Chapter 431 Border Trade

In this process, the Lancelot royal family can be said to have two ends.

The Regent Princess Sophilia followed the leader of the Yongye army and made a lot of money. Not only did they sell a large amount of food, they got a certain amount of money into the account, but also all the properties of the Yongye army on the Lancelot royal land had a part of their shares. They just sit and wait for the money to be collected.

In addition, the Yongye military leader paid the tax for trading here as usual, and part of the official tax of the Lancelot royal family was included in the account, and the part earned by the leaders was used to enrich the people and relieve social pressure.

The past few years of establishing a business relationship with the leader of the Yongye Army have been the unprecedented financial years for Sophilia and the royal family of Lancelot. Especially in the past two years, Sophilia's personal income has already equaled that of the entire Lancelot. A sign of the annual tax income of the Slott royal family is the total income of the royal family's tax growth period.

The real wealth losers here should be those lords and nobles, but they have gained enjoyment, so it is not a loss.

Even if Sophie Liya had seen through Yong Ye's strategy at the beginning, she would take the initiative to invite them into the game.

She is a foodie now, and she heard that the Yongye Army leader has a new future plan, so she naturally wants to keep up, and wants to get a share of it, completely forgetting that these plans are likely to be made after she became the Yongye Army leader After the hostess it is possible to practice.

Xiao En directly threw out part of the future strategic plan of the Yong Ye army leader: "The first direction is naturally the sea. The vastness of the sea and the resources contained in it are far beyond ordinary people's imagination. The continent is limited, and the sea is It is unlimited. The warships captured from the Commons family, coupled with our existing shipbuilding technology, is equivalent to having the best foundation. We only need to wait for our sailors to be trained before our big ships go out to sea.

The second direction is the Odin Prairie. Don’t look at me like this. I know that the Odin Orcs are the common enemy of the Byron Alliance. That doesn’t mean they can’t be traded with, especially the Eastern Odin Empire. There is a commodity that they cannot refuse, table salt, do you know how much a fist-sized table salt is worth in the Eastern Odin Empire? A two-year-old sheep! Is there a more profitable business in this world than this? As long as you open the first-line mutual market at the border, the speed of money will definitely be faster than if you go deep into the prairie to plunder, or the kind of initiative to send it to the door. "

Just like most hostile races, the Byron Alliance adopted a strategy of strictly guarding against the Odin orcs. Trading with them was considered treasonous and betrayed the entire Byron Alliance.

This has caused many materials on the Odin Prairie to be relatively scarce, and the price is very high.

Of course, where there are interests, there is no shortage of crazy people who are desperate for money, and smuggling is not uncommon along the long border.

The most rampant smuggling trade with the Odin orcs should be the Commons family. Over the years, trade with the Theodin Empire has always been their pillar industry.

However, Sean should be the first person to tell this matter in front of Grand Duke Cedric.

Unexpectedly, Grand Duke Cedric's reaction was not as extreme as expected.

Because the Strachey family itself is not necessarily very clean. After all, over the years, the materials supported by the seven major families have been shrinking day by day. They have to find another way to maintain huge military expenditures.

It is a great irony to earn military expenses by smuggling and trading with the Odin orcs, and then fight against the invasion of the Odin orcs.

Grand Duke Cedric did not show any emotion, but shook his head and said: "Young man, you only considered the huge benefits brought by the open border trade and mutual market, but did not consider the corrosiveness of a large amount of commerce to the army. When the army becomes no longer If it is pure, it is difficult to entrust important tasks."

"I agree with His Majesty's statement, but I don't agree with His Majesty's approach. The purity of the army has no direct relationship with the opening of the border trade market. I didn't say that the army should be part-time businessmen. You only need to provide places and opportunities, and it will naturally Countless businessmen rushed to hear the news, and then you can just collect taxes from them. In my opinion, the most important thing to maintain the purity of the army is to have money in your hands.

Only when they have money, let them have no worries about food and clothing, and no worries about the future, and be freed from many worldly things, can they truly achieve purity. If it is an army, they can’t even feed themselves and their families. Don't you think it's absurd to ask them to contribute their loyalty, perform their duties, and even pay their own lives?

Soldiers are human beings, and they are not tools without thought. If you can’t even guarantee the most basic things, you still want to demand loyalty from them, and let them sweat, bleed and shed tears for you. There is nothing more shameless in the world than this ? I have a lot of admiration for those who can do this, but never agree. "

Sean turned a blind eye to Duke Cedric's increasingly ugly face, and the last sentence clearly meant something.

Sean had done an in-depth study of the Byron Union Army.

There are all kinds of soldiers in this world, such as village guards, city security teams, mercenaries, noble private soldiers, local knights, and central army.

Local police such as village guards and urban security teams, unless it is a security team in a big city like Valesta, most of the financial allocation comes from the villages, towns and cities where they are located, and the ownership naturally belongs to these villages, towns and cities top management.

Mercenaries, noble private soldiers, and local knights are even more chaotic. Anyway, whoever has money, they will follow and fight for whom. They are also human beings, and they also need to live. Force is the only way they are good at making a living.

At certain times, they are the ones who maintain law and order, and at other times, they become the source of the greatest trouble.

Even the Broken Blood Cavalry, who are known as professional soldiers, can't be considered pure, they can only be called semi-professional, because many times, they have to worry about their huge military expenses, and have to turn into bandits and rush into the Odin Prairie In the middle, wars are used to support wars.

Although they are attacking the Odin orcs, when their starting point is no longer purely for strategy, they are easy to be targeted by the enemy.

The reason for such a chaotic pattern is ultimately due to the political system. When the voice of the central government is not strong enough and the fist is not strong enough, that is when the local government is in chaos.

Just look at the current situation of the Yong Ye army leader. They are highly centralized. No matter how small the village or town is, the finances of their guards are allocated by the territory. Follow orders and maintain the rule of the territory.

Needless to say, from the very beginning, the army led by Yong Ye has implemented the separation of military and political affairs, trying to reduce the influence of politics on the army. Before the development of the army led by Yong Ye, it did not feel much effect.

However, with the development and growth, there are more and more internal administrative personnel, and various interest demands increase, and the advantages of this dual-power stripping are reflected.

Those administrators don't have military power in their hands, so even if they want to make trouble, they can't do much, because no matter how powerful they are, it is endowed by the territory. When the territory decides to take it back, they are powerless to resist.

Unlike the Lancelot royal family, if you want to abolish a military family, you have to consider various influences, lest the lords and nobles below unite against them. Even if these factors are blocked, a fight is inevitable, because the opponent With military power in his hands, he will not be captured obediently.

Similarly, if there is a problem with the high-level troops on the side of the Yongye Army, without financial cooperation, they have limited supplies, and the threat can be suppressed within a limited range.

What if both have problems at the same time?

It can only be said that the supreme ruler himself has a problem, and he has betrayed his own relatives and been replaced, which is only natural.

Therefore, putting aside the combat effectiveness for the time being, when it comes to the purity of the army, the army led by the Yongye army is the best in the world, above the broken blood cavalry.

Grand Duke Cedric discussed this with Sean, obviously it would not please him.

Originally, Grand Duke Cedric wanted to give Xiao En a blow, but he failed. Instead, he was tripped by the other party and almost fell.

Grand Duke Cedric is not the kind of person with a small belly, and he did not become angry because of this. Instead, he lowered his head and thought for a few seconds seriously, and said: "The situation you mentioned is indeed feasible, but it is too idealistic. Have you ever thought about the consequences of opening up border trade on a large scale? Those unscrupulous businessmen have no integrity. As long as there is interest, there is nothing they dare not sell. If they export military supplies to the Odin Prairie on a large scale, the victims of the disaster will eventually It's still us."

"This is the issue of trade control. The army is in the hands of His Majesty the Grand Duke. What is allowed to be sold is not up to you? We will give you strong support if you obey the law. If you dare to do sneaky things, don't blame our knives for being too fast." Let’s not talk about the death of people, all the materials sold will be seized and confiscated. We can’t just give up huge benefits just for the sake of a little potential threat? This kind of thing has never been banned, and all we can do is control.” Sean will Cedric After the Grand Duke introduced himself to a field he was familiar with, he eloquently continued.

"Your Majesty the Grand Duke can completely support the official caravan. I think that for so many years, there should be no shortage of wounded soldiers. They can't go to the front line to fight, but business is always not a problem, right?

There are many benefits for them to do business, the first is loyalty. Is there anyone in this world who is more loyal than them?

The second is to reduce the burden, which is equivalent to finding a new employment channel for them, allowing them to have a secure life in the future, reducing the pressure on the Broken Blood Fort to support them, and increasing their own financial income, which has become a matter of convenience. "

When he heard the last word, Grand Duke Cedric's eyes became brighter, and he couldn't help but lose his voice: "This idea is good, this idea is good, why didn't I think of this before?"

After Grand Duke Cedric took over Fort of Broken Blood, the pressure on his body became heavier and heavier, and the number of soldiers who could support him became smaller and smaller. One of the problems cannot be ignored, that is, how to deal with the old, weak, sick and disabled.

Prior to this, the previous Grand Dukes of Broken Blood Castle were treated in the same way as other lords and nobles - crossing the river and demolishing the bridge.

Those wounded soldiers and retired veterans who were useless to the Broken Blood Castle were repatriated to their original territory by the Broken Blood Castle in name.

What actually happened is well known to everyone.

These soldiers who had fought for the Strachey family and guarded the frontier for the Byron Alliance for many years were abandoned.

Back home, the fate waiting for them can be imagined.

No one treats them as heroes in Broken Blood Castle where they fought bloody battles, let alone those remote and remote places. Concerned about who these people fought with to become like this.

And these repatriated retired soldiers have been fighting outside all year round, have suffered from injuries long ago, and lack the most basic means of earning a living.

What awaits them will be the cruelest fate, either becoming bandits, dragging their disabled bodies to rob the people they once fought and guarded with blood, or dying tragically in an unknown corner.

The result accumulated over a long period of time is.

Ordinary people in the Byron League felt bad for the retired soldiers of Blood Fortress, and even Blood Fortress, thinking that it was a concentration camp for a group of thugs.

The soldiers who returned from the service will have a more difficult life, and will be squeezed out by the locals. As a result, more people will take the path they don't want to take.

This was one of the reasons why the Byron Alliance sent prisoners as recruits to Broken Blood Castle, because at that time, ordinary people were not willing to go at all, and could only enforce it.

This has led to the uneven supply of soldiers in Broken Blood Fortress, and the possibility of problems after retiring is greater. After all, their inferiority is inherent, limited by military law, they can't do anything, and when they return to their original living conditions in their hometown, When there is no way to survive, it will naturally intensify, which further leads to the notoriety of Broken Blood Fortress.

This is an out-and-out vicious circle.

At that time, the morale of the soldiers on the frontier of Broken Blood Fortress was low, let alone how low it was.

As Sean said just now, soldiers are also human beings with flesh and blood and thoughts.

No matter how good the commander and general are, if they can't provide the most basic protection for their soldiers, and still want them to fight the enemy bravely on the battlefield, this is not a question of shame, but a question of whether they can do it.

Neither physically nor mentally, there is nothing that can support them.

What are these soldiers fighting for?

After Grand Duke Cedric came to power, he was also deeply troubled by this problem. In the end, he found that the root problem lay in the placement of those retired soldiers.

If this problem is not solved, everything else is empty talk.

Since then, Broken Blood Castle has canceled the repatriation of retired soldiers to their hometowns, and the Strachey family resettled them nearby.

Those who can continue to engage in auxiliary arms are engaged in auxiliary arms, and those who can be transferred to logistics work are transferred to logistics work. Those who are really unable to work will also be supported by the army to die.

The result of doing so is obvious. Not only has the reputation of Broken Blood Castle been washed away slowly, but the internal cohesion has also gradually increased. Coupled with their brilliant achievements, they soon became famous all over the world and became countless teenagers and knights. Longing for the Holy Land, he took the initiative to take his family weapons and armor, and rode his horse to the Blood Fortress of Broken Kou to volunteer.

As time went by, the pressure these retired soldiers brought to Broken Blood Fort also increased.

Today, they have almost surpassed the number of soldiers serving in Blood Castle.

Grand Duke Cedric often wakes up from nightmares, mostly because of their problems.

Once something goes wrong with the defense line of Broken Blood Fort, causing these people to lose their livelihood, the torrent of chaos they brought to the Byron Alliance is no less than the Odin orcs breaking through Broken Blood Castle on a large scale.

The reputation of the Strachey family, which he had worked so hard for so many years, was ruined in one go.

The confrontation with Xiao En, a young man, opened up a new way of thinking for him.

As a matter of fact, many retired soldiers from Broken Blood Castle are already engaged in similar jobs, but they are doing it secretly. The Broken Blood Castle can just turn a blind eye and close one eye. Grand Duke Cedric has heard about it to some extent, but he is limited by his own thinking. , Never thought of turning this smuggling behavior into a high-sounding official behavior.

"At that time, we can completely control the balance between the eastern and western Odin Empires through this kind of transaction. If we need to suppress, we will reduce the transaction volume, and if we need support, we will increase the transaction volume. We can even trade a limited amount of military supplies. give them.

Conversely, obtaining a large number of livestock from the Odin Empire can be exchanged for the supplies we need from other military leaders. In this way, we will largely get rid of our dependence on them and have more freedom and freedom. Right to speak, why didn't I think of this method before? "

Grand Duke Cedric thought of more things, his eyes were piercing, and a brand new world was placed in front of him. This is a brand new combat mode. If it is well operated, its power will not be under the attack of the blood knight.

No, it should be far better than the Broken Blood Cavalry.

How much does it cost to take a full-fledged blood knight?

So far less than ten thousand.

The number of retired personnel in Broken Blood Castle is dozens of times that of his. Once mobilized, they will definitely be a terrifying force.