Ch.152Neighboring Countries (4)

“Huh? Surprisingly low?”

Albion isn’t buying as much from Caroling as expected. According to documents received from the Lutetia Palace, the amount of goods the Caroling Kingdom sold to Albion was 50% higher than the current figures.

Even though Caroling was quite corrupt back then, when it came to financial records, they would have reduced figures to skim off the top rather than inflating them.

In other words, while it’s unclear exactly how much product sales have decreased, they’ve definitely dropped by at least 33%.

What’s going on? There’s no reason for such a decrease no matter how I look at it.

‘Surely the merchants couldn’t be skimming… no, that’s impossible.’

If they tried that, they’d be immediately reported by their colleagues and forced to cough up more than they took.

Moreover, there are more merchants coming from Albion to Lotaring-Caroling than going the other way. Merchants here, except those in coastal regions, rarely own ships, while Albion, being an island nation, has merchants who commonly possess vessels.

Of course, ships are expensive everywhere, so Albion’s merchants form guilds and own ships under the guild’s name.

What’s clear is that Lotaring’s merchants aren’t the cause of this phenomenon.

“Hmm…”

Sales to the Empire have… increased.

The Empire’s trade, which had always been on an upward trajectory while sucking up money, has recently soared even higher. According to merchant guild reports, demand in the Empire suddenly surged, requiring them to add 30% more wagons to their caravans.

Demand is increasing now? Have the Empire’s merchants and craftsmen already been wiped out by Lotaring’s flood of goods?

The accelerated collapse of the Empire’s market is clearly good for us in Lotaring, but it’s so unexpected that it’s a bit confusing—wait.

“Albion people?”

As I’m reading through the report on Empire trade with slight bewilderment, there’s a term I can’t overlook.

It says there’s been a sudden increase in Albion merchants appearing in the Empire’s coastal regions, with some venturing deep inland, significantly increasing contact with Lotaring merchants…

That’s it.

‘Damn it… I underestimated them.’

The Empire is reselling our cheap goods to Albion, which is disrupting our plan to destroy their market.

If they export foreign goods before releasing them into their domestic market, they can defend their prices and protect their own merchants and craftsmen.

Though this means materials intended for post-war reconstruction are leaving the country again, slowing recovery efforts, the steady influx of goods means it’s not a major concern. They just need to import enough to maintain reconstruction at an appropriate pace and resell everything else abroad.

Price stabilization, protection of commerce and industry, and even profits from intermediary trade… tsk, it’s too perfect.

‘They’ve used their heads well.’

Of course, that’s good from the Empire’s perspective, but from Lotaring’s standpoint—or rather, my standpoint—it feels like we’ve been duped.

The destruction of the Empire’s market has evaporated, and our plan to make Albion’s foreign trade dependent on Lotaring-Caroling has also fallen apart.

With this, Albion no longer needs to fear deteriorating relations with Lotaring, and the Empire can rebuild without our interference.

“…Is anyone outside?”

I need to find out who came up with this idea.

The old Empire would never have created such a situation.

How could an Emperor who thoughtlessly granted tariff exemptions realize something like this in just a few years? Someone must be advising him.

However, that someone is likely not from the Empire.

The Empire has a rigid society with a strong class system, making it difficult for new figures to suddenly emerge, and the nobles are too conservative to easily come up with policies that utilize commerce this way. Besides, if such talent existed, the Emperor would have employed them already.

Albion could have created this situation, but the timing doesn’t quite fit. If Albion had proposed this first, they wouldn’t have come to us asking for permission to continue trading in Caroling territory.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Go to the Administrative Department of the university and tell Luca Dandolo to come here if he has time.”

“As you command.”

Anyway, assuming the Empire is behind this, the Emperor likely recruited talent from the small states of the southern peninsula, which are geographically close. These states once belonged to the Empire, are geographically proximate, and are economically developed with abundant economic talent.

Didn’t I myself recruit Luca from the Vines Republic, a small state in that southern peninsula? Then surely the Emperor could do the same.

I should ask Luca about the political situation in the peninsula region, since he was born and raised there.

“And contact the Intelligence Bureau to bring all information on who the Emperor has employed since the civil war.”

“Understood.”

Fortunately, we’ve been monitoring the political activities of neighboring monarchs with spies for some time, so we should quickly discover who this talented advisor is.

Whether to kill them or not… let’s think about that later.

……….

After the civil war, the Emperor, yearning for national wealth and power, continuously pushed reforms to cut out social ills and loosen rigid social structures.

Of course, reform is extremely difficult as it requires dismantling the old system. Even with a leader who successfully repelled foreign invasion, not all existing power structures have disappeared.

Moreover, even reformers themselves often don’t know exactly how to implement reforms or what to aim for. Without seeing the future, it’s difficult to reach the correct path to successful reform. That’s why so many historical reforms, with few exceptions, have failed.

The Emperor, as the Empire’s leader, faced such difficulties, but he had the best answer sheet available: the neighboring country of Lotaring.

“This is…!”

“Shh, this isn’t an official treaty. It would be troublesome if it leaked outside.”

“…I apologize, Your Majesty.”

Lorenzo de Spinola, born in the Duchy of Lombard, is shocked by the explosive information the Emperor has brought.

Lorenzo was recruited by the Emperor who, after thoroughly studying Lotaring’s actions as the answer sheet for reform, followed Claude’s example of recruiting Luca. Though not as experienced as Luca, who had been through everything in the cutthroat world of the Vines Commercial Republic, Lorenzo had served as a financial advisor to the Duchy of Lombard and possessed sophisticated economic knowledge. It was his idea to resell Lotaring’s goods to Albion and other neighboring countries.

“What do you think?”

“Currently, the Empire cannot afford to invest resources in defense. We must accept this immediately.”

“Besides that obvious point, I’d like to hear what you think Albion wants from this.”

“Hmm…”

Lorenzo, excited about immediately accepting a treaty with Albion that clearly targets a single country, calms his excitement at the Emperor’s follow-up question, knowing the Empire’s situation better than anyone.

Indeed, it’s somewhat suspicious that Albion proposed this first.

The Empire, connected to Lotaring-Caroling by a long border, naturally seeks alliances to counter Lotaring’s threat, but Albion’s situation is different with the sea between them.

Attacking across God’s vast creation—the sea—is not easy, and larger armies face supply problems. Moreover, doesn’t Albion have many warships?

In the past, northern barbarians roamed the seas freely without such concerns, but they were born and raised on ships and were plunderers who didn’t need to worry about supplies, so that’s a different story.

Why would Albion propose such a defense treaty that obligates them to send troops from their island to the continent? The reason… Albion’s recent actions—

Yes, Neustria.

“…A threat?”

“A threat?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Albion is using this alliance treaty with the Empire to pressure Lotaring. Albion’s merchants say that King Edward of Albion demanded Neustria from Lotaring’s king and was refused. Didn’t Edward have a severe argument with the high noble who went to Lotaring as an envoy because of this?”

“Could they be trying to get it through threats?”

“No, they wouldn’t expect to get the Duchy of Neustria. They’re probably aiming to recover Neustria’s ring and scepter, which are symbols of the Duchy and heirlooms of the Albion royal family.”

This complicates matters.

If Lotaring willingly hands over these items to Albion, Albion could immediately change their attitude and break or nullify the defense treaty.

Though this unofficial treaty hasn’t been exposed externally yet, if this anti-Lotaring alliance is revealed and Albion gets what it wants and withdraws, the Empire will face an angry Lotaring alone.

…Tsk, this is why island nation bastards can’t be trusted.

“Of course, they might genuinely have proposed this treaty for defense, but as Your Majesty knows, diplomacy requires considering all possibilities. If Albion proposed this alliance to get what they want from Lotaring, there’s a possibility they’ll break the alliance once they achieve their goal.”

“Hmm…”

“Shouldn’t we make our move before that happens?”

“…?”

The Emperor, realizing Albion might indeed pull such a stunt, sighs deeply before looking questioningly at Lorenzo’s suggestion.

The Emperor looks at Lorenzo with eyes demanding an explanation, and Lorenzo confidently outlines his plan to outwit Albion.

Shortly after, the Emperor laughs heartily and immediately approves Lorenzo’s plan.