Crewe Collar, a town of Ghana in the northern part of the Harrence Highlands.

Fort Caval's main army of nearly 30,000 was stationed around the town, and three days earlier Baron Hanina had succeeded in convincing the Shino family to abandon their resistance and allow Pedi to capture the Garkona Territory without a single soldier.

After taking possession of the territory, Pedi did not continue his march, and stationed all his troops in the northern part of the Harrens Heights to block the advance of Viscount Bane-Lockton at Fort Herien.

On April 23, the fourth day of Pedi's march into Gakona, news of the imperial capital had not yet reached Crewe. Pedi welcomed a special guest in the halls of Garnatown, and he specially sent the guest invited by the Chief of Military Intelligence, Baron Danmen, Sir Seke Marat, the leader of the Baram Town Business Alliance.

The meeting place for the two was on a tall tower on the eastern wall of the town.

After Seke-Marat entered the pavilion, Pedi dismissed all his retinue, looked out over the eastern land of Harrence Heights, and said, "This should be the third time we've met, Sir." ”

Seke-Marat bowed solemnly to Pedi's back, "Yes, it's my honor to be summoned by you on a back-to-back basis, my lord. ”

Pei Di turned his eyes to look at the old man in front of him, "I have summoned countless local nobles in the past month, but I have only summoned you three times in a row. He leaned against the window with the saber at his waist and asked, "Do you know why?"

Saike-Mara swallowed the words that he was about to blurt out, lowered his head and said humbly: "I have been stupid since I was a child, and I can't figure out many things. ”

"No, you are smart, and you have the wisdom of an old man. After releasing the saber in his left hand, Pedi habitually played with the ruby wrench on his thumb and whispered, "I thought your wisdom would be of use to me, and I even planned to make you the treasurer of Kawalburg." ”

The old man was stunned, he was obviously surprised by what Peddy said, and this time he was silent for a while before he said: "You surprised me when you made Sir Edwin the post of Commissioner of Revenue, but I did not expect that you also planned to let another businessman take the position of Treasurer. ”

After taking a serious look at the other party, Pedi turned and leaned down at the window to stare at the green mountains outside, the crystal pendant on his chest, which symbolized the status of paladin and baron, shone and sounded a series of crisp sounds.

"Merchants know best how to deal with merchants, and I need a merchant of repute to serve Kavarburg. ”

Pedy's voice entered Saike-Marat's ears with the south wind outside the window, and the old knight nodded instinctively and asked, "So, what made you change your mind?"

"I haven't changed my mind, and you're still the right person for me to be the treasurer. As he spoke, Pedi leaned over to let the sun's rays fall on him outside the attic, and he looked at the endless land to the north and said, "My military intelligence chief told me that there is a shadow of a commercial alliance behind the tandem of the eighteen lords. His tone gradually became cold, "How do you interpret the MI complaint?"

"What they say is the truth, I have nothing to say. The old knight's words were light, and under Pedy's slightly angry gaze, he continued, "Every nobleman in Crewe has dealt with the business alliance of Balantown, and this is an ordinary business. ”

"Do you call this a business?"

"Of course!" said, "You don't think that these eighteen lords alone can overthrow the rule of the Reagan family, do you?" his tone was flattering, "you will win this war in the end, no, this is not a war, it is a farce at best." There was a special momentum in the old sir's words, "The Reagan family is the only ruling force in the Crewe Territory, and no one in the Crewe Territory can resist your power, at least not yet. ”

Pedy and Old Sir looked at each other, "So, that's your explanation?"

Saike-Mara met Pedy's gaze and said, "This is a business!"

"But your business is challenging the Reagan family's authority in Crewe!"

The old knight bowed, "No one dares to challenge your authority, my lord. ”

"Haha!" Pedi burst out laughing, and then said in a tone of conversation with an old friend, "But my military intelligence chief, Baron Danmen, told me that you are trying to kill those nobles through my hands, because they killed your son more than ten years ago. ”

"I'm going to do that..."

"You didn't just plan, you did it. ”

"Yes, I don't think I've done anything wrong. The old knight was not afraid, "If I had the power in your hands, I would even kill all the nobles in the Harrence Heights for my son's burial!"

The old man suddenly became very excited, and he roared like a young man: "But I don't have that right, I'm just an ordinary businessman, and I don't even dare to investigate this matter because I have other family members." ”

He roared hysterically,

Obviously, the old man had been suppressing his emotions from the very beginning,

He looked at Pedi with no fear in his eyes.

He had been mentally prepared when he made up his mind to do these things, but he didn't expect the young ruler in front of him to find him so quickly.

Pedi felt pity for the old man in front of him, but he wouldn't show it, because he ruled the entire Kru Territory, he was silent for a few seconds, and after Seke-Marat regained his composure, he pointed out the window and said, "See that gallows outside the city?"

"Before I came, your adjutant made a special trip to take me to see it. Saike-Mara behaved calmly: "Is this for me?"

"Ten minutes ago, I had been thinking that way. Pedi whispered, "No one can fool and take advantage of the Reagan family in Crewe. ”

"I'm just helping you. When Seke-Marat heard Pedi's words, he knew he had a chance to live, so he wanted to explain: "The local nobility..."

"Don't think too highly of what you've done. Pei Di interrupted unceremoniously, "I know the affairs of the local nobles better than you, and I know how to deal with them better than you. ”

"Do you want to emulate the Central Empire and cultivate union power?" said Seke-Marat: "Crewe is not the Central Empire, Crewe has a prosperous trading port throughout the empire, foreign trade began a hundred years ago, rich merchants and local lords are very close, and the union power is just emerging. He had regret on his face: "Without the support of huge basic resources, the trade union power you support can only rely on the Chamber of Commerce, and you are only increasing the power of the local nobles, not balancing them." ”

"Even if you can balance them, Krewe's pot is so big...", he gestured to the shape of the iron pot, "The meat in the pot is very limited and has already been divided, if you want to support the union forces to eat in this pot, you will have to redistribute the meat in this pot!"

"The pot is so big!" said the old knight emphatically, "the pot can feed a limited number of people, and it won't be long before the meat grabbers will find that they can't grab much no matter how much they fight, so they will look into your bowl!" he said solemnly, "At that time, they will find that the place where the most meat is in your bowl." ”

"A very apt analogy. Pedi suddenly laughed: "But your vision is too low, you can only see the present, but not the future." ”

Saike-Mara did not deny, "I stand low, so I can't see far." ”

"Let me ask you, how big was this cauldron two hundred years ago?" Pedi asked, "How big is this cauldron in Crewe now?" he asked himself, "More than two hundred years ago, when our ancestors first occupied this area, they couldn't even take out a hundred gold coins, so they had to sell their land to those mages!"

"And now, we have the resources we have to buy even half an empire. ”

"Haha!" Pedi laughed, "it's an ironic topic, if we had the money back then, maybe the mages of Drake would still be doing boring experiments in the Imperial Capital Academy." ”

"But you don't have fresh meat in the pot!" said the old sir.

Pedi shook his head, "You don't understand," he looked at the old sir with a regretful expression, "It seems that you will not change your opinion." ”

"Of course, even if you hang me, I won't change my opinion. Old Sir and Pedi looked at each other, "The rights of the local nobles in Crewe Territory are too huge, especially the four major autonomous territories, if their rights cannot be confiscated, the entire northern and eastern regions of Crewe Territory will not be truly peaceful." ”

"We have been doing this for more than 200 years, and the Reagan family has gone from being poor to being the richest family on the continent now. Pedi shrugged, "The infighting in the four Dominions and the wars in the local territories have not affected our rule, but have made our position more and more secure. ”

"That was before, but now it's different!"

"What's the difference?"

"The Empire is facing collapse," said the old knight solemnly, "and if we don't become stronger, destruction could come at any time...", he took a deep breath and admonished, "My lord, think of what has happened to the Klan Territory, the Twak Territory, the Karen Territory, the Hoko Islands, and the Felder Territory, this is the best proof of this. ”

"Do you still think of this?" said Pedi, "Does a war with a local lord increase the strength of the Crewe Lord? Do you know what the lords did in the last war? I suppose it is the years of being a merchant that make you forget the duties and honors that nobles should have, right?"

The old knight said in an extremely sarcastic tone: "Yes, last year's war is the only war that can be called a war of honor in these two hundred years!" He stared at Pedi and said: "You can talk about this war for a hundred years, just like the 'War of the Three Clans' three hundred years ago, you preached for more than three hundred years, and even the empire has reached the point where it is now, and many people are still living in the glory of more than three hundred years ago!"

Pedi was not angry, he looked out the window at the gallows and fell silent. He knew that most of the old man's words were true, but he couldn't admit it.

Because now the Reagan family is not suitable to fight with local territories!

Now, the Reagan family and the local aristocracy are interdependent, with the local aristocracy supporting the Reagan family's rule over Crewe, and the Reagan family protecting the rights and interests of the local nobility from being violated. The local aristocracy was like the pillars that supported the Reagan family's edifice, and if they were to be cut down without a suitable replacement could be found, the entire edifice would be in danger of collapsing.

Pedi was silent, and Seke-Marat quietly waited for the general of his fate.

...

I don't know how long it has been, but there is a sudden sound of horses' hooves turning outside the attic. At the same time, battle flags fluttering near the horizon on the heights in the distance suddenly rose.

Pedi looked at the battle flags and asked in a low voice, "You say, are they here to surrender or to go to war?"

Saike-Marat was silent and did not answer.

"If they're here to surrender, you won't die, but if they're here to go to war, I'll hang you on the gallows below. Pedy turned to look at the old sir, "So, do you want them to come to war now, or to surrender?"