How could someone be so utterly shameless! Especially as the Emperor of the Empire, to treat his own words like flatulence — Marquis Clilos held the handwritten decree that the
In July, the
The Antario Trade Association was already in an impossible position — having climbed the tiger, there was no getting off. Marquis Clilos suffered in silence. At the current purchasing prices, acquiring raw materials and mineral resources not only left zero profit but actually meant the more they bought, the more they lost. After all, a trade caravan of several thousand people with a massive convoy departing from the imperial capital for the Commerce Alliance and making the round trip — the expenses were no trivial sum. Marquis Clilos calculated that a single trip would cost the association a loss of around seventy to eighty thousand gold ferd.
At the original purchasing prices, a single trip could still have netted four hundred to five hundred thousand in profit. But with the prices doubled, transporting raw materials and mineral resources worth hundreds of thousands to nearly a million to the Commerce Alliance meant not only earning nothing but having to subsidize the transportation costs out of pocket. The food for men and fodder for horses along the way was no trivial expense. Especially when passing through the Kingdom of Peterson — even though the Kingdom of Peterson granted passage for all goods carried by the caravan, the normal transit tariffs still made Marquis Clilos's heart ache. More than half of their losses could be attributed to this.
If it were any other trade association, they could simply stop doing unprofitable business. But Marquis Clilos couldn't do that. He knew all too well how critical these raw materials and mineral resources purchased from the Empire were to the Commerce Alliance's recovery. The Commerce Alliance's current territory was resource-poor — only with the raw materials brought by the trade caravans could the Alliance manufacture more refined goods to compete in the markets. Only with the iron ore and other metallic minerals shipped over could the Alliance forge sharper weapons and sturdier armor to rebuild their military…
There was another approach — fleece the sheep to pay for the wool. Since purchasing prices had risen, they could correspondingly raise selling prices to ensure profits remained unchanged. The Commerce Alliance desperately needed supplies from this trade route, so even at inflated prices they would have no choice but to accept. But Marquis Clilos couldn't do this. He knew all too well how much confusion raising prices would bring to Grand Duke Campbellet, and how many additional headaches it would cause for his efforts to consolidate the Alliance's various factions. After all, the current Commerce Alliance was not the old one — the gold in their coffers was limited…
So Marquis Clilos decided to handle this purchasing price war with the Norton Family on his own. He went to audience with the Second Prince, hoping the Second Prince would step in and summon the Norton Family's commercial representative for negotiations. The best solution would be to divide territories — the Qilin Port Grand Trade Market and the Antario Trade Association would each take responsibility for purchasing resources from certain provinces, with no interference between them, and everyone could make money. This was a win-win compromise.
Marquis Clilos believed that with the Second Prince issuing a negotiation invitation in his capacity as the Empire's representative and serving as mediator in this purchasing price war between the Antario Trade Association and the Norton Family, the Norton Family would surely grant him that courtesy. Besides, the Second Prince had invested eight hundred thousand gold ferd in the Antario Trade Association — with his own interests at stake, the Second Prince should naturally lean toward the Antario Trade Association and give them some advantages in the territorial division negotiations.
What Marquis Clilos hadn't expected was that the Second Prince had confidently taken the entire matter upon himself. He told Marquis Clilos with great assurance: "It's a trivial matter. I'll handle it for you. As long as I have one meeting with
Lorist was the head of the Norton Family, the Grand Duke of Northland, and the name of the State-Protecting Sword Saint. Marquis Clilos knew this man was the commercial alliance's greatest enemy, and the chief culprit behind their decline to their current state. Still, Marquis Clilos was rather curious — why was the Second Prince so confident?
The Second Prince told Marquis Clilos smugly that despite Lorist being the State-Protecting Sword Saint, he had one great weakness: he was soft-hearted and cared deeply about face. Although they had some friction last year, all he needed to do was meet with Lorist, set aside his pride, say a few pleasant words, and humble himself before the man. He guaranteed that Lorist would grant any request. Something as trivial as the purchasing price war would surely be agreed to after just a few pleas — Lorist would be unable to refuse out of courtesy.
As it happened, there was an opportunity at hand. Duke Kennemis had invited the Empire's nobles to his family's territory at White Gold Beach for a summer retreat, and word had it that Grand Duke Norton would be bringing his family as well. The Second Prince decided to inform Duke Kennemis that he too would grace the occasion with his presence, and then meet with Lorist at White Gold Beach. That way, he could resolve the purchasing price war that was troubling Marquis Clilos without drawing any attention. In a private discussion, the Second Prince wouldn't feel the slightest loss of face no matter how much he had to lower himself and speak nicely to Lorist as the Empire's Emperor.
And so Marquis Clilos waited with full confidence for the Second Prince to bring him good news. After more than a month, he received a handwritten decree delivered by the Second Prince's messenger. It stated that he had done his best, but Grand Duke Norton had refused to see him. He had chased after the man to several locations, only to find that Grand Duke Norton had left his family's territory and made off to
If the Antario Trade Association could defeat the Norton Family in the war, he would wholeheartedly continue to support them. However, the Second Prince simultaneously reminded Young Master Celig that, because he had backed the Antario Trade Association in establishing a purchasing station at Flowwater Creek to intercept noble merchant caravans headed for Qilin Port's Grand Trade Market, this had harmed the one million gold ferd in annual dividend revenue the Second Prince received from Qilin Port's Grand Trade Market. Therefore, this year's one million in dividends could only be charged to the Antario Trade Association's account.
Furthermore, the Second Prince once again emphasized at length his substantial investment in the Antario Trade Association — the eight hundred thousand gold ferd he had allocated from the imperial treasury, so that the Antario Trade Association would have the capital to purchase raw materials and mineral resources produced on the territories of the Empire's nobles. The Second Prince believed that if that eight hundred thousand had been entrusted to the Norton Family to manage, let alone doubling the investment returns, earning around a million gold ferd would have been perfectly ordinary. Considering that the Antario Trade Association had only just established a foothold in the imperial capital and was struggling operationally, the Second Prince wasn't demanding Norton-level results. As long as the Antario Trade Association could earn him five or six hundred thousand gold ferd, that would be sufficient.
How could a person be so brazenly shameless?! Marquis Clilos truly wanted to storm the palace and spit in the Second Prince's face. On what grounds could the Second Prince dump the revenue from Qilin Port's Grand Trade Market onto the Antario Trade Association's shoulders? But Marquis Clilos also understood in his heart that he couldn't argue this matter clearly with the Second Prince. If he hadn't goaded the Second Prince into letting the Antario Trade Association establish a purchasing station at Flowwater Creek to intercept the Empire's noble merchant caravans, then the Second Prince's annual one million gold ferd dividend would have been real and guaranteed. Even if Grand Duke Norton and the Second Prince had their personal conflicts, that one million in dividend revenue would still have been delivered into the Second Prince's hands.
Now, because the Antario Trade Association had butted in, doubling the purchase price until the venture became unprofitable, the Second Prince — having lost his dividend from Qilin Port's Grand Trade Market — naturally placed the blame on the Antario Trade Association. True, the Second Prince had supported the Antario Trade Association's purchasing station at Flowwater Creek partly to give the Norton Family a taste of their own medicine, but when it came to one million gold ferd in dividend revenue, the Second Prince had no qualms whatsoever about turning on the Antario Trade Association. And just like that, Marquis Clilos ended up bearing a debt of one million.
Fine, this one million in so-called dividend revenue was something Marquis Clilos had no choice but to accept. If the purchasing price hadn't doubled, trade with the commercial alliance would have posed absolutely no pressure regarding this one million. But now the Antario Trade Association was hemorrhaging money just to maintain its trade routes, and this one million could very well be the death of the association — it might go bankrupt and collapse right then and there.
And then there was the matter of the eight hundred thousand gold ferd investment demanding five or six hundred thousand in profit returns. Investment was investment — doing business inherently carried risk, and taking both profits and losses was the normal course of things. Since when was it reasonable to demand guaranteed profits? And to compare with the Norton Family at that — did he not consider that even if the Second Prince had offered the investment to the Norton Family, they would never have accepted it out of courtesy? They would have refused flatly and without hesitation.
One million in dividend revenue plus another five hundred thousand in profit — the Second Prince had made it perfectly clear in his official directive that the Antario Trade Association was to hand over one and a half million gold ferd by year's end. It was already October, with only two months remaining before the deadline. Where on earth was Marquis Clilos supposed to come up with that much gold ferd to deliver to the Second Prince…
At this point, Marquis Clilos was seriously contemplating whether he should simply cut his losses and flee. But then he thought about everything he had sacrificed to get close to the Second Prince, the tentative trust he had managed to earn — how could he possibly achieve his revenge if he just walked away now? Would letting the Second Prince lose one and a half million gold ferd and writhe over it for a while really count as vengeance? When he considered all the physical and psychological wounds the Second Prince had inflicted upon him, Marquis Clilos found that he simply could not accept such a half-hearted resolution…
The study door was tapped lightly. Marquis Clilos knew that only his most trusted confidant would dare do so. He tucked the directive away and said, "Come in."
The person who entered was the guard on duty that day. He brought Marquis Clilos a letter. Unfolding it, Clilos saw that it appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary inquiry about commodity prices — the kind of letter that noble houses regularly sent to trade associations to ask about sales and purchasing benchmarks, several of which arrived every single day. But the seal stamped on this letter's parchment bore the faint outline of a two-headed dragon. Marquis Clilos asked the guard to bring him a glass of milk, took a sip, and spat it onto the letter. He then held the damp parchment before the candle flame to dry it.
Before long, a line of dark blue text reappeared on the parchment. Once the paper had dried, the words vanished once more without a trace. But Marquis Clilos had already committed the message to memory. After a moment of contemplation, he ordered, "Prepare the carriage. I need to go out."
Seven days later, having traveled day and night without pause, Marquis Clilos's carriage arrived in Malivea Province. There stood an estate built over a decade ago by a territorial noble of the Commercial Alliance. After Malivea Province was reclaimed into the Krisen Empire's territory, the estate had been abandoned — but once the Antario Trade Association was established, it had purchased the derelict property for a pittance. After refurbishment, it became the last staging post within the Empire on the trade route to the Commercial Alliance, a place where Antario caravans could rest and resupply.
Seven days and seven nights of grueling travel had left Marquis Clilos's body utterly wrecked. When he was helped down from the carriage, he was nothing more than a limp heap of flesh. After two attendants helped him bathe, change his dressings, and settle in, it took two full days of rest before Marquis Clilos recovered even a modicum of his energy.
Another day passed. A black carriage bearing no markings whatsoever rolled through the estate's gates. From it stepped a figure clad in a dark robe and face covering, dressed much the same as Marquis Clilos himself. This was the guest Clilos had been waiting for so long. The guards did not bother verifying the visitor's identity and simply escorted him straight into the study.
"
No one would have ever imagined that Grand Duke Combraite, the supreme governing official of the Commercial Alliance, would appear in a nondescript estate in Malivea Province — a border territory of the New Krisen Empire. No wonder Marquis Clilos had been so utterly stunned.
"Strange, are we? My brother, it's been too long." Grand Duke Combraite laughed heartily and stepped forward to embrace Marquis Clilos gently. But he was well aware of the injuries on Clilos's body, and the embrace was executed with utmost care.
"I... I thought you would send someone else to discuss matters with me. What happened to make you come personally? Has something gone wrong with our arrangement?" Marquis Clilos asked with some nervousness.
"No, the arrangement is without issue, my brother. The trade route you established has been of immense help to us. Although we've restored peace with the nations of the central and southern regions, they still harbor prejudice against our Commercial Alliance, consciously or unconsciously boycotting us — especially by choking off critical resources like iron ore. Now, this trade route you've opened supplies us with those vital raw materials and mineral resources, allowing us to recover our strength and rebuild our armaments, while also enabling us to begin production of goods beyond just glass..."
Grand Duke Combraite looked at Marquis Clilos and said with deep feeling, "My brother, the Commercial Alliance is in excellent condition at present — you needn't worry on that account. But why didn't you tell us when you ran into trouble? We only learned of it now — you've been operating this route at a loss just to keep it running. Such an important matter, why didn't you let us know sooner? You should understand how vital this trade route is to our Alliance. If you lose this price war against the Norton Family, then this route won't survive either."
Marquis Clilos smiled bitterly. "Running this route at a loss doesn't really bother me. I can make up what's lost here with earnings elsewhere. But my current trouble is this..."
Marquis Clilos produced the Second Prince's edict. "I've never encountered anyone so brazenly shameless, and he's the Emperor of the Empire, no less. He encouraged me to cause trouble for the Norton Family and swore up and down that he'd support our Antario Trading Company. But in the blink of an eye, he turned around and demanded Jinfude from me — one and a half million! It took real audacity to even say that aloud..."
Grand Duke Combraite took the edict and read it over, then thought for a moment and laughed. "It's fine. I've brought something for you to take back and show to this greedy Emperor. I guarantee he won't ask you for Jinfude again."
……