Heroes of Might and Magic: Grand Consul

Chapter 125 Intrigue and Trade

Inside the magnificent hall, nobles mingled and drank, admiring the graceful figures of the dancers.

Even in times of war and strife, nobles still managed to acquire beautiful dancers, sometimes at even lower prices.

Finding a box of crystals isn't easy, but finding a dozen or so beautiful young women, even those with exotic charms, isn't too difficult.

"Come on, everyone, let's drink to our hearts' content. If you see a female slave you like tonight, take her home. I will definitely do you a favor."

Having just pacified Longletburg, Conrad ordered martial law for a period of time, prohibiting all forms of entertainment and strictly enforcing military discipline, including a curfew.

This approach made the group of free-spirited guys very unhappy. As soon as Maggie took over the city, they immediately indulged themselves, arranging fine wine, delicious food and beautiful women.

"If you ask me, Commander Knight, you're too old-fashioned. What are we all risking our lives for? It's all about money and women. We should relax after winning, otherwise, where will our morale come from!"

"That's right. My men have been stuck in the snow caves for so long. They've finally made it to this bustling city. If they don't enjoy themselves, wouldn't it be a waste of their time?"

The crowd started making a ruckus and began criticizing Conrad.

After all, those who come here are people from the harsh northern lands, who have always been barbaric and unreasonable. They don't even respect the kingdom's high-ranking officials. They follow whoever feeds them.

Some time ago, Young Salman was severely defeated by Isildur and voluntarily used a portion of his family's wealth to appease the various families, which allowed him to maintain his leadership. Otherwise, given Rhodes's strength, he probably wouldn't have been able to command everyone at all.

Now that Longleat Castle has been returned to Garfield and the nobles have received some compensation, seeing that there is no more profit to be made, everyone is considering retreating.

Of course, some people coveted the fertile soil and resources of the marquisate, but the knight commander guarded the place, and once he made a decision, no one, however eager, dared to disobey.

"We went through so much trouble to go south, shedding so much blood, and in the end all we got were a few barren pieces of land. We didn't even see a few gold coins. It really chilled everyone's hearts."

"You're already doing quite well; at least that mountain has a damaged stone quarry. What do I have there? Only wild animals. The farmers all fled because of the war, and the barren land has no one to cultivate it. What use is it to me?"

"That's not what you said at first. You didn't even want the gold, you insisted on grabbing the land. Now that you haven't chosen the land you wanted, you're backing out. How about we switch places? I'll give you a few chests of gold, and the land is mine!"

When the topic of interests came up, the nobles immediately forgot about the women and started arguing, almost coming to blows.

In truth, no matter what Longlet Castle offered, everyone would be dissatisfied. In the eyes of the nobles, the lands of the marquis's heirs were won through their own efforts, and no amount of money was too much for them.

"Quiet down! I have something to say!"

Little Salman slapped the table and began his performance.

"The lord of Longlet Castle is a young girl who is not even twenty years old and her management skills are a mess. If she continues to govern the plains, it will probably be another tragedy when the Isidore army approaches next time."

We cannot allow her to destabilize the plains. I suggest that the northern cities connect the lands they have acquired and build a trade route to monopolize trade in the plains. This would not only stabilize the Shilin Plains but also supply the north with scarce resources.

If an enemy invades again in the future, we will have a reason to come to their aid.

These words tempted the nobles. In fact, there were quite a few resource sites in the withered grass and snowfield, but mining them was not very convenient and the types of resources were too limited.

Often, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. While the North has plenty of stone and crystal mines, resources like forests, gold mines, and gemstones are extremely scarce. This means that Northern cities wanting to expand or build special barracks must rely on markets to exchange resources, and the price difference is far too high for many to afford.

The Salman family's wealth was largely due to their control of unique trade channels and the low prices of easily exchangeable resources. They were able to buy low and sell high, profiting from the trade surplus and controlling the lifelines of the other northern cities, thus becoming the dominant power in the North.

However, with the invasion of Isildur's army, Salman's commercial empire also suffered huge losses, especially the fall of the Fal Forest, which buried the family's most popular log reselling business, resulting in heavy losses.

Rod Salliman launched several counterattacks in the North in an attempt to make up for his previous huge mistakes, but unfortunately his fighting skills were too poor, and he was defeated by Isildur.

Duke Salman berated his son severely, and had no choice but to drag his seriously ill body to the front lines.

The more things were like this, the more Rhodes wanted to salvage his image, so he had to secure the trade route through the Xilin Plain this time.

“But our territories are divided into different areas, and they are not very large, not even as large as a baron’s enclave. It’s probably difficult to connect them.”

"North of Garfield's fiefdom lies Argyle's territory. They have a good relationship with Kuraki Town, so they might not necessarily give way to us!"

Maggie's granting of the fiefdom was, of course, based on her own considerations; she couldn't allow the nobles of the North to unite. She welcomed them to do business in the plains. But if they came to steal her business, well, she'd have to consider Longlet Castle's opinion.

If nobles wanted to continue transporting goods to the western hinterland, they had to pass through towns controlled by Longlet Castle, which guaranteed the status of the county town.

Hearing the questions raised by the nobles, Rhodes was full of confidence: "Even if it is an enclave, the middle is all barren land. So what if we take it? There are bandits everywhere. I want to see who dares to take up the post."

As for the northern part of the fiefdom, including the last area of ​​the northern border, I have already made arrangements.

Look who this is!

Rhodes pulled one person out, and the nobles looked closely and saw that it was none other than Soya Argyle, the first heir of the Argyle family.

He was suddenly asked to come out, and his face was a little embarrassed, after all, his family had not been on good terms with these nobles in the North.

Rhodes put his arm around his shoulder: "From now on, Soya will be our brother. The trade route can cross the Argyll family's territory and go straight to the North. He will ensure the safety of the caravans within the territory, so everyone can rest assured!"

The Northern nobles looked at Soya's stiff expression and smiled thoughtfully.

This young Salman may not be good at anything else, but he's got a lot of tricks up his sleeve when it comes to his own people. I wonder what leverage he got over the Argyll family that made them willingly pave the way for him.

The Argyll family's grudges with the North stemmed from trade and territorial disputes. Many smuggling caravans were essentially the nobles' private armies, yet the Argyll family captured them and imprisoned them; it's no wonder the relationship between the two sides was tense.

Now that Soya is willing to give up the passage and hand over his wealth, no one would believe he wasn't being manipulated.

However, no one cared about the details; as long as they could make money, they were happy to follow along, depending on how much profit Salman was willing to give up.

The nobles all looked at Rhodes, and although they didn't speak, their meaning was clear.

Previously, Salman could do whatever he wanted in the North because they had soldiers, prestige, and land; there was no way to monopolize it.

Now that we want to take over the plains road and need everyone's help, if we continue to be as domineering as before, I'm afraid no one will be willing.

Rhodes's expression tightened, and he announced directly: "Saliman will not take any commission from this trade route; it will be shared by everyone, and anyone can use this route to transport goods. Furthermore, I will open a market in the city at the southernmost tip of the snowfield for everyone to trade freely!"

This is explosive news! The Salman family, known for being extremely stingy, is actually willing to share trade routes with other families in the North? This is unprecedented!

Even after hearing the news for just over ten seconds, the nobles thought they had misheard and shook their heads. However, Rhodes' expression was firm, and he repeated it again in front of everyone. Finally, everyone cheered, happily kneading the shape of the beautiful maids beside them, and raising their wine cups to drink heartily.

With the Salman family taking the lead and Argyll's heir's promise, the most difficult issues were basically resolved, and what remained were trivial matters not worth mentioning.

In the passage to the west, Salman summoned Nite Sack, the city lord who had previously testified against Maggie in the hall. He publicly refuted the marquis's heir, and it was clear that he would not be able to stay in Longlet Castle afterward and would have no choice but to seek refuge with the northern nobles.

In this way, this trade route could even cross Longlet Castle, completing a major passage from the heart of the kingdom to the northern border and then to the Arcane Empire, making up for the previous losses of the Salman family.

Everyone could almost picture the grand spectacle of trade routes being established, nobles gaining bargaining power on the plains, and chests of gold coins flowing into their coffers.

As for Longletburg, who cares about them?

Even among the nobles of the marquisate, aside from Kuraki Town, who else would willingly support Maggie?

It's true that she practiced nepotism. The heir to a marquisate was treated like a dog by Su Mu, and the entire Langlit Castle was filled with officials from Cangmu Town. It was simply laughable.

Since she's so obedient, she might as well become a baroness instead of a marquis.

They're guarding a lonely city, waiting to see who will listen to them.

"Hahahaha! No matter how much timber the Cangmu Forest Farm produces, how can it sell it if it can't be transported out?"
Then Su Mu will have to come begging to us for a way out.

"I think it's a good idea. He can hand over the forest farm and the mountain fortress, and obediently kowtow to me in the arena. I'll help him sell the timber!"

"But Su Mu is extremely strong. What if he doesn't agree to use force?"

"Take a hard line? He just finished a bloody battle with Ivo, and he only has less than two hundred men left. What can he do with a hard line? If he dares to resist, we can take this opportunity to wipe him out!"

The speaker was none other than Wilbur Rosen, the lord of the Ice City in the North. He had been humiliated by Su Mu during the meeting and had long harbored a grudge. He had declared that if any noble in the North dared to trade with Su Mu, they would be his enemy.

Although Salman did not say it explicitly, Ice City is a staunch supporter of theirs and naturally supports it.

If this trade route is built, the timber from the forest farm will likely be difficult to sell.

While everyone was celebrating, some sober nobles raised questions: "Isildur is still at war with the kingdom, and Sumu has just earned military merit and is favored by the knight commander. It would be inappropriate to exclude him like this."

Furthermore, building a monopolized passage in a plain area would be seen as profiting from war, which would likely provoke discontent among other nobles.

Salman laughed heartily upon hearing this: "War profits? If not during wartime, when will we ever make them?"
Moreover, we established trade routes not for personal gain, but to stabilize the situation on the plains and accumulate funds to support the troops at the front.

The North is the kingdom's main force; only fully armed forces can increase its strength. Relying on the nobles of the valleys and plains? It's better to just surrender."

These words, though arrogant, resonated with the Northerners' mindset. After all, in their eyes, the nobles in other territories were incredibly weak. They occupied wealthy regions but trained feeble troops who couldn't win a single battle; they were utterly useless.

Seeing the nobles nod in approval, young Salman smiled smugly.

As one of the few ducal families in the kingdom, Rhodes had access to more inside information. In fact, at this time, not only his family, but also several high-ranking nobles in the capital, and even members of the royal family, had already monopolized many resources, just waiting to sell them at high prices and make a profit.

Raven is fighting a tough battle on the front lines, but is short-handed and needs money and supplies as a reward. Congress managed to gather some funds and send them to Raven.

While everyone appeared to be genuinely patriotic, the wealthy nobles actually made even more money off the war.

Do you think they're stupid? Once Elton falls, these nobles will lose everything! But they are well aware of the rules of kingdom wars and know that the surrounding forces will not let Isildur succeed so easily, so they are fearless.

Previously, Isildur's offensive was swift, prompting the Arcane Empire and Western nations to condemn it and even provide some assistance.

But as Raven defeated the enemy on the front lines, the Mathematical Empire immediately changed its tune, supporting Isidore at the Conference of Nations and imposing a ban on Elton.

Rhodes's planning of trade routes across the plains was also related to this matter.

Once the plan was agreed upon, the nobles entered into a blissful state of bliss, and the entire mansion began to shake.

Instead, Rod left the noisy scene and returned to the secret room in his study.

Accompanying him was Medea, a witch from the Salman family, a mage of demigod and human blood from the Arcane Empire.

She was draped in an orange robe, the magical garment clinging to her fair skin and revealing her elegant and alluring curves. The gods and monsters often preferred to directly fuse their bodies with alchemical materials, and Medea inherited this tradition. Aside from the magical robe she wore, she wore nothing else, and one could even glimpse the full contours of her breasts, exuding a deadly allure.

Medea had been standing next to Rhodes the whole time, yet her posture went unnoticed. Everyone assumed she was just a maid Rhodes had taken a liking to, and no one noticed anything unusual about her.

But even with this witch, Rhodes dared not look her in the eye, for he knew all too well how dangerous she was. His life was more important than any physical pleasure.

The witch spoke in a sweet yet husky voice: "The Arcane Empire has sealed its border gates. Any caravan wishing to enter the empire must pay five times the usual trade tax. Even ordinary people passing through will have to pay exorbitant taxes if there is no trade."

What was previously just a rumor has now been confirmed.

Many of the Salim family's businesses were sold through transactions with the Arcane Empire, as they controlled unique access routes through the snowy mountains.

However, the Arcane Empire is now cracking down on smuggling, directly blocking the snow mountain trails and only allowing northern nobles to pass through the border gates, and has also imposed such a high transaction tax, leaving Salman in a difficult position.

This is the reason why Rod is so eager to open up new business routes.

Although every city has its own market, trade between markets within a large region tends to stabilize after prices drop to a certain level. Only cross-border transactions involving multiple markets and well-connected trade routes offer additional discounts on resource exchanges.

Now Salman can only trade within the North, where the premium is too high, and he's lost his distribution channels. Looking at the piling up resources with no buyers, he's frantic with worry.

Rhodes believed that as long as he secured this trade route, he could solve the family's biggest problem. His previous image of losing cities and territories and suffering defeats in battle would be completely reversed. He would remain Salim's first heir and the family's best decision-maker.

The witch warned, "The trade route spans too vast an area; it may not be peaceful. You'd better proceed with caution."

Rhodes's expression turned ruthless: "Anyone who dares to stand in my way of making money will die! Don't worry, I'll take care of things back home. As for the Arcane Empire, I'll leave it to you!"

The witch revealed a mature and alluring smile: "The Empire just wants to put some pressure on Elton, not force you to your death. As long as the capital is willing to negotiate and pay some price, things will definitely return to normal."

After saying this, Medea instantly switched to an arrogant expression: "However, you must keep your promise to me! Otherwise, even Salman cannot protect you!"

Rhodes replied with trepidation, "That's for sure, don't worry!"

(End of this chapter)