Realm of Power

June 4th, Year 3 of the Falcon Empire Calendar, evening, drizzle

Someone stood on a small hill with his hands folded, looking at the Falcon collar in the dark night in the distance. The sky was very dark, and the drizzle fell on the fat man's helmet, and then gathered into small water droplets on the edge of the helmet and dripped onto the armor. in clothes,

The cold feeling penetrates into the skin from there. This wet feeling reminded Fatty of the early days. As the family territory of His Majesty Falcon, it was obvious that the emblem of the Falcon family was flying on the castle that had been renovated in the hazy rain and fog. Although this The family castle is no longer in use, but there are still some servants of the Dustan family living there.

Along the bottom of several castle mounds, the original village has turned into a small city of about tens of thousands of people. Neatly lined houses with spires are densely spread on the land below the castle. The lights are bright, like dots of stars. It used to be The river that Fatty cares about is reflected in the light, like a silver belt winding around the small town, with no trace of time left on it at all.

The forest land on the left has been opened up, and the logging area is on the right. At the foot of the mountain, you can still see the shadow of the commercial trading field, and some carriages covered with tarpaulins go in and out there.

The large-scale population agglomeration has made small and medium-sized cities of this model everywhere in southern Wikidia. Roads running through the entire south connect these towns that have only popped up in recent years.

It only takes three days for goods landed from the southern coast to reach Zhivadin, the center of the south, while goods from Zhivadin, departing from the southern seaport, will appear in the remote Dorok Mountains within a week. With its commercial advantages and convenient trade routes leading from north to south, even large caravans with more than thirty carriages are the most common sight on the roads in the south.

The dense towns, roads and waterways extending in all directions along the way are like spider webs covering the earth, unifying the south into a whole.

Of the 40 million people in the empire, nearly 10 million are gathered in this most prosperous area. This is the cornerstone of the empire's stable country.

As the first center for commercial activities, the southern part of Wikiia followed a series of integrations by Fatty five years ago. Rapidly entered the golden period of fastest development,

During the Samor era, a large number of immigrants entered the south. With the help of the connected water network established, silent commerce flourished in this land for the first time.

During the civil war, the mild climate and flat coastal wetlands of Rivache provided the largest granary for the Falcon Army.

The war allowed the Falcon soldiers, who were mainly from the south, to receive generous rewards in the war, and a large amount of money flowed to the south.

Soldiers on the front line rushed to send the bounty back home, and the family used the money to purchase land, produce supplies, or invest in the chamber of commerce.

Soldiers became the vane of the entire region and became the first batch of the middle class to become wealthy, and these people in the military relied on their military exploits to get rich. It also attracted more southerners to join the Falcon Army. Fatty never skimped on rewards for military merit. The outstanding and loyal professional military group became the main body of the Falcon Army.

Because he knows that the money will eventually become the foundation of the empire. The only difference is whether the money is spent by himself or by the soldiers. Only when the interests are unified can these brave soldiers be related to their own destiny. tied together

As the Falcon Army achieved successive victories on the front, a large amount of money flowed into southern Wikiia, pouring into the paddy fields like a river, which greatly promoted the prosperity of southern commerce, and commerce led to the large-scale expansion of the entire region.

The influence of the south comes from both military and commercial aspects. In just a few years, an invisible business empire has revealed a jaw-dropping influence. The opening of the southern sea route has finally established the southern part of the continent in one fell swoop. The dominant position of the economic center,

The entire south is the beating heart of the empire, and now, new opportunities are once again presented to this land full of vitality.

The imperial commercial city order was promulgated in May,

As long as the city has a population of more than 50,000, the mayor of the city can be elected through independent voting by citizens.

The mayor is mainly responsible for the administrative affairs of the region and is elected every three years. For those who have made important contributions to the city and the empire, the empire will award the title of Lord. This is not a real power position, it is just an honorary title.

If you want to become the mayor, you must first become a Lord. The power to confer Lordship comes from the empire. The biggest reaction to the title of Lord in this commercial city is the emerging business aristocracy. These were originally abandoned by the tide of the times. The aristocratic elites with glorious families either actively or passively become the lowly businessmen they once looked down upon. Although their wealth is growing day by day, they still lack a sense of identity for themselves.

The so-called titles of mayor and lord are undoubtedly the best way to fill this gap. Although the power of the mayor is only the day-to-day management of the city itself, and is even under the jurisdiction of the garrison in some places, although the title of lord has no practical significance. , still attracted many big businessmen to flock to it,

As for the judgment of how much merchants contributed to the empire, after careful study by the Imperial Ministry of the Interior, as many as 28 detailed rules were formulated, mainly focusing on the construction of local infrastructure, the support of military logistics, and the evaluation of local people. etc.,

In order to obtain these judgments, businessmen began to voluntarily spend money to repair the city's roads, build some homeless shelters to assist civilians, and occasionally sent some food to the local garrison. In their respective urban areas, the enthusiasm of the businessmen was very high. They are all working hard to become the first city mayor,

The list of the first batch of Lords has been approved by Fat Man. Handing the city over to real city managers is the only way to break through the current development bottleneck, although this may lead to the merchant class moving closer to the core of power.

Even hundreds of years later, he became an enemy that shook the empire, but so what? Even if there were no merchants, there would still be other classes. The fat man never thought that his dynasty would last forever. He was just a delusional person. It is just for self-entertainment. The feudal system will inevitably be replaced by a new system. If you create an empire by yourself, there will naturally be times when it declines.

It was with this realization that Fatty quietly returned to his base camp, Zhivadin

Finally arriving at a large dormitory, the fat man saw the son he had been thinking about day and night. Several maids in female-colored palace skirts were carefully waiting on him, who was lying on the crib. A full-term son was sleeping soundly with his eyes narrowed. little fat man,

The fat man tiptoed over, not daring to breathe even though he was nervous. His fingers gently slid across the extremely smooth skin, and he stretched out his trembling fingertips. As soon as he touched the little fat man's body, a strange feeling flowed over him. I've killed over a million people and never felt... I have seen Fatty who was so excited that he wanted to cry. For the first time, tears could not help but roll in his eyes. For a second, the most direct impulse in Fatty's heart was to shout to everyone, "Look, this is me." Son! The future king of the empire!"

This was his son. He didn't have a pretty face, but he had a face that was as plump as his own. Looking at the little guy's closed eyes and slightly trembling eyelashes, the fat man could imagine that it was a pair of bright and transparent big eyes. Eyes are eyes that can guide the direction of the empire

After leaving the room, the fat man looked around and found no sign of the other princesses, not even Mao Monaqing. He couldn't help but frown slightly and asked the maid on duty, "Where is Princess Mao Monaqing?" I went to Khanli Palace this morning. "The waitress on duty replied nervously, "Khanli Palace?"

Fatty was a little surprised. Although the empire's headquarters was in Zhivadin and the offices of various agencies had been built, the new palace, known as the "Khanli Palace", which was the center where Fatty, the ruler of the empire, gave orders, had only just been completed. The construction of thousands of acres of lawns and gardens in front,

Because last year a large-scale war was launched that affected the entire continent, and the empire's finances were nearly in deficit, the progress of this palace, which had been on the drawing board for two years, had to be slowed down again.

The empire's construction work in other aspects is very fast, such as roads and other infrastructure, which are generally required to be completed within three months.

Only the construction of this palace has always been intermittent due to various reasons, so that the Khanli Palace project has become a barometer of the empire's finances. When you see the Khanli Palace started, it means that the empire is rich. When does it stop? This shows that His Majesty Falcon's pockets are so dry that a mouse can starve to death.

Although it is embarrassing that as a monarch of a large empire, he even spent several years building his own palace, but the Vecians like such a king because they know that the taxes they pay are actually used where needed. ,

Someone once secretly calculated that in the Empire's war of conquest against the Nords alone, more than 120,000 troops were used. The war lasted for 2 months, and countless materials were lost. The amount of the bounty issued after the war was as high as 15 million gold coins. , benefiting more than 90,000 frontline officers and soldiers,

This huge amount of money was enough to build more than 20 palaces the size of Khanli Palace, but that month, Khanli Palace stopped construction.

The soldiers' bounties were not in arrears, and with the subsequent Battle of Dorok, the Khanli Palace had been suspended for half a year. Therefore, some poets said, "The Khanli Palace represents the mind and magnanimity of a king!"

The maid on duty said, "This morning, I heard that Princess Ruitangtingna suddenly rushed back and brought several tribal leaders from the northern grasslands. It seemed that something urgent had happened. To be cautious, Princess Maomo decided to go there in person. Khanli Palace receives these people! "To be continued!"