When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

#723 - The Messenger of the Gravel Plain

When Jeanne quietly entered the council hall through the side door, she saw three or five monks taking notes with charcoal pencils.

With the increase in paperwork, some of the chancery monks began using alchemically hardened graphite peat pencils as shorthand tools.

After Jeanne sat down, she heard the first sentence from the envoy of Shattered Stone Plain—

"The attitude of Shattered Stone Plain is very clear, Lord Hohen," the stout envoy named Dabosass said in a low voice. "We have no stance; we'll side with whoever gives us more."

"I don't think ambushing shepherds trading with us on the border is a friendly attitude," Madelaine stared at him intently.

"They violated the law by smuggling wool to you." Dabosass took off his mink hat and pressed it to his chest. "We also feel sorry, but the law is the law, and it wasn't made today, so there's nothing we can do."

"What do you want?" Hohen asked calmly, signaling for a glass of fruit wine to be handed to Dabosass.

Although he didn't understand his purpose, Hohen still received him with the etiquette of the Empire.

It was just that the wine was changed from grape wine to ordinary fruit wine, but because Hohen was willing to add white sugar and it was distilled.

As a northerner, Dabosass took a sip and satisfaction could be seen in his eyes. Fruit, white sugar, and spirits all struck the hearts of the people of Shattered Stone Plain.

"If we can trade in the future, can this wine be on the manifest?" Dabosass asked with shining eyes.

"Internally supplied wine, I can give it to you, but not sell it." Hohen shook his glass. "Say what you want to say."

"Our wool trade between Shattered Stone Plain and Thousand River Valley can be formalized, instead of smuggling every day, which is not friendly to you and us," Dabosass said humbly.

"Have you forgotten about blockading our trade and attacking Thousand River Valley?" Jeanne couldn't help but interrupt.

"That was the Osla family forcing us to do it!" Dabosass seemed to have suffered a great grievance. "We didn't want to, how would we dare!"

"We welcome formalization, but I don't know what kind of formalization you're talking about?" Hohen lowered his eyes slightly.

"It's very simple, we will no longer block the border, but the price of each load of wool will be increased to 1.5 gold pounds, how about it?"

Cici immediately slammed the table and stood up: "Are you crazy? If we increase the price of wool according to what you said, our profits will be greatly reduced, how can this have no impact?"

"Raise the price, reduce wages, isn't giving these lowly people so much money a waste?" Dabosass looked at the excited Cici with a puzzled expression.

Hohen frowned, and he, Cici, and Madelaine exchanged glances, all seeing the solemnity in each other's eyes.

"Do I still need to teach you this?" For a moment, Dabosass didn't know whether to be surprised or to laugh. "Let your治安官 or knights force them to spin thread.

This is corvée labor, kill those who disobey, giving them money is considered an elevation, that's your benevolence, and it's not necessary to do so."

Hohen put down his glass without even taking a sip, licked his lips, and stood up: "Mr. Dabosass must be tired from coming to the Holy Machine Court, why not rest first and talk another day?"

"Then when can I see you again?"

"Unfortunately." Hohen grinned, revealing his white teeth and smiling, "I may be touring Thousand River Valley and Black Serpent Bay for the next few months, and may not have much time."

The smile on his face froze, and Dabosass stood up abruptly: "Wait, are you rejecting us?"

Hohen glanced at Duvaron next to him before saying to Dabosass: "Yes."

"You have no reason to refuse!" Dabosass was now both surprised and angry. "You should understand that from the bottom of our hearts, we hope to stand on your side.

The Osla family and the Blue Bee family are all the same, Shattered Stone Plain, Thousand River Valley, and Black Serpent Bay are the same geographical unit, we should build a country together and be the masters.

If possible, Shattered Stone Plain is happy to join the Holy Alliance after you defeat Leia.

We have wool, and you have such high-speed spinning machines, we should join hands to earn that bit of money from the Kingdom of France.

We can maintain neutrality in this war, and even help you create some chaos in the Kingdom of Leia, and gain some advantages for you.

And you don't even need to pay much of a price, just make some small concessions in trade."

"A small concession for me is a bottomless abyss for the mountain people." Unlike in front of his inner ministers, Hohen looked at him calmly and coldly. "If I want to make money, I can make a lot of money with white sugar and spices.

I started the wool trade so that the people of South Mande County have food to eat, and this is also the foundation of the Holy Alliance—we hope that everyone can survive and have the hope of living better.

As long as you work hard, as long as you are willing to use your brain, you can live better than before, that is my promise to them.

I established the Holy Alliance not for money, I have no interest in money.

If you can represent the majority of the people of Shattered Stone Plain and agree with my ideas, I would be very happy to welcome the joining of Shattered Stone Plain.

But if your joining is only for the benefit of a small group of people, I'm sorry, you are not qualified to stand here and talk to me on behalf of Shattered Stone Plain."

"You live in such a big house, use such exquisite utensils, and live such a luxurious life..." Dabosass was held by two guards and still didn't give up. "The Leia people will take it all away."

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Hohen was amused for the first time: "Do you think I care about this? Ridiculous, send him away."

"You will regret it!" Dabosass turned his head back, facing away from Hohen. "Wait to be夹击 by Shattered Stone Plain and the new king... your palace, your maids, your carriages will be burned to ashes..."

"Your Majesty, why not pretend to agree and regret it later?" Duvaron couldn't help but turn his head and ask, looking at the departing back of the envoy of Shattered Stone Plain from the window.

"They are not our friends, nor are they the objects we should win over or can win over." Hohen picked up a piece and threw it into his mouth, looking puzzledly at the missing piece of cheese pie.

"If a leader or several leaders of shepherds, or small businessmen, came to negotiate today, I would be happy to talk to them about these things." Madelaine also picked up a piece.

Cici then picked up the cheese pie and added: "Devils are devils, maybe they want to repent and convert, but as a group, they are not on the same path as us.

Take these nobles of Shattered Stone Plain as an example, they were scared before.

The new king is about to ascend the throne, and they must show that they are willing to obey but also have the ability to destabilize the new king in order to retain sufficient autonomy.

That's why they wrote congratulatory letters to the new king on the one hand, and sought peace with us on the other.

The former is to express their attitude of submission, and the latter is to express their ability to not submit and cause trouble. If you really believe his words, you are swallowing poison wrapped in candied fruit."

Duvaron first understood, then asked doubtfully: "What about Melia and those mountain knights?"

"Most of the mountain knights are essentially small landlords and wealthy peasants, not real nobles." Hohen swallowed the cheese pie in his mouth. "There are indeed some devils among them, and in the future we can take advantage of the victory to launch a purge and expel them all."

"It's just a pity that our agricultural reforms in the mountainous areas will be stalled again." Cici flipped through the reports in her hand, feeling a headache.

Hohen had expected this: "Expand conscription, and open a few more dams and road projects to ensure they have money in their hands to launch reforms and get through the pain period of the reforms."

"Then the money from the windmill land we just got..."

"Man proposes, God disposes, such is fate." Madelaine patted Cici on the shoulder.