Volume 2: Empire Chapter 84: Luke's Poker Game
After being initially bewitched by the wealth, Scream Howl soon calmed down. Trusted by many big bandits to manage investments, this Wealthy Wolf had his own judgment on the benefits and disadvantages of opening up this trade route.
“We have to admit that the Governor has found a way to solve the problem in the western border of the empire, but when the sand bandits touch upon the fundamental interests of the nobles in the western border, their tacit understanding with the sand bandits will be gone, and they will definitely spare no effort to eliminate us.
You will also have to push us to the forefront against the nobles of the Western Territory. The final result... should be that we and the nobles of the Western Territory will both suffer losses, and then the Empire only needs to send a small number of troops to completely solve the two major troubles in the Western Territory.
Governor, I still say that you think things are too simple. Although we are poor now, we can survive. When the imperial army enters the West, we will have no choice. The empire will not fatten us up and let us become another kind of Western nobles. "
Luke thought to himself, if I hadn't prepared well enough, I would have made a fool of myself this time.
"I've given you a chance to clean up your name and start a legitimate business. Do you still want to expand and become a military force that the empire will fear?"
Howl responded tactfully: "This is the rule in the Western Territory. The right to speak is at the edge of a knife. If we run the Western Territory trade route for you, the Western Territory nobles will definitely attack us. We can only use the money we earn to expand our power.
When the strength of the Sand Bandits reaches a certain scale, you ask us to hand over the knife in exchange for you...are you willing?"
Luke stood up, drew the knife he brought with him, and stabbed it into the table, next to the bottle of water essence at the far west.
"You should know that I sent the elf Qingkong to the Ancestral Grassland. When she came to Sun City from the Ancestral Grassland to participate in the Harvest Festival, she brought an army composed of various tribes of the Ancestral Grassland.
By that time, all the barbarians in the western border will gather under her banner. Are you sand bandits still thinking of not handing over your swords?
Don't think that I am here to ask you to work for me. I am here to show you a way out. If you run a logistics company and cooperate with me, I will guarantee that you will have no worries about food and clothing and enjoy a high-quality life that you have never enjoyed before.
Stop dreaming about unrealistic things, the good times of sand bandits are over!"
Faced with Luke's threat, Howl was about to get angry, but was frightened by the information Luke revealed.
"You sent an elven magician to the Aldmeri Prairie and wanted to unify the various tribes there. This is the biggest joke I have ever heard in my lifetime.
Governor, intimidation will not solve your needs."
Luke smiled and said, “Whether what I said is true or not, you can find out if you send someone to the First People’s Prairie to take a look.
You already know what you should know today. Mr. Scream is busy, so I won't disturb you.
Come back to me when you've made up your mind. You know where I live."
After saying that, Luke pulled the knife from the table, put it back into the sheath, then turned and left.
Mavisman tried to stop them, but Howl waved his hand to stop her again, saying, "Scorpion, send the Governor out. Don't let those ignorant guys outside offend my distinguished guest."
"Yes, Mr. Screech."
Maeve Siman led Luke and his group out of the study, and Scream took out a paper bird from the drawer: "Let's go see what happened in the First People's Prairie."
The paper bird flew up from Scream's hand and flew westward through the open skylight.
After watching the paper bird leave, Xiaohao put on his glasses and picked up the account book. But he couldn't concentrate on reading it anyway, because the knife mark on the table always distracted him.
Maeve Sman led Luke and the other two through the layers of checkpoints and walked outside.
"Sir, you are the first one who can leave here safely after being so rude to Mr. Scream. I hope that next time we meet, you can still receive such courtesy from Mr. Scream."
"Next time... your Mr. Howl will come out to greet me personally." Luke pointed to the cages where slaves were kept nearby and said, "How much is that mother and child? I'll buy it!"
Maeve Sman looked where Luke was pointing.
They were an ordinary human mother and son. Apart from the thin elven bloodline in their bodies, there was nothing special about them.
Maeve Sman asked someone to bring the mother and son over, and then said to Luke, "These two slaves are given to you by Mr. Scream."
"Then please thank Mr. Scream for me."
Luke didn't say anything to the mother and child who were brought over, and walked past them.
Hong Jian walked over and quickly stuffed a purse into his mother's hand: "I have forgotten my mother, but I see what my mother was like in you. This is all I can do to help you. I hope you can be happy."
Then the Kestrel said to the boy, "Take care of your mother."
"I will, thank you!"
"Goodbye!" Red Falcon quickly caught up with Luke and Fast Legs who were walking away.
The mother and son stared blankly at the leaving red kestrel, not knowing where they should go or how to survive in this strange place.
"Hey, I can provide you with a place to stay and a job, why don't you follow me?"
Maeve Sman spoke to the mother and son, her eyes fixed on the purse in the mother's hand.
The mother first held the purse in alarm, but then immediately handed it over: "These are all yours, please let us go."
Who would have thought that Maeve Siman did not take the money bag. She smoked a cigarette and said, "You have met a noble man, and I dare not offend him. It is safer to stay here and work than to wander around. If that noble man suddenly remembers you and you become rich, don't forget the help I gave you."
The boy then asked: "Who is he?"
“I can’t tell you his name right now, but anyway… he’s a big shot who can change the entire Western Territory.
Come with me, I will find you a place to stay, take a shower and change clothes. "
The mother put away the purse, held the boy tightly, and followed Maeve Sman into the dark residential area.
On the other side, in the Sunny Manor, Count Urd received the news that Governor Meteorite had suddenly disappeared.
He was furious and scolded the surveillance personnel for being idiots. They actually managed to lose a stranger in their own city, which was a disgrace to Sun City.
But when he heard that Princess Agatha was shopping at the Sunday City Market, and that she was buying at a huge premium, he realized that there must be a hidden meaning behind the Princess's actions.
Then he heard that Meteorite had raised the price of Halfling wine to one gold voucher per barrel and was preparing to buy it in large quantities, and he suddenly felt a chill on the back of his neck.
It’s really cruel!
This is to put all the Western nobles on the guillotine one by one!
Earl Urd was able to run the Harvest Festival on such a large scale, so he certainly knew what the extremely low prices in the West meant to the nobles in the West. They controlled the trade routes between the Empire and the West, and sucked up the wealth of the entire West by selling high and buying low to maintain their own territory and army.
If prices throughout the Western Territory rise drastically, soldiers who rely on military pay to support their families will certainly not be able to afford the rising cost of living.
If the army is shaken, the foundation of the lords' rule will be directly shaken.
The first thing Count Urd thought of was to kill Meteor and Agatha to nip this crisis in the bud.
But they are the eldest princess and the governor of Nutao City. If I kill them at this time, I will be forced to be buried with them.
But...are we just going to let them continue to raise the prices in Sun City?
The Harvest Festival is coming soon!
At that time, almost all the barbarians in the Western Territory would bring their season's produce to Sun City to sell, and then purchase the materials they needed. The nobles in the Western Territory would also send caravans to bring cheap materials purchased from the Empire to sell at high prices, making a lot of money.
This is a feast for the nobles of the Western Territory, but this time, the nobles of the Western Territory may be scared out of their wits by the prices at the Harvest Festival.
Unable to kill or stop him, Count Urd was so anxious that he was sweating all over.
He knew that Governor Meteorite was powerful and had also received Erguya's reminder, but he never expected that just when he and Meteorite were being polite and harmonious when entering the city, this guy turned around and stabbed him in the back.
The knife also stabbed the trachea.
Count Urd was thinking about countermeasures, wondering how to deal with the fatal attack of the meteor.
Not long after, the attendant came to report that the Governor of Meteorite had returned with Her Royal Highness the Princess. Along with them came dozens of carts of goods. Now, the Sun City was filled with voices praising the Princess, and everyone was looking forward to her visiting their stall tomorrow.
"Go and ask Governor Meteorite to come to me!"
Now Earl Urd lives in a small building on the shore of the central lake. Although the furnishings and decoration inside are not as modern and avant-garde as those in Raging Waves City, they can compare with the harmonious combination of tradition and fashion in Saint Lun City.
Tea drinking, which had just become popular, also became one of Count Urd's hobbies.
Earl Urd invited Luke to taste tea together. He said as he used tea sets to make tea in a proper manner: "The taste of the tea has a lot to do with the quality of the water. The water I use to make tea is the spring water from the tree heart lake spring that I sent someone to the ruins of the tree owner in the ancient grassland world.
That is the water extracted from the ground by the roots of the World Tree, which is purified and then gushed out from the heart of the tree. It is the source of many rivers in the West. Because of the importance of the source, it is protected by the most ferocious War Song among the grassland elves. This water is not something that anyone can drink. "
Earl Urd poured Luke a cup of tea, and his words made it clear that he had so much power in the West that he could easily get even the most difficult water.
Luke took a sip of the tea. It turned out that the tea brewed from the World Tree’s spring water was different. It replenished his mental and physical strength.
You can ask Qingkong to drink more and take it back to drink.
"The water is good, but the quality of the tea is a bit low. I will ask Raging Wave City to send some good tea, and the Earl can taste it."
Count Urd put down the teapot and said, “Raging Waves City is connected to the world, and the Governor must have tasted all kinds of good tea, and of course, the world’s top red wine.
I heard that the Governor is very interested in the Halfling wine from the West Territory and plans to purchase a large amount of it and transport it to Raging Wave City to make it into high-end red wine for sale."
Luke knew what Count Urd wanted to do by inviting him here, so he pretended to be confused and said, "The sunshine in the West is strong, so the grapes produced have much higher sugar content than those in other places. The winemaking technology and environment of the halflings here make the wine produced have unique high quality.
Even if I purchase and transport it from the West Territory to Raging Storm City, and even if the cost of further processing is high, Halfling wine can still bring me a hundredfold profit return rate.
I wonder if the Earl is interested in the halfling wine business. I can invest in a winery in Sun City..."
Upon hearing that the halfling wine could achieve a hundredfold profit return rate after passing through the hands of Raging Tide City, Earl Urd almost agreed on the spot to build a winery in Sun City.
But he soon realized that he had been trapped by the meteorite.
"Of course I welcome . But the Governor is buying the wine from the Halflings at the price of one gold voucher per barrel, which is too much. These greedy Halflings will definitely keep raising the price when they see your generosity!"
Luke smiled as he drank his tea. "I can make so much money, why should I care about the price increase? As long as the quality of their wine remains the same, I can afford to give them two or three gold coupons for a barrel.
Halflings can only actively make wine if they earn more. Otherwise, a village can only make four barrels of wine per season, which is too little! If they can increase their production several times, won't I make more money? "
This is true, but the nobles in the West need Halfling wine to return to a constant price of one gold coin per barrel.
So Count Urd stopped playing guessing games with Luke.
He said directly: "Governor, you are disturbing the prices in the Western Territory by doing this, which is touching the most fundamental interests of the Western Territory nobles. You and Her Royal Highness the Princess have a mission given to you by the Empire, and the Western Territory nobles are also watching the attitude of the Empire.
Hostility and pressure will not take anything away from the West, but may cause the situation in the Tedegar Hills to repeat itself in the West."
Luke picked up the teapot and poured himself some tea.
“In the past, the Western Territory was too far and too desolate for the Empire, and the investment and return were not proportional, so the nobles in the Western Territory had a good life.
It's just that these good times have made you more and more arrogant, to the point that you have placed your position on a castle in the air without any support, and feel that you have the capital to challenge the empire. But I just played a card casually, and you were forced to threaten me, which shows how weak the strength of the nobles in the Western Territory is. "
Count Urd didn't expect that raising the price of goods for the Harvest Festival was just one of the cards in Meteorite's hand, so what were the other cards?
He dared to say that, does it mean that the other cards have been played?
Earl Urd asked Luke nervously, "You just disappeared, where did you go? I warn you... If you force the nobles of the West into a desperate situation, you and the princess will not be able to return."
Luke continued to drink tea nonchalantly: "Don't threaten me, think more about the future of the Urd family. It is very rare to have a commercial city of this scale in the Western Territory. If the Empire's railway can be built into the Western Territory, Sun City will definitely have a more important position.
Smart people can see the situation clearly instead of sticking to the rules of their ancestors.
The tea was good and the water was great!
I think the World Tree Source that the Earl has stored is not enough for the Harvest Festival. Since the Earl has a very good relationship with the Fierce War Song of the Ancient Grasslands, let's send someone to ask for more World Tree Source."
