Banner of the Evil God

There are roughly two ways to divide the political structure of the Gold Coin Federation. One is the central aristocracy headed by the two marquises, and the local power faction headed by the earls of various places; the other is the merchant faction represented by the coastal and border trade circles, and the aristocratic faction represented by the inland.

The former division is not very meaningful. The contradiction between the central faction and the local faction can be seen everywhere in all countries-oh, except the Northwest Republic. This kind of thing is really commonplace. For thousands of years, or even longer years, all countries of all races have faced the same problem. No one has ever come up with any solution, and it is rare that large-scale conflicts will brew.

The power of the great nobles is absolutely no match for the union of local nobles, and the local nobles will not easily unite. This is the balance between the two sides.

But the latter division is exactly the biggest problem of the Gold Coin Federation at present.

In this country founded on commerce, with the long-term operation, the contradictions between the two major factions of merchants and nobles have accumulated more and more, and gradually reached a point where it is difficult to deal with.

The merchant faction controls more than 60% of the country's assets. If it is limited to money, then the amount they control is even more than 70%. Although the noble faction has less money, it controls nearly 80% of the country's population and almost the same amount of land.

One side has money and the other side has people. When the relationship between the two sides is good, they cooperate with each other sincerely and have accomplished great things more than once.

But as time goes by, the contradictions between the two sides are getting bigger and bigger. The merchant faction hopes to promote the construction of more trade routes, promote consumption, and promote population mobility - in short, to make the business of merchants better and better. The noble faction hopes to maintain the status quo or even reduce trade routes to stabilize the situation, cut unnecessary expenses, and especially limit the mobility of population to ensure that their territory can have a stable output.

This contradiction is almost irreconcilable, and even the great goddess of wealth can do nothing about it. He can only let his clergy stand in a neutral position, try to mediate the disputes between the two sides, ease the relationship between them, and act like a lubricant or a shock absorber.

In the past, because the merchants had a lot of money, they could recruit mercenaries to gain powerful military force and suppress the nobles. Although the nobles were numerous, they were always at a disadvantage in front of the merchants who could recruit a large number of mercenaries at any time.

In recent years, as the noble god became more powerful, the power of the nobles has been increasing. They already had an advantage in population, and with the support of the church of the noble god, the fighting power in their hands has accumulated more and more.

As the saying goes, if you have a weapon, you will kill. With the increase in the military force at hand, the nobles will naturally want to rely on this power to gain greater benefits. In addition, since the battle of "The Day the Sun Goes Out", the number of mercenaries walking in the main plane has greatly decreased, and the mercenaries are increasingly reluctant to join the army to fight, so the strength of the merchant faction is indeed declining. As one grows and the other declines, the nobles' ideas have become more radical, and various conflicts of all sizes in the country have occurred from time to time.

The most famous incident took place in a city in the Midwest of the Federation. There was a conflict between the local lord and the big business, which started with a quarrel and eventually led to a large-scale conflict. Both sides mobilized more than 500 troops in total and fought for almost half a month. If it weren't for a marquis and the Church of the Goddess of Wealth to mediate, I'm afraid the two sides would still be fighting now.

This incident was almost a fuse, which completely exposed the conflict between the two factions and brought it to the table. Since then, the friction and conflict between the two factions have increased, and bloodshed has occurred from time to time.

For this reason, the leaders of the two factions are currently stepping up to win over the forces of all parties, trying to increase the strength of their own camp as much as possible to overwhelm the other side.

Since the summer, Baron Dahl has been receiving letters from both sides. Whether it is the noble faction headed by the two marquises or the merchant faction headed by the seven major business houses, they are constantly persuading him to support their side, and they all have nominally justifiable reasons.

In any case, Baron Dahl is always a nobleman and a lord, which makes him naturally belong to the camp of the noble faction. But for a long time, the Dahl family has been making profits by doing smuggling business. It can be said that the lifeblood of the family does not depend on the status of the lord, but on the status of the smuggler, which makes him naturally belong to the camp of the merchant faction.

In fact, in the Gold Coin Federation, most of the small and medium-sized nobles like the Dahl family are like this. While being a lord to manage the territory, they also do business to subsidize the family. But among them, few people can be like Baron Dahl, who is very successful in both being a lord and doing business.

The problem is this "very successful"!

Perhaps because the Dahl Territory is regarded as a typical example, both sides are increasingly trying to win over Baron Dahl, and their attitudes are becoming more and more tough.

Especially this time, the envoys they sent all hinted at the meaning of "not being a comrade-in-arms, but an enemy."

This is the most troublesome problem for Baron Dahl.

He really doesn't care who he is a comrade-in-arms with, but he cares about who he is an enemy with.

After all... no matter which side it is, it is a behemoth that is too powerful for the Dahl family. No matter which side he joins, he might be slapped to death by the other side... just like slapping a mosquito.

Although both sides swore that as long as Baron Dahl joined them, he would be able to get a lot of benefits and would definitely be well protected, Baron Dahl didn't believe it!

Only a fool would believe it!

Protection? Well protected?

Haha, how did the heir of a certain viscount who suddenly fell off his horse and died not long ago die?

How could a young man with the strength of a quasi-knight fall off his horse and die? Even if the horse died, he would not die!

In addition, how did a certain medium-sized chamber of commerce's warehouse on the seashore be breached by the fishmen? Don't tell me that those losers abandoned by the goddess of the sea are actually able to break through the fortress built of rocks on the shore, that would be an insult to everyone's IQ!

Baron Dahl dared to bet with his head that as long as he joined one of the parties, after the news spread, within half a month, there would be several fewer people sitting here today.

Everyone naturally understood this truth, so you looked at me, I looked at you, all frowning.

The awkward silence enveloped the small meeting room.

After a long time, in the silence, a voice suddenly rang out, it was a young knight-to-be named Dahl.

"I think... why don't we join the Void Mask Church!"