The warm night breeze of Hazuki blows the ancient Silver Dragon Castle.

Lord Vincent von Steyakard finally confirmed his place in the hearts of all on that night.

Eighteen businessmen and a large number of cronies, led by Luke, the president of the Southern Chamber of Commerce, were all captured.

Luke, who openly rebelled against the lord's inspection, paid a heavy price, not only his subordinates were wiped out, but even the property of the Chamber of Commerce was confiscated.

That night, the Daishi Trading Company gave a gift to all those who had not yet fallen asleep.

It was invented by the lord to make a round belly lampshade made of red-hot tissue paper and a wooden frame, and when a lit candle was placed inside, it would emit a warm red glow.

The lord said that this thing was called a lantern, and the red light meant light and happiness, and could dispel misfortune.

That night, New Dragon Castle had a color other than blood.

"Come on, friends, the red lantern is hanging high, and the curse of the cult can't get in!"

Of course, the generous lord did not forget to send a set of white lanterns to the door of Luke's party's house.

Naturally, the gift was very popular, but the clever people soon saw a business opportunity and turned it into a specialty and symbol of the Silver Dragon Castle.

But that's another story.

By the next day, the merchants' possessions, which were scattered outside the castle, were also sealed off one after another, becoming the lord's private property.

There were also a few mercenaries and minions who heard the wind and tried to flee with money, and the vast majority were discovered by the flying Harpy.

Vincent's skeleton troops, though numerous, were not very mobile, and they were capable of fighting in formations and besieging strongholds, but they were a little more than capable of pursuing the enemy.

Therefore, on the one hand, the lord sent his own monsters to control the commercial strongholds, seal the remaining materials, and guard the trade routes, and on the other hand, he had to ask for help from those who could recover the losses.

At this time, it is time for the garrison, which remained neutral last night, to make a move.

The garrison numbered more than 800 people, and was generally organized into three brigades to carry out tasks, responsible for the security of the city and night patrols.

Although the captain Esen is short-handed, he is more receptive to the new lord, but he is a warrior of the human race after all, and he is unwilling to help the lord suppress the merchants of the same clan without scruples.

Now that Luke has been completely defeated, Essen doesn't have to worry about which side to take.

The horses in the convoy were all gathered, and the lord also sponsored some with the merchant's horses.

Soldiers on horseback pursued several cavalry units, and Essen gave a death order to recover all the property belonging to the lord.

The cavalry of the convoy was familiar with the territory and knew where the merchants' warehouses and manors were located.

With the support of the flying monsters sent by the lord, you can find the most suitable path and chase them in the fastest way.

In the evening of the same day, Esen, who was talking to the lord at the city gate, was pleasantly surprised to find that his subordinates had recovered much more materials than they had imagined.

If it weren't for the fact that some of them were quick and rushed into the rioted villages, the cavalry pursuit might have even recovered all the losses.

This is not an empty rhetoric, because with the lord's monster watching, the mercenaries of the escort team caught up with the fugitives, and they could only fight honestly, not daring to do those things that were secretly divided.

"According to the prior agreement, 20% of the recovered materials will belong to you, and the rest will belong to me." Vincent said to the captain of the garrison, "Sincerity is the basis of cooperation, and the discipline of your subordinates is good, and this is all due to your good management." ”

Vincent was very relieved to hear that he could get 20% of the supplies.

To be honest, this is actually not a few, after all, these things do not belong to them in the first place, and they can be snatched up justifiably without much fighting, and they don't need to pay taxes, it's just pie in the sky.

"If something you don't use, you can just sell it to me and exchange it for gold." Vincent made another thoughtful suggestion, "There has been a shortage of supplies in the city recently, and it is a good time to resell, but no one wants to get involved without my permission." ”

"But if you buy something with gold, it's a different story." The lord pointed to the mountains of goods and said, "I will order the merchant to sell it at a price below the market price, and if you have gold coins, you can buy a bargain." ”

Hearing Vincent's words, Captain Ethan of the garrison had a new understanding of this young demon.

Although he is a demon, his approach does not seem to make others suffer.

However, if he does so, he will inevitably suffer the loss.

If it were the previous vampire lord, I wouldn't have done it. If you get so many supplies, you will definitely hoard them and sell them at a high price to make money.

The people could not defeat his monsters, so they could only swallow their anger, either fleeing to start a rebellion, or joining the crowd like the captured merchants.

A mercenary like himself has also done a lot of dirty work to suppress the people for the lord, and if such days continue, Captain Essen, who still has a sense of honor as a warrior in his heart, will definitely resign because of the condemnation of conscience.

However, he was fortunate not to be forced against his own by the new lord.

"My lord, I congratulate you on destroying the unscrupulous merchants and gaining wealth." Esen stared at the lord and asked with some puzzlement, "But most of the supplies are sold to the people cheaply, don't you really feel distressed?" ”

Hearing this, the surrounding people and soldiers looked at them curiously, wanting to hear Vincent's answer.

"Why don't you feel distressed?" Vincent replied unusually simply, "How can I let my loyal leaders buy the necessities of life at such a high price, so that I don't feel distressed!" ”

This beautiful sentence that wanted to be promoted and suppressed first made people flutter for a moment, and then they sensed the meaning, which caused a friendly discussion.

Your Excellency is so funny and kind!

"The Coastal Territory is an agricultural territory, but the profiteers control agricultural production and trade routes, buy the grain that the farmers have worked hard to grow at a low price, and sell it to the townspeople at a high price, making huge profits and fattening themselves, but the price of the territory has risen all year round."

Next, Vincent first listed the sins of profiteers before explaining his intentions.

"In order to prevent unscrupulous merchants from endangering the territory and ensuring the well-being of the territory, I have decided to temporarily control their industries, except for some law-abiding businesses, which can resume business after rectification, and the rest are under my direct jurisdiction."

These arrogant and conceited words made Essen frown.

Liege Jurisdiction...... Isn't this just a robbery?

In this audit, Vincent took advantage of the conviction of the merchant to take control of 35 taverns, 10 wineries, 14 bakeries, 20 tailors, 4 dyeers, 8 blacksmiths, 47 groceries and stalls, 3 lumberyards, 10 carpentry workshops, 5 small ranches, 3 leather workshops, 23 farms and 22 warehouses.

In addition, there are thousands of workers and more than 2,000 livestock at their disposal.

Of course, it is indisputable that the victor has the right to control everything that the loser has, but can the devil still operate normally after accepting the merchant's shop, workshop and trade route?

It is natural to gather wealth in your hands for a while, but the business in the hands of these guys is not only impossible to create wealth, but it is unimaginable to maintain not bankruptcy.

Of course, people don't dare to laugh at the ugly appearance of the demons, and they may cheer for the act of killing the rich and helping the poor in the short term, but after a long time, they will find that business begins to decline.

People are slowly losing their jobs and goods, and they will definitely regret it when the time comes.

If the demon military can score a hundred points, I'm afraid the economy can only score zero.

Ethan had never seen, or even heard of, any demon who could do a good job in the economy of the territory, and they couldn't even fish sustainably.

"My lord, to put it mildly, those industries are not managed by professional merchants, I'm afraid they ......"

After thinking about it for a long time, Essen decided to tell the truth, and by the way, establish his image of integrity in front of the people.

Lord Vincent should be in a very good mood today, probably not angry because of a word of loyalty, right?

"You're worried I won't be able to run those businesses, are you?" Vincent narrowed his eyes and smiled, "That's a hurtful thing to say......"

Essen's throat twitched, and his heart suddenly rose to his throat.

It seems that he paid by mistake, and the lord is too arrogant to listen to the advice of the contrary.

"But you're right, I don't know how to care, and I don't want to care," the lord said in a startling voice, "so it's wise to leave what you're not good at to the experts." ”

"So......" Essen asked with some curiosity, not expecting him to approve of him, "who are you going to give these estates to?" ”

"The separation of ownership and management rights keeps industry and commerce alive, and that's no problem, I'm not stupid enough to kill the hen that lays eggs." Vincent said to Essen, who looked confused, "However, in order to avoid market failure, I want to make a 'public-private partnership' with demon characteristics." ”