Chapter 120 Ransom (Part 2)

Roland looked at Pei Luo with great interest, and suddenly laughed, "You are the first person to ask me that," he took a sip of water from his cup and said in a relaxed tone, "There is no doubt that Longsong Fortress Mine, even if I'm not here. However, I do need someone or a family to hold the fort for me. So, instead of a ransom, you should be asking for an "agency fee". "

Agent... Peiluo is no stranger to this term. Some sharp-eyed merchants will always focus on the nobles who have a lot of output in the territory but have no time or disdain to trade, and sell their goods for them. In order to obtain this right, they have to pay a sum of money in advance as a deposit.

"How many golden dragons do you want?" He took a deep breath to calm himself down.

"This is a long-term process, so there is no need to pay it all at once," Roland paused. "Every month, 30% of the fortress tax and 1,000 worth of supplies, the rest is yours."

It's not outrageous, Peiluo thought, as long as he can completely occupy the Longsong Fortress, such a price can even be said to be fair. The other party was not joking, he confirmed this, His Royal Highness really intends to do this.

A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Petrov told himself in his heart. He and the prince are not enemies. The Duke has already failed completely, and his children will also be deprived of inheritance rights. If the coalition forces of the six major families cannot defeat the prince, who else can stop him from actually owning the Western Territory? Taking refuge in a powerful force is the basic rule for the continuation of nobles. If they can get the approval of His Highness the Prince before the other four families, Honeysuckle will become the largest noble family in the Western Territory.

"Your Highness, why don't you stay here? This castle is much bigger than the one in Border Town."

"Actually, you want to ask, why don't I manage the fortress myself?" Roland looked at the slightly embarrassed Peiluo and smiled, "There are many reasons, for example, the forces here are too complicated, and it takes time to straighten out the relationship between them." It takes me a long time, let alone profit from it. If you support a local nobleman, he must know how to govern this place better than me. This is a win-win deal. Besides, there are many reasons, you can slowly Go back and think about it." The prince played with the silver cup, "By the way, if you were chosen as an agent, you would never be able to avenge me for the Duke, would you?"

"Of course not, Your Highness!" Although the last question was a bit abrupt, Pei Luo still replied immediately.

Now that the Duke is gone, the first thing the five people think of is how to carve up his territory. Who cares about revenge?

However, Pei Luo also knew that the reasons His Highness said were not the real reasons. The forces are too complicated to straighten out? In the face of overwhelming power, he can completely wipe out the leading opposition forces. It only takes one to two years at most, and all nobles will forget the loser Ryan, just like Ryan did in the past. But two years is absolutely not enough to build Border Town into a big city like Longsong Fortress.

His Royal Highness Roland must have deeper plans.

"That's good, then this city..."

"I am willing to act for you, Your Highness!" Pei Luo blurted out, but soon his expression became hesitant again, "But, the king—no, I mean your brother, may not agree with this result. If He assigned the new duke to the western region, and I am powerless to fight against the king's capital."

"You don't need to fight," Roland said, throwing two letters in front of him. "Look at this, and the documents I found in Duke Lane's study."

Pei Luo quickly scanned the contents of the letter, and couldn't help but take a breath.

The first letter looks like a secret letter. The new king Timothy fought against the Queen of Clear Water in Eagle City and suffered a major defeat? The content of the second letter was even more horrifying. The document was only half written, but the Duke of Lane wanted to annex the northern border, and his idea of ​​becoming an independent king had already been revealed on paper. Since there is no end, it is not known who this document is intended to be sent to.

He immediately understood what His Royal Highness meant—there was no need to resist, because the new king was too busy to take care of himself. Otherwise, the Duke would definitely not want to raise the flag to be independent. His elite knights were enough to conquer the western region, but they were still far behind against the Knights of the Royal Capital.

The secret letter may be forged, but this document is indeed Osmond Lane's handwriting, unless the prince finds a witch who can imitate other people's handwriting... He thought about it, and then denied this guess.

There was no need for the other party to go to great lengths to deceive him. Representing the Longsong Fortress was not a one-sided deal. If he could not gain a firm foothold in the fortress, His Royal Highness would not be able to profit either. Moreover, the duke appointed by Timothy would definitely be the enemy of the fourth prince.

If Honeysuckle wants to be above the four major families, she has to rely on the support of the prince. On the contrary, in order to ensure that the treaty of her own interests will not be abolished, the prince must let the Hermon family sit more firmly in this position.

Thinking of this, Pei Luo stood up slowly, and bowed to Roland, "The Hermon family is willing to serve you."

"Very good," the latter nodded, "but we can't decide on your agency yet. Let me ask you a few questions first."

"Please, Your Highness."

"How do you plan to deal with those forces that oppose you?"

"What's your estimate for monthly tax? How do you guarantee a thousand-worth item?"

"If I ask you to vigorously develop business and trade, what measures will you take?"

"..."

Pei Luo originally thought that His Highness just wanted to take this opportunity to learn about the various nobles in the Western Territory, but he didn't expect that the other party would ask such weird questions, as if he was examining his governance skills and business knowledge.

After a series of questions were asked, Pei Luo racked his brains to answer them one by one, and His Highness looked more and more satisfied. In the end he clapped his hands and said, "That's right, I'm here today. After you confirm the ransom of 3,000, you can come to redeem the Earl. Don't worry, I will treat him well in the next few days."

"Your Highness, the power of attorney..."

"It will also be announced that day." Roland signaled the knight to see off the guests.

Pei Luo walked out of the hall with mixed emotions, and then saw Carter stuffing the God's Stone of Retaliation that he had taken away before back into his hands—it was still bright blue and worth fifty gold dragons.

*******************

"How is it?" Roland looked at Nightingale, who was standing beside him.

"Well, what you said is basically the truth," she shrugged, "much more sincere than the previous few. By the way, is it really okay for you to repeat the same thing to everyone? And those letters, all recorded It's confidential."

"Not everyone," the prince looked at the list in his hand, "They all come from the five major families, and these are the only ones who are suitable to manage the fortress on my behalf. Those who are not strong enough, even if they sit in this position, cannot make the fortress If it works, it will only cause the forces of all parties to fall into endless internal strife. As for the news of Timothy Wimbledon's defeat in Eagle City, it is not a secret. Sooner or later, this matter will spread throughout the entire Graycastle , what I have to do is to make it spread faster."

And these two pieces of news came at the right time, he thought, if the second prince hadn't suffered such a disastrous defeat, he might have to spend a lot of effort to recruit an agent - if he used coercive means, the result might not be so beautiful.

"So...you chose him?"

"If nothing else happens." Roland said with a smile, "he was the first person to ask me about this. Subjective initiative has always been the most important quality of an employee. And I didn't expect that the five families would also There are people who are so proficient in administration and trade, I thought they would just ride around and kill on horseback."

He found the name of Pei Luo Hermon on the list, and lightly drew a circle with a quill pen. (To be continued.)

( let go of that witch )