Chapter 525 – Vassal

The merchants present knew what Zhao Hai meant. They knew that what he said was true. After the war between the Beastmen and the Radiant Church, those merchants controlled by the Radiant Church would definitely return to do business in the Prairie. The merchants present also knew that the commercial might of those people would be very strong, this was because they have the Radiant Church’s support.

As Zhao Hai said, these Radiant Church people cannot be allowed to sell their food in the Prairie. If they decide to cut their prices, everyone not on their group would certainly suffer some losses.

But if their alliance get set up, they would become a power that couldn’t be underestimated. Most importantly, these merchants can use this alliance as a way to have a connection with the Buda Clan. Even if they cannot do business in the Prairie anymore, they can just shift their operations on the Buda Clan’s Golden Island. The island now embodied its name, as long as merchants do business there, they would certainly gain massive wealth. Moreover, that place was much safer than the Beastman Prairie.

Zhao Hai looked at their expressions and didn’t say anything. He wanted to give these merchants a choice. He believes that since these people were able to to do business with the Beastmen, especially in Beast God City, these people certainly understood the situation.

Sure enough, the merchants looked at each other for a moment and then nodded. Then one of them turned to Zhao Hai and said, “Mister Zhao Hai, we agree to the alliance. Sir shall be the leader of our group. What rules does sir have?”

Zhao Hai faintly smiled, he didn’t think that these people would be this surprisingly calm. He quickly answered them and said, “Actually, our corporation is completely a business alliance. I only hope that everyone would share information with one another. Also if one has goods with no buyer while someone has a buyer but with no goods, I hope that you would cooperate with each other. This way, the two parties would benefits from the profits. Naturally, the split of the money would depend on your prior agreements. Also, if someone wanted to deal with one of us, I hope that everyone would help in resisting. This way, we can become stronger and stronger. Does everyone agree?”

When the Merchants heard what Zhao Hai said, they all bowed. They now believed that Zhao Hai really did want to form an alliance with them. The question of the man earlier was just in fact, a test. They wanted to see whether Zhao Hai just wanted to have benefits in the alliance. Now it seems like Zhao Hai was not just trying to gain benefits, he really did want everyone to help one another.

The merchant earlier held his wine glass up and said, “Alright, we’ll do what mister asks. Mister, my name is Milton Curry, from the Curry Family. What name would our alliance have?”

Zhao Hai smiled and said, “A name isn’t important, let’s just call it Merchant Alliance. Everyone shall introduce each other later. I also hope that our alliance won’t just be here in the Prairie. When we return to the Human Lands, let’s still be allies. If one has difficulties, everyone should do everything in their abilities to help. Can everyone accept this?:”

The merchants looked each other and then nodded. Milton then turned to Zhao Hai and said, “We accept. The establishment of this alliance only gives us benefits with no harm. But we’re afraid that mister would have to suffer some losses. After all, our families aren’t very great.”

Zhao Hai laughed and said, “That doesn’t matter. The alliance’s benefits to my Buda Clan aren’t small either. Everybody should know that our Buda Clan is still an emerging family. Our connections simply cannot compare to the other Great Clans. Forming an alliance with you is also a form of having new connections. For our Buda Clan, this benefit is very big.”

When Milton heard Zhao Hai, his beating hard finally relaxed. In the end, Milton lifted his glass and said, “Sir can rest assured. Later on, our Curry Family will be considered to be a vassal family of the Buda Clan. If mister wants something done, you can just approach us.”

Zhao Hai stared blankly, he didn’t think that Million would actually declare this. While Zhao Hai was still dumbfounded, the other people also raised their glasses and one by one said the same thing as Milton. These people are all Patriarchs of medium-ranked Families, so they also had the authority to declare so.

Zhao Hai didn’t quite understand why they did this. If one becomes a vassal, a lot of control would be lost. At the very least, they wouldn’t be making decisions just like this one anymore.

Actually, this shows how Zhao Hai still didn’t understand the circumstances in the continent. On the continent, all Great Nobles have their own vassal families. Although those vassal families needed to listen to the Great Nobles, they would also benefit a lot from being a vassal. They can have the Great Noble take care of problems that they weren’t able to take care of. For medium-rank families, this was a huge thing.

Although the Buda Clan was still an emerging family, the strength that they have was tyrannical. Additionally, Zhao Hai was the son-in-law of the Calci Family as well as the Rosen Emperor, also the Buda Clan is in an Eternal Alliance with the Crook Family, while also being normal allies with the Shelley Family. These connections were something that middle-ranked Noble clans like Milton’s didn’t have. Now that they have the opportunity, they naturally wouldn’t let it go.

Zhao Hai looked at Milton and the others and said, “Alright, I’ll take all of you in. From now on, all of you are vassals of my Buda Clan.”

Milton and the others showed happiness in their face. The benefits that they just received were too great. The merchants immediately put down their glasses as they stood up and gave Zhao Hai a salute. From this point on, they were now Zhao Hai’s men.

Zhao Hai also received their salute. He was now a half-lord for Milton and the others, so he naturally would receive their ceremonies. After this ceremony, Milton and the others were officially his subordinates.

After Milton and the others gave their salute, Zhao Hai had them sit down, then after this he said, “I won’t always be in the Prairie. If you have anything to inquire, you can just find Ah Tai. Then he shall relay your words to me. Right, I have another matter to discuss with all of you.”

Milton immediately said, “Mister, please tell us.”

Zhao Hai waved his hand and said, “I don’t need anything from you, I want to help you instead. All of you brought a lot of goods this time since you didn’t know about what would happen. When the Beastmen drives all of you away, those goods would all go to waste. I want to buy all of your goods. Of course, I won’t buy them at a high price. You may take a few losses, but it wouldn’t be a lot. Also, I will use crystal cards in the transaction, not Magic Beasts. What do all of you think?”

Milton stared, then with evident happiness, he replied, “Sir, that’s fantastic. We absolutely agree. However, wouldn’t mister lose too much?”

Zhao Hai smiled and said, “Didn’t you see the three flags outside the tent? With those flags, the Beastmen wouldn’t be driving me away.”

Milton and the others stared, they didn’t know the significance of those three flags. The only thing they knew was that they were Beastman flags. They also have Beastman flags, but they would still be driven away.

Zhao Hai looked at their confused expressions and couldn’t help but gawk. Then he suddenly remembered that there weren’t a lot of people who knew about the different Beastman flags. Thus, it was also possible that Milton and the others had no idea about them.

Zhao Hai then looked at Milton and the others and said, “Those flags aren’t the same as your flags. I’m very sure that the Beastmen wouldn’t drive me away, so you can all just sell those goods to me. Rest assured, I won’t let you suffer too much loss.”

Milton and the others nodded, they felt that a huge stone in their hearts has finally dropped. They were now very grateful to Zhao Hai. It was because if Zhao Hai didn’t do this, then their losses would definitely be huge.

When he saw that Milton and the others nodded, Zhao Hai smiled and invited them to sit down again. Then he took out some milk wine that he made and placed it on the table.

This was the first time that these people had tasted this kind of liquor. Their status was insufficient, and adding on to the fact that this liquor was quite rare, they simply didn’t have the chance to taste it.

The meal lasted for a couple of hours before the group dispersed. After the meal, Zhao Hai instructed Ah Tai to go to those merchants and check the purchase before giving them the money. This would allow the merchants to leave Beast God City as soon as possible.

The merchants already knew about this matter, so they didn’t oppose to it. In all honesty, if it weren’t for them wanting to sell as much as possible to recoup their losses, they would have already left the Prairie. The war between the Beastmen and the Humans was inevitable. They would only get in danger if they stay here for too long.

They had no choice but to stay, the majority of them rely on the profits of these goods to run their families. If they couldn’t at least recover their capital, then they would have a bad time in the future.

Zhao Hai and the others had already decided on the price beforehand. Although the price was much cheaper than selling to the Beastmen, it wasn’t pitifully low. Even if they suffer some losses, the merchants were still satisfied. Amidst the situation between the Beastmen and Humans, this result was already fortunate for them.

Zhao Hai returned to his own tent and then drank several cups of Spatial water. Then he told the matter of vassalage to Laura and the others.

After the group listened, Laura smiled and told Zhao Hai, “Although we’ll suffer a few losses after having them as our vassals, this development is good for the overall situation of the Buda Clan. Having vassal families is good.”

Megan nodded and said, “Those guys had it cheap. Raising this matter at that moment made it impossible for Brother Hai to decline. Those guys are surely some sly fellows.”

Lizzy smiled and said, “I think they also saw that Elder Brother Hai was acting too well, so they wanted to ask that question to test him. They actually didn’t expect Brother Hai to agree immediately, those guys are really lucky.”

Zhao Hai looked at the three awkwardly, he really couldn’t understand. It was clear that it was the Buda Clan who got vassals. But from Laura and the others’ mouths, it seems like the merchants had gotten something good.

Laura knew that Zhao Hai didn’t know much about Noble matters, so she took the liberty to explain it to him. A medium-ranked noble being a vassal to a Great Noble wasn’t a shameful thing. On the contrary, it was a good thing. After becoming a vassal, these clans would be able to do some things easier than when they were still independent.

Moreover, if someone offends them later, they can also ask the Great Clan to act on their behalf. Being a vassal was like being under a Great Noble’s umbrella of protection. Benefits such as these are very hard to find.

Don’t think that these medium-ranked nobles had such beautiful lives. In reality, they always find themselves stepping on the tip of their toes, especially those who weren’t vassals of Great Noble Clans. These medium-ranked nobles always move carefully because they fear offending the Great Nobles. If they ever offend one, then they might face the fate of being extinguished. Because of those reasons, these medium-ranked nobles were always careful and cautious in everything they do.

But most of them didn’t have any good qualities that would attract Great Nobles. Even if they voluntarily side themselves to a Great Noble Clan, it wasn’t always certain that they would be accepted. Now that Zhao Hai had them in his fold, this was equal to having a strong power at their back. Although they will now need to offer yearly tributes to the Buda Clan to appease Zhao Hai, the benefits that they will get completely overshadowed it.

After listening to Laura’s explanation, Zhao Hai finally understood the matter. However, he didn’t regret his decision of accepting Milton and the others. He knew that the present connections of the Buda Clan were pitifully low. All of their information came from the Calci Family, which made Zhao Hai very passive. Now that he had Milton and the others, the Buda Clan can now have its own intelligence network. Handling matters in the future would be much more convenient.

Zhao Hai wasn’t a person who wants to be under the control of others. Therefore, he doesn’t want to always depend on the Calci Family for information. This would make the Buda Clan always bow their heads down to the Calci Family and Zhao Hai doesn’t want that. So Zhao Hai planned to establish his own influence.

And Milton and the others were going to help him achieve his goals. Although Milton and the others weren’t strong families, these people came from different parts of the Continent. As long as they have the support of the Buda Clan, they can only get stronger and stronger. Then, they can slowly form their own net of influence of which the Buda Clan was in the very center. With this, the Buda Clan would also start to get bigger and bigger, and will slowly get stronger and stronger.

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