The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

The next day, Jefferson, who hadn't drunk much, looked at the hungover Doug in front of him and asked, "Sir, why don't you rest a little longer?"

Seeing the other person's pained expression, Jefferson wondered if he had drunk the biggest enemy of the current gray-collar workers to death by toasting them a couple more times last night.

"It's out of the way."

Doug waved his hand and said, "Let's get down to business."

"Ok."

Although he doubted whether the other party was of sound mind, Jefferson was not really there to smuggle goods.

"These are about all the weapons I can bring. You can take a look, but to avoid suspicion, you will need to purchase a shipment of our goods as a cover."

This was Jefferson's suggestion to Lind. Since the Grey Collars already had normal trade relations with Doug's territory, and they were going to make money anyway, why not make a little more and rip off Doug again? This would also help them digest the surplus goods that the Grey Collars had accumulated due to overproduction.

While lamenting how ruthless businessmen were, Linde agreed to the strategy, and in addition to the weapons list, Doug also received a goods list.

The prices are all quite expensive.

Doug felt a little pain at the price, but only a little.

"Your Excellency, do you know about that special catapult?"

"Oh, you mean artillery, right?"

"Yes, that's the cannon."

Doug waved his hand, and immediately two guards carried over a box.

Before Jefferson could even ask, Doug opened the box himself, revealing it to be full of gold shield coins.

"This is a small token of my appreciation. Please do not refuse. As long as you can get the cannons, I have even more gold coins here."

Jefferson couldn't help but swallow hard, not because of the gold shields, but because the cannons were already on the next smuggling list.

The demand for Doug's artillery was unexpectedly strong, which means that Jefferson's original pricing might have been even lower.

Gray and white-collar workers can earn even more.

Doug desperately needs artillery, not only to ease the Grey Collars' impending attack, but also to deal with the restless demons and the Eastern Territory.

Monroe has started harassing the northern borders, showing a strong tendency to join forces with the demons to swallow up a piece of northern territory.

Doug wrote to the newly crowned Queen more than once, hoping that the capital would do something to stop Monroe, but the Queen was busy with internal affairs in the capital and had basically given up on the North.

In this situation, it would actually be a good thing for the capital to be able to swallow up the territory in the North, even though Monroe was still outwardly loyal to the royal family. As long as he didn't swallow too much, the capital would basically tacitly approve.

With artillery, the pressure from the eastern border can be greatly relieved.

So Doug, who was usually very irritable, was not only very polite to Jefferson, but also allowed Jefferson to address him as "Your Excellency".

It's worth noting that other nobles address Doug with a long list of titles, such as the true successor of Lars, the ruler of the North, the sole governor, the Lord of the North Wind, Doug Lars.

"This... I'm afraid it will be a bit difficult. As you know, Mr. Doug, artillery is quite heavy and very difficult to transport. I'm afraid it will be difficult for us to disguise artillery as cargo."

Jefferson looked troubled, as if he was considering the possibility of smuggling artillery. He shook his head repeatedly halfway through his thought, as if he had come up with one idea after another and then rejected it.

But Doug was delighted. As long as Jefferson didn't directly refuse, it meant that smuggling artillery wasn't impossible.

Human desires are like a boulder rolling down a mountain; once they start, they can't be stopped. So even though Jefferson refused this time, Doug felt that it was only a matter of time before he got the cannons. Doug was an even more devout follower of the Church of the Money than Lind.

Jefferson was indeed thinking frantically in his mind, but he was thinking about the right price. How many gold coins should he sell those obsolete, inferior cannons to Doug?

Shells are also a problem. The production of shells that are compatible with such inferior artillery has stopped. But shells may be the main source of smuggling in the future. Should we make money from this?

However, I heard that this production line is going to be restarted because there may be orders for these cannons from the capital.

"I have an idea."

Looking at the list of goods on the table, Doug suddenly shouted excitedly, "Your Excellency, if I buy enough of your goods, won't the extra weight be negligible? I can easily hide one or two cannons!"

"Huh? Isn't this a bit too risky?"

What Jefferson really wanted to say was that he was a little embarrassed. He had considered this method before, but the profit margin was so high that even he felt it was too much of a rip-off, and it even made his conscience hurt.

"Indeed, after all, we cannot allow His Excellency the Viscount to take risks."

Doug put on a pained expression and paced anxiously back and forth in front of Jefferson. Finally, he sat down in front of Jefferson and said earnestly, "But I beg you, Viscount, for the sake of the people of the North, you must try. If anything goes wrong, I will do everything in my power to rescue you."

"..."

Jefferson suddenly felt that his conscience wasn't hurting so much anymore. He was amazed at how thick-skinned Doug was. Jefferson realized that he still had a lot to learn from him.

"I'm afraid it won't work this time, Mr. Doug. I'll try my best next time."

"Very well, then we will rely on Your Excellency the Viscount."

Doug excitedly grasped Jefferson's hands.

After that, Doug didn't feel any pain when he saw the list of goods and weapons on the table. He didn't even glance at them again and bought them all. This was all for the sake of the North. At worst, the people of the North would suffer a little more. Doug would bear the blame, but the people could still squeeze some money out of them.

After Jefferson returned, Doug also received a steady stream of muskets smuggled in through smuggling routes.

Because it went even more smoothly than expected, Doug even felt a sense of unreality as these weapons and muskets were quickly delivered to various armies.

Although these muskets were far less powerful than some of the hand-crafted muskets made by alchemists, there were enough of them, and they were easy to maintain. With enough samples and some basic parts, Doug was able to replicate them. He could then use these muskets as a prototype to continuously improve and replicate them.

Doug had clearly realized the importance of standard equipment, so even though he was giving away a lot of money this time, Doug felt it was all worth it.

One day, an informant who had returned from the capital brought Doug a musket.

"Isn't this our musket? How come we have them in the capital?"

Doug asked the informant who had just returned, looking puzzled.

"Ah? My lord, the control over the capital is very strict. Every musket has to be marked. I went through a lot of trouble to get my hands on this."

After saying that, the informant rubbed his hands together, waiting for Doug's reward.

"its not right?"

Doug stroked his chin. Although he knew his army wasn't very good, he didn't think they would leak their weapons to the capital so quickly. They were quite a distance from the capital.

"I heard that Her Majesty the Queen bought this weapon from a gray-collar worker."

Seeing Doug's confusion, the informant slowly recounted what had happened in the capital.

When the price of muskets was mentioned, Doug's vision went black and he collapsed to the ground.

"My lord? My lord? The true successor of Lars, the ruler of the North, the sole governor, the Lord of the North Wind!"

The informant called out Doug's name as he went to help Doug up.

Doug stared blankly at the musket in his hand. The price of a musket in the capital was more than half the price of one he paid, and he had not only spent more money, but was also forced to sell a bunch of unsellable goods.

That's not all; the models of the muskets on both sides are exactly the same.

For a moment, Doug suspected it was a conspiracy and even wanted to tear Jefferson apart.

But Doug quickly calmed down. The price difference wasn't Jefferson's fault, because the capital city bought weapons through legitimate channels, while he could only rely on Jefferson for smuggling. The premium was understandable. It was probably because the gray-collar workers started selling weapons to the capital city that Jefferson had room to smuggle. Doug even had to thank Jefferson.

"Can we buy these muskets directly from the capital?"

Doug struggled to his feet and asked the informant beside him.

"Impossible, my lord. The capital is very strict. As I said before, every musket in the capital is engraved with a number. Forget about buying or selling them, even losing one will result in punishment."