Claude finally returned to Lanu after more than two years.
It was already dark when he wasn't too far away from the city. Mason Hughes asked him which home he wanted to go to.
Claude gave it some thought and decided to go to the Corvinbelen Manor in the western outskirts. That was his and Sheerah's love nest.
Sheerah's real name was Sheeralati Corvinbelen. When Claude built the manor, he named it after her. It also meant that the manor was her private property.
In the first half of last year, he entrusted Sheerah with the task of escorting the loot from Nasri back to the region. After that, Sheerah didn't return to Freia. Instead, she stayed in the manor to study the magic tomes and scrolls from the Nasri royal family.
She was rather laid-back and followed Claude to the eastern regions of Freia for nearly a year before she wanted to return to her manor. Claude had no choice but to let her return to the region under the guise of escorting the loot.
Sheerah was pleasantly surprised when they arrived at the manor. She busily arranged for Claude's group to eat and wash and accompanied him for a warm night. Claude's fatigue from the long journey was alleviated.
However, Claude still woke up early the next day. He was going to the military base. Colonel Borkal had been waiting for him for three days.
The officers stationed at the base were all excited to see Claude. After all, the five powerhouses of the region had all gone to the kingdom's mainland. There were some things that no one dared to make the decisions on.
It was just like the time when the eight colonies expelled the merchants and merchants from the region. The officers stationed at the base didn't know how to deal with it.
Now that Claude was back, most of them felt like they had found a pillar of support and calmed down.
After greeting the officers who greeted him with a smile, he returned to his office.
The place had already been cleaned and there wasn't a single speck of dust.
He stroked the table and the back of the chair with his gloved hand and found that his gloves were still as white as new. He nodded in satisfaction and handed his cloak to Mason Hughes. "Get Colonel Borkal of the military intelligence department here."
When he arrived at Port Patres, he sent an eagle messenger to headquarters and asked them to inform Colonel Borkal of the military intelligence to wait for him there. He also asked them to prepare all the information on the eight colonies on the west coast for him to look into.
It was obvious that Claude was preparing to respond to the trade ban imposed by the eight colonies.
However, he didn't think that he would stay in Port Patres for another four days and not return to Lanu right away.
The reason was simple. He and the commander of the Ironclad Fleet, General Moriad, had found Liboyd to discuss the matter of providing the kingdom with 16 Ironclad Warships.
Although he already had a plan to deliver the first-generation Iron-armored Battleships to the kingdom after they had been refurbished and refurbished, this required an on-site inspection to discuss what should be dismantled and how to refurbish the new battleships. This alone took three days, and he was dragged by Grandmaster Liboyd to discuss technical issues for an entire day …
Even though Claude's skill level was far from Liboyd's, he had seen quite a bit of information in his previous life.
Sometimes, a casual remark from him would cause Liboyd and the other technicians to ponder over it. Claude was pestered by Liboyd and the others for another day before he finally returned, drenched in sweat.
That delay made Colonel Borkal wait for him at the military headquarters for three days in vain.
As a result, Claude sneezed non-stop for the past three days. It was obvious that Colonel Borkal, who had been waiting for him for three days, was filled with resentment and grumbling about him behind his back.
Less than two minutes after Lieutenant Colonel Mason Hughes left, Colonel Borkal barged into Claude's office with a huge pile of documents.
Only Colonel Borkal, who was Claude's childhood friend, would act so naturally in front of him. Now that Claude was the grand marshal of the kingdom, other officers would have to be respectful and stand straight when they saw him.
Only Colonel Borkal didn't care about Claude's rank and let him do as he pleased.
Borkal put down the documents in his hands and went to the wine cabinet to look for some good wine to taste.
Claude could only shake his head. There was nothing he could do about Borkal's shamelessness.
He tapped the goblet with his quill and said, "It's a shame, Boa. You didn't follow me back to the kingdom to fight. Otherwise, you would've been a general and a hereditary baron." "That's right, Boa.
Colonel Borkal didn't follow the two corps on the expedition. Instead, he stayed behind in the region and was in charge of the smuggling business in the eight colonies, as well as the underground transactions of the Wild Bull Firm. He was also in charge of the trade with the nikancha nation.
Since he said that he preferred to do business and not go to war, the military gave him the responsibility for the business deals that couldn't be publicized.
"You know, Claude, I'm not interested in those things."
Borkal finally found a bottle of fruit wine that satisfied him. He took a glass and poured himself a drink. "Actually, my family is very satisfied with the living environment in the region. We don't want to go back to the kingdom.
Back then, my father was filled with worry when he left. But now, he's filled with energy and is working hard to expand his family's business network in the region. "
Claude didn't mind his friend calling him by his name. He flipped through the documents and said, "By the way, it's been four months since the eight colonies imposed a trade ban on our region. How's the situation there?"
Borkal downed the fruit wine in his glass and put it on the coffee table. He straightened his face and walked towards the desk.
He knew very well that Claude was going to discuss serious matters with him.
"How should I put it? It's very strict.
Twenty to thirty thousand people have been punished for carrying illegal goods alone.
Most of them were small peddlers who walked the streets. They were not smugglers. They just took the goods from the smugglers to sell, but they were caught by the patrols. That was when they were unlucky.
"Let's put it this way. Now, anyone caught carrying goods from our region will be arrested.
To the local officials of the eight colonies on the west coast, this trade ban is actually a great opportunity to make a fortune.
They will first fine the criminals they catch and then sentence them to hard labor.
Those who don't have money will be sentenced to a few more years and those who have money will be sentenced to a lighter sentence. If they're well fed, they'll only have to spend a night in the patrols' cells before being released, "said Borkal as he sat down on the chair in front of the desk.
Claude pointed at the fruit wine and glasses on the coffee table. "You can bring it over here. We'll talk while we drink. If you want more, you can go get another bottle."
Borkal shook his head. "We're going to talk about serious matters today. We'll drink later."
"Sure."
Claude nodded. "Then, tell me what's going on with the trade ban. Which country started it first?"
Borkal took out a blue-covered folder from the stack of documents on the table and handed it to Claude. "Actually, it's just as we've analyzed. The eight colonies on the west coast have become our dumping grounds due to the smuggling of all sorts of goods and daily necessities from our region.
It's just like how the merchant guilds of our Dominion set up branches in these eight colonies. Even if they obey the law and pay their taxes on time, they've already affected the profits of the eight colonies in the south of Freia.
"The merchants in the region pay a higher price than the merchants in their kingdoms. The goods we sell are cheaper and of better quality than the merchants in their kingdoms. Also, the merchants we set up there can freely exchange notes.
"Since we defeated Shiks in the last colonial war and wiped out more than ten of their standing corps, even though the colonies are dissatisfied with our dumping of goods there, they only protest verbally. They don't dare to use force or threaten us.
The only thing they can do is increase the number of goods we export to them.
In addition, the goods we sell to them through normal channels are not prohibited goods, so they have no excuse to cut off business with us. On the other hand, the branches of the Dominion Merchant Guild in the eight colonies on the west coast pay taxes according to the regulations when purchasing local products and selling our own goods, so the local authorities of the colonies can't get hold of any evidence against us.
"The main problem is that the merchants in the colonies are more rampant and smuggle all the daily necessities we produce there.
"Compared to the goods the colonies send from their own countries, the goods we produce are much more competitive in terms of price, quality and design." As a result, the colonies can't sell their own goods to their own countries and their warehouses are filled to the brim with unsalable goods.
"One of the merchants from Fochs went bankrupt because of that and drowned himself in the sea.
After the matter spread, the merchants of the Fokes Islands United Kingdom complained to their king. Then the king sent a special envoy to visit the other seven southern countries and unified their position. Only then did they decide to implement a trade ban against our Overseas Dominion in the colonies of the eight countries on the west coast, strictly prohibiting smuggling transactions, and no longer allowing their colonies to become a dumping ground for our Overseas Dominion … "
Claude flipped open the blue leather folder and saw a rather thick personnel file. Every page was filled with information about a person, including which colony they came from, their name, age, family members, personal assets, purchasing channels and sales figures.
Claude looked at it for a while and flipped through a few pages before putting the folder on the desk. "These are the smugglers you picked?
They're all nikancha … "
"No, they're not nikancha.
Borkal shook his head. "If they hear you call them nikancha, they'll challenge you to a duel to the death.
They'll tell them that nikancha is an insult. They call themselves pamigars. "
"Pamigars?
What's the difference? They're all mixed-bloods, "Claude said disapprovingly.
"Even though they're all mixed-bloods, their skin color is lighter than nikancha's."
Borkal was starting to feel thirsty after talking so much, so he went to the coffee table and grabbed the bottle of fruit wine he had opened earlier. "The western coast is different from our region. The colonies there have more than two hundred years of history behind them. The nikancha have been mixed many times, so it's normal for their skin to turn lighter.
Also, after a long period of training, many of their lazy habits have changed.
"At the same time, the pamigars are more outstanding than nikancha's. At the very least, they learn and work hard to earn money. They're also responsible for their families, just like us.
If you come into contact with them, you'll realize that they're not the same race as nikancha's.
Just as they call themselves the pamigar in their vernacular, pamigar means civilized, honest, trustworthy, and fearless. "
"They're all from Pamigar?" Claude pointed at the blue folder.
Borkal drank a few mouthfuls of fruit wine and shook his head. "No, pamigars are just one of the races they call themselves. Two hundred years of colonization has allowed them to acknowledge their identity as colonies. At the same time, they've also inherited the conflicts and conflicts between nations.
For example, the mixed-bloods of the Fochs Islands colonies call themselves Bluestocks, which means darlings of the sea and warriors of the waves. They're experts at fishing and diving.
The mixed-bloods of the Lesnian colonies call themselves Rusman, which means herders or cattle herders.
The mixed-bloods of the Duchy of Leoriolo call themselves Gibgots, which means sprinters and pursuers of the light. They worship the god of fire.
Only the mixed-bloods of Morosik and Feldero call themselves pamigars.
In addition, the mixed-bloods in the Principality of Vassilico, the Kingdom of Carmen Leon and the City-State Union of Opsaro had several names, unlike those in the colonies of the Five Nations, who had a single racial name.
"Interestingly, the duchy of Leoriolo and Opsaro have always had a grudge against each other. They've fought seven times in history, which is known as the Seven Wars of the Hundred Years.
The people of both nations view each other as enemies and the mixed-bloods of the colonies inherited that grudge. Both sides look down on each other.
The Kingdom of Lesnia and the Kingdom of Kamarleon had also had three territorial conflicts in their colonies. As a result, the Lusmen of Lesnia's colonies hated the Doramana and Marchaelin of Kamarleon's colonies.
"It's said that the Marchalians of Kamarleon once charged into Lesnia's colonies, killing and pillaging them, resulting in a massacre that killed tens of thousands of rusman.
"Then, the rusman of Lesnia's colonies retaliated, but they targeted the wrong people. They pressed the Doramana to the ground and gave them a good beating. That's how the three nations became sworn enemies."
"That's complicated," Claude sighed.
"Indeed."
Borkal nodded in agreement and poured himself another glass of fruit wine. "Actually, I personally believe that a lot of the conflicts between the different ethnic groups were deliberately provoked by the colonists. If you look into it, they're actually of the same race, just like how the colonists called them nikancha in disdain.
The smugglers in the blue folder were all reputable people in the colonies of the eight countries on the West Coast. They were rich and powerful, and had a high reputation in the local areas.
Apart from their skin color, there's no difference between them and us.
"More importantly, they're more ambitious and wish for their nation to be independent and free.
"The eight colonies on the west coast tend to discriminate against these mixed-bloods.
Take Tazinger Nora Taganem for example. When he was young, he was sent back to Morosik by his own father to study, but he was discriminated against because of his skin color. In the end, he dropped out of school and ran back.
His father was a minor noble and he inherited the family's property and title after his death.
He was considered a local celebrity in Morosik's colony, but he was nicknamed the Half-Blood Baron or the Bastard Baron and was ostracized.
"That's why he wanted to establish an independent pamigar nation, which is why he started smuggling and forming his own private army.
He once asked me if we could support his plan, hoping that we could provide him with weapons and military instructors so that he could form an armed force that could wipe out the colony's garrison. "
"Are all the smugglers in the folder ambitious like him?" Claude asked.
"Some are, some aren't.
Bolonik thought for a moment and replied, "Tazinger Nora Taganem was the only smuggler who asked me about establishing an independent nation. I didn't really know him at the time, so I could only politely refuse. But later, I sent someone to investigate his background and personal experience and found that he was the most suitable candidate. That's why I put him on the first page.
Some of the candidates were chosen because of personal grudges, some because of family feuds, and some were ambitious adventurers.
I can't be sure how far they'll go in the end.
But what I can confirm is that they're all mixed-bloods who hate the colony's current state and dream of changing the world.
That's why I picked them out and made them the targets of Operation Wildfire.
I believe that if we provide them with weapons and military support, they'll be able to start a wave of independence in the eight colonies.
Even if they don't succeed, they'll be so busy that they won't be able to enforce any trade bans on us. "
Claude stood up and paced around the office. He lowered his head in thought for a moment before saying, "I'll leave Operation Wildfire to you. I'll assign Bloweyk's Wolf Fang to you. They'll work with you and be responsible for your safety.
I can provide you with all the resources and manpower you need, but I don't want Operation Wildfire to only shine for a short while.
I hope to see the colonies on the west coast truly liberate and establish their own nation. That'll be the best for us. "