dognovel Chapter 216 Package Business
Chapter 216 Package Business
Summer 1449 Midland
Following the king's decree, hundreds of rebellious nobles appeared on the land of Midland. They brought their followers and launched a protracted battle with the nobles loyal to the king. For a while, the whole of Midland was covered with blood and corpses.
John, who was not involved but still in the center of the vortex, also received Charlie's request for the next step. After leaving the letter, John opened the system map. The originally independent Kingdom of Midland now had more color blocks of various forces inside it. If John didn't know that he was traveling to an anime world, he might have thought he was playing a World War II coloring game when looking at this system map.
"It seems that the king is determined to solve this unstable factor in the country this time." John sighed as he looked at the constantly changing system map. However, he thought about it again and felt that it was reasonable. While all countries were busy with internal consumption due to the plague, it would be better to take this opportunity to use their large size to hold on and wipe out all the nobles who were at risk of rebellion. Otherwise, if the plague was over and all countries recovered, it would cause greater harm if they were stabbed in the back when the front line was in full swing.
After thinking about what the king was thinking, John immediately wrote a reply to Charles. He said that he must make money, but he must be careful and try to take orders from the great nobles. He should also act with more than a hundred people, and bring potions made by Vargas when he goes out.
A few days later, Charlie, who received John's letter, immediately announced to all the mercenaries and nobles: The Black Watch Mercenary Group has reopened for business!
Not long after the message was sent out, the first batch of customers from Wyndham arrived at the gate of the camp in horse-drawn carriages as fast as racing cars, fearing that they would not be able to be hired.
After getting off the car, the nobles saw several people wearing black protective suits and bird-beak masks sitting next to the gate, and in front of them was a long table.
The mercenaries who had been prepared long ago led the nobles to the long table. As soon as they sat down, several contracts were handed over to them.
"A contract for a hundred men, or a contract for a thousand men?"
Looking at the headlines on several contracts, several nobles suddenly felt confused. They used to hire people based on their salary, so why did they change the model now?
One of the nobles seemed to be unable to wait any longer. After taking a quick glance, he shouted impatiently:
"How many people do you have now? I'll hire them all. After you help me deal with the rebels, I'll pay you whatever money you want!"
After hearing this, the man wearing the bird-beak mask did not react. Instead, he handed the contract forward to signal the noble to focus on the contract. However, the mercenary next to him flashed a look of contempt, and soon returned to his original indifferent face. The Black Watch Mercenary Group is the pinnacle of the Midland Mercenary Group. From the leader to the mercenaries, they are not fools. They will not follow a noble of unknown identity just for a big cake.
Seeing no reaction from the other party, the nobles could only continue reading. After reading it carefully for no less than several times, they finally understood the reason - they had raised the price.
Many old customers of the mercenary company were the first to discover the trick. In the past, the cost of hiring a single mercenary was multiplied by a hundred times, but now it was about 20% lower than the cost of hiring a team of a hundred people. In addition to other miscellaneous expenses, the monthly cost of a team of a hundred people might be around one thousand gold coins, and that of a team of a thousand people would be tens of thousands.
However, now that things have come to this, it is definitely not possible to bargain with them. The longer time is pushed back, the longer these mercenaries can wait, and the longer the nobles' territory waits, the greater the chance that it will be breached.
Fortunately, the above prices were acceptable to the nobles present. After all, they could enjoy themselves in the royal capital every year. When it came to the survival of their own families, they were not reluctant to spend their money.
Just as one of the nobles was about to sign, a mercenary stopped him and said:
"Wait a minute, customer, please show me your certificate of nobility."
The noble was somewhat confused by this sudden interruption. Seeing his confused look, the mercenary explained:
"Please show us your certificate that proves your noble status so that we can know your specific information. After all, if we sign a contract with those nobles who have rebelled, we will be breaking the law."
After listening to the mercenary's explanation, the nobles readily ordered their people to take out their noble certificates and hand them over to the civil servants in charge on the opposite side.
Due to the frequent need to deal with nobles, the Black Watch Mercenaries recruited many heralds, who played a key role in identifying the nobles' family crests and flags. After confirming the nobles' identities, the company could use this to obtain a lot of information about the customers and provide better services.
After that, the usual procedures were followed, such as signing and paying the deposit. At the end of a day's work, the civil servants counted the contracts and found that in just one day, Blackwatch needed to dispatch more than two thousand people.
Looking at the transaction amount above, Charles scratched his head and began to make deployments. In order to better adapt to small-scale wars, Charles broke up the army and reorganized it into mixed centuries with infantry, crossbowmen, musketeers, and cavalry. He also conducted a lot of running-in training so that they could cooperate with each other when encountering emergencies.
By the next day, there was still a constant stream of people coming to the camp gate to inquire about mercenary contracts, and at the gate next to them, teams of mercenaries were getting ready, waiting for the next order from the officers. Only then did the nobles have the opportunity to see the mercenaries set out en masse.
At the officer's command, the soldiers who were like black stone pillars began to move. They picked up their weapons and marched towards the gate in unison. Under the gaze of the nobles, they crossed the gate in rows. Their armor shone in the sunlight, and their weapons reflected a dazzling cold light.
If these alone only show that the Black Watch Mercenaries are well-trained in infantry, the nobles then also saw cavalry and artillery, which are the biggest highlights of an armed group.
The cavalry that appeared this time numbered as many as one hundred heavy cavalrymen. Although they looked small, in the eyes of the Midland nobles who could only use light cavalry on a large scale, it was a naked display of wealth and muscle. Coupled with the various types of artillery, the nobles were more convinced that this mercenary group had the ability to help them regain their own territory.
Therefore, the subsequent hiring was no longer based on money, and identity became the key factor in the number of hired soldiers. After a few days, the heralds had identified five or six earl's family crests and flags, and the number of mercenaries that needed to be sent out also gradually increased. Only after all the mercenaries that could be recruited were arranged did the hiring business come to a halt amid the wailing of the nobles.
Looking at the nobles who were reluctant to leave, Charlie seemed to see gold coins with wings flying towards the sky, and he couldn't help but mutter:
"Perhaps I should ask the Lord for more people to come."