There are still seventeen southern city-states that still respect King Baoyue as the leader of the alliance, plus Baoyue city-state, a total of eighteen.
Baoyue City-State is a large city-state with a vast territory. Including slaves, the total population exceeds 200,000.
In fact, the total population of the hundreds of free city-states in the Western Regions is less than 20 million. The largest one, Nicolau, is the center of the Western Regions and was once the most prosperous place before the emergence of Oil City, with a population of 400,000 to 500,000.
There are also many smaller city-states with a population of only a few thousand.
However, Nicolo, an ancient city-state with a glorious history, has actually been destroyed by the Central City-State Alliance supported by Punk Trade.
Punk Trade only supports small city-states in the central region, and it was also a last resort.
For example, Nicolo was the first one that Punk Trade wanted to bring under its wing. However, this ancient city-state with a long history was also the largest city-state in the Western Regions. Its aristocrats all had their own pride and did not want to be controlled by foreign Westerners, let alone controlled in the form of a trading company.
Therefore, in the end, Punk Trade supported relatively small city-states with highly aggressive city-state cultures. They put together a "Fair City-State Alliance" and quickly conquered all sides. Three months ago, they captured the city of Nicolo.
Today, the "Alliance of Fair Cities" is undoubtedly the strongest force in the central region of the Western Regions, with a population of over three million.
However, when it was fighting with the southern city-state alliance, a large-scale rebellion broke out in Nicolo. It then accepted King Baoyue's peace terms and hurried back to quell the rebellion. But given the ambitions of the Sonyans of the Punk Trading Company and the greed of the small city-states in the central region represented by "Hunhuo Luo", it was inevitable that it would move south again.
Of course, the priority now is to continue to cleanse Nicolo's old forces.
At the same time, Punk Trading Company must have set its sights on Soroston in the southwest and is planning how to take over the oil city of Soroston.
The Baoyue City-State Alliance finally got a chance to catch its breath.
There are eighteen city-states in the Baoyue City Alliance, and there are several small city-states with a population of only a few thousand, with a total population of less than one million.
Among them, there are more than 3,100 Moro households, with an average of more than ten people in each household. According to tradition, each household usually recruits one Moro into the army, but in the event of war, all Moro men over the age of twelve can be recruited.
At present, two men are recruited from each household, and the total number of Moro troops is more than 6,000.
Among them, there are more than a thousand Moro households in Baoyue city-state. Among the Moro army, one-third of the officers and soldiers are from Baoyue city-state.
In the past few days, the Moro army began to gather in the military camp near the "Kasyapa Temple" for training.
Kasyapa is the god of war of the southern city-state. The Kasyapa Temple is located on a mountain more than ten kilometers north of Baoyue City, and a huge statue of Kasyapa stands on the top of the mountain.
The temple’s military camp is large, but it is located in a very prominent position at the foot of the mountain. With a telescope, you can see everything clearly from a distance.
But the Moro Army traditionally trains here.
No matter how the enemy's surprise attack can wipe out everything, let alone if there are bombers, this place will be a sitting duck.
The instructors from the joint matrix gave many suggestions for this, but one still has to adapt to the local customs.
At this time, Lu Ming arrived at Nicolo.
…
The Yellow River Trade has a representative office in Nicolaus. No matter how violent the occupying forces of the "Fair City-State Alliance" are, they dare not easily touch the Heishan people. The representative office of the Yellow River Trade once protected a large number of Nicolaus refugees and sent them safely to live in Xiheishan Fort, Batcheng and other places.
Nicolo City has a population of more than 100,000 and was once extremely prosperous. But now at night, the streets have become extremely deserted, and many streets are still under curfew. Most areas are pitch black at night.
The block where the Yellow River Trade Representative Office is located is called "Huangzi Road". Decades ago, a prince visited and stayed here, hence the name.
The buildings here also incorporate modern elements, and there are many magnificent buildings.
The original residence of the Minister of Western Affairs of the Imperial Emperor's Privy Council was located here.
But three years ago, the Minister of Affairs returned to the imperial capital, and the official residence has been empty ever since.
In addition, many large companies that have investments in the Western Regions have representative offices on Huangzi Road. A few autonomous provinces, such as Donghai, also have official representative offices to protect businessmen who have invested locally.
Punk Trading Company's representative office in the Western Region is also on Huangzi Road.
This place naturally became an independent kingdom, the entire block was closed, and the Nicolos had no right to enter this block.
Three months ago, the coalition forces of the central city-states invaded this city. No matter how brutal they were, some soldiers excitedly celebrated by firing at the sky all over the streets, but no soldier dared to step into this neighborhood.
The representative office of Yellow River Trade here is in the middle section of Huangzi Road. The main building is a five-story white strip building in the imperial retro style. The milky white corridors, columns and eaves are elegant and imposing. The backyard is shaded by green trees. Since the fall of Nicola, two armed helicopters have been parked in the backyard square.
Lu Ming didn't expect that Jeffrey, the punk trade representative in Nicolau, had never heard of Phraya Lee from Antigua.
It seems that Schmidt either cooked the accounts or is still dragging the matter out. With all kinds of cover-ups, the purchase of Emerald Island, which was not reported, is completely wasted. After all, the decline of Emerald Island will take time, and it cannot be seen now.
Schmidt was naturally worried that after reporting the loss of 100 million yuan, not only would his position in the trading company be ruined, but his life might even be in danger.
After all, it has become a habit for this Punk Trading Company to not abide by the laws of the kingdom when doing things outside, and its style of doing things is more like that of a violent group.
I hope this guy can get away with it, but can he really cover up a loss of 100 million yuan
While chatting with Jeffrey, Lu Ming's mind was full of Schmidt, and he felt quite sorry for him.
Jeffrey heard that the Western Regions' chief representative for the Yellow River Trade had arrived from the Principality of Montenegro, so he came to visit in person.
Jeffrey's position in the Western Region branch of Punk Company is also among the top five. He came to see Representative Li to test and inquire about the new developments of Yellow River Trade here.
In particular, Soros inexplicably appeared in Black Mountain Castle and issued a statement, selling all his subsidiaries and assets in the Western Regions to Yellow River Trading.
"I heard that your company has already accepted Thorston?" Jeffrey asked casually.
After a long period of pleasantries, Lu Ming and he talked about something in circles, and now they finally got to the point.
Lu Ming smiled and said, "Yes, the contract signed with Mr. Soros is a big one, including the subsequent fees to be paid to him, the total contract amount exceeds 800 million."
In fact, it was a case of getting something for nothing. However, in the agreement signed with Soros, Prince of Black Mountain Castle also promised that if the oil fields and many assets in the Western Regions donated by him had not been sold or lost accidentally after three years, he would pay Soros a dividend of 10% of the net profit every year.
On the other side, Jeffrey listened to Lu Ming's words with flickering eyes.
Obviously, they thought that the oil field that Montenegro had acquired at such a huge cost would be a troublesome matter.
It is a bit unrealistic to want to obtain Soroston without going to war with the Principality of Montenegro.
Jeffrey then smiled bitterly. "Mr. Representative, His Royal Highness the Prince of Black Mountain Castle was deceived by that treacherous Gaide merchant. His business in my kingdom has evaded a lot of taxes. He also secretly transferred benefits to the former Speaker of Gaide State and influenced the legislation of Gaide State to facilitate his crazy money-making. Therefore, my kingdom's Ministry of Commerce is investigating and has issued a warrant. If nothing unexpected happens, he will have to pay the price for this. His assets in the Western Regions were obtained by exploiting the blood and sweat of my Sonya and Gaide people. They will most likely be auctioned off by the court to pay the millions of Sonya and Gaide people who have been victimized."
After looking at Lu Ming's expression, he said, "In fact, if Soros is still in your principality, we can issue a wanted order. Your principality can arrest him and recover the money he cheated. 800 million yuan? If his assets in the Western Regions are auctioned off by the court, Your Highness should be able to get them for less than 800 million yuan."
Lu Ming smiled and said, "Who knows what the court will decide? Besides... I should know more about the law than you. Let's not talk about extraterritoriality and other very reluctant factors. His assets had already been sold to my trading company before the court's decision. Then, your kingdom's court cannot confiscate and auction them. You can find a way to recover the assets that have been converted into cash and entered his account, provided that his attorney loses the case."
Jeffrey frowned slightly, and then said, "But there is another problem. The area of Soroston and the Batula city-state has a historical grudge with the Hunhuo people. According to research, two thousand years ago, that area was the traditional living area of the Hunhuo people. Later, the Hunhuo people were expelled by the Batula people and had to leave their homeland. Today, the Hunhuo people's call to return home and restore their country is getting louder and louder. Therefore, the agreement signed by Soros and the Batula city-state on the ownership of the Soroston oil field may not be recognized forever."
He looked at Lu Ming seriously and said, "I still hope you can pass on this true information to His Royal Highness. You should advise His Royal Highness to cancel the transaction with Soros to avoid unnecessary losses."
Lu Ming smiled and said, "Two thousand years ago, the Sonyans should have been slaves of the emperor of Zhongzhou. Should we also issue a statement? Claiming that all the states of Sonya were the pastures of the Zhongzhou people?"
Jeffrey's face had already changed, and he said with a sullen face: "Representative Li, I hope you will think twice before speaking, and don't speak without thinking."
Lu Ming smiled and said, "It's just an example. Two thousand years is too long. And I think I have made the position of the Black Mountain Principality and the Yellow River Trading Company very clear to you. The atmosphere today is not very good. I will treat you to tea another day!"
Jeffrey straightened his expression, nodded and said, "Okay, we'll talk next time."
After watching Jeffrey leave in disappointment, Lu Ming looked at the young man next to him, Gong Mosheng, the representative of Yellow River Trading stationed in Nicolau.
Gong Mosheng is the only son of Old Gong, or Master Gong, and he has developed well in recent years.
However, the Yellow River Trading Company's business focus is on Oil City, and the trade representative stationed in Nicolo is only a middle-level person in the Western Region branch. He is more like a liaison here, and his position is incomparable to Jeffrey's position in the Western Region branch of Punk Company.
"How many people from Central China are doing business in the Nicolo area? What proportion does our principality account for? Has anyone been harmed in this great change? Do you have any information about this?" Lu Ming asked.
Gong Mosheng was slightly stunned, and said: "Most of the merchants from the principalities who often contact the representative office have not been affected. Only Mr. Zhao took refuge in the prince's temple. His house was robbed and he was shot in the leg. He is still recovering in the hospital." He said with difficulty: "I don't know much about the merchants from Central China."
Lu Ming nodded. In Gong Mosheng’s opinion, the Montenegrin people were an ethnic group, and he represented the interests of the citizens of the Principality of Montenegro.
In fact, many people have this kind of thinking. It has been like this since the Confederation has been autonomous for a long time. We are all citizens of the Empire and the Kingdom of Griffinni. If we further divide it, I am from a certain state, I am from a certain province of Mo. On the contrary, the concept of a Central Continental is very vague. This is because there are too many Central Continental people, and the development conditions in different places are different, as are the ideological states and systems. So if I say that all Central Continental people are my compatriots and my relatives, probably only I, a time traveler, have this complex.
"Which hospital is Mr. Zhao in?" Lu Ming asked.