Roland looked at Peiro with interest, and suddenly laughed, "You are the first person to ask me that," he took a sip of water from the cup, and said in a relaxed tone, "There is no doubt about the Longsong Fortress. It's mine, even if I'm not here. However, I do need someone or a family to keep the fortress for me. So, you should ask not for ransom, but for agency fees."
Agent... Peiro is no stranger to this word. Some keen-eyed merchants will always focus on the nobles who have a lot of output in the territory, but have no time or disdain to trade, and sell goods for them. In order to obtain this right, they have to pay a sum in advance as a security deposit.
"How many golden dragons do you want?" He took a deep breath and calmed himself down.
"This is a long-term process, so you don't have to pay it all at once," Roland paused. "Thirty percent of the fortress tax every month, as well as a thousand worth of supplies, the rest is yours."
It's not outrageous, Pei Luo thought, as long as he can completely occupy Changsong Fortress, such a price can even be said to be fair. The other party is not joking, he confirmed this, His Royal Highness really intends to do this.
A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Pelor told himself in his heart. He and the prince are not enemies. The duke has completely failed, and his children will be deprived of their inheritance. If the allied forces of the six great families can't defeat the prince, who can stop him from actually owning the Western Territory? Relying on powerful forces is the basic rule for nobles to continue. If they can get the approval of His Royal Highness the Prince before the other four, Honeysuckle will become the largest noble family in the Western Territory.
"Your Highness, why don't you stay here? This castle is much bigger than that in Border Town."
"You actually want to ask, why don't I manage the fortress myself?" Roland smiled while looking at Peiro, who was a little embarrassed, "There are many reasons, for example, the forces here are too complicated, and it takes time to straighten out the relationship between them. It took me a long time to get rid of me, let alone profit from it. If you support a local noble, he must know how to govern this place better than me. This is a win-win business. Besides, there are many reasons, you can slowly Go back and think about it." The prince played with the silver cup, "By the way, if you are chosen as your agent, you can't possibly avenge me for the Duke, right?"
"Of course not, Your Highness!" Although the last sentence was a little abrupt, Pei Luo replied immediately.
With the Duke gone, the first thing that the Five Great Families thought of was how to divide up his territory, revenge, who cares
But Pei Luo also knew that these reasons His Highness said were not the real reasons. The forces are too complicated and difficult to straighten out? In the face of overwhelming force, he can completely eradicate the leading opposition forces. In one to two years at most, all nobles will forget the loser Ryan, just like Ryan has done in the past. But two years is definitely not enough time to build Border Town into a big city like Changsong Fortress.
His Royal Highness Roland must have deeper plans.
"That's good, then this city..."
"I am willing to act for you, Your Highness!" Peiro blurted out, but his expression soon became hesitant again, "But, no, the king, I mean your brother, he may not necessarily agree with this result. If he gives The west is assigned to a new duke, and I am powerless to fight against the capital."
"You don't need confrontation either," Roland threw the two letters in front of him. "Look at this, and the paperwork I found in Duke Ryan's study."
Pei Luo quickly scanned the contents of the letter and couldn't help taking a breath.
The first one looks like a secret letter, the new king Tifeko fought with the Queen of Clear Water in Eagle City, and suffered a major defeat? The content of the second letter is even more terrifying. The document is only half-written, but Duke Ryan wants to annex the North, and his idea of becoming an independent king has already been revealed on the paper. Since there is no end, it is unknown to whom this paper is intended to be sent.
He immediately understood that His Royal Highness meant that there was no need to resist, because the new king was already too busy to take care of himself. Otherwise, the Duke would definitely not want to raise the flag for independence. His elite knights are enough to conquer the Western Regions, but they are still far behind the Royal Capital Knights.
The secret letter may be forged, but this document is indeed Osmond Lane's handwriting, unless the prince finds a witch who can imitate other people's handwriting... He thought about it, and then denied the guess.
There is no need for the other party to go to great lengths to deceive him. Acting Changge Fortress is not a one-sided transaction. If he cannot gain a firm foothold in the fortress, His Royal Highness will also not be able to profit. Moreover, the duke designated by Tifeco was bound to be the enemy of the fourth prince.
If Honeysuckle wants to be superior to the four great families, she has to rely on the support of the prince. On the contrary, in order to ensure that the treaty of her own interests will not be abolished, the prince must also let the Hermon family sit more firmly in this position.
Thinking of this, Peiro slowly stood up and bowed to Roland, "The Hermon family is willing to serve you."
"Very well," the latter nodded, "but I can't decide yet to represent you. I'll ask you a few questions first."
"Excuse me, Your Highness."
"How do you plan to deal with the forces that oppose you?"
"What is your estimate of your monthly tax? How can you guarantee a thousand-value material?"
"If I ask you to vigorously develop commerce, what measures will you take?"
"… "
Pei Luo thought that His Highness just wanted to take this opportunity to learn about the information of various nobles in the Lower Western Territory, but he did not expect that the other party would ask such strange questions, as if he was evaluating his governance methods and business common sense.
After asking a series of questions, Peiro racked his brains to answer them one by one, and His Highness's expression became more and more satisfied. In the end, he clapped his hands and said, "That's right, I'll be here today. When you determine the ransom of 3,000, you can come to redeem the Count. Don't worry, I will treat him well these days."
"Your Highness, that agency..."
"It will also be revealed that day." Roland motioned for the knight to see off the guest.
Peiro walked out of the hall in a complicated mood, and then saw that Carter put the Stone of God's Punishment that he had taken back into his hand, which was still blue and translucent, the one worth fifty golden dragons.
*****************
"How's it going?" Roland looked at Nightingale, who appeared to the side.
"Well, it's basically the truth," she shrugged. "It's much more sincere than the previous ones. Then again, are you really okay with repeating the same thing to everyone? It's classified content."
"Not everyone," the prince looked at the list in his hand, "they are all from the five major families, suitable for managing the fortress on my behalf, and only these great nobles. Those who are not powerful enough, even if they take this position, they cannot make the fortress. If it works, it will only cause the forces of all parties to fall into endless infighting. As for the news of Timothy Wimbledon's defeat in Eagle City, it is not a secret. Sooner or later, this matter will spread throughout Greycastle. , what I'm trying to do is make it spread a little faster."
And these two pieces of news are really just right, he thought, if it wasn't for the second prince's defeat, he would have to spend a lot of time to recruit an agent. If he used coercion, the result might not be so beautiful.
"So... you chose him?"
"If nothing else," Roland said with a smile, "he was the first person who took the initiative to ask me about this matter. Subjectivity has always been the most important quality of employees. And I didn't expect that the five major families would also With people who are so proficient in administration and trade, I thought they would just ride around and kill."
He found Peyro Hermon's name on the list and lightly drew a circle with a quill. (. If you like this work, you are welcome to come and vote, your support is my biggest motivation. Please come.)