News of the major flood in the lower reaches of the Whispering River had already spread to the upstream regions. Many refugees were pouring into these cities, and Sakura City was also experiencing an influx.
The Lord of Sakura City stood on the city wall, his expression dark as he watched the refugees outside the city lining up to enter. This wave had several hundred people, and it was already the third one today.
"Approximately how many refugees are in the city?" The Sakura City Lord asked in a deep voice.
"A-About two thousand people," The knight said cautiously. He could tell the City Lord was not very happy.
"Has there been any trouble?" The Sakura City Lord asked flatly. No one could tell what he was thinking.
"A few individual refugees stole wheat. They have now been hanged as a public warning," The knight said with a serious face.
"There are more and more refugees." The Sakura City Lord's fat face twitched. He looked at the refugees gathered at the city gate. If this kept up, the commoners would start rioting and looting. Once a riot broke out, it would also endanger his own safety.
"City Lord, should we perhaps send knights to drive the refugees away?" The knight suggested. The city was very unsafe right now, with messy refugees everywhere. Incidents of theft and vandalism were happening from time to time.
"Hmph, no need." The Sakura City Lord waved his hand and said indifferently, "Send people to take these refugees to Sedona City. Isn't that Lucas short on people? We'll send him some, free of charge."
He recalled how people from Sedona City had come to borrow ships a few days ago, ridiculously claiming to be on a rescue mission. It made him wonder if Lucas was brain-damaged. Can he even afford to feed the commoners in his own territory? Isn't it better to just save his coins? To actually have the benevolence to go rescue people... ridiculous, truly ridiculous.
"Will Lord Lucas be willing to accept these refugees?" The knight hesitated. He knew his Lord had a big problem with Sedona City's Lord Lucas, mainly because Sakura City was close to having its authority completely usurped by Sedona City.
"He will. We'll even send a little wheat to Sedona City with them. Lucas will definitely accept," The Sakura City Lord said. "If he doesn't, that's even better. I'll spread some rumors and make his reputation stink to high heaven."
He'd like to see just how Sedona City could afford to feed so many people. It was only just spring; they would have to wait until the autumn harvest for any crops. Even if they went to buy wheat, they'd have to go inland, where they have two harvests a year. But they'd have to be prepared to be viciously ripped off.
Sedona City's trade had only just begun. Unlike his Sakura City, which stockpiled enough wheat to feed tens of thousands of people every year. After all, he was a wheat middleman; he always added a little to the price before selling.
Who's to say a large population is a good thing? You have to be able to feed them. Besides, feeding so many useless mouths is a pure waste of food. He would never be stupid enough to give wheat to those refugees. Only a fool like the Lord of Sedona City would do such a thing. No amount of family fortune would be enough to withstand that kind of squandering.
In any case, he would no longer sell his wheat to Sedona City. He wanted to see what Lucas would do. How dare he stick his hand into Sakura City's business? Did he think he was easy to bully?
"City Lord, how much wheat should we send?" The knight hadn't expected the City Lord to be so generous as to actually give wheat to someone.
"One thousand pounds of wheat," the Sakura City Lord said with a faint smile.
"Uhh..." The knight was stunned. One thousand pounds of wheat... even if eaten sparingly, that was only enough to feed a thousand people for two days. Wasn't sending just that little bit... too stingy?
"What? Is there a problem?" The Sakura City Lord squinted at him, his gaze filled with a chilling killing intent.
"No, no problem," The knight shivered. The City Lord had been rather capricious lately.
"Get ready. I will also go to Sedona City tomorrow," The Sakura City Lord said lightly. He kind of missed the food at the Drunken Night Building... and he also wanted to go see the Lord of Sedona City make a fool of himself.
"We will make the arrangements immediately." The knight bowed and turned to descend the city wall.
The knight stood at the base of the wall, glanced back at the City Lord, and sighed silently. He muttered to himself, "City Lord, why must you do this? The Lord of Sedona City is not someone we can afford to provoke."
"Tap, tap, tap..."
The knight strode into the city. He needed to dispatch men to manage these refugees. Currently, the main streets of Sakura City are full of refugees dragging their families along, holding broken bowls in their hands.
"Hey, have you heard? They're selling cheap salt in the city."
"Really? Right now, one pound of salt is forty copper coins. 'Cheap salt' can't be that cheap, can it? How much could it drop? A few coppers?"
"Hehe... look. This packet of salt is only five copper coins. This packet is less than 120 gm heavy. Added up, one pound only costs just over twenty copper coins. Cheap, right?"
"One pound of salt for only twenty-something coppers? You're not kidding, are you? How could it be that cheap? Is it bad salt? Mixed with sand?"
"No, how could it be mixed with sand? It's salt from Sedona City. It's good salt. The Lord of Sedona City specially made these small packets so that commoners could afford it."
"Salt from Sedona City? Oh, then it's no problem. I'm going to buy a packet right now."
"It's in the east of the city, a newly opened salt shop. Hurry, lots of people are rushing to buy it."
"Okay."
"..."
"Sigh~~" The knight listened to the two commoners' conversation and couldn't help but sigh. Sakura City's salt trade was already controlled by Sedona City. The linen trade was the same; all the shops were opened by Sedona City.
Now, whenever the commoners of Sakura City hear that goods are from Sedona City, they all scramble to buy them. They're cheap, and the quality is good. The market is already flooded with goods produced by Sedona City.
Of the four basic necessities—clothing, food, housing, and transport—"clothing" and "food" were already in Sedona City's grasp. If it weren't for the wheat trade being controlled by the City Lord, perhaps the Lord of Sedona City would already be the one calling the shots in Sakura City.
This was one of the reasons why the Sakura City Lord hated Sedona City so much right now. Besides jealousy, it was hatred for Sedona City meddling in Sakura City's affairs.
If he weren't afraid of Sedona City's military strength, perhaps these salt shops, linen shops, restaurants, and so on, would have all been seized by the Sakura City Lord.
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