OBS Chapter 223 Olive Branch
Chapter 223 Olive Branch
In early 1450, snowflakes were still floating over the Earl's Castle, and in the lord's bedroom of the castle, John was constantly reading through various reports on the territory in 1449.
In order not to disturb John's work, Matilda moved to a bedroom next door to take care of the children, so that the whole house was so quiet now that the only sounds could be heard were the rustling of papers being turned and the scraping of feather pens on paper.
However, compared with the annual reports of previous years, as John continued to browse this year's report, his mind began to worry about its content.
In the final analysis, although John's territory currently has a large number of fortresses, 100,000 regular troops and mobilized militia forces, the price he paid is also very heavy. After deducting military expenses and other expenses related to the development of the territory, there will not be much money left in John's hands.
John figured out the reason without much thought. Due to the epidemic, foreign trade was hindered, and the mercenary business and slave trade, which accounted for the main part of the income, suffered heavy losses.
Half of the 20,000 Black Watch mercenaries were idle in the territory, and although the remaining mercenaries also received contracts, due to the impact of the plague, the profits from customizing protective clothing and other additional medical supplies alone shrank by half, far from the tens of thousands of gold coins in a short period of time like in previous years. As for the sale of prisoners of war, all Yoda soldiers died of illness, so there were no prisoners to capture, so the project has basically stopped operating.
John now has three options. The first is to maintain the status quo, which will at most make life a little tighter. However, after the plague, Yoda will definitely continue to send troops to attack the Midland border, and John will then be in urgent need of money. The second is to open up trade and mercenary business, but the territory will most likely suffer. The third is to find new ways to make money, at least projects that can make profits during the plague.
Just as John was about to think about how to create a new revenue department, the guard outside the door pushed the door open and reported to John:
"Your Excellency, Minister Wesker requests an audience."
"Let him in."
Just as he finished speaking, Wesker, with snowflakes on his shoulders, hurried into the bedroom. Looking at his state, John knew that nothing good was going to happen.
"Your Majesty, news has come from Windham that Her Royal Highness the Princess was infected with the plague a few days ago and is currently undergoing treatment. However, according to news from the palace, the princess's condition is very serious and the doctors are helpless." As if confirming John's prediction, Wesker revealed something that seemed very important to outsiders as soon as he entered the door.
If the princess dies of illness, the king will have to marry another one, because in history, all the monarchs of the Kingdom of Midland have been men, and currently the king’s only descendant is Princess Charlotte. If the king never marries, then once he dies for some reason, the right to inherit the throne will fall into the hands of his younger brother, Count Juris.
Of course, John was not surprised at all, because he already knew the news. After the current princess died of the plague, the king found another princess to marry, who was the princess's stepmother. Then the stepmother and Count Juris fell in love, which made the king wear a green hat.
However, this was not what Leader John was really concerned about. As early as last winter, a report about suspected apostles appearing in Saint Remy had been submitted to his desk. Moreover, according to the report, the apostles they were facing this time were unprecedentedly powerful, and the more people who came to support them, the better.
But John did not send troops due to weather reasons at that time, and now that winter is almost over in another month, it is time to put this matter on the agenda.
"Have them continue their investigation and tell me if they have any intelligence. Also order the spies in Yoda to keep an eye on the enemy's political and military intelligence."
After John gave the next order to Wesker, John immediately began to prepare the order for the entire Black Watch to set out. As the messengers rode out of the Earl's Castle on horseback and traveled back and forth between the various military camps on the western border, the mercenaries, wearing thick protective clothing, crossed the border under the orders of the officers and headed towards Milo Territory with a large number of baggage convoys.
In John's plan, this group of Black Watch troops would join forces with the mercenaries of Milo County, and then gradually advance towards Saint-Remy under the leadership of Charlie. At least they could slowly wear down the enemy through the advantage in numbers.
a week later……
"You said the Dharma King asked me to go to the Dharma King's Hall?"
Looking at the letter with the seal of the King's Office in front of him, John asked Pros beside him. At the same time, he was also very curious why the King's Office paid so much attention to him that such a matter between countries was not reported to the king first.
"The letter asks you to discuss how to deal with the plague. Many people in the French King's Office have died from the plague. Perhaps they saw that the civilians under your rule have not been affected too much by the plague, so they want to learn from you."
"So, you asked me to come here even though you knew there was a plague there." John suddenly didn't want to go there anymore, so he said:
"Just write back and tell them that I'm too busy with official duties to go, and that I need the King's permission to leave Midland because of my official duties."
Seeing that John didn't want to go, Pross casually reminded him: "It's okay to write it this way, but it may cause dissatisfaction among the dignitaries in the French King's Hall."
Hearing the word "powerful and noble", an inspiration suddenly appeared in John's mind. The reason why the powerful and noble are called powerful and noble is because they are rich. Since they want to be able to resist the plague, why not just expand the production of medical tools and drugs in the territory and sell them to them?
After repeatedly weighing the pros and cons, John decided to go anyway. If he could make money, he would make some. If not, he would just expand his network. When the plague was over, he would also have a market for trade with the French Palace. As for whether the king would say anything, he was afraid that he could hardly protect himself at the moment and probably couldn't take care of himself going abroad.
"Write back to the Dharma King and tell him that I will be leaving for the Dharma King's Hall soon."
Now that the visit to the French King's Palace was on the agenda, John began to make preparations. As usual, the main force of the escort would be the White Wolf Knights, who would send a team of a thousand men and a mixed team of a thousand men drawn from the military camp to cooperate.
A few days later, John set out for the French King's Hall under the escort of the army, carrying the local specialties of his territory - various medical supplies.
Originally, he wanted to ask the Crusaders to come and escort them, but they were currently chasing the apostles, so he had to give up. Thinking of this, he looked in the direction of Saint Remy, hoping that they could win this time.
In the sewers of Saint-Remy, even the man in black robe could not sit still, feeling the huge army in the rat's mind. Ever since he could not sense the rats he sent out, he felt a dangerous atmosphere. But when he saw more than 20,000 fully armed soldiers surrounding the lair, he knew that if he failed this time, he would be really finished.
Suddenly, there was a vibration above his head, followed by countless dust falling from above. He could no longer sit still and immediately opened all the levers that imprisoned his test subjects. With the sounds of noisy chains and gates, countless black shadows flowed in the sewer to deal with the approaching soldiers.