The Sun King's Evidence

In the palace of Curona, Talleyrand was sitting panting on crutches below. Above were the members of the High Command of Britannia, composed of marshals and dukes. Among them, the Czarina Catherine was specially They were allowed to observe, but Aurora and Teresa didn't know where they were. When Ryan asked, Olica just showed a mysterious smile.

Talleyrand briefly talked about the situation in Marienburg.

From the beginning of the topic, Talleyrand confirmed the news that many years ago, the hostilities caused by the Great Expedition to the Eight Peaks Mountains had never been completely resolved. They always resented Ryan for not letting them make a fortune. Later, after Schultz's iron-fisted management and the dwarf's revenge, the business princes of Marienburg suffered the dwarf's revenge and were frightened by Ryan again. It has indeed converged a lot and started to differentiate internally.

Some business princes such as Viscount Casanova seemed to have learned something from Schultz and expressed goodwill to make friends with Lane.

Some business princes decided to make a clean break with Ryan.

But there are also some business princes who always plan to take revenge.

Over the past few years, these people saw that Lane's prestige was at its peak, with an extremely powerful army and continuous victories. The big trench merchants in Marienburg were so frightened by Lane that their eggs shrank. They did not dare to retaliate and could only tolerate it.

On Ryan's side, there are many things, wars one after another, crises one after another, and there is no time to pay attention to the shadow of Marienburg. Furthermore, as a model of chivalry, Ryan needs a lecturer to be famous. Marienburg It is the imperial territory and the free trade port again, and there is no excuse to take action. Both sides have temporarily stopped and are busy with their own affairs.

But this does not mean that the two sides will always be in peace with each other.

"What are the merchants of Marienburg doing recently?" Ryan asked Talleyrand.

"The business princes are making a lot of money recently." Talleyrand smiled: "Hoarding and speculating on these three substances: grain, cloth and coal, these big merchants are really making a lot of money by relying on the flames of the old world. Bo Man, especially the leader of the Bacher Chamber of Commerce, President Klind... are still clamoring, Your Majesty and everyone, these are their exact words, I said it, don't be angry."

"What did they say?" Ryan laughed.

"They said... the Brittanian knights have 100 military points, 80 political points, and 0 economic points. They also said... Marienburg is the territory of the empire. If the Brittanian knights come as friends, they will be entertained with fine wines. If you want to be a jackal, you can only serve with a double-barreled shotgun." Talleyrand smiled so hard that his teeth were exposed: "They also said that Marienburg is the headquarters of the Church of Poseidon Mannann. Does the Lady in the Lake want to start a war between gods? ?”

"Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!" Ryan laughed so hard that tears came out: "Everyone, the business princes of Marienburg seem to think that we knight nobles can't do anything."

"Hahahaha!" The Supreme Command was filled with happy air.

However, traditional knights and nobles such as Kalad and Berhemond were worried because they really didn't know what to do.

"There is indeed a problem with Poseidon Mannann, but don't worry, I have asked my lady to negotiate with Mannann." Ryan laughed for a while and then became serious: "As for what we should do, Callard, Bertrand."

"Here!" The two marshals stood up.

"Collect the troops and wait for my order to immediately cross the border of Britannia and arrive at the outskirts of Marienburg!" Ryan said first.

"But... what's the reason?" Kalad hesitated, then asked: "Sending a large number of troops across the border without any prior explanation, will this have a very bad impact?"

"Chasing the remnants of Chaos." Ryan laughed and cursed: "Isn't this an easy excuse?"

"Ah! Yes!" Kalad suddenly realized, he understood, and immediately drew inferences: "And we have reason to suspect that there are a large number of Chaos believers in Marienburg, and we must strictly investigate! We also need to enter the city to search carefully!"

"Yes, there must be a strict investigation, but we are not responsible for the investigation. We will hand over this glorious task to Marienburg Archduke Schulz." Ryan's smile almost twisted: "We still believe in Marienburg's self-discipline and We believe that Archbishop Schulz will give us a fair explanation and answer."

Calard and Bertrand took the order, and Ryan said to the Dukes: "In addition to the army, the other hand must also be grasped, and it must be hard. Please allocate the grain stored in your treasure house and granary to temporarily give it to I, I promise not only to return it all in the end, but also to get extra!”

"I obey your Majesty's orders!" Everyone has absolute confidence in Ryan. He has accomplished too many miracles.

Just like that, the liquidation against Marienburg began!

In mid-February, Britannia held a grand military parade. After the military parade in Curona, more than 20,000 Britannian troops directly turned their offensive and headed directly towards Marienburg, without any hesitation. Crossing the border between the Kingdom of Knights and the Empire without scruples, Kalad used the excuse of "pursuing the remnants of Chaos" and "pursuing Chaos believers" to sweep all the way, approaching the outskirts of Marienburg in just 10 days!

The actions of the Bretons caused great panic in the upper and lower houses of Marienburg. What do the Bretons want to do? !

Our Marienburg is an imperial territory. Do you want to provoke a war? !

However, Kalad seemed to be a little worried. Kalad's army and Bertrand's army only arrived at the outskirts of Marienburg and did not rush into the city.

Now the business princes are full of confidence again. After all, the Brittanians still dare not enter the city~

They started to come up with new ideas again.

Frying grain, frying cloth, hoarding!

From Imperial Calendar 2522 to Imperial Calendar 2524, the old world was in torment. Estalia, the Border Princely Territory, and Tyrell had basically all fallen. The Empire was also struggling to hold on despite the turmoil. Only Brita Nia is pretty stable.

This kind of incomparable chaos soon brought terrible business opportunities to the merchants in Marienburg. Among them, the merchants focused most closely on grain and cloth. Food was a necessity for survival, and cloth was used for making goods. Clothes are the necessities of life in the old world. With the large-scale reduction in food production and the shortage of military supplies in the old world, the merchants of Marienburg began to frantically speculate on food prices. From 2522 to 2524 in the Imperial Calendar, In 2008, food prices soared by 450%, and cloth prices by 230%.

With the Skaven War in 2523 and the recent defense of Kurona, Clinder, the largest grain merchant in the Old World and the president of the Bacher Chamber of Commerce, judged that the Old World would usher in a new wave of food shortages.

At the same time, due to the blockade outside Marienburg by the Britannian army, there was panic throughout the old world. As the largest commercial center and trade center in the entire old world, the prices of Marienburg greatly affected the old world. The world's commodity prices, under the temptation of hoarding speculation, and the temptation of ultra-high profits, the merchants in the trenches closely united around Klind, the president of the Bacher Chamber of Commerce, and began to gather funds for speculation.

At the same time, in order not to give the Brittanians an excuse, the merchants in Marienburg were also very careful. They tried their best to make everything they did legal transactions and sales, and did not allow the knights and nobles to intervene. At the same time, they continued to He made various remarks, and on the one hand he urgently sent letters to the front lines of the empire to ask for help from the empire, and on the other hand he kept emphasizing that if Marienburg was destroyed, the old world would be destroyed.

"Marinburg is the hub of the old world. Anyone who attacks Marienburg at this time is harming the interests of the old world and giving a knife to foreign forces (referring to Chaos). It is ignoring the great cause of the old world's fight against chaos. The sinners of the world!"

"Britannia's 10-hour work system and eight days off are obviously not in line with the specific conditions of Marienburg. The 15-hour work system is the work system that best suits the characteristics of Marienburg!"

"Whoever wants workers to have higher wages and not work overtime, or who wants workers to have collective bargaining rights, is trying to destroy Marienburg's advantage of cheap labor, and is making trouble with the people of the empire!"

Just as the trench merchants expected, the Brittanians seemed to be afraid. The Calard Army and Bertrand Army stationed outside the city had no intention of entering the city.

The opportunity has come!

In March, as spring plowing began one after another, the grain production in the Old World except Britannia faced another wave of major reductions. The Bacher Chamber of Commerce took the lead in directly eating all the grain on the market and then hoarding it. Compared with In 2522 and 2524, food prices had soared to 670%, and many poor people could not afford even a piece of black bread after working all day.

At this moment, Brittania took action.

Ryan mobilized an astonishing amount of food from all over the Knight Kingdom and stored it in Kurona. Under his instruction, the Estalia Merchant Alliance, the Oliver Chamber of Commerce, the Hadrian Chamber of Commerce, and the Agnew Chamber of Commerce A large chamber of commerce began to sell grain on the market.

On March 1, the Estalia Businessmen's Union announced that it would sell 10 million kilograms of grain to the market. The Marienburg merchants headed by the Bacher Chamber of Commerce ate it all in one go, and then sold it to private bakeries for double the amount. It turns out that under the huge profits, countless big businessmen headed by the Bacher Chamber of Commerce borrowed usury to speculate in commodities, with daily interest rates as high as 50%-100%. Food prices continue to rise.

On March 5, the Oliver Chamber of Commerce announced that it would sell 10 million kilograms of grain to the market. In just one day, the Bacher Chamber of Commerce bought all the grain again, and grain prices continued to rise steadily.

On March 9, the Hadrian Chamber of Commerce once again sold 10 million kilograms of grain to the market. More than 30% of the merchants in the upper and lower houses of Marienburg continued to work together to eat all the grain.

On March 10, the Agnew Chamber of Commerce followed Lane's order and continued to sell 10 million kilograms of grain to the market.

The funds of the merchants began to be tight, and at this time, the Schulz Chamber of Commerce, the largest chamber of commerce in Marienburg, and the Gentlemen's Alliance Chamber of Commerce, the second largest chamber of commerce, took the initiative to borrow large amounts of money. At extremely high interest rates, Bach The Er Chamber of Commerce once again ate all the food on the market.

On March 15, grain prices reached their highest point in the history of the Old World. The price of finely ground barley flour, which originally cost 13 silver coins per kilogram, has reached as high as 15 gold coins per kilogram. The price of rye has also skyrocketed from the original price of 6 silver coins per kilogram. At 5 gold coins per kilogram, the market has gone crazy. Oliver, Hadrian, Amancio and others even borrowed large amounts of money from the merchants in Marienburg to allow them to speculate in goods, amounting to hundreds of thousands of gold crowns.

"Take it." After receiving the news, Ryan, who was sitting in Kurona, gently turned off the dwarf pocket watch and uttered one word.

On March 16, each of the four major chambers of commerce, the Estalia Merchant Alliance, the Oliver Chamber of Commerce, the Hadrian Chamber of Commerce, and the Agnew Chamber of Commerce, sold 10 million kilograms of grain at the same time, for a total of 40 million kilograms of grain and 120 tons. of cloth and 240 tons of livestock were thrown into the Marienburg Market at one go!

The merchants finally realized that something was wrong. When the market first came on the market, they were still rushing to buy grain and cloth. However, with the crazy selling one after another, the prices of grain and cloth began to plummet. One price per hour, within one day, the price of grain fell by half, the price of cloth fell by 60%, and many large merchants' capital chains were broken and they suffered heavy losses.

At the same time, the Brittanians were still selling grain, and there was simply not enough goods on the market to buy!

And on the 16th, two major events happened.

Under Ryan's request, the Fairy of the Lake formally reached an agreement with the sea god Mannann and the goddess of justice Valena. Under the guarantee of the interests of the gods of the old world, the gods agreed not to intervene in this war without gunpowder.

At the same time, Schultz suddenly announced as the Grand Duke of Marienburg, together with the Church of the Sea and the High Elf Enclave, that during internal inspections, Marienburg discovered traces of Chaos Sect and vampire activities, and must carry out "elimination" , all banks were temporarily closed for inspection. Schultz and Casanova worked together to collect debts, tighten money, and freeze loans.

At the same time, Lane outside the city also immediately announced the issuance of a new issue of Britannia War Treasury Bonds with an interest rate of 9% and a face value of 2 million gold crowns to further tighten money. At the same time, Lane asked Callard and Bet Lang ordered a blockade of Marienburg, and supplies were not allowed in or out!

The merchants headed by the Bacher Chamber of Commerce could no longer withstand the pressure and began to sell off grain and cloth. They lost money and were also saddled with extremely heavy debts!

Within 3 days, grain prices halved again, and more than 40% of the merchants in Marienburg declared bankruptcy. Schulz sent troops to strictly guard warehouses and banks, but he still could not stop many merchants from trying to carry out their business. There was also the secret sabotage of the Chaos Sect. When the city was approaching chaos, Schulz pretended to be helpless and responded to the call of the citizens of Marienburg and with the nod of several major churches headed by Poseidon Church, Brittany outside the city The runner-up troops were allowed to enter the city to put down the rebellion and maintain order.

On March 20, the King's Division of Britannia officially entered Marienburg.

Marienburg officially entered military control. Before entering the city, Ryan repeatedly emphasized discipline. The King's Division of Britannia entered Marienburg without committing any crime and maintained the strictest military discipline. There was no random robbery or killing.

At the same time, among the baskets of incriminating evidence and stacks of debt documents, the Brittanians delivered these things to the Archduke Schulz of Marienburg in a very fair, just and open manner. Sun King Ryan expressed his respect for Marienburg. Limburg's autonomous laws, respecting the laws of the Empire, invited Schulz to administer justice, execute those associated with Chaos and Vampires, try the guilty and confiscate all property.

Schultz's hands were sore when he stamped "guilty" that day.

Armed with Schulz's verdict, the knights of Britannia began to go door-to-door to inspect warehouses, seize accounts, and collect loans. At the same time, the Old Guard and the Holy Grail Knights executed those who had anything to do with Chaos one by one, and eliminated the hidden ones. Chaos cults and vampire organizations, more than half of Marienburg's thousands of dock warehouses were seized to pay off debts.

The dock porters, workers, servants, refugees and farmers who have suffered from the vampires of these big trench merchants for a long time are extremely excited. These people spontaneously lead the way and tell the knights the atrocities of these capitalists and how they suck our blood and exploit us. our!

no problem! The knights and the old guards beat their chests, we will make the decision for you!

Marienburg, your grandpa knight is here!

On March 25, the corpses of speculators and big businessmen were hung under the street lights in Marienburg. The most famous among them was Klind, the former president of the Bacher Chamber of Commerce, the largest grain merchant in the old world. Debted hundreds of thousands of gold marks, he tried to escape and was convicted of treason.

Behind Klind, the bodies of more than a hundred trench traders were hung under the street lights of Guild Street and Amber Avenue.

The number was shocking, and Marienburg, which was once extremely prosperous, began to fall into depression.

The corpse swayed back and forth under the street lamp. Under the auspices of Lane and Schulz, a new order was established. The original 15-hour work system was abolished by Lane's proposal and passed by Schulz's upper and lower houses, and was changed to a maximum of 12 hours a day. The work system and the minimum wage rose from 3 copper coins per day to 5 copper coins per day. At the same time, Lane announced that in addition to Mannann's Day, the birthday of the Fairy of the Lake and the Day of the Holy Grail were officially designated as statutory holidays in Marienburg, with the former being a holiday. 3 days, the latter 2 days, must be observed in any employment.

At the same time, the X+1 work-related injury compensation system was officially established. If a work-related injury occurs during employment, the employer must compensate. The Marienburg branch of the Lake Fairy Church announced that it will accept labor arbitration for work-related injuries. Anyone can request justice from the Prophet of the Lake God here. The church only accepts 10% arbitration fee.

After 29 months, the price of grain finally fell back to 130% of the level in 2522. The price of cloth dropped significantly. Everyone could finally have enough to eat and wear warm clothes. Ryan even used 1 million kilograms of grain to make cookies and liqueur. , distributed directly on the streets for free for three days in the name of the Fairy of the Lake.

The whole city was rejoicing, and people spontaneously took to the streets to express their gratitude to the knights through parades.

Brittany's chivalry culture began to become the mainstream culture of Marienburg.

On March 30, an edict with the emperor's seal was sent to Lane's case. After reading it, Lane ordered 50,000 Breton troops to withdraw from Marienburg in three batches within two weeks.

"After we leave, they will give you holidays, reduce your working hours, and increase your wages. This is not because of their conscience or because they have become good people, but because we have been here."

————Feudal Knights of Brittany

Before leaving, the citizens of Marienburg were reluctant to leave the knights. Many people cried bitterly, and more citizens were thinking about whether Marienburg would usher in a new era if Britannia ruled it. Fairer and better times?

Those who slipped through the net in the upper and lower houses of Marienburg watched with great humiliation and hatred as the knights came home with their loads, and more than half of the seats in the entire upper and lower houses were empty.

Please you devils, please don't come again!

Attached:

When the last Brittanian troops withdrew from Marienburg on April 15, the list of supplies seized and taken away by the Bretons from the warehouses and accounts of the merchants in Marienburg was as follows:

A total of more than 400,000 gold crowns and gold marks, a small amount of dwarf gold coins and more than 1 million silver coins of various colors.

120 cannons of various colors and more than 1,000 carriages.

3,200 muskets, 260,000 rounds of ammunition, and more than 1,400 barrels of gunpowder.

4,800 sets of imperial standard equipment and 21,000 sets of imperial soldier uniforms (made by the major provinces and Marienburg).

More than 37,000 pairs of shoes and boots of varying quality.

More than 38 million kilograms of grain and 200 tons of meat.

More than 730 boxes of luxury goods.

More than 50,000 barrels of imperial beer and more than 1,000 barrels of rum, and more than 500 crates of wine, mead, whiskey and vodka.

It is roughly estimated that the total value of the supplies looted by the Brittanians from Marienburg was more than 4 million gold crowns.

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