Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye it was already July of the year 1785 on the Galentea Continent's common calendar.
"Your Highness, the White Lion Corps spent three months clearing out banditry in Westwood Province and is now heading to Fabucia Province. What's interesting is that His Majesty the Emperor has been providing strong logistical support and supplies for the White Lion Corps' armaments since the New Year — he hasn't been late on military expenditures or soldier pay in the slightest. As a result, morale among the White Lion Corps' soldiers is very high, and they're full of confidence in the upcoming bandit suppression campaigns…" Genoliro was reading a classified report from the central region regarding the White Lion Corps.
"Your Highness, why do you think so?" Genoliro asked curiously.
"It's quite simple," Lorist said, pointing to a map of the central region hanging on the wall. "The eleven central provinces — aside from the family territories of Grand Duke Handela, Grand Duke Furunto, and Duke Shahin — Westwood Province had the lightest bandit problem precisely because it sits nestled between the three directly administered provinces of those three grand dukes. The White Lion Corps' first step in the campaign was the right one, and our family's effort to transport them there during the winter wasn't in vain.
But even in a relatively peaceful province like Westwood, the White Lion Corps still needed over three months to finish the job. That was only possible because the three grand dukes cooperated by deploying their respective family forces to seal off every exit from Westwood Province, leaving the bandits and horse raiders with nowhere to flee so they could be eliminated one by one. The White Lion Corps is essentially a heavy-armored corps now — lacking in mobility, and with great deficiencies in speed, reaction time, and pursuit capability when dealing with bandits who flee at the first sign of trouble.
Fabucia Province was once the directly administered territory of Grand Duke Fakel's family. In defiance of His Majesty the Emperor's campaign against the four central duchies, Grand Duke Fakel burned down the city of Falamexi where his family was based, and after the war was lost, the entire family fled to the Commerce Alliance. Their whereabouts remain unknown to this day. While Grand Duke Fakel's atrocity of burning his own city allowed our
That's why Fabucia Province has the most severe bandit problem, and it was also the origin of the last peasant uprising in the central region. When the White Lion Corps heads to Fabucia Province to suppress the bandits, apart from Duke Shahin who can still provide some logistical support, there's nothing much the others can do. Taking a heavy-armored corps that lacks mobility against bandits and horse raiders who come and go like the wind — and who can even relocate to neighboring provinces at the first sign of trouble — will likely drag them into a prolonged, grueling campaign. I'm not optimistic that the White Lion Corps can seize the initiative in this fight."
"I understand, Your Highness." Genoliro drew a broader conclusion. "In fact, to eliminate the bandit problem in the central region, a heavy infantry corps like the White Lion Corps isn't suitable at all. What's needed instead are high-mobility corps that can actually deal with those bandits and horse raiders. The Hunting Knight Corps or the Sentinel Battalion would be the best choices. Once those units lock onto a target, those bandits wouldn't be able to escape even if they wanted to."
Lorist nodded approvingly. "Exactly. The Sentinel Battalion, with their high combat prowess and strength, can serve as the main force to destroy bandit strongholds and horse raider lairs. The light cavalry of the Hunting Knight Corps will be perfect for setting up blockades and scouting for bandit movements. If they spot bandits fleeing or relocating, they can give chase, hounding them until they are utterly exhausted and have nowhere left to run. However, after clearing a province, we still need to establish stringent defensive lines to prevent bandits from other provinces from flooding in and causing the problem to resurface..."
Genoliro had been at Lorist's side for a long time, and Lorist was quite fond of his third disciple, frequently offering him guidance and instruction in various aspects. His only dissatisfaction was that Genoliro was a pacifist who never particularly enjoyed fighting others. It could be said that in the cultivation of martial arts, Genoliro had the poorest natural talent among Lorist's three disciples. For instance, when Genoliro was to follow
"Your Highness, here is a report forwarded from Viscount Camorra, written by Baron Fenston, the garrison commander of Qilin Port. Since this April, the number of noble caravans from various territories coming to trade at the Qilin Port Grand Market has decreased significantly. It is estimated that Qilin Port's total trade volume this year might not even reach half of last year's. To investigate, Baron Fenston conducted extensive inquiries and discovered that the Antario Commerce Guild has set up a major purchasing station at Flowwater River, intercepting many noble caravans en route to Qilin Port. Baron Fenston hopes our Family can come up with a countermeasure as soon as possible..." Genoliro opened another document.
The establishment of the Qilin Port Grand Market had primarily been Lorist's idea to find an outlet for the specialty products and mineral raw materials produced by the family territories of the Empire's nobility in the Northwest. The Krisen Empire currently comprised thirty-one provinces, vast and resource-rich. The Norton Family was purchasing large quantities of produce from these noble territories at Qilin Port. Besides the supplies and mineral resources needed for their own family territories, everything else was transported to
A good thing.
But now someone was encroaching on this profit stream—the Antario Commerce Guild, backed by Viscount Wiksax, the
"Is there any news from Tager?" Lorist asked. Whenever something detrimental to the Norton Family's interests occurred, the Warrenbell Intelligence Bureau would immediately dispatch personnel to investigate and ascertain the true situation.
"Yes, Your Highness. Here is the investigation report submitted by Lord Tager." Genoliro pulled out a thick stack of documents.
"What does the report say?"
"Your Highness, at the New Year's celebration banquet held in the Imperial Palace at the end of last year, Viscount Wiksax introduced the hidden backer of the Antario Commerce Guild to His Majesty the Emperor. It is said to be a young master named Cerig, the heir of a defunct commerce guild from the Roman Empire in the southern continent. He intended to resume his old trade within the Krisen Empire, which is why he partnered with Viscount Wiksax to establish the Antario Commerce Guild. However, due to Viscount Wiksax's personal issues, the Guild's situation isn't very optimistic. It's very likely out of guilt that Wiksax arranged the introduction to the Emperor for him.
It was said that the trade guild the young master Cerig originally belonged to had offended a powerful territorial Grand Duke in the Roman Empire and was subsequently wiped out. During his escape, young master Cerig faced repeated dangers and sustained serious injuries, including two long sword scars across his face. As a result, he habitually wore a black robe and disliked showing his face. However, young master Cerig's tribulations were not in vain — he had used himself as bait to draw the pursuers' attention while secretly spiriting away the majority of the guild's assets out of the Roman Empire, bringing with him a contingent of loyal subordinates.
Lord Tager had already dispatched two investigators to the Roman Empire to look into young master Cerig's background, but it would take at least another half year before any report came back. At the New Year's celebration banquet, however, His Majesty the Emperor appeared to greatly appreciate young master Cerig's talents. There was confirmed proof that His Majesty had held a private meeting with young master Cerig for over three hours, and it seemed the Emperor had even invited Cerig to serve him, offering generous noble titles as reward. Young master Cerig declined the Emperor's overtures on the grounds that he was a broken man, and His Majesty had expressed visible regret over this.
After the rainy season, young master Cerig directed the Antario Commerce Guild's personnel to construct a large purchasing warehouse along the Flowing Water River, dispatching staff to carry out aggressive publicity. Since the purchase prices matched those of the Galen Harbor trading market, many territorial nobles' merchant caravans — whether to avoid the hassle of long-distance travel or out of consideration for Viscount Wiksax — chose to sell their fiefdoms' produce entirely to the Antario Commerce Guild.
Regarding the purchasing funds, investigators had confirmed that the Antario Commerce Guild received behind-the-scenes support from His Majesty the Emperor. Evidence indicated that the Emperor had provided roughly eight hundred thousand gold Fordas from the imperial treasury for the Antario Commerce Guild to operate with. As for the Antario Commerce Guild intercepting the Krisen Empire's territorial nobles' caravans en route to the Galen Harbor trading market, our family's representative in Galen had also written to His Majesty the Emperor to lodge a protest. The Emperor's reply, however, stated that this was a commercial matter, a normal instance of business competition, and that the imperial household had no grounds to intervene.
As for where the Antario Commerce Guild sold the materials and mineral resources purchased from the Empire's noble territories, the destination was not the Free Alliance's Morant City, but rather the Commerce League, where they organized merchant caravans for trade. Our investigators had no idea how the Antario Commerce Guild had established a connection with the Commerce League, but they had all heard a saying attributed to young master Cerig: "A merchant's every action aims solely at earning profit. Whether it be enemies or the devil himself, anyone who can bring us gain is our customer and friend."
Lorist furrowed his brow — this truly was a new problem. He hadn't expected that behind the Antario Commerce Guild stood such a commercial talent, one who had not only intercepted Galen Harbor's business but also won the Second Prince's support. Most critically, the man had sidestepped the distribution and wholesale hub Lorist had built at Morant City, forging a novel connection with the Commerce League. For the Commerce League, which lacked most raw materials and mineral resources, this trade route the Antario Commerce Guild had opened was virtually the most critical lifeline — it gave the Commerce League hope and possibility of regrouping.
This was truly unexpected, Lorist thought with a bitter smile. Who could have predicted that the Krisen Empire, once the Commerce League's mortal enemy, would become the League's supplier of raw materials and mineral resources? Moreover, this trade route perfectly evaded the Norton Family's surveillance. Even the Peterson Kingdom, wedged between the Commerce League and the New Krisen Empire, was likely powerless against it.
Had the New Krisen Empire not been involved, the Peterson Kingdom could have perhaps prohibited any new trade routes leading to the Commerce League. But now that it was a joint venture between the New Krisen Empire and the Commerce League, the Peterson Kingdom could only swallow its objections. Offending the Commerce League was one thing, but offending the New Krisen Empire that stood behind the Peterson Kingdom — that was something the Grand Duke of Peterson simply didn't have the nerve to do. The Norton Family was too far removed to help. And if the Commerce League and the New Krisen Empire joined forces to exert pressure together, the Peterson Kingdom, independent for only a few years, would likely face annihilation.
Just as Lorist had heard in his previous life — capitalists would sell the very rope used to hang them. This young master Cerig was a true merchant through and through. The trouble was that this sort of commercial maneuvering was genuinely difficult to counter, and at the very least, Lorist could not think of any good solution at the moment.
"Are there any countermeasures or proposals in the report?" Lorist could only hope for collective wisdom now — one mind might falter, but three could devise a plan.
Genorio had already flipped to the last page of the report. He shook his head. "No, Your Highness. Baron Fenston had once suggested raising the purchasing prices for all manner of supplies and raw materials — by about ten percent. But the Antalio Commerce matched the price hike immediately afterward, intercepting the merchant caravans from noble fiefs that had been heading to the Qilin Port Grand Trade Market to do business, just as before."
Lorist's eyes flashed. He paced the room twice before stopping in his tracks. "Send a messenger hawk to Qilin Port. Raise the purchasing prices for supplies, raw materials, and mineral resources by a third. And if the Antalio Commerce raises their prices to match, then we raise ours by another half!"
"No, Your Highness — at that rate, we'd have virtually no profit to speak of!" Genorio exclaimed. "If we raise our purchasing prices that high, then factoring in shipping costs and labor, our family would see only a pittance in returns — barely breaking even. Your Highness, this approach is tantamount to hurting them while hurting ourselves. Even if we overpower the Antalio Commerce, it'll be a pyrrhic victory for both sides!"
"Heh heh…" Lorist smiled. "A pyrrhic victory for both sides is exactly what I want. Think about it, Genorio — if we raise our purchasing prices so dramatically that even with our family's maritime shipping capabilities we can barely break even, and the Antalio Commerce raises theirs to match us, then given their overland caravans' transportation capacity and costs, do you think they'd still turn a profit? I dare say they'd hemorrhage losses."
"But what if they don't raise their prices?"
"If they don't raise their prices, nobody will sell them raw materials and mineral resources, and the trade route they've opened to the Commerce League becomes worthless. Men will take risks for profit, but no one does business at a loss. If that young Master Cerig of the Antalio Commerce is a true merchant, he'll have no choice but to abandon this trade route — because he can't afford to lose the capital that His Majesty the Emperor has invested behind him.
For our family, breaking even for a period — even two or three years — is something we can endure. The most important thing is that we shut down the trade route between the Antalio Commerce and the Commerce League. The Commerce League is our family's potential enemy, and we must remain vigilant against it. Any measure that helps them rebuild their strength is something our family opposes. Raising purchasing prices to force the Antalio Commerce into unprofitable operations is the only countermeasure we can take right now."
"Understood. I'll go send the messenger hawk right away," Genorio said.
……