Jiaheluo is located on a major transportation line. It is called a small city-state, but that is relative. The entire city-state actually has a population of over 100,000. The suburbs and rural areas covered by the Jiaheluo urban area have a population of 30,000 to 40,000. The rest of the population is located in small towns. Each small town is centered on the castle of a local small lord, with a population of several thousand or several hundred. The entire Western Region city-state is almost all of this model.
During these few days, Lu Ming lived and ate on the special train, and met many lords of nearby city-states who came to see him one after another.
There has been no news from the Independent Commission Against Corruption at "Wang's Residence", so there is no time to pay attention to it for the time being.
Hunhuo Luo suffered a disadvantageous war in the south and gradually retreated.
But in Nicolo City, there is a new mercenary force of Punk Trade, including several armed helicopters.
Apparently, Punk Trade had discovered the unusual movements of the Montenegrins, and even provided support to the southern city-state bombers. Therefore, Punk Trade also increased its intervention efforts.
The mercenaries of Punk Trade are all natives, coming from their armed training base located in the east of the Hunhuoluo City-State Alliance, but it seems that there is an elite firepower company and the pilots of the armed helicopters, all of whom are Sonyans.
To some extent, it is similar to the Principality of Montenegro, which still wants to control the war at the proxy stage.
For the Kingdom of Sonia, the real opponent is naturally the Kingdom of Griffinni where the eldest prince ascended the throne.
But the oil fields in the Western Regions are so important that they would certainly not hesitate to launch a full-scale war with the Principality of Montenegro over them.
However, it is not imminent, because the oil fields controlled by the Kingdom of Sonia, such as Fila Oil, etc., can fully meet its needs, at least at this stage.
What's more, the two oil fields in Soroston are still transporting oil to the Luxon heavy industrial zone in the Kingdom of Sonia in accordance with the old agreement.
The agreed payment by the middle of this year has already been paid. After the middle of the year, whether the Kingdom of Sonia will continue to pay, and if not, whether Soroston will continue to supply it with oil, will become a problem.
In June, before everything settled, Lu Ming judged that in the Western Regions, the Sonyans would not yet start a war to completely expel the Montenegrins.
However, I also have many activities in the imperial capital.
Although the eldest prince has many dissatisfactions with himself, from the perspective of the interests of the Kingdom of Griffinni, the existence of the Principality of Black Mountain in the Western Regions is beneficial to it. Even if the eldest prince is short-sighted, the Kingdom of Griffinni has many powerful figures, and the eldest prince does not have the final say.
The Greifani Kingdom's mobilization on the border will also prevent the Sonia Kingdom from having the energy to launch a full-scale war in the Western Regions.
…
The city of Jiaheluo is bustling with people. It is the month of the big bazaar after the traditional Chinese New Year in Jiaheluo, called the month of Daluoza, which is similar to the temple fair of the Central Plains, but the "Daluoza" will last for more than a month. Basically, people will take advantage of the free time after the New Year to prepare almost a year's worth of daily necessities, especially in remote city-states.
Many stalls also allow bartering. If you want to use currency, you can use gold and silver coins. The Imperial Coin is also a hard currency.
Lu Ming walked among them and bought quite a few interesting or rare items he came across.
Several female guards from the local state behind him quickly picked up a bunch of large and small bags.
A female guard came hurriedly and whispered something to Madam Sanjin.
Madam Sanjin took two steps forward and whispered, "Master, Miss Lazishimi and Miss Fatima from Nicolo are here. They came by train and did not inform their followers in West Black Mountain Castle. They bought tickets secretly and came here."
In West Montenegro Castle, there were many refugees evacuated from Nicolo. As exiled royal families, Lashimi, Fatima and their uncle and aunt quickly gathered a large number of supporters around them.
Mrs. Sanjin added, “It seems that the two sisters know what happened to their mother.”
Their mother and five sisters all died tragically because of their stubbornness and refused to surrender, and they suffered inhuman torture and humiliation before their death.
"You go meet them, I'll go shopping again." Lu Ming waved his hand.
Madam Sanjin had more or less grasped her master's pulse. She knew that many people outside might think that her master was cold-blooded and heartless, even a warmongerer, who caused blood to flow and the mountains and rivers to change color wherever he went. But in fact, he was a very soft-hearted person who could not bear to see human tragedies.
"Yes!" Bending her knees slightly, Madam Sanjin led the people back.
…
Lu Ming wandered around for a long time before returning to the special train.
The reception room is located behind the command carriage. As soon as Lu Ming came in, two figures bowed to him. They were Lashimi and Fatima.
"Master, please avenge my mother. My sister and I are willing to be your Subamai..." Lashishimi pleaded with tears streaming down her face. Fatima, who was only seven or eight years old, followed her sister and also wiped her tears.
In the Western Regions city-states, Subamai were treated like livestock, with a status even lower than that of slaves. It was said that they were the prisoners of war who were slaughtered and eaten thousands of years ago. Now there is only the word "Subamai", and this class no longer exists.
Only in legends, some cruel city-state lords in remote areas secretly raised subaruga for meat.
Lu Ming looked at Madam Sanjin and thought to himself, you have been trying to persuade her for a long time, but what has this persuaded her to achieve? Madam Sanjin just stood aside with her head down, not daring to look at Lu Ming.
Lu Ming could also see the grief, despair and hatred in the eyes of Lashishimi, a girl of only twelve or thirteen years old.
It is obvious that he has lost his mind due to the deep hatred.
"Lashishimi, Fatima, come, follow me and have a rest first." Mrs. Sanjin said.
Lashishimi and Fatima obviously listened to Mrs. Sanjin's words, so they stood up obediently and followed Mrs. Sanjin to the small bathroom in the carriage. It seemed that they really had the intention to be "Subamai" and were locked in the narrow bathroom. As long as they were not allowed, they would stay there forever.
Lu Ming sat down on the sofa, Papa Ya made tea, and Lu Ming glanced at Mrs. San Jin, "What did you say to them?"
Madam Sanjin whispered, "The slaves are telling the truth. If they want real revenge, only the master can do it."
Indeed, in order to take revenge thoroughly, they almost had to kill all the high-ranking officials of Hunhuo Luo. Because before the young princess' mother and sister were brutally tortured to death, they were treated to some kind of banquet by the Hunhuo Luo nobles, which was actually a collective rape. Many women were tortured at that banquet, and most of them were disobedient. Because the young princess and her daughter were the most beautiful and had a special status, they were tortured the most severely and died the most miserably.
"In fact, I also want to kill them all..." Madam San Jin whispered, "But the master has a broad mind, which is beyond the imagination of me."
Lu Ming waved his hand. He had no vision. No matter how the military and political situation here changed, he would never recruit a country like Hunhuo Luo with brutal customs under his command. However, he did not need to promise this to anyone.
"What about their collective statement?" Lu Ming asked.
More than a dozen city-states in the tax district, including Jiahe Luo, will jointly issue a statement that they will no longer pay taxes to Hunhuo Luo.
"They want to spend the month of Daluozha..." Madam Sanjin was a little helpless, "They have their own customs. Some days, even if they encounter foreign invasion, they don't want to use weapons."
Lu Ming nodded: "When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Let's cooperate with them."
"Yes." Mrs. Sanjin nodded.