Chaos Within the City
Victor wasn't particularly interested in the military-civilian conflict in Blackwater City, but he was somewhat interested in the Third Legion. After all, from the brief glimpse of the earlier clash, he could tell that the Second Regiment had a considerable number of veterans and was quite capable in combat.
Victor was also curious about the two Third Legion officers he had just met; at least judging from their performance, they were both above average.
It was clear from the words of those veterans that the Regimental Commander named Taros was highly respected; if he were an incompetent good-for-nothing, these veterans wouldn't have shown him such respect.
Victor had a strange feeling. He would still have to deal with the Taros Regimental Commander and the Tackel Squad Leader, but for now, Victor just wanted to take a good stroll around Blackwater City to relax after being under so much tension lately.
As for Alex's safety, Victor was relatively at ease. After all, through their time together, he had learned that Alex controlled the Northern Frontier Chamber of Commerce and a considerable portion of the Iron Birch Territory's intelligence network.
Grand Duke Mora has not yet officially clashed with Count Colt and the Northern Alliance Army, and even the news of Count Colt's rebellion has not been announced. However, Blackwater City already has a large garrison. Since Alex dares to operate openly here, he must have made several preparations.
Victor put all these thoughts out of his mind and began to wander around the city.
Two years have passed since my last visit. At that time, the city was still in the midst of Civil War, and Blackwater City, as a commercial and shipping center, had already been affected by the war, so the city's trade activities were not very lively.
However, this time Victor discovered that although Blackwater City had a significantly larger population and more bustling commerce compared to his last visit.
However, the living conditions of ordinary people are generally worse than they were two years ago, and there are still a large number of beggars and vagrants. Victor also saw several squads of city guards driving away these poor people.
Victor was also somewhat baffled by the situation, since York County, as a county directly subordinate to the Duchy, shouldn't be in such a dire state as a noble county.
But why is the people's livelihood so dire? Victor plans to inquire about it within the city.
Victor then began traveling to various merchant guilds and markets as a merchant, inquiring about the situation from merchants, small vendors, and artisans. He also collected information on the price fluctuations of bulk commodities, thus gaining a glimpse into the duchy's war preparedness.
After wandering around for more than an hour, Victor had obtained the information he wanted.
Perhaps due to the large-scale deployment of troops and the fact that the Capital City has begun war preparations, the prices of commodities in the market have risen, with some items even more expensive than they were two years ago.
Especially grain and iron. Iron was relatively better, with the price increase being only about 10%. The average price of one kilogram of pig iron was 1 Silver Coin and 1 copper coin.
However, the price of grains, mainly wheat, is quite astonishing. Wheat has reached the point where 10 catties cost 5 Copper Piece, while wheat flour is even more outrageous. 10 catties of wheat flour has risen to 1 copper coin, an increase of more than 300%. At such a price, flour seems to be very cost-effective.
There are also merchants in Blackwater City selling flour, which costs 5 copper coins for a 10-kilogram bag, more than twice as expensive as in the Northlands.
However, this should be a chamber of commerce in the Central Region. Victor judged that it was probably a counterfeit of Alex's Northern Frontier Chamber of Commerce, because the quality of the flour clearly indicated that it was produced by milling machines in the Two Rivers Territory.
According to Victor's understanding, in response to the abnormal rise in grain prices, the county government recently issued an order to purchase grain, resulting in the unified purchase of a large amount of grain on the market, which seriously affected the market inventory and led to a sharp increase in grain prices.
Normally, this situation wouldn't occur because it's already autumn, the wheat harvest in the Central Region has begun, and new grain will soon be available on the market.
However, due to the large number of Central nobles being forced to sell serfs last year, the grain planting area and output in the three noble counties in the central region have decreased significantly. The harvested grain is only enough to meet the consumption of the territory, and there are fewer nobles selling grain. Without new grain to replenish the supply, the market price naturally remains high.
Victor was very curious about this, because even if the noble territories experienced a reduction in grain production, the other three counties in the central region were directly subordinate to the Duchy and should have a large number of Freemen peasant farmers and the Grand Duke's farms that could sell grain, so they should also have a large grain production. The grain shortage in the noble counties should not have affected this region.
Victor eventually got the answer to this from a member of the Chamber of Commerce: "The grain from the farms in the directly administered counties is sold by the county government, so they can choose when to put the grain on the market."
The reason why grain prices are so high now is because grain merchants have all paid their share to the current governor, who simply won't allow them to sell grain at low prices and delay their profits.
As for any surplus grain belonging to the Freemen farmers, it was all purchased by the county government at the previous market price and was not released back into the market.
Victor got the answer and understood the underlying logic, "The Lord Governor of York County took advantage of the Grand Duke's order to stockpile grain for war, buying up grain sold by farmers and Freemen at low prices. When grain became scarce in the market, he colluded with grain merchants to raise grain prices."
On the one hand, he stockpiled a large amount of low-priced grain for the Duchy Army, which earned him a reward from the Grand Duke. On the other hand, he received a large amount of kickbacks from the grain and even participated in it, thus gaining both face and substance.
In previous years, independent nobles would also participate in the sale of grain, but this year they cannot sell it due to reduced grain production in their territories.
Therefore, a large amount of grain was missing from the market, which gave the governors and grain merchants an opportunity. Only the Freemen suffered losses, as those who wanted to sell grain could not get high prices, and those who wanted to buy grain could only buy grain at high prices.
No wonder there are so many homeless people in the city. They were probably all Freemen before, able to make a living when food prices were low, but now the impact of high food prices has led to bankruptcy.
Victor was helpless in this regard. Grand Duke Mora and his men were once again making great strides in their depravity. It should be noted that when Victor first arrived in this world, he was impressed by its richness.
Because of the Grand Duchy's climate and high-yield crops, food prices were so low that it was unlike anything in the feudal era. Although the serfs and Freemen didn't live very well either, Victor hardly thought there would be a famine here.
But reality taught him that if one chooses not to be human, there are always more ways to create famine than difficulties.