The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

Seeing that Jefferson had settled into the ballroom atmosphere, Doug was finally relieved.

"Don't be nervous, my nephew-in-law just thinks you're talking to me about serious business, doesn't he?"

Completely unaware that the other party was a smuggler acting on orders, Doug was so excited when he received the message that he could hardly believe it—the other party was actually willing to smuggle weapons.

It's important to know that Doug's side also had many merchants and nobles who were secretly trading with the gray and white collars, but weapons and gunpowder were strictly controlled, and Doug had spent countless amounts of money but still couldn't find a channel.

Now, a perfect channel is right in front of them.

Doug was well aware of Jefferson's status among the gray and white-collar workers. Jefferson managed the trade in sugar, potions, and other miscellaneous items, and was also responsible for liaising with the merchants on his side. But before, let alone weapons, Jefferson wouldn't even part with a single potent potion.

Doug didn't sense anything amiss about this smuggling channel that had suddenly opened up to him. Smuggling between countries was nothing new; in fact, the fact that the gray-collar workers had held out for so long far exceeded Doug's expectations.

To welcome Jefferson, Doug hosted a grand welcome ceremony and made no attempt to discuss business with Jefferson on the first day; he simply wanted whatever Jefferson could offer.

Doug has discovered that he cannot equip the entire army with muskets simply by handcrafting them using alchemists. Moreover, the after-sales maintenance of these handcrafted muskets is a major problem, as almost only the alchemists who produced them can perform the maintenance.

Not to mention that the cost of replacing the components during maintenance is enough to buy a new musket, a new musket for a gray-collar worker.

Therefore, whether it was to quickly improve the army's combat effectiveness or to thoroughly study the firearms manufacturing methods of the gray-collar workers, Doug would purchase them in large quantities.

Especially now, although other nobles are singing Doug's praises, including his two conspiratorial brothers, Doug knows how badly he has governed.

Besides internal problems, Doug also realized the change in the demons' attitude towards him. The demons, who had suffered a setback in the capital, were eager to make up for their losses in the capital from other places.

Clearly, Doug Squeez still has some money to be made.

At this moment, Doug experienced what it felt like to sell his soul to a demon. The contract that Cordick had signed was now a worthless piece of paper. The demons violated the rules and continued to swarm across Snowbreak Territory, claiming that they were there to help Doug fight against Gray and White Territory.

But Doug wasn't stupid. With these concessions located in such a place, how could he possibly fight against those gray and white-collar workers? The real plan was to wait until Doug was defeated and then launch an attack.

Not only that, the demons have somehow gotten involved with Duke Monroe of the Eastern Territory, and the Eastern Territory's army is also watching them with growing interest.

Doug felt that history was repeating itself, that the demons had found a new ally, or rather a new parasitic target, and that target was an ambitious person just like himself.

That's why Doug is increasing military strength at all costs. As long as he can take over the Grey and White Collar and unify the North, all the problems he is facing now will disappear. He will no longer be just a lord with the title of so-called governor, but the only Grand Duke of the North.

Doug was like a gambler betting everything in the final moments, praying for the winner to take all.

At that time, both the royal capital and the demon race will change their attitude towards me, and the money I owe will no longer be a problem.

Jefferson finally rediscovered the feeling he had when he was still a champagne aristocrat, constantly chatting and exchanging ideas with various nobles on the dance floor.

The more Jefferson communicated, the more alarmed he became. He had been too conservative with his intelligence; the nobles outside the western part of the North had degenerated to a level that even an old noble like Jefferson found appalling.

Because he needed the support of these northern nobles and to concentrate his forces on deploying troops, Doug, who had come to power by relying on the demons and the capital and had no real foundation, and who couldn't even eliminate them completely, had to grant these nobles special privileges in the name of governor.

The nobles, who were once somewhat restrained by the Lars family, are now like wild horses, becoming more and more decadent the further they go from the western North.

These nobles, apart from having to provide sufficient taxes and troops to Doug, were no longer bound by any other constraints; their territories could even be described as states within states.

After Doug exploited the people of the North once with his so-called Dougcoins, these nobles would issue their own so-called exclusive currencies on their own territories and exploit them again.

Some nobles, due to excessive exploitation, even targeted small and medium-sized merchants, which is why these merchants were taxed three times. However, all the blame was placed on Doug, although in essence, Doug was not entirely wrong to bear the responsibility.

Jefferson skillfully switched dance partners, and a young girl nestled into his arms. The girl exuded a pleasant scent of rabbit fur flowers, but Jefferson, bathed in the fragrance, only felt the smell of blood emanating from her.

There are no artificially cultivated varieties of rabbit hair flowers, and they mostly appear in dangerous places. In the gray and white collar industry, there are generally only a small amount of rabbit hair flowers used as medicinal materials.

Jefferson once researched how many flowers and how many lives were needed to make a bottle of rabbit hair flower perfume. The cost was so high that even Jefferson couldn't afford it back then. Moreover, the scent of rabbit hair flower wasn't pleasant; it was simply expensive.

But this is already the third girl Jefferson has smelled wearing rabbit fur floral perfume tonight.

Not only that, the girl even boasted to Jefferson while dancing that she had used her family connections to get the troops transporting medicine and equipment to the western front to send him the latest large-scale piano instrument first, and that if Jefferson was interested, he could go to her house that night to listen to the pieces she had learned.

Jefferson was deeply shocked after hearing this—and it was no acting; military transport routes were being used by these nobles to transport luxury goods.

Seeing Jefferson's shocked expression greatly satisfied the girl's vanity. She even talked to Jefferson about the transport routes her family controlled, which were all very important routes, responsible for escorting weapons, medicines, and provisions.

Jefferson still had the same expression that said, "I don't understand, but I'm deeply impressed," and humbly asked the girl a few more questions. The girl answered them all, and even told Jefferson about the friendly forces' flag signals and banners, proudly showing them off to him.

Later in the ball, the girl suddenly grabbed Jefferson's clothes and pressed her heavy breath against his neck.

"Madam, we, we are still at the ball."

Jefferson politely pushed the girl away, but she said nonchalantly, "Don't be nervous, it's part of the ball."

It was only then that Jefferson noticed that, as the music progressed, he was surrounded by nobles who were beginning to get intimate, and many of them had already started to take off their clothes in public.

Jefferson even saw a male nobleman directly intervene between two other noblemen, but the male nobleman patted the buttocks of the other male nobleman, and then the male nobleman who was patted turned around and smiled charmingly. The three of them then left the ball together.

"That's the trend in the North now."

The girl in Jefferson's arms explained, "I heard it came from the demon race. It represents openness, freedom, and inclusiveness."

"I'm sorry, I'm a very traditional nobleman."

Jefferson subconsciously wiped the sweat from his brow.

"Oh, are you the kind of traditionalist who likes to watch slave duels? Or the bestiality type? There will be a duel performance in a couple of days. Why don't you stay for two more days? I'll have my father send out the strongest slaves in the family. As long as you bet on our family, I guarantee you'll make a fortune and have a great time watching."

That was a bit too traditional, so Jefferson had no choice but to pretend to be drunk and make up an excuse to slip away.

Jefferson initially thought the governor's propaganda was somewhat exaggerated. Jefferson himself was a nobleman from the North, and he hadn't turned into a monster.

But now Jefferson felt that the governor was still too conservative.