"No! Your Highness, we can't do this! How can we give such armor and weapons to that man? Won't that only increase his strength? I firmly oppose—"
What Grand Duke Comberlate was referring to was a large chest. When opened, it contained a set of exquisite black iron standard armor, a rectangular refined-steel shield, a finely forged longsword, a sharp dagger, and a foot-long spearhead gleaming with cold light. In short, the chest held an entire set of weapons and armor.
As soon as Marquis Krios saw the military equipment inside, he loudly voiced his opposition. He understood perfectly what Grand Duke Comberlate had in mind—providing the
"No, hear me out first." Grand Duke Comberlate waved his hand. "This is precisely why I came here to discuss this with you in person, rather than sending someone else."
He picked up the standard black iron armor from the chest and gently stroked the cold breastplate. "In truth, this set of equipment is our Commerce Alliance's latest armor design, freshly forged. We have you to thank for the tungsten iron ore and other metals you sent. If our Commerce Alliance forces could be equipped with such gear, our combat effectiveness would increase by at least thirty percent. Ordinary longbow crossbow bolts at a range of a hundred meters couldn't hope to harm soldiers wearing this armor.
"Just as you said, handing over an entire set of such military equipment to that Emperor would indeed enhance his military strength. In your last letter, you mentioned that this Emperor still dreams of reestablishing the Gale Wind Corps, hoping to at least match the
"Sometimes I truly cannot fathom what goes on in this Emperor's head. This is his empire's finest period of peace, and instead of vigorously developing the livelihood of his people and letting the empire recover its vitality, he focuses his energy on military rearmament and rebuilding the empire's three great corps—utterly useless endeavors. In that case, our Commerce Alliance won't mind giving him another push, so that this Emperor wastes even more resources and funds on military preparations.
"I brought this set of standard weapons and armor here so that you could present it to the Emperor, gaining his support in maintaining our Commerce Alliance's trade routes and securing more mineral resources from the empire. It can perfectly offset the one and a half million gold Forde debt he's placed on your shoulders. You can tell the Emperor that if he provides sufficient mineral resources, our Commerce Alliance can produce fifty thousand sets of such standard weapons and armor for him each year…"
"What, fifty thousand sets? Your Highness, you can't be serious—how could there possibly be so many?" Marquis Krios exclaimed. As a former logistics officer in charge of the Twin-Headed Dragon Trading Company's armed forces, he knew very well how much labor went into forging a single set of black iron standard weapons and armor. It was neither easy nor simple.
"With sufficient materials, producing even a hundred thousand sets a year would be an easy job." Grand Duke Comberlate chuckled. "We've finally figured out where the Norton Family forces got all their exquisite standard equipment. Back then, the Great Swordmasters we sent to the Northland discovered those water-powered machines. After years of research and improvement, our Commerce Alliance has built numerous water-powered forging and pressing machines capable of replacing manual labor in producing this black iron standard equipment.
"Simply put, once you break down the armor and weapons into individual components, it's just a series of repetitive tasks. An experienced blacksmith can forge only two or three spearheads, or perhaps two small armor components, from dawn to dusk. But with these water-powered machines, a single day's work can produce hundreds—nearly a thousand—spearheads of uniform quality. And the machines for forging individual armor components can assemble one to two hundred sets of black iron standard armor.
"The reason I came to discuss this with you is to have you present this set of black iron standard equipment to the Emperor and figure out how to extract more mineral resources from him. For instance, if you could secure permission to establish an ore refining facility, you could reduce the cost of transporting mineral resources while also providing us with a larger production quota. After all, shipping refined metal ingots is far more economical than shipping raw ore.
"If we play our cards right, we might even obtain double the production resources from him while only providing one set of this black iron standard equipment as payment. You may not know this, but if the production mineral resources are provided free of charge, the cost of manufacturing one such set of equipment would be no more than seven or eight gold Forde—essentially just labor and transportation costs. Yet a set of such black iron standard weapons and armor sells on the market for fifty gold Forde or more…"
"But Your Highness, the Krisen Empire is our Commerce Alliance's mortal enemy. By strengthening his military this way, won't it adversely affect our Commerce Alliance's revival in the future? If war breaks out between us again in a few years, the weapons and armor we provide today will inflict even greater damage on our Commerce Alliance forces!" Marquis Krios countered.
Their craftsmanship was in no way inferior to that of the Norton Family forces, but the enemy never gave us the chance for close combat, instead defeating us at a distance with various ranged weapons…
At the decisive battle of Brovia, we were defeated. From that day on, we lost the Mana Hill Plains and
The warriors who had charged at the very front were wearing black iron standard armor meticulously crafted by the Vesia Commerce Association—just like this piece in my hand. Yet such fine equipment offered them no real protection. Under the roar of the cannons, it shattered like leaves and dust. That is why, in your eyes, this black iron standard equipment may seem excellent, but in my eyes, it is not something our Commerce Alliance should rely on for our resurgence and revival…
Marquis Krios fell silent with a heavy heart. In the great battle of Brovia and the subsequent Norton Family offensive against the Commerce Alliance, bronze cannons had been the key to the Norton Family's victories. Although the Commerce Alliance later adopted sandbag walls to temporarily withstand the cannon bombardment, this still couldn't change the fact that they were trapped on the defensive. They could only endure attacks without being able to counterattack—they couldn't even mount a proper retaliation.
"Now our Commerce Alliance is also researching ranged weapons, such as war chariot crossbows and the Norton Family's catapults, and we plan to obtain the secret of gunpowder from the Dwarf Kingdom in the Titanini Mountains, striving to produce our own cannons. But all of this requires time and enormous resources for research. That is why, to us, the trade route you now control is of paramount importance and cannot be lost under any circumstances.
"Krios, I know why you went to the imperial capital. But I ask you now to restrain that heart of vengeance. For our cause and our dream, please make peace temporarily with your enemy and use his trust in you to win our Commerce Alliance an opportunity for revival and resurgence. As long as this trade route can continuously supply us with raw materials and mineral resources, the restoration of our former glory will be within reach."
Grand Duke Comberlate bowed deeply to Marquis Krios, as if expressing his most sincere apology for the request he had just made. Marquis Krios hurriedly stood and grasped the Grand Duke by both arms.
"Your Highness, there's no need for this. I know what I must do. While I may be able to meet with that man now, I cannot take my revenge. He is a Great Swordmaster and the Emperor of the Empire—there is no way I can get at him at present. As for the trade route, you needn't even explain; I understand perfectly. I'm willing to do anything that benefits our Commerce Alliance.
"What concerns me, though, is the Norton Family. To crush the Antairi Trading Company, they've doubled their purchase prices, making it unprofitable for us in raw materials and mineral resources—hurting both them and us. They're wealthy enough to sustain this, but our trading company has had all its plans and schedules thrown into disarray. The more we purchase, the greater our losses. Otherwise, that debt of one and a half million gold Forde he demands wouldn't even cross my mind." Marquis Krios said with great reluctance.
"That's all right," Grand Duke Comberlate reassured him. "Since the Norton Family started this price war over raw materials, we'll fight them to the end. On the battlefield, we're no match for them, but in commerce—can they outmatch us, true merchants? Now we can use this standard black iron equipment to offset your trading company's debt and extract even more benefits from that Emperor.
"One set of such standard black iron equipment, including labor, materials, and shipping, costs no more than twenty gold Forde. But we can sell it to that Emperor for forty or even thirty gold Forde—and we can even demand that he provide the raw ore for forging the equipment free of charge. Our profits in this area will be substantial. In the future, you should refine the raw materials first, just as you would with iron ore—smelt it into ingots before transport. That way, you can carry more production quota while dramatically reducing shipping costs.
"Furthermore, the Norton Family established their grand trading market at Chilin Port to both purchase raw materials and mineral resources produced on the imperial nobility's territories and to push the goods from their own family lands. Since you've set up a purchasing station at Liushui River and started a price war with them, why not take it a step further and develop that station into a proper market as well?
"Although our Commerce Alliance is not what it once was, we still have some backbone. Now that this trade route provides us with a steady stream of raw materials and mineral resources, the production technicians in our various trading companies finally have room to work their craft. Before long, they'll be producing more high-quality goods to compete for the markets the Norton Family has seized. Perhaps we can't match the Norton Family's products in certain areas, but gold and silver craftsmanship, fruit wine, stone carvings, and artworks—those are our strong suits. As long as we can open up sales channels in the empire, these will become excellent sources of growing revenue.
"The imperial nobles will greatly appreciate those highly artistic luxury goods from the central-southern regions, because such things make them feel their status is noble, that they possess artistic temperament and refinement…"
Grand Duke Comberlate and Marquis Krios clapped their hands and laughed heartily. The chaos of war had ended, and peace had descended. The imperial nobles no longer boasted solely of their martial prowess; they had begun to value their own artistic cultivation. The nobles of the various kingdoms in the central-southern regions of the continent had been just like this—suddenly, without any apparent reason, strange and exotic art sculptures and colorful, intricate oil paintings that defied comprehension had become fashionable among their noble circles, hailed as the height of style. The two men believed that if the Commerce Alliance's technicians could produce similar artworks and introduce them to the empire, they would surely be welcomed by the imperial nobility.
"Very well, Your Highness. I will follow your orders and present this exquisite set of standard black iron equipment to that man, securing sufficient compensation and profit for our Commerce Alliance." Marquis Krios let out a long, deep sigh. "It's just that handing over such fine weapons and armor to our enemy is truly hard to swallow…"
Grand Duke Comberlate chuckled softly. "Krios, did you know? In the forests of our Rio Lirga Province, there lives a bird called the Berliga. What's peculiar about this bird is that it doesn't incubate its own eggs. When it senses it's about to lay an egg, it searches for other birds' nests, steals their eggs, and slips its own egg in as a substitute, letting the other birds hatch it for them…
"What we need to do now is much like what the Berliga bird does. If our Commerce Alliance possessed these fine weapons and armor, our rearmament of the Commerce Alliance forces would immediately draw the attention of the central-southern nations, once again triggering a boycott and blockade against us. This would shatter the fragile peace we've worked so hard to achieve and severely set back our efforts to re-enter the markets of those central-southern nations.
"Let that Emperor, whose mind is consumed with thoughts of military rearmament, have these weapons and armor. He will certainly reestablish new corps. The more we provide, the more corps he'll build. Perhaps only then will he feel safe before the Norton Family, believing he has the strength to challenge Grand Duke Norton, that State-Protecting Sword Saint.
"What this Emperor fails to understand is that during this peacetime, with the flames of war extinguished across the continent, his vigorous rearmament and military buildup will only arouse suspicion among neighboring nations, making him a target of their vigilance and scrutiny. This suits our Commerce Alliance perfectly—we can maneuver in the shadows, and who knows, perhaps we can even rebuild the alliance that stood against the Krisen Empire over a hundred years ago.
"And what you, Krios, must do is earn this Emperor's trust as fully as possible, and work to place his profligate illegitimate son on the throne as heir to the succession. If you could secure the command of a newly formed corps, that would be even more perfect. We will send you a large contingent of personnel, who will be assigned to that corps to take firm control of it. This way, in the future, we can use the struggle for the imperial throne to once again plunge this empire into chaos—just as our fathers did before us."
Marquis Krios nodded excitedly. "I understand, Your Highness. I will act according to your instructions."
…