"...According to the count's order, after hearing the sound of four thunder explosions, your troops quickly moved closer to the Palace Guards and compressed the Lombards' activity space from the southwest. Remember to make sure to act after four sounds..."
In the city of Lavati, the door of an "ordinary" city business with a sign "Buying Southern Goods at High Prices" was in darkness. Inside a wooden grille window on the right side of the door, a pair of sharp eyes are like a leopard waiting for an opportunity in the dense mountain forest late at night, staring at the prey that is about to appear. It seems that as soon as the prey appears, its well-developed limbs will rush out with lightning speed and bite off the prey's neck...
This man was dressed in a black robe. Even though he was hiding in the house, the hood on his head still covered half of his face as it did every time he went out on a mission. Looking from behind, a sliver of moonlight as thin as morning mist casts through the crack in the window. Occasionally, a chilling autumn wind blows. The man in black wraps up his loose burqa from time to time, as if this can retain the heat emitted by the body.
Late night, the cold and white light was overwhelming, and the man in black's left hand stroked the long sword slung across his waist from time to time. The sharp sword blade was leaning against a wooden chair, and a mark left by the back and forth movement of the sword blade was faintly visible on the armrest of the chair.
At the corner of the chair, a few drops of bright red liquid have begun to solidify, and a few ants are shuttled back and forth, as if the delicious food in front of them has an inexplicable attraction...
There was a battle involving several people not far from the entrance of the shop. The man in black was holding a long sword and killed two people. One sword struck the enemy's heart, the other wiped the opponent's neck. For him, these are just daily routines.
After the battle, the few people who were intact cleaned up the bodies and eliminated the blood stains. Everything was done with ease. He immediately retreated to the inn under the cover of darkness and continued to ambush, preparing to clear out the Lombard cavalry who had just entered the city two days ago, slaughtered several guild leaders and city governors, and took the opportunity to rob them.
I went into the house and ate two pieces of rye bread, swallowed it down with the already cold broth, and then came to squat by the window. This mission was important and directly related to the safety of the army in the north. The men in black did not dare to be careless in the slightest.
A few hours ago, the men in black received orders from above to clear out the cavalry left behind in Lavati City. They then left the city overnight and moved closer to the Guards Corps, trying to annihilate the Lombards in one fell swoop.
This battle is of great significance. The man in black kept recalling the orders issued by the messenger in his mind, for fear of missing something...
………
The shop is located in the most prosperous commercial district in Lavati City. A wide stone road can accommodate five four-wheel carriages passing side by side. The street runs north to south, with shops on both sides, mixed with some luxurious mansions of dignitaries in the city. Among them are the private residences of the heads of Lavati's guilds and wealthy businessmen who travel to various parts of the Southern Continent all year round.
Lavati is based on business, and nine out of ten citizens in the city rely on business to make a living, so every inch of land here is very valuable. Even for the smallest shop in the city, the annual rent is 100,000 pfennigs. Coupled with a series of exorbitant taxes and complicated expenses, plus the coordination between various parties, the cost of a small shop is as high as 150,000 pfennigs. The rent for larger shops is as high as hundreds of thousands of pfennigs a year...
This place relies on commerce for a living, so the shadow of commercial guilds is naturally indispensable. Especially small businessmen or "outsiders" are struggling to get in. Because the two do not have any advantages, whether it is product quality or price, they cannot be compared with those big businessmen and local snakes. If you offend the business guild to which you belong, you may find it difficult to make a living, or you may go bankrupt and leave. But as long as you are involved with the guild, you will always have more fun.
However, there is a shop in the city that just settled here a few months ago. Less than half a month after its opening, the shop has been able to establish relationships with the local guilds that sell valuable southern goods, and has successfully become a member of each major guild. People can't help but marvel at the power behind it. The shop is located about 200 steps from the north-south street, close to the south exit. As for why such a place was chosen as a "stronghold", outsiders can only guess one but not the other.
As a commercial city, Lavati connects the north-south trade routes of Lombardy and is praised by the world as a gem embedded in the heart of Lombardy. The commercial roads that run through the north and south of the city serve as the golden blood flowing in the city. Most of the southern goods and the precious commodities from the East that come in from the southern continent and are sold throughout Europe will enter through the south gate. At this time, merchants in the city will conduct their first transactions in a wide square east of the south gate. Of course, adhering to the principles of first come, first served, price priority and small profits but quick turnover, the best sources of goods and the best products are undoubtedly put on the carriages arranged by those powerful businessmen, while the less important ones are taken away by medium-sized shops in the city. The remaining third-rate goods must be left to small shops in the city and mobile traders who come to trade from other places.
As an important guild member in Lavati City, the shop at the south gate has unsurprisingly obtained the best supply of goods at the lowest price. Even so, the suppliers who resell southern goods are still happy to do so. As the shrewdest businessmen in the Southern Continent, the Lombards have known how to do business since they were born, and they will never do business at a loss...
A few months ago, a gust of wind blew into the ears of the Lombard businessmen. From then on, the purchase price of all high-quality southern goods shipped to Lavati will be 20% higher than when entering the port, but the freight will be borne by yourself. At first, these guys who had been doing business for many years did not believe it. Until one day three months ago, when a caravan with twenty carriages arrived in Lavati and sold the goods they carried from South China at a price that was 20% higher than when they entered the port in Lombardy, less than half a day later, the South China merchants exploded.
Unsurprisingly, it was the shop at the south gate that set off this commercial storm. The signboard above the store door is a bit ordinary - Hokuriku Trading Company.
Those with a discerning eye think this is a shop that sells goods from the South to the North, but secretly, this ordinary shop is extremely active...
The shop is not only close to the south gate, but one block away from the backyard is the free trade square to the east of the south gate. One of the benefits of trade is to exchange goods and each gets what he needs. The other is to collect and exchange information. This is one of the reasons why Hokuriku Trading Company chose this place. Businessmen came from north to south, and there were all kinds of people. From what is the price of furs in the Northland this year to who has the cheapest raw silk in the Southland? From a high-ranking official in Swabia being cuckolded by his subordinates, to a ewe from a farmer's family in Provence giving birth to a few babies... all kinds of complicated information make people overwhelmed. Here, as long as the price you give is attractive enough, you will always get unexpected information.
A few months ago, an exclusive news came from a reasonably good hotel at the entrance of the square—the Lombard Palace intended to send troops to the Burgundian Kingdom of Wells. The party trading information in the hotel was a businessman traveling between Milan and Lavati, the capital of Lombardy, and the other party was one of the stewards of the Hokuriku trading house. This Lombard businessman learned this news from a woman, and this woman was none other than the businessman's wife and the mistress of a court viscount in the Lombardy court who was highly regarded by the Duke of Lombardy...
Half a month later, another piece of news spread like wildfire from Lavati - Atwood Wells, Earl of Wales, and the heir to Wellsburg (Solenberg) in Lombardy - the son of Baron Woodwells of Lombardy, in order to restore the family honor, declared legal ownership of Soronborg and asked the church to punish the robber earl - Wadbury - who persecuted the Wells family that year...
Over a long period of time, some information was transmitted to the north through the hands of the Hokuriku Trading Company. After careful analysis, it is not difficult to find that this information is either related to the European trading companies, or it is inseparable from the new province of Wales...
…
Before the establishment of the Hokuriku Trading Company, the various valuable southern cargo houses in Lavati would successively send a large amount of southern cargo purchased early in the middle of each month to Bogdan at the junction of the Western Region and Provence in exchange for a large sum of money. Here, the southern goods will be taken over by a well-equipped escort of more than 40 people, and then travel north through Provence to the headquarters of the Continental Commercial Bank in Niets County, in the province of Wales.
Shortly after the war between Provence and Lombardy ended, a trading house for purchasing southern goods was established in the city of Lavati, and the route for transporting southern goods to Bogdan was quietly cut off. However, more and more southern goods are piling up in the backyard of the trading house at the south entrance of the city. The name of the shop has been changed several times, and a few months ago it was suddenly renamed - Hokuriku Trading Company.
That's right, this is the masterpiece that Ater left behind when he passed through Lavati during his first tour to the south. The reason why it is called Hokuriku Trading Company is that the name is eye-catching enough, and people can tell at a glance that this is a trading company that purchases southern goods. Secondly, it is to deceive others. The main spheres of influence of the European trading houses were in the Kingdom of Burgundy and the Principality of Provence, but Lombardy had its own father-killing enemy. The big tree attracts the wind, so in order to avoid unnecessary trouble, we have to keep a low profile.
Although the guild merchants in Lavati do not know who is the leader behind the Hokuriku Trading Company, they clearly understand that the Hokuriku Trading Company is definitely a powerful shop. Because the monthly payments for goods from the South, which amounted to tens of thousands of pfennigs, were never in arrears, and the guild leaders received astonishing dividends from investing in the Hokuriku Trading Company...
As time went by, Hokuriku Trading Company became more and more important in Rawati, and its voice became stronger and stronger. Of course, this is only secretly. On the surface, Hokuriku Trading Company is a trading company that purchases goods from the South. But in fact, Hokuriku Trading Company has formed business alliances with almost all major guilds in Lavati City. Because the two share a common concept - wealth, freedom, and autonomy. This is what Lavati spent tens of thousands of pounds of gold to buy from the Duke of Lombardy.
However, what these city merchants were striving for was threatened one day - the purging and plundering of the Duke of Lombardy...
When their vital interests were damaged, their first reaction was to resist.
So, after the Duke of Lombardy led most of the cavalry to Santia City with the plundered grain and a large amount of gold and silver, the guild leaders in Lavati City began to take action...
………
In the white wooden fence window of the Hokuriku Trading Company, the eyes staring at the north side of the street blinked involuntarily because of the cold wind, but they quickly focused on the end of the street.
At this time, there was a sound of footsteps on the stairs leading to the attic. Not long after, a black shadow stood by the window.
"Sir Dawson, please go and have a rest first. I'll keep an eye on you. You've been staring for a long time. I'm watching..."
"Quickly, inform the guys that the cavalry on patrol is here, ready to fight." The man in black, who had been observing by the window for a long time, lifted his hood and gave orders to his subordinates behind him.
Yes, Lord Dawson"
When the visitor was about to leave, Dawson added, "As soon as we took action, we immediately lit the torch and notified the people on the other side of the guild. We blocked the intersection and must not let anyone go."
"Yes, Lord Dawson, I'll do it right away"
In the blink of an eye, a black figure has pushed open the door to the inner room. After muttering a few words, the sound of a sword being unsheathed came from the darkness...