With his funds about to run dry again, he was counting on this exchange to acquire more Gold Ropes.

And even though the nobles had all undergone Fang Zhen’s lecture and hypnosis, their individual reactions, as fellow aristocrats, still varied greatly.

One of them, a certain Count Wadon, was particularly decisive. After hearing the lecture, he immediately sent his trusted Knights to fetch his Gold Ropes, and his subordinates had already brought them today.

Fang Zhen had brought nearly 400 silver bricks this time, and Count Wadon had traded for seventy percent of them.

Fang Zhen made some inquiries and learned that this Count Wadon was one of the wealthier nobles in the Balenzuo Duchy. It wasn’t that his domain was exceptionally well-managed, but rather that he was lucky; his territory contained two high-quality mines, and its land was exceptionally fertile.

With a prominent figure like him taking the lead, the other nobles were also eager to jump in. After all, getting their hands on silver bricks was a guaranteed profit.

Fang Zhen wasn’t worried that his "Golden Mountain and Silver Sea Plan" would quickly level out the local prices of gold and silver. While the productivity in this area was indeed poor, when considering the Kingdom as a whole, any territory large enough was bound to have plenty of valuable resources and wealthy people.

It was like the ancient Xia Country; its level of productivity wasn’t particularly high either, but it still had incredibly wealthy merchants, a fact well-documented in the historical records.

Even if Fang Zhen’s gold and silver trades eventually eliminated the local profit margin, he estimated he would have tens of millions in cash by then. At that point, he could venture into any business he wanted and would no longer be restricted to trading precious metals.

「Two more days passed in the blink of an eye.」

Fang Zhen left a portion of his army in Viscount Keton’s Territory, leaving Keton to conduct drills and training there.

He prepared to lead the other portion back to Viscount Ashton’s Territory.

His decision to move the troops there wasn’t due to familiarity with the Ashton Territory, but because Viscount Ashton’s Territory was strategically located closer to the border of Duke Sith’s domain and the Royal Capital.

Geographically, if Duke Sith were to attack, he would have to pass through Wellington Territory, then the lands of Baron von Kleist, before finally reaching the Ashton Territory.

By stationing a portion of his army in the Ashton Territory, he could at least fulfill some border defense duties. This position wasn’t on the immediate front line, so it wouldn’t provoke Duke Sith, yet it offered the mobility to support the front at a moment’s notice and resist any potential invasion he might launch.

’One shouldn’t let emotional factors interfere with strategic considerations.’ However, part of Fang Zhen’s reason for leaving troops in the Ashton Territory was to protect Dalia.

This was him looking after his woman, so long as it didn’t interfere with his primary strategic objectives.

In fact, Dalia had given him a great deal of support during his recent undertaking.

Dalia seemed to have made Fang Zhen’s cause her own, constantly investing resources and pouring in considerable effort and energy.

’The thing about affection is that it’s a two-way street. You’re good to me, so I’ll be even better to you in return. That’s how feelings deepen over time.’

Fang Zhen saw Dalia’s devotion, and he wasn’t a heartless man. He was more than willing to look after her as much as he could, so long as it was within reason.

And so, Fang Zhen traded all the silver bricks he had on hand to the nearby nobles.

In return, he received a total of 1,600 Gold Ropes. Including the proceeds from his previous trade with Quentin, he had recouped a total of 2,000 Gold Ropes.

This was only the result of the first official, large-scale implementation of his "Golden Mountain and Silver Sea Plan"; the earlier trade with Quentin could only be considered a trial run.

In truth, the nobles might have looked short on cash, but when there was a profit to be made, they would scrape and scrounge and somehow manage to dig up a considerable number of Gold Ropes from who knows where.

Fang Zhen estimated that if he fully implemented the Golden Mountain and Silver Sea Plan, he could acquire more than fifty thousand Gold Ropes within a few months. But that would take time.

During these two days, Fang Zhen also received a reply by magic from the Zambein Royal Capital.

Fortunately, it seemed the King of Zambine had been in a relatively lucid state when he received Fang Zhen’s letter. He hadn’t done anything outrageous; instead, he sent Fang Zhen a reply with a surprisingly mild tone.

The King largely consented to Fang Zhen’s de facto control over the two Duchies. He only asked that Fang Zhen maintain order and prevent chaos, while also expressing his hope that Fang Zhen would fulfill his duty as a vassal and assist the King in dealing with Duke Sith.

The letter was worded diplomatically and quite eloquent, but that was the gist of it.

Fang Zhen gave the letter’s contents a cursory read and dismissed them. He had no intention of fighting a life-or-death battle against Duke Sith.

’Isn’t the King’s plan a classic case of setting a tiger to devour a wolf?’

Fang Zhen had read enough of the Thirty-Six Stratagems to know better than to exhaust his own forces fighting to the death for someone else’s benefit. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

The King’s message also mentioned that a royal envoy would soon depart from the Royal Capital for the Tarrenno Duchy to meet with Fang Zhen and convey the King’s intentions in person.