In a small office adjacent to the study, Fatty Shi was pleased to find his second son, Frelid, glumly copying out a stack of official documents. He coughed twice, and only when Frelid looked up at him did he speak: "Go announce me. I'm here to see His Highness."
Frelid listlessly raised his eyebrows toward the study door. "Father, just go in yourself. His Highness already said you don't need to announce yourself."
Fatty Shi flew into a rage. "You insolent brat! When I tell you to announce me, you announce me! His Highness was just being polite. As a subordinate, you need to understand the rules and know your place—do you understand? Go! Now!"
Frelid muttered under his breath as he stood up. "What's the point? Why not just save everyone the trouble? As if you're the only one who knows the rules..."
Soon enough, Frelid popped back out from the study and pulled open the door. "There. His Highness invites you in."
Lorist wasn't alone in the study. Tagel, who served as the
"You're here? Take a look at these intelligence reports from the Imperial Capital first." Lorist pointed to several documents on the desk as he addressed Fatty Shi.
Fatty Shi set down the folder he'd been carrying, picked up one of the reports from the desk, and read aloud: "His Majesty has decided to establish the Gale Sand Legion, a full-strength force of forty-five thousand, to be deployed in Marivea Province. There is now conclusive evidence that the Antario Trading Company obtained a batch of standard refined iron weapons and armor from the Commercial Alliance and sold them to His Majesty at a preferential price of raw materials plus thirty gold Forde. In reality, His Majesty didn't pay a single coin—the entire payment was covered by the Antario Trading Company on his behalf. According to an insider in the palace, His Majesty the King placed an order with the Commercial Alliance for one hundred thousand sets of standard refined iron equipment. Your Majesty—has he gone mad?"
No wonder Fatty Shi raised such an objection. What was His Highness the
"What do you make of this?" Lorist asked.
"I suspect His Majesty may have lost his mind. It's a time of peace, yet he's aggressively boosting military procurement, pouring capital into a bottomless pit. Three million gold Forde plus raw materials in exchange for a hundred thousand sets of standard refined iron equipment—has he forgotten that the Commercial Alliance was once the Empire's greatest enemy? He's propping up the Empire's foe!
And the Gale Legion's reputation was completely destroyed after the merchant caravan raid incident. Does His Majesty really think adding the word 'Sand' will make it a new legion? The Gale Sand Legion, deployed in Marivea Province—aren't they planning to replace the White Lion Legion? Could it be that His Majesty intends to have the White Lion Legion handle internal bandit suppression while the Gale Sand Legion takes on foreign campaigns?" Fatty Shi speculated.
"Look at the other reports. The Antario Trading Company has built a massive refining and forging facility along the Flowing Water River. They perform preliminary processing and refining of various raw materials and ores, improving transport efficiency and reducing overland shipping costs. And they've taken on the entire three-million-gold-Forde cost of His Majesty's order for a hundred thousand sets of standard refined iron equipment from the Commercial Alliance.
Those three million gold Forde were reportedly forcibly imposed on the Antario Trading Company by His Majesty. Because we raised our purchase prices for raw materials and mineral resources, the King lost one million in revenue last year and one million this year, so he shifted the entire loss onto the Antario Trading Company's shoulders. As for the remaining million—that was His Majesty's return on investment in the Antario Trading Company. He invested eighty thousand gold Forde and demanded an annual profit return of five hundred thousand. Now that's quite the bargain."
A mocking smile played at the corner of Lorist's lips. "I truly admire the commercial genius of young Master Selig, who runs the Antario Trading Company. Not only did he weather our family's price war on raw materials and mineral purchases, but he also navigated His Majesty's greedy extortions while growing the Antario Trading Company to its current scale. He's truly an extraordinary talent.
I had thought that raising purchase prices would squeeze the Antario Trading Company's cash flow, increase their overland transport costs, and then force His Majesty to shift his losses onto them—ultimately pressuring them to cut or shrink their trade routes to the Commercial Alliance. But I never expected them to come up with the idea of using standard refined iron equipment to satisfy His Majesty's greed, all while expanding trade with the Commercial Alliance to offset the cash outflow.
I have to admit that our family's strategy of raising raw material and mineral resource purchase prices to force the Antario Trading Company into submission has lost its effectiveness. His Majesty, in order to get those hundred thousand sets of standard refined iron equipment, has granted the Antario Trading Company mining and sales rights across seven mineral resource areas in three of his directly governed provinces."
Previously, the Antario Trading Company had only been involved in sales, so when the Norton Family raised purchase prices for raw materials and mineral resources, the Antario Trading Company had no choice but to follow suit. But now that His Highness the Second Prince had also granted mining rights over mineral resource areas in the directly governed provinces, the Antario Trading Company could mine its own resources without needing to purchase externally. Given time, the Antario Trading Company was bound to develop into a commercial colossus—potentially even influencing imperial policy. This was precisely the kind of thing a wise sovereign should guard against.
"What should we do?" Fatty Shi asked with furrowed brows.
"What should we do? There's nothing we can do." Lorist shook his head. "We can't control His Majesty's decisions. He has every right as the Empire's sovereign to do as he pleases. As long as it doesn't encroach upon our family's interests, all we can do is stand by and watch. In fact, over the next few years, our family won't have the spare capacity to meddle in outside affairs. Even if we suffer some hidden losses, we'll simply have to swallow them.
Right now, our family's energy is focused on the Malek Defense Line in Pangshan Province. This concerns our family's long-term stability for the next century. Once the Malek Defense Line is complete and we're free from raids by the mountain barbarian tribes and magical beast packs, Pangshan Province will become the Norton Family's private garden—a fine place for our subjects to live in peace and prosperity. When the family's influence expands into the barbarian lands in the future, we'll have a solid foundation and base of support."
Lorist tapped his finger on the intelligence reports spread across the desk. "Actually, these reports don't just tell us what happened between His Majesty and the Antario Trading Company or what agreements they reached. If you analyze them more deeply, we can uncover even more secrets. For instance, what does that order for a hundred thousand sets of standard refined iron equipment make you think of?"
Fatty Shi's expression changed. "Two years, a hundred thousand sets... Your Highness, this means the Commercial Alliance has very likely adopted large-scale hydraulic forging machinery, just as our family has. Otherwise, there's no way they could complete this order within two years using manual labor alone—and sell it to His Majesty at such a low price."
"Exactly." Lorist nodded. "This shows that the Commercial Alliance's strength and vitality have recovered rapidly, enabling them to research and manufacture these hydraulic machines. Now, with the Empire and the Commercial Alliance connected through the Antario Trading Company, their relationship has grown close, and they trade freely with each other. The restraints we once arranged against the Commercial Alliance have completely lost their effectiveness. Just like the salt monopoly the Petresen Kingdom implemented—it's become nothing but a decoration. The Antario Trading Company ships massive quantities of rock salt to the Commercial Alliance for sale, and the Petresen Kingdom doesn't dare do a thing about it. And His Majesty plans to deploy the Gale Sand Legion in Marivea Province—clearly a threat aimed at the Petresen Kingdom, warning them not to interfere with trade between the Empire and the Commercial Alliance."
"Your Highness, do you think the Commercial Alliance might move against the Petresen Kingdom in the coming years?" Fatty Shi asked.
"It's possible. If the Commercial Alliance wants to revive itself, it must open a path to the Mana Hill Plains and reclaim both the plains and
"Tagel, increase surveillance on the Commercial Alliance. The moment you detect any signs of military mobilization or preparations for war, report back immediately!" Lorist ordered.
"Yes, Your Highness," Tagel replied.
"Your Highness, it's a pity we're so far from the Mana Hill Plains and the Petresen Kingdom. If anything changes over there, our hands will be tied," Fatty Shi sighed.
"Heh, it's fine. Don't forget that our family still has a leased territory near Morant City. As long as we help hold Morant City, it doesn't matter if we lose the Mana Hill Plains. Sometimes I actually wish the Commercial Alliance would take up arms again—that way, I'd gather the family's forces and wipe them out for good, eliminating the threat once and for all. Alas, we won't get that chance now." Lorist sighed with regret. If only he hadn't held back back then out of concern for casualties, all these troubles could have been avoided.
The Commercial Alliance was truly an indestructible cockroach—the kind that flourishes with even a sliver of sunlight. And now they'd even joined hands with His Highness the Second Prince. Through the Antario Trading Company's mediation, former enemies had become friends, and their business was growing larger by the day, already affecting the Norton Family's strategic positioning within the Empire. Lorist couldn't come up with any good countermeasures at the moment. After all, business competition couldn't be solved by shouting about swords and killing—using his reputation as a Sword Saint to suppress them would only make him a laughingstock.
Tagel tidied up the intelligence reports on the desk, gave a respectful bow, and withdrew. Lorist opened a bottle of blackcurrant wine and poured a glass for both Fatty Shi and himself.
Fatty Shi flipped open the thick folder he'd brought while downing his wine in a single gulp. "Your Highness, this is a report from Steward Kamora. His Majesty has sent an official notice requesting that Kirin Port increase its grain procurement next year—at least double the amount purchased this year."
Lorist shook his head. "His Majesty is desperate for money. The grain procured through Kirin Port is all shipped to Morant City for sale, and His Majesty nets over a million gold Forde annually from it. Write him a letter and tell him that Morant City's grain market has its limits—demand can only absorb so much. Increasing procurement will only drive down selling prices and actually reduce profits. Decline his request."
Fatty Shi nodded. "
The Northerners—hardworking and resilient—could easily find good jobs in the Northland. This had caused the family's original plan to recruit one hundred thousand able-bodied laborers from the Northland to work on the Malek Defense Line in Pangshan Province to fall apart.
"Currently, only a little over forty thousand laborers are working on the construction at the Pangshan Province front. Of those, more than thirty thousand are prisoners from the Gale Legion, sentenced to five years of hard labor and forced to work by us. In the past year, nearly a thousand have died—from poisonous miasma, disease, and ambushes by the mountain barbarian tribes. Their morale is very low. The remaining ten thousand or so able-bodied workers are subjects already settled in Pangshan Province. They understand full well what the completion of the Malek Defense Line means for the province, so they're the most enthusiastic supporters of the project—unfortunately, there simply aren't enough of them," Fatty Shi reported in detail.
Lorist tapped the desk with his finger and asked, "Do Malek and the others have any good suggestions for addressing the labor shortage?"
"Lord Bodfeng proposed increasing the recruitment bonuses. With generous rewards, brave men will surely step forward. He believes doubling the compensation could make it much easier to recruit enough able-bodied workers within the family's territories to go to Pangshan Province and build the Malek Defense Line. However, Steward Speer rejected this proposal. Steward Speer believes the family cannot take on any additional expenses for the Malek Defense Line. Being able to allocate construction costs and war alert funds within the existing budget is already the family's treasury stretched to its absolute limit.
Lord Malek suggested rotating the garrison legions from each province to the Pangshan Province front for six months of construction work each year to compensate for the labor shortfall. However, Lord Hickde raised an objection. He believes that with all three of the family's main legions gathered at the Pangshan Province front, it would be unwise to also pull the provincial garrison legions away for construction work. If something unexpected were to happen, the family's territories would be left dangerously exposed, inviting an enemy to strike deep into our lands."
Fatty Shi went through the reports one by one, summarizing the family leadership's views and debates on the labor shortage problem. He turned a page, paused for a moment, then chuckled. "Your Highness, Tiger Roth actually put forward a rather interesting suggestion. He proposes that our family's forces coordinate with the White Lion Legion to conduct sweep operations against the bandit-ridden provinces in the central region, then use the captured bandits as construction labor. This would both save money and eliminate the hassle of recruiting workers."
"My, Tiger Roth has surprised me—he's finally come up with a decent proposal," Lorist said with a smile. "Are there any others?"
"Yes," Fatty Shi replied. "Actually, Director of Internal Affairs Lord Kriston suggested that the family could resort to forced conscription of subjects to resolve the labor shortage. Serving the lord is, after all, a subject's duty. It's just that our Norton Family has never employed this method before."
Forced conscription of subjects was a lord's privilege. A lord could decide how many days each year his subjects would work for him for free. Some more benevolent lords only required a month of labor and even provided food and drink. Some harsher, more miserly lords would put their subjects to work for as long as half a year, requiring them to bring their own provisions—though such territories suffered high rates of flight. Many noble families, like the Norton Family, had never exercised this privilege.
Lorist fell silent. After a long while, he shook his head. "Forced conscription of subjects isn't advisable. It would undermine the subjects' loyalty to the family and sow unrest throughout our territories. Since none of my ancestors ever exercised this right against our subjects, I have no intention of setting that precedent. Let's think of another way."
"Very well, Your Highness. Personally, I think Tiger Roth's suggestion has real potential," Fatty Shi said.