The Immortal Wizard is watching

Chapter 129
"Help me? Thank you for your kindness." Hearing Ronan's words, Viscount Jonson smiled helplessly.

Obviously, he just took this sentence as the other party's emotional words, and it was not worth paying attention to.

"Now that the independence of the Dantuma Alliance is a foregone conclusion, the situation in the empire is getting worse and worse. Count Drake, who has been restrained by the war, has no time to deal with these commercial cities."

Worried that the royal earl in front of him did not understand the situation, Viscount Johnson explained.

"As far as I know, Earl Drake not only does not intend to deal with independent cities such as Emerald City for the sake of war, but has even signed a related charter, giving the city the right to self-government and allowing the local council to manage it on its own."

He couldn't help pouring wine into his mouth again, sighing.

Ronan was not surprised by this.

City autonomy does not mean that they do not have to pay taxes. On the contrary, these cities still pay a generous tax to the local lords every year.

In addition, the city's trade operations will also provide support for the great nobles with various materials they need.

The only difference is that the merchant aristocrats in these cities are no longer under the control of the big aristocracy, and they have the freedom of business, land and property.

And this will further promote the prosperity of urban commerce.

With the current situation, it is almost impossible to change the autonomy of Emerald City and turn it back to the rule of the lord.

This is not a question of having that strength, but that it will offend a large group of people.

That is tantamount to directly provoking the Dantuma Alliance behind it, and even Earl Drake will come forward to stop it.

Earl Drake is now fighting, relying on these commercial cities to provide funds and material transportation behind the scenes.

Compared with the nobles of the Great Plains, the freedom and rights that the merchant nobles fought for were insignificant at all, and they had to give them what they wanted.

"Could you tell me about the council that currently manages the Emerald City?"

Facing Viscount Johnson's persuasion, Ronan asked indifferently.

"The member of the House, the Finley family, is now leading the management of the council. The Finley family is mainly engaged in the mineral industry. Now, relying on their blacksmiths and mining scholars' understanding of gunpowder, they have begun to sell muskets and gunpowder to the outside world."

Viscount Johnson said, "This is why he stood out from the parliament and won the support of other merchant nobles."

For the Finley family, Ronan remembered that the emerald city's notice to seize his goods was sent by the other party.

"As for the Warren family, who were originally in charge of the emerald jewelry business, their influence in the Emerald City has been squeezed smaller and smaller." Viscount Jonson sighed.

Back then, the Warren family was the most influential council member in Emerald City. For this reason, he married his daughter to the son of the other patriarch.

It's a pity that under the impact of the Black Death and war, the Warren family's business suffered setbacks and their influence continued to shrink.

He was completely unable to compete with the Finley family who were running the gun business, otherwise he would not have been kicked out.

If the Warren family dominates the council, although Viscount Jonson will lose the right to rule the city, he can at least retain his nominal title of lord.

"If the Warren family also has a purchase channel for muskets and gunpowder, can they regain the dominance of the Emerald City Council?" Ronan asked.

"Of course!" Viscount Johnson became emotional instantly.

"The Finley family is just a merchant family that rose by luck. More than 20 years ago, it was just a lowly gangster. If it didn't happen to meet the current demand for muskets in the empire, it would not be worthy of entering the parliament at all!"

"On the contrary, the Warren family has been operating in Emerald City for more than 50 years. As long as they find an opportunity, they can regain the leadership at any time!"

Ronan nodded at his swear words, got up and walked out of the tavern, and motioned him to follow.

Outside the town of Baiguoling, beside a group of carriages, Ronan asked his knights to bring four wooden boxes.

"There were two hundred muskets and two hundred pounds of powder."

Hearing his words, Viscount Jonson's puzzled eyes instantly shone, and he leaned forward excitedly to open one of the wooden boxes.

Inside are brand new flintlock guns arranged neatly, and the wooden gun body still exudes a shiny luster.

"May I have a try?" Viscount Johnson caressed the musket lovingly as if treating his wife.

After obtaining Ronan's consent, he took out the gunpowder from another wooden box and began to prepare for the filling work.

It seems that the musket business is more popular than he imagined, and Ronan watched his actions from the sidelines.

The production of muskets is not difficult for the current craftsmen in the Cold Wind Territory, and the manufacture of muskets and gunpowder is now a profitable industry.

Driven by muskets, a pound of gunpowder can be sold for 40 silver coins, mainly reflected in the material value of saltpeter and sulfur.

And one pound of gunpowder can support ninety muskets to fire one shot.

In addition to the consumption of muskets, don't forget about artillery.

Small artillery starts with at least 20 pounds of gunpowder for a single shot, and heavy artillery needs 80 pounds of gunpowder to consume.

Money is only secondary, the point is that muskets and gunpowder are consumables, and they are just needed for all parties in the empire.

This allows Ronan to harvest a large amount of gold, and other goods cannot allow merchants to settle with gold.

boom!
With a harsh sound, Viscount Jonson looked at the hit tree trunk and confirmed that there was nothing wrong with the musket.

"How much can you offer?" He couldn't hold back his excitement and asked in a hoarse voice.

"It depends on how much gold you can get." Ronan signaled him to relax. "These are just a meeting ceremony. I think we have to talk to the Warren family."

"You're right, I'll notify them right away!"

Viscount Jonson hurried back to the village and sent his men to the Emerald City to contact the Warren family.

At noon the next day, a group of people rushed to Baiguoling.

Viscount Jonson, who had been waiting at the intersection of Baiguo Ling Road, saw them and waved his hands to welcome them.

The leader among them chatted with Viscount Jonson for a while, then he couldn't wait to enter the town and came to Ronan.

"My lord, on behalf of the Warren family, I'm very honored to have you here." The other party was a man wearing aristocratic tights with a bulging belly.

He stopped running, panting and bowed to Ronan.

He is the younger brother of the patriarch of the Varun family, Jino Varun, and is also an important figure in charge of the family's foreign trade.

"My elder brother, Senator Dania, has prepared a grand banquet in the city and is waiting for your presence."

After greeting each other, he led the way, and returned to Emerald City with Ronan and Viscount Jonson.

Although the power is constantly shrinking, the Warren family is still the big family with the right to speak in Emerald City.

This allowed Ronan's convoy to pass through smoothly without being inspected by the soldiers at the city gate under Gino's relationship.

(End of this chapter)