OBS Chapter 272: Resurgence of the Slave Trade
Chapter 272: Resurgence of the Slave Trade
Saint Hill was almost choked by John's words. Although he had been in charge of the Midland Fleet for more than ten years, he had never heard of anyone daring to make such a boast.
"Do you know how much money this is?"
"How should I know? I have not confiscated it. But for now, it should be enough for your fleet to go out to sea. This time, the king has transferred the taxes of the free cities to me, and it is all real money." John said so, and then took out the king's appointment document. After all, he could not convince people with just his words.
After confirming that the document was genuine, Saint Hill took a sip of his tea and continued to ask:
"What do you need my fleet to do? Block the enemy's shipping route, or directly attack Lana Sea?"
"For now, you just need to transfer the fleet to Bernas. The pirate group from Ys is currently responsible for the sea robbery."
"Isu people, you are really brave." After learning that he did not need to fight with Lana's navy at the moment, Saint Hill continued to ask:
"Aren't you afraid that the Yisu people will cause trouble in the nearby waters?"
"So your fleet needs to be stationed there to ensure the smooth passage."
"That's really something you can do."
After negotiating the terms, Saint Hill personally escorted John out of the naval headquarters. However, in an alley not far away, a pair of eyes hidden in the darkness were watching all this happening.
On the way back to Mont-de-Marsan, John was thinking about his future plans. One day, he would have to go to war with the Lana army. Although the territory of the Lana Kingdom was only slightly larger than the Southwest Governorate under John's jurisdiction, he still needed support from the navy and other regional armies.
But considering that this journey might be known to Lana's spies, if there is a naval battle at that time, Lana's fleet will also be prepared. In order to ensure the safety of advancing into the waters near Lana's territory, he chose to hire the Isu pirate group. Anyway, that's what they do, so it would be a waste not to use them.
At this moment, snowflakes were floating outside the window. John looked at the gray sky outside the window, and couldn't help wondering how Matilda and the others in the Earl's Castle were doing.
Far in the north, in Franche-Comté, an urgent meeting was being held in the earldom under the heavy snow.
"Because Emperor Yoda next door might have some problems with his brain, he set up some kind of governor's jurisdiction. Now a large number of people in Yoda who are considered to have 'impure blood' are dragging their families to migrate to Midland. And one hundred meters away from the border of Niland Territory, at least a thousand Yoda people have gathered." In the meeting room illuminated by a stove and candlelight, Hank was explaining the current situation to everyone.
"To be honest, I find it incredible that a ruler of a country would be willing to drive out the labor force that was originally living well in his territory. Doesn't Noble Yoda plan to live a good life?" Simon raised the question and asked Wesker, who was still covered tightly as always:
"What's going on with Yoda? Is there something wrong with Emperor Yoda's brain? Or is this some military deployment they have for Midland?"
Wesker was silent for a long time, and then he slowly said:
"I actually know a piece of information about Emperor Ludwig of Yoda."
"What is it?"
“He was mentally ill.”
After saying this, everyone in the meeting room suddenly fell silent, and then Hank asked in disbelief:
"Are you saying that the emperor chosen by those Yoda nobles is a madman, or a fool?"
"According to intelligence, Ludwig was very violent in his early years and enjoyed killing people. His madness was no less than the cultists we killed. So the former Emperor Yoda placed him in the south, which was equivalent to excluding him from Yoda's circle of power."
"But since the previous emperor had passed away, some nobles with ulterior motives wanted to push this crazy emperor to the throne in order to expand their own power."
"When he finally came to power, those Yoda nobles realized that Ludwig's madness was not because he couldn't take care of himself, but because he liked to use violence to solve anything that didn't go his way."
"He first convened a meeting of the nobles in the imperial capital, and then, when almost everyone had arrived, he used the army he had trained in the south to capture them all, and then replaced them all with his own people."
"He made promises to the powerful Yoda nobles, allowing them to annex the territories of some smaller nobles, and he himself designated some territories as governorates. For example, several earldoms close to our territory were directly merged into a North Sea Governorate. All the farmers there were reduced to serfs in terms of power, completing agricultural tasks assigned by the North Sea Governor every day, so that famine occurred in the winter."
"So now we have to think of a solution. Should we let the refugees on the border in, drive them away, or kill them? The soldiers on the fortress now report that they can only see the refugees and their tents on the watchtower, and cannot see the situation of the Yoda military camp opposite." Hank interrupted Wesker's statement. The main topic of discussion now was how to deal with these refugees, not how to treat Ludwig.
"It's definitely not possible to let them in. Let alone how to provide them with food and shelter in the short term, what if there are a few people carrying infectious diseases or Yoda's spies among them? How will the people in the territory survive?" Simon first opposed the option of letting the refugees in.
"It's impossible to drive them away. They can't survive anyway, so they'll have to force their way through."
"But if we kill them on the spot, will the Yoda people take advantage of the chaos to send troops to attack? Although winter is the default truce period, no one knows when they will attack."
While everyone was talking, Matilda, who was sitting next to the map and wearing a fleece coat, suggested:
"Then can we move them to other places, such as the south, or the northern ports, and then let the Isu people's fleet transport them away? Aren't they continuing to provide labor because the previous slave trade has stopped? It would be better to just transport all the Yoda refugees away."
"That's a good idea. I'll go and inform those Is people." Simon felt that this low-cost way of solving the problem was worth a try, so he immediately ordered people to go to the Is Chamber of Commerce's headquarters in Earl's Castle.
After a while, the president of the Yisu Chamber of Commerce in Earl Castle came over immediately. After greeting everyone, the president asked directly:
"It's not a problem to transport these Yodas away, but where is the port where the slave ship docks? And how much should be paid for these people?"
"We can just stop at the North Port. Soldiers from our territory will take them to the ship. As for the price, young and middle-aged people will be charged three silver coins each, women will be charged one silver coin, and the rest of the elderly and children will be charged nothing."
The president calculated that slaves were in short supply in winter, and a healthy adult male could be sold for at least one gold coin, which was basically a sure win.
"Okay, let's sign the contract."
The two parties quickly drafted and signed the contract, and Matilda immediately copied a copy and sent it to Mont-de-Marsan after signing the contract. This was her first time to participate in the political affairs of the Count's Castle.