfamiliar to him; they'd done business together on more than one occasion.
The Mileidas Commerce specialized in the hotel and tavern trade. Besides the Dosleg Grand Hotel, during their prime they had opened an "Adventurer's Inn" in various countries and regions across the central and southern reaches of the continent, catering specifically to mercenaries from the Trade Alliance who needed lodging and rest during their travels. Because the prices were reasonable, the service attentive, the information reliable, and the safety guaranteed — all of which provided enormous help to mercenaries — these inns were beloved by those who ventured out to seek their fortunes. Lorist recalled that back when Fatty Shi and he had been mercenaries in Morant City, forming parties to go on expeditions, the Adventurer's Inn had been their favorite place to stay.
"The investigation materials say that Count Mileidas is the most resolute dove and proponent of peace within the Trade Alliance..." Fatty Shi pulled a document from the folder, glanced at it, and chuckled. "And no wonder — when the Trade Alliance made enemies of those central and southern nations, the party that suffered the most was Count Mileidas's family commerce. Nearly a hundred of their hotels and taverns were shuttered by those nations, their family members expelled from the country. The losses amounted to no less than three million gold Fordes."
"Count Mileidas harbors no grudge against those central and southern nations. After losing nearly half his family's assets, he became Grand Duke Cambelite's most vocal opponent, publicly speaking out on multiple occasions and delivering speeches arguing that the Trade Alliance had betrayed its founding principle of prioritizing peace and had strayed down the erroneous path of militaristic aggression. Moreover, he was the only commerce guild within the Alliance that refused to participate in the Alliance's armed forces, which was why he was granted only a Count's title upon enfeoffment, with his territory assigned to the rather desolate Alligme Province."
"Strictly speaking, the Mileidas family actually came from an aristocratic lineage. Two hundred years ago, an ancestor of the family had been a Baron in the Roman Empire, on very close terms with the Crown Prince at the time. Later, several princes vying for the throne conspired against the Crown Prince, and this Baron of the Mileidas family died heroically while defending him. After the Crown Prince's death, the Mileidas family was purged. Its members were forced to flee to the newly established Trade Alliance, settling in Morant City and making a living running the hotel business, which they gradually expanded."
"Mm, this Count Mileidas is also related to Grand Duke Peterson by blood. Heh — apparently, when Grand Duke Peterson's father was a young man, he stayed at the Adventurer's Inn and fell in love at first sight with Count Mileidas's great-aunt. Things progressed rather further than they should have. Grand Duke Peterson's father was already married at the time, and the Count's great-aunt had already been betrothed. The scandal caused an enormous uproar between the two commerce guilds. The Mileidas family refused to let the great-aunt become a concubine. In the end, she eloped with Grand Duke Peterson's father, and Grand Duke Peterson was born from their union."
Later, Grand Duke Peterson's father's first wife died in childbirth, and Count Mileidas's great-aunt was elevated to primary wife. Only then did relations between the two commerce guilds return to normal, and they began to grow close. Grand Duke Peterson and Count Mileidas grew up together from childhood and were like brothers. As a proponent of peace and opponent of war, Count Mileidas had offended Grand Duke Cambelite and the other commerce guild heavyweights. It was Grand Duke Peterson who intermediated on every occasion to shield the Mileidas family from censure by the other guilds..."
Lorist nodded. "So it seems Grand Duke Peterson's decision to break away from the Trade Alliance is genuine. Otherwise, he wouldn't have sent Count Mileidas here to negotiate with us. Very well, Baron Shrade — you'll represent me in discussing with Count Mileidas exactly how much military aid they need. If it's not excessive, we can agree to Grand Duke Peterson's request. But don't call it aid — call it a loan, with a longer repayment period, settling a portion each year.
The reason we can't simply provide free military aid isn't stinginess — it's that once we open that door, what happens when the Free Alliance and the four newly restored nations make the same demand? Our family's armed forces came here to restore peace to this region, not to play Santa Claus. After all, our family's territory is in the Northland, and we certainly don't represent the Kingdom of Andinak."
What Lorist said cut to the heart of the matter, but it was the plain truth. The Norton Family had dispatched its expeditionary forces to oppose the Trade Alliance, ostensibly to restore peace, negotiate a ceasefire, and reach a peace agreement — but in truth, it was all about profit. In the beginning, they had feared the Trade Alliance would defeat the
Ultimately, the establishment of the Free Alliance and the decisive battle against the Trade Alliance at Buluvia City were no longer about forcing the Trade Alliance to the negotiating table — they were nakedly about commercial gain. Using Morant City as a logistics hub and wholesale distribution center for goods produced in the family's territories, flooding the markets of central and southern Galentea — this was a strategic plan that every senior member of the family understood. Anyone who sought to obstruct the implementation of the Norton Family's strategy would become its mortal enemy. By this point, the Trade Alliance was no longer even worth the family's attention.
The four-province campaign, the subsequent restoration of four nations, and the establishment of friendly relations and alliance agreements with the central and southern countries — in plain terms, it was using the Trade Alliance to kill the chicken to scare the monkey. First, to broadcast the Norton Family's military might — its record of invincibility in battle. Second, to demonstrate to the central and southern nations that the Norton Family had no ambition to seize their territories, and had in fact generously helped restore four conquered countries. Third, to fracture the Trade Alliance, forcing the Chikde Commerce Guild to secede and establish an independent nation — the independence of the Mayflower Commerce Guild had been a purely unexpected bonus.
The most important point of this military campaign was to directly seize from the central and southern nations the markets previously held by the Trade Alliance through force of arms. Relying on private ship captains to smuggle Norton Family goods into those markets had been far too slow, and risked the Trade Alliance discovering the operation and resorting to underhanded tactics to counter it. So it was simply better to deploy troops and seize those markets by force.
They had beaten the Trade Alliance into a corner, its northern and southern provinces severed from one another. They had restored four nations the Trade Alliance had absorbed. They had cultivated friendly relations with every central and southern country and signed the Twenty-One Nation Agreement of central-southern Galentea. On the surface, the Norton Family appeared to be playing the altruist, gaining nothing. In reality, the family had profited enormously. Setting everything else aside, the fact that central and southern nations had dispatched troops to garrison Tanarig Province and Seruniga Province amounted to tearing up the trade agreements they had signed with the Trade Alliance two years prior, once again blockading its borders and trade routes. Unless the Trade Alliance acknowledged the four restored nations, its goods would never reach the markets of the central and southern countries.
Would the Trade Alliance be willing to acknowledge the four nations it had once absorbed? It could not. By doing so, it would forfeit the legitimacy of the territories it had previously held. In the trade agreements signed with the central and southern nations, those countries had tacitly recognized the thirty-six provinces under Trade Alliance control as its lawful territory. Even though only seven provinces remained now, the signed trade agreements were proof of that legality.
In the end, might makes right — strength is what matters. On one side, the Trade Alliance had been beaten by the Norton Family's forces into swallowing its pride and hiding within its borders, trying to endure hardship and rebuild its strength for another day. On the other side, the Norton Family's forces had achieved every objective of their campaign. The Free Alliance had earned the recognition of the central and southern nations, and from now on, goods produced in the Norton Family's territories could be transported overland directly to the markets of those countries for sale. For the Norton Family, this represented a market worth millions — potentially approaching ten million — gold Fordes annually. It was absolutely not something they could afford to relinquish.
As for the porcupine-like territories of the Trade Alliance's seven provinces, the Norton Family had no intention of launching an assault. However, Lorist was quite interested in pressuring Grand Duke Peterson to break away from the Trade Alliance and establish an independent kingdom. Ideally, once independent, the Peterson Kingdom and the Trade Alliance would tear each other apart in a vicious struggle, and Lorist would be more than happy to watch from the sidelines. But now that Grand Duke Peterson wanted the Norton Family's armed forces to personally intervene and provide military aid, Lorist was none too pleased. Who did he think he was? Was this supposed to be a threat? There would be no free aid — if they wanted help, it would have to be a loan.
"But Your Highness, Count Mileidas says the Peterson Trade Association's coffers have been completely emptied by years of war. I'm afraid they wouldn't be able to repay a loan even if we offered one," said Fatty Shi.
Lorist grinned savagely. "They can repay it. Doesn't Grand Duke Peterson still have a batch of rock salt on hand? I can agree to let him smuggle that rock salt to the Trade Alliance at a premium price. Naturally, the quantities would be under our control, but as for the selling price, they can set that themselves. I'm certain that rock salt will allow Grand Duke Peterson to repay the loan with ease and still make a handsome fortune for his kingdom."
...