I will be crowned king

Ice Dragon Fjord, Beluga Harbor.

Under the gloomy sky, more than a dozen merchant ships flying the flag of King Clovis slowly lowered their thick white sails and dropped heavy anchors on the calm water covered with thick fog; accompanied by the chirping of seabirds, on the deck The sailors took off their hats and cheered towards the city on the shore.

Anson, wearing a gray long-sleeved windbreaker, stood on the side of the ship, looking at the crowd of people who had gathered at the port at an unknown time, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously curled up with pride.

On October 15, 101 of the Saint's Calendar, after nearly half a year of the "New World War of Independence," the commander-in-chief of the garrison finally returned to his loyal port of Beluga.

When I first arrived last year, this port city had just gone through the last trading period of the year, and it was the most depressed time. The whole city was like a briquette stove burning in the ice and snow, dirty and broken.

It is now October, and the last round of ships from the old world is about to arrive fully loaded. The cargo ships that have just purchased a large amount of raw materials are preparing to return with joy; wine, coffee, sugar, silk, cotton, spices, glass... All kinds of good things from the New World ignited the whole city like fuel. Countless colonists who wanted to gamble and try their luck got off the ship empty-handed, and the streets and alleys were lively with endless curiosity and expectation.

If these were just annual routines, then an "independence war" injected new vitality into this port city that she had never had before.

The livestock trade between Black Reef Port and Red Hand Bay, the developed fishery economy in Long Lake Town, the brave pioneers of Winter Torch City...the boots of the army connected the originally semi-closed colonies, allowing news to flow, breaking the boundaries of geography and Trade barriers are constantly pouring into Ice Dragon Fjord.

Long before that, the colonists who moved from the surrounding areas to Beluga Harbor through the "Colony Recruitment Plan" greatly enriched the local population. In addition, the number of nearby indigenous tribes was not too many. For a time, The number of colonists actually exceeded the number of slaves and indigenous people combined.

If you want to carry a larger population, you need a more solid infrastructure, and in the New World, that is the fuel and food supply needed for heating.

Through the army camp and livestock trade, the Beluga Port Council solved the food problem; the self-built small salt drying farm also reduced the over-reliance on the salt trade of the three countries in the North Sea.

As for the reconstruction and repair of the city, it has never stopped since the arrival of the Storm Division; the establishment of the Heating Committee ended the bottomless and principled competition between coal merchants and timber merchants in the past, and coal stoves and fireplaces gradually became popular throughout Beluga. Hong Kong has become more popular.

Small steel mills, salt mills, August military factories, tanneries, cotton spinning mills, military farms... The large and small businesses run by the Rune family and the garrison headquarters have given all the colonists who have just disembarked with nothing. They want a stable life; now almost all factories are desperately trying to grab people, and the entire Beluga Port has an absolute 100% employment rate.

Of course, this really has nothing to do with the treatment - through the serial reports in "Moby Dick Port Good People" and various colonial newspaper branches, the entire Ice Dragon Fjord knew that a rebellion war was breaking out in the imperial colonies, and the imperial army was addicted to Blood is like life, kill and rob anyone you see.

In this case, except for some evil-minded or daring fanatics, most people will choose to wait and see, temporarily settling in the newly arrived Beluga Port for a while, and then consider whether to go to other colonies or join a pioneering organization. .

Soon, the news of the frontline Stormtroopers' victories and the adventurers escaping from the wilderness back to Beluga Port made the remaining people who had not set out realize what a right decision it was to stay in this city.

Ocean trade, news dissemination, industrial development, urban expansion, colonial wars, turbulent situations...all coincidental and non-coincidental factors have created today's Beluga Port.

While the New World was still being torn back and forth between the two major powers, the colonies of the Western Empire declined one by one during the war. The stars embedded in the south of Ice Dragon Fjord began to write her glory.

……………………

"On behalf of the Council of Five Hundred, the League of Promise Keepers, the trade unions and committees, and all the people of Ice Dragon Fjord, I would like to welcome the commander-in-chief of the garrison, the Honorary Speaker Anson Bach... on his triumphant return!"

Mason Wetzler, who was wearing an exquisite black woolen coat and with the Speaker's Medal hanging on his chest, stepped forward quickly. Before Anson could walk off the deck, he shouted loudly and hurriedly led two similarly dressed figures towards the "already gone" man. "Long time" figure:

"Please allow us to express our most sincere blessings and thanks with 120,000 respects to you and all the Clovis warriors who fight for the freedom of the new world and the safety of Ice Dragon Fjord!"

Probably because the pier was too slippery in winter, the overly enthusiastic current Speaker - whose predecessor was Harold - almost fell down. If the two people behind him hadn't helped him in time, he would have almost fallen directly into the cold sea water.

"No, you are so kind."

Anson smiled reservedly and held Speaker Mason's hands: "Being able to end this war so quickly, Beluga Port and even the entire Ice Dragon Fjord also made a huge contribution."

"Without your full support, the Storm Division and the Confederate Legion would never be able to drive the 10,000 Imperial Army off the Turbulent Sea in just a few months!"

"This, these are all things that should be done, should be done!"

Mason opened his mouth from ear to ear in excitement, and his whole body was trembling.

During the entire colonial war of independence, except for Long Lake Town and Red Hand Bay, all the other colonies had no decent war preparations - not to mention weapons, including the military uniforms and luggage worn by the soldiers, and the large baggage vehicles needed to transport supplies. There was no decent preparation at all.

At this time, Beluga Port shows its true strength as a port city.

With the help of Anson's five months of preparations that started at the end of the 100th year of the Apostolic Calendar, Beluga Port, which has sufficient food, can even export part of it in exchange for livestock that are crucial to the development of the city - especially pack horses that can carry transportation capacity. .

At least in the foreseeable future, it is highly unlikely that the New World will have railways, a new thing that is rare in the Old World. So horses are not only livestock and transportation, but also a means of production that can greatly improve labor efficiency. .

And because of its sufficient "foresight", Beluga Port is still continuously providing arms, salt, alcoholic beverages and cotton cloth to the Free Confederacy; in the past, to carry out this kind of trade, it was necessary to negotiate one colony after another, but now it has been replaced by the trade of the Confederacy. Representatives took the initiative to come to negotiate.

Beluga Port, which had the absolute initiative, took advantage of this to purchase large quantities of the cheapest iron ore and coal resources in the New World, and then exported them to the mainland in large quantities, achieving bilateral deficits both internally and externally, and its wealth expanded rapidly like a balloon.

If Anson initially eliminated the former Speaker Harold and took actual control of Beluga Harbor, the Council of Five Hundred headed by Mason Wetzler still had a grudge against the Commander-in-Chief, now they are completely submissive. .

Although the main profits were taken away by the Luen family and the garrison headquarters, even the part left to them was more than twice the average income over the years, and the wealth that followed was more than five times that of the past.

After a brief exchange of greetings, Mason Wetzler introduced the two "entourages" behind him: one was the new president of the Beluga Port Chamber of Commerce and parliamentary financial officer who replaced Mason; the other was the owner of the Beluga Harbor Shipyard. , who is also the joint parliamentary clerk of the committees, is responsible for coordinating relations between the various committees and recording appeal requests and proposals from each committee.

In other words, a big comprador, a local snake... Together with Mason, the speaker who came to power entirely with the support of the Storm Master, the former "Big Three" of Beluga Harbor were born in a new way.

In a sense, this is also the result that is most in line with the hopes of the Storm Division and the Luen Family. After all, a Beluga Port that is sincere and harmonious from the inside out cannot give the Luen Family, a "strong outsider", much room for maneuver.

"In order to welcome you and the brave Stormtrooper soldiers, the Council of Five Hundred has prepared a grand dinner for you to enjoy. At the same time, various factories and farms are also looking forward to your visit and guidance, and the people of Beluga Port are also looking forward to your visit. I very much hope to organize a parade to witness the glory of the triumphant army!”

Speaker Mason, who kept talking, had a smile on his lips, and his eyes never left Anson for a moment: "I wonder if you plan to go directly to the banquet, or organize a parade and speech first?"

Looking at the expressions of the three people in front of him who clearly had expectations, Anson paused and wrote lightly:

"I'm very sorry, but today I just want to see the statue of former Speaker Harold."

After the words fell, the new chamber of commerce president and shipyard owner were stunned, their eyes full of inexplicable shock; Speaker Mason, who had been smiling just now, was shocked and suddenly stood in awe:

"Beluga Harbor can be what it is today because of Speaker Harold's achievements. Without the foundation he laid and the sacrifices he made, there would be no prosperity today."

"Indeed." Anson nodded slightly, and his expression became solemn:

"If he hadn't stepped forward at the critical moment and prevented the Faithless Knights from assassinating me, the Storm Division and Beluga Port would not have been able to form an alliance with the rebellious imperial colonies in time to form today's Free Confederacy."

Speaker Mason sighed with emotion: "If Speaker Harold knew that you were able to achieve what you have achieved today and brought Beluga Port to such an unprecedented height, wouldn't you be very pleased?"

"Well, that's what I thought too..."

The two of them sang and sighed in unison, watching the two attendants turn into wooden figures on the spot, completely disbelieving that these words could come out of the mouth of Mason, who usually cursed Harold in private.

Carl Bain, who knew exactly what was going on, rolled his eyes and turned to look to the side.

"But I'm very sorry that we can't organize your visit in the near future." Mason suddenly said:

"Because the statue stands in the square in the city center and there are dense crowds of people, it is inevitable that the statue will be stained with dust; if you go there in public under such circumstances, it is likely to trigger some unfavorable public opinions."

"That's such a shame... It doesn't matter, it's okay to be a few days late."

Anson said softly indifferently. Anyway, he only used this as an excuse. He didn't really want to visit Harold's statue and tomb - he knew better than anyone else whether it was Harold who was buried there.

"So during this period, the flow of people in the center of Beluga Harbor has always been very dense. Nothing special happened?"

"What 'special circumstances' do you mean?"

"It's just rumors from several colonies in recent times." Anson said casually:

"Some mercenary groups that often circulate in various colonies and are often hired by others have attacked the information channels of the "Moby Dick Harbor Good People" newspaper in other branches, and also killed many informants who provided information to the newspaper, so I wonder if something similar happened in Beluga Harbor.”

"this……"

Mason was startled at first, then as if he suddenly realized something, his pupils shrank suddenly, and then quickly returned to normal: "As far as I know, there should be no similar situation."

"Since the Storm Division went out, except for the occasional small commotion in the city and some uneasy robbers, nothing strange has happened in Beluga Port. It has always been very peaceful."

"Of course! Maybe there are some dishonest guys who plan to do something shady in private; but I don't know about those who are the Speaker - Beluga Harbor is no longer the Beluga Harbor it was a year ago. , now it’s bigger and there are more people.”

Speaker Mason said meaningfully

"Really, that's good." Anson nodded slightly.

Since even Mason, who has cooperated with the Faithless Knights and is the Speaker, said he knew nothing about their current actions, it proves that people like Ian Clemens have indeed been very honest recently, at least not like Like the Faithless Knights in other colonies, they attacked the newspaper's intelligence network.

However, this does not mean that they are really honest enough. After all, Beluga Port is really not the Beluga Port a year ago.

A few people chatted for a while, and the officers and soldiers of the Storm Division who had been waiting impatiently finally got the order to enter the city; they lined up neatly, and under the watchful eyes of the five-hundred-person council and countless citizens who came to join in the fun, they all It drove mightily from the port into the city.

Anson did not immediately return to the military camp headquarters outside the city, but to the Luen family's mansion in the city - it was only in name at the moment, and only Talia, Anson and Lisa actually lived here for the time being. That’s all.

Walking into the empty living room, just when he came to the wine cabinet as usual, and was about to debate whether he should have a cup of rum or coffee, he found a letter lying quietly on the coffee table next to him.

A... letter stamped with the Crecy family crest.