The Lord of the Rings: Lords of Middle-earth.

Chapter 1060 Secret Talks Between the Ruler and His Minister
“Your Majesty!” Apophis Breo bowed calmly, without the obsequiousness of Marquis Al-Tegran Franz, nor the perfunctory manner of the former Lavian; only the composure of a nobleman and the appropriateness of his manner.

"You did a great job, much better than I expected!" Roland didn't hold back his praise; he understood the principle that everyone should flatter someone.

"That's all thanks to His Majesty's support!" Duke Apophis Breo wasn't smug, after all, he wouldn't forget that Roland had pulled in people to help him fight a forbidden war. If he hadn't been able to hold out that time, he wouldn't have needed to wait for Leo Breo to return; he could have just washed up and found a shady place to lie down, at least he could have died with some dignity.

"How's it going? I think you've done a pretty good job with the Lion's Territory!" Roland said, his eyes full of praise and admiration. After all, Roland could only offer Apophis Breo limited assistance, at most providing emergency relief. The rest was up to Apophis Breo to handle himself.

"It was tough at first, but it got much better after King's Landing Fortress was basically completed. Over the years, we've been repairing and expanding the fortress, and it's basically stabilized now!" Apophis Breo smiled.

"Judging from your appearance, you've been begging for alms quite a bit in Rivendell, haven't you?" Roland glanced at Apophis Breo's face and roughly figured out what was going on. After all, the elves of the Valley were quite wealthy, and making connections with them would be enough to support a territory.

“Not only Rivendell, but also Moria in the south and Beorn in the west, have all been begged for alms!” Apophis Breo exclaimed.

"And what about Bahrain? How is Bahrain doing?" Roland asked, looking up. In his memory, the old man with a smile and a resolute will was a very good person. In some ways, his will was more like that of a king than that of Thorin.

"He's doing fine. The orcs have been quite well-behaved ever since we kicked them out of the Second Battle of Moria. The orcs in the Misty Mountains rarely cause trouble. Balin led the dwarves from the south to fight them several times later on, scattering several clans. Now he's doing better than us! At least they don't have an orc army hanging over their heads!" Apophis Breo shrugged and complained.

“They’re living a pretty good life!” Roland nodded.

"See the equipment my soldiers are carrying? It's all Moria dwarves' stockpile!" Apophis Breo said with a wry smile. His subtext was clear: the King's Landing family had lost its industrial capacity and was relying entirely on the Moria dwarves for survival.
"That serious?" Roland frowned. Although there was nothing wrong with relying on the dwarves for support, that was for minor nobles. The King's Landing family, a former Grand Duke family of the North and now a Duke family, would naturally not hand over their military lifeline to others.

"Otherwise what? My people are either farming or serving in the army, and there's simply no extra population for mining..." Apophis Breo shrugged. Smelting is a huge undertaking, and not everyone has a magical furnace like the Kingdom. The population drain caused by charcoal burning, mining, and smelting is far beyond what the current King's Landing family can afford.

"How many people does the King's Landing family have now?" Roland asked. If he remembered correctly, the King's Landing family's territory, like the Lagrange Kingdom, had the characteristic of attracting refugees, continuously drawing in Lagrange remnants—the stockpile of Project Fire...

"Last time I did a count, and there were about 6 to 7 people, but the King's Landing fortress and the defenses in various places will consume 5000 young men!" Apophis Breo sighed. He had followed Roland's old path. The population ratio was 1:10, comparable to King Roland's path of militarism!
"Oh no... is there enough food?" Roland rubbed his temples and looked at Apophis Breo with a changed gaze, now filled with pity, understanding, and sympathy. Apophis Breo's ability to manage this population structure was a testament to the wealth of the King's Landing family, since he didn't have any system-provided blood transfusions.

“Enough! I have a way in Brie, it’s a bit dangerous, but the profits are considerable!” Apophis Breo said mysteriously.

"?" Roland's eyes widened. "You've gone this far? You've even gone to Brie?"

"A caravan?" Roland was delighted.

“It’s Grandpa Leo!” Apophis Breo coughed lightly, a hint of embarrassment flashing across his face. “You…” Roland opened his mouth, then suddenly remembered the Irubor dwarves’ actions—using that spatial device to buy wine…

"There's no other way. Only he can cross the Eastern Road, which is overrun by orcs. His spatial equipment can transport enough food for the territory to last for several months in one trip!" Apophis Breo explained.

"Are you going to Brie for the trade?" Roland's heart skipped a beat.

"Hmm, that place is quite prosperous now. It's the closest human settlement to us in the Shard region!" Duke Apophis Breo nodded.

"What do you trade?" Roland asked curiously. He didn't ask Apophis Breo the silly question of why he didn't trade with the nearby elves, since the elves had everything they needed compared to the King's Landing family territory.

"Fur, special handicrafts, magic crystals, and weapons and equipment!" Duke Apophis Breo said frankly without hiding anything.

"Middlemen?" Roland raised an eyebrow. After all, the King's Landing family had no industrial capacity, so how did they export their weapons and equipment? It could only be from the Moria mines!

"Pretty much, we'll sell some, as well as those low-grade magical equipment of average quality from our family's collection!" Apophis Breo admitted.

"What are you doing... The Moria dwarves won't say anything? Does Balin know about this?" Roland said in a low voice.

“Of course I know! But the Moria dwarves’ clients aren’t in the west, they’re over there!” Apophis Breo said, gesturing with his lips towards the south.

"To the south of Moria lie Rohan and Gondor. The dwarves' weapons are renowned throughout Middle-earth. The vast gap in the two southern kingdoms is enough for Moria to absorb. The western Shire region originally didn't need our supplies, but as you know, we helped the dwarves regain their kingdom, and they migrated in droves. There aren't many dwarves left in the Blue Mountains, and the dwarven artisans in the Shire region have mostly left as well, so the gap has appeared... In return for what we've done, Balin knows my predicament and is using your name..." Apophis Breo shrugged and didn't continue, simply using Roland's name to raise a banner.

"That's good, it's good that a way out has been found!" Roland didn't care about Apophis Breo's behavior, but was actually happy, after all, it was no harm to the Kingdom of Lagrange that the vassals had stood up.

"Wait a minute? The goods from Lonely Mountain also go to the Shire from here?" Roland suddenly remembered that Thorin had sold a lot of weapons and equipment, and the dwarves had a huge gold reserve and imported a lot of things.

“No, they’re also going through the two southern countries via Moria! After all, the market there is big enough!” Duke Apophis Breo shook his head at Roland.

"Hiss, you mean the Charr region doesn't have much commercial development value?" Roland suddenly felt a chill. After all, his goal this time was to open up trade routes for the Western world. The Charr was considered wealthy in the Middle Kingdom, since they faced much less pressure from the orcs.

(End of this chapter)