"Commissar... is there... an error in this order?"
Looking at the documents in their hands, several Northern Fire branch political commissars were all stunned.
This... not only was Northern Fire now mobilizing military grain reserves to support the Holy Capital's economic war, they were even mobilizing reserve grain from other regions to support the Holy Capital?
This...
Logically speaking, mobilizing a portion of military grain to support the Holy Capital was already quite surprising, but Adeline not only ordered all Northern Fire bases to mobilize all available grain to the Holy Capital, she even ordered various Northern Fire bases to mobilize civilian reserve grain specifically stored for disasters...
You have to know... if this grain was gone, if disasters occurred later, everything would be finished...
And... counting grain transport losses, even with high-level combat units like the [Liberators] helping with transport, Northern Fire would still have to bear quite enormous transportation costs...
More importantly—that grain was the source of the base area people's confidence in Northern Fire. If this grain was gone, it would shake Northern Fire's credibility in the hearts of people in various base areas.
Those granaries were often built in the most prominent locations of each base area, with one of their founding purposes being to ensure people's confidence...
Once people saw large amounts of that grain being transported out, they would definitely have thoughts...
Over time, problems would probably arise...
"No problems, execute the order!"
Adeline showed a serious expression and emphasized the authenticity of the order once more to the political commissars from various regions.
"Yes!"
Although they still had some doubts about the order's content, military obedience to superior orders and the political commissars' trust in Adeline still made them salute and go execute the order...
...
"Lena, why does Northern Fire still need to mobilize grain from various places?"
Standing on the city wall that had just been rebuilt not long ago, looking at the large groups of bug rice transport teams below the wall, Elashia asked Ileina beside her with confusion:
"Doesn't this just add a large transportation cost? Why can't we directly use the grain I transported from Elasia?"
"And... now that the sun has come out again, why aren't we selling those normal crops I transported from Elasia to the people now?"
Elashia really couldn't understand what Northern Fire's people were doing this for.
It was winter now, and in just a few more months spring would come and farmers would start planting.
What was the point of not promoting normal crops now?
"Well..."
Ileina smiled meaningfully.
"Actually... in order to take revenge for Caroline and for Northern Fire's future financial affairs and the Holy Capital's future stability, Adeline made a quite wise decision..."
...
"Master... should we really continue to follow... Northern Fire doesn't seem to be joking with us..."
Today, a considerable portion of the Holy Capital's grain merchants once again gathered at Louis Das's house.
Unlike their previous confidence of certain victory, they now all obviously appeared somewhat lacking in confidence.
Looking at his less confident companions, one merchant hesitantly spoke:
"I sent people to observe other base areas, and it's clear Northern Fire transported all the bug rice they could bring to the Holy Capital."
"Could this mean... that Northern Fire's people want to fight us to the bitter end..."
"You know... if Northern Fire flips the table... we'd be in danger..."
The merchants who knew how much funding Louis Das could mobilize didn't doubt the fact that they could win this grain war. What they really worried about was—would Northern Fire flip the table after losing this economic war?
"You know... that's Northern Fire's foundation... if they find that even investing military grain can't reverse the situation, will they directly use violent methods against us to solve the problem?"
"Right, right! Once soldiers lose their rationality, they won't care about order at all!"
"We're only after money, there's no need to risk our lives..."
"Enough!"
Louis Das stood up.
"Rest assured, Northern Fire absolutely cannot flip the table!"
"You should still remember that incident from my youth..."
Louis Das showed the surrounding merchants a confident smile.
"A few days ago, she came to find me..."
...
"Master Louis, you mean... you can be certain that Northern Fire absolutely won't use military means against us?"
One merchant questioned him after hearing Louis Das's words.
"Right!"
Louis Das smiled and nodded.
"Actually... I understand the Northern Fire organization quite well..."
"From when they were first established, they've been very focused on maintaining their credibility and their image in people's hearts."
"They've already made promises in the newspapers—they absolutely won't use military means to interfere with the Holy Capital's economic operations."
"And... you have to know how much damage using the army against Holy Capital merchants would do to Northern Fire's public image?"
Louis Das continued with a smile:
"For them, their image in people's hearts is more important than the Holy Capital's economic situation..."
Looking at the merchants around him who were listening intently, Louis Das's smile became more confident.
"There's another more important matter—Northern Fire is about to go to war with the Blood Clan. Before the war starts, they'll definitely do everything possible to avoid complications, so under no circumstances would they use violent methods against us."
After hearing his words, the merchants' attitudes changed accordingly.
"I see..."
"Makes sense!"
"Indeed that's the logic..."
"..."
Seeing everyone's hearts had calmed down, Louis Das smiled:
"So... we don't need to worry about too many things. We just need to monopolize all the grain in the Holy Capital as before."
"Everyone should mobilize their maximum available power to hoard grain as we agreed before."
"After all..."
Looking at everyone at the table, Louis Das smiled meaningfully:
"The more everyone hoards, the more we'll earn later..."
"We've all invested so much capital before, surely we can't give up now?"
...
"Old man, how much money do we have left?"
After the merchants dispersed, Louis Das quickly dropped that confident appearance and looked at the old butler:
"Do we still have ten thousand gold coins left?"
Louis Das never would have imagined that Northern Fire could make such a big determination...
The gold coins stored in the warehouse probably didn't even amount to ten thousand now...
The old butler shook his head bitterly.
"Master, we probably only have just over five thousand gold coins left..."
Louis Das didn't speak, just silently looked at the floor.
"Can we find ways to get more money?"
Looking at the dejected Louis Das, the old butler comforted:
"Although we're out of money, the extensive connections we've accumulated in the Holy Capital can completely allow us to borrow tens of thousands more gold coins... and we can sell our properties and mansion, which would also raise more money..."
The old butler's voice was like a devil's whisper...
"As long as we can succeed in the end, all this money can be recovered..."