Ansaldo was a decisive person. After agreeing to Xiao Chen's conditions, he quickly made arrangements. He asked Xiao Chen and his party to wait in Crowell for three days, made various arrangements, and then personally accompanied Xiao Chen and his party to the underground capital of the Dwarf Kingdom.
Xiao Chen not only brought Luo Ling and Mei Tiantian, but also brought Evelyn, a dark elf who was good at underground operations, and more than 200 dwarf elites including Farrell and Sinclair. Huang Zheng and Ma Anmin took the remaining marines to meet them at the port.
In order to allow Xiao Chen and his party to enter the capital of the Dwarf Kingdom openly, Ansaldo thought about it and decided to give them the title of diplomatic envoys. The Chinese Tower's envoys naturally concealed Xiao Chen's name. After all, it was too incredible and too eye-catching for the head of the Chinese Tower to visit the Dwarf Kingdom in person. The visit was made in the name of Foreign Minister Luo Ling, and Xiao Chen used Ji Yijun's name as a member of the delegation.
Ansaldo first took them by carriage overland to Bobeni, the entrance city to the underground.
Bobeni is one of the largest cities on the surface of the Dwarf Empire. It is the most important entrance to the underground world under the mountains. Most of the goods shipped from the city of *** will enter the underground from here, so it looks like a busy transshipment port. Ox carts and horse carts carrying various goods can be seen everywhere along the way. Many dwarf merchants also trade in this city. They will sell the goods purchased from the outside world to merchants doing business in the capital or middlemen in other underground cities.
Ansaldo's Fire Crystal Family naturally had their own base here. After arriving in Bobeni, he settled Xiao Chen and his party in his family's mansion. He had to contact the head of the family underground to prepare for Xiao Chen to enter the underground.
During the two days of waiting for news, he couldn't confine Xiao Chen to his house and could only accompany him to wander around the city of Bobeni.
In Crowell, there were merchants from humans, elves, sea tribes, and orcs, and some tall figures could be seen on the streets, but in Bobeni, there were almost no outsiders. Most merchants were not allowed to go so deep into the dwarf kingdom, so there were almost no tall figures in the city except Xiao Chen and his party. The dwarves walking around and working were only as tall as Xiao Chen's waist.
Therefore, Xiao Chen and his companions were extremely conspicuous on the street, attracting a lot of attention wherever they went. If it weren't for the escort of Ansalda and the Fire Crystal Family guards, the dwarves would have come up to question them long ago.
At first, Ansaldo thought that this was just the irresistible curiosity of humans who had never been to the Dwarf Kingdom, but later he found that Xiao Chen was observing very carefully.
"I'm just looking for more and more possibilities for cooperation." Xiao Chen said. He walked past a stall selling steel tools. Xiao Chen picked one up and looked at it. He found the stamp of the Green Forest City Tool Factory. "It seems that you have a lot of Chinese products here."
Ansaldo took a hammer from Xiao Chen and said, "Your daily necessities started to be sold here two or three years ago, but this is the first time I've seen these tools. I never thought that someone would sell things related to steel in the dwarven territory. Those forgers will definitely regard this as a shame."
"It's just the sale of goods, is it that serious?" Luo Ling asked.
"Hey, this is the dwarf. He takes forging things very seriously." Farrell said, "Ansaldo is not a forger. Seeing this, he must feel a little uncomfortable, right?"
"No. I'm not one of those stubborn people." Ansaldo denied.
"You guys are hiding in this mountain valley, without any communication with the outside world, so it's normal that you are gradually surpassed in many places, you know? These tools are not forged by some masters. The Green Forest City Tool Factory was only put into production half a year ago. Many workers are newly recruited and have never even touched a forging hammer before. I went there to be a process instructor and trained them for a few months, and they all got the hang of it. They use the latest assembly lines, and the products they produce are good, no worse than those of the River Bay New City. Of course, they are not worse than those of the Dwarf Kingdom. No matter who forged the things in the kingdom, as long as there is no enchantment, I have the confidence to compare this hammer with theirs." Farrell said with some pride.
Ansaldo said, "Old friend, it turns out you are not one to brag easily."
"Not yet. These things are made of a new formula of steel that has been improved in the past two years. We have tested it and found that its hardness and yield strength ratio are much better than those produced in Riverbend New City in the past two years, not to mention the things produced in the Dwarf Kingdom. Good steel makes good things, and it is much more useful as a tool. Originally, they were mainly sold to the southern city-states, but I didn't expect that they have already flowed to the Dwarf Kingdom."
"You did this?" Ansaldo asked.
"I participated in the research and supervision of this project," said Farrell.
"That can also be considered a dwarf thing." Ansaldo said.
"Whatever you say." Farrell chuckled twice.
After walking around the city, Xiao Chen found several products from the Tower of China, including traditional glass products and daily necessities, as well as some novel magic props, such as crystal etching pens used to write magic words. He even saw two children's bicycles. I don't know which business genius replaced them with thicker tires and sold them to the dwarves. The size is just right for the dwarves to use.
"I never noticed before that so many things from the Tower of China have flowed into the Dwarf Kingdom." Ansaldo exclaimed.
"This is the basis of our cooperation. Perhaps the Governor should seize the opportunity to contact us. I will let the people from the Ministry of Commerce have a good chat with you to see if there is anything that you can represent and then introduce to the Dwarf Kingdom. We can even invest in opening a factory in your city and make full use of the Dwarf's craftsman resources to make profits together." Xiao Chen habitually wanted to pat the other person's shoulder, but found that if he stretched out his hand, it would be like touching a child's head, so he quickly withdrew his hand and put it on his waist.
"You are indeed born businessmen," said Ansaldo.
"He is also a natural born mage and warrior." Xiao Chen said with a smile.
Just as they turned the corner, Xiao Chen saw two tall men in robes hurriedly leaving, glancing at them as they left.
"Who is that?"
Ansaldo also spotted the two people. He said, "It's strange. There are almost no humans here. How come I met two people on the street?"
"Judging from the actions of those two men, they are quite skilled," said Evelyn, who was serving as a guard.
"Give me some time, I'll go investigate. The tall man can't hide his traces in this city, I should know once I ask him." Ansaldo said. (To be continued)