94 – Preparing for war with Maxburg (4)

The private plots I do and those of European powers such as England, France, Spain, and Portugal are similar but distinctly different.

First of all, my privateering is the same as privateering in history, it is an act of looting to reduce the supply and commercial capacity of a specific hostile country.

However, in my private strategy, unlike general privateers, I don’t share the wealth looted from the privateer, but pay them all.

Besides, even though it is a yawn made in the process of hastily changing the armament of the entire army to half armor, they frantically sprinkle gold coins as an incentive to various supplies such as breastplates and food…

In other words, it gave up the economic effect through plunder, which is the original purpose of private strategy.

However, if this continues, of course, Duke Maxburg, a feudal lord in the Middle Ages, will be strongly impeached for failing to guarantee the interests and safety of those living in his domain. will be even

If you don’t do that, you will become a lord who has abandoned his cause and duty, and such a lord will repay you with an ambitious vassal like me with a rebellion.

As I was lost in my thoughts, I heard someone knocking on the office door.

“Who are you?”

“I am Braim, the admiral of the Black Mist Pirate Fleet. I have come to give you my last report.”

“Come in. There are many things I want to talk to you about.”

And Braim came into my office and naturally sat on the chair in front of my desk, and at the same time the butler brought in snacks, sandwiches, and tea.

“Begin the report.”

“Yes, then we will begin. Thirty ships were plundered, including merchant ships heading to Maxburg or going from Maxburg to other domains, and 18 of them were captured. The goods plundered were Romanian wine, ham, beer, handicrafts, iron, wood used for watering casks, spices and sugar, totaling about 5,000 gold coins, 23 of the 30 captains were captured and 7 were captured. killed And, according to Your Excellency’s instructions, we are protecting 1,000 of the sailors on board without selling them as slaves or recruiting them as our crew.”

5,000 gold coins worth of goods and 18 ships captured… Everything the pirates bring in is what the pirates bring in at the price of trafficking.

Even if you sell only products, there will be a profit of about 2,000, no, 3,000.

If I add about 5,000 more to that money, I’ll be able to pay for the ship and repairs.

“You worked hard, as promised, you can keep all the money for this time. However, in exchange for supplies, we will hand over a thousand sailors to us, and 18 ships will be handed over to us as soon as they are repaired in the north.”

“thank you.”

“And no idiot died of scurvy, right? If only he had taken the medicine I gave him, not a single person would have died of scurvy… ”

At those words, Braim spoke brightly with a slightly flushed expression.

“Thanks to the medicine you provided, not a single sailor died of scurvy! It’s a miracle. In our fleet, scurvy kills 5% of our crew without doing anything, so it’s great that these guys don’t die. This medicine is the grace of Silodeus.”

“It’s good that no one died, thanks to you, the money was solid.”

“It’s unfortunate that we didn’t receive 50 gold coins, but now we can reduce the deaths of our skilled sailors and captains with this, so we benefit too. Will you be able to continue taking this medicine in the future?”

“Each silver coin is 600 grams. I’ll give you whatever you want.”

“… . good. I will continue to buy, and… . When do you plan to pay us the remuneration… ”

“I could give it right now, but the settlement isn’t over yet. The price of the product must be calculated. And if possible, I asked them to find out the situation on the Maxburg side by interrogating the captains… that’s?”

Upon hearing that, the boy smiled and handed me the report.

There were really more than I could have imagined in it, and through him I was able to be sure of one thing.

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Magsburg, aren’t you fainting from high blood pressure by now?

**

An office with a wall engraved with an eagle catching a fish that symbolizes the Maxburg family, a desk made of the finest Italian marble and a chair made of ebony wood.

There, I took all my subordinates and attendants outside and began to read the letters sent to me by nobles and merchants.

[To your esteemed Duke Maxburg, your loyal chancellor, the Count of Bremen, informs you. Entering the fortress, Braim’s Black Mist Pirates are attacking our merchant ships, so the merchants and the good nobles who hired them are suffering great damage. I did. In addition, the rest of the nobles and merchants are also suffering enormous damage, and some of the small and medium-sized merchant companies belonging to our territory have already faced the financial collapse crisis. I’m calming myself down a bit now, but it’s only a stopgap. A quick solution is necessary, and if the solution is not done in time, the complaints of other vassal lords are expected to skyrocket.]

[To His Highness, the Duke of Maxburg, who has an honorable and noble lineage, a humble merchant from the Medica family will address you. We, the Medica family, have built up a long trust between you and your family, and based on that trust, we have continued trading over the past 5 months while taking losses. However, since we, as lowly merchants, cannot engage in unprofitable business, we will no longer be able to continue our business with Your Highness. Therefore, after writing this letter, I immediately ordered the 25th rank under my command to withdraw. And if this matter is not dealt with within one month, each guild will legally collect a total of 100,000 gold coins and 150,000 interest on the money that you and your vassals borrowed from us.]

[Mayor of Lothringen, Heinz, reports to His Highness the Duke. Food prices in the city have doubled as many caravans have gone bankrupt or withdrawn, and riots are about to break out. If you don’t act quickly, our city is in danger. If you cannot defeat the Black Mist Pirates, the cause of this problem, please temporarily reinforce 3,000 to protect them.]

After reading the letter full of such contents, I felt two things.

One was anger at the Creutel bastard who had encouraged all of this, and the other was despair at the endangerment of the territory.

Especially Kreutel… No, how on earth did you find out about my plan to sever ties with the northerners, who had deliberately used a guy who was expelled from the Northern Alliance as a knight?

In order to make those children as suspicious as possible of the Northern Alliance bears, the executives ordered those who could speak the Northern Alliance as much as the locals to eat only northern cuisine…

“An evil Kreutel bastard who is not even a petty thief!! How do you put on a human mask and do privateery that even homosexuals wouldn’t do? A person must have a conscience!! Politics is so dirty!!!”

As I was screaming, I heard a knock on the door.

“Who is it? Didn’t I tell you not to let anyone in!”

“I’m sorry, Your Highness. However, this is not the case. Right now, Italian and Benician merchants, led by Medica family merchants, have invaded our territory and are making a fuss to pay off our debts. And… ”

“And what else? Where are we going to do it? Before I hang myself for blasphemy, please tell me to shut up! This stupid butler…”

After a while, the butler spoke in a terrified voice from the other side of the door.

“If the duke does not solve the problem, I will inform the Emperor of Romania and all the lords in a letter about the current situation of the family that is unable to pay its debts.”

I already have a bad relationship with His Majesty the Emperor, but if information comes in that I’m being swayed by merchants…

The emperor will surely send a letter with this content.

“No, my ancestors entrusted the Maxburg family with the trust that they would protect the people of the Maxburg Duchy among the people of my empire… If you can’t handle it properly, then you have to lighten the burden.”

And after giving some gold coins, in return, he will try to interfere enormously with my family and my territory.

So I held back my anger and told the butler outside the door.

“Let everyone into the conference room. I will be leaving soon.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

**

“No, what the hell did you do? You’re just sitting there being robbed by the pirate fleet and not being able to respond?”

“Isn’t that too much? Thanks to that, our family lost 3,000 gold coins… no, about 6,000 including ships! Damn, I’m afraid that if I do this, I will be repatriated to Medica and lose my position.”

“I mean, my son, who was teaching my successor, has now been arrested! Because of that damned pirate fleet! Romania sent only safe Frankfurt and Rotringen to and from Romania to provide safe education.

“The loss is enormous. As you all know… It’s already at a level where it has to give up a couple of small and medium-sized tops to make up for this loss. I have to shave off my flesh to prolong my life.”

“I can’t believe this is real.”

If my vassals were having this conversation in my mansion, I could have cut one of their throats and made them shut up…

Those children are not my vassals, citizens, or merchants… Because he is an agent of a large merchant corps linking Italy and Romania, he cannot even be killed.

No, in this situation, if you get angry with them for no reason, you will pay a heavy price.

So I spoke to them in a dignified voice.

“First of all, I am truly sorry that this has happened. However, from now on, I swear by my name, those evil pirates will no longer set foot on this land, nor anywhere in Europia, where our lord Deus is watching.”

When I, a nobleman, swore by my name, they showed a relieved expression unlike before.

“good. However, the damage we have suffered is enormous, and of course you are not obligated to compensate for this damage… It is the Duke’s duty to subdue the pirates who caused this bleeding. How are you going to root them out?”

Guys like Shylock, no matter how noble I am in a foreign country, I am the owner of a duchy called ‘Your Highness’…

How could you be so disrespectful in front of me…

But right now I’m in a sorry situation, if I can’t stand this humiliation… The emperor himself will present even greater humiliation and shame.

To prevent that, in the end, we need to present a war that can produce more effects and profits than this crisis and the benefits that can be given to them.

And that interest is in fact…

“First of all, according to the information I checked, it seems that Braim’s pirates were funded by Count Kreutel. So if you defeat Count Creutel, they will naturally retreat. No, at least it won’t be as tenacious as it is now. So, after I wage war against Count Creutel’s army and win, I will break his momentum.”

Upon hearing that, the one from the Medica family, who had the strongest power here, asked.

“However, Count Croitel’s army is a strong army that cannot be defeated with an army of the same size. Of course, if His Highness can mobilize an army that is conscripted, it’s twice as many, but… Isn’t that enough?”

“So I’m going to hire the Golden Fleece Mercenaries, the Red Wolf Mercenaries, and the Blackbeard Mercenaries. All of them, of course. That way we’ll be able to fight a little more, no, in a pretty good situation.”

“Their troops combined are approximately 5,000 to 6,000, and since they are the most elite mercenaries, that will be enough. However, you will have to hire them for at least two months. How are you going to get the money?”

“You guys give me that money.”

The guys who heard the story started rolling their eyes when they were told to pay, as if calculating the profit they would get in return.

and said with a smile

“All right, we will receive the right to receive iron armor and weapons from Count Kreutel’s ironworks at 1/3 the price they supply, and the right to import sugar at half the price. Also, give us unlimited access to Blueport and make it an autonomous city.”

“Freedom of Blueport for only 5,000 gold coins? Are you guys crazy?”

At those words, the Medica family merchant smiled and said,

“If you make Blueport a free city, Your Highness will forgive the interest on the 50,000 gold coins you borrowed from us. And the taxes will go to Your Highness anyway, so what’s the loss?”

They say that if I beat that bastard Ciel, I’ll get trade from the north in return, but as long as I pay the taxes, there’s nothing to lose.

And if you forgive up to 50,000 gold coins that were harassing our family, it’s a much more favorable treaty for us.

But whatever you do, it’s better to stab it as much as possible.

“Something like Shylock, I like it. In return, please pay for the provisions for this expedition. Can you do that much?”

“Of course, Your Highness the Duke. From now on, we lowly merchants will do our best to help Your Highness win the war.”