Chapter 338 I’m so angry
The moonlight is like water, with a few light clouds floating on it. The person is at the bottom of the water, and the white smoke from the charcoal fire while roasting the pig melts in the cool evening breeze.
The alluring aroma of roasted pig could not make the Archduke Franken and the Archduke Regens relax their brows for a moment.
Today, newspapers and radio broadcasts in Wessen are still full of articles to build momentum for peace negotiations. The Archduke of Mainz and the Archduke of Bain also stated on different occasions that peace and development are the main theme of today's society.
But they knew that, outside of public reports, the gears of the war machine were already turning.
The army of the Principality of Mainz began to move towards the border of the Principality of Franconia. The reconnaissance rangers of the Principality of Bain also appeared across the border of the Regens Alliance. The troops sent by the northern lords of the Rhine Alliance began to gather in the lower reaches of the Elbe River.
The Archduke of Mainz and the Archduke of Bain stated that their troops were only engaged in border defense to prevent bandits from crossing the border and plundering. To show their sincerity, the troops kept a distance of one kilometer from the border.
The coalition of lords of the Rhine League directly stated that they were just catching up with friends they had met while stationed on the west bank of the Elbe River a few years ago, and holding a knightly competition by the way.
The Archduke of Franken looked at the map made of stones and branches on the ground, and gritted his teeth and said: "[Local expletive]! They are going to surround us!"
The Archduke of Regens He also looked gloomy.
Now the military deployment of all parties is clear. After the Franconian Principality and the Regens Alliance united, the territory roughly formed a "﹃" shape. The Mainz Army was in the west, the Bain Army was in the southeast, and the Wesson Army was in the south of the center. Confronting their main force, the Rhine League coalition forces more than 200 kilometers away in the north can go upstream through the waterways of the Elbe River and its tributaries, and can enter the Principality of Franconia in just ten days.
At present, the main forces of the Franconian Army and the Regens Army have been firmly attracted by the Wesson Army, and they are emboldened by the fortifications that are being reinforced every day. No one dares to have a head-on battle with the Wesson Army in the wild.
Therefore, there is no defensive force in the other three directions. As long as the opponent launches an attack, they can only rely on the old, weak, sick and disabled people left behind to defend the city.
I don’t dare to divide our troops for defense. If we are discovered by Wesson’s army on the road, it will be over.
"I didn't expect..." Archduke Franken shook his head, "Wesson could come back so quickly."
Archduke Regens also sighed. They first decided to take action after repeatedly confirming that Duke Wesson was traveling in the distant inland sea. The best result was to bring the officials left behind in Wesson to the negotiation table and negotiate a time difference.
No one could have imagined that Duke Wesson would come back early. As soon as he came back, he would release smoke and conduct diplomatic activities, and in a short period of time he would mobilize a multi-party coalition.
The situation suddenly took a turn for the worse. The two of them suddenly changed from active to passive, and they couldn't come up with any good ideas for a while.
I couldn’t come up with an idea, but I still had to eat. The servants cut off the roasted pork and presented it on a silver plate.
Archduke Franken stabbed a piece of barbecue with a dagger, and drank the wine until his mouth was full of oil.
Legens didn't want to see his vulgar way of eating. He only stared at the plate. He cut the barbecue strips into small pieces with his own knife and then ate them slowly with a fork.
The Archduke of Franken felt that the dinner was too dull, so he found a topic: "How many people from your side went to Wesson?"
The corner of Archduke Legens's mouth twitched. , said angrily: "All the carpenters in my place are almost gone. Including serfs and tenant farmers, there must be more than 30,000 people."
"How many are there in your place?"
The Archduke of Franken also said angrily: "Now I can't sell the linen there. I can only sell the linen to Wesson, and almost all the weavers have gone there."
"The most hateful thing is the man named Hoffman, who turned out to be a serf on my side. He went to Weissen State and got lucky and got rich. He actually had four wives. This caused many serfs on my side to run over after hearing about it. "
"Those serfs came back during the New Year at first, but now they are all from Wesson."
"I calculated at the beginning of the year, and they actually lost 80,000. "If I hadn't gone to the farm to take a look, I wouldn't have known when the run would be over." Archduke Legens felt better. One out of ten laborers on his side ran away, and two out of ten on their side ran away.
But this cannot continue. The Regans Alliance is mainly engaged in wood processing. The Principality of Franconia is rich in flax and has a linen textile industry. Today, Wesson is engaged in both wood processing and linen textiles. They are all better than the surrounding places. Not only can’t the goods be sold here, but the workers have also left without work.
The Grand Duke of Franken continued to say angrily: "This little Wesson is too ungrateful!"
"When old Wesson was still here, he used to come to me to buy linen, and I sold it at a cheap price. "Give it to them."
"Old Wesson is easy to deal with. He has been fishing with me since he was 13 or 14 years old. I didn't charge him any tax and invited him to drink every time. Later, I even invited him to drink. I thought it would be good to marry my daughter to little Wesson."
"It's better now. Little Wesson doesn't miss the old relationship at all. He destroyed my linen workshop and the merchants came to buy linen. Continuously lowering the price."
"If I had known this, I would have smashed his head in with a hammer when he came to fish."
Archduke Legens also said with resentment: "Yeah, who among us doesn't know that old Wesson is a good man. Before my sister got married, she spent days and nights fishing with him. What did I say?"
“It’s good now. My carpentry workshop is also ruined. I only have a little money from selling wood.”
“My people here have run away, and there will be no one to work and collect them.” If I don’t pay taxes, I can’t eat the bark.”
His words resonated with the Grand Duke of Franken.
The Archduke of Franken said again: "The most hateful thing is that little Wesson set the tariff to be too bullying."
"You said my linen is not made well, I agree. Then sell it cheaper. Even if it is used as rags and wraps, people will buy it."
"This guy actually levied 60% on the import of linen. Tariffs, my linen is more expensive than their good cloth, no one will buy it."
Grand Duke Regens gritted his teeth and said: "Your linen is only 60%, and our woodware is only 60%. I’ve already received tariffs on two cups, so I can’t sell it at all.”
“It would be okay if we only have one place in Weisen, but this little bastard actually created a customs union, and the Duchy of Byrne has the same tax rate as him. , Let’s not let anyone live!”
Archduke Franken nodded in agreement: “That’s right, the Principality of Mainz and other Rhine Leagues were bribed by him, and they all have the same tax rate. There is no place to sell the cloth!”
Archduke Regens continued: "The most irritating thing is that his export tax rate is almost as low as no tax. You used to buy furniture from us, but now it's better, and we have to buy their furniture!"
"That's right!" Archduke Franken was furious when he heard this, "Forget about cotton and wool, the linen this bastard sold to me was actually half the price of what we knitted ourselves. !"
"The same goes for flour!" Archduke Legens added, "My mills are also closed down!"
Archduke Franken kept nodding.
The two of them became more and more angry as they talked, and they ate meat as if it was Frederick who was roasting on the charcoal fire.
The reality was different from what Frederick thought. He thought that there was someone lobbying behind the alliance between the two countries. In fact, they all had their interests damaged because of Wesson, so they came together.
The economic base determines the superstructure. The economic contradiction between the two sides has become deeper and deeper in recent years. War is inevitable. The son of the Archduke of Franconia was sentenced to death in Wesson, which was just the fuse. .
(End of this chapter)