Zhen Jin had some general knowledge of the Wisteria Merchant Alliance in his memories.
The Empire of the Human Ancestor Sheng Ming had six major merchant guilds. These six had been established long ago and each was a colossus backed by the nobility. Their vibrant business covered the mountains, forests, waters, and deserts.
Under these six merchant guilds, there were many others. Over the last one hundred years one rapidly rose above the rest like a miracle of business to become only second to the top six.
This was the Wisteria Merchant Alliance.
The Wisteria Merchant Alliance absorbed many smaller guilds. Individual shops and even individual merchants were willing to be recruited. The guild had a tremendous influence on the middle and lower markets.
However, because they lacked a foothold in the upper markets, the nobles of the Sheng Ming Empire meddled in their profits.
The Wisteria Merchant Alliance suffered from suppression and the president of the guild died from a horseback “accident”. The guild was torn apart and their wealth was split up between the nobility.
“After my father’s accident, there was only his daughter, me. I did not want to give up! If the life work of my father, his father, and of countless generations was destroyed, then I would truly be the most unfilial descendent. Many merchant elders also did not want to surrender, so they unified at my side.
“Although our wealth was great, we were no match to those in power. The death of my father made me realize that I needed to participate in the politics of the empire.
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The way our Merchant Alliance grew previously was accumulating wealth alone without any connections to the nobility, the more wealth we accumulated, the more danger we attracted, pushing it further to its demise
.”
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“The elders and I collaborated carefully to find a suitable partner. That was when I finally met you my lord.”
Zhen Jin’s mind was struck by lightning as he realized what had happened.
Although Zhen Jin remembered little, he knew the Bai Zhen clan was of southern nobility.
Emperor Sheng Ming had unified all of the human’s ancestral lands and named it the Sheng Ming continent. The final part of the conquest to unify the continent was the annexation of the South.
His decisive campaign was the annihilation of the Fir Knights.
When the Sheng Ming imperial army became trapped in the mountains, their conquest sank into an impasse.
Many southern nobles who had surrendered saw hope in the impasse. They secretly contacted the southern nobles who were still resisting and reached an agreement.
When the 5th legion of templar knights withdrew from the front lines to recover from the battle, the traitorous southern nobles sent the Fir Knights to ambush them.
The Fir Knights were the greatest regiment of the Southern Noble Alliance. They were supposed to annihilate the 5th legion, however they were defeated by templar knight reinforcements.
The Fir Knights were routed and the southern nobles promptly sent reinforcements. As a result, a gap was created in the originally impenetrable line of defense.
The Empire reacted extremely fast as the front line legions jointly dispatched troops, launching an attack that completely smashed the southern nobles’ defense line.
As a result of this defeat, the southern nobles no longer had the ability to resist the Imperial army and either died in battle or surrendered.
The southern nobles that had turned traitor were also purged.
The Bai Zhen clan was part of them. At the time, a significant portion of the Bai Zhen clan were part of the Fir Knights.
Although the Bai Zhen Clan survived the purge, its territory, wealth, and army were reduced significantly. In addition, they suffered due to suppression and ostracisation by every imperial noble.
Naturally the Bai Zhen clan was unwilling to be reduced to poverty. On one side it began to gather clans in similar situations to form an alliance. On the other hand, it began to actively delve into imperial high society. Zhen Jin being recruited into the sacred templar knights was one of these achievements.
Templar knights were the trump cards of the Sheng Ming imperial legions. They were also direct subordinates to Emperor Sheng Ming and personally commanded his forces. Every templar knight believed in Emperor Sheng Ming and dedicated their faith to him alone. They were fiercely loyal and thus had the Emperor’s trust.
Generally speaking, imperial nobles would rarely ever send their children into the templar knights. Sending their children into the faith of the emperor was equivalent to raising an ingrate. The nobles believed in profits, and the majority of the time, the clan’s benefits were above everything else.
Middle and lesser nobles attached to the emperor's court and greater nobles connected to the emperor would select talented children to join the templar knights.
As the sole heir to the Bai Zhen Clan, Zhen Jin joined the templar knights as a sincere offering to Emperor Sheng Ming
This diplomatic behavior succeeded in relieving the Bai Zhen Clan’s external pressure. However, it was inevitable that Zhen Jin suffered suppression and isolation within the Templar Knights
After all, during the battle the Fir knights had almost slaughtered the 5th Templar legion and who among the nobility did not have relatives? There was a long entrenched animosity between Zhen Jin and his associate templar trainees.
“To send the heir to the Templar Knights was a sensible action. It was because it was in the clan’s best interest to completely rely on the Emperor’s political faction.” Zhen Jin recalled his father and it was clear the middle-aged man had the wisdom of a decisive leader.
“As the sole heir to the Bai Zhen Clan, suffering suppression and isolation was within expectations, so I endured silently.”
Zhen Jin recalled his second memory.
He remembered that Qing Kui took the initiative to bully him and deliberately made things difficult for him.
His motives were understandable, perhaps he had relatives that died in the 5th legion.
As for Zhen Jin’s own actions, judgement can also be made.
Even though his talent was extraordinary, he didn’t want to stand out. Instead, he hid his gifts and focused solely on cultivation. He normally had a low profile to guard against enemies who wanted to suppress him politically or even kill him.
He became a templar knight to seek allies among the Emperor’s faction and not enemies. As the clan’s future leader, his objective was diplomacy.
There were many chances for friendship in the army.
When facing huge external pressure, templar knights were forced to trust each other. These life and death experiences would dissolve old hostilities.
This way, the Bai Zhen Clan could free themselves from their political plight and become one of the Emperor's people.
However, the Bai Zhen Clan had only barely established itself and was considered still in dire straits.
How would they expand their territory and wealth or strengthen their clan’s power?
The Human continent was already unified by Emperor Sheng Ming. Here there weren’t many opportunities.
The human's invasion of the beastmen continent had expanded the territory of many noble clans and was the best opportunity to earn military exploits.
White Sand City was the Bai Zhen Clan’s opportunity so Zhen Jin was sent to compete for ownership of the city.
This was Zi Di’s belief.
With the Wisteria Merchant Alliance divided up among powerful nobles and the president dead, if the elders were capable of bowing their heads, they would have surrendered to these nobles long ago.
These elders unified behind Zi Di against their natural enemy, the nobles.
In this way, Zi Di could only rely on someone from the Emperor’s political faction.
The powerful members of the faction ignored Zi Di because she was a remnant of the Merchant alliance.
Perhaps an intact Wisteria Merchant Alliance would excite them, but the Alliance had already fallen apart.
Those with medium strength also had concerns.
This group of people and Zi Di were said to be the core of the Wisteria Merchant Alliance. To accept them would incur hostility from other powerful nobles.
The risks needed to be carefully considered.
Those of small strength, like those without territory could not take in the merchant alliance.
At the same time, Zi Di had her own concerns as the new leader.
She couldn’t pick a strong noble to rely on. After all she was only an iron level magician. Collaborating with a strong noble would most likely lead to the annexation of the Wisteria Merchant Alliance.
After careful consideration, Zi Di selected the Bai Zhen Clan.
The current head of the Bai Zhen Clan was a powerful man with gold level cultivation. However he had lost his right arm early in his life.
The Bai Zhen Clan were once a great and ancient southern noble clan. They had been forced to rely on the empire after facing suppression and isolation. These days they had a shaky foothold and desperately needed to expand.
The Bai Zhen Clan had been stripped of their territory and lacked natural resources while being forced out by surrounding territories. Therefore the Bai Zhen Clan needed the connections of the Wisteria Merchant Alliance more than any other clan.
The crucial factor was that the Bai Zhen Clan were willing to pay the price and did not hesitate in promising the marriage of the family heir to the Merchant Alliance. After the agreement an engagement ceremony was held and the news was spread widely.
All these factors created the young unmarried couple of Zhen Jin and Zi Di.
Both of them had their own issues but both of them needed each other. This was not just their will but also of those forces behind them.
Otherwise why would Zhen Jin, a majestic noble, ever get engaged with a woman of such a lowly bloodline?
“As the sole heir to the Bai Zhen Clan, I first joined the templar knights and now I am going to White Sands City, to the front lines of battle. The risk of death was high. This was a gamble!
“The Wisteria Merchant Alliance is the same. Neither of us can retreat.”
“It's no wonder Zi Di always stood by my side!”
Zhen Jin had many thoughts as he figured out the complex motives.
Looking again at the girl before him, Zhen Jin’s heart became more intimate.
Zhen Jin did not hate this alliance of benefits, but instead approved of it.
This alliance of benefits was more reliable than love. Besides, love could always be nurtured.
In addition to their marriage connection, Zhen Jin understood that Zi Di would be his most reliable ally in the future.
Zi Di proceeded: “We were on a ship enroute to the beastman continent and the White Sands City lord competition, when suddenly we were shipwrecked on this island.
Zhen Jin muttered to himself: “So, what we need to do now is not only survive and escape but also gather more subordinates. Zi Di, how many troops and reliable retainers did I bring?
When faced with this question, Zi Di hesitated. She deliberated for a moment and said: “My lord, you meet the qualifications to compete for the ownership of Bai Sha city. Your strength and talent have also surpassed any other ordinary person. When we left, we took the primary force of the Wisteria Merchant Alliance and hired two reputable mercenary corps.
Zhen Jin was startled.
He heard it.
He didn’t have any retainers, troops, or even a commander. Without any alternatives, he could only rely on the forces of the Wisteria Merchant Alliance and the two mercenary corps.
This was so embarrassing!
As the sole heir of a noble, he was unexpectedly risking his life on the front lines in the future without a personal army!
Compared to the hired mercenaries, it seemed the forces of the Wisteria Merchant Alliance became Zhen Jin’s greatest strength.
“Has the Bai Zhen Clan fallen this far? It is inexcusable that there isn’t even one retainer from the clan.” This abnormal situation made Zhen Jin frown.
Zi Di explained: “Indeed we did have a staff dispatched from lord’s clan. However they were ambushed by bandits enroute and all died. At the same time, goblins and ogres frequently appeared in the territory of the Bai Zhen Clan.”
“We feared other competitors would arrive at White SandsCity first and establish an early advantage. So we put on a facade of staying and set off to sea in secret on the Hog’s Kiss.
Zhen Jin pupils contracted as he snorted: “It seems the competition for White Sands City lord position is fierce.”
To think that an elite noble army would be wiped out by the so-called bandits enroute.
Nowadays the Bai Zhen Clan territory was located far out in the hinterland. How can goblins and ogres survive out there?
As Zhen Jin was thinking (of something), he asked again: “Who am I competing against to become city lord? Are they on the same boat as us?
Zi Di shook her head: “There are two others, they are all your colleagues. And they did not travel on the same boat as us.”
Zhen Jin did not speak.
He pondered.
This answer implied they would not face any competitors with dark intentions on the island. However at the same time, it was very possible a competitor had a hand in the shipwreck.
Zi Di soon said: “But my lord. We traveled with a temple priest known as Jia Sha. He was the judge of the city lord competition. It is very likely he is still alive. In that case we might be able to find him and provide him aid to ensure the best outcome.”