North, Newcastle.
As a result of last year's Newcastle riots, the king ordered the construction of a military castle here as a central hub for control of Newcastle. The project has been going on for nearly eleven months, and the construction speed is not fast, because there are still sporadic violent activities in the local area.
Right now, the transport ship that should have arrived a few days ago has not appeared, the construction has come to a standstill, and the villagers and craftsmen who stayed in Newcastle have become restless. Unable to return home as scheduled.
As the architect of the entire castle, James frantically walked through a mess of wooden shelves and into the camp of the resident military commander.
"What the hell happened!"
James angrily slapped a stack of material reports on the commander's desk.
"The stone can still be excavated on the spot, but the wood is gone! Not a single one is left! What do you want me to build? This is your sincerity? Throw me in this ghost place, and then give me nothing, ask me Conjuring a castle out of thin air for your great majesty? Why didn't he take my head with him?"
James' anger is understandable. He was originally going to be the designer of St. Joey's Cathedral. As a result, after the king read his resume, he had to come to Newcastle, where the turmoil had just ended.
The good thing is that James is very responsible for the architectural design. Although he is full of resentment against the king, he still does his best to build the whole castle. He seems to treat every building he designs as his own child.
These days, the commander has been pointed at his nose and scolded by him. He is picky about the quality of the wood is not good enough, and the hardness of the stone is not high enough... Of course, the most common complaint is the slow and slow transportation of raw materials. "A pile of tattered waste that is slower than a snail".
Today, the commander is extraordinarily calm.
He poured James a glass of red wine: "The ship of the Five-Port Alliance will not come."
"… "
James' incessant cursing came to an abrupt end, he looked at the commander in astonishment, froze for three seconds, and then jumped up like an old cat whose tail was stepped on.
"What! You want to abandon this half-built castle? Holy lord! You desecrated buildings, you will..."
"Stop, stop! No matter what you say, I'm not going to hell right away."
The commander stood up and pulled off the cape.
"The ships of the Five-Port Alliance will not come again, but the castle will continue to be built. Come with me."
Newcastle is located in the northwest of Legrand, and the wind is blowing at this time. James and the commander walked through the snow to the southwest gate of the castle. In order to prevent the sporadic thugs running around in the local area, the gate of the castle has been closed. The commander said a few words to the guards on the tower.
The drawbridge creaked down.
The gates opened.
"Look."
said the commander.
James took two steps forward.
The city gates opened, and the cold wind roared in. A long procession appeared on the snow outside, with scarlet flags flying above the procession, and the royal iron roses blooming on the flags swept away by the cold wind. The team came slowly from far to near, with a small group of armored cavalry scattered around the team.
James saw it.
It was actually a long convoy!
Their cars are loaded with neat piles of lumber and other things, and the long convoys wind their way. The armored cavalry in front of the team noticed that the city gate had been opened. He drove forward and saw the commander and James standing behind the city gate.
The cavalry turned over and dismounted: "The first batch of supplies has been escorted, and the remaining supplies will be delivered as soon as possible."
"How is this going?"
James looked at the wood, then at the commander.
The commander rubbed his hands, laughed, and patted James on the shoulder: "My dear Mr. Designer! You should take your eyes off those stones and wood, in the future our supplies will go directly from Angel has delivered it! There is as much wood as you want, and it will definitely not be rotten wood soaked in seawater!"
It took James half a day to understand why.
Anger State has the forest with the highest density in the entire Legrand and the iron forest with the best quality in the entire Legrand. It is not far from Newcastle, but before that, the relationship between the state of Anger and the royal family was tense, and the building of the castle had to guard against attacks from Anger, not to mention the direct shipment of wood from Anger.
But now that has changed.
The state of Anger bows its head to the royal family, the highest quality iron trees will be continuously transported from the peaks of Anger, and the king will build the strongest castle.
Also smiling was the cavalry on horseback.
He was the one sent by Anger Bangguo to protect the supplies. He grew up in Anger, and was used to seeing the Anger people guarding the lush forest but destitute. They lived the hardest lives on the roughest lands, but now Legrand's business doors are open for them once again.
Timber was shipped from Anger, and gold pounds flowed into the pockets of the Anger people, who were even allowed to trade with other places during the escort. For the first time, goods that were previously only obtainable through looting can be easily obtained—who wants blood and death if they can come and go peacefully
This is just the beginning, and the days when Ingres could not afford a single button on King Legrand's clothes with one year's tariff income will be a thing of the past.
"From Angel to Newcastle, where the Rose King's flag flies in the future, the blood of the empire will flow incessantly!"
The cavalry leaned over and said oath.
…
The king received reports that the construction of the castle was continuing.
Along with that, the James Architect, who never wanted to appear in the report, attached a letter.
In the letter, the guy who seemed to be full of eyes and only architecture praised the king's achievements dryly, and then he made a request like the king. The iron wood transported by Angel has grown for a long time, and its texture is extremely hard. James has a new idea - he wants to maximize the military function of the castle, and he wants to build a higher exploration building than the original plan. More military towers that mirror each other.
"...they will be watchtowers standing on the ground, and if they can use the hard crossbow banned by the Pope, they can even be called terrible killing machines... All the changes in the northern steppe will have nowhere to hide..."
Finally, when it comes to his own ideas, James's tone becomes frenzied.
Seeing this, the king always felt that the tone was somewhat familiar: "Did our Academy of Mad Men miss a member?"
Look at what kind of church designer this is, he is clearly a war machine madman.
At the end of the letter, James revealed his real intention:
—He reached out to the king for money.
The king took a pen and crossed out the sky-high figure that James had offered, and ruthlessly wrote another number.
Want more money
Okay, let's wait until the Five Harbors Alliance sinks.
The royal family is really poor now.
Although it is cheaper to buy wood from Angel than to prepare for transportation through the Five-Port Alliance, but the quantity is huge. In addition, after the change of blood of the county governor, the recruitment and selection of the militia began. After the council agreed to the request of the royal family to expand the private army some time ago, Baron Sheen began to get busy.
The king did not intend to select his own private soldiers from among the noble knights, so his military reforms would be nothing more than a piece of paper.
New soldiers will be chosen from all over the place and avoid too much ties to the old nobles.
According to the requirements of the king, this newly established private army may not be strong enough at the beginning, but it must have high potential - as long as there is potential, it can be cultivated through later training. Although the knights from nobles have better physical fitness than commoners, their loyalty... The king has to make a question mark.
Every day the army maintains, it will consume a day's food and pay a day's salary...
In short, one word: make ends meet.
The king is more and more eager to let the five-port alliance sink into the sea with their pile of broken monopoly systems.
He put down his pen, took out the "Legrand Port Free Trade Act" that had been drawn up and checked it again.
The name of the act was drawn up by the king himself, and he smiled vaguely as he wrote the word "freedom".
it's time.
…
The Chamber of Commerce resistance movement in the southeast has developed to the stage of a collective strike.
The originally busy port was quiet at this time, and the ships berthed quietly at the port. The large amount of cargo on the ship was not unloaded either. The workers who made a living by helping to load and unload the cargo gathered at the dock every day to watch the merchant ship and sigh anxiously. The impact of the port's outage businessmen's strike is huge.
At this time, petitions like snowflakes flew from all over the capital to the capital.
Those affected by the merchants' revolt hoped that the movement would die down as soon as possible - no doubt they wanted concessions from the king.
However, as the resistance movement of the Chamber of Commerce in the southeast intensified, the royal family never gave in.
The local nobles in the southeast chose to stand on the sidelines - the new "Port Restriction Regulations" had a lot of attraction to them. But they also don't plan to support the king, because the current situation seems to be more favorable to the Five-Port Alliance, and the royal family seems to be even more unable to bear the stagnation of business in the southeast.
It is said that the Guros family has prepared a feast to celebrate the victory in the port of Kossoa, the headquarters of the Five-Port Alliance.
Just when the situation developed to the point where even small chambers of commerce and small cities became uneasy, the royal family finally reacted.
The King has published a new Maritime Commerce Act.
The Legrand Port Free Trade Act.
This is a regulatory and antitrust bill in the name of "liberty".
This bill shattered the illusion of victory for the Five-Hong Kong Alliance.
Almost as soon as the bill was announced, the summons for the All-Members of the Five-Port Alliance was sent from the port of Cossoya and flew to various coastal commercial cities.
The king did give in.
But not to the Five Harbors Alliance, but to all the merchants on the southeast coast.
…
Cossoya Port, the five-port alliance full meeting was held.
Unlike the Five-Port Alliance Brotherhood, the Five-Port Alliance All-Staff Council includes all members except the core five ports. There is a strict hierarchy in the Five-Port Alliance, and each city chamber of commerce is divided into formal alliance members and informal alliance members depending on their specific strengths.
The protagonists of the conference have always been the core five ports.
But today has changed.
The venue was quiet.
The face of Patriarch Guros was even more ugly than before. The Dawson family refused to participate in all Five Harbors Alliance meetings after they quit the Brotherhood last time. The remaining three business families sat on the top with gloomy expressions on their faces.
"Everyone's attitude towards the new bill is surprising. Do you really think it is a free bill? It is the unified jurisdiction of the Chamber of Commerce directly formed by the royal family. You plan to give up the autonomy that we have sacrificed several times. ?"
His voice was filled with anger.
There was still silence in the venue, and silence itself was a terrifying statement.
"It is you, not us, who have autonomy."
Finally, someone spoke.
He is a representative of the Haynes City Chamber of Commerce. Haynes is one of the official members of the Five-Port Alliance, and Guros originally thought that the first one to speak would be at least an informal member. The representative of the Haynes City Chamber of Commerce stood up.
"Haynes joined the Five-Port Alliance three years ago, because if we didn't join the alliance, our ships would not be able to pass through the major ports smoothly, and we would have to pay twice as much lighthouse tax as others."
"Could it be that after you became members of the alliance, the alliance did not share the privileges of the first port with you? Did it not give you protection?" Guros asked rhetorically.
"If you say that the privilege of giving more than giving is protection and equal treatment, then I have nothing to say." The representative of the Haynes Chamber of Commerce replied coldly, "We join the alliance, and citizens can indeed use the title of the alliance 'Baron'. , indeed can have a seat in your fraternity, and indeed be able to speak on allied affairs[1]."
He speaks faster and faster, obviously resentful for a long time.
"But that's all!"
He pointed out sharply.
"We must share in the naval service of the first port [2], we must bear the cost of the first port's participation in parliament and various royal ceremonies, and we must provide the first port with a large alliance fee every year! But we do not have the right to vote! What's the use, we are dumb and bystanders! Whoever wants such privilege and autonomy will take it away!"
"The Haynes Chamber of Commerce has officially withdrawn from the Five-Port Alliance!"
The representative of the Haynes Chamber of Commerce tore off the logo badge of the Five-Port Alliance from his chest and threw it on the ground. He glanced at Guros and stepped on the badge in front of him.
Patriarch Guros was so angry that he almost didn't fall down.
The Five-Port Alliance is centered on five first ports, and in the middle of the badge is the white ship with the logo of the ancient Ross family.
"Please allow my farewell."
Another city chamber of commerce representative took off the badge on his chest.
"I also don't think we in Kuwait have real autonomy - our municipal officials are dispatched from the capital, and if that's the case, isn't it the same for officials who accept the royal family?"
Another person stood up.
Metal badges are thrown on the ground or on the table, making a crisp sound.
Guros, the always tough old man, sat in his seat with a blank expression, while the patriarchs of the other three families looked gloomy and uncertain.
Why did it evolve like this
Because of the new law issued by the king.
The Legrand Port Free Trade Act
According to this regulation, all large and small chambers of commerce in the southeast coastal area will be treated equally and "equally".
The customs protection privilege originally belonging to the Five-Port Alliance will be cancelled, the woolen wine franchise granted to the Five-Port Alliance in the 13th century will no longer exist, the Five-Port Alliance’s duty of supervising the Southeast market will be abolished, and the Five-Port Alliance will have no Quan then taxed the merchants for managing the lighthouse...
As long as businessmen announce their withdrawal from the Five-Hong Kong Alliance and join the "Free Chamber of Commerce" to be formed under the supervision of the royal family, they will be able to enjoy these rights.
The king's purpose is very obvious.
He is willing to transfer all powers to all businessmen like a prodigal, in exchange for the disintegration of the big alliance of chambers of commerce created by the Five-Hong Kong Alliance.
"Damn it! Is he crazy?! How dare he let everyone have that right!"
Gross couldn't help cursing at the empty venue.
Only the first port members of the Five-Port Alliance remained here.
"What are we going to do?" The lady poisonous spider in the black dress admired her white gloves and asked softly, "You know, the Dawson family seems to be planning to fall into the arms of the king? What about us? Like him?"
"impossible."
Gross flatly refused.
He looked gloomy.
"There are people who can help us," he said slowly.
…
The king read the news from the southeast in the palace.
"Without a rotten trunk, how can the wind blow and fall?"
The king exclaimed.
The house chief walked in softly: "Someone wants to see you."
"Who?"
The House Chief looked a little complicated: "Your... scientists."
He had a hard time not uttering the word "madman" directly.
The author has something to say: [1] After the 13th century, there was a huge difference between the privileges possessed by the first port of the Five-Port Alliance in England and the privileges possessed by ordinary members.
[2] The first port here refers to the five core port cities