Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence.

Chapter 213 Loan of 20000 Gold Crowns and Creation of a Mercenary Base
The Empire is a place of bellicosity and bravery, where everyone from nobles to commoners is willing to fight for personal honor and pride.

Anyone who invades Imperial territory will face the wrath of powerful knights, exceptional warriors, and defenders of a glorious nation feared and respected throughout the Old World continent.

These armies march to war in the name of various gods and for the glory of their overlords, sweeping away evil on the battlefield.

However, within the empire, there are also some less legitimate professions, and members of the church and brotherhood that Hendrix believes in are obviously one of them.

This church is somewhat similar to the Lanod Church, so Su Li mistakenly thought they were members of the Lanod Church.

After Prodigal Luo Ou finished speaking, Su Li looked at him curiously and asked, "Some less formal methods? What can you all do for me?"

Luo Ou immediately replied, "In the Empire, we of the Hendrix Brotherhood are known as thugs, enforcers, or 'heavyweights.' This is because our men can do anything for anyone, such as putting pressure on citizens and politicians, protecting precious cargo, and even cracking heads when necessary. Since the sect's business has expanded into almost all types of commerce and throughout the Empire, we find ourselves traveling long distances, dealing with all kinds of people on the sect's behalf, usually profiting from it."

"If you don't mind our unofficial methods, we can help you contact mountain folk, recruit refugees, reorganize badland nomads, and even forest bandits."

This is undoubtedly the black glove of the imperial nobles.

Under Imperial rule, cities were whitewashed, their decaying, mottled facades adorned with decaying whitewash. In this land, peasants seemed to exist solely to serve their masters, while their masters seemed to exist solely to pursue the chivalric ideals of command and protection. Protected by the walls of their fortresses, the Imperial Knights dedicated their lives to mastering the feudal system, hunting, and jousting, while their subjects toiled to support their lords and replenish their treasuries.

So it is obvious that the nobles of the empire need some more flexible people to help him realize his rule.

Among the lower classes of the empire, few are literate and good at writing. On the first day of every month, they must gather together and listen to their lord's servants read out the creed that the lower classes must follow, and remind them that serving the lord is a glorious cause, and that they must shoulder the responsibilities of this cause.

In reality, the Empire's peasants barely scraped by, toiling day after day in the fields, struggling to survive in abject poverty. Most of these peasants barely made it to middle age, let alone the prospect of their masters recognizing their devotion. Yet, without the fruits of their labor and the taxes levied on their meager incomes, the knights could not maintain the lifestyle they had grown accustomed to.

The Imperial Knights themselves were accustomed to writing their oaths in ornate calligraphy and treating them with reverence. They recited these vows before an image or token of the goddess—a candlelit painting or a gilded triptych, depending on their rank. Breaking any of these vows was considered a grave sin by these noble but narrow-minded warriors.

These brotherhoods were clearly a less than honorable profession, serving as a bridge between knights and commoners, thieves, and badland wanderers, but they were not criminal professions either.

At the moment, their greatest use is undoubtedly to help Su Li reorganize the bandits around his territory.

As long as Su Li is willing to pay a sum of money and a piece of land, some of these badland vagrants and forest bandits will definitely be willing to lay down their weapons and join the territory.

The weaker ones among them can replenish the population of the territory, reclaim farmland, and expand the scale of agriculture.

The stronger ones could be directly incorporated into the army, serving as soldiers in provincial legions or even low-ranking officers. Because among these bandits, there are also some wandering knights who have lost their honor and violated their oaths.

Reorganizing them into the territory is equivalent to giving them a chance to turn over a new leaf.

So Su Li said to the prodigal Luo Ou: "I can accept your presence in the territory, and I will pay you adequate compensation for every refugee or bandit you recruit. But can you guarantee that you will not incite the civilians to resist the rule?"

"Of course!" Luo Ou said immediately, "We have always been materialistic. We will serve whoever can provide sufficient funds. We have investigated the situation in Hessen Territory, and there is no doubt that you are the largest owner of Hessen Territory's wealth."

"Furthermore, compared to the territory's massive army and its immensely powerful knights, the civilians' riots are completely useless."

This is very obvious in the empire, where the brutal rule of the imperial knights is overwhelming. The uprisings and desperate battles of the civilians are seen as completely fearless struggles by the imperial knights.

While Su Li was pondering, Luo Ou continued, "Also, I've seen that the common people in your territory are far richer than the average in the empire. Even the food provided to the slaves is beyond the reach of the serfs in most territories of the empire. They would have to be kicked in the head by a donkey to want to start an uprising and overthrow your rule."

"On the contrary, I understand that many wealthy farmers and workshop owners are interested in providing you with a loan in order to gain greater influence in the territory. I'm here to negotiate with you on their behalf."

After hearing this, Su Li couldn't help but laugh and said, "You guys are really unwavering in your pursuit of materialism. You'll help anyone who can provide you with benefits."

"But the matter you mentioned has successfully attracted my interest. Will the merchants and landowners in the territory give me a loan?"

"Yes," Luo Ou said immediately, "Your army's proportion has obviously exceeded the territory's financial capacity. If you want to continue expanding the army and building large-scale facilities in the territory, the finances will probably be insufficient. The territory's merchants can give you a valuable loan to help you win this battle against the Green Dragon."

Su Li raised his eyebrows and asked, "How much wealth is it? What's the loan interest rate?"

"At least 5000 gold crowns, and the daily interest is only 13 gold crowns."

Su Li laughed and said, "Your interest rate is going to kill people."

Thirteen gold crowns a day might not seem like much, but within just one year, the interest exceeded their principal!
The imperial year is 400 days, and just to pay them the interest, they would have to pay 5200 gold crowns.

The annualized interest rate exceeds 100%, which is the highest usury among usury!

Isn't this just like the money merchants of the East? They lend money to the army to fight, and the army and the emperor can't default on the debt.

A sinister and smug smile appeared on Luo's thin face. He bowed slightly and said reservedly, "My Lord, you know that it is very difficult to collect debts from a knight of a kingdom who commands an army. So it is natural that the interest rate is a bit higher."

Su Li also had a smile on his face. The emperor, who held the power of life and death, was invincible in the negotiation arena.

He looked at the other two mercenary leaders and asked, "Do you think I should accept this offer?"

The two knights shrugged and said, "This is your territory's internal affairs."

"But we believe that winning is the most important thing. With this amount of military funds, we can recruit more elite mercenaries to help you reach the Green Dragon's Lair sooner. As long as we obtain the Dragon's Lair treasure, even if we lose a few hundred gold crowns, what does it matter?"

"Haha, hundreds of gold crowns?" Su Li laughed and said, "You have such confidence in me? Can the war with the Green Dragon be ended within a month or two?"

To be honest, if paying a few hundred gold crowns, or even one or two thousand gold crowns, could quickly end the war, Su Li would do it without hesitation.

If he is given the opportunity to farm, the income he earns in one or two months can easily make up for the interest.

Every day the war dragged on, the territory lost countless wealth.

Luo Ou decisively changed the subject and continued, "Of course, the merchants in the territory have full confidence in you. The Green Dragon will definitely not be able to destroy your territory."

But the green dragon can destroy a lot of wealth in the territory. Once the farmland in Bjorn's Bay is burned by the monsters, although the territory will not be destroyed, starvation is inevitable.

So Su Li decisively said, "Then you will go and negotiate with the merchants on my behalf. I want a loan of at least 20000 gold crowns, and the interest rate will be reduced by half."

Luo Ou narrowed his eyes, staring at Su Li like a fox, and said, "My Lord, this is not an easy matter. This negotiation is too unfair to the merchants. They paid four times the loan amount, and the interest rate should be increased by 5 to 8 times. In other words, we need to earn at least 100 to 160 gold coins a day to offset the risk."

Su Li leaned back calmly on the wide chair and said, "Luo Ou, it's time to show your value. The interest of 20 gold crowns a day is enough to attract merchants. Then go and negotiate. If the interest rate drops by 1000 gold crowns each year, I will give you a reward of 500 gold crowns."

Luo Ou immediately straightened up, his whole body trembling with excitement: "Haha, I knew that serving you was the right choice. Please believe us, Knight Su Li, our brotherhood will definitely give you a satisfactory result!"

500 gold crowns!

What a huge fortune this is.

A caravan took huge risks, traveling back and forth between the border prince's territory, and might not even earn 500 gold crowns in one trip!

Luo Ou felt that he earned more than just 500 gold crowns from this transaction.

20 gold crowns per day, the annual interest is 8000 gold crowns.

This profit is definitely enough to impress most greedy merchants. He can continue to lower the price. If he can get it down to 4000 gold crowns, he will earn a huge fortune of 2000 gold crowns!

According to his estimate, the war between Hessen Territory and Green Dragon would not last more than a year. This was also the view of most people, which was why merchants were actively offering loans to the Hessen Territory's lord. This was a sure-win deal. However, even if the war ended within three months, the Red Brotherhood would still have gained 460 gold crowns.

This is a huge amount of wealth that they could not earn back even if they robbed many tribes of forest bandits at the risk of losing their lives.

If they could follow the territory's army and win this decisive battle, the future spoils of war plus this income would allow their Red Brotherhood to have enough food and drink for a year, and they could even save a considerable amount of money to build a camp in the Hesse Territory.

However, when it comes to combat, it is obvious that the members of the Red Brotherhood are not the protagonists.

On the contrary, the eyes of the two mercenary groups lit up at the same time, and they looked at Su Li with sharp eyes.

The loan income of 20000 gold crowns will undoubtedly speed up the progress of the territory war.

In the wars of the empire, the composition of a lord's army is diverse, and the most elite core is undoubtedly the lord's military commander and powerful knights.

Then there are the sizable direct retainer battalions and provincial armies, which serve as the standing armies of the territories.

Finally, there are the largest number of fiefdom armies and free militia. These armies have relatively low combat effectiveness, but they are large in scale and have no maintenance costs.

However, in order to increase their combat effectiveness, the lords will undoubtedly hire a group of knights and mercenary groups to participate in the war.

Some of the most powerful mercenary groups will, or several mercenary groups will join forces to provide thousands of people to participate in a war throughout the entire process.

These mercenary groups have the combat effectiveness of a provincial legion at the very least, and the upper limit may even be at the level of a knightly order!

Su Li looked at the two knights behind Luo Ou and said, "Who will introduce themselves first?"

Without waiting for the handsome young man to speak, the bearded follower of Ulric slammed the table, stood up, and shouted gruffly, "Let me go first! We are the Fallen Wolf Mercenaries. I am Grand Master Granlon Rein. We have 100 to 120 Ulric White Wolf Heavy Armored Knights ready to join the battle at any time. They are all powerful Ulric followers, at least at the level of full knights."

"Unlike the White Wolf Knights who guard the temple, we firmly adhere to the teachings of the Church of Ulric, fighting in the name of the Wolf God, bringing slaughter and death to our enemies, and dedicating glory to the Wolf God. We are the true followers of Ulric, similar to the god we believe in, eager to fight and possessing unparalleled war skills."

Su Li's eyes lit up, filled with joy, even a little overjoyed.

The Fallen Wolf Mercenaries were clearly a more powerful heavy cavalry mercenary group! They possessed an unparalleled advantage in field charges.

Just as Granlon said, they were Ulric's true followers, unlike the defensive knights who guarded the temple.

Their mercenary group carried out Ulric's will, actively sought war, and was eager to water Ulric's glory with the blood of the enemy.

Thus, the followers of Ulric howl with ecstasy for every drop of blood they spill in battle, rejoicing in the brutal arms race. Their faith is a martial faith: its fundamental reason for existence is to create powerful warriors to serve the Imperial army, especially in conjunction with the Knights, so that they can spread Ulric's glory throughout the world through their brave deeds on the battlefield. (This is very Khorne)

However, the sect disapproves of ranged weapons and gunpowder, preferring cold weapons for close combat. Followers of Ulric also disdain tactics and anything that could be interpreted as cowardice, putting them in conflict with the philosophies of Violet and Ranold.

As a mercenary group, the addition of the Fallen Wolf Mercenary Group is undoubtedly an important supplement to the Hessen leadership.

So Su Li decisively said, "The territory welcomes you to join. This war with the Green Dragon will surely give you a thrilling fight. I wonder what you want, and what are the conditions for hiring you?"

Granlon said bluntly, "We have no demands. We simply wish to participate in the war, gain more wealth, and spread the glory of Ulric. However, as proof of our strength, when you hire us, you must pay us 1500 gold crowns upfront. You must also provide a monthly fee of 400 gold crowns and allow us to retain a portion of the spoils as a reward for victory."

After paying them 1500 gold crowns, you can hire them anytime in the future. Just pay them wages when you hire them, and you don't need to pay them maintenance fees at other times.

400 gold crowns per month is a bit high. Although this mercenary group is an elite mercenary group composed entirely of heavy cavalry, it is impossible for all of them to be elite knights.

400 gold crowns are enough to maintain an elite knight team of 80 people.

However, it is normal for the mercenary group to cost a little more. After all, Su Li does not have to pay them in non-wartime.

As long as the proportion of elite knights in this mercenary group reaches 30 to 50 people, Su Li will not lose out. After all, he also has a large number of official knights.

So Su Li only thought for a moment, and then said decisively: "No problem, I will pay you until the Green Dragon war is over."

Then Su Li looked at the last knight. He was not only outstanding in appearance, but also had a very good demeanor.

Although he was overtaken again and again, he maintained his composure and sat on the chair with a faint smile on his lips. This made him look not like a rude knight, but rather like a nobleman with noble birth and good family education.

Su Li then asked him, "You can introduce yourself now. You don't seem to be in a hurry?"

The young knight smiled calmly and said, "Of course, Master Su Li. Our Blue Heron Mercenary Group has close ties with your family. We are here to establish a base in your territory and expand our mercenary group's business to the border prince's territory."

Su Li's eyes suddenly lit up, and he said, "Are you from the Blue Heron Mercenary Group that Knight Commander Connor told me about? Great, I was also interested in having a detailed discussion with you."

However, just as Knight Connor arrived, the Green Dragon Legion invaded.

After the war, Su Li was too weak to get out of bed, and he recovered his strength by practicing in bed.

Now is a good time to have a detailed discussion with the Blue Heron Mercenary Group. This is a prestigious mercenary group. They have served the Tyrtis Lords for a century and have proven their loyalty and reliability.

As a result, they gained the trust and support of many imperial nobles, built a considerable base in the local area, absorbed a large number of outstanding mercenaries, and developed into a large-scale mercenary group with multiple subordinate regiments, companies and adventurer teams, providing security services for various lords and caravans.

Su Li asked with concern: "Why do you want to develop in the border prince's territory?"

The other party smiled and replied, "Our Grand Master believes that the Border Prince Territory is the vastest blue ocean for mercenaries. The vast and fertile land here supports a large number of pioneering lords, and wars are raging everywhere. However, at the same time, the vacuum between the power centers and the vast forests hide countless raiders, posing a huge threat to caravans. Therefore, we can take on more business here."

"Next, please allow me to introduce you to the details of our mercenary group. I am Bernhard Morgan, the Chapter Master of this branch. Our branch is called the Hatebringer Mercenary Group, named after the powerful rune halberd, the Hatebringer, wielded by the Chapter Master. This halberd is inlaid with a fire rune enchanted by the Dwarven Rune Master. It has two powerful properties. One is that it makes the user more skilled in combat, and the other is that it allows the user to cast fireballs in battle!"

"And our entire chapter's elite melee troops are clad in dwarven half-plate armor, holding finely crafted halberds and carrying our original banner—a griffin holding a halberd, symbolizing the noble and unyielding spirit of our chapter."

Melee halberd soldiers are all wearing half-plate armor made by dwarves?
This is an amazing elite infantry fighting force. In the Hessen Territory, only Su Li's direct armed attendant battalion, the Blood Pine Forest Beast Killer, can surpass them in equipment.

So Su Li immediately asked with concern: "How many people are coming from your mercenary group this time?"

Bernhardt replied calmly, "Our mercenary group initially had only a small number of personnel, 80 halberdiers and 40 crossbowmen. However, once we establish a branch base for the mercenary group here, we estimate that we will have a base of 500 personnel, radiating to all surrounding areas."

A mercenary base of 500 people?

This is not a small amount!
Even if we exclude clerical staff, office staff, warehouse management, cooks and financial cashiers from these 500 people, there are no less than 360 mercenaries who can participate in the battle.

How much wealth can such a large mercenary team bring to the Hesse Territory by providing services to the Hesse Territory and all nearby territories, towns, farms, and chambers of commerce?

Just providing these people with prostitutes and alcohol is enough for a small territory to make a fortune.

If we add in the mercenaries' families, mounts, servants, slaves, prisoners of war, etc., this base might have a population of 1000, which is larger than most villages.

But this wasn't the end. Bernhardt continued, "Master Su Li, don't be disappointed. Although we don't have many fighters from the Blue Heron Mercenary Group, we have brought you some of our companions, a group of dwarf rangers!"

"They are a group of companions we met when we were fighting the ratmen in the Border Princes' Territory. They are willing to fight the green dragon for the reward you paid."

(End of this chapter)