Chapter 452: Hostages

"Your Highness, good news, the Great Swordsman of Theseus is back......" Genorio rushed into the study with a piece of gray-white silk, which was a message from the island of Hilowas. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

Oh, Lorist was overjoyed and stood up: "Bring it to me." ”

Four years ago, in order to break through and be promoted, the Great Swordsman of Xius who sat on the island of Hilois went into the mountains of Hiloas Island alone to prepare for penance, and left a letter saying that he would not come back until he became a second-level great swordsman. Although Lorist was very worried, he then sent troops to the four central principalities to fight for two years, and after returning, he did not have time to go to the island of Shilowas, and for a while he forgot all about finding the great sword master of Xius. Now that he heard that the Great Sword Master of Xiusi had returned, he was naturally very happy in his heart.

The letter was signed by Baron Hickede, the governor of Hirowas, and the commander of the Guards, the commander of the guards on the island, the Golden Knight Pachko. The letter said that the team on the island that had gone to the volcanic area to take the fire crystal mine accidentally provoked the demon bird bald eagle and was besieged. Then the Great Swordsman of Xiusi suddenly appeared, killed the seven bald eagles, and saved everyone.

It is said that the Great Sword Master of Xiusi had been promoted to the rank of 2 Great Sword Master two years ago, and in order to stabilize the realm and comprehend the heaven and earth, he naturally stayed in the mountains for two more years. This time, I happened to encounter the demon birds besieging the mining team, so I helped out. A few days later, the Great Swordsman of Hus left for the Northland to meet Lorist.

In addition to Lorist, the high-end combat power of the Norton family also has two great swordsmen, Xiuth and Injerek, and at the same time, Reddy has also reached the level of a first-class great swordsman. However, in Lorist's eyes, the old man Injerek was greedy for life and afraid of death, so he was promoted to a first-class great sword master by mistake. Staying at home every day and not wanting to come out to work for the family, if there is something to push, Lorist is very disappointed in him, and he doesn't want to worry about him for the sake of Shi Fatzi's face, anyway, this old man has been a first-class great sword master all his life, and now even Reddy can easily defeat him.

And the great swordsman of Xiusi was born as a slave gladiator, and his cultivation was fought desperately in the gladiatorial arena, and the bloody murderous aura on his body was the heaviest of the great swordsmen that Lorist had ever met. Although he is a first-level great sword master, he can fight with a second-level great sword master. Now that he has been promoted to a second-level great sword master, it can be regarded as adding a high-end combat power that is not light to the Norton family. At least for Reddy, the Great Swordsman of Theseus is his best opponent at this stage.

......

Tagar walked into the study, holding a large stack of letters and documents in his hand: "Your Highness, the situation in the Central and Southern China has changed dramatically. ”

"What's wrong?" asked Lorlist.

The war between the Fort Business Alliance and the Central and South Kingdom coalition has been going on for more than four years, and it has been the same for the past two years, and several countries around the territory of the Chikde Chamber of Commerce on the southern golden coastline are entangled with the coalition forces led by the Kingdom of Chigda. On the contrary, the commercial alliance itself began to consolidate its defenses after annexing the three neighboring countries, and the borders adjacent to the kingdoms in the central and southern parts of the country appeared to be calm, as if there was no war.

"The southernmost Empire of Romon and the Khanate of Havestan reached an armistice, and the war between the two great powers had subsided, and the Khanate of Khavestan suffered a slight loss, ceding a small part of the territory of the former Kingdom of Kailia to the Empire of Romón, and the two countries were bounded by the Kesarubi River. ”

Tagar looked at the folder in his hand and continued to report: "The Kingdom of Chigeda has annexed seven countries that have been raided by the armies of the Merchant Alliance, and its territory has tripled, making it a country about the size of the Romon Empire. The thirteen remaining countries in the south-central region have finally come to their senses and suspect that this is a conspiracy. They had a fierce conflict and civil strife with the Kingdom of Chigeda, and the coalition of the Kingdom of Central and South China was disbanded.

The Business Alliance announced a peace agreement with the Kingdom of Chigda, recognizing the newly occupied territories of the Kingdom of Chigeda as its own, as well as a series of terms such as the exchange of trade routes and the joint fight against foreign enemies. In addition, the Business Alliance appears to have approved an interest-free loan of fifteen million goldfords to the Kingdom of Chigda to develop the livelihood of its newly occupied territory. Because our intelligence agents were unable to penetrate the interior of both sides, we did not get any definite information......

The remaining thirteen kingdoms in the south-central part are now split into two parts, and the five countries adjacent to the Mercantile Alliance have announced the formation of the Merensic Kingdom Alliance, and are preparing to send envoys to the Mercantile Alliance to negotiate an armistice. It is estimated that they think that they can no longer compete with the business alliance, and can only unite to protect themselves, and do not want the war to continue.

The eight countries in the near south, led by the Kingdom of Jecano, formed an alliance and coalition against the Kingdom of Chigda, and resolutely opposed the annexation of the seven countries that were annexed by the Kingdom of Chigeda. They elected Yoxem, the eldest prince of the Jecano Kingdom, as the commander of the coalition forces, and raised 140,000 troops to attack the Kingdom of Chigda. The Kingdom of Chigeda, with Grand Duke Fausta as the commander, raised 100,000 troops and fought fiercely with the coalition army in the former Odema Kingdom, and the two sides fought twice, winning and losing each other.

It is worth noting that our family's Lenmed Knight is currently following the side of Prince Joxem, the commander of the coalition forces. In addition, after the battle between the Kingdom of Chigeda and the Eight-Nation Alliance of Central and Southern China, the Commercial Alliance did not send troops to help the Kingdom of Qigeda in accordance with the agreement reached, but instead sent envoys to mediate, hoping that the two sides could stop fighting and restore peace in the central and southern regions......"

Lorist laughed out loud, and it was a big joke. No one could have imagined that there would be such a strange change in the situation in Central and South China, which was simply dumbfounded. Originally, the twenty-four countries of Central and South China united to fight against the business alliance, but I didn't expect that there was one more kingdom of Chigeda to play the role of an anti-bone boy, and the business alliance secretly colluded with the business alliance to annex the seven countries around the world in one go.

The remaining countries in Central and South China finally understood, but they were divided into two factions, one of which decided that it could not fight and surrender, and began to negotiate peace with the commercial alliance. The other faction was annoyed and angry and turned against the Kingdom of Chigeda, ignoring the great enemy of the business alliance, and had to clean up the anti-bone Ziqigda Kingdom first, and at this time, the business alliance that was originally an enemy came out and pretended to be a good person, saying that it would mediate between the two parties, and asked for peace to be restored......

This is really ridiculous, no one would have thought that the outcome of the four-year war between the business alliance and the alliance of the Central and Southern Kingdoms would be like this, I knew why bother today, just sit down and negotiate and suffer a loss, even if you don't have to fight for four years, the loss is so big in the end, you still have to sit down and negotiate.

After laughing for a while, Lorist stood in front of the map of the Gelinthia continent hanging on the wall, and outlined the changes in the situation in the central and southern parts of the map according to the document prompts brought by Tagger, looking at the territory of the Chigeda Kingdom that was connected to a large piece on the map, Lorist had to marvel in his heart, this is really an extremely exquisite, long-term strategic layout, and the time is as long as four years.

"Your Highness, what's wrong?" Seeing Lorist standing in front of the map for a long time without saying a word, Tagger asked curiously.

Lorist shook his head and came back to his senses: "See, as you said before, the war between the Business Alliance and the Central and Southern Kingdom coalition is a big conspiracy, and now the end of this conspiracy has been revealed." The kingdom of Chigeda has also become a great power on the continent of Guelintea, and the people of this layout have far-reaching plans, and they can really be called a genius resourceful man......"

"But Your Highness......" Tagar said with some unconvincing, "Don't you think that the annexation of the Qigeda Kingdom to the Seven Kingdoms is a bit too hasty, and the forcible annexation has aroused the suspicion of the remaining Central and Southern Kingdoms, and then conflicts and wars have broken out. This seems to be very contradictory to the foresight at the beginning, the kingdom of Chigeda can completely use the strategy of boiling frogs in warm water and slowly digest the results in hand, so that it will not cause the current consequences. ”

"No, you're wrong. "As you said, there is a premise that if the war between the Empire of Romon and the Khanate of Havestan continues, then the kingdom of Chigeda can adopt the strategy of gentleness and slowly bring the Seven Kingdoms under its jurisdiction, resulting in de facto occupation." The Koromon Empire and the Khanate of Havestan have ceased war, and once they recover, there is a good chance that they will point the finger at the countries of Central and South China.

Under such circumstances, the Kingdom of Chigeda must seize the time to consolidate the forces of the Seven Kingdoms and rearm to resist the invasion of the Empire of Ramon or the Khanate of Havistan. That's why it forcibly annexed the Seven Kingdoms. And the business alliance is obviously deeply connected with the kingdom of Chigeda, and their greatest help is that they do not send troops to help in the war. Because even if they send troops to help the Kingdom of Chigeda, if the alliance forces of the eight countries in Central and South China swear to resist to the death, this war will drag on for a long time, and the military strength of the Kingdom of Qigeda will be depleted in vain.

Because of this, the business alliance will come out as a mediator and let the two sides call off the truce. It's also the most advantageous option for business alliances. The first is to support the Kingdom of Chigeda, so that after annexing the Seven Kingdoms, its strength has increased greatly, and it has the ability to resist the two great powers in the south alone. Instead of forming an alliance led by the Kingdom of Chigeda to resist the invasion of the powerful countries like the original countries. Know that a fist will always have more power than five fingers apart......

The second advantage is that if the mediation is successful, the eight kingdoms of the Eight-Nation Alliance will definitely regard the Kingdom of Qigeda as a mortal enemy in the future, and the hostile relationship with the commercial alliance will be eased or eliminated, after all, the enemy is not as hateful as a traitor. While supporting the Kingdom of Chigda, the Business Alliance also erected an enemy for it, so that the two sides could contain each other and avoid becoming a potential enemy of the Kingdom of Qigda when it became stronger.

In this war between the commercial alliance and the alliance of the Indo-South Kingdom, it seems that the Kingdom of Chigeda has gained the most benefits, annexing the Seven Kingdoms and making itself a great power on the continent of Guelintea. In fact, the commercial alliance was the fisherman who made the most profits, not only annexing the three countries again, but also forcefully forcing those countries in Central and South Africa to open up their trade routes and achieve their pre-war goals. The kingdoms in the south-central part of the country were the losers, and they were divided into factions, and after the contradictions arose, they could no longer unite as much as before. ”

Lorist finally "tsk" out: "It's not a fuel-efficient lamp, no one is a fool." Tagger, increase the surveillance and intelligence gathering of the business alliance and the kingdom of Chigeda, and see if you can find out who is the person of that layout......"

"Yes, Your Highness. Targer replied.

......

Genolio walked into the study with a gold thread plaster: "Your Highness, Duke Kenmax has sent an invitation to invite you to the summer banquet he held on August 15 at Platinum Beach in West Dgrad Province. ”

Lorist remembered that Kenmeth had told him before that he would build a luxurious palace-like manor near Platinum Beach and make Platinum Beach a summer resort for nobles. This face still has to be given, it's only June now, and there are still more than two months, so I have nothing to do to go over and relax, and let Princess Celivia and the four concubines take the children to play.

Loris nodded: "Okay, write back to him, and just say that I will bring my family over." ”

"Yes, Your Highness, but do you want to take a boat there?" asked Genolio. There are two roads to the province of West Degrad, the territory of the Kenmath family, one is from the province of Delemk, which is by land. There is also a boat ride from Beihai City to Platinum Beach.

Lorist shook his head: "By land, take a trip to the Barony of Dina." ”

Last July, the knight Aridori gave birth to a son named Dina Triech, who wrote to Lorist that she wanted to raise Triec to become the greatest knight of the Diner family in the future. Lorist had no choice but to silently bless his illegitimate son in his heart, hoping that he could grow up healthy under his mother's clutches...... Just on the way, you can go to meet Alidori's mother and son.

"Understood, when is Your Highness going to leave?" asked Genolio.

Before Lorist could answer, he heard a rush of footsteps, and Schward rushed into the study: "Your Highness, something happened, the family of Count Lauwer was held hostage by a team of mercenaries......"

Count Lauwer: Who is this? Lorist was very puzzled.

Fortunately, Schward saw that Lorist was confused, and explained what happened in a few words.

This Earl of Lawwell was not from the Norton family, but a merchant from the imperial capital, who spent money to buy the status of an honorary earl from His Second Highness. Later, he found that he couldn't make much money in the imperial capital, so he moved to the Northlands, and spent nearly 10,000 gold fords to transfer the status of the earl of the Kingdom of Antinac to the name of the Norton family, and became an honorary earl awarded by the Norton family. From this point of view, this Earl of Lawrwill still has a very good vision, he knows that it is good to enjoy the shade with his back against the big tree of the Norton family, so that his business can go much smoother.

The Earl of Lauwer had moved to the Northland five years earlier, and he had bought a homestead in the second arrondissement of the aristocratic district and built a modest manor house for the family. At the same time, he co-invested in several workshops for the production of daily necessities in the Northland, and he also opened a Weisde Chamber of Commerce, dealing in leather goods, wine and daily necessities.

Two years ago, the Grand Duke of Fisabrun and the Snow Salt Chamber of Commerce gave the Norton family a huge purchase order, and the production workshops that Count Lowell had jointly ventured with others also got a large piece of the cake, and their pockets were full. So the Earl of Lauwer and several of his partners began to vigorously expand the scale of production, opened more than a dozen new production workshops of the same type, and spent a lot of money to recruit a large number of skilled workers and technicians from other workshops, preparing to win the largest share of the cake of daily necessities in the two purchase orders this year.

It's just that they didn't expect that in January this year, Lorist announced the purchase order of the Fisabrun family and the Snow Salt Chamber of Commerce, not only the total amount was less than half of last year, but also the daily necessities were purchased in the previous two years, and only a very small part of them this year. Now the Earl of Lower and his associates were dumbfounded, and not only them, but many other merchants like them were crying bitterly.

As Lorist said, the markets in the Northland are limited to a few provinces around the country, and other places either have no markets or there are markets in that place that cannot consume so many goods. Too many goods produced and not being able to sell them will also lead to a very serious economic crisis.

Production workshops can be closed, workers and technicians can be fired, but the money invested has become a backlog of goods, and there is no place to sell them, and for most of the merchants in the Northland, they are faced with a very difficult choice, either to sell these goods at a normal price to return a little cost, or to keep these goods and sell them slowly for decades......

At this time, Shi Fatzi began to rectify the business of all the industrial and mining farms in the north, closed down a large number of workshops and production units that produced similar commodities in many industries, accepted those unemployed workers and rearranged their jobs, and effectively stabilized the economic order within the family. In any case, this immature economic crisis has not had a great impact on the lives of the people at the bottom of the family, except for the heavy losses of those investment businessmen.

The Earl of Lowell chose to hoard the goods, believing that he had a chamber of commerce that could slowly sell them. But the misfortune is that a team of mercenaries he hired went deep into the black mud swamp to hunt the crocodiles of Ironridge Bay when they lost a lot, and the mercenary captain asked Count Lauwer to give them compensation and subsidies for casualties, but at this time Count Lauwer did not have much money in his hands, and refused the request of the mercenary captain, and the two sides had a dispute, and in a fit of anger, the mercenary captain took Count Lauwell's family hostage with several mercenaries and asked them to pay for ransom......

"Your Highness, Lord Baron Ovikis has surrounded Count Lauwell's manor with the Guards Battalion, and Lord Schrader has also rushed over. But the mercenaries insisted that Earl Lauwell pay for the ransom, and demanded that our men leave, saying that it was none of our Norton business...... "Schward's report.

Lorist silently grabbed the matching sword, and Genolio hurriedly brought his coat and put it on him.

"Let's take a look. Lorist said.

......