I Will Be The Crowned King

Vol 4 Chapter 78: unveiling ceremony

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

Next to the dining table is a copy of the "Beautiful People of Moby Dick" that has just been printed and smells of ink - because of some questions that may endanger her life, Talia attaches great importance to this newspaper. The thin one-page newspaper now has four pages.

The front page is the latest big news - it's been pretty dense these days - the second page is all kinds of missing people notices, including the wanted notices issued by the Stormtrooper and the Faithful Alliance, and the third and fourth pages are all kinds of vulgar jokes and additional illustrations for unpopular novels.

Although it is still rough, due to the lack of paper sources and expensive ink, coupled with the lack of qualified editors and writers, there is still a considerable gap between it and the real "newspaper".

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

Members of the Beluga Harbor Council and various forces use it as an intelligence source and Anson Bach's mouthpiece, and the pub is forever in short supply for vulgar jokes and third-rate stories - in just one month, this small but only newspaper , it has become an indispensable existence in Beluga Harbor.

But neither Anson nor Talia are satisfied with this result. What they really hope is for this newspaper to cover the entire Ice Dragon Fjord and eventually spread throughout the New World.

Just manipulating the public opinion of the Clovis Colony, a good newspaper should be able to control the public opinion of friendly and enemy countries at the same time, and use this super loudspeaker to influence everyone's words and deeds.

Of course, it is unrealistic to want to do this at the moment, but it doesn’t matter, the growth rate of public opinion influence is very amazing, and once it starts, it is difficult to stop. Forcibly curbing it will only produce a reaction like “starvation marketing”. Effect.

According to the information collected by the storm division, although the newspaper is still only published in Beluga Port, it has actually begun to appear sporadically in the surrounding farms and towns. The news of the Allies' declaration of war on the infidels spread everywhere.

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

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

The date was specially selected today, in addition to the secondary reason that the statue was just finished, more importantly, it may be one of the few days each year when the Beluga Harbor Council can gather all the members.

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

Because the purchase volume is quite large, the price given is also very low and there is a certain degree of monopoly demand, it is strictly forbidden for the colonies to sell these commodities without permission, so this time of year is called "tax day".

According to the local demand, the annual taxation intensity varies from light to heavy, but generally it hovers between one-fifth and one-fourth, which is still acceptable, not to mention low-priced acquisitions rather than forced collections.

Of course, as a port of Beluga, which has been cut with leeks, it is not good or not: as a taxing place, the port of Beluga has been given the privilege of a trade monopoly. Except for the goods leaving the port, once any smuggled New World merchant ships are discovered, Either the port or the ship has 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 flag of the Empire; the ships of the two countries sank each other in rough seas, and even issued a reward for hiring pirates. Not uncommon.

In addition, the mainland kept the customs open to the colonies (free trade), "zero" taxation (too expensive), and free movement of the population (which could not be controlled anyway) and other policies, also provided the colonies with rapid development and stable prosperity. The convenience allows Beluga Port to maintain absolute loyalty to the royal family in pain and happiness.

In order to deal with the acquisition of the royal family, the Beluga Port Council must gather at this time every year to fill up all the warehouses in the city, including the port, and wait for the other party's offer and acceptance.

They will not be allowed to leave until the entire acquisition is completed; if there is any problem during the period, the person in charge of the acquisition can directly issue punishment orders on behalf of the royal family.

Attracting the Beluga Harbor Council to ensure the smooth local "tax collection", 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 strength expansion plan in the next step is the most important task for Anson at present.

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

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

"Yes, Mr. Ansen." The little secretary took off the top hat on his head and said respectfully, "It's time."

"Miss Talia is already waiting in the carriage, ready to go with you; Chief of Staff Carl Bain has already taken the lead to set up the scene; Lieutenant Colonel Fabien and the officers' corps and naval officers will arrive later, never Delay the normal flow of the ceremony."

"So I think if there are no other accidents, you should be ready to leave."

"Okay, let's go."

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

The little secretary suddenly stopped laughing.

After a while, An Sen, who noticed that the other party hadn't answered, turned his head subconsciously and found that the other party was pursing the corners of his mouth tightly, looking at him innocently.

Then he immediately understood everything:

"Is she still not willing to admit her mistake?"

The frightened little secretary looked at An Sen, nodded lightly with a slight gesture, and then quickly shook his head.

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

"Miss Lisa, her views on this may be slightly different from yours..." The little clerk tried to make his tone softer:

"In a nutshell, she hopes to express the unbearable behavior you have inflicted on her recently through this tough way. If such behavior is turned into a long-term state, it will inevitably cause a crisis of confidence and break all good traditions in the past. Ultimately destroying the necessary premise for the exchange of information between the two sides, so after thorough consideration and comprehensive analysis, we are determined to confront you with an uncompromising stance..."

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

"Be brief."

"She said she wanted cake, and she said you promised her that as long as she didn't give it, she wouldn't admit her fault, and she wouldn't go out with you."

Alan Dawn finished speaking in one breath, then took a half step back pitifully, staring at a pair of innocent eyes.

Looking at the little secretary whose face was full of "I have nothing to do with me", Anson suddenly sighed:

"You tell her that as long as you're willing to apologize and go to the unveiling with me, the cake will be there—at the banquet after the unveiling."

"Uh..." The little secretary was stunned for a moment, then he mustered his courage and said:

"But there is no cake reserved for the dinner party."

"Then let the guys at the Beluga Harbor Council prepare one, immediately." Anson rolled his eyes:

"If they don't want to watch the parliament blow up like a warehouse."

………………

Downtown Beluga Harbour, Parliament Square.

From March to October every year, this square facing the Beluga Harbor Parliament gate is the most prosperous market in the city except for the port. Merchants from Ice Dragon Fjord and various colonies will gather here to purchase their own products. Essentials, as well as home-grown finished goods and luxuries.

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

Right now, because of the large warehouse incident in the North Square District, this open space has been temporarily transformed into a shanty town for displaced residents. The Second Infantry Regiment will manage them in a unified manner. As far as the eye can see, they are full of low-rise shacks for homeless people.

As for the North Square, which was blown up by naval guns, it was bought by Talia at a low price and turned into a large construction site. She recruited workers in the shanty towns by providing food and lodging to build a factory for the Rune family.

The members of the Beluga Harbor Council dared not speak out against the situation of homeless people outside their base camp; on the contrary, Bishop Ripper and his priests welcomed it very much, and began to spread the ecumenical belief in the shantytowns, attracting The homeless who were originally controlled by gangsters and mercenary groups joined the Faithful Alliance.

Relying on Bishop Ripper's own influence and the tacit approval of the Storm Division, the Faithful Alliance expanded rapidly, and with the increase in the number of people, there was a tendency to further extreme fanaticism, and the violence and various disturbances against the indigenous people continued to increase.

But Anson doesn't care much about this. Anyway, his purpose of uniting the colonies has been achieved; as long as he firmly controls the "religious group" of the Faithful Alliance and the public opinion control of the "Beautiful People of Beluga", he can control the entire Port of Beluga. , and then control the entire Ice Dragon Fjord colony.

At that time, who would dare to jump out and fight against the garrison, the statue of Speaker Harold would definitely not mind having another companion next to him.

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

Out of bribes—the idea of ​​winning the hearts and minds of the people, the construction site specially gave the employed migrant workers a day off, and even paid salaries as usual to invite them to the unveiling ceremony; Bishop Ripper also mobilized the Faithful Alliance. , organized a large number of believers to watch together.

As the "host", the five hundred members of the Beluga Harbor Council sat in the front row, watching the dark crowd behind them swallowing their saliva, trembling and not even daring to take a breath.

After going through the parliamentary reform and the Unbelievable Knights incident, the poor immigrants and homeless people who used to shy away from these powerful and powerful parliamentarians, hunched over their backs, have dared to ignore them and talk casually on the side, without any scruples. Laughed.

The whole ceremony scene was very lively, which was completely different from the scene when the storm division had just arrived at Beluga Harbor.

In the crowd, Ian Clemens, who had specially changed his clothes, was standing very close to the podium, looking thoughtfully at the statue covered by the canvas.

"Have you really made up your mind?" Karno, who was wearing a hood, quietly appeared behind him, suppressing his voice and whispering:

"To make such an assertion is likely to arouse dissatisfaction from other people."

"The problem is we've run out of time." Ian's face sank and he said in a low voice:

"The indigenous pagans entrenched in Beluga Harbor have decided to do it... Since the family behind Anson Bach is likely to be 'that', then he is our only hope!"

Karno didn't change his face: "Do you really think so?"

"There is only a 50% certainty at most - and there is no guarantee that the other party still has no sincerity in cooperation, but is just planning to use us." Ian smiled bitterly:

"But even so, having hope is much better than continuing to run for your life and evading pursuit."

Carneau did not continue to question, and turned his eyes to the front - Ansen Bach, surrounded by officers, took Talia August Rune's hand and walked to the podium side by side.

Behind the two are Mason Weizler, who is following suit, Harold's widow~www.wuxiaspot.com~, who is trembling, and Lisa Bach, who has a small face and looks **** off for some reason.

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

"Let a promising officer betray his country and become an enemy of his loyal royal family?"

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

"A leader who holds military power, a deeply hidden old god, a true colonial governor-the only thing that can stop his ambitions is chance."

"And we can give him this chance."

At the same time as the voice fell, Anson Bach, Miss Talia, Harold's widow and young son on the podium pulled off the rope tied to the statue, and the white canvas slowly slipped, revealing a blue statue. Grey statue of Harold.

On the statue, Speaker Harold held his head high, holding the torch in his right hand and holding the torch above his head, leading the people of Beluga Harbor; his left hand opened and pressed his chest tightly, offering loyalty to the royal family; a sharp dagger pierced the back of his hand, piercing his palm and heart Connected, symbolizing that even a cruel criminal cannot stop the sincerity in his heart.

At the moment when the statue was revealed, the scene was completely boiling—hundreds of thousands of spectators, rich and poor, all began to applaud excitedly, cheering for the first hero of Beluga Port.

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