Duke Nick sat alone on the couch after Neptor's departure. He needs to figure out a series of things that have happened recently.

In recent months, he has tried to balance the relationship between the empire and the local nobility, and the war with the orcs has left him with little time to rest, so much so that he ignores the contradictions between merchants and nobles, which eventually turn into war.

In fact, as early as when Duke Nick first took over as Prime Minister of the Empire, he was concerned about the merchants of the Empire and the chambers of commerce they formed, as well as the trade unions throughout the Empire.

After nearly 100 years of development, the merchant collective, which was formed on the basis of trade, handicrafts and traditional agriculture, has developed into a behemoth.

The large and small chambers of commerce parasitic on this behemoth have enough funds to shake the rule of the empire!

Trade unions everywhere have a large base of people, and if the need arises, union members can immediately turn into soldiers in battle.

These are all reasons for Duke Nick to care about merchants.

But because the wars of recent months have left the prime minister with no time to worry about the merchants, or perhaps he simply did not expect the merchants to actually raise an army to overturn the empire.

"Tuk Tuk"

A knock on the door brought Duke Nick to his senses.

The old and old iron door was opened, and the prime minister's assistant Kerman stood outside the door, behind him was a group of figures surging under the flickering lights, and there were many generals outside who needed to be received by the imperial prime minister.

A cacophony of voices entered the office the moment the door opened, and the cold breeze caused the candles in the office to sway back and forth.

"My lord, do you need to continue the reception later?" said Kerman softly, trying to suppress his exhaustion.

"Let them all go back, and today I will not see anyone. Duke Nick leaned back on the sofa and said, "In addition, I need to know the whole process of the assassination of Marquis O'Briton-Bob some time ago, as well as a series of events that happened later. ”

"Okay. Kerman nodded.

"Squeak"

The door to the office was closed again,

The cacophony came to an abrupt halt.

Half an hour later,

The door opened again.

It was still Kerman in the doorway, the swaying figure behind him gone, holding a stack of papers written on yellow paper in his hand.

"Your request, sir. Kerman approached the desk, placed the papers lightly on the desk, and said to the Prime Minister, who was still sitting on the sofa and pretending to sleep, "And the personal letter that Baron Petdy sent you with the Blood Eagle, do you need me to open?" he said, placing the letter sealed in a bamboo tube in his hand under the candlelight.

"No, I don't. The Duke opened his eyes and stood up, walked over to Kerman in two steps to take the bamboo tube, and while staring at the pattern printed on the bamboo tube, he walked towards his office sofa.

The Duke did not first look at the letter sent by his son, and he could not wait to open the file of the Marquis of O'Briton-Bob.

A few minutes later,

Halfway through the paperwork, the enchanting aroma of coffee begins to surround the office.

It's Kerman making coffee.

By the time the Duke could take a sip of coffee, the document had basically been read.

"You go and rest first, and let my servants wait for me outside the door. Duke Nick tasted his coffee and nodded in satisfaction, then ordered, "Wait a minute, I need to write to my children, I don't want anyone to disturb me in the meantime." ”

"Yes, sir. Kerman resolutely exited the room.

Duke Nick thought about things with O'Britton-Bob's dossier, and after a long time he said to himself, "Who is in control of all this?"

As he spoke, he pulled out the letter from Pedi.

Duke Nick already knew the details of the battle of Twak Territory, he actually didn't want Pedi to retreat from Tkawa at this time, he hoped that Pedi could lead the nobles of Twak Territory to continue to fight in the name of the commander-in-chief of the Northern Frontier Theater, and the longer the better!

He didn't want the nobles of the Twak Lords to take Twak City anytime soon, as the city was now an important point of support for maintaining the balance between Cezawa-Devon, the Barretts, the Orcs, and the Empire.

In order to maintain this balance, it is necessary for Pedi to have a presence in the Twak Lords to delay the offensive of the Twak Lords.

However, Duke Nick did not intend to force Pedi to stay in the Twak Territory, and he did not even mention anything about the Twak Territory in his reply.

For Pedi is his son, and he is the heir whom he has raised,

He needed his successor to be able to think on his own and have independent intelligence.

At this moment, Pei Di, thousands of miles away, is receiving a special guest.

In the unnamed steppe area southeast of Bolenburg, the fire from the sprawling camp shines as brightly and beautifully as the summer stars.

In his private tent, Pedi received his visitors individually.

Perus, the leader of the squad sent out by Pedi to lurk within the Sabertooth Mercenary Regiment during the Battle of Crewe, the former sheriff of the town of Hattis.

Now, he has another identity, the leader of the Klan Rebellion.

In the midst of the defeat of the Battle of Kran, Perus and his followers seized the opportunity to capture several of the former saber-toothed mercenary group's defenses in the mountains, which became the last hope in the hearts of the people of Klanren during those dark days.

This time, it was Pedi who was automatically found by Peru.

Inside the brightly lit tent, Petdy brewed coffee in a military kettle, "That's all I have now." ”

"I haven't drunk coffee for a long time, and when I'm sleepy, I drink bitter tea made for me by the local residents, and you can never imagine the taste." ”

"Does it taste good?"

"Haha!" Perus laughed, smiling open-mindedly, "I really want you to taste it." ”

"Later... Maybe there's a chance. Pedi whispered softly, then he looked at Peruz, "I had people look for you before the fire in Benson Town burned, but they didn't find you. ”

"I know, I deliberately avoided you. "To be honest, I'm a little unaccustomed to what you did, though I know you were right. ”

"I don't like it either, but sometimes we have to make a choice. ”

"I understand. "I now understand exactly how you felt. ”

Piedi handed the boiled coffee to Perus and said, "I see confusion in your eyes, and if you think I can help you, I'm happy to help." ”

"We need food for the winter. ”

"Yes!" Pedi nodded, he was not surprised by the other party's request, but it was a bit difficult to make it happen if it needed to be done, because the mountains outside the mountains where Peruth was located were full of orcs.

"Do you have a way to transport it?" asked Pedi.

He was more than happy to help them if they had a way to deliver them, and his cousin Sir Andy would be happy to provide them with a large amount of food.

In other words, he didn't need to pay for it.

"Yes!" Perus' reply surprised Pedi.

In Pedi's surprised expression, Perus continued: "The Baru Kingdom of the Wild Mountains has promised us a transit, and we have reached an agreement with the diplomat they sent Kebot, and now, we only need to transport the grain to the port north of the King of Baru. ”

"How much?" Pedi didn't ask why he was trading with the barbarians.

His questioning tone was cautious,

After all, if he used the fleet, he would be telling the entire empire that he was trading with the barbarians!

"The more the merrier, you just have to ship it. "We have a lot of gold coins and precious metals, which are left over from the nobles of the Klan Territory at that time, and we will buy them at the market price," Perus said. ”

Pedi was stunned when he heard Peruth's words.

"The barbarians want to engage in formal trade with the Empire?" asked Pedi the key question.

"Yes. "We really need this supply line." He took a deep breath, "Do you know how many people I have there right now?"

"Nearly 100,000 people! Most of them are old people, women and children, and their husbands, sons, and fathers are fighting for you, and you have left them behind!" he asked himself, "You have an obligation to protect them and give them food!"

The more he spoke, the more agitated he became, and he poured his piping hot coffee in one gulp, his hands trembling with excitement.

"All I can say is sorry," Pedi poured the coffee from the kettle into Peruz, "and we're all paying for that lost war." ”

"We really need food!" Perus tried to control his emotions, "many people have starved to death this month, and the soldiers of our defense guard can only fight the orcs with bamboo spears on empty stomachs. ”

"The grain will soon arrive at the barbarian ports. Pedi said promisedly, "I promise you in the name of the family. ”(https:)

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