Fortunately, Zuo Si did not embarrass Aribes for too long, and immediately nodded slightly to himself in the team.

Then they followed the half-elf paladin to the dining hall in the castle and began to enjoy a variety of delicious food and alcoholic beverages.

After the irrelevant people were completely gone, Lord Nasir slowly stood up from his chair and asked straight to the point: "Are you really planning to capture Luskan and completely destroy the evil spell-casting organization of the Arcane Brotherhood?"
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Zuo Si replied calmly: "Yes. But before taking action, I need to confirm the attitude of all the important cities in the North. As the city closest to Luskan, Neverwinter should be the city that hopes to see Luskan the most.

The existing rulers are being liquidated. So Lord Kelben thought you would support me and help me convince other towns in other surrounding areas."

"That's it.

If you don't mind, I would venture to ask, if you and the forces you control occupy Luskan, how will you transform it?

You must know that many of the people making a living in Luskan are pirates who made their fortune by robbing merchant ships, as well as greedy businessmen who help them sell stolen goods, traffic in narcotics and provide supplies.

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!

If these guys are not rectified, there will be no fundamental changes in Luskan."

Lord Nasir raised many of the issues he was most concerned about.

What he fears most now is that after wiping out the Arcane Brotherhood, Luskan will not only become a friendly neighbor, but will instead become a huge threat to Neverwinter and even the entire Northland under the rule of a more powerful force.<

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You must know that Neverwinter City has been attacked and assassinated by Luskan countless times since its establishment.

At the most dangerous time, even the entire city may be destroyed.

"It's very simple. I will kill all the pirate leaders in Luskan and turn ordinary pirates who rely on robbery into laborers.

Let them work in building roads, farms, or mining, quarrying, etc., and will not be free until they truly repent.

As for those businessmen engaged in illegal business, I will confiscate all their property and turn them into useless paupers.

By then, Luskan's population may drop by about one-third from the current 15,000.

But it can bring it back on track from a deformed and chaotic economic and social structure.

With the past vested interest groups and upper-level rulers being completely cleaned out, Luskan will not have any pirates or organizations like the Thieves Guild in the future.

A new order of government will replace the Arcane Brotherhood as the city's administrators."

Zuo Si explained patiently.

He could understand how anxious Nasir was as the lord of Neverwinter.

The reason is very simple. Neverwinter's military strength is too weak.

The total number of guards in the entire city is only a few hundred.

If a war does break out, at best, about a thousand more militiamen will be recruited.

But what about Luskan?

There are thousands of battle-hardened pirates alone.

In addition, a large amount of gold coins earned through the slave trade, selling narcotics and special products of the Far North were invested in the construction of the army, maintaining a professional army of three to four thousand people all year round.

Coupled with the mages of the Arcane Brotherhood, they can literally lift Neverwinter up in a head-to-head confrontation.

In fact, what really prevented Luskan from annexing or destroying Neverwinter was never Neverwinter itself, but the City of Waterdeep and Silvermoon that supported Neverwinter.

"Great Purge?!"

Lord Nasir's eyes widened in shock.

"That's right, a big purge."

Zuo Si nodded seriously.

"Because if we don't clean up those pirates, the Thieves Guild and the Arcane Brotherhood, Luskan won't be able to make changes.

This is the simplest economic question.

First of all, we must solve the problem of employment for the citizens of Luskan and let them understand that they can fill their stomachs and support their families without becoming pirates.

The establishment of a new order is never achieved overnight. If food and clothing cannot be solved, then everything else is a meaningless castle in the air that will collapse with just a touch.

By confiscating the wealth of those merchants and pirates, it can not only serve as a warning to everyone, but also use the money as start-up capital to hire civilians to build roads, farms, and pastures, giving them a stable job and income.

By the way, we can achieve the redistribution of social wealth.

As for those extremely vicious pirate leaders and the top brass of the Arcane Brotherhood, their hands are already stained with the blood of their victims.

Therefore, they deserved their death and do not deserve sympathy at all.

Only when all these people die will the original social organizational structure collapse.

Transforming Luskan is destined to be a very long process, which may take several years or more than ten years.

But I can assure you that if this city is under my control, it will never bring any threat to Neverwinter.

On the contrary, we can work together and share what we have."

Lord Nasir immediately showed approval when he heard these words: "You are right. The fundamental reason why Luskan has become a gathering place for pirates and unscrupulous traders is that the barren land of Luskan cannot sustain food.

There is not that much population.

Moreover, this city stands on the edge of civilization, and wars often break out with barbarian clans and orc tribes. Gradually, it is inevitably influenced by the other parties and is keen on plundering and expansion.

Therefore, if you want to change Luskan, you must first change their long-term living habits and ways of thinking.

I heard from Lord Kelben that you successfully reformed the pirates in the Nelanthal Islands and established order in the Sword Sea and the central Sword Coast.

If you don’t mind, can you take me to see it with my own eyes?"

"Now?"

Zuo Si raised his eyebrows in surprise, completely unexpected that the other party would suddenly make such a request.

Because he himself has only been to the Neransel Islands once, and it was to extract the energy of the local mage tower, so he has no idea what Vanessa has developed there.

Lord Nasir smiled and nodded: "Yes, it is now. Hearing is believing, seeing is believing. I only believe what I see with my own eyes. If you can really transform the pirates of the Nelanser Islands

, then I am willing to support your war against Luskan and the Arcane Brotherhood. And I will also help persuade the towns around Luskan."

"Okay, I just want to take a look on the way. But are you sure you don't need to say hello to Ms. Aribes or anyone else? I don't want to cause any misunderstanding." Zuo Si reminded kindly.
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"There's no need. In addition, I will leave a note."

With that said, Lord Nasir picked up the quill pen on the table and dipped it in ink, quickly wrote a line of boy on a piece of parchment, then took off the crown on his head, stood up and walked to Zuo Si's side.

Soon, along with the sound of chanting spells, Zuo Si quickly completed the teleportation magic, and disappeared without a trace with the "Lord of Neverwinter City".

Just a second later, the two appeared on the streets of the port city of Ioma Island.

After more than a year of development, especially the refugees from the Kingdom of Tethyr escaping the war, the craftsmen and farmers attracted from Baldur's Gate and West Heartland, and the escaped slaves of Calishan, the population here has reached

About 45,000 people attended.

If you add in the farmers living in villages and other islands, the total population has approached 250,000, which is definitely a medium-sized force.

Coupled with the large number of merchants who came here to trade, the whole city looked extremely prosperous and crowded.

Especially the large number of warehouses on the dock, densely packed with all kinds of goods.

The market is filled with noisy cries, and many people gather together to grab the local specialties of salt and sugar, which are then transported to other cities for sale by sea.

Not far away, in an area lined with workshops, you can vaguely see billowing black smoke.

Countless workers are busy with their heads down.

Or make sugar from harvested sugar cane, then process the sugar into sugar cubes with different flavors, or refine coarse salt into clean, white fine salt.

Even the by-products and residues of sugar refining will be made into strong rum through fermentation.

With these two industries alone, Nelanser Islands can earn a lot of gold coins every month.

In addition, the fishing industry and pearl farming industry are also quite developed.

Since it controls a large number of undead creatures that do not need to breathe, it is very convenient to pick or put the rounded spherical pearl cores in, and there is no need to worry about being attacked by dangerous marine creatures.

Moreover, in Faerûn, pearls, as a kind of gemstone, are not just decorations, but can also be used to make magic items.

So no matter how big the output is, it can never keep up with the rate of consumption.

Even the most common pearl is worth at least fifty to one hundred gold coins.

But right now, these pearls that have only been cultivated for a year are not worth picking. It will take at least two or three years to harvest them.

Admiring the prosperous scene in the city, Lord Nasir couldn't help but sigh slightly: "It's really good. It seems that Lord Kelben's description in the letter was not exaggerated. If the houses and buildings were not very new, I wouldn't even think of it.

I can believe that this was accomplished in less than two years."

"This is all thanks to the turbulent situation in Tethyr and the crazy exploitation of slaves by Calishite merchants and nobles. Without them, I think it would have been impossible to absorb so many immigrants in a short period of time." Zuo Sisheng

He shrugged his shoulders and explained.

As the saying goes, it all depends on the support of peers.
To be continued...