ALL NOVEL
Chapter 52: I Lied
【What are you doing, my host?】
【You offended the entire Ottomain imperial family, and all of the nobles who could have spoken up for you somehow died in war. Due to that, we can’t push forward the main storyline.】
【I was thinking that we could head to the other countries first to clear the side quests before returning to the main storyline, but you offended one of the Venetian rulers the moment you step onto their soil.】
【What is going through your head?】
System 12345 was frustrated.
【What if that ruler picks on you over what happened earlier…】
【What’s done is done! We need to look forward. He’s just the ruler of this colony, so he won’t be a huge issue as long as you don’t offend anyone else.】
【Let me see if there are any other capture targets in the vicinity…】
【Oh? This one’s good!】
System 12345 happily sent a portrait to Shu Yichao.
It was a bespectacled woman with braids who appeared to be a bookworm. She was looking demurely in the direction of the screen with a faint smile.
【My host, this is your new target, Vernier. She’s one of Venice’s senators.】
System 12345 introduced the capture target with a grin.
【If you think that she’s a timid, law-abiding woman based on her looks, you can’t be more mistaken. Beneath Vernier’s bookworm appearance is a cunning mind that’s constantly hatching new schemes. She’s no less dangerous than the imperial consorts you encountered.】
【Even though she’s interested in you at the moment, you shouldn’t think that you’re safe yet. Let your guard down, and she’ll beguile you with flowery words and squeeze out every last bit of value you have before tossing you aside.】
【Many families have been torn apart because of that.】
【My host, I bet you don’t want to be bankrupted and be reduced to her slave, right? Though I have to say that there’s a nice ring to a young, handsome slave and a black-hearted mistress… You call her mistress in the day, but in the night, she’ll call you… Hehehe!】
【Nonono, let’s not go too far for now. Let’s get back to the topic on hand.】
System 12345 reined in its laughter and continued with an earnest voice.
【My host, why don’t you make some investments in Venice, the City of Commerce?】
【I’m not saying that you can’t start your own business—I have good ways for you to earn money too. I have the means to forge porcelain, metal alloys, glass mirrors, voice recorders, and such products.】
【But the Venetians have monopolized most sea routes, which allows them to dictate the prices of all commodities. The Venetian merchants will suppress the prices of your goods till they are worth only peanuts, so that they can make a killing later on.】
【Moreover, the concept of profit sharing is naught in this era.】
【Let’s say that you do start a factory, but the moment the Venetians bring their fleets in, you’d still have no choice but to hand your factory and workers to them. They might even extort a sum of money from you while they are at it.】
At this point, System 12345 changed his tone.
【If you can’t beat them, join them. So, let’s throw money at them to get a stake in their businesses!】
【I have indicated Venice’s most lucrative industries, most important ports, and most useful warehouses for you. You can go there and take a look…】
【As long as you become a mogul in Venice…】
System 12345 shuddered in excitement.
【…you can be certain that you’ll be able to conquer her!】
…
The entire city was burning.
The Venetians thought that they were undefeatable because they had a powerful fleet and monopolized all of the major sea routes.
But Shu Yichao begged to differ.
It’s formidable to control the major sea routes, but what do you plan to do if I attack every city along the way and burn all the ports and ships, killing every Venetian seaman and merchant I see?
I dare you stay out at sea for your entire life!
To Shu Yichao’s delight, some of the Venetian’s key infrastructure were indicated on the minimap, be it banks, trading markets, warehouses, factories, vaults, and so on.
“Steal all their money!” Shu Yichao roared at his subordinates. “Burn down all factories, warehouses, ports, and ships. All Venetians must die!”
The city that the Venetians had painstakingly built up was reduced to ashes.
Compared to Shu Yichao’s rampant destruction, Sophia, who was fighting on another field, might have been even more cruel.
With the Elite Horse Archers’ gleaming scimitars pressed against their necks, the Venetian merchants were coerced into handing over their accounting books, debt notes, transaction records, and other vital documents.
All of these paperwork stacked like a little mountain in the square.
“Burn them all down!” Sophia spat through clenched jaws.
A raging flame ensued.
Sophia quietly watched as the receipts and accounting books were reduced to ashes under the orange fire when, suddenly, she began laughing under her breath.
“Hehehehe…”
Her laughter got louder and shriller.
“HAHAHAHA!!!”
It got so bad that she bent over backward.
You Venetians have always been proud of your ability to pull all sorts of number magic to get what you want. Let’s see what you can do when I burn your numbers to the ground!
Venice was powerful not just because of its fleet but its omnipresent network of businesses and money as well. It was with the power of its money that Venice was able to seep into the politics of many cities and nations, gradually wrestling power away from others and into their grasp.
Over time, they constructed a huge network of connections that became extremely hard to uproot.
But that’s what I’m going to do now!
The Venetian merchants watched with pale faces as their account books were burned to ashes. No one understood better than them the immense damage this had dealt to their city.
Even if they lost a war, as long as they managed their economy well, they could simply lie low, lick their wounds and apply some medicine, and they should be able to make a swift recovery.
In contrast, the destruction of their economic network was like losing their limbs. Even if they stopped the bleeding and barely survived, they would never be able to maneuver like they did before!
Some of the merchants even cried, but out of fear of the Elite Horse Archers, they could only suck up their tears and silently sob.
“Hm?” The commotion on this side caught Shu Yichao’s attention. “Didn’t I say to kill all Venetians? Why are there survivors here?”
Perplexed, Shu Yichao issued an order, “Drag them out and hang them on flagpoles!”
“Princess Sophia!” Horrified to see the Elite Horse Archers menacingly approach them with ropes in their hands, the Venetian merchant turned to Sophia and cried. “Didn’t you say that you would spare us if we hand over our accounting books? How can you go back on your words?”
“Oh?” Princess Sophia turned to the Venetian merchants. She did a noble bow before tilting her head to look at them with a mischievous grin. “I’m sorry, but I lied. Ehehe.”