CHAPTER 231: CHAPTER 229: THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ETERNAL MERCHANT GUILD_1

Yan Xing, observing the reactions of the merchants below, knew the establishment of the Eternal Merchant Guild was a feasible endeavor.

In this world, merchants were generally seen as traders who engaged in buying low and selling high. Due to the speculative nature of their business, merchants did not have a very good reputation. Everyone knew they relied on merchants to keep goods flowing from place to place, but there was an inexplicable distaste for them. Especially when the price of purchased goods increased, many curses were hurled at merchants behind their backs. Furthermore, constantly being on the move for business had led merchants to adopt some unsavory practices, including engaging in robbery themselves. As a result, the social status of merchants was not high. Nobody was willing to organize these slick merchants into any kind of trade association.

However, in Yan Xing’s eyes, merchants were incredibly important.

To put it simply, merchants were logistics. If the Eternal Domain wished to industrialize, it would inevitably require a large number of resources and frequent trade. As business expanded in the future and the influence of Eternal Food Investment grew, a reliable logistics system would certainly be needed. Establishing a logistics network from scratch in the Eternal Domain was not just a matter of spending money and manpower; it required gathering information about local customs and practices. And there were relationships to manage. It was not something that could be done well in a short period. Merchants had personnel, caravans, and connections. Once these were consolidated and slightly integrated, they could be immediately put into operation. This was the main reason I wanted to establish the Merchant Guild. By absorbing these merchants, when logistics were needed in the future, there would be ready-made systems, eliminating the need for my hands-on involvement and thus saving time, effort, and money.

As for the formation of the Guild’s Mercenaries, besides the benefits I mentioned, there were other urgent reasons to establish this military force. Count Theodore had publicly acknowledged that the Thunderous Swamp was an entity comparable to the Silvermane Principality. While this brought many benefits to me, it also marked me and my power circle as outsiders. The military forces of the Eternal Domain would face significant restrictions operating within the Silvermane Principality, yet my business there was only going to grow larger in the future. I needed a military force with the backing of the principality to protect my interests within it. The purpose of establishing the Guild’s Mercenaries of the Eternal Merchant Guild was to safeguard the merchants’ trade routes. Moreover, in the future, the excuse of "free passage" would be incredibly handy for any endeavors. Therefore, when I proposed the establishment of the Guild’s Mercenaries, I did not simply pay lip service to the idea. On the contrary, I placed great importance on this military force that was yet to be formed.

Due to the unique nature of these mercenaries, it was impossible to maintain a very large scale. This required every member of the military force to be highly skilled and efficient. I suggested that every merchant send family members to join the mercenaries. Furthermore, these family members would continue to travel with the trade caravans most of the time. This was intended to ensure that the merchants would dispatch their most outstanding offspring. Merchants ran their businesses as family enterprises, and for the sake of continuity, they spared no effort in training their progeny. From the information obtained through Eden, I understood that merchant families had their own selection systems. These systems were meant to identify promising youths, and the families would spare no effort to ensure they received training from a Lord to advance to high-order warriors. This represented a substantial financial investment, but it was an expense all merchants were willing to bear. They valued the training of family members above all else. Given the opportunity to train family members, who would then serve the family’s interests, they would undoubtedly dispatch their best offspring to the mercenary forces. This way, the Guild’s Mercenaries would have an excellent source of soldiers.

As for how to control this mercenary force... First and foremost, it was a matter of shared interests. The Eternal Domain would lead everyone to make money together, providing a fundamental guarantee for the loyalty of the mercenaries. Then there was the constraint of the logistics system. The flintlock guns developed by Chui Chui, after testing during this period, had met the requirements for actual combat. The sources of the mercenary soldiers were diverse, and they were transient, making it impractical to train them based on their individual ranks. Therefore, I decided to equip all soldiers below the Seventh Order with flintlock guns. Seventh Order and above soldiers were cavalry and would be issued different weapons. Infantry-use flintlock guns had already begun production in the Eternal Domain. The standardized model of the flintlock gun was named: Model 21. The gun barrel was one point six meters in length, and with a bayonet, it reached one point nine meters. It was breech-loading and used paper-cartridge black powder bullets. With sufficient practice, one could fire six shots in a minute. After repeated trials, it was confirmed that a soldier’s marksmanship skills still affected the firearm’s effectiveness. This resulted in higher accuracy for skilled marksmen compared to non-marksmen. Even for non-marksmen units, the lethality of volley fire from these firearms far exceeded that of conventional bows and crossbows. Firearms had a great logistical dependence. As long as logistics supply was firmly controlled, and with strict one-gun-per-person management, the mercenaries wouldn’t be able to cause too much trouble.

As for how effective these new firearms would be in real-world combat in this world? I dared not test them lightly on my own troops. Although firearms had eventually supplanted melee weapons on a large scale in the real world, this world had magic... Without knowing how firearms would perform, having the Eternal Domain’s army alter their combat habits could lead to significant problems if things went wrong. The Merchant Guild’s Mercenaries could serve as a testbed for new weapons and tactics. After all, the mercenaries would initially face bandits and thugs—scenarios with high tolerance for error, allowing for timely adjustments if issues arose. There would also be many opportunities for small-scale real combat. This would be perfect for training while fighting, accumulating experience to then be applied to the reforms of the Eternal Domain’s main army.

Yan Xing mulled over the founding strategy for the Merchant Guild’s Mercenaries.

The discussion among the merchants below grew increasingly heated. The more they talked, the more the merchants felt that once they had their own troops, they would stand taller in their business dealings. When encountering bandits on the roads... it’s not certain who would rob whom! And once they all banded together, they would have the men and soldiers they needed; establishing new trade routes would be a breeze. Other merchants wouldn’t dare compete with us for business!

In the end, all the merchants expressed to Yan Xing their willingness to join the Eternal Merchant Guild. They jointly nominated Yan Xing as the first chairman of the Eternal Merchant Guild.

Yan Xing readily accepted the position of chairman and appointed Eden as the vice chairman responsible for handling the guild’s formation. As for the position of commander of the Guild’s Mercenaries, no one dared challenge Yan Xing. After all, the money for training the troops came out of Yan Xing’s pocket.

Therefore, Yan Xing took charge of both the military and administrative affairs, and the Eternal Merchant Guild was officially established.

The merchant meeting thus concluded. Yan Xing had spent considerable time there. The main banquet was still proceeding, and as the host, it was inappropriate for him to be absent for too long.

Yan Xing entrusted the follow-up meeting matters to Eden, instructing him to quickly compile a list of personnel from various families joining the Guild’s Mercenaries. He emphasized the need to establish the force quickly and to start training promptly. The goal was to train the Guild’s Mercenaries by taking advantage of the merchants’ downtime during the war. Once the war ended and the merchants could leave, the mercenaries could be dispatched to forge new trade routes.

Eden felt extremely grateful to be so trusted by Yan Xing. He assured him repeatedly that he would take care of everything properly.