I will be crowned king

One million and eight hundred thousand gold coins was an astronomical figure for any city or country; even in a rich place like Carindia Port, it was unrealistic for her to shell out such a large sum of cash immediately.

Of course, maybe if the local nobles were willing to "share the country's worries and donate generously", she might still be able to pay for it; but whether she can or not is actually not important, because it does not prevent Anson from using this number to Carindia. The nobles pressed.

The main reason is of course because he was fooled by these cunning Kalindians - "I told you a long time ago that there must be a problem..." Carl Bain said - they surrendered so decisively. The reason is simply because Duke Eden's army is about to kill them!

Of course, even without the accident of the Aiden people, Anson would still have enough confidence to make Kalindia surrender; the gap in strength between the two sides is there.

The Battle of Green Valley is enough to prove that the people of Carindia may be brave, but their army is just a bunch of rotten fish and shrimps, barely stronger than the Paya Principality.

But if Carindia had not surrendered, Clovis would have ended up carving up the richest country in the land with Aiden, or they would have fought to the death outside the port of Carindia... The result might have been similar to what it is now.

If you insist on saying that the only difference is probably just the ownership of Carindia Port; originally, Anson didn't have much desire to conquer more occupied areas, and the strength of the Storm Division was not enough to completely control a large port city.

Therefore, as long as we reach an agreement with the Principality of Aiden, occupy it in separate areas or just ensure that the Hantu Cathedral is open to storm divisions, this is enough. After all, the two sides have not reached the point of life and death, and there is still huge room for cooperation before unifying Hantu. .

But Carindia surrendered first, and the mood of the matter completely changed - there was no way Anson would give up the fat meat he had obtained; even if he could give it up, the officers and soldiers of the Storm Division who were eager to get rich would not agree.

Therefore, even though he knew it was not cost-effective, Anson still had to besiege Green Valley. In the end, he even took a risk and risked the lives of more than 4,000 Storm Division soldiers before he was lucky enough to defeat the mad dog-like Aiden Army.

From Anson's point of view, the current situation is equivalent to the Carindia nobles using things that they could have obtained to blackmail or hire themselves, and risk being surrounded and annihilated by the enemy for their lives.

And this battle could have been avoided from the very beginning!

Can this be tolerated? !

Of course, this kind of thing cannot be said openly, otherwise it will easily make people misunderstand that he is a narrow-minded evil person who is particularly vindictive and likes to retaliate.

So we have to put it another way.

Then the best reason is of course to strengthen the combat effectiveness of the Storm Division, purchase weapons and equipment from the rear, and recruit new soldiers to form new regiments to protect the peace-loving Carinthians from Ayden in the west and Ayden in the north. The threat from the Grand Duchy of Mist.

Since the purpose is to protect the Carinthians, then of course the extra money must be paid by the Carinthians - it is reasonable and reasonable.

Anson is not sure of completely conquering the Principality of Ayden, but he is still certain of cutting off Carindia's leeks through the threat of the Principality of Ayden, and it is very big.

So on the 22nd day of June in the 100th year of the Saint's Calendar, after a day of repairs, the Stormtroopers came to Carindia Port with the residual power of the victory in Green Valley.

The Carindia Council, which had learned the news from Fabian one day in advance, opened the city gates in fear and fear, and opened the city gates with a mixture of surprise and horror, preparing a battle for the stormtroopers who returned in triumph. A grand and grand welcome ceremony.

As the church bells rang, the soldiers of the Storm Division with live ammunition lined up in neat queues, guided by the sound of bugles and drums, passed through the city gate of Carindia Port, and accepted the warm cheers and welcome of the people in the city.

As a port city, Carindia Port is different from most of the vast cities; to sum it up in one sentence, probably except here, most of the vast towns can only be regarded as rural areas.

Straight and wide streets, row upon row of houses, crowded people, and public facilities like streetlights... Except for the fact that many places are slightly outdated, and the air is filled with the moist smell of sea water instead of the smell of steam exhaust, Anson almost thought he was Returned to Clovis City.

According to Fabian, this was also the result of the nobles of the Carindia Council specially cleaning and re-decorating in order to welcome the storm master's triumphant return - the streets were washed, and the sewers and potholes on both sides were filled with plants. There were flowers and green plants, and the flags of the two countries were hung on the windows and walls on both sides of the street...

Even the people who came to cheer were in high spirits, because the stingy Carindia Council in the past gave everyone who came to the welcome ceremony a new dress and a full meal... which made the city look more beautiful. It is so vibrant and full of vitality.

In order to make up for the previous "deception" of Anson Bach, the Carindia Council, which knew it was wrong, was indeed trying to make the deputy commander of the legion happy regardless of the cost.

However, these were completely indifferent to the officers and soldiers of the Storm Division who participated in this triumphal ceremony. They were all heroic and held their heads high, trying their best to imitate the "imperial style" of the previous retreat ceremony of the Aiden Legion, and paid tribute to Carindia. The people of Hong Kong showed off the great military might of the Clovis people.

Especially Leon Francois, the heir to Thun believed from the bottom of his heart that his fight in the Green Valley was to defend the city and at the same time fight for the great cause of unifying the vast land.

At the same time, he sincerely believed that the people in front of him took the initiative to welcome his "heroes", so he was extremely excited; the entire welcome ceremony lasted for more than two hours, and for nearly 150 minutes, he sat The figure on the horse and the right hand holding the flag remain motionless. The whole figure is like a knight in an oil painting with a halo all over his body and a halo above his head.

As for the fatigue and muscle soreness caused by the ceremony, they were all wiped out by the enthusiasm of the Carinthians.

But what was slightly different from the scene they imagined was "eating a pot of juice and welcoming the king" was that the people on both sides and even the nobles in a stand in the distance were all just forcing smiles, with expressions in their eyes. More not joy but fear.

After all, for the people in this city, there is not much difference between being occupied by the Clovis and being occupied by the Eden; even because they are more familiar with the Eden, many people actually feel more comfortable deep down in their hearts. It is better to wish to be a free city under the rule of Duke Eden than to become a vassal state exploited by the strange Clovis people.

Especially when the news of the victory in Eagle Point City came, coupled with the result of the Battle of Green Valley that was just around the corner, the Carinthians were even more afraid of Clovis.

From this perspective, this grand triumphal ceremony was quite successful - since it was destined to fail to win love, fearing its allies (leeks) was not a bad outcome.

Surrounded by the storm division officers and Thun cuirassiers, Anson Bach, whose back was also stiff in the saddle—he was still very unaccustomed to riding a horse—passed through the "welcoming" crowd calmly and indifferently. Arrive at the famous Hantu Cathedral and participate in the last part of this traditional ceremony.

The reason why it is "famous" is related to the great achievements of this building, which is neither the most magnificent nor the most magnificent in history - it is the first building in history to be officially granted authority by the Church of Order and allowed to open. "Bank" Cathedral.

During the "Age of Great Schism" from around 450 BC to 47 BC - also known as the "Dark Ages" by the Clovis people - and the era of sectarian wars, as large as dioceses, Kingdoms, down to a certain lord and a certain family, all fight over each other's sects.

Lords and vassals stood in opposing sect camps, families that had been inherited for thousands of years were divided because of their beliefs, and people loyal to a certain sect rebelled against their own king for their beliefs... In that era, it was a very common phenomenon.

In order to reverse the decline of the church caused by sectarian schism, the once rigid and conservative church had to resort to the banking industry that they once hated so much - just like they later absorbed the Ivory academy system, as well as all the research results and St. Isaac's The legacy of the church was that of merging the private banks of the pope and several archbishops to establish the church’s banking system.

On the one hand, this is of course for the purpose of better collecting money. On the other hand, the church comes forward to unify the currency and taxation systems of all kingdoms loyal to the church, making business activities more prosperous, and thus providing stable taxation.

It didn't take long for the church to realize that running a bank would not only help win sectarian wars, but also enhance the church's presence in various dioceses - lofty doctrines could provide spiritual care to believers, and deposits and IOUs would enable the church to Become their most visited place.

Especially when many lords discovered that the church's bank actually helped make it easier for them to collect taxes from their subjects and merchants, they became even more inseparable from this noble and sacred place.

The first person to be granted this privilege was the Hantu Cathedral of Hantu, which was already torn apart at that time. It was also the Hantu Cathedral in the diocese where the Seven Cities Alliance is now located, and it was specially chosen to be located in the port of Carindia, where trade was the most developed.

At the same time, the church's earliest mint was opened here, the first batch of "church coins" were produced, and the earliest exchange system between gold, silver and copper was established.

After the merger of the Ivory Sect, improvements were completed using the technology left by Saint Isaac; the exquisite "church coins" flowed to the entire continent with the reunification of the Order World Faith; and relying on large and small churches all over the world, It became the common currency of various countries.

Probably because he didn't want to kneel down and surrender in person, he walked into the church. Only the local archbishop was waiting in front of the main altar, and presented Anson with the city gate key that represented the surrender of Carindia Port.

Of course, this is just a formality. The city gate of Carindia has long had nothing to do with the "keyhole", so the key itself is also a symbol.

The key to the Port of Carindia is not only a piece of pure gold weighing ten kilograms, but also has very exquisite carving patterns on it, which are probably the legends and historical stories of the city's founding; the key teeth are even inlaid with six Gemstones of different colors serve as decoration, placed on a piece of soft red velvet inside a wooden pallet.

Even a person like Anson who doesn't understand art knows that the value of this thing is absolutely extraordinary.

In addition, as a welcome gift for Ansem's first visit as a guest, the Carindia Council also prepared a large number of exquisite and historical oil paintings and sculptures - obviously, Ansem was searching for luxury goods in the eastern part of the land. The matter has already reached the ears of the nobles of Carindia Port.

Archbishop Hantu, who was chosen by the Carindia nobles as a representative to welcome Anson and his party, was a very gentle, chubby, bald elder who was easy to talk to. After discussing with the little secretary, he readily agreed to do this. Stormtroopers offer any help they can.

Of course, the condition is that the storm division must ensure the safety of the Hantu Cathedral and prevent the war from affecting this peaceful port city; this was basically expected by Anson, and he happily agreed. By the way, he expressed his feelings for the archbishop and the Lord Luther Franz is clearly a "colleague", but he is almost completely two completely different entities.

After the final city key handover ceremony, the eloquent Archbishop Hantu enthusiastically stated that Carindia has prepared a grand dinner for you all to express his most sincere gratitude to the brave and kind-hearted Clovis people.

Of course Anson would not refuse this invitation.

"Welcome ceremony, golden keys, oil paintings and sculptures, plus a dinner..."

When the archbishop left, Anson suddenly laughed at Fabian behind him in the empty church:

"So, the Carinthians are going to use these things to get rid of us?"

"To be precise, I sent you away with these." Fabian said calmly:

"According to the information I have learned, Carindia was indeed planning to hand over one-fifth of this year's tax revenue, which is 800,000 gold coins, to you as protection... compensation."

Anson nodded slightly and motioned for him to continue: "But?"

"But... because of the sudden rebellion of the ocean-going fleet, Carindia suffered huge losses - especially those families mainly engaged in maritime trade." Fabian glanced at several oil paintings next to the main altar:

"In order to make up for this loss, Carindia had to allocate funds to rebuild the fleet; therefore, the cash in the treasury suddenly bottomed out - to put it more bluntly, they are now unwilling to pay the money."

"And those paintings and sculptures are compensation for you."

"Really?" Anson raised his eyebrows:

"Then what do you think I should do?"

"I think... the '1.8 million' you proposed is a very appropriate number." Fabian suddenly smiled:

"To deal with people who don't know what is good and who are trying to get by, cruel reality is always the best way to educate them."