That evening, after receiving the warning that the Chinese army was being raided, a twelve-man cavalry team, led by two leading knights, rushed to the monastery overnight holding torches. By the time these cavalry arrived, the battle had already ended, and even the battlefield had been almost cleaned.
However, the arrival of this group of cavalry relieved the pressure on Balian. Although the raiding rebel bandits were almost wiped out in the afternoon battle, the battle losses of the frontier troops were also considerable. Although the cavalry and infantry directly under Balian's central army were all elite, the rebels who were fighting to the death also killed and wounded more than 20 border troops. If another accident occurred at this time, Balian would really be unable to parry.
At dawn the next day, another army arrived at the monastery.
This team was not the ones who came to rescue after receiving a warning, they were the ones who encircled and suppressed this group of rebels and bandits.
At noon the day before yesterday, when these encirclement and suppression border troops discovered that there was no one in the encirclement, they immediately began to pursue them. However, more than two hundred border troops searched the north of the encirclement for a long time and found no trace of the rebels.
It was at this time that they suddenly woke up - the rebels might be heading south to attack Balian's central army, and after adjusting their pursuit direction, they found traces of a large group of troops heading south.
This frightened the officers. Once Balian was killed or captured, the remaining people would not be able to escape the blame.
The encirclement and suppression frontier army, who was in a cold sweat, ran wildly for an afternoon and the whole night before arriving at the monastery...
Balian did not pursue the crime because he was in a good mood and accidentally annihilated the largest group of rebel bandits. The hunt was basically a victory.
At noon the next day, Balian left a leading baron and led a hundred soldiers to continue to clear out the remaining bandits in the mountains. Then he ordered the rest of the army to end the hunt and return to Wilno and the surrounding military fortresses.
The Ates, who had slept soundly all night, also followed Balian, escorting the prisoners and carrying the heads back to the city of Wilno.
The triumphant return of the victorious army, of course, the whole city of Wilno celebrated with joy, especially those merchant travelers and wealthy squires who had been harassed by the rebel bandits.
This of course includes European trading houses that need to transport goods to and from various places.
Under Art's instruction, Sergio, the steward of the Wilno Continental Trading Company, sent three carts full of wine, meat, fruits and vegetables and Provence silver coins worth more than three thousand pfennigs to the three hundred frontier troops stationed in Wilno who returned in triumph (the rest returned to their respective stations) as labor gifts.
Balian was not a fool. Of course he understood the intentions of the Continental Trading Company, so in the name of repaying the generosity of the Continental Trading Company, he legitimately hired the Continental Trading Company as the military supplies transporter for the Wilno garrison. The head of the trade guild in Erno City, assisting in the management of large and small caravans and shops in Wilno and the area...
Art is also very good at doing things. After the celebration banquet, he invited several high-ranking commanders of the Wilno army and the territorial steward, tax officer, peace officer and other officials to have fun in the most luxurious tavern in Wilno City after the celebration banquet.
After a night of hanging out, everyone naturally became a little closer to the financial backer behind the European Trading Company...
At the end of the night, Art left the tavern with Ron and Matthew and planned to return to the Continental Trading Company to rest. After having a good time with wine and dinner, the rest of the entertainment was hosted by Sergio. It was not convenient for him as a viscount to participate because Balian, who was also a viscount, was also having a good time. After he was full, he left the tavern so that his men could open their clothes and enjoy themselves...
It was already late April, and it was supposed to be warm in Wilno, which was located in the south, but there was still a bit of bone-chilling chill coming out of the warm tavern late at night.
Ron wrapped himself in cotton armor, "Master, it's time to rest in the hotel room now?"
The glass of beer and wine served tonight had made Art a little unconscious. He raised his hand and rubbed his cheek to wake himself up.
"Forget it, let's go back to the trading house and be quiet." There were eight or nine Wilno officers and officials staying in the tavern tonight for entertainment. It must have been a night of noisy activities, and Art didn't want to listen to the wild beasts.
…..
Everyone rested quietly in the guest room of the business house for a night.
The next day, Ron got up early in the morning. While Sergio, the manager of the trading company, was still in the tavern, he called a clerk from the trading company alone. The clerk was from Linjun, Ron's hometown.
The purpose of Ron's conversation with the clerk alone was very simple. He secretly appointed the clerk as the eagle eye under the guard officer. One was to inquire about the things he told through the Continental Trading Company's caravan, and the other was to be Art's eyes and ears in the Wilno Continental Trading Company.
This appointment comes with a separate salary, and the monthly salary of twenty Fenni will be paid quietly through the caravan...
While Ron was placing his informants, Art, who had just finished a simple breakfast, had already gone to Lord Verno's Hall to bid farewell to Balian in person. There were still a lot of things waiting for the territory's military and civil affairs, and the European commercial lines had to be sorted out one by one. He couldn't spend too much time here.
Entering the Lord's Hall, Balian's personal guard informed Art that he had arrived at Balian's mansion.
Balian is obviously not a leisurely nobleman. When Art walked into the mansion, Balian was already fully dressed.
"Lord Balian, I say goodbye to you specifically. There are many general affairs in the North, and I have to end my trip and return to Burgundy as soon as possible." Art said goodbye to Balian directly.
“You and I are both hardworking people. Every day when we open our eyes, we are either fighting endless bad battles or busy with endless chores. Okay, I won’t force you to be a guest. It just so happens that I plan to personally escort the rebels to Aosta City to present prisoners, so I will send you off by the way. We We can stay a few more days if we go north together."
Those rebels and bandits were not worthy of Balian's personal sacrifice, but he just learned yesterday that the Vice Minister of the Palace of Provence personally went to Aosta City to supervise the tax collection.
· Living in a remote place for a long time can easily be ignored by those in the center of power, so Balian will not miss any opportunity to show off. What's more, the suppression of the rebels and bandits this time is also a big feat, which is suitable for display to the higher authorities...
· Art is of course happy to learn that Balian will go north to Aosta City to offer prisoners.
Aosta is the largest transshipment point for European trading houses in the east of Provence. It is one of the trading houses controlled by Sartre himself (the other is the European trading house in Kitzby). Art is worried that it is not easy to get in touch with the officials in Aosta City. It is much more convenient to have Balian personally accompany him.
Balian is also acting resolutely. He just decided to go north to Aosta last night, and this morning he has made preparations - eight carriages and thirty attendants to protect him.
The thirty guards were all elite cavalry. In addition to prisoners and heads, the eight carriages also contained some gifts prepared for the deputy minister of the palace and the powerful friends of Aosta.
The five men from Art followed, following Balian's side.
The rest of the trip went very smoothly. If Ater and the others went north alone, they would inevitably be exploited along the way. However, if they followed Balian's flag, the doors would be opened and closed and people would be sent along the road. There was no need to worry about being intercepted and inspected for fish and meat.
· Due to the fast carriages and smooth roads, the team only took six days to reach the central city of Aosta from Wilno in the south.
On the way from Wilno to Aosta City, we also passed two shops and warehouses under the Continental Trading Company. However, these two places were not important, so the shops and warehouses were small in scale. They were mainly responsible for the acquisition of surrounding goods, the sales of northern goods, and the reception and temporary storage of internal caravan goods. Of course, Art also stopped and explained the rewards to the stewards.
Of course, Ron still placed spies in various shops and warehouses owned by European trading houses.
Aosta is the largest city in eastern Provence and one of the five largest cities in the Principality of Provence.
The national war a few years ago turned Aosta into a dead city. Art still remembers the Lombard corpses rotting in the city's lonely river. It is simply a miracle of God that the city did not break out of the plague after the war.
But at this time, Aosta no longer had the stench of corpses all over the sky. Although it still couldn't get rid of the bad luck of poop and garbage everywhere, the smell of feces was much fresher compared to the stench of death.
The city of Aosta has gone through several battles and changes of ownership between the principalities of Provence and Lombardy, and almost all the citizens in the city have died or fled.
After the war, the Provence court spent a lot of money and people to rebuild the city and recruit citizens. However, this would not be effective for three to five years. Therefore, the population of Aosta City was less than half that before the war, and the industrial and commercial industries were in decline.
No one had the energy to recall the past glory of this place. After entering the city, Art and Balian agreed to meet at a tavern in the city in the evening, and then they went about their business.
Of course, Balian was busy going to the Aosta City Hall to report the military merits of the prisoners of war and then went to visit the deputy palace minister in person, while Art also led Ron and others directly towards the trading house in the center of Aosta.
If we were to switch to Provence before the war, the size of the Continental Trading Company would not be considered a role. However, the war has collapsed the commercial system of Provence. Now, with hundreds of horse-drawn carriage fleets, more than a dozen shops and warehouses, more than a hundred clerks (including fleet attendants), and an annual gross profit of more than 500,000 Fenio, the Continental Trading Company is already a commercial force that cannot be underestimated.
What is more important is that the Continental Trading Company has attracted many down-and-out Provence merchants and forces during the war. These people either collect and purchase goods for the Continental Trading Company, undertake short-distance cargo transportation, or become shareholders in the form of money, supply of goods, shops, etc., not to mention the lords and nobles along the trade routes who also hope to get meat from the Continental Trading Company.
In short, many people along the eastern side of Provence now rely on the Continental Trading Company for survival. The Continental Trading Company has also shown its amazing vitality. Even during the Burgundy Civil War in the Northland last year, the parties dependent on it did not suffer heavy losses. On the contrary, all profits were the same as the previous year. Of course, Continental Commercial Bank made almost no money internally.
But precisely because of this, in the city of Aosta, where many businessmen originally gathered, the Continental Trading Company was able to become one of the trading houses that settled in the city's commercial guild. Salt, the general manager of the Continental Trading Company, was one of the seven heads of the Aosta Commercial Guild, although his status was ranked last...