Chapter 555: Archduke Peterson's Request

“...... Count Miledas came to Morente on behalf of Archduke Petersen, and he said that Archduke Peterson was willing to establish an independent state from the Commercial Alliance, but asked us to support and send troops into the province of Charbuco, the territory of the Peterson Chamber of Commerce, before February, and after the Archduke Peterson announced his separation from the Commercial Alliance, our family forces must attack the province of Cuvadro and build a defensive front between the Commercial Alliance and the territory of the Petersen Chamber of Commerce, so as not to spread the war to the province of Charbuco. Pen Fun Pavilion www.biquge.info"

Shi Fatzi pointed at the map and continued to report to Lorist: "This time it is the three provinces that are preparing to break away from the business alliance, namely the provinces of Gerodana, Chalbuco, and Aligome. The province of Chalbuco is the territory of the Peterson Chamber of Commerce, and the province of Gerodana is the territory of the Peterson Chamber of Commerce. As for the province of Aligome, it is the province where the Count of Midales' chamber of commerce is located, so this time he is willing to join Archduke Peterson in breaking away from the business alliance.

Aligome Province was the territory of the Principality of Dria, a neighbor of the former Kingdom of Trimber, which had been annexed by the Merchant League during the Glass War. Because of the sky-high bounty offered by Trimber VII, two enshrined great swordsmen of the Duchy of Delia went to assassinate one of the great swordsmen of the Commercial Alliance, which was used as an excuse in the later stages of the Glass War. Sent troops to invade the Duchy of Delia and destroyed the small country.

After the Principality of Delia was annexed by the Merchant Alliance, the territory of the original five counties was also divided into two provinces, Aligome and Toscao, with the Reverse River originating in the Sunset Mountains as the border between the two provinces, so the Algome Province did not have to worry about being attacked by the Merchant Alliance's forces after breaking away from the Merchant Alliance, where the terrain was not conducive to the movement of the army. Our focus is on the province of Chalbuco, the territory of the Petersen Chamber of Commerce, which is connected to the province of Cuvadro, and from here the business alliance will attack the province of Chalbuco if they want to take revenge on the Grand Duke of Petersen.

The demands made by Count Midales on behalf of Archduke Peterson are threefold, one is that our family forces will send troops into the territory of the Peterson Chamber of Commerce to help Archduke Peterson defend against the retaliatory attacks from the forces of the merchant alliance, or attack the province of Couchadero to set up a defensive position there. The second is to help the Kingdom of Peterson, which broke away from the commercial alliance, to join the agreement of twenty-one countries in the south-central part of the Gelinthia continent that has been reached, and become the twenty-second country. The third is to hope that our family will provide them with some military assistance to help them build a kingdom armed force that is sufficient to guard the security of their territory.

If we can accede to their demands, Archduke Peterson will hold a New Year's celebration to gather the nobles of the realm to discuss the secession from the commercial alliance, and will take repressive measures against the nobles of the Chamber of Commerce who are loyal to the business alliance, and Count Midales will do the same in Aligome. Next year, after the rainy season, Archduke Peterson will declare independence from the commercial alliance and establish himself as king. It is believed that this move by Archduke Peterson will have fatal consequences for the business alliance.

By the way, Your Highness, Count Miledas also revealed a very important piece of information, that is, the business alliance lacked enough table salt. At present, there are no rock salt mines in the territory of the seven provinces of the Business Alliance, but the Peterson Chamber of Commerce has looted a large amount of rock salt from the salt-producing Ayago Kingdom a few years ago, which is enough for the current Business Alliance to sustain itself for three or four years. Count Miledas had always suspected that Archduke Comberlet's proposal to merge the Chamber's realms at the ruling meeting of the Business Alliance in November was intended to play against the idea of this batch of rock salt, but it was ironic that Archduke Peterson did not understand the importance of this rock salt to the Business Alliance, and voted in favor of it.

So Count Miledas hopes that we will make a decision as soon as possible and deploy the family forces to the Peterson Chamber of Commerce territory before the rainy season arrives next year. Because the Business Alliance will begin to implement the decision to merge the Chamber's territory in April next year, Count Miledas is worried that the Cumberlet Grand Guild will send his cronies to the Peterson Chamber of Commerce territory to control the storehouse of rock salt as soon as possible. If we agree to their three demands, then as soon as Archduke Peterson declares independence next year, the business alliance will not survive for half a year without this batch of rock salt. ”

Lorist didn't answer right away, he just tapped his index finger lightly on the table. They are all old treacherous and slippery, worthy of being one of the giants of the seven chambers of commerce of the business alliance, and at this time, Archduke Peterson is still playing tricks with himself. Quite simply, he gave Archduke Peterson a difficult choice to see which path he was prepared to choose. Now Archduke Peterson, in turn, has given himself a dilemma about how long the war with the commercial alliance will last.

The crux of the matter lies in the size of the Norton family's military aid to the Peterson Chamber of Commerce, and in fact, Shi Fatzi's report has clearly illustrated this problem. Of the three requests made by Count Miledas, the first two are fine, and the third, although it is mentioned in a word, is the most crucial, asking our Norton family to provide them with military assistance, which is related to the batch of rock salt in the possession of Archduke Peterson. Now the business alliance is short of table salt, and if this batch of rock salt falls into the hands of the business alliance, then the business alliance can continue this war for another three or four years. Without this batch of rock salt, the business alliance would not survive for six months.

Lorist snorted very dissatisfied, Archduke Peterson wanted the Norton family to fight to the death with the commercial alliance forces on the front line, and he took the military assistance provided by Lorist to hide comfortably in the territory to train the chamber of commerce forces, what a beautiful idea. This is too different from the picture that Lorist imagined that Archduke Peterson announced his independence from the commercial alliance and was attacked by the fierce revenge attack of the commercial alliance and made the two sides form a grudge to the death.

"The name of this Count of Miledas sounds familiar, do you know what his origin is?" asked Lorist.

Shi Fatzi nodded: "Lord Tagger has given us detailed investigation materials, speaking of which, this Count Miledas should also be considered our acquaintance." Remember the Dausleg Hotel, which is the count's family business, and we are no strangers to the Milledas Chamber of Commerce, the Chamber of Commerce that specializes in inns and taverns......"

"Oh, it's him, no wonder it sounds familiar. Lorist patted his forehead, Shi Fat Man was right, this Milledas Chamber of Commerce was no stranger to Lorist, and he had even dealt with him many times.

In addition to the Dausleg Hotel, in the heyday, an adventurer's home inn was also opened in various countries and regions in the central and southern part of the continent, which was specially designed to provide accommodation and rest for those mercenaries who came out of the business alliance to adventure. Because of the affordable price, good service, plus well-informed, guaranteed safety, can provide a lot of help to mercenaries, so it is very popular with mercenaries who go out on adventures. I remember that when Shi Fat Man and Lorist went out on adventures as mercenaries in Morent City, their favorite place to stay was this adventurer's house.

"According to the investigation data, this Count Miledas is the staunchest anti-war and the main peace faction in the business alliance...... "Shi Fat Man took out a document in the folder, glanced at it and smiled: "It's no wonder that the biggest loss between the business alliance and those countries in the central and southern regions is the family chamber of commerce of this Count of Miledas, nearly a hundred inns and taverns were closed by those countries in the central and southern regions, and the family members were expelled, with a loss of no less than more than three million gold fords."

The Earl of Miledas did not resent the countries of the South-Central, and after losing nearly half of his family fortune, he became the most staunch opponent of the Archduke of Cumberlet, and on many occasions made public speeches and speeches that the present business alliance had gone against the original purpose of its establishment, which valued peace, and had gone astray. He was also the only chamber of commerce in the business alliance that refused to participate in the alliance's arms, so he was only canonized as one count by the business alliance when he was knighted, and his territory was sealed in the somewhat desolate province of Aligome.

Seriously, this Miledas family is still from a famous aristocratic family, and the ancestor of the Miledas family two hundred years ago was a baron of the Romon Empire, and he was very friendly with the crown prince at that time. Later, several princes of the Romon Empire fought for the throne to frame the crown prince, and the baron of the Miledas family died heroically while defending the crown prince, and after the death of the crown prince, the Miledas family was liquidated, and the members of the family had to flee to the newly formed business alliance to run a hotel business in the city of Morente, and gradually expanded.

Well, this Count Miledas is still related to Archduke Peterson, hehe, it is said that Archduke Peterson's father fell in love with Count Miledas's cousin at first sight when he was young when he was staying at the Adventurer's House, and then the beads were secretly married. At that time, Archduke Peterson's father had already married, and the cousin of Count Miledas had also been married, and the two chambers of commerce had a quarrel when such a thing happened. The Miledas family refused to allow the Count's cousin to be a concubine, and eventually the Earl's cousin eloped with Archduke Peterson's father, giving birth to Archduke Peterson.

Later, Archduke Peterson's father's wife died in childbirth, and Count Miledas's cousin was corrected, and the relationship between the two chambers of commerce returned to normal and began to befriend. Grand Duke Peterson grew up with Count Miledas, and the two were like brothers. Count Miledas, as a peacemaker and anti-war man, offended the Archduke of Cumberlet and the rest of the giants of the business alliance, and it was Archduke Peterson who protected the Miledas family from being condemned by other chambers of commerce......"

Lorist nodded: "It seems that Archduke Peterson's decision to break away from the business alliance should be true. Otherwise, he would not have sent Count Miledas to consult with us. Now, Baron Schreed, you will go on my behalf to discuss with Count Miledas what military assistance they need, and if it is not too much, we may accede to Archduke Peterson's request. But let's not talk about aid, let's just talk about loans, and the time can be a little longer, and just pay off part of it every year.

It's not that we don't give them free military aid, but the main thing is that once the Liberal Alliance and the four countries that have just returned to China also ask us for military assistance, what should we do? Our family armed forces came here to restore peace in this region, not to be a boy of wealth. After all, our family's territory is in the Northlands, and we can't represent the Kingdom of Antinac. ”

Lorist said something heart-wrenching, but it was true. The Norton family sent an expedition to fight against the commercial alliance, saying that it was to restore peace and negotiate a truce, but the purpose was not for profit. At first, he was worried that the commercial alliance would defeat the Second Highness and sweep the Kingdom of Antinac to besiege the Northlands, and later defeated the Invincible Armada and landed in the Golden Bay to capture the city of Moriente, in order to gain the family's commercial interests and dominate the golden sea route in the southern seas.

Finally, the establishment of the Freedom Alliance and the decisive battle of the Business Alliance in the city of Bruvia are no longer to force the Business Alliance to negotiate peace, but to serve the naked commercial interests. Using the city of Moriente as a turnover center and wholesale market for goods produced in the family's domain, dumping in the south-central part of the Gelinthia continent was a strategy that everyone in the upper echelons of the family understood. Whoever tries to stop the implementation of this strategy of the Norton family will become the life-and-death enemy of the Norton family's armed forces. At this time, the business alliance has long been ignored by the Norton family.

The strategy of the four provinces implemented by the business alliance in June and the restoration of the next four countries, as well as the friendship and signing of covenant agreements with those countries in the central and southern regions, is, to put it bluntly, to use the business alliance to set an example. The first is to promote the prestige of the Norton family's invincibility in attacking and conquering all the battles, and the second is to show the countries in the central and southern regions that the Norton family has no ambition to occupy these territories, but is kind enough to help those four countries recover. The third is to divide the business alliance and force the Chicke Chamber of Commerce to break away from the business alliance and establish an independent state, of course, the independence of Mayflower Commerce is purely a surprise.

The most important point is that this dispatch of troops is actually to use force to directly seize the market occupied by the original commercial alliance from those countries in the central and southern continent, and use those private shipowners to smuggle the goods produced in the Norton family's territory to the markets of those countries in the central and southern regions is too slow, and it may even be discovered by the business alliance and take some shady means to deal with it. Therefore, it is better to simply send troops and use force to grab it.

Shrinking the business alliance into a corner, separating the northern and southern provinces, reestablishing the four countries annexed by the business alliance, and befriending the countries in the central and southern regions to sign the agreement of the twenty-one countries in the central and southern part of the Galinthia continent, it seems that the Norton family is doing good deeds and does not take advantage of the slightest advantage. In fact, the Norton family took advantage of it too much. Among other things, the dispatch of troops to the provinces of Tenarigue and Serunica in the south-central region is tantamount to tearing up the trade agreement signed with the business alliance two years ago and re-sealing the borders and trade routes of the business alliance. Unless the business alliance recognizes these four reconstituted countries, their goods will never reach the markets of those countries in the south-central region.

Will the business alliance be willing to recognize these four countries that they have once annexed? No, because as soon as they do, they lose the legitimacy of the territory they once owned, and in the trade agreements signed with those countries in the central and southern regions, those countries have vaguely recognized that the thirty-six provinces occupied by the business alliance are the territory of the business alliance, although only seven provinces are now lost, but the signed trade agreements are proof of legality.

But in the end, it's still whose fist is bigger, who is justified, and the strength is respected, and the business alliance over there has been beaten by the Norton family's armed forces, and they are nested in the territory, trying to recover their strength and fight again. Here, the Norton family forces have achieved the purpose of sending troops, and the Freedom Alliance has been recognized by those countries in the central and southern regions, and in the future, the goods produced in the Norton family's territory can be directly transferred to the markets of those countries in the central and southern regions by land. For the Norton family, this is a market of nearly millions, if not tens of millions, of Kingford, and it must not be abandoned.

As for the hedgehog-like territory of the seven provinces of the Business Alliance, the Norton family has no intention of attacking. However, Lorist still has the interest to force Archduke Peterson to break away from the commercial alliance and establish an independent state, and it is best if the kingdom of Peterson and the commercial alliance fight each other after independence, and Lorist will be happy to watch from the sidelines. But now that Archduke Peterson has let the Norton family take down the army and give military assistance, Lorist is not happy, why do you want to threaten me, there is no free aid, or a loan.

"But Your Highness, Count Miledas said that the Petersen Chamber of Commerce has already exhausted its savings due to years of war, and they are afraid that they will not be able to repay the loan. Shi Fatzi said.

Lorist smirked: "They can afford it, don't Archduke Peterson still have a batch of rock salt in his hands?" I can agree that he will smuggle this rock salt to the commercial alliance at a high price, of course, the quantity is controlled by us, and the price of the sale is up to them." I believe that this rock salt will make it easy for Archduke Peterson to repay his loan and make a windfall for their kingdom. ”

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