I'm not a lord

Chapter 191 Merchants pursue profit and disregard righteousness

"Father, let me lead the troops to charge tomorrow! I promise I can capture a section of the city wall for you!"

In the evening, the Duke's eldest son, László, entered the camp with two trusted attendants and volunteered to attack the city.

The Duke of the Swamp was eating black bread with hot soup when he heard this, and he raised his hand and threw the black bread at him:
"Nonsense! You are my first heir, how can you so easily go to the front lines? Especially the most dangerous siege warfare!"

Conditions at the front were already harsh, and King Maurice's scorched-earth policy before the war meant that even the Duke of the Marsh had to rely on black bread, which was easy to transport and preserve, to stave off hunger.

This stuff is indeed nutritious and filling, but the only problem is that it's too hard and needs to be eaten with hot soup to swallow.

In a moment of desperation, using it as a weapon would be a good option.

László reacted quickly, tilting his head to dodge his father's bread attack, and then straightening his head again:

"Father, you saw the battle today. Without high-ranking generals leading the charge, those bandits would never have fought so bravely. Please give me a chance!"

László's words are not without merit.

The ragtag army, composed of bandits and local nobles, lacked a strong fighting spirit and was driven by self-interest to charge the city walls.

Having experienced such a crushing defeat today, these people will naturally lose the courage to charge forward.

If the Duke of the Swamp still wants to launch a strong attack on the city walls, he will either have to send out his most elite court knights or have his trusted senior generals lead the charge.

Of course, there is an even simpler way: stop fighting.

Most cities are not easily conquered by brute force; the main approach is to besiege them for a long time, slowly depleting the morale and resources of the defending troops.

Or they could instigate internal conflicts within the city and, with the help of an inside accomplice, break through the city gates without bloodshed.

Duke of the Swamp picked up another piece of black bread and took a big bite: "No rush, I have already contacted several families, including Selmont."

In fact, long before the siege began, the Duke had already contacted several wealthy merchant families in Amber Harbor.

Among them, the Selmont family was the most powerful.

This family is the 'Salt Field Family' that monopolized the salt trade in the North.

In the Southern Territory, they have close ties with several large municipalities, control vast stretches of beach salt fields, and are the leading salt producers in the Southern Territory.

In the North, they maintained good relations with nobles from various regions, including the royal family, for generations, gradually building a salt trade network that covered the entire North.

Women from the Saltworks family were found throughout the courts of high-ranking nobles, and even the former king's harem included mistresses from the Saltworks family.

Unfortunately, this mistress did not bear a child for the former king, which led to the throne falling into Maurice's hands.

Maurice's mother came from the largest grain merchant family in the North, whose family had a deep-seated grudge against the Saltworks family over the struggle for power in the Amber Harbor City Council.

It was precisely for this reason that, after Maurice became a potential heir to the throne, the Saltworks family began to flirt with the Duke of the Marsh.

“Father, these merchants may have some military strength, but I think it’s hard to expect them to open the city gates.”

László did not trust the Saltworks family and other wealthy merchants who spanned both the north and south.

On the one hand, these merchants themselves are unreliable; they are only interested in profit and know nothing of loyalty or courage.

On the other hand, Amber Harbor is clearly united, and the merchants' private armies are too few to influence the overall situation in the city.

Moreover, King Maurice isn't a complete fool; he'll definitely keep a close eye on the Saltworks family.

The Duke of the Swamp picked up his silver bowl, took a sip of the warm mutton soup, and replied calmly, "We should at least try. There's no loss if we fail." Whether it was sending court knights to attack the city or having his eldest son lead the charge, the Duke of the Swamp was reluctant to do so.

He will only take a gamble if he has no other choice.

The siege of Amber Harbor has only just begun; there's no need to reveal all our cards now.

Moreover, the Duke of the Marshland did not dream of breaching the city walls in a day or two; his plan was to crown himself king before August arrived.

The minor setback on the first day was nothing to worry about.

That evening, the Duke secretly met with a merchant envoy from Amber Harbor in his military tent.

The seaward side of Amber Harbor had no city walls, and there were multiple water gates along the river. Envoys could simply take a boat out of the city and go upstream along the Tranquil River to reach the Duke's camp, making communication between the two sides very convenient.

After negotiations, the Duke of the Marshland and the envoy reached several secret agreements.

This includes limiting the area to be massacred after the city falls, restructuring the power of the city council, and providing tariff preferences after the coronation.

To the Duke, these conditions were nothing more than empty promises; he could make them as many as the merchants wanted.

As for whether or not to keep the promise after the city is captured, and to what extent, isn't that still up to him to decide?

The envoy, representing several wealthy merchants, promised to help the Duke divide the forces within the city and to try to control one or two city gates to assist the Duke's army in entering the city.

That night, the messenger left the camp under cover of darkness and returned to Amber Harbor by boat.

The Duke of the Marshland devised a new siege plan overnight, preparing to continue pressuring Amber Harbor the following day.

The siege the following day also yielded few results.

The ragtag army had clearly lost its fighting spirit, and only under the threat of swords from the Duke's trusted officers did they reluctantly launch two or three charges.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the Duke of the Marsh simply recalled the troops at the front and only used catapults to bombard a few towers on the walls of Amber Harbor.

The city's defenders, not to be outdone, launched a counter-attack with catapults.

What should have been a peaceful siege quickly devolved into a long-range duel between the two sides' catapults.

Just as stones were flying outside Amber Harbor, Lynn was also receiving several merchants from Three Rivers City at his castle in Riverswamp County.

These businessmen had already established close cooperation with Lynn last year, although the two sides had never met.

The reason is that they were all subordinates developed by Leon, responsible for selling the smuggled salt produced by Lynn.

Like Leon, smuggling salt was just a side business for these merchants, or even just one of their side businesses.

On the surface, they all have their own status and careers within the city.

“My Lord, grain trading is my old profession. I am willing to pledge my loyalty to you. Whatever cargo you put on my ship, I will transport it to the place you wish.”

A middle-aged businessman named Marcel bowed respectfully to Lynn.

He was one of the top grain merchants in Sanhe City and had a close relationship with Earl Jingtie in the south. He was responsible for transporting grain or grain products such as ale to Earl Jingtie's territory for many years.

After getting in touch with Leon, his ship also acquired smuggled salt, a prohibited commodity.

But Marcel is fearless as long as he can make money.

(End of this chapter)