I will be crowned king

Ten days later in the morning, Anson woke up at 6:30 on time and sat by the fireplace in the living room, enjoying steaming black coffee, hard-boiled eggs and grilled sausages while looking leisurely at the snowy scene outside the window.

Next to the dining table was a copy of the "Good People of Beluga Harbor" that had just been printed and still smelled of ink. Because asking some questions that might endanger her life, Thalia took this newspaper very seriously. At first, it was just The thin page of the newspaper now has four pages.

The front page is about recent major news - there has been quite a lot of such news recently - the second page is about various missing persons and property notices, including wanted orders issued by the Stormtroopers and the League of Trustees, and the third and fourth pages are all kinds of vulgar jokes. and additional illustrations for cheesy novels.

Although it is still rough, due to the lack of paper sources and expensive ink, as well as the lack of qualified editors and writers, there is still a considerable gap between it and a "newspaper" in the true sense.

Overall, it is barely close to the level of "Clovis Truth" - but it is already the most important spiritual consumption from top to bottom in Beluga, a port city of over 40,000 people.

The members of the White Whale Harbor Council and various forces regarded it as a source of intelligence and the mouthpiece of Anson Bach. The tavern was always in short supply of vulgar jokes and third-rate stories. In just one month, this small but only newspaper , has become an indispensable presence in Beluga Port.

But neither Anson nor Thalia were satisfied with this result. What they really wanted was for this newspaper to cover the entire Ice Dragon Fjord and eventually spread throughout the New World.

How can it only control the public opinion in the Clovis colony? A good newspaper should be able to control the public opinion of friendly and enemy countries at the same time, using this super loudspeaker to influence everyone's words and deeds.

Of course, it is not realistic to achieve this at present, but it doesn’t matter. The influence of public opinion is growing at an alarming rate, and once it starts, it is difficult to stop. Forcible suppression by external forces will only produce a reaction like “hunger marketing”. Effect.

According to the intelligence collected by the Storm Division, although the newspaper is currently only published in Beluga Port, it has actually begun to appear sporadically in surrounding farms and towns. The Storm Division arrived at Beluga Port, established a legion farm, overhauled infrastructure and formed a trustworthy organization. News of the Alliance's declaration of war on the infidels spread far and wide.

With these as a foundation, it will definitely be much easier when you really start to get involved in the entire Ice Dragon Fjord.

Opening the newspaper, the headline on the front page is the news about the unveiling ceremony of the statue of "Speaker Harold".

The date was specifically chosen today, in addition to the secondary reason that the statue happened to be completed, and more importantly, it may be one of the few days in the year when all members of the Beluga Harbor Council can gather together.

Every year at the end of February and early March, the Royal Bank, representing the Osteria royal family, sends a fleet to Beluga Port to purchase goods: leather, ore, fuel, seafood...

Because the purchase volume is quite large, the price given is also very low, and there is a certain demand for exclusive sales. The colonies are strictly prohibited from selling these goods without permission, so this time of year is called "Tax Day".

According to local needs, the annual taxation intensity varies from light to heavy, but in general it always hovers between one-fifth and one-quarter, which is still acceptable, not to mention that it is purchased at a low price rather than forcibly collected.

Of course, as a beluga port, Beluga Port did not gain any benefits: as a taxing place, Beluga Port was given the privilege of a trade monopoly. In addition to the goods leaving the port from here, any smuggled New World merchant ships were discovered, Both the commercial port and the ship had the right to sink it and take ownership of the cargo.

With the war between the Empire and Clovis, the scope of application of this law also directly covers all merchant ships flying the imperial flag; ships of the two countries sank each other on rough seas, and even issued bounties for hiring pirates. In the past year, this has Commonly seen.

In addition, policies such as keeping customs open to the colonies (free trade), "zero" taxation (too costly), and free movement of population (cannot be controlled anyway) also provided rapid development and stable prosperity for the colonies. The convenience allowed Beluga Harbor to maintain its absolute loyalty to the royal family in pain and happiness.

In order to cope with the royal family's acquisition work, the Beluga Port Council must gather together at this time of year to fill up all the warehouses in the city, including the port, and wait for the other party to make a bid and accept acceptance.

They will not be allowed to leave until the entire acquisition is completed; if any problems arise during this period, the person in charge of the acquisition can directly issue punishment orders on behalf of the royal family. The means are entirely up to the person in charge - from making the other party pay compensation to going bankrupt to killing the whole family, everything is possible.

Winning over the White Whale Port Council to ensure the local "taxation" goes smoothly, and at the same time establishing a good relationship with the person in charge of taxation to ensure the success of the Luen family's power expansion plan in the next step is Anson's most important task at the moment.

Just as he was leisurely enjoying the morning, Alan Dawn, a young clerk wearing a formal suit and holding a package of documents, appeared outside the door with a formulaic smile on his lips.

Anson, who understood deeply, took the last sip of coffee and wiped his mouth with a napkin: "Is it time?"

"Yes, Lord Anson." The little clerk took off the hat on his head and said respectfully: "It's time."

"Miss Thalia is already waiting in the carriage, ready to go with you; Chief of Staff Carl Bain has already gone ahead to arrange the scene; Lieutenant Colonel Fabian will meet with the officer corps and the naval officers will arrive later. Delaying the normal process of the ceremony."

"So I think if nothing else happens, you should be ready to leave."

"Okay, let's go."

Anson nodded slightly, stood up and straightened his clothes, and then suddenly remembered something: "By the way, what about Lisa?"

The little clerk suddenly stopped laughing.

After a while, Anson realized that the other party still hadn't answered and turned around subconsciously, only to find that the other party was looking at him with an innocent expression on his face.

So he immediately understood everything:

"Is she still refusing to admit her mistake?"

The scared little clerk looked at Anson, nodded slightly with subtle movements, and then quickly shook his head.

"What do you mean?" Anson raised his eyebrows.

"Miss Lisa's views on this may be slightly different from your thoughts." The little secretary tried to make his tone gentler:

"In summary, she hopes to use this tough method to express the intolerable behavior you have imposed on her recently. If such behavior becomes long-term, it will inevitably cause a crisis of trust and break all the good traditions in the past. Ultimately, it destroys the necessary prerequisite for information exchange between the two parties. Therefore, after full consideration and comprehensive analysis, we are determined to confront you with a firm stance that will never compromise..."

Before he could finish speaking, Anson raised his hand and interrupted:

"Keep it short."

"She said she wanted a cake, and she said you promised her that as long as she doesn't give her a cake, she won't admit her mistake and won't go out with you."

Alan Dawn finished speaking in one breath, then took a pitiful step back, staring with a pair of innocent eyes.

Looking at the little clerk with "It has nothing to do with me" written all over his face, Anson sighed:

"Tell her that as long as she apologizes and comes with me to the unveiling, there will be a cake - at the banquet after the unveiling."

"Uh..." The little secretary was stunned for a moment, then mustered up the courage to say:

"But we didn't order a cake for the dinner."

"Then let the guys from the White Whale Port Council prepare one immediately." Anson rolled his eyes:

"If they don't want to see the parliament blown up like the big warehouse."

……………………

Beluga City Center, Parliament Square.

Every year from March to October, this square facing the gate of the Beluga Port Parliament is the busiest market in the entire city besides the port. Businessmen from Ice Dragon Fjord and various colonies will gather here to purchase their own products. necessities, as well as locally sourced fine manufactured goods and luxury goods.

The lively and bustling market will also attract other industries to join in, especially the sailors who stay temporarily due to the prosperous maritime trade. This will greatly stimulate the service industry of the entire Beluga Port and make this not spacious city extremely crowded. ——In the two most prosperous months, the entire city will have a population of nearly 100,000, generating four to five times more tax revenue than usual.

At present, due to the large warehouse incident in the North Square District, this open space has been temporarily transformed into a shantytown for displaced residents. They are managed by the Second Infantry Regiment. As far as the eye can see, there are all low shacks for homeless people.

As for the North Square, which was blown to pieces by naval guns, Thalia had bought it at a low price and turned it into a large construction site. She recruited workers in the shanty town by providing food and accommodation to build a factory for the Luen family.

The members of the White Whale Harbor Council dared not speak out about the situation outside their base camp with homeless people. However, Bishop Ripper and his priests welcomed this and began to spread the ecumenical faith in the shanty towns and win over them. The homeless people who were originally controlled by gangs and mercenary groups joined the League of Promise Keepers.

Relying on the influence of Bishop Riper and the tacit approval of the Stormtroopers, the League of Promises swelled rapidly, and as its number increased, it became more extreme and fanatical. The violence against the indigenous people and various commotions continued unabated.

But Anson doesn't care much about this. Anyway, his goal of uniting the colonies has been achieved; as long as he firmly controls the "religious group" of the Faith Keepers League and the public opinion control of "The Good People of Beluga Harbor", he can control the entire Beluga Harbor. , and then control the entire Ice Dragon Fjord colony.

At that time, whoever dares to jump out and defy the garrison, the statue of Speaker Harold will definitely not mind having another companion next to him.

The unveiling ceremony of the statue was arranged in the shanty town, which is in the center of the square. The Storm Division soldiers temporarily moved the homeless people to the construction site of the North Square two days in advance.

In order to bribe and win over the people, the construction site gave the employed migrant workers a full day off, and even paid them their salaries as usual and invited them to attend the unveiling ceremony; Bishop Riper also mobilized the Promise Keepers League , organized a large number of believers to watch together.

As the "organizer", the 500 members of the Beluga Harbor Council were sitting in the front row. They couldn't help but swallow their saliva when looking at the dark crowd behind them, and they were so scared that they didn't even dare to take a breath.

After experiencing the parliamentary reform and the events of the Faithless Knights, the poor immigrants and homeless people who used to be cowed and hunched over these powerful MPs have dared to ignore them and talk casually, and laugh without any scruples. Laughed.

The entire ceremony was very lively, and it was completely different from the scene when the storm division just arrived at Beluga Harbor.

Among the crowd, Ian Clemens, who had specially changed his attire, stood very close to the podium, looking thoughtfully at the statue covered by the canvas.

"Have you really decided?" Carno, wearing a hood, quietly appeared behind him and whispered in a suppressed voice:

"Being so arrogant may cause dissatisfaction among others."

"The problem is that we have no time." Ian's face darkened and he whispered:

"The indigenous pagans occupying Beluga Port have decided to take action... Since the family behind Anson Bach is likely to be 'that' existence, then he is our only hope!"

Carno's expression remained unchanged: "Do you really think so?"

"Only 50% sure at most - and there is no guarantee that the other party still has no sincerity in cooperation and just intends to take advantage of us." Ian said with a bitter smile:

"But even so, having hope is much better than continuing to run for your life and avoid being chased."

Karno did not continue to ask, and turned his gaze to the front - Anson Bach, who was surrounded by officers, took Thalia August Rune's hand and walked side by side to the podium.

Behind them were Mason Wetzler who was following suit, Harold's widow who was fearful, and Lisa Bach who had a small face and looked angry for some reason.

"Do you really think he can agree to cooperate with us?" Karl whispered:

"Let a promising military officer betray his country and become an enemy of the royal family to which he is loyal?"

"He will." Ian Clemens' tone was extremely confident:

"A leader with military power, a deeply hidden Old God sect, a true colonial governor - the only thing that can stop his ambition is opportunity."

"And we can give him that opportunity."

At the same time as the words fell, Anson Bach, Miss Talia, Harold's widow and youngest son on the podium together pulled apart the rope tied to the statue, and the white canvas slowly slid down, revealing a green statue. Gray statue of Harold.

On the statue, Speaker Harold holds his head high, holding a torch in his right hand and raising it high above his head, leading the people of Beluga Harbor; his left hand is open and pressed tightly to his chest, offering loyalty to the royal family; a sharp dagger pierces the back of his hand, severing his palm and heart. The connection symbolizes that even a cruel criminal cannot stop the sincerity in his heart.

The moment the statue was revealed, the scene was completely boiling - hundreds of spectators, rich and poor, began to applaud excitedly, cheering to tears for the first hero of Beluga Harbor.