Riding and Slashing

Want to get rich?

Of course I want to...

But none of the three kings dared to accept this fault, they just watched the wedding quietly.

They were all a little flustered.

The wedding process is very long.

First was Leon's proclaiming emperor, then the joint military parade, then the unveiling ceremony of the 'Pender Academy', and finally the wedding itself, which lasted from morning to dusk.

It stands to reason that these things should be taken apart separately, after all, everything is a big deal.

However, transportation and communication are underdeveloped these days, and it is very difficult to organize people together, so we decided to do it together.

During the dinner, Li Ang and Alina set a separate table for the various 'heads of state' in the Pendor Continent.

This may be an unprecedented scene...

Although this table and the dishes on it are no different from other seats in Changhe City, but look at the people sitting around this table...

Emperor Leon of the New Pendor Empire; Alina, Emperor of the Bacchus Empire;

Amy, Queen of the Sarleon; Wentierf, Queen of the Noldor;
Gregory IV, King of Ravens; Ursula, elected Queen of Ravens by the people of Longsong Harbor;

Vidis, the king of Filziwei; and Zakar, king of the newly established 'United Kingdom of Jatu'.

A true imperial seat.

Now that Zakar has proclaimed himself the king, the bargaining place established in Fletcher Village is very in line with Zakar's wishes. If he can exchange for living supplies through fair trade, then there is really no need to sacrifice the lives of his people to rob, so Zakar is currently very friendly to Leon.

Of course, there is no certainty how long this friendship can last... After a few years, when the Jatu people find that there are more and more sick and deformed babies in their tribe, they will probably be able to react.

But will they still be able to cause trouble then?

Kadan and Emil Xerxes of Desha have surrendered to Leon. They can no longer call themselves Bahad Khan, and they have already recognized the title of earl. They are no longer qualified to sit in the "Emperor's Seat". They are currently sitting with Sarah, Leofric and other earls.

There was still roasted whole lamb at this banquet, which was very fragrant. People at other tables were already feasting, but no one was eating at the 'Emperor's Seat', and the kings were indeed more reserved.

"Thank you for coming to witness my wedding."

Li Ang glanced at the crowd with a smile on his face: "It's really not easy to get you all together. I don't think there will be such an opportunity from now on. So, while everyone is here today, I want to discuss some small things with you..."

Everyone sat upright and looked at Li Ang together.

"As you all know, I have set a goal to make my country free of poverty within five years."

Li Ang picked up the small knife stuck in the roast lamb, and said while dividing the meat: "But I find this goal is difficult to achieve - because there are new impoverished people from all over the country who are constantly moving to my country..."

"Cough...According to Eric and Fawcett's statistics, from January this year to now, at least [-] Fieldsway people have migrated to the west of Sarleon, and more than [-] Ravens have migrated to Beibu Gulf. Many of these people are robbers, causing huge losses to my territory..."

Amy was very cooperative and supplemented the data.

Vidis and Gregory IV visibly panicked.

"Oh, it's all because of the war... These people are also pitiful..."

Li Ang shook his head in compassion, and divided the mutton into the plates in front of Vidis, Ursula, and Gregory IV.

"Your Majesty Li Ang, you may wish to speak directly if you have something to say."

The relationship between Ursula and the New Pendor Kingdom is pretty good, and she asked Li Ang directly about his intentions.

"Okay, let me just say it...the situation in Fieldsway and Ravencrow is probably not very good, right? Even Zakar is richer than you now, and the Jatu people have not come to my territory to beg for a living..."

Li Ang looked at Ursula, then at Vidis: "You should remember that I asked you at noon... do you want to get rich?"

Hearing Li Ang mentioning herself, Zakar was a little confused, so Wendy reached out to Zakar and made a gesture of invitation, signaling Zakar to go easy.

Zhakar breathed a sigh of relief, it seemed that this matter had nothing to do with the Jatu people, and the Jatu people had indeed not plundered Li Ang's territory during this period, so he took out the drug, lit his cigarette pouch and began to watch the show.

"Who doesn't want to be rich...but we are not as good at making money as you are, and there are always people making trouble..."

Ursula complimented Leon, then glanced at Gregory IV.

Gregory IV snorted, but did not speak.

"Ha, you're right, it's really hard to make a fortune by fighting all the time..."

Li Ang laughed, and said as if joking: "You have seen this morning, I held a military parade, and now the [-] troops have no battle to fight, I am actually quite disturbed... right Alina?"

"Yeah, I'm also very disturbed now... You should all know that if the army has no battles to fight, then they will definitely find a way to cause trouble. If they don't fight all the time, how can they get promoted and get rich?"

Alina took the words with a faint smile.

It was true, and everyone at the table knew it was true.

This is why Vidis and others trembled after watching the military parade.

"So, I plan to help you solve the current difficulties, and also solve the problem that my troops are not fighting... The New Pendor Empire and the Bacchus Empire will jointly form a 'World Peacekeeping Force' to maintain the peace of the entire continent and the entire world."

Li Ang nodded: "This is one of the small things I want to discuss with you. By the way, do you plan to let your troops or domestic knights join this peacekeeping force?"

Everyone at the table looked at each other.

"Are you planning to mediate our...dispute?"

Ursula was very eloquent indeed, and made disputes about the throne and rebellions into disputes.

"Mediation? Well... Yes, if you are willing to treat me as a judge, I can indeed help you end the war in a fair and just manner. Everyone is a part of Pendor Continent, and it will not be good for everyone in Pendor Continent if you continue to fight like this..."

Li Ang gestured with a small knife and said.

"Your Majesty Li Ang, what do you mean...?"

Gregory IV finally spoke, but looked visibly flustered.

"What I mean is, recognize Ursula as the 'Queen of the Falcon', with Longsong Harbor and Silverblade Fortress as the boundary, and all the territories in the east of the former Ravencrow Realm will be regarded as the 'Falcon Realm' from now on, and will be independently established as the Falcon Kingdom. And Ravencrow City and the western envoy Falling Bay will be the current Ravencrow Kingdom. That is to say, you and your siblings will each share half...is this fair?"

Li Ang stood up, and cut the roasted lamb with a small knife, cutting the roasted lamb in half neatly.

In fact, this method of distribution is indeed fair. Both the Ursula siblings have equal inheritance rights, so of course one half is appropriate.

Moreover, Li Ang was talking about two kingdoms—the Falcon Kingdom and the Ravencrow Kingdom. In other words, Li Ang, as the emperor of the New Pendor Empire, would identify with the two kingdoms in the Ravencrow Realm, just like he identified with Zakar's 'United Kingdom of Jatu'.

Ursula said nothing, she was thinking.

Gregory frowned, thinking about it too.

The two of them definitely need to think about it. Li Ang didn't urge him, but turned to Vidis and said, "Your Excellency Vidis, as for your side, of course I support you in killing the rebels. After all, Cliff Bay is Amy's territory, so of course the rebels cannot be allowed to take over."

Vidis was overjoyed: "That's great! His Majesty Leon is indeed just and strict! Cliff Bay should have been the territory of the New Pendor Empire!"

Anyway, Cliff Bay has been occupied by Haakon, Vidis doesn't mind exchanging Cliff Bay for Leon's help.

"Cough, but..."

Li Ang smiled and shook his head: "However, I heard that the west coast and the inner sea of ​​Lion Lake are full of pirates during this time—I'm very worried that there will still be pirates running rampant after the Cliff Bay is taken back."

"I swear that all the fleet will be used to clean up the pirates. Your Majesty Li Ang, you can rest assured!"

Vidis stood up with a happy face.

"But the problem is, your fleet is pirates... Vidis, do you understand what I mean?"

Li Ang shook his head, cut off a leg of lamb and put it in front of Vidis: "Of course, it doesn't matter if you don't want to part with the pirates under your command. Anyway, Alina's troops and I need to continue to fight more battles... If the pirates are not cleaned up, how will my poverty alleviation plan be realized?"

The joy on Vidis's face instantly turned into bitterness, and he sat down with his head down, also lost in thought.

At this time, Ursula raised her head, and asked quietly: "Your Majesty Li Ang, I have no objection to the sphere of influence you mentioned, but I want to know, how can we make a fortune after the truce?"

Li Ang glanced at her and smiled: "You are all the kings of a country... As long as you don't fight wars, get rid of thieves, and ensure the safety and smoothness of business routes, it is easy to make money by doing business with each other. Just ask Zakar."

Zakar has indeed made a fortune recently.

The market in Fletcher Village belongs to the official market, and both sides collect taxes from their own people.

Li Ang controls the Fletcher market, and only collects business taxes from Pan De, regardless of Jatu people, the tax rate is as high as 75%... mainly because the profits of drugs and the like are too high.

But this is actually a left-handed and right-handed approach, which is equivalent to handing over from a small private treasury to the state treasury, because the commodities involved in the transaction are all Li Ang's own industries, all of which belong to Maixiang International.

The high tax rate is to reduce the dividends of Maixiang International and try to let more profits flow to the national finance, because Maixiang International currently has quite a lot of shareholders.

Li Ang currently holds 60% of the shares, Amy has 10%, Wendy has 8%, Alina has 8%, Leofrick has 8%, and the remaining 6% is the dividend distribution of non-commissioned officers.It's just that other people only have the right to share dividends, and the management and voting rights are all in the hands of Li Ang alone...

Don't think that Li Ang is very rich now. If you really want to talk about assets, Li Ang's whole body is in debt, and even the New Pande Empire owes a whole lot of debts—but it's left-handed and right-handed, because the big creditor, Pande Bank, is also Li Ang's own property, and even the money is made by himself...

But Zakar is different, every time the Jatu people trade a sheep, they have to hand over three dirhams or equivalent supplies to Zakar...

It's also a transaction tax, by the way, and it's very low.

The current price of sheep in Changhe City is about three dinars per head, that is to say, the tax rate that Zakar collects from Jatu people is only 10%.

But now the daily trading volume of the trading market is more than [-] sheep. Only relying on this trading market, Zakar has a daily income of more than [-] dinars, which is more than [-] dinars in half a year, which is higher than the annual income of most duchies.

Moreover, Zakar also made a lot of money from the drug retail business - most of the drugs that Li Ang transported from Singal were traded to Zakar in the form of wholesale, and Zakar sold a lot of drugs at five times the price to other tribes.

The Jatu people are a tribal alliance, and Zakar's tribe is currently the strongest one. Most of the Jatu people belong to other tribes. In order to prevent other tribes from being stronger than him, Zakar must of course use this method to maintain his status.

In addition, now Li Ang is even willing to let Zakar exchange sheep for corn - each sheep can be exchanged for 200 pounds of cornmeal, which is a very fair price, and it hardly makes any money after deducting the freight...

So now Zakar is indeed very rich, and the life of his clan is much better than before.

"His Majesty Li Ang is indeed very kind in doing business."

Zakar puffed on his cigarette with a satisfied face, and nodded.

In the past six months, Quechang and drugs have brought him a lot of property, and made other Jiatu tribes have to rely on him. He really felt that doing business with Li Ang was mutually beneficial.

Besides, such a good thing as Fushou Ointment can cure almost all diseases, and you can feel ecstatic after taking a few sips...

"I have no objection to the sphere of influence divided by His Majesty Li Ang. Your Majesty Li Ang, what do you want to do with the business you mentioned?"

Gregory IV finally raised his head and agreed with Li Ang's mediation.

"Vides, Ursula, Gregory . . . you're all short of food, aren't you?"

Li Ang smiled kindly and said, "I can sell you a large amount of grain at a low price. As for what price you want to sell, that's up to you."

"real?!"

"That's great!"

"Your Majesty Li Ang, I used to treat you a little...but now it seems that you are really a kind and benevolent emperor!"

All three were overjoyed.

Food!
For them, as long as there is enough food, their domestic problems can be solved, and their status as kings can be ensured.

"I haven't finished yet... You all understand that food is a strategic material, and I can't sell large quantities of food to other countries—unless this country is my ally or subordinate kingdom. Moreover, you don't seem to have the money to buy it..."

Li Ang spread his hands and explained.

Indeed, for the New Pendor Empire, the Ravencrow Kingdom is currently a hostile country, and the Fierdsway people are still occupying the Cliff Bay, so they are not friendly neighbors no matter how they look at it. Of course, supplies such as food cannot be sold casually.

"I am willing to be an ally with the New Pendor Empire..."

Ursula was quick to react.

Seeing that Vidis and Gregory were about to say the same thing, Li Ang reached out to stop them: "Don't talk nonsense, it's not equal, understand? At present, only the Bacchus Empire is eligible to become an ally of the New Pendor Empire."

This is also true. Even though Ursula, Vidis and the others are unhappy, they all know that, no matter in terms of historical jurisprudence or current national strength, they are indeed not qualified to be side by side with the New Pendor Empire.

"Are you going to incorporate us into the empire? Your Majesty Li Ang, this is impossible, we would rather fight to the end..."

Vidis shook his head.

"Don't get me wrong, I didn't mean that..."

Li Ang smiled slightly: "I just want to say that I can't openly sell a large amount of grain to you, or I will be questioned by the nobles. But if you let some troops join the peacekeeping force, I can regard you as a partner and can use grain to barter—just like the way I traded with Zakar..."

To be honest, no one in the country will question Li Ang's decision now...

But bartering is indeed more feasible, because Vidis is already bankrupt, and Ursula and Gregory have fought for so long, and they really don't have much money. Li Ang is thinking of them.

"There are sheep and minerals in Ravencrow Realm. You can exchange sheep or equivalent minerals for food. And Fieldsway, exchange them with sea ships and seafood. This is also the best proof that you can drive out pirates."

Li Ang picked up his wine glass and stood up: "The peacekeeping force will soon escort the food and set off for Cliff Bay. Cliff Bay is the venue for the transaction. The first batch of transactions... [-] million pounds."