When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

"Bay Creek Avenue has been vandalized again."

"Those damned nobles!" A burly youth, as stout as a bear, slammed his fist on the table. "Just let me see them, let me see them, and they'll learn what a charge is, I'll knock them flying!"

Stretching her curvaceous figure, Catherine expressionlessly checked the ledgers in her hand: "Karl, be calm in the face of trouble."

"会长 (Chairman), isn't this the first time they've done this? They just fought us last time, and they've already forgotten the pain."

"See, you're getting anxious again." Mittenne smiled, pressing his shoulder to make the powerful Edict Knight sit down before leisurely pouring himself a cup of black tea.

"Is black tea alright?"

Without answering, Karl took the cup of black tea and drank it in one gulp.

Catherine closed the ledger, made two entries, and then picked up the brief from the mahogany desk.

Pushing up her crystal glasses, Catherine silently read the message from the construction site.

Their location was the headquarters of the Megdi Merchant Guild.

This blockhouse in Rapid Falls City was made entirely of red bricks and covered an area of about two acres.

The orange-red walls were covered with gray-green ivy, and the highest turret was even taller than the local church.

But no clergyman had any objections.

After all, Rapid Falls City was one of the only two Imperial Free Cities in the entire Thousand River Valley, and the clergymen could only harbor resentment in their hearts, plotting a counterattack.

"This time, they've gone all out. Dozens of our guards have been killed or injured." Catherine tucked her brown-red hair behind her ears.

"Saying it was done by bandits, who would believe that?" Karl was still indignant, he had finally repaired some roads, and they were destroyed again.

"With Bay Creek Avenue repaired, cheap grain from the coast can be continuously imported into Thousand River Valley. Isn't that poking at the lungs of the Thousand River Valley nobles?" Mittenne said with a smile. "Don't say it's a decision of the Imperial Parliament, even if the Pope himself said it, they would pretend to comply."

As long as Bay Creek Avenue is built, everything will be fine.

Catherine sighed helplessly.

It was just that at this time, a flood came, and the entire Thousand River Valley was plunged into chaos, which gave those nobles a chance.

You should know that cities profit from the secondary and tertiary industries such as metal processing, handicrafts, and banking.

The bulk of the assets of feudal lords are natural resources from the primary industries such as agriculture, forestry, mining, and animal husbandry.

After the Hundred Years' War ended, cheap grain, wood, medicinal materials, and minerals from the Flesh Courtyard entered the Imperial market, and the situation changed.

Due to the near-zero low-end labor costs of the Flesh Courtyard, their mining, farming, and logging were almost cost-free - all done by skeletons and zombies!

Skeletons and zombies don't need to eat, don't need to drink, have no intelligence, no opinions, except that they can't do complex labor and handicrafts, they are simply heaven-chosen cattle and horses.

How could the old Imperial farmers resist such powerful cattle and horses?

So, in the Imperial market, especially in the coastal areas, the knight lords were killed by the vampire dukes' price war, forcing the Empire to hastily introduce the 《Grain Law》.

But the Grain Law was useless, and was even accused by many nobles and merchants of being the Imperial Parliament's big nobles profiting for themselves.

Because after the 《Grain Law》 was introduced, the most rampant smugglers were those big nobles who originally legislated it.

The law I made, can it still let the law violate me?

A 《Grain Law》 turned the original free Imperial import grain market into a monopoly market for the big nobles.

However, the most affected were the feudal lords along the coast.

For inland areas like Thousand River Valley, with road problems and layers of private tax cards and robber knights' robberies, Western grain shipped to the inland was already about the same price as local grain.

Bay Creek Avenue is a battering ram for the Leia royal family and several Imperial free cities along the coast to try to open up the inland market.

With this avenue, it can shorten the winding small roads and small tax cards along the way, and directly lead to the hinterland of the Empire.

The construction project of the Thousand River Valley section of Bay Creek Avenue is contracted by the Megdi Merchant Guild in the Cross-Armor Wood Territory.

Once the avenue is completed, high-quality wool and cheap grain from the West Continent and the Shattered Stone Plain can be imported into Thousand River Valley.

Coupled with the local prosperous dyeing industry, according to Catherine's plan, it can start to integrate weaving, printing, and dyeing.

At that time, free cities will spring up from the land of Thousand River Valley like mushrooms after rain.

Thousand River Valley migrants enter the free city to become laborers, then the original tense contradiction between people and land will be alleviated.

With the existence of free cities, lords who are afraid of farmers running away will definitely not dare to be too harsh, and the lives of ordinary farmers will become better.

As for the inevitable war with the knight lords, Catherine was prepared.

Behind her stood two powerful dukes - Duke Kush Danay and Her Majesty the Stone Duchess Moliati.

Duke Kush's ancestors had their crowns broken by the Leia people, and many family members lost their titles. They endured humiliation for hundreds of years, and had been planning an uprising since his great-grandfather's generation.

He was Catherine's first choice for cooperation, because he was soft-hearted, relatively amiable, and could take advantage of the post-war distribution of benefits.

The problem is that with his kind of womanly benevolence and hesitant personality, he may not be able to win in the small civil war in Thousand River Valley.

Although Her Majesty the Stone Duchess Moliati is Catherine's close friend, the kind who can take a bath together, but asking Catherine to hand over Thousand River Valley to her is still a bit uneasy.

She knows this old girl too well.

This old girl has always been ruthless, power-hungry, and her subordinates are a bunch of poor and hungry knights, belonging to the iron-blooded monarch type.

It is naturally very simple for her to fight against these small Caramels in Thousand River Valley.

But the post-war distribution of benefits is a problem. Catherine and others can only be subordinates or leave, there is no second choice.

"Can we ask the Imperial Parliament or the royal family to put pressure on those nobles?" Karl asked Catherine irritably.

"This time, it's just a fake show of sneaking around, which is already the result of pressure. Now the Leia royal family is fighting for the throne, how can they care about us?" Catherine put all the documents back in place, and then stretched lazily with relief.

"You go to Duke Kush to borrow some people, strictly guard and defend, and it will be a success if the already built roads and bridges are not damaged."

"Our guild's shareholders, especially those bankers in the south, have always been dissatisfied with our recent situation, and they have written letters more than once."

"Drag it on. With Moliati around, they wouldn't dare to touch me even if they had a hundred guts." Catherine waved her hand domineeringly.

"Speaking of which, Her Majesty the Stone Duchess doesn't seem to have any movements recently? According to the original plan, she should have put pressure on Archbishop Constance."

Shrugging her shoulders, Catherine leaned back in her chair, rubbing her swollen temples.

This master has always been maverick, who knows where she went.

Maybe she saw that the situation was not right, and directly mobilized troops to rob the execution ground.

Mittenne pulled out a piece of paper from the mountain of documents: "On the matter of the Roan Dam, the two from the church have reconciled. After all, Thousand River Valley has been making a bit of a fuss recently."

"How did they reconcile?"

"His Majesty Johnny VIII has appointed a neutral French as cardinal."

"Will Johnny VIII retreat just like that?" Catherine took off her glasses, her long eyelashes fluttering lazily, she picked up her handkerchief and began to wipe the glasses.

Mittenne immediately laughed: "How is that possible? We've heard that he's preparing to appoint a Johnny-faction cardinal himself, and he's already spread the word."

Wiping the crystal glasses so that they were spotless, Catherine put them back on: "Continue to inquire about the Vatican, it doesn't matter how much money it costs, and Flying Falls Fortress must be arranged. Let's prepare, we'll be taking a boat over there soon. I'm still worried about my teacher's stubborn temper."

ps: Too late brothers, today a little overtime plus school something, the promised chapter will be doubled back on the weekend, sorry.