Chapter 397: Secret preparations
Chapter 397 – Secret Preparations
After nightfall, Nisborough, which had been noisy for a day, finally fell silent. However, this silence was only reflected in the fact that there were no longer massive crowds gathered together on the streets, and there were still sounds of laughter floating out from time to time from various taverns and other leisure places.
People’s excitement seems to have not yet passed.
In an office of the Convocation, a dozen or so bigwigs of the Horned Bay Alliance were gathered together. However, what was out of place with the happy atmosphere outside was the fact that these big shots were all frowning tightly, each with a worried look.
Marcus, the current Speaker of the Convocation, held a pipe in his mouth and smoked it, hiding his body in the thick smoke, as if this could somewhat alleviate his inner sadness.
The Marquis Joe Foster was seated at the Speaker’s right hand, and he raised his head to look around the room, but no one looked back at him.
“Ahem!” He coughed a few times, drawing the attention of the others.
“Lord Speaker, sitting around like this is not a solution, we should immediately send an envoy to Collins to explain the situation to the Archbishop.”
“It’s too late now!”
Before the Speaker could utter a word, Horace, who had always advocated a tough attitude towards the Church, stood up.
“Mr. Speaker, I suggest that while the people’s hearts are high, we immediately contact the Horned Bay states with similar attitudes to ours to form a formal alliance against the Church, and with a large number of people, they won’t dare to act rashly.”
“This is too risky ……”
Just as the room began to argue, thumping footsteps sounded outside.
The crowd looked towards the door, the person coming was Quiller Foster, the second son of Marquis Fordyce and the current captain of the Nisborough Guard.
He came in and saluted the people present and said in a deep voice, “Lord Speaker, Lords of the Council, the situation outside is basically under control, the cathedral side has been blocked off, and the idle people have all been cleared.”
Speaker Marcus propped up his eyelids, his eyes looking a little cloudy, and asked, “Any casualties? On both sides.”
Quiller’s face was hard to see, “On the people’s side, there were five dead and thirteen injured, and on the Church’s side, there were six dead and over thirty injured. However, it seems that the church knights made the first move.”
“Alas …… who made the first move is meaningless. Is the archbishop’s messenger still unconscious?”
“Uh …… yes, looking at the injury on his head, he should have hit something hard when he landed.”
“What about Bishop Angelo?”
“Although mentally he suffered some shock, but physically he’s fine, the cathedral is currently under his administration.”
Speaker Marcus nodded, “Well, it’s been hard on you, go back and rest first.”
Queller stroked his chest with one hand and said with a face full of shame, “Lord Speaker, after such a matter, the guards in charge of the city’s security have an unshirkable responsibility, please punish me.”
The Speaker waved his hand and said, “This kind of thing is something that no one can expect, the guards may have some responsibility, but it’s not enough to be punished, you guys summarize it internally and go down.”
Quiller said somewhat heavily, “Yes.”
He looked up and locked eyes with his father next to the Speaker before leaving the office.
After the door of the room was closed, Marcus puffed out a puff of smoke, put down his pipe and said, “Gentlemen, I have decided to do both, on the one hand, I will send someone to Collins, to meet with Archbishop Elvis, to explain what happened today, and to put forward our reasonable demands, this is an action in the open. At the same time on the other hand contact the friendly states that share the same demands with us and gain their support, of course this is a covert action.”
He gazed at each person in the room one by one with a scrutinizing gaze.
“The second measure I wish to keep strictly confidential and never bring it to the Convocation for discussion. All of you here are people I trust, and I hope no one fails me.”
Foster led the way and stood up, solemnly assuring, “Speaker Marcus, please rest assured that I will keep this strictly confidential.”
The others followed suit and made their assurances.
Speaker Marcus nodded and said, “Very well, let’s discuss the specific arrangements next.”
The crowd moved their seats around Marcus and sat down, lowering their voices to discuss in whispers.
Who should be chosen as the emissary to Collins, what should be said when they met with Archbishop Elvis, how should they secretly contact potential allies, all these things were scrutinized.
During the process, someone suggested that in addition to sending an emissary to Collins to meet with the Archbishop of Horned Bay, whether or not they should send another emissary all the way to the headquarters of the Holy See to have an audience with the Coronation of the Pope, requesting that his Elder intervene to mediate in the conflict between the Church of Horned Bay and the allies.
Many people were skeptical about this suggestion, after all, the Holy See is the superior of the Corner Bay Church, there is no reason why they would “turn their elbows outward”, it is likely that they will protect their shortcomings, then the alliance is not not chasing away the evil wolves, but also attracted a fierce tiger.
“I went to the holy capital pilgrimage once had the honor to meet with the Pope coronation, he is a kind, just, kindly elder, if we explain clearly our difficulties, I think the coronation will do justice for us …… at least will not take sides on the other side.”
The Marquis of Foster stood up in favor of the proposal, and Speaker Marcus agreed after much hesitation.
The crowd continued to discuss until midnight, before dispersing in the still-heavy atmosphere.
“Joe, slow down for a moment, I have some things to explain to you.”
Just as Marquis Foster stood up to leave as well, Speaker Marcus called out to him.
The two men resumed their seats, and by now there was no one else in the room.
“Marcus, what’s the matter with keeping me here?”
The Speaker gazed into his eyes, “Joe, we have to plan for the worst, the sooner the better.” Foster asked in surprise, “You mean ……”
“Yes, war!”
“Things could get that bad?”
“That’s why I said the worst.”
The room fell silent, the Marquis de Foerster was silent, and the Speaker took up his pipe again and smoked it.
After a long time, the Marquis raised his head, “Well, what is it that you need me to do?”
Marcus replied in a small voice, “Fill up our armament stores, we need to stock up on weapons in large quantities just in case. But be careful, it must be secretive.”
“Good!” Foster agreed without hesitation, but Marcus could also see the doubt in his eyes.
“You must be wondering what I would arrange for you to do this?”
“Yes a little.”
The Speaker stood up and stomped around the room a few times.
“Not long ago, the Kingdom of Aldo ended its civil war.”
“I know, but does that have anything to do with the matter at hand?”
The Speaker nodded, “There is a great deal of relevance. The merchants brought back important information to me – the equipment of the Aldo royal army is unusually good. Not in terms of quality, but in terms of quantity and size, it can be said that almost everyone is wearing armor, and damaged weapons can be replenished and replaced in a timely manner, which greatly reduced the casualties of the soldiers, thus contributing to the submission of the rebels, and you know how important seasoned veterans are to victory. Of course, this affected the business of our merchants to a certain extent, because of the presence of competitors, and they couldn’t sell at a price they were happy with.”
The Margrave somewhat understood what the Speaker meant, if he wanted to stock up on weapons in large quantities, naturally the more supply channels the better.
“You mean, purchasing weapons from the weapon workshops within Aldo.”
“That’s right!” Marcus gave an affirmative reply, “However, I just emphasized that we must do this stealthily, so our purchasing range cannot be too wide, or else it will be easy for news to leak out. We must target a handful of suppliers with strong manufacturing capabilities and stable channels.”
“I understand, I’ll quietly go through the screening process.”
“Well, what I’m about to say has to do with why you were chosen to be in charge of this matter. After my investigation, I found out that most of the equipment for the Aldo army comes from an organization in the Northwest Gulf known as ‘Northwest Industries’.”
“Northwest Gulf?”
“Yes, the Northwest Gulf. That place that used to be remembered as a barbaric place that many people didn’t even know about. Now it is sending a steady stream of exquisite and incomparable porcelain, inexpensive paper, good honeycomb fuel, canned goods popular with sailors, and …… large quantities of iron products to the Horned Bay. O Lord of Light, something marvelous must have happened in that land. And I have heard ……”
Marcus paused.
“Your family has some sort of connection to the Northwest Gulf? Wow …… don’t get me wrong.”
“Uh-huh.” Marquis Foster nodded, “My second son is quite a good friend with one of the lords there, and my family’s merchant fleet often goes there to do business.”
There was nothing to hide about this kind of thing, in fact a large portion of those commodities mentioned by the Speaker were shipped to Horned Bay by the Foster family.
“Let me add that the things you just mentioned basically come from a place called Arda, and the lord there is the same friend of my son’s that I just mentioned.”
The Speaker nodded and said, “I suspect that the so-called ‘Northwest Industries’ also has a high probability of being related to Alda. If so, I would like to utilize your family’s relationship with this lord to complete our plan to enrich our armaments, I don’t know what you think?”
Foster replied gravely, “It is a duty incumbent upon me.”
“Very well, I knew I was right to choose you, an old friend.” The Speaker was a bit emotional, and immediately reminded, “You have a special identity, and going over there in person will attract attention, so you have to arrange for someone who is trustworthy and tight-lipped to go.”
“I know, just let my two sons go there under the name of discussing business, my family’s merchant fleet often goes there anyway.”
“Very well, and also with regard to that lord, find out so many things: one, what is his attitude towards the Church – don’t let him know about our falling out with the Church, of course – and two, how much influence can the crown of Aldo give him – -lest the Church cut off our supply after pressuring him through the crown.”
“I’ll figure all that out.”
“If this lord is a reliable man and values his friendship with your family enough, I’d like to give him all of our preliminary orders. Provided he has enough supply capacity, of course.”
“This ……” Marquis Foster was taken aback, “Speaker, you can’t put eggs in the same basket.”
Marcus shook his head, “Secrecy is more important, the fewer people who know, the better, once the people who have the heart to know the action of our armament enrichment, won’t it be very passive? Others will think that we are actively trying to start a war. And the weapon workshop owners here in Horn Bay, hmm, I wonder how many of them are loyal followers of the church. The Northwest Gulf is far enough away from us to be a good place to manufacture and store weapons, and relying on sea transportation between the two places also greatly avoids interference from forces on land.”
“Alright, I see.”
The Marquis nodded in agreement.
“Hmm.” Speaker Marcus narrowed his eyes and barred his pipe twice. He breathed a huge sigh of relief after getting everything accounted for.
“By the way, what is this lord’s name?”
“Paul Gladman.”
(End of chapter)