You were made to farm, and now you're the emperor of an empire?

Chapter 247 I'll hit both of them the same way!

The battle in the North Sea is at a stalemate.

Pirates and the Cracked Armor have fought three large-scale wars to date, and countless smaller ones.

Both sides suffered casualties, with the number of dead approaching five figures.

But no way.

I'm so anxious!
You can't do anything to me, and I can't do anything to you.

The fight ended in a draw.

Grand Duke Cracked Armor was starting to feel the strain. The war against the pirates was going relatively smoothly—not losing was considered a victory, and at least they had managed to defend themselves.

However, things did not go so well on the eastern front.

The Black Iron Nobles and the Highland Kingdom joined forces and faced a series of defeats against the barbarians. The Broken Archers suffered heavy casualties and needed reinforcements.

Meanwhile, the pirates were also starting to falter.

After a whole year of fighting, the front line is still stuck in the north. So many people have died, but they still haven't made it to the south.

Pirate King Alex's position is somewhat shaken.

Do you really have the ability to lead us to a life of luxury?

After much painful reflection, the Pirate King realized that in terms of army morale, organization, and elite strength, his pirates were no less capable than the enemy.

Why can't we win?
Equipment problem!

Full-scale invasion and large-scale battle.

The pirates alone numbered in the tens of thousands, not to mention the servants and slaves; these troops were equipped with their own gear.

Some pirate groups did manage to plunder money in the Black Iron Lands, enough to buy excellent equipment.

But that doesn't mean all pirates were like that.

The quality of weapons varies greatly, which is the norm.

But weapons... are subject to wear and tear.

Anyone who frequently uses a knife knows that even with a cleaver, you'll get a gash after cutting ten or so people.

Iron smelting technology was not very advanced at that time.

The quality varies greatly; some are high-carbon, some are low-carbon, some are not even steel, but simply made of wrought iron, and some are even inferior materials such as phosphorus iron.

So Alex declared that whoever could solve the equipment problem would receive huge benefits.

"The Pirate King hopes to establish a cooperative relationship with you, exchanging slaves for weapons and armor."

That's what Scarface came for.

The weapons of the Cracked Armor are excellent, so the weapons of the Valley King must also be excellent.

There is no such thing as a superior product beating a superior one.

What can beat a high-quality product must be of even higher quality.

If this deal goes through...

His status and power will be greatly enhanced in the future, and he will be able to make so much profit that he won't know what to do with it.

Roman frowned slightly.

He disliked Gale and disliked pirates even more.

But this deal came at the perfect time.

He is still short of people.

However, once you become a lord, you can no longer rob without a reason, at least not in the Black Iron Lands.

The main problem is that the penalty is a bit too high.

Even the Iron King is in a difficult position when the maintainers of order lead the way in disrupting it.

Roman had reason to believe that this was one of the reasons the Black Iron King had knighted him.

Before, you could call them barbarians without a second thought. Now, we're putting a high hat on you and elevating your status. Now that you're a noble of this caliber, stop doing such shameless things.

Admittedly, this tactic is quite effective.

It's no longer acceptable to commit robbery openly and honestly.

The only way to replenish the population was to purchase slaves.

The King of the Valley showed neither opposition nor support on the surface, simply saying, "Let me hear your price."

"A slave has an axe, or two one-handed swords, four spears, and forty arrows;
"Two slaves and a longbow, or a helmet;"
"Ten slaves for one chainmail."

The King of the Valley frowned slightly, his fingers tapping lightly on the armrest. "Your slaves are not worth this price," he said.

"Your Highness, we have slaves of even higher value: dye workers, tailors, stonemasons, lawyers, scholars..." Scarface rattled off the list with ease.
"As you know, ordinary people can't afford this price; only a wealthy king like you can buy them all."

"In addition, we also have noble ladies and wives here. There are some of them we won't touch, since we need them to pay the ransom—but we can give you a list. Whichever one you want, we'll send it over."

"Double the price!" the King of the Valley declared decisively. "The price of my weapons will be doubled."

Scarface looked troubled; he estimated that the price would only need to increase by about half.

As a result, the price doubled.

Ten thousand ordinary slaves could only be exchanged for five thousand axes, or ten thousand one-handed swords, or two hundred thousand arrows.

I know that population is not very valuable, but transportation costs are.

Scarface looked conflicted.

The pirates launched a full-scale invasion of the land, specifically not just for money, but also for land.

The rich and fertile land is far better than the harsh and cold land of Igor.

The land used to belong to the nobles, but now the nobles have been killed by pirates.

But generations of farmers still live on that land.

The land carrying capacity of the Black Iron Lands was already nearing its limit. The reason it hadn't reached that limit was because, before the pirates arrived, various low-intensity, small-scale wars continuously drained the population.

But the number of people who survived was not small.

We can't just cut them all off.

That would be a massacre.

The pirates' idea was simple: keep some farmers to cultivate the land, and there was no need to keep the rest, otherwise the population pressure would be too great and it would be difficult to govern.

It would be best if it could be exchanged for profit, since it's essentially a risk-free business.

“I have no authority to make that decision; you should ask the Pirate King,” Scarface finally said.

He came here only to sound out the King of the Valley's opinion. Regardless of the price, he would have to go back and consult the Pirate King's opinion; he couldn't do it without his approval.

Now that the pirates have established themselves in the north, Scarface is returning with several weapon samples.

With the help of the river, it is very convenient to travel back and forth, and it only takes a few days.

After all, Arctic warships are known for their speed.

Ten days later.

Scarface rowed dozens of Arctic warships upstream, carrying more than three thousand slaves, and arrived at the dock of Origin City.

This is a group of carefully selected, high-quality slaves.

Most of them have their own skills, and even those who don't are generally young people with good physiques.

One person's value is equivalent to that of two or three ordinary slaves.

Seth and Jimmy received the slaves at the dock and confirmed their value.

Because this happens every now and then, the process is very well-established.

Roman didn't waste any words and directly selected a batch of obsolete but in good condition weapons from the abandoned warehouse and sent them to the pirates.

The pirates, accustomed to the dangers of life, could immediately tell that the weapons had been used.

However, the high-quality steel material is still far superior to most weapons of the present era.

It's just a little rusty, a few more polishes and it'll be sparkling again.

The pirates brandished their weapons on the spot, tested their feel, and were extremely satisfied with the powerful, whistling sound they heard.

Very handy!
Scarface came to see the King of the Valley again. He knelt on one knee and said, "Your Highness, the Pirate King is very satisfied with the quality of your weapons and asked me to inquire whether you can customize plate armor. He is willing to pay the price of five hundred slaves."

Roman told him to get lost.

They're going to rebel!
Do you know that possessing armor is a capital offense?
As for the weapons he traded with the pirates...

Roman didn't take it seriously.

What good would it do to give you a million pieces?

Whether it's armor-piercing or pirate, I'll fight them both the same way!

……

……

P.S.: The book club number is 975842136. Apologies for the platform difference; the group number is provided to the readers on QRead.

(End of this chapter)