Our family is in decline

"It's hard to tell this time." Walter shook his head when he heard this, and glanced at Vic. His eyes somewhat reminded him that the young man should not be too impulsive, "We can know that this road is not good. Come on, is Gene stupid?"

Seeing his reaction, Vic couldn't help but ask.

"What else happened?"

"I inquired that Jean was accompanied by an army of a hundred people when he returned from the front line this time. These people should have just returned from the front line. One-third of them are musketeers and crossbowmen, with sufficient firepower.

It's okay for us people to bully ordinary mercenaries and caravan guards, but I'm afraid it's not that good against those people. Even if we succeed, the price we need to pay is too high, and it is not in our interests. "

Vic calmed down after hearing this. Although some of them had retired from the army, most of them were just ordinary people's guards who had undergone simple training.

In order to form combat effectiveness as soon as possible, the training is all about defensive counterattacks based on horse carriages at the first time.

It's okay to deal with attacks by stragglers like bandits and bandits. It has good experience, but it lacks offensiveness.

It would be foolish for them to attack a group of regular troops numbering several hundred who had just come down from the front line.

As for the backbones of Hamlet's army who were all pulled together to form a team, they were quite offensive, but the problem was that the number was too small, and the losses could not be borne regardless of success or failure.

To put it simply, the past thing of pretending to be a horse bandit to rob a road is no longer realistic.

"Then what should we do?" Vic looked a little anxious. "If they enter other places and pass the news, then we will cut off the news from those towns and farms, and the atmosphere created will be broken, and then we will lose Those cheap supplies.”

Why can Walter make a lot of money in a short period of time and distort its profits and losses?

The reason is that he cleverly grasped the key to the difficulty of information channel circulation in this era and used the information gap to create an environment.

Create an illusion of chaos in the outside world for those farms in remote towns and purchase their food at low prices.

Externally, there were a lot more robbers and bandits because of the war, which made them give up the idea of ​​opening up trade routes.

The Walter Business Group monopolizes these resources and then takes advantage of high food prices to earn huge price differences.

To a certain extent, Walter and the others are also a middle part of this "carnival".

But on the surface they are not so ruthless. At least for those remote places, although food prices have been lowered a bit, they are still at a reasonable level.

But if Jean succeeds now, it will inevitably break the environment they have worked so hard to create. At that time, other caravans will follow and divide the interests that originally belonged to the Walter business group.

What's even more troublesome is that for businessmen, other things are not important, but reputation is still very important. If this matter spreads, it will damage the reputation of the Walter Business Group.

The only good thing is that they cut off Hamlet in advance, and this situation will not affect Hamlet's reputation.

But even this is what Vic doesn't want to see.

In contrast, Walter was much calmer and said something casually.

"How much food do you think there is left in those places?"

Vic doesn't know, but Walter is in this business. After so many years, can he still not know the production volume in those places?

Because Walter was trapped, the business group was on the verge of collapse, and they were responsible for the food from the farms in those towns.

Later, the rampant flow of refugees made it difficult for more caravans to survive, which resulted in a large backlog of food in slightly remote places.

Then Hamlet sent troops to suppress the bandits, and then he connected Walter's "leg", reopened the trade route and resumed trading.

Normally, when Walter does business, he must consider market issues, so it is impossible to make unlimited acquisitions.

It's just that at this time, because of the lord's "extensive grain accumulation" policy, the transaction limit was directly lifted, and there was no need to consider market issues when gold coins were dropped.

Hamlet swallows as much as he can, like a giant beast that is always hungry. No amount of food can fill his greedy appetite.

Most of the grain traded was transported back to Hamlet, and only part of the grain was loaded on the way back so that the truck would not be empty.

The fleet continued to expand in size and was even divided into several teams for easier management. The team led by Vic was just the largest team and was responsible for connecting with Ovendo.

Moreover, it is within the country and can be traveled back and forth in three days. Under such actions, the food in those places will be quickly emptied.

Vic is not stupid either, so he naturally understands the meaning behind this.

"So we're just watching them?"

"It's not impossible." Walter smiled and looked at Vic and said: "If we also send out troops to eat them..."

"No, no!"

Before Walter could finish speaking, Vic shook his head sensitively and interrupted, his resistance undisguised.

Knowing that Walter didn't understand Hamlet's army currently under the leadership of his lord, he could only explain.

"We are not part of the army, so we can do this kind of dirty work. The army has military regulations, and they are very strict. Unless these people are hostile and show threats, it is impossible to attack civilians for no reason, and the lord will not agree to this."

Although Vic left the army, Hamlet's army was still sacred in his mind and it was impossible to carry out these missions to attack civilians.

Soldiers are bandits, and even more hateful than bandits. This is the understanding of most people, and Walter was also a soldier in Hamlet back then, so he understands this even more deeply.

But he couldn't deny that Hamlet's army today was very different from what he remembered.

"Then let's use our advantage and plunder as much food as possible while they organize their troops in the past few days. When they come in, they will only be able to pick up our leftovers.

It is no longer realistic to continue harvesting through grain. Not only is it a problem of channels, but also the people have become poor and there is no oil or water to squeeze out. "

"What about the autumn harvest in more than a month?"

"Autumn harvest?" Walter smiled, "With the current situation in the city, if it can survive for a month, it will be considered a success."

"You have a new plan?" Vic seemed to realize something when he heard this.

"First tell me what the lord said about our previous plan."

Although Vic said that the lord agreed when he came in just now, he would not rashly propose a new plan before getting the lord's accurate attitude. He was afraid that the young man would say the wrong thing.

Vic recalled the situation for a while and added some more at the same time.

"The lord has given us several suggestions. The first is that we don't need to send all the crossbows and cold weapons back, and leave some of the armor for our use. We need to form a stronger escort team to support the operation.

The second is that Owendo City has been severely corrupted by the cult, especially the relationship between the upper class and the Ascension Sect is unclear, so let us be careful.

The third is to let us pay attention to Bastia and be careful about possible actions of the barbarians.

The fourth is to let us pay attention to safety. The adults said that we are more important than Ovendo. Don't make unnecessary sacrifices. If we encounter special circumstances, we are allowed to return to Hamlet. "

There was nothing ahead. Walter knew that Hamlet had now eliminated crossbows and turned to firearms.

As for the cult, he also knew a little bit about it. The lords had warned him about it a long time ago.

As for the fourth... Although he didn't want to admit it and even felt a little embarrassed, there was no doubt that he could feel the lord's attitude.

When Walter heard this, he didn't rush to say anything, but fell into thinking. After pondering for a moment, he suddenly looked at Vic and asked.

"I have a plan, let's see if you dare?"

"As long as it benefits Hamlet, there is nothing you dare not do."

"I want you to lurk among those ordinary people, unite them, and then capture the city of Ovindo."

"Is this a little... too radical?" Vic was also shocked by Walter's new plan.

In the past, it has always been to make a mess and then take away the talents. Is this too much fast forward?

"Many people at the bottom have been forced to a desperate end. Unfortunately, they lack someone capable of leading them, so they have been suppressed several times, resulting in heavy casualties.

But it is good news for us, because those who are famous are all dead, and the remaining ones are basically ordinary people, they are like headless flies.

At this time, they will listen to whoever can get food, and the only people in Owendo City who have enough food are us. "

With that said, Walter explained the new plan again.

"Owendo is still a city after all, and there are many valuable things in it. What the lord wants is a complete city, not a ruin that needs to be rebuilt.

What's more important is that you will understand what your lord wants you to do when you lead them to fight against the bureaucracy. "

Speaking of which, Vic would understand Walter's good intentions as long as he wasn't too stupid.

I have been busy doing all this mess during this period, and I almost forgot that the lord released him to establish Hamlet's intelligence system, not to let him become a businessman.

And Walter's new plan is undoubtedly tailor-made for him.

Lurk in, develop and unite those people, and fight against the nobility, bureaucrats and their lackeys.

"Thanks."

"If you say this, you will be divided. Everyone is doing it for Hamlet."

Walter smiled and joked that although Vic was still a little rough in his work, he liked the young man very well.

He is smart and capable, knows everything at once, and has strong execution ability. It would be great if Vic was his son.

If Walt has any obsession, it's probably that his children don't have the ability to inherit his family business, and they almost lost everything. Now he has to work for others to pay off his debts.

"The people of Owendo have had enough of corrupt bureaucrats and greedy profiteers, and they need you to bring them hope in Hamlet."

"For Hamlet!"

Vic responded solemnly.

…………

On the other side of Ovendo City, there is the headquarters of the Jean Business Group.

In the resident hall, Jean was sitting on the main seat, surrounded by senior executives of the business groups.

They gathered here today to prepare for the business group to seize new channels.

The price of bulk commodities such as grain will be much lower if shipped by ship, but if transported by land, the cost of transportation will be very high.

If the journey is too long, it may be more expensive than the food itself, and the profit of transporting it back is too low. They don't like it anyway. After all, they control the farm channels around Owendo City.

Only those that had Totnes sales channels like Walter before, and some small caravans who were just making a living, chose those that were not under such heavy competition pressure.

But now that all the food in the surrounding areas has been sucked up by them, the only way to maintain supply is to target those places.

"These places are now completely monopolized by that old guy Walter, and it looks like the road won't be very peaceful."

"With military protection, how can those robbers and bandits dare to provoke us?"

"I have contacted some of their people and am ready to recruit them."

"..."

A fierce scene was unfolding in the hall, but Gene didn't care at all. Instead, he was thinking about tonight's dance.

Originally, old Jean was just a businessman no matter how big he became, and the money he earned would not be much left after being exploited by those greedy bureaucrats.

And now he seized this opportunity and became a noble. Although he was only at the lowest level and had no real power.

But when he came back with that army, the eyes of the guys who looked down on him in the past changed.

Especially when he knew that he had obtained a noble title and was appreciated by a big shot, his tone of voice became condescending and he tried his best to please himself.

Consuls whom he had never met before invited him to dinner and sent invitations to dances. This was treatment he had never received before.

At this time, he understood that the knighthood was not his end, and the Jean family would be in his hands...

But at this moment, the movement from outside interrupted his thoughts, and he couldn't help but frown.

"What are you doing outside?"

The outside also started to get lively. The guards, coachmen, porters... almost the entire convoy of people from the Jean business group came over.

It's lively, but it's not a good thing, it's workers coming to ask for money.

"When will our wages be paid?"

"That's right. We agreed to increase the money, but why is it gone now?"

"It's okay if you don't add, why are you still deducting?"

"..."

It was too risky to transport food to the front line at first, so few people did it.

This little copper coin a month is nothing to risk.

So in order to motivate and make those people work, Jean and the others could only raise the wages so that some people would be willing to work.

It's just that it was said so well at the beginning, but the problem is that now they have not been paid for many days.

And not only that, not to mention the increase in wages, the wages are still decreasing, but even so, you can't get any money.

But they are not doing charity work. Everyone needs to live and their families need to eat.

Not to mention that food prices are still high now, and it’s hard to even buy a piece of bread with that little money.

They are the people who transport food, and bags of food pass through their hands, but now they can't even afford black bread mixed with sawdust and bran.

this is the truth……

Thank you [Honest Xiaobaijun] for the 100 reward