Mount & Blade: Wind of War

Rhodes received the steward of the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce in his study room and said that this was a study room, but in fact there were no books and there were no glass windows, so even though it was cold winter, he still had to open the windows to provide indoor lighting. .

During this era, many powerful aristocratic castles and churches began to use a large number of stained glass windows, but for Redwood Town, which was still in the pioneering stage, that kind of design was too extravagant.

However, the steward of the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce didn't seem to care much. After entering the room, he lifted the hood of his cloak:

The image of a heroic noble prince with pure golden hair, sky blue eyes and ponytail was revealed. He nodded to Rhodes politely and in a personable manner.

Rhodes had already stretched out his hand, but when he saw that the person in front of him had already sat down first, he made a gesture to sit down, feeling a little surprised.

This world has experienced a long war. During the war, knights all wore armor. Except for their two eyes, their whole bodies were wrapped in iron armor so that they could be ready to charge at the enemy at any time. Therefore, if you want to show friendship, you should take off the protection of your right hands before approaching each other, extend your right hands to show that you have no weapons, and shake hands to communicate with each other. Later, this habit spread to the people and became a handshake ceremony.

Of course, any etiquette is restricted by certain regions, cultures, and races. Subhuman races such as orcs, elves, dwarves, etc. often have their own unique etiquette. [Noble Knowledge: "The Origin of Etiquette". 】

"The handshake ceremony is not universal in all regions. Maybe Mr. Yalos is from the south of the empire."

"Mr. Rodhart, I'm sorry to take up your precious time, but the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce caravan's visit this time is also based on the accounts. It seems that you still owe the Chamber of Commerce a sum of money. I don't know, this amount Can we settle it now?" The blond boy said after sitting down. He looked relaxed and got straight to the point. It was obvious that he had the final decision authority on this matter.

"Could this guy's previous rudeness be caused by him knowing my situation and knowing that I can't even get fifty gold coins together?"

Thoughts flashed through his mind, he smiled, and then he raised his head and responded directly: "Manager Yalos, I really can't come up with five hundred gold coins in cash right now."

When he said this, Rhodes paused for a moment, and then he saw that the steward in front of him didn't seem to have any big reaction, and then he continued: "But our town can provide the caravan with five hundred gold coins at the market price. of various materials.”

During the Silver Frost City War, due to the local lord's full preparations, the prices that should have soared during the war were suppressed by the official's sufficient reserves. That is, as much as the private demand, purchase, and hoarding, the official would Depending on how much the reserve supplies, it was clear that a war was going on at that time, but the economy of Silver Frost City was hardly affected at all.

Rhodes purchased a large amount of supplies with one thousand gold coins in hand, which was also carried out during this period.

However, after the war in Silver Frost City, prices in this place began to rise rapidly. Because this city ushered in large-scale construction and development, it advanced from the original Silver Frost Town to Silver Frost City. In the process, a siphon vortex of resources was formed. , including land prices, almost everything related to Silver Frost City, from manpower to materials, has skyrocketed in price.

At this time, Silver Frost City officials no longer stabilized prices, because at this time it was the lords who made money, and the people who led them made money, and what was being absorbed was the manpower and wealth of the people who came from around.

If Rhodes enters the market to purchase supplies at this time, then the same thousand gold coins will only be able to purchase various supplies that are equivalent to the previous six hundred gold coins.

It is because he foresighted the great development of Silver Frost City in advance that Rhodes left almost no gold coins and used them all to purchase supplies. Now if Steward Alos agrees to Rhodes' proposal, then based on current prices, Rhodes At least two hundred gold coins were reduced in repayment, but there were no mistakes in the accounts.

"Mr. Rhodes, your proposal does not seem to be consistent with the contract we signed before, right? If we follow the contract, if you cannot come up with 500 gold coins today, we can directly take over everything in Redwood Town." At this time, the female knight Riel behind Steward Alos stepped forward and spoke. Steward Alos did not stop her. It was obvious that he did not object to this proposal.

"Hahahaha, of course. As a small pioneering lord, since I have signed a contract with the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, I must act in strict accordance with the contents of the contract. However, it is really the best to act strictly in accordance with the contents of the contract. Is it in the interests of your Chamber of Commerce? I currently own two territories, Redwood Town and Hacker Town, which are not far from here. The Atlanta Chamber of Commerce has obtained my territory in Redwood Town, and it will be difficult to recruit people to operate it in a short time. For me, it’s just a matter of moving to another place to continue developing.”

"To put it bluntly, according to the Northern Territory's consistent development model, Redwood Town will probably be back in my hands in a few years."

In fact, if the materials cannot be used to offset the debt, Rhodes has already secretly thought of other alternatives, such as using the magic items and extraordinary weapons in his hand to offset the debt.

However, in order to maximize his own interests during the negotiation, Rhodes will not put forward the most difficult condition for the other party to refuse before the other party has completely made up his mind.

After all, extraordinary weapons can be used as the foundation of any force, and they should not be easily sold even if they are not used by their own families. Even if they are magic items with serious negative effects, such as the trickery flail and the broken blood-marked heavy armor.

Now that the magic tide has just begun, most forces have not reacted yet and do not pay enough attention to the scattered items. In the future, as more and more forces wake up, it will not be so easy to get such items.

The development of all things is constantly evolving with the passage of time. The only thing that is eternal and unchanging in this world is probably the word change itself.

Because of the two options proposed by Rhodes, the study fell into silence for a while. The female knight named Rui Er frowned and thought hard.

In fact, these two options are both profitable for the Atlan Chamber of Commerce. Otherwise, this contract would not have been signed in the first place. The cultivated land that more than 200 townspeople in Redwood Town have worked hard for two years can be worth 1,500 or even 2,000 gold coins if it is really sold. Therefore, the predecessor can quickly mortgage and borrow a large amount of living money from the Atlan Chamber of Commerce.

But the current situation is different. In just two months, the strength of Redwood Town has greatly expanded. The Atlan Chamber of Commerce can certainly take over the territory of Redwood Town, but with Rodhart's migration to the original site of Hack Town, the value of the land in Redwood Town has plummeted, because taking it over means taking over the resentment of the pioneer lord Rodhart.

At the same time, even if the power is very strong, the Atlan Chamber of Commerce must calculate whether it is worth offending a pioneer lord whose strength is rapidly increasing for such a business. This is the so-called hidden cost, which is not easy to detect, but it does exist.

If all these costs are calculated, most merchants will choose to pay off the debt with materials, and then take them to the wilderness to sell them, earning a thousand gold coins safely and smoothly, and also befriending the pioneer lord with great potential in front of them.

"Let's choose something..."

Just when Rui'er gradually sorted out the clues and was about to make a choice, the butler Yalos, who was sitting opposite Rhode and had a good temper and spoke seldom, suddenly interrupted his subordinate's words:

"Sorry, we need more time to consider,"

"Oh? Of course, this is because of my poor preparation. You can rest in the town for a few more days."

Squeak.

At this time, the door of the study was pushed open from the outside. Cress, who had just finished his exercise, brought in the freshly brewed hot tea with a wooden board. However, at this time, Butler Yalos and his close subordinate Rui'er were ready to leave.

In fact, according to the traditional etiquette of the nobility, Cress would be punished if he entered the master's room without knocking on the door. However, Rhode didn't mind, and the butler Yalos didn't seem to mind either. When he led his subordinates outside, he gently patted the little girl's head, causing Cress to shrink his neck subconsciously.

"Master, that gentleman just now looked weird?"

"Hmm? What happened to him?"

"I can't tell, but I just feel weird, as if something is wrong." Cress put the hot tea next to Rhodes' hand. This was not plain tea, but milk tea with sugar and milk. Enjoying a cup in this weather would make the whole body feel warm.

"Well, I also think he is a little weird." Rhodes thought about it, responded like this, and then put aside this idea and began to read the documents on his desk.

Hack Town was originally a more prosperous town than Redwood Town, but this time after experiencing the jackal rebellion, many were killed, but there was still a population of nearly 200 (nearly 100 people fled and nearly 100 people were captured). After being fully accepted by Redwood Town, Redwood Town immediately developed into a large town of 500 people.

Now there are still some copper coins circulating among the people in the town, but the official government has almost no currency reserves. The salaries of the militia and civil officials are all replaced by materials, but this is completely acceptable and normal in this era.

After obtaining the population of Hake Town, forty young and strong men were immediately selected from the refugees of Hake Town to be incorporated into the security brigade.

This gave the forty young and strong men jobs and salaries, which greatly alleviated the anxiety of the refugees in Hake Town. However, even if the salary of the security brigade is only half of that of the militia, many refugees in Hake Town can only maintain a state of not being full but not starving to death. However, a town with only 500 people can only support a military force of 100 people. The reserve materials of Redwood Town cannot support it for long. If the people of Atlan Chamber of Commerce choose to take away materials worth 500 gold coins, it will greatly accelerate the collapse of the finances.

These elders Eng mentioned to Rhodes with concern, and Rhodes himself knew it very well.

"It is inevitable to encounter financial crisis when you take the military aristocratic route. With the current morale of the people in Redwood Town, they can even survive without salary for one or two months, but after two months, people will starve to death on a large scale. At that time, even if the people below are loyal to me, they will not drag their families to die with me."

While whispering to himself, Rhode wrote and drew on the parchment in front of him. The refugees from Harker Town and Redwood Town have different origins, and their advancement routes are also different:

Haydam Militia, Haidam Light Infantry (not achieved), Haidam Infantry, Haidam Great Swordsman, Haidam Death Swordsman.

Haydam Militia, Haidam Crossbowman (not achieved), Haidam Heavy Crossbowman, Haida Armored Crossbowman.

Haidamu is a place in the territory of the Styak Empire. It was said that it suffered a disaster a few years ago, resulting in a large number of refugees. Most of the refugees in Hake Town are composed of these people, and now they have fallen into his hands.

"The fifth-level soldier Haidam Death Swordsman is a light assault swordsman unit at first glance. This is easy to say, but how can I develop the crossbow system? Do I have to rely on dinars to buy through the system caravan? A small amount is okay, but if you want to scale up, this is not feasible."

Because he is a modern person, Rhodes prefers the crossbow unit to the archer unit. Although he knows that the real top archery masters are often better at using bows than crossbows, but that is at least the starting point of the elite, or even the competition between heroes, which has nothing to do with soldiers.

In the battle to annihilate the Gnoll tribe, nearly a hundred Gnolls and more than twenty giant wolves were killed in one battle. One day was equivalent to half a month of grinding in Silver Frost City. After that battle, many of the forty Charr recruits reached the critical point for promotion, but Rhode asked them to continue to strengthen their training. He was not sure which path to let them take. Now with the Haidam promotion system, Rhode was inclined to let the forty Charr recruits advance to the Charr spearman route, because for low-level soldiers, the advantage of crossbows was too obvious.

On the other hand, several core figures of the Atlan Chamber of Commerce were also discussing the development of Redwood Town, trying to make the most favorable choice for the Chamber of Commerce.

"The Wilderness is the battlefield of the ancient gods in ancient books. Because of the powerful magic that has been raging, it is not suitable for intelligent life to survive for a long time. However, in recent decades, the intensity of the magic in the Wilderness has gradually decreased. With the opening of roads, exchanges between countries and territorial disputes have gradually become inevitable." "We are not the only ones who want to open up new trade routes. Compared with this goal, 500 gold coins, 5,000 gold coins, or even 500,000 gold coins are not as good as the opportunity to open up new trade routes. Therefore, we should not waste too much energy on this redwood town." The manager of Arlos said to everyone.