56. Can’t run. Can’t hide.
Utbah and Zubayr were now plagued by evangels to the God of Trade. The Recently conquered kingdom of Lir was taken practically in an afternoon. Antiochus was caught in a market, thrown knives hitting his feet and jugular. Robert was caught drilling his troops in Karun, so many teleporting people shot knives and blades into him. Zubayr was caught in Jenab right on the border with the Raja states, Antiochus was neutralised in the city of Balk, killed on his horse, Utbah was left riding a 10,000 man army that was killed heading to the Raja state of Uttar. The Republic had won, there was no one realistically left to oppose the Republic. Lir was invested in, and its cities overthrown in revolution. The various Raja states immediately sent embassies, as did the Zhong empire who quickly sent old men to ask for peace. The God of Trade evangels accepted, not wishing to have endless war forever. From Lir in the east to Peria and Moru in the west, Jira in the south and Chenep and Hunur in the north, the Republic reigned. The evangels went to supplying the various locations with food and wood, water and supplies. Mendek had been vanquished and a long process of preparing now had to begin. Villages and rural areas had to have supplies teleported in, and local farmers in the countryside had to change their professions. Two more evangels to the God of Trade Sophronicus and Priscus teleported around helping the new administration. The difference between then and before was stark; villages became vacated as people wanted to live closer to the evangels of Food and Water, the reality was that money had become less and less necessary for many. The rural economy that had relied on harvests, paying taxes and employing oneself into the army instead became dependent on food shipments. Wood, food, water was distributed endlessly. From the deserts of Lir, Moru, Amoreb and Poltu to the colder climes of Asur and Peria. Every city had an evangel, food localised to the area, wood localised to the area. Artisanal work, labour on salt flats, building roads was still paid with money. Mercurius sat in Balk drinking a coffee with Salutius.
“We could march on the Raja states,”
“Where are we going to get the gold to pay off the slaves?”
“That is a point, we do have a lot of their gold in our lands, sprinkled around.”
“We are not taxing the citizens,” Mercurius said adamantly, “Locus and Lori are still independent, perhaps we should annex them first.”
“We have so many Trade Evangels we could probably fight garrisons with them,” Salutius grinned, “Mendek was beaten in Uruq, they let the Trade Evangels grow too quickly and with it their empire has perished.”
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
“Ours will too, we have some structural issues,” Mercurius admitted.
“Like what?” Ethra asked him.
“Like masses of people who suddenly don’t have jobs in the agricultural sector,” Mercurius said.
“They can do other things, besides we still need people to thresh the crops grown, we still need people to cut the wood produced etc. we are not finished with agricultural work, it’s just less people growing, and more people processing the grown food,” Ethra explained.
“You are right, but that invariably drives people into the cities,” Mercurius said, “with food no longer really a profit making endeavour, it complicates land issues, it makes Yerek have to adjudicate who owns what? Are we going to keep the old aristocracy landed? If so, who are they going to tax? If they don’t earn any rents from the various people living on the land, they will become disloyal start revolts and make a mess of the Republic,” Mercurius said, wistfully and full of doubt.
“Revolts will start soon if we are not careful, thankfully most of our popular revolts are fully fed and armed, but there are doubtful elements,” Salutius began, “the Church of Light never fully went away.”
“Nor can it,” Mercurius corrected, “there will always be people who disagree, always. With the death of Mendek, we have a lot more internal enemies than external.”
The Republic spent the entire spring of 571 building up reserves of gold, making villages resplendent and purchasing the loyalty of the urban poor and peasantry. Landlords and aristocrats were transformed into ordinary citizens, who enjoyed all the benefits of the freed food, wood and water, but throughout Lir and Jira aristocrat revolts had to be put down, with regrettable deaths. At least 15,000 dead, 5000 of them being loyalists to the Republic. Despite the bribery, despite everything, instability in the countryside, religious enemies, aristocrats festered. Yerek managed to bribe much of the rural areas solidifying their hold on much of the Yerek Republic. Locus and Lori were annexed, their kings peacefully put into retirement, the two island nations made into constituent parts of the Republic. Temples were built everywhere, even the Hunur and Chenep who didn’t have settled cities, built temples to the God of Trade, Farming and Water and were given generous stipends by the Yerek state. Like Gatula, Tolra and Kostor, Hunur and Chenep nomads were given permanent bases to feed their flocks. The Alsar confederacy, a nomadic group to the east of the Chenep was still functionally independent sending an embassy for peace.
“Our people simply wish to trade with yours,” they said, rather simply, “we don’t wish to interfere in your affairs,” yet anyway, we will strike when the time is right. The man said and thought.
The Alsar representative had a ponytail and shaved head, a custom of his people, he was not sincere with the Yerek God of Trade evangels, and they were not going to tolerate a hostile power on their border. The independence of other states seemed to be on a time limit. The great power of Rajun had disintegrated into squabbling fiefdoms leaving the Republic with no equal. Zhong was a mighty power, but it had its own problems. The Republic was on the march, ready to mop up the last remnants.