Volume 2: Empire Chapter 82: Destroying the Rice Bowl
Luke used the halfling and several gold coupons to attract Andre for a while, and then used the merchants who gathered around to sell goods to distract the sight of other followers, and took advantage of the crowd to get into the crowd. The spy who was waiting for him put on a cloak and cape for Luke, and then pushed away the people around him so that he could leave calmly.
Luke escaped with a few silver notes in his hand, wearing a hood and lowering his head, and went into a nearby alley like a merchant who had successfully sold his goods.
There is no overall planning for the residential areas in Sun City. The randomly built houses make the terrain of the residential area very complicated. The alleys are winding like a maze, and people who are not familiar with the place can easily get lost in it.
Fortunately, Luke was familiar with the place from doing the main quest of Clear Sky, and he also had the map to help him. He moved quickly through the streets and alleys, and sometimes he would pass through some shops that were connected to each other to shake off any possible tracking.
Finally, he climbed over the wall and jumped into a small courtyard.
There were boxes stacked in the yard, and several of the opened boxes contained enamel basins and teacups. In the stable next to the courtyard wall, there were several horses, camels and pack animals tied up. The other three sides were covered with two-story buildings made of earthen bricks and wooden beams, and the outer walls were covered with ceramic tiles to effectively prevent wind and sand from damaging the buildings.
This is a relatively high-end caravan courtyard, built by the Urd family and rented out to large caravans.
Luke's entry aroused the vigilance of the caravan guards, but after Luke lifted his hood, several guards immediately climbed to a high point to monitor the surroundings, and another guard pushed open the door of the main hall.
No one spoke a word during the entire process.
Luke walked into the main hall and was greeted by fast-legged men dressed as Oasis merchants.
"Your Excellency the Governor!"
Luke took off his cloak and handed it to the guard beside him, and then observed the environment of the room. The wall was smeared with a layer of mud, and after it dried, it was painted with milky white paint, and then painted with murals that were not exquisite but very grand.
Some windows have a very Western style. The glass should be made locally, and the light transmittance is quite good, but it has a strong green color. However, after affixing some animal stickers, it is very suitable for this environment lacking green space.
Underfoot was a coarse felt carpet made of the hair of pack animals, with candlesticks standing at the corners, and a set of buildings leading to the second floor.
With the addition of necessary furniture and some decorations, the spacious main hall does not appear empty and has the proper style.
"Sit down and talk..." There was a low table and stool by the window. Luke and Kuai Lun sat down opposite each other. "Did you have a smooth trip?"
The fast-legged man skillfully placed the carved wooden cup on the table, and then took a pot of mare's milk and poured it for Luke: "We entered the Harmutu Basin in the name of the Crescent Oasis Caravan. Although we encountered sand bandits on the road, they were all small gangs and did not cause us much damage.
While I was waiting for the adults, I did a few deals here and got to know some businessmen in Sun City.
The harvest festival is approaching, and merchants from far away come into the city every day. Some are led by nobles, and some are barbarians. It is the most chaotic time, and no one suspects us. "
Luke drank the kumis, which tasted a bit sour and astringent.
"Where's the Red Falcon?"
This time, Luke asked Fast Legs to lead his men to the Western Territory to be the front scouts, and also sent Red Falcon to be Fast Legs' assistant. When Red Falcon was in the Crusader Engineering Development Institute, he received professional lurking and assassination training, which can greatly improve the strength of this team.
Because the boiling of Sandpaper was too conspicuous, it did not follow the Red Falcon, but followed the main group of the delegation.
As for the other three rescued beautiful girl killers, they are still receiving treatment at the Oulu College and are temporarily in the observation stage.
Hearing the Governor asking about Hong Kuang, Kuai Tui took out his pocket watch to check the time and replied, "I heard that the delegation had entered the city, so I asked Hong Kuang to go to the Sunny Manor to get information. She won't see you there, so she will definitely come back immediately."
"Then wait for her for a while."
Then Luke asked Kuaitui what news he had found out during this period, especially about the special envoy sent by the Duke of Celtic and the Abyss Mage who came with him.
Kuaitui then took out a map of Sun City, on which were marked the information they had gathered.
"The representatives and caravans of the nobles are mainly concentrated near the Sunny Manor and the East Market. Most of the small nobles who are attached to the Urd family have already arrived. There are also barbarians who are visiting. They should be from the Tedega Hills.
As for the special envoy sent by the Duke of Celtic and the Abyss Mage... Sorry, we haven't found out yet. But we are trying to bribe the servants in the Sunny Manor, and there should be good news."
Luke said, "You just arrived in Sun City, so don't be too anxious about some intelligence. The situation in Sun Manor is too complicated. Earl Urd is an old fox, and the secret technique of the Abyss Mage is very strange. The operation of buying off the insider has been suspended, and surveillance is still the main focus."
"Yes, Governor."
"If there is nothing important these days, raise the price of Halfling wine. Contact some merchants in Crescent Oasis and tell them that you have inside information: Governor Meteorite is very optimistic about Halfling wine, and he is buying a lot of it in order to ship it to Raging Waves City for further processing and packaging.
Finally, the Golden Shield Empire’s Princess’s praise was used as a promotional slogan to package the Halfling wine as a high-quality red wine. The price of a standard barrel of Halfling wine could be increased by hundreds of times after passing through the hands of the Meteor Governor.
The fast legs didn't know yet that Luke had raised the price of halfling wine to one gold voucher per barrel. But even if it was one gold voucher per barrel, a few hundred times the price was too exaggerated.
However, Kuaitui did not doubt his governor's ability to make money. He asked from another direction: "Sir, are you raising the price of Halfling wine? Do you have any plan?"
Luke is not afraid of such an open plan being leaked, and the fast runner will not tell anyone about it.
“Halfling wine can be stored for a long time, and because of its good quality, it has maintained a stable price of one gold coin per barrel for a long time, making it one of the trading currencies recognized by all the tribes in the Western Territory.
If I raise the price of Halfling wine, I can drive up prices in the entire West. At least during , the prices of various commodities will follow the price of Halfling wine."
The fast legs nodded in agreement with Luke's words, but said: "What does this have to do with us? After the price rises, the goods we bring in will only make us a little more money."
Luke knew that Kuaitui couldn't understand his intention, so he explained it in detail.
First of all, one gold coin for a barrel of Halfling wine is a serious exploitation of the Halflings, which also represents the trade environment of the entire West.
The Western nobles controlled the main roads connecting the Western Barbarians with the Empire. They used their position, privileges and information monopoly to purchase goods from the Western Barbarians at very low prices using currency, and then sold them to the Empire at a higher price.
In order to monopolize this trade, the nobles of the Western Territory even used various methods to prevent the paper money issued by the Empire from entering the Western Territory, including but not limited to supporting sand bandits and preventing caravans from the Empire from entering the Western Territory on a large scale.
This time, Kuaitui and his crew disguised themselves as an imperial caravan and only suffered attacks from small-scale sand bandits. That was because a part of the large-scale sand bandits cooperated with the Harvest Festival, all changed their clothes and turned back into the lord's private army, and then prevented the real big sand bandits from influencing the Harvest Festival.
The Harvest Festival looked like a grand trade event between the Western Territory and the Barbarians, but in essence it was an economic plunder of the Barbarians by the Western Territory nobles. In this event, the Western Territory nobles could buy the Barbarians' entire season's output at an extremely low price.
It is precisely because of this closed economic circle that the nobles in the Western Territory can maintain their rule in this barren land with very little money.
Luke finally picked up the wooden cup and said, "When you came to the West, did you feel that... this mare's milk wine is not much more expensive than water?"
The fast-legged man said with emotion: "Yes, some of the things here are so cheap that it's unimaginable. It makes me feel like a billionaire."
Luke said, "Her Royal Highness is buying up goods at high prices in the Sun City market at my suggestion. If we also do our best to raise the price of Halfling wine, we can definitely raise the price of goods in this harvest festival to a level that the Western nobles never dared to think of before.
This high price has little impact on barter transactions, but if the Western nobles want to purchase goods, they will need to spend dozens of times more real gold and silver than before.
And their soldiers will find that their meager military pay is not enough to even afford this kumis."
At this point, Luke couldn't help but think of what had just happened.
Orc General Andre, the commander-in-chief of the Sun City army, was unable to move because of a few gold coupons.
After Kuaitui understood the governor's plan, he couldn't help but applaud.
"Sir, you are amazing! I have been in Sun City for so many days, drinking every day, and always sighing that the things here are cheap, but I never thought of this.
You just entered the city and you've already destroyed the jobs of the nobles in the western region.
As long as the prices in the Western Territory go up, the nobles in the Western Territory won’t even be able to afford to support their soldiers, so how can they have the energy to fight the Empire?”
The fast-legged man took a sip of wine and felt refreshed. He sighed, "It's so comfortable and exciting to follow the governor to do errands!"
Luke was not as optimistic as Kuaitui: "We can raise the prices this time because of the eldest princess's status. If someone else did this, the Western nobles would directly arrange assassins.
And after we leave, the nobles in the Western Territory can still lower the prices again."
The fast-legged man said, "The Governor should have a solution."
"There is a way, but whether it can be successful requires us to do more..."
At this time, the door of the main hall opened, and a short figure in a smock walked in. She lifted the hood of the smock, and it was the returning Red Falcon.
"Governor, I am here to assist you on the orders of Miss Qingkong. If there is anything you need me to do, please give me your orders!"
Luke stood up and said, "You and Fast Legs are going out with me to run some errands. Is there anything you need to prepare?"
Hong Jian said: "No, we can leave at any time."
He stood up quickly, looked at his clothes and said, "I'm going to change my clothes. This one looks too much like a businessman."
“No need to change…” Luke took the cloak from the guard and said to Fast Legs, “You can go as a merchant, and Red Falcon and I will pretend to be your followers.
The place we are going to this time is very dangerous, so be careful."
Fast Legs and Red Falcon said, "Yes, Governor."
Fast Legs went out first, and Luke and Red Falcon put on their hoods. Luke also asked the guard for a knife and pretended to be the bodyguard of the rich businessman.
The three of them left the courtyard rented by the caravan and headed straight for the West Market of Sun City.
The West Market is the largest market in the entire city. Barbarian caravans from afar usually choose to sell the goods they brought with them in the West Market. The items sold are also strange and varied, and there are many treasures that the barbarians cannot recognize that are sold at low prices.
Luke had no intention of wasting time picking up bargains in the West Market, so he ordered his fast legs to pass through the West Market and lead the team to the slave trading corner in the northwest of the market.
Fighting hard for survival is the eternal theme of the West, and the winner owns everything of the loser.
The slave trade corner is partly in the market, and partly in an urban area next to the market. This is the dirtiest place in the whole city. In order to save space, slaves are forced to squeeze into crowded cages, eating, drinking, defecating and urinating in them. Only slaves with high value can get a little bit of preferential treatment, but slaves are slaves after all, commodities waiting to be sold.
The guards in Slave Corner were also different from those in other places. There were no soldiers from Sun City patrolling here, and the guards only took orders from the boss here. It could be said that this area was a city within a city in Sun City.
It is also the darkest place. Even the sunlight seems unwilling to illuminate here. A large area of buildings is shrouded in a hazy shadow.
Entering the slave corner, the outfit of Fast Legs immediately attracted many people's attention. The slaves in the cage stretched out their arms, begging for some food, but were quickly whipped back by the guards.
"Dear guest, welcome to the Slave Corner of Sun City." A pretty woman twisted her slender waist and walked towards him. She held a pipe in her hand , had narrow eyes, and wore nose rings and earrings on her nose and ears.
Barbarians are a general term for humans who live in the West and do not belong to the nobles. They look no different from humans, but their living habits are greatly influenced by orcs.
This woman looks like a barbarian, and her whole body exudes wildness.
The woman walked around quickly, looking around him, and then came to Luke. She took a puff of cigarette, looked at Luke with her chin up, and reached out to lift Luke's hood.
Luke grabbed the woman's hand.
The woman deftly pulled her hand out of Luke's grasp and pulled open his sleeves. The smock was ordinary, but the sleeves of the Governor's dress uniform were visible underneath.
The woman slowly exhaled the smoke and said with a smile, "This set of clothes is enough to buy a hundred female slaves. Who are you and what are you doing in the Slave Corner?"
Luke said, "You guessed wrong. I can buy the entire Sun City with this set of clothes. Or... I can buy the entire Western Territory.
I'm here to discuss business, take me to see your boss.
Also, if you dare to disrespect me again, I will have your boss put you in the dirtiest cage!"
