The Commercial Alliance's unexpectedly swift surrender truly caught
The plan Lorist and Malek had discussed was to spend a full two years gradually grinding down the Commercial Alliance's strength and morale. There was no need to defeat them in one decisive blow — the idea was to slowly push the Commercial Alliance into a corner until they could no longer resist. From a military perspective, such an arrangement minimized the Norton Family's casualties. Besides, in another half year, the Peterson Kingdom's armed forces — having completed their training and received military aid from the Norton Family — could be deployed to the front-line defensive positions. Only after the Peterson Kingdom's forces and the Commercial Alliance's forces had thoroughly torn off the mask of civility and fought each other to the death could Lorist sit back and watch the show from the sidelines.
As for the Commercial Alliance's salt shortage, Lorist had long since decided to have the Peterson Grand Duke organize smuggling operations against the Commercial Alliance. This would serve as both a lifeline to keep them barely alive and a way to continuously bleed them dry from another direction. By selling smuggled rock salt at inflated prices and steadily extracting revenue from the Commercial Alliance to fund this prolonged defensive war, it was essentially using the Commercial Alliance's own gold to arm and train soldiers to fight against them. What was there not to like about that?
But now the Commercial Alliance had sent envoys suing for peace, and this truly made Lorist somewhat angry. Where had they been before? Back when we wanted to negotiate, you put on airs and rejected our peace overtures time and again, dismissing the sincerity we showed. Now that we're prepared to fight you to the end — with all our plans set in motion — you turn around and beg for peace, rendering all our arrangements useless. The sheer audacity!
"Should we reject the Commercial Alliance's peace request and continue this war?" Lorist asked
Fatty Shi understood perfectly what was going through Lorist's mind. He shook his head. "Your Highness, when we originally sought negotiations, the Commercial Alliance's rejection of our submitted conditions was understandable. Of course, their conditions were also unacceptable to us, so the failure of negotiations was inevitable. But now the Commercial Alliance is suing for peace — that's practically equivalent to surrender. Basically, all the negotiation terms will be built on our opinions and proposals. So in this situation, if we were to reject their peace request, we'd come across as overly domineering, and the Commercial Alliance would instead be cast in the sympathetic role of the underdog.
From our Family's standpoint, we shouldn't block or reject the Commercial Alliance's peace request. Everyone knows our Family's forces joined this war, as we publicly declared, to restore peace — to have the Andinak Kingdom, the Free Alliance, and the Commercial Alliance sign a ceasefire agreement and bring peace back to the Mana Hill Plains. Now that the objective has been achieved, we can't go back on our word and find excuses to prolong this war. That would damage the Norton Family's reputation and leave a poor impression on those kingdoms in the central-south.
Furthermore, from our Family's perspective, we can't unilaterally decide whether to reject the Commercial Alliance's peace request. While His Majesty the King entrusted Your Highness with overseeing this war, the outcome is now decided, and the question of the Commercial Alliance's fate must still be submitted to His Majesty for handling. I believe that before anything else, we should convene the Free Alliance, the Peterson Kingdom, and the four newly restored neighboring nations to jointly discuss the Commercial Alliance's peace request and establish preliminary conditions and joint demands that serve each nation's interests. That is what matters most."
Lorist nodded. Fatty Shi's words were spot on. The Commercial Alliance bowing their heads and suing for peace meant they had essentially surrendered all the interests they once held. Recognizing the four newly restored nations, acknowledging the Free Alliance and Peterson Kingdom's legal rights and territorial claims — these were prerequisite conditions. As for the southern provinces seized by the independent Qigeda Trading Company and Mayflower Trading Company, the Commercial Alliance had no choice but to abandon them, since they no longer had the leverage to reclaim those lost territories.
For the Norton Family, the objective of this military expedition had already been accomplished. They had even captured all of the Commercial Alliance's markets in the central-southern nations of the continent — a truly unexpected bonus. With the Commercial Alliance bowing their heads in defeat, there was no need for Lorist and the Norton Family to step forward and play the villain. They could easily hand the matter off to the
"Very well, do as you suggest. Also, notify our King and ask him to come handle the Commercial Alliance's peace request." Lorist suddenly remembered something. "Oh — did the Commercial Alliance's envoys put forward any specific demands in their peace proposal?"
"They have only one request: that we grant them the right to trade freely," Fatty Shi replied.
"Heh, so they haven't given up yet. They want to arm-wrestle with us in commerce..." Lorist laughed. "At least these merchants showed some sense for once — they realize they're no match for us military nobles in warfare. It's only now they've figured it out, though it's not too late. Returning to their merchant identity and competing with us in commerce... they actually have that kind of confidence."
"Then should we reject their request for free trade rights?" Fatty Shi asked.
Lorist drummed his fingers on the table. "There's no need. The right to free trade isn't that big of a deal. The nobles of those central-southern kingdoms have also set up all manner of trading caravans and commerce guilds, selling the produce of their territories. All the Commercial Alliance is asking for is the same rights as these nobles — fair treatment in toll fees and market taxes, without artificial obstruction or discrimination. We can agree to treat them equally and not give them trouble."
"Very well, Your Highness, I understand." Fatty Shi stood up to take his leave.
"Wait, Shrade. You can privately discuss with the Peterson Grand Duke the implementation of a salt monopoly system in his kingdom. That means no private buying, selling, or transporting of salt is permitted to pass through — all salt transactions must be controlled by the Peterson Trading Company. The Commercial Alliance is short on salt, isn't it? With a salt monopoly in place, they won't be able to purchase salt from outside and transport it through Peterson Kingdom's territory, unless they conduct their transactions through the Peterson Trading Company. Tell the Peterson Grand Duke that while the salt monopoly won't generate the windfall profits that smuggling does, it can still command high prices. It will allow him to quickly repay the loans our Family has provided. Additionally, notify the Central-Southern Kingdom Alliance forces stationed in Tenerig Province and Seruniga Province to prevent salt smuggling from those regions into the Commercial Alliance. As for the profit distribution, you can coordinate with them and the Peterson Trading Company to work out a proper arrangement. Don't let it damage relations."
The more Fatty Shi listened, the more impressed he became. Finally, he gave a thumbs up. "Your Highness, this proposal of yours is truly brilliant. The Commercial Alliance really may never be able to recover now. No matter how hard they try in the future, they'll have this salt monopoly clamped tight around their throats. Over the long term, they'll only grow to deeply resent Peterson Kingdom..."
"Heh, the more they hate us, the more reassured we can be. Even if the Commercial Alliance recovers its strength, it'll have to get past Peterson Kingdom first. Otherwise, it can just stay cooped up in these four provinces forever." Lorist raised his teacup with a smug smile and drained the dark green tea in one gulp.
Tagel knocked and entered. "Your Highness, a message hawk has arrived from the Imperial Capital. The new Queen gave birth to a healthy little prince in March. His Majesty the King was overjoyed and has named the prince Herleiste."
"Ha — our King certainly works efficiently. He already has a little prince. Shrade, prepare a generous congratulatory gift and send it to the Imperial Capital, congratulating His Majesty on the birth of his legitimate heir. While you're at it, inform him of the Commercial Alliance's peace request and ask him to come to
"Very well, Your Highness, I'll see to it immediately," Fatty Shi responded.
...
The Commercial Alliance's special envoy stayed in Morant City for nearly a month, haggling with the various negotiating representatives, before finally reaching a preliminary agreement. For the Commercial Alliance, this was a soul-crushing, humiliating accord. The Commercial Alliance recognized the legality and territorial inviolability of the four newly restored nations — the Qigeda Kingdom, the Mokby Grand Duchy, the Kabasi Grand Duchy, and the Samalia Grand Duchy — and paid each of them five hundred thousand gold Forde in compensation for the invasion and annexation those nations had suffered in the past, thereby obtaining their forgiveness.
At the same time, the Commercial Alliance's envoy signed a ceasefire and mutual non-aggression understanding with the Peterson Kingdom's negotiating representative, Duke Miledas — for his enormous contributions to Peterson Kingdom's independence, Count Miledas had been elevated by His Majesty the Peterson King to the position of the kingdom's sole Duke, and came to negotiate with the Commercial Alliance's envoy. Both sides acknowledged each other's territory as sacred and inviolable.
What was laughable was that both sides seemed to have forgotten that a third of Kuwadro Province in the Commercial Alliance's territory was still under the control of the Norton Family's forces, forming a defensive line shielding the Peterson Kingdom. Both sides declared in the agreement that they would respect each other's rights and interests, and Duke Miledas also announced that he welcomed Commercial Alliance trading caravans to pass through Peterson Kingdom's territory for commerce — provided they abided by the law, in which case they would be free to pass without obstruction.
Fatty Shi, who was notarizing the agreement from the side, chuckled to himself. If the Commercial Alliance knew that Peterson Kingdom and the four neighboring nations were about to announce the implementation of a salt monopoly system, he wondered what their reaction would be — would they immediately tear up the agreement and declare war on Peterson Kingdom again? Because under this salt monopoly system, even if the Commercial Alliance purchased salt from outside, as long as it passed through these four nations and Peterson Kingdom, the shipments would all be confiscated for violating the monopoly provisions...
As for the negotiations between the Free Alliance and the Commercial Alliance, those were much simpler. Facing the Commercial Alliance, the Free Alliance's negotiating representatives always lacked confidence. Even though the Free Alliance's forces had followed the Norton Family's forces into two battles against the Commercial Alliance, they had basically only played the role of bystanders and onlookers, never serving any critical function.
So when the Commercial Alliance's envoy offered to compensate the Free Alliance with one million gold Forde, the negotiations quickly progressed. The Free Alliance's representatives swiftly signed an understanding agreement with the Commercial Alliance's envoy, acknowledging each other's territories and identities, accepting the Commercial Alliance's peace request, and agreeing to allow the Commercial Alliance's constituent trading companies to come to Morant City for commerce and trade. Of course, this was inseparable from the Commercial Alliance's envoy privately paying friendly visits to the Free Alliance's negotiating representatives. The Free Alliance's representatives all proclaimed that it was the Commercial Alliance's sincerity that had moved them...
The plump and fox-like Baron Shrade openly declared that the Norton Family's forces had entered the Mana Hill Plains to fight the Commercial Alliance not because they sought to extract any benefit — they had truly come for peace. As long as the Commercial Alliance signed ceasefire agreements with all the neighboring nations, the Norton Family's forces would naturally not continue to make things difficult for them. They would respect and abide by all peace agreements that had been reached.
Soon enough, the Commercial Alliance's envoy understood why the Norton Family's forces would say such things — because His Majesty King Ogsero of the Andinak Kingdom had arrived. The Second Prince, travel-worn from his journey, brought a thousand-strong bodyguard detachment and, upon reaching Morant City, immediately threw himself into negotiations with the Commercial Alliance's envoy.
As the Commercial Alliance's mortal enemy, the Second Prince put forward two demands. First, that the Commercial Alliance's Supreme Governor, Grand Duke Comberlate, publicly apologize to the Andinak Kingdom, reflect on the crimes the Commercial Alliance had committed against the Andinak Kingdom, and personally bow and apologize before the Second Prince. Second, that the Commercial Alliance compensate the Andinak Kingdom for the damages it had caused, in the amount of ten million gold Forde. Only if these two demands were met would the Andinak Kingdom be willing to sign a ceasefire agreement with the Commercial Alliance and reach a mutual understanding.
The Commercial Alliance's envoy balked. This was too much bullying. Especially since the victor of the war was not the Andinak Kingdom's forces but the Norton Family's forces — what right did a king who had once been thoroughly defeated by them have to make such outrageous demands?
However, once word reached the Commercial Alliance, Grand Duke Comberlate personally traveled to Morant City and held earnest talks with the Second Prince. In the end, Comberlate expressed willingness to publicly apologize to the Second Prince. The Second Prince also made a concession, reducing the compensation to five million. Considering that the prolonged war had left the Commercial Alliance unable to pay such an enormous sum immediately, the Second Prince thoughtfully accepted two million in cash upfront, with the remainder to be repaid over five years.
And so, the understanding between the Commercial Alliance and the Andinak Kingdom was reached, and peace finally descended.
...