Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?
Chapter 350 - 148 New Plan

Chapter 350: Chapter 148 New Plan

After the Cabinet members left, the study was left with the Duke, eldest brother Ludwig, second brother Henry, along with Eleanor and the people of The Azure Longsword Mercenary Corps.

"Now we have three choices," Ludwig analyzed, "Either we reinforce the mountain regions of Ahenkixi, continuing to prevent the Wolf army from advancing northward."

"Or we strike north and attack Franknia, coordinating with the Emperor’s Alliance to squeeze the Duke of Griffin. In addition, to deploy troops on both fronts."

"What are your opinions?" the Duke remained noncommittal, asking (testing) everyone once again.

"I support striking north and welcoming His Majesty as soon as possible," Henry still advocated, "Even if we don’t send troops southward, the mountain garrison will hold out for a while. As long as His Majesty leads the main army here, the Wolf Family will have no chance of victory."

"I think it’s better to send troops southward to support the mountain garrison," since Henry had chosen one, naturally Ludwig could only choose the other, "It would be too great a loss for our family if we simply watch the mountain garrison be annihilated while also sending troops north to suffer losses on the battlefield of Franknia."

"Conversely, reinforcing southward to stop the Wolf army’s advance reduces losses for the mountain garrison on the one hand, and on the other hand, leaves the task of breaking through the Franknia battlefield entirely to the Emperor’s Alliance, which is obviously a more advantageous choice for us."

While such a view sounds somewhat selfish, it is completely natural within the feudal families of Divine Luo in these times.

Although ending the internal war of the Empire quickly is beneficial to everyone in our camp from a macro perspective, it is under the condition that the family does not invest too much.

On the other hand, if the civil war is ultimately stopped, and the Weisbach family has made great sacrifices, then the Emperor, in order to appease the people afterwards, although would give them some compensation, would certainly not be able to make up for their losses.

Because with the end of the war, competition resumes among the major families within the country. Weakening the Weisbach family means other families will get a bigger share of the post-war spoils, including the Emperor’s Giant Dragon family, so naturally, everyone is happy to let it happen.

Therefore, how to help one’s camp win the internal war while ensuring that one’s own family does not suffer too many losses is a political prerequisite for any noble family of this era. In a sense, Ludwig’s answer is certainly higher level than that of Henry.

Yet, the Duke still did not speak, silence signifying dissatisfaction, which made both sons somewhat apprehensive.

"Eleanor, what about you?" the Duke turned to his most beloved younger daughter.

Eleanor opened her mouth and then heard Nora’s voice in her mind:

"Listen, Ellie..."

This, isn’t this cheating? Eleanor was torn between laughter and tears. Nora read her father’s thoughts, then told her the answer, which was just like asking the proctor for answers during an exam.

"I think we should support the mountain garrison by moving southward," she said steeling herself, "However, we cannot do nothing about the battlefield situation in Franknia either."

"Because after ending the civil war, His Majesty will inevitably lead his army southward to directly confront the Church Court, attacking the Italian peninsula. If we are simply self-preserving and not contributing a single soldier to the current situation in the North, it’s easy to attract criticisms after the war. Then, to prove our innocence, we would be forced to contribute even more to His Majesty’s southern campaign."

"In other words, the best solution under the current circumstances is to preserve our own strength while also accounting for the Emperor’s Alliance stuck in the mire of the North, avoiding any blame or grounds for gossip."

"Hmm," the Duke stroked his beard. Eleanor’s response was undoubtedly more comprehensive than Ludwig’s, "So, what do you think we should do?"

"We could try to contact the Sorren Family within Swabian territory to have them rebel against the Griffin Family and cut off connections between Franknia and Burgundy," Eleanor sighed inwardly, "This way, we don’t need to commit too many troops, and might also alleviate the pressure on the Emperor’s Alliance, making it a favorable move towards His Majesty."

Finally, a smile appeared on the Duke’s face, and both sons displayed enlightened expressions.

"So," the Duke asked leisurely, "How do we persuade the Sorren Family?"

"What’s their current situation? How do they view the civil war? Are they prepared for rebellion? If our envoys arrive on their land, how do we convince them to turn sides and join the Emperor’s camp, instead of offering our envoys to Franknia as a show of loyalty?"

"It should..." Eleanor paused, "No, we shouldn’t send formal envoys."

"We should send a small but well-trained team to covertly go and investigate the Sorren Family’s current attitude and movements. If things look promising, we can reveal our identities as envoys from Bavaria and negotiate. If things look hopeless, we naturally avoid startling them and pushing them towards the opposing camp."

"So, have you heard my daughter’s response, Squad Leader Aske?" the Duke turned his gaze.

Aske: ...

So you were waiting for me here! You cunning old fox!

However, from the perspective of the Mercenary Corps (or rather, a player’s mindset), it wasn’t the difficulty of the task they feared but the lack of reward. As long as the payment was sufficient, everything was negotiable. Thus, he nodded and said,

"Our Mercenary Group can take on this task, but... should we settle the payment for the last task first?"

"Of course," The Duke of Bavaria agreed quite straightforwardly.

————————

To be fair, it was indeed more fitting for The Azure Longsword Mercenary Corps to go than for the subordinates of the Weisbach Family.

After all, the former really had no ties with Bavaria, and should any situation arise, they could conveniently dissociate themselves from the Weisbach Family.

For Weisbach, it was merely a matter of paying a few bottles of Magic Potion from their storeroom.

Even in this world, the so-called 80/20 rule still applied: over 80% of the extraordinary resources were in the hands of 20% of the population.

These people were either members of ancient supernatural sects or secular members of the nobility. Ordinary people might struggle their whole lives without ever crossing paths with them. Even if someone had such ambitions, it might take decades of arduous effort just to reach the corresponding threshold.

Therefore, in a sense, members with deep backgrounds like Thira and Eleanor truly saved the entire team a lot of time in capital accumulation.

After receiving the needed Magic Potion from the Duke, Aske left the Weisbach Palace, planning to search for the material known as Phantom Shell in the nearest potion shop.

At the palace gate, he ran into Meyer again.

"Oh, Squad Leader Aske, I trust you’re well," said the future Square Sword Saint, the current mustachioed man, with fervent greeting.

"Lord Meyer," Aske nodded in response, "I thought you had already left."

"I did plan on traveling to Strasbourg," Meyer admitted frankly. "However, with the rebellion of Franknia, the way to the Swabian Duchy has been blocked."

"And because I’ve recently invested my own funds in printing books, my savings have been exhausted. So, I thought of offering my work on swordsmanship to the Duke of Bavaria, hoping to exchange it for some money."

Meyer spoke candidly, his expression somewhat troubled. Of course, Aske understood what he meant:

Because he had previously accepted employment from the Wolf Family, he was worried that he might be on the Weisbach Family’s blacklist.

Nevertheless, now penniless, Meyer’s finances were unsustainable, so he had no choice but to come and try his luck.

But frankly, based on Aske’s understanding of the Duke of Bavaria, the latter didn’t even regard the initial Wolf Family’s envoy much, let alone taking offense with Meyer.

So Aske took the finely bound and beautifully printed book from Meyer’s hand and said,

"I’ll pass it on to the Duke for you."

"That would be great," Meyer said, rubbing his hands together with excitement. "To print this ’Sword Fighting Skills,’ I spent 300 Lorraine Gold Coins just on the initial run; it nearly bankrupted me. If possible, I hope to sell it to the Duke for... no, present it to the Duke for 30 Gold Coins. Of course, how much it actually trades for is up to you."

Lorraine Gold Coins, precious metal currency issued by the Saxon Family of His Majesty the Emperor. In terms of purchasing power, one gold coin equals twice that of a Venice banknote silver mark, but its value retention far surpasses the latter, as the mark is essentially just paper.

Originally, the southern Duchies of Divine Luo favoured paper currency, but due to recent warfare, there was concern that Venice City State would succumb to Church Court’s pressure, hence there was a tendency in the market to switch to Lorraine Gold Coins—From this perspective, the price of 30 gold coins was actually not cheap. Meyer even worried that it might make the Duke feel like he had been taken advantage of.

However, Aske was well aware of the book’s value. Compared to Emperor Leo VI of Eastern Luo’s swordsmanship writings, which were filled with how to calculate collision volume, mass, and torque, this book was a genuine introductory to mid-level textbook for swordsmanship practitioners, explaining many fundamental principles and techniques very clearly.

After pondering for a moment, he then spoke up,

"For 30 gold coins, I could buy a copy myself..."

"No, consider this one a gift to you," Meyer said, magically producing another book from behind him. "Please help me present it to the Duke of Bavaria, thank you~"

Aske was speechless. He had actually intended to buy a copy to use as a textbook for the girls and also to support the future Square Sword Saint by nurturing a good relationship in advance.

But the other party immediately showed an overwhelmed attitude and, in turn, sought to curry favor with him... It just goes to show how fortunes can change: ’Thirty years in the east and thirty in the west,’ the young man was truly poor at this moment.