Although he became a marshal very quickly, the new marshal Lionheart Kingdom's dispatch of troops is really slow.
Li Ang didn't even start to organize the army, but started training new recruits...
Looking at it like this, the lord plans to finish training his troops before going to war - which is almost equivalent to being hungry, so he starts by growing vegetables and raising pigs...
Because the lord actually doesn't want to fight at all now, he hasn't had time to digest the newly acquired territory, and Li Ang knows very well why Ulrich appointed him as marshal at this time.
This is not how much Ulrich trusts him... In fact, Li Ang feels that Ulrich doesn't even have a copper penny of trust in him.
At this time, if you make yourself a marshal, isn't it actually like finding a scapegoat?
The lord even thinks that all the marshals named King Ulrich are probably scapegoats - of course, the nominal term may be 'the pillars of the country who shoulder heavy responsibilities when the country is in crisis'.
When the overall situation of the Lionheart Kingdom is relatively good, King Ulrich will serve as the marshal himself, just like Li Ang followed Count Oden and Godric participated in the war against the Bacchus Empire together for the first time. At that time, Lionheart Kingdom had strong troops and horses, but this His Majesty the King did not give up the position of marshal to any lord.
The previous marshal Duke Brennus was sent by Ulrich to save Lion Lake City from a terrible situation when Lionheart Kingdom was facing internal and external troubles. He was also a scapegoat - Brennus did not gain any of the territory he took back, but he fought the most dangerous battle.
Therefore, Brennus was not willing to bring his own troops at all. He would rather beat the king's troops to pieces, and he took the opportunity to scrape the land very brutally. He also seemed to be very smart when negotiating the deal with Li Ang.
Now, Brennus has been defeated, Seven Forks Fortress has been lost, and the national treasury is running out of money, so the lord has become the current scapegoat.
And King Ulrich probably learned the lesson from Brennus when he was the marshal - Brennus crippled both Lion Knight Order and Royal City Guard in Eagle Claw Fortress...
So Ulrich no longer lets the marshal lead his troops. All the support he gave Li Ang, the new marshal, was actually the silver scepter.
In other words, Ulrich did not provide any soldiers or any other material assistance. He just sent an official appointment document and then asked Li Ang to recover Seven Forks Fortress.
Isn't this tantamount to free prostitution?
The marshal of a country is nominally the military leader of the country and has the power to command and deploy the troops of various lords. However, with power comes a reciprocal obligation - the marshal has the responsibility to provide necessary support to the lords who obey the deployment, such as military supplies such as food, grass, ordnance.
But Ulrich didn't give anything to Li Ang... Isn't this just expecting Li Ang to contribute money, effort and food to be taken advantage of?
You have to risk your life to attack a solid fortress like Seven Forks Fortress...
Although it is true that you can collect money when providing military support to other lords, and you can also take a big share when the loot is distributed, the problem is that this battle is to recover Seven Forks Fortress, and I am afraid that I will not get any loot...
Even if Seven Forks Fortress is recaptured, the lord will not get any benefits - is it possible that Ulrich can seal this capital portal to Li Ang?
To be honest, even if Ulrich really dares to block it, Li Ang doesn't want to...
The lord knows that if he becomes the lord of Seven Forks Fortress, his treatment will definitely be completely different from that of Sir Rayman. King Ulrich will definitely not subsidize him with a copper plate or a grain of grain.
There are no residents near Seven Forks Fortress. This purely military fortress previously relied entirely on Lion City to supply military supplies. Once Lion City provides nothing, then this fortress will only be a waste of money and food for Li Ang, and it will also have to bear the heaviest and most sensitive responsibilities...
Therefore, the lord certainly has no enthusiasm for this appointment. He does not want to use his own troops to evaluate the combat effectiveness of General Agason.
Li Ang's current reaction is to slowly organize the army, delaying it for a month or two - anyway, it is customary for a marshal to arrive at the assembly point last, and the boss is the last one to appear...
But the businessmen of Long River Town were very excited after hearing about this.
They have not forgotten the time when the lord took them to do business in Bax - they first went to Seven Forks Fortress to gather, and then entered the jurisdiction of Sava Fortress, and then they bought all the inventory in Bax, and everyone made a fortune.
At that time, they deeply realized that "war is wealth".
Moreover, at that time Lord Li Ang could lead them to make a fortune with just a few troops. Now that Lord Li Ang has become the marshal of the kingdom, it is obviously more appropriate...
Is this going to make a huge fortune?
So the merchants rushed to the Lord Long River Town's hall to see Li Ang, hoping to 'provide supplies with the army'.
This is actually the merchants' trust and support for Li Ang. Of course, the lords cannot dampen their enthusiasm. Besides, providing supplies by the merchants accompanying the army is a win-win situation. At least they don't have to supply food and grass to other lords themselves, so Li Ang agreed.
But just three days later, the lord regretted it - he promised too happily...
Li Ang Unexpectedly, the merchants acted extremely efficiently this time.
When Li Ang's army was still completely silent, the merchants had already spontaneously formed a huge fleet of thousands of carriages and were ready to go. The scale of the trade event was several times larger than that of a year and a half ago.
The reason why the merchants were so efficient this time was actually because Li Ang acted too quickly when he went south to deal with Snake Worship Cult a few months ago. It only took three days from the decision to the dispatch of troops. The merchants were still spending the winter at Mao's house at that time, so their response was slow and they did not have time to keep up.
After all, Li Ang was to deal with Snake Worship Cult and Red Death, so it was naturally impossible for him to bring the merchants with him.
But the merchants didn't know. They felt that they were too slow to keep up with the lord's troops last time, and they probably missed several hundred million because of this - because Li Ang 'captured' Calundru Castle of the Bacchus Empire with a single force, they thought that the lord had won a huge victory over Bacchus Empire.
So this time, the businessmen felt that they must not miss the opportunity again. Lord Li Ang used his troops to appear and disappear, and the speed of dispatching troops was really too fast...
As a result, within a few days, a huge convoy appeared outside Long River Town. There were thousands of merchants and their employees and attendants alone. It looked like a miscellaneous army surrounded Long River Town, and the number was still increasing...
Of course, so many businessmen are not just from Long River Town, there are also many people from surrounding areas who are not afraid of death.
Nowadays, business in Li Ang's territory is booming, and the number of merchants is indeed much greater than before. Coupled with the existence of Long River Express, horse-drawn carriage transportation is also more convenient, and naturally more merchants are participating.
However, today is different from the past...
Li Ang's strategic goal this time is to recover Seven Forks Fortress, not to waste time running to Sava Fortress like it did back then.
Besides, the lord only plans to think about how to take back the fortress, and has no plans to attack Bacchus Empire--Li Ang knows that Bacchus Empire is now facing huge pressure, and will definitely resist desperately from top to bottom. It is not worthwhile to fight to the death with Emperor Marius who is forced to a dead end.
As for the war to recover Seven Forks Fortress, it is not as suitable for business as last time - Seven Forks Fortress is different from the original Sava Fortress. There are no residents around it who can come to shop, and the lord does not intend to besiege the city for a long time.
This means that the caravan can only conduct business with the soldiers during the period when Lionheart Kingdom other lords come to gather.
However, because many merchants had the experience of joining the army last time, the goods they brought were not actually the meat, wine, entertainment and other supplies that the soldiers needed. They brought a large amount of fur, oil and other northern specialties that Baxian was relatively lacking - these things are relatively profitable in Bax...
But the problem is that the soldiers definitely don't need these things, and the size of the caravan is too big...
If we were to do all the business of soldiers, I would probably lose all our pants - maybe the number of customers would not be as many as that of businessmen.
Moreover, the lord does not plan to send troops for a while. In fact, Li Ang is really planning to train a wave of new soldiers before setting off...
But these businessmen are too proactive. They have already installed the cars and are waiting to be driven. In order to improve efficiency, they even purchase goods at a higher price.
Although farmers in Long River Express and Lion Territory villages and towns have made a lot of money because of the merchants' massive purchases, the lord is quite troubled - these merchants are the backbone of tax payment in his territory. If they lose all their family wealth, they will also suffer from poverty in the future!
Moreover, in order to catch up with this business, many businessmen also took out loans from Pande Bank...
If this drags on for two months, it's not certain what the war will be like, but if these merchants who took out the loans don't sell the goods they received at high prices, I'm afraid they will all be forced to become deadbeats!
Li Ang had no choice but to issue a marshal's summons order, asking all the lords of Lion Territory to gather east of Seven Forks Fortress, and asking Eric to command Long River Express's fleet and set off first with the merchants.
You have to let the merchant's convoy go to the vicinity of Seven Forks Fortress first and summon the responses to those Lion Territory lords before doing their business, otherwise you will probably die waiting for Long River Town.
So, just like before, a huge army of merchants set off towards Seven Forks Fortress.
The lord asked Eric to take the silver scepter representing the status of the marshal and set off under the flag of the marshal - this was actually to allow Eric to gather an army near Seven Forks Fortress first, so that the merchants could 'provide supplies' to the troops of other lords.
Businessmen may not make much money for a while, so someone must constantly step in to coordinate. Of course, this must be done by someone with a flexible mind and a good relationship with the businessmen. Eric is undoubtedly the most suitable candidate.
And now the lord does not dare to wait until he has finished training his troops before taking action. He is being forced to consider how to defeat Seven Forks Fortress, and what to do after defeating Seven Forks Fortress...
If we don't find a place to digest the goods in the hands of merchants, the merchants' loans will cause Pande Bank to have a lot of bad debts that cannot be recovered.
Lion Territory's special products are not easy to sell in the country, and merchants purchase them at a higher price...
These guys purchase too much, and they are likely to run out of money quickly because of the inventory in their hands. When the bank's bad debt rate reaches a certain level, it will form a series of negative effects.
--Merchant will be unable to carry out other businesses, commerce in the territory will quickly slump, prices will skyrocket due to the imbalance between supply and demand, and the purchasing power of the dinar will decline rapidly. This will cause panic among depositors, banks will face runs or be unable to maintain normal operations, and then further form a more serious negative cycle.
Moreover, when the territory has not completely transformed from a precious metal currency structure to a credit currency system, this negative effect will be reflected faster. The magic silver coins created by Li Ang and the Noldos do not have full credibility for the time being. They can only be circulated around White Deer Fortress and Noldo Forest, and cannot be saved by minting.
Money is only money when it circulates.
Li Ang Now I especially understand why some big countries are fighting everywhere because of the drive of businessmen - this is not a political issue, but an economic issue. It is really impossible not to fight.
A business system that uses finance to drive rapid development is prone to economic crises. Markets must be found from other countries so that domestic businessmen can survive and the domestic economy can survive.
In other words, Li Ang must expand the scale of the war and fight it into the territory of other countries, and it must be in a place that can absorb the inventories of merchants.
But now... where to fight?
The merchants' goods around Sava Fortress can no longer be digested. In fact, the entire western part of the Bacchus Empire, including the current Siyuan City, may not be able to digest those goods.
--Bacchus Empire West was almost completely destroyed by the rebels. Emperor Marius also burned all Siyuan City supplies. Now Bacchus Empire West does not have enough purchasing power.
Li Ang just returned from Bax territory. Although he did not go to the west of Bax, he still knows the current status of the empire.
In fact, the current Bacchus Empire is probably not a suitable customer group. Their harvest has been affected by the domestic chaos for a whole season. In addition, they are the country that most needs to quickly popularize the Red Death vaccine. Today, Bax is short of horses, food and living supplies. Things such as fur grease are definitely not the first choice of Baxian now.
What to do?
Then you can only go to Duchy of Dexia.
Dexian people is probably rich now and needs furs and oils, but Bacchus Empire's Sava Fortress is blocking the way, so he can't go around to the west of the kingdom and invade Dexia from the direction of Xingar, right?
It seems obvious that a certain new marshal is planning to use his power for personal gain...
Besides, although Brennus and Dexian people had a fight before to share the cake, Lionheart Kingdom did not declare war on Dexia, because both sides only wanted to gain benefits from sneak attacks, and it was not considered a formal troop dispatch, it was just a run-in.
Openly declaring war over such a thing is tantamount to admitting that one's own country is a thief who took advantage of the situation and tore up the armistice agreement, so both countries kept silent.
Moreover, Dexian people was ambushed and maimed by General Titus in the end. There was no deep grudge against the Lionheart Kingdom, but they probably had more resentment towards Titus.
There is no declaration of war. It is not appropriate to attack Dexia directly. As a marshal, I can easily be hostile to all other countries... If you want to send troops on a large scale, you must have a name.
It seems like there really is nowhere to go?
Li Ang is very hesitant.
But maybe Eric does have the best luck attributes. Anyway, as soon as he brought the merchants to the east of Seven Forks Fortress, the situation changed dramatically.
In other words, a huge turning point.
Sava Fortress was captured by Duchy of Dexia at this time.
Not only that, Dexian people's army actually appeared near the kingdom's capital Lion City!
The name Li Ang wanted to send troops was actually placed directly in front of him.