A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor
Chapter 1422 - 1422: An Unexpected Guest - Part 4

Ferdinand dragged his eyes away, and looked off to the side, at nothing in particular, as if giving voice to what he needed to speak was the most painful thing that could have been asked of him. "A proposition… This idea of yours, grand though it might be. You do not have the resources to pull it off comfortably. Hence your reliance on my father, and your need of his seal to get even to where you currently are."

"Well, I am certain that our opponent would say that," Oliver said. "I am sure it would be convenient for you to see it fail."

"My proposition is not for its failure. If it must proceed, then, as a Blackwell, I must see that it benefits the people of our lands properly. As it stands, it's set to cause more than a few messes. You don't have the manpower to ensure that it goes off without a hitch," Ferdinand said.

"Your father has promised to take care of that," Oliver pointed out.

"My father is far too busy to personally dedicate his time to such things," Ferdinand said.

"And you are saying that you will?" Oliver asked.

"You need Ernest's merchants. They respond to me," Ferdinand said.

"No – you need Ernest merchant's. I do not need to allow them any extra coin," Oliver said.

"That's a narrow view. They will spend coin bettering their tents, their stalls, and everything nearest them, in the interests of making more coin in the future. They will raise the standard of this tournament for you, based on their own self interest," Ferdinand said. "You would put on a far better show with them on your side. Your man Greeves there will tell you as much."

A glance at Greeves told Oliver that even if Greeves knew what Ferdinand said was true, the last thing he would do was to admit it. Allowing the merchants of Ernest to take part in the tournament was as good as allowing the Guild itself to profit off it.

"…I am sure you understand, Lord Ferdinand, that we have no love at all for the Guild. We will not actively empower it, by allowing it to make more coin off the efforts that we have put in," Oliver said.

"The Guild is in a state of restructuring. Until that restructuring is complete, I will be acting as head of it. Whatever coin that might be made will go not into the hands of its former staffers, but towards the reformation of the Guild itself," Ferdinand said.

Olive tapped his finger. He wasn't altogether sure that Ferdinand could do that alone. As powerful as he might have been, as heir to the city of Ernest, he wasn't sure that he could stand up to the network of the merchants' Guild so easily. He summoned Greeves with a finger, to hear his counsel.

"What do you suppose, Greeves?" He asked aloud.

Greeves gave his response in a whisper. "That Guild won't go down so easily. They have associates in places that the young lordling naturally doesn't know about. If he had known about them, he wouldn't have been surprised at the extent of their corruption."

"Even you were surprised at it, though," Oliver said quietly back. "My question is, can we trust Ferdinand that the coin we make will not end up in the hands of the Guild again, being that it is the disease we have confirmed it to be?"

"Doubtful," Greeves replied. "We would be better off without him. The Guild will have their tax, no matter what."

"We are having a hard time believing that the coin made will not end up in the hands of the Guild," Oliver said.

"I am the Guild," Ferdinand said, quite fiercely. "You may be content in the victory that you have achieved over me, but do not think that I have been idle, Ser Patrick. I say that I have subjugated the Guild, and I mean that. If it believes itself to be bold enough that its powers can extend into the pockets of nobility, then, it only stands to reason that a noble ought to rule over them. In name, and in actuality, I have taken control of it."

That, of all things, did surprise Oliver. "…I thought that the Guild was meant to be an independent body of merchants," Oliver said. "It seems to defeat the purpose of it, having the heir of the city in charge of it."

"Once, it might have been that, but no longer," Ferdinand said. "As an independent body, their powers reached too far. The Guild will be incorporated into the local government, under our economic branch. We are in the middle of working to assimilate it, so that the tragedies of the past do not occur."

"…Mm. That seems rather tyrannical," Oliver said. "Surely, the merchants are inclined to revolt?"

"How could they, when we can point to what tragedies were delivered at the hands of the Guild? When we can point to the shame that they inflicted upon the city?" Ferdinand said.

"So you are using tragedy for political advantage?" Oliver said.

"If you wished to put it crudely," Ferdinand said. "But this works in your favour, Ser Patrick. You had no love for the Guild, and now I have been made to stand against them as well. The Guild will not be rebuilt as it once was. It is Ernest's Economic Branch that you are dealing with now."

Oliver curled his fingers together, drifting off into thought.

"Confer with your merchant," Ferdinand suggested. "He will tell you the truth of the matter."

"I need not. I can see it for myself," Oliver said. "But, see, in trusting you, Ferdinand, I would be believing that you would win out over the Guild. Perhaps you might have put them at odds with the Ernest government, but I can not believe that the extent of their network would be crushed so easily overnight. There seems to be little chance that you will have exterminated them in their entirety before the tournament begins."