Chapter 50 - Thoughts

As the child of a southern lord, Chen Heng had a fairly good relationship with the collective of the northern lords. The origin of this relationship stemmed from Chen Heng's friendship with Kurudo. Although it wasn't obvious on the surface, in fact, Kurudo's family had a knight and was one of the leaders among the northern lords. Therefore, through Kurudo, Chen Heng was able to enter the circle of the northern lords and also visit the old knight Shile. This was the initial stepping stone. And then, during the past half a year or so, in order to reverse his own financial situation, Chen Heng also reached cooperation with many northern lords. The northern lords were generally very poor. This was because on the one hand, the north was close to the desert and needed to be on a war footing all year round. On the other hand, the unique climate in the north led to low yields from the land there. For the same piece of land, the grain output was far less than that in the south. But that didn't mean there was nothing worth developing in the north. Previously, Chen Heng had personally gone to the territory where Kurudo's family was located to conduct surveys and on-site investigations, and finally reached some conclusions. Although the northern region was poor, it wasn't completely unproductive. Firstly, there were a lot of furs in that place, as well as various alien slaves from the desert. The furs could be sold to nobles, and those alien slaves could also be widely used in various manors to work. As long as these things could be transported to the south, large profits could be obtained. In the past, it wasn't that no one had realized the value in them. It was just that the terrain in the north was too complex and too closed, and the roads themselves were difficult to travel on. Moreover, there were a large number of thieves and alien races in it, which made it too dangerous. When traveling through it, if the caravan itself didn't have enough strength, it was easy to get lost, and the danger was really too great. In addition, Princess Oliman's territory also had the same things. Merchants weighed the pros and cons and would rather pay a higher price to go to Princess Oliman's territory than take a longer journey to the territory of the northern lords. In response to this situation, Chen Heng also made some efforts. Taking advantage of Kurudo's identity, he first hired several lords along the nearby roads at a high price and also walked through it himself, barely opening up a small trade route. With the relationship with Baron Kailin, he could purchase a large amount of grain and ironware that were urgently needed in the north at a low price, and with the relationship with Kurudo, he could also purchase furs, slaves and so on from the northern lords at a low price. With one round trip, large profits could be earned. And a considerable part of the profits earned would be put into the pockets of the northern lords in the form of employment. With one round trip, a miniature interest ecosystem was formed. When a person can bring you benefits, your view of this person will be different from before. Chen Heng was originally a person who was good at dealing with others. In this situation, the relationship between those northern lords and him would naturally be better. And it could be expected that as time passed, Chen Heng's influence among the northern lords would be even more significant. All of these were Chen Heng's chips and the forces he could utilize. At this moment, Chen Heng couldn't help but fall into deep thought. The current situation in the Kutu Kingdom instantly emerged in his mind. As early as several years ago, the struggle between Princess Oliman and another prince in the Kutu Kingdom had already become intense. The reason for this situation was that on the one hand, it was a tradition in the Kutu Kingdom that the princes fought and the winner would become the king. On the other hand, the current King of Kutu was seriously ill and had been paralyzed in bed. In this situation, the supporters of both sides drew their swords against each other, and the struggle became more and more fierce. The current King of Kutu had only three children in total. Besides the sisters Oliman and Vinal who had the same father and mother, there was only another prince. Among them, Vinal had little hope because she was born too late and also due to her own personality factors. The final candidate for the throne would most likely be between Oliman and the other prince. Vinal's advantages were that she was stationed in the northern region, had her own army, and her mother was the queen. Coupled with her outstanding abilities, she had attracted a lot of attention since she was a child. If she weren't female, perhaps the struggle for the throne would have ended long ago and wouldn't have lasted so long. The other prince was born to the princess of a neighboring country and had the support of his mother's clan. In addition, he was born early and was the only male heir of the current Kutu royal family, so he had won the support of quite a number of domestic nobles. Overall, both sides had their own advantages and disadvantages and both had the possibility of ascending to the throne, generally maintaining a balance of power. In this situation, the power of the northern lords was of self-evident importance to them. Although the northern lords were closed and backward, they were still nobles after all, and they had been fighting against the alien races in the desert for a long time, so their military strength was definitely among the strongest in the Kutu Kingdom. Such a powerful force, if it could show its attitude and support someone, the effect would be obvious. In this situation, Chen Heng, who was close to the northern lords and could influence their decisions to a certain extent, had his value suddenly increased. Thinking of this, Chen Heng's eyes lit up. "What's the matter?" At this moment, Kurudo was still standing in front of him. Looking at Chen Heng in front of him, he couldn't help being a bit puzzled. "Nothing." Chen Heng turned around, smiled, and then said, "Has Teacher Coribo come back?" "Not yet." Kurudo shook his head. Speaking of this, he couldn't help sighing: "According to the last reply, I'm afraid it will take a long time before he comes back." "Alright." Chen Heng sighed, a bit disappointed. He had originally planned to start with Coribo to see if he could gain something. After all, at present, as Coribo's student, Coribo was also a very important card in his hand. If he could influence Coribo's thoughts to a certain extent, then his plans would be relatively easy to achieve. As a kingdom guardian knight, as long as Coribo was willing to make a public statement and publicly support someone, it would be easy to influence many people and bring a huge advantage to one side. And as Coribo's student, this identity was also the most important card for Chen Heng at present. It was a pity that more than a month ago, Coribo had left Kutu City because of some personal affairs of his own. No one knew where he had gone or when he would come back. Standing there, Chen Heng was thinking. "Speaking of which, Princess Oliman usually doesn't enter Kutu City, but she suddenly came back recently. What kind of changes are there in this?" Chen Heng's face was calm, and this thought suddenly flashed through his mind. At this moment, he had a feeling in his heart. With Oliman's return to Kutu City, the situation in Kutu City seemed to be about to change again.