Mountain and Forest Kingdom

At around ten o'clock the next morning, Lawrence summoned the southern businessman Du Lu.

I got to know Heidi’s team through a conversation last night, and there was also Sofia’s affairs. When I got busy, I subconsciously ignored Du Lu’s affairs.

Fortunately, today is different from the past. Businessmen will not leave in anger just because of a day of waiting.

Sincerity and enthusiasm are often not as reliable as strength.

Lawrence sat in the office and looked at the design report sent by Heidi, as well as the materials and time used to make the steam boiler.

After a while, Dulu and his entourage came to the door.

"Sincere greetings to you, great prophet!"

Du Lu bowed and saluted. Because he was meeting a big shot, he always had to say something when he first met, and he couldn't just talk perfunctorily.

Most people don't know how to start speaking, so they gradually converge to imitate the etiquette and conversation of local people or people they think are powerful.

Lawrence sat behind his desk, holding a paper report in one hand and a quill in the other, calculating something.

"Nice to see you again, Dulu." Lawrence raised his head, as if we had just met yesterday, and said naturally: "There are chairs over there, sit down and talk, what goods did you bring this time?"

Du Lu was pointed by the office guard to the row of chairs against the wall.

This time Du Lu understood what it meant and quickly thanked him: "Yes, thank you, kind prophet."

Compared with his attitude when he arrived a few years ago, Dulu, who is now much more developed than before, has become more polite and polite, and he has not become arrogant just because he has a little money and thugs.

Lawrence asked casually: "Is this going smoothly?"

Hearing this question, Du Lu's heart tightened, and he blurted out without thinking: "When we arrived at Pig Trotter City, our goods were interrogated for several days. No matter what I said, those people refused to let them go and even detained them. In the end, I had to bribe the local nobles to successfully protect our goods and pass through Pig Trotter City."

"If I had known that Pig Trotter City was so difficult to get to from the beginning, I wouldn't have taken that road."

Du Lu talked about regrets, because he felt that Pig Trotter City and Lawrence were both the same barbarian kingdoms, so he subconsciously used his views from a few years ago.

In fact, Dulu himself is a businessman from the Luofen Kingdom, and he is from Pig Trotter City like Lawrence. However, after leaving his hometown to seek a life in the south, he somehow felt that things would get better in his hometown.

Apart from a new ruler, Pig Trotter City has not changed much in other aspects, especially at the bottom level.

After saying the words, Du Lu obviously felt a little quiet, and immediately regretted even more. He might have said the wrong thing.

While Du Lu was feeling uneasy, Lawrence who was sitting there was surprisingly calm.

Lawrence put down the paper in his hand, still holding the useless quill in one hand, frowning and thinking about something.

He didn't look at Du Lu, he frowned and just squinted his eyes, not wanting to see anything eye-catching that would affect his thinking.

When people are thinking, the ability of their eyes to capture things will be significantly weakened, and they will also be freed from the blindness of some things.

"This is my problem." Lawrence raised his head and looked at Dulu, and said to Dulu with a calm face: "Pig's Trotter City is not under my jurisdiction. Pig's Trotter City and I are allies who do not interfere with each other."

Lawrence pointed out: "I will discuss the issue of merchants with the Duke and come up with laws that can restrain my men."

Lawrence said: "It is impossible for merchants to pass through the territory and do business without paying taxes, but I will set accurate standards. As long as you pay this fee, there will be no messy fees. I don't want you to bribe anyone. I will let you The money you pay solves all the problems.”

Dulu breathed a sigh of relief all over his body, and said gratefully to Lawrence: "Yes, Your Majesty the Merciful Prophet, I hope that day will come soon."

Lawrence made a note of the business tax issue, and soon talked about the changes in several outside countries, as well as the changes in Pig Trotter City.

Du Lu lowered his guard and said easily: "Pig's Trotter City doesn't like us going there at all. The slaves there are very cheap and cannot be sold for a good price, but they are not willing to sell them to us."

Lawrence thought it was normal. Not everyone was qualified to buy slaves. Some noble merchants would rather starve and kill lowly slaves than sell them to foreigners.

The nobles of this era actually didn't like merchants, and they didn't like farmers in their territories to become merchants.

In addition to businessmen, there is also the problem of population gradually becoming a problem.

A large number of outsiders are rushing into the frozen land like they are fleeing. Lawrence must now prevent outsiders from coming in instead of continuing to pull people in from the outside.

This kind of thing has been foreshadowed for a long time. Lawrence has been depopulating Pumexiu Town and Oak City a few years ago. The early manor camps have been optimized and are no longer places where people can just go and work.

Even if some people stay at the manor, they will be quickly divided into various places to prevent excessive population from causing problems.

In the past, many captive slaves were taken in because of the war. Later, some of these people were divided into Wakili and Nanzhen. Because most of them were in the army and land teams, they were digested very smoothly.

It is now relatively peaceful, and because of the rich land and the legends of merchants and soldiers who have come and gone over the years, more and more people have a place of hope in their hearts.

The serfs who escaped from various noble territories dragged their families and swarmed towards this direction like locusts, destroying crops and land along the way. They often did some sneaky things when they met others, thinking that no matter what they had committed before Things, as long as you reach the land of ice, you can wash away all your sins.

This kind of subaltern refugee is extremely destructive and uncontrollable.

As long as someone shouts a slogan to take them to the God-given land, hundreds or even thousands of people can easily gather, and anyone who blocks the road will be killed by this group of people as enemies.

To some extent, the refugees in the West are more terrifying than the barbarian pirates ten years ago.

The pirates' goal is to rob, and these refugees already have a goal!

Countries were also very ruthless in dealing with these defecting serfs, and some were killed directly.

But killing cannot stop some people from yearning for a better life. According to various rumors, whether they are slaves or robbers and pirates, as long as they reach the land given by God, they can be saved and live a good life of honey and milk.

The rapid increase in population in recent years, as well as the collapse of several military powers, as well as the siege of wizards by the people, have led to the decline of the nobility's binding force. At the same time, the peasants who are mobile and have no money quickly turned into gangsters, causing serious public security problems.

After learning about some real-life problems from Du Lu, an outside businessman friend, Lawrence thought about the issues of trade routes and public security.

The safest way to solve the immigration problem is for countries to tighten restrictions and at the same time raise the acceptance threshold on our own side.

It is impossible to accept without limit that population is indeed wealth, but too much population will cause a series of problems.

It was acceptable before. That was in the past. In the past, everyone was poor and worried about invasion from outside. Of course, more people were welcome to come and fight together.

Nowadays, there is a growing gap between city and country people. At this time, welcoming people from all over the world without any protection will only lead to cruel and large-scale bloody fights.

In recent years, the Kingdom of Stars has also accepted nobles, craftsmen and scholars from various countries. Except for captives and soldiers with disabilities in combat, the rest are not accepted regardless of illness or congenital disability.

Lawrence quickly decided to discuss with the nobles of various countries to build churches of the Church of the Stars in various countries, and use the churches to relieve those people who gathered and planned to escape.

With the Church of the Stars having churches in major cities in various countries and regular visits to the countryside, capable people will have channels for advancement, and people with ideas but incompetence will not be coerced into doing things together.

At the same time, it can also solve the problem of deception and maintain the unity within the Star Alliance.

After the surrounding kingdoms stabilized, both the war on the front line and the internal production problems were solved.

The food output in the Ice Land is very small, and most of the food must be supplemented by several outside countries.

If a country wants long-term stability, it needs its own people. Instead of accepting the hundreds of thousands of poor refugees from outside, Lawrence prefers to wait for his children, who have been waiting for ten years, to grow up and develop step by step.

There is no shortage of people in Lawrence now, and those people outside are not here to endure hardship. Who knows what those people want in their minds, and whether they will be like Heidi after they arrive, treating this place as their home, and spending all day in it. The country doesn't even think about it, they just think about getting the upper hand within themselves.

Because of the difference in thinking, Lawrence always thought that Heidi's target was Salil's position, but did not realize that Heidi's target was Sophia.

Dulou talked to Lawrence for an hour or two, and soon realized his problem.

The businessman said happily: "I'm just here to tell you about my difficulties. In fact, I have expanded my business a lot over the years. This time, our southern chamber of commerce is willing to provide you with a donation. I hope you can get it in the future." of asylum.”

Lawrence asked curiously: "Chamber of Commerce, is it your Chamber of Commerce?"

"Thank you for your respect, but I don't have that kind of ability." Dulu just made a fortune and became a businessman, but he had no ability to gain recognition from other local businessmen and nobles.

Du Lu replied: "Our current chamber of commerce is called Baiyang Chamber of Commerce, which means the sun during the day. Our chamber of commerce will only do business during the day."

"There are many big businessmen from the Southern Kingdom in this chamber of commerce, as well as several businessmen who have done business with the Ancient Whisperer family in the past and are acquainted with Lord Jade."

Lawrence nodded, his eyes becoming dangerous, "Is that so, that means the nobles and businessmen in the south talk to me through you and want to negotiate with me?"

Dulu hurriedly said: "That's not the case. We hope to get your blessing and become a business partner with you, or we can pay you in exchange for your protection and acquiescence on several trade routes."

"Sounds like it's going to be troublesome." Lawrence lowered his head and continued to look at the things on the table, showing little interest in cooperating with southern businessmen.

Although those people paid money in the hope of cooperation, it was still troublesome for Lawrence.

The main problem was not profit, but Lawrence simply didn't want to interfere.

The occupation of the southern land was not a matter of urgency. Lawrence had not planned it well at all, and the Kingdom of Stars did not have the extra power to control more land.

Lawrence believes that the area in his own backyard has not been figured out, and there is no need to go outside to eat more land.

Seeing that Lawrence's attitude was not good, Du Lu stood up carefully and said, "We all think that the Church of the Stars is more benevolent than the Church of the Holy Light."

"That's right." Lawrence smiled and said, "The premise is that you abide by the law and don't do anything to provoke me."

Du Lu hurriedly said: "Of course not, we definitely won't do that."

Lawrence didn't believe what the businessman said. This behavior had nothing to do with a particular businessman, but was inevitable as a group of businessmen.

The merchants outside are not the merchants of later generations, nor are they the smuggling merchants that most people imagine.

There has been no great voyage of discovery in this world, nor has there been a Renaissance.

There was no literature and art yet, so naturally there was no revival.

During this period, all countries had a repressive attitude toward businessmen. They focused on agriculture and suppressed business, regardless of east and west. This was the best choice for the land-based population.

There is no need for any modification. Before Lawrence, most businessmen were just a group of people kneeling down begging for food. There were many people who could cure these people.

Lawrence has not only supported a group of merchants in his own territory over the years, but also driven away the nobles who were oppressing some merchants because of foreign wars.

During the battle with Pig Trotter City, many southern nobles were killed. During the religious war, the Holy Light Church purged several southern countries and also killed many big nobles.

The recovery speed of the population of these nobles is extremely slow. Due to the distinction of blood, the system itself is unwilling to replenish new blood, or is unable to replenish new blood.

Especially for a church that uses magic (witchcraft) as its system power, the death of a priest who knows magic is more serious than the death of ten knights.

The rudimentary system also resulted in the knights and soldiers below not being willing to fight hard without a transcendent leader. Therefore, many times they had too many concerns despite their strong combat effectiveness.

Lawrence was good at analyzing intelligence. Although Du Lu only talked about some of his experiences on the trip and small business matters, Lawrence had already roughly obtained some intelligence.

Traveling merchant (bandit)

Chamber of Commerce (Bandit Den)

Municipality (nobility)

Dulu does not belong to the Chamber of Commerce, but is a member of the nobility of an autonomous city, or a reserve member.

Doing business requires strength. The law and order in the south has been chaotic due to the church's misbehavior. Businessmen must have a group of subordinates or a backer to continue doing business.

In this era, there were not a large number of handicraft vendors and factories. The materials of the Chamber of Commerce (bandit den) were the same as those of traveling merchants (bandits). They paid attention to using local materials or seeing a job.

Times are different, so it is not so easy for businessmen in this era to make a fortune.

Dulu himself is not an extraordinary person. The only valuable thing is that he has visited the town of Phumexiu and was received by the prophet.

Lawrence gradually sorted out the guesses that were consistent with his own logic from the clues. Although many things in this era were illogical, they were not too different.

"You said you brought me a top-quality slave girl?" Lawrence speculated on the intentions of the forces behind Du Lu, and started talking about the gift again.

Seeing that Lawrence was finally interested in the beauty, Du Lu quickly smiled and said: "Yes, your handsome Majesty the Prophet."

"Bring it up." Lawrence ordered calmly and casually.

"Yes, great prophet!" Du Lu quickly asked his men to make arrangements.

Lawrence lowered his head and continued to read Heidi's report, while also thinking about the Southern Chamber of Commerce.

The owner behind the Chamber of Commerce must be a noble, and a powerful noble.

It is inconvenient to transmit news in this world. Calculating the time, it is almost time for those people to learn that their side has defeated the Western Church and react.

Although this incident happened a year ago, the other party's response was quick and decisive, which was already very good.

Lawrence had a general impression. As for cooperation with the other party, it depends on what the other party wants to do, whether it is troublesome or not.

If it's troublesome, forget it. Lawrence is not afraid of trouble, but he doesn't want to cause trouble either.

After more than ten minutes, Dulu brought five beauties.

The five beauties are all wearing beautiful dresses, exquisite necklaces and earrings, and there are obvious traces of makeup on their eyes and faces.

Pure, charming, sexy, mature and stable, beautiful beauties with five different styles.

Lawrence lost interest after just one glance. The women around him were actually already a very outstanding group.

Especially after conquering various countries in recent years, it is not that they have not sent beauties as gifts. The Saintess Academy and the monastery alone have gathered outstanding beauties selected from millions of people.

Lawrence lowered his evaluation of the Baiyang Chamber of Commerce based on the quality of the beauties presented by the chamber of commerce.

There is no background, no strength, the territory will not be too big, and there are not many extraordinary people.

"What kind of protection does the Baiyang Chamber of Commerce want? I will not send troops to the south to protect them, nor will I allow them to set up trading points at will on my territory and run businesses that I don't know and don't allow."

Lawrence's attitude soured.

Dulu was a little disappointed and hurriedly said: "We hope to allow some people to enter the land given by God to practice. If they can enter the monastery, we are willing to pay a gift of 200,000 copper coins!"

Lawrence frowned and said: "I am not omniscient and omnipotent, at least I don't know the currency you use there."

Dulu quickly explained: "It's the copper coins here. We have seasonings, cloth, cattle, sheep, livestock and grain, as well as ores and slaves. We can exchange more things for money."

Lawrence nodded, "Yes, although I am much stronger and richer today than I was many years ago, my heart is still like the stars in the sky, eternal."

"I always welcome people who bring goodwill."

"The monastery will give two places to the Southern Chamber of Commerce. The requirement is that they must be women and be willing to obey the laws I made."

Dulu continued: "Then can some people from our chamber of commerce be allowed to live here? We will all abide by the rules you set."

Lawrence thought for a moment and then said: "I only allow thirty people to live in South Town. Every time one exceeds one, one must leave. If one person dies, another person can come in."

Lawrence decided to set up a comprehensive population defense line. Otherwise, there would be too many foreign forces coming in, and there would be problems one day. (End of chapter)