Chapter 715.1: Only The Xilande Empire Suffers!

In the imperial palace of the Xilande Empire, in Heavenly City...

In the past few days, Wutuo Xilande had been in a rather foul mood.

The New Alliance had opened negotiations for the ceasefire with outrageous demands, insisting that the Empire withdraw the governor of Port Gallon, along with all the noble bureaucrats appointed by the Heavenly City.

Not only that, they also demanded that once the ceasefire agreement came into effect, control over Port Gallon be handed over to the local survivors until the marauder threat in the region had been completely eliminated.

Honestly speaking, he could still make concessions regarding tariffs and reparations. However, those two demands alone were absolutely unacceptable, especially the latter. It felt even worse than if the New Alliance had directly carved that territory out of his map.

That was because it meant that for the first time in the history of the Xilande Empire, there would exist a piece of land beyond the reach of imperial authority. Not only would this shake the prestige of the royal family, it would even cause both nobles and common citizens to question the legitimacy of his rule.

At the moment, Wutuo Xilande could only place his hopes on the 300,000 troops stationed along the border and their blockade of Port Gallon, praying it would crush the settlement’s fragile economy.

If that place turned into a scorched wasteland breeding famine, plague, and death, perhaps the New Alliance would abandon that tasteless piece of gristle.

He had heard reports from the front lines. The New Alliance was paying out of pocket, ship after ship transporting corn purchased from Silvermoon Bay into Port Gallon. If things continued at that rate, either the red earth outside Port Gallon or the New Alliance’s treasury would run dry first.

Taking a bite from the grape a beauty held to his lips, Wutuo Xilande narrowed his eyes and was just about to drift into a nap when hurried footsteps sounded from outside the hall.

A court attendant hurried into the grand hall and knelt beneath the steps. “Your Majesty, Governor-General Hue has arrived.”

Wutuo Xilande, reclining against the beauty’s lap, sat upright in delight. He shoved aside the women and fruit trays surrounding him and rose excitedly to his feet. “He’s come to the Heavenly City?”

The attendant’s expression turned awkward, but he still hurriedly explained, “Not... not yet. After disembarking at West Sail Harbor, he summoned the nobles from the surrounding regions of West Sail City.”

Wutuo Xilande froze slightly. A faint sense of unease rose in his heart, though a gratified smile still appeared on his face. “Good. A man who gets things done.”

The attendant pressed his forehead against the floor, his face bitter, yet he dared not say more. Who in the palace did not know that the Wislanders were honored guests of the Emperor? Who would dare speak poorly of them?

Especially now, with Duke Garawa’s negotiations with the New Alliance at a critical stage. His Majesty needed the Army’s strength to intimidate both the New Alliance and the Corporation backing them. Even if a Wislander officer slapped a Sunfolk citizen on the street or slept with some noble’s daughter, it would still be considered applause for the eternal friendship between the Army and the Empire.

“Where is General McClennan?” Wutuo Xilande asked.

The attendant answered timidly. “He departed for West Sail Harbor by carriage yesterday.”

Wutuo Xilande frowned. “Surely Aaron is still here?”

The attendant was drenched in sweat as he replied, “... He accompanied General McClennan there as well.”

Wutuo Xilande remained silent. He stood before the long bench for a long while, brows furrowed as though deep in thought. Yet after a moment, his expression relaxed again and he sat back down.

“Send a telegram for me. Tell the General I appreciate his concern for the affairs of my Empire. Also, one week from now there will be a palace officer selection examination. I heard the General is greatly interested in our Empire’s war games. If he happens to be free, he is welcome to attend and observe.”

That was roughly the meaning. As for how the telegram should be specifically worded, the people below him naturally knew how to interpret his intentions.

Seeing that His Majesty had not turned his anger upon him, the attendant finally sighed in relief and kowtowed heavily. “Understood!”

...

At the same time, outside the docks of West Sail Harbor, one ornate carriage after another crowded the already narrow muddy roads.

A group of finely dressed individuals stood in the open area before the harbor, watching the towering Wislander soldiers around them with visible unease.

No one knew what sort of spell these big-nosed foreigners had cast over their emperor, but with a single wave of his hand, he had directly handed West Sail Harbor over to the Army and ordered all nobles throughout Naksil State to fully cooperate with every request made by the Army, or be treated as traitors to the Empire.

Although this place still nominally belonged to him, in reality it had already become Wislander territory. Not only had they driven away the former governor, they had even sent over a new governor-general of their own.

Standing at the ship’s bow, Hue looked down upon the ants below. The contempt in his eyes was not merely ridicule. Rather, he simply did not regard these people as human at all.

A group that did not even care about their own countrymen did not deserve the respect of Wislanders. Even dressed in luxurious silks and brocade, they were merely dogs leading livestock herds. Naturally, he would not miss such an opportunity to flaunt his power. Clearing his throat, he raised his voice and shouted loudly. “Listen carefully. I don’t care who you served before. Now I’m the one standing above your heads. I am your master now, and the rules here will follow what I say. If any of you have objections, you had best speak now instead of wasting everyone’s time later.”

Looking at the restless crowd with expressions of disbelief, Hue waited silently for half a minute. Seeing no one speak up, he continued, “I want you to select capable workers from your estates for me... Let’s say at least one adult male slave from every household.”

The moment those words fell, the harbor erupted into uproar. The nobles who had not dared utter a single sound moments earlier suddenly became agitated like dogs whose tails had been stepped on.

Hue wondered if perhaps his demand had been too excessive. Beside him, Aaron lightly coughed. “General, the slaves here do not have families.”

Hue froze before asking, “What do you mean?”

Aaron patiently explained, “Exactly what it sounds like. You can think of them as weeds growing out of the red earth. Plants do not possess concepts like family relations... Even if the weeds themselves know who their parents are, the nobles raising them do not particularly care.”

“Then how do they know who belongs to whom?” Hue asked, unable to understand. “Surely they at least count how many people they own?”

“They’re all born from mothers. Why would it matter who fathered them?” Aaron shrugged. “They do a headcount once every year, maybe every two or three years. As long as the number of workers doesn’t change too much, nobody cares. If there are too many, they sell some to reduce expenses. As for shortages... I don’t think that situation has ever really happened.”

Hue pinched the bridge of his nose, clearly troubled by this unexpected situation.

Meanwhile, McClennan stood there with folded arms, watching the man with amusement, curious how those civil officials who were sent as governor-generals intended to solve the problem.

In the Falcon Kingdom, General Klaas’ solution had been to abolish domestic slavery and establish a military aristocracy tied to military merit, encouraging locals to plunder land and servants from the outside world. Meanwhile, General Griffin had used the freed commoners released by Klaas to build an Army-style industrial system, ensuring the Eastern Army’s logistics lines.

Accomplishing such tasks required strong armies and iron execution.

The civil officials of Triumphant City just so happened to be a bunch of weak and incompetent fools in his eyes.

Sure enough, after pondering for a while, the governor-general ultimately proposed a compromise. Clearing his throat, he shouted toward the nobles, “Quiet!”

The amplifier’s volume stunned the entire harbor into silence.

After a brief pause, Hue slowly continued, “Your management methods are too inefficient. Let’s do this another way... Provide us with slaves regularly, and we’ll pay you according to how many you send. For every slave that works a full month, we’ll pay you 50 Dinars.”

The moment his words landed, the atmosphere at the harbor instantly exploded. The once-anxious faces were now filled with joy, looking as though they wanted to empty out all the wealth in their pockets on the spot.

“No problem, sir!”

“M-my estate alone has over 1,000 of them! I can move them over tomorrow!”

“Does everyone count for that amount, or only the men?!”

50 Dinars per month meant 600 Dinars a year! Within the Xilande Empire, even the smallest noble controlled hundreds of people, while major noble estates and plantations often held tens of thousands!

There was not always farm work throughout the year. Most of the time, those people simply sat idle on the land.

If they could drive them into Wislander factories during the off-season, they could earn tens of thousands, or even millions, in extra income every year!

That was even more profitable than their plantations themselves!

Some had already begun scheming about how to turn tenant farmers renting their land into slaves through increased rents or other methods. They were even thinking of forcing them to sell off their sons and daughters instead.

“Quiet! Quiet!” Hue roared twice more before finally silencing the cawing crowd of annoying fools. Then he yelled again, “When we need workers, we’ll post recruitment notices here. If you don’t want to miss them, station your servants here to keep watch. Now go back and count how many people you have, their ages, whether they’re male or female. I don’t want a bunch of crippled old men leaning on canes delivered to me later!”

Once he finished speaking, Hue had the soldiers disperse the nobles crowding the docks while ordering others to arrange work for the laborers the emperor had assigned to them.

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