22 December, front camp outside the town of Tyre.

Governor Bailly, who had just arrived at the camp from the imperial capital, was in Prince Sinda's private tent to report the details of the new decree, and Prince Sinda listened attentively, interrupting Bailly's briefing from time to time to ask for details.

Prince Sinda didn't care what the civilian merchants thought of their new title, he cared about the donations and the current actions of the Chamber of Commerce Alliance. Governor Bailly has been in the service of the Lion Castle since the coronation of Laubert, and he knows what rulers like to hear best.

Therefore, in this hour-long report, both Governor Bailly and Prince Sinda seemed very relaxed, of course, thanks to the support of the public after the issuance of the new law.

Two days earlier, at the grand ceremony at the morning market, after Count Stu had shown the merchants the certificate of guild that had been specially signed by the cabinet for Smuerke, the common merchants sent a shipment of supplies from their 'secret' warehouse to Lion Castle that afternoon.

According to the Ministry of Finance, in just two days after the new decree was issued, nearly 50 new shops were opened in the outer city.

The clever Earl Stu soon seized the opportunity to form a guild alliance with Smuerke and began to provide the townspeople with daily necessities, wheat, bread, etc., at normal market prices.

Coins issued by the Empire finally began to flow in the market once again, and it drove the movement of goods in the market and activated the Empire's fiscal revenue. Although these revenues are now only a drop in the ocean for the imperial military spending, they at least give hope to the citizens of the imperial capital.

Now, the Chamber of Commerce proved to be no longer the preserve of the Chamber of Commerce, and the commoners were no longer just lowly producers, but they had become the new masters under the protection of the new decree and broke the monopoly of the Chamber of Commerce.

When Bailly finished his report, Prince Sinda asked, "When will the supplies reach the front?"

"Supplies of grain and grass will arrive in Tyre within seven days at most, and other war supplies that need to be processed, such as pig iron, ironwood, tar, etc., will take a little time. Bailly replied, "Well... There are still some magical materials and finished ordnance weapons in the newly formed Guild Alliance's warehouse, but these things were purchased by the Chamber of Commerce Alliance some time ago, and it was illegal for civilians to possess these things in too much amount before the new decree was issued..."

"But now it's legal. Prince Sinda stared at Bailly, "Are those guys at the court in trouble?"

"Yes, most of the information provided to the judges by the Chambers of Commerce. Bailly smiled helplessly, "Now the judges have detained this batch of supplies at the guard's office. ”

"Haha!" Prince Sinda laughed angrily, "Don't those old men know that these supplies are needed on the front-line battlefield?"

"You know, they only care about the Constitution in their hands. ”

"Then let them care more about this war," Prince Sinda pointed and gently stroked his command sword, "write to Duke Nick and ask him to levy these supplies in the name of a 'state of total war'." A small smile appeared on his face, "At the same time, tell the judges that there are soldiers at the front who are violating the laws of the Empire, and have them send at least ten judges to assist me." ”

"Yes, Your Highness. Bailly had the same smile on his face.

The prince's smile didn't last long, and he now wanted to know the attitude of the Chamber of Commerce Alliance, so he asked, "What is the Chamber of Commerce Alliance doing now, and how are the negotiations with them going?"

Bailly said: "Viscount Dempto is trying to find a new partner, but the Earl of Stu told him the truth that this is the 'business' of the Cabinet!"

"Can those civilians really stand up to the Chamber of Commerce Alliance?" Prince Sinda incredulated.

"Before, we were all worried about this, but when you really get to know these civilian businessmen, you will find that they have more energy than the so-called Chamber of Commerce Alliance. Bailly looked at the prince's face cautiously when he replied this time, "Let's put it this way, in fact, nearly seventy percent of the goods of the Chamber of Commerce Alliance need to rely on these civilian merchants to obtain!"

"Oh, is it?" Prince Sinda was not a fool, he understood it at a glance, "You mean that the members of the Chamber of Commerce rely on their status as nobles to control all the channels of the empire's merchandise trade and sales, and thus control the empire's farms and pastures, orchards, handicraft workshops, and even salt and sugar?"

"Yes, you guessed it right. Bailly nodded, "For the past hundred years, the Chamber of Commerce has almost monopolized the sale of goods trade. He shrugged his shoulders and said half-jokingly, "If you had ordered them to be hanged some time ago, you would have gained almost half of the empire's wealth!"

"These damn moths, the nobles of the local territory must have exchanged all the resources in their hands for gold coins to escape the inspection of the tax collector!" Prince Sinda quickly thought of the trick in this, "Damn, those are the property that belongs to the Empire, they all deserve to hell!"

"Yes, Your Highness, so, Count Stu proposes to raise taxes on commercial transactions. Bailly said in a low voice: "According to the confessions of those commoners, the war tax we collected some time ago is actually nothing to the noble merchants, and the profits from their trade are much higher than the war tax paid. ”

Bailly cautiously observed his new master, "According to Earl Stu's inference, the Chamber of Commerce Alliance has squeezed out the savings of the citizens of the imperial capital for nearly ten years in the past few months by raising prices on the grounds of war, and it is conservatively estimated that there are nearly one million gold coins!"

"Whew" The prince let out a sullen breath, and he controlled his anger for a long time before he spat out a sentence: "Does the Earl of Stu have any good advice?"

"The Ministry of Finance proposes to set up a special agency to supervise trade routes, and at the same time add more categories of taxes. "According to Earl Stu, if there is any further price gouging, the amount of the transaction above the market price will have to be paid more than fifty percent of the tax... Well, that's probably what it means, and the specific situation can only be reported to you by Count Stu. ”

Prince Sinda didn't know much about this either, so he could only frown and go through Bailly's words in his mind, and finally, he frowned and said: "Count Stu can't deal with the people of the Chamber of Commerce Alliance, he was played around last time, and the upper nobles of the empire don't take him seriously at all... Duke Nick, let Duke Nick return to the imperial capital, the cabinet now needs him to be in charge. ”

"Kwyn Town..."

"The town of Kwyn is handed over to the Marquis of Nepdo. Prince Sinda said: "Tell Duke Nick that I agree to the request of the Duke of Cullen to lead the Duke of Trofil, and I will publicly recognize the independence of the Cullen Collar in half a month!"

Bailly was stunned for a few seconds before he replied, "I'll do it right away." ”

Prince Sinda waved his hand tiredly,

After a cold gust of wind, Bailly left the tent.

The young prince looked at the door and sighed heavily, with a tired look on his face.

He was lamenting the fate of the empire, and he was lamenting his own incompetence.

He remembered that just a few months ago, he had mocked the incompetence of the imperial nobility and the cowardice of his father.

But when he sat in this position himself, he found that... He was even more incompetent.

"Whew"

I don't know how long it has been, the cold wind suddenly poured into the prince's private tent, the fiery red flames in the iron basin began to swing back and forth, and the prince, who had been standing for a long time, subconsciously tightened the clothes on his body and looked at the door of the tent... It was Sir Samp Reggie, the head of the guard.

"Your Highness, there is news from the Felder Leader, well... Bad news. Sir Semp-Reggie walked briskly towards Prince Sinda, "The Felder Territory has all fallen, and Duke Eric's plan for a 'great retreat' is not going well. ”

"What do you mean?" the prince rose from his seat.

Semp Reggie had anger on his face, "Someone has rebelled against Rue Ize, the military coordinator appointed by Duke Eric!"

"Duke Eric's chief advisor?" Prince Sinda had a look of shock on his face.

"Yes... Because some nobles were dissatisfied with Rue-Ize's retreat plan, they stabbed his wife and two daughters to death in the castle of Norma. Samp-Reggie's family was also in Fort Serek, and he could understand the feelings of the nobles, but he couldn't understand what they were doing, "Because of the stupid things that those fools did, we buried the soldiers of two legions in vain." ”

"What's the situation with the Felder Territory now, and where is the main force of the elves?" Prince Sinda tried to keep his composure, "Let the Marquis of Barry Victor come to the council tent, and my staff committee." ”

...

Ten minutes later,

In the tent of the Chinese army in the front camp of Tyre, Sir Samp-Reggie was gesturing on a map of the entire empire, "The main force of the elves quickly surrounded and captured Fort Tillman after capturing Felde City...", he watched the staff officers slowly deduce on the map, and continued: "Yesterday, the rebel army led by Rue-Eze has arrived at the Grand Canyon of Manwes. ”

"Where is the main force of the elves now?" asked Marquis Barry in a loud voice.

"It was in Tillmanburg before yesterday. Samp-Reggie replied uncertainly, "Maybe it's been given to arrive at the Manwis Canyon by now." ”

"How many troops does Duke Eric have?" asked the Marquis of Barry again.

"It's less than 20,000," Samp-Reggie said, "but the Manwis Canyon is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and 20,000 troops are enough to defend it." ”

"In less than a month, the elven army has swept through the entire Felder Territory, how long do you think you can defend them with only 20,000 remnants?" a solemn expression appeared on Marquis Barry's face, "Let the Fourth Cavalry Legion rush to the Manwis Grand Canyon to reinforce quickly!" He stared at Prince Sinda, waiting for the other party's choice.

"Good!" the prince did not think too much about it.

The Marquis of Barry immediately threw a herald sword to a staff officer at the moment when the prince nodded, "Get my herald to act." As he spoke, he looked at the prince again, "When will the supplies raised by Count Stu's return to the imperial capital reach the front line?" ”

"In seven days..."

"It's been too long, it has to be there in three days. The whip in Marquis Barry's hand pointed at Fort Elok, "Now, what we have to do is to order the army to attack Fort Eruk immediately." ”

"It's very likely that the elven fleet will lead a huge army to land at the Yekjar Military Port!" a young staff officer suddenly said, "Landing on the Yekjar Military Port is the best choice for the elves than storming the Manwis Grand Canyon." ”

Marquis Barry was shocked when he heard this, he did not reprimand the young staff officer for being rude, but rushed to the map as fast as he could, drew charcoal on it, and as a crimson attack line gradually became clear, everyone present broke out in a cold sweat.

"Contact Viscount Ake of the Kru Coalition Fleet as soon as possible, and let them get to the port of Yekjar as quickly as possible. Marquis Barry growled.

"The command of the Combined Fleet is in the hands of Baron Pedi. Prince Sinda frowned, deep down, he didn't want Pedi to get involved in the war in the Middle Empire.

Of course, the Marquis of Barry knew what the prince was thinking, after all, he had also been young, and he had been jealous of people who were better than him, and if in normal times he would consider retracting his proposal, but now is not an ordinary time.

The old marquis took a deep breath and said in a deep voice: "Baron Pedi is nominally the commander of the First Fleet, and he has an unshirkable responsibility for the rebellion of the First Fleet, no matter in that aspect, he is responsible for handling the affairs of the Yekjar military port!"

"But..."

"Your Highness, this matter is related to the safety of the empire!"