Realm of Power

In Lisbon, white rain fell from the dim sky. The water flowed down the steps of the Commercial Union Branch Exchange, like two waterfalls hitting the streets that had already been polished by the friction of wheels. Outside the exchange, parked It was filled with all kinds of carriages, including merchants' carriages and nobles' carriages. In the gloomy sky, bright dark thunder flashed past, and the sound penetrated the door. , lightning illuminated the scene inside the exchange hall. Thickly packed people were almost completely packed into the entire exchange. Everyone's eyes were anxiously looking at the door of the hall. There were whispers in the repressed atmosphere. In the room on the second floor of the exchange, a middle-aged man wearing the uniform of a business alliance deacon exhaled heavily and tightened his hands unnaturally.

"Is there any new news? Istan's victory or defeat. {Chinese.

｝……”

The middle-aged man held a thick stack of golden scrolls in his hands. He glanced at the dense crowd of people below. His eyebrows were tightly knitted into the character "Sichuan". This time, there was a big problem! The entire Lisbonto Chamber of Commerce is probably here, and there is only one thing that everyone is paying attention to, and that is the empire's war in the Istanbul region thousands of miles away.

"It's hard to say, but if the Imperial Army really suffered a disastrous defeat in the Istan Empire, they would have to re-evaluate the value of the goods in their hands!" A subordinate standing next to him said with an ugly face.

"What do you mean, we have no choice?" The middle-aged man's face was gloomy and livid, and he angrily pressed a thick stack of gold scrolls on the table. The crisis that broke out this time was too sudden, and no one would I thought that the other party's design would be so deep, and the financial resources involved would be so huge. Once this storm formed, everything I owned would be lost, and the investigation from the imperial side would not only involve throwing away some property. The problem is serious enough to cause genocide.

Logically speaking, the empire's war in Istan is too far away from Lisbon, and it is only a local war. It is far from reaching the level of being able to affect Lisbon, the maritime trade center of mainland China, but just a month ago, the Double-Headed Eagle Business Group, a large business group from the southern part of the Inland Sea, suddenly requested to purchase large quantities of finished products from the Lisbon market. Fine iron. He also proposed to purchase at the average price. The amount purchased was enough to shake the Lisbon Tortoise market and immediately attracted the attention of the entire Lisbon Tortoise Chamber of Commerce. With one million tons of fine iron, God knows why the Double-Headed Eagle Merchant Group wanted so much. And where did such a large amount of funds come from?

The so-called average price purchase is a business policy of the business alliance. It is mainly suitable for large-volume commodity trade. It means that the average market price can be used to purchase goods in large quantities. Because the purchase quantity is huge, whether it is a merchant or a buyer, The transaction cannot be completed immediately, and it is usually agreed that payment will be delivered one month later.

In this way, merchants can try their best to raise goods. And buyers can gather more funds,

This is an adaptation to large-volume ocean trade. After all, it is a trade route established on the sea. The time for a trip is calculated in months. January is the most basic trading cycle time. Many chambers of commerce are Place a cargo order before departure, sell the cargo outside, and then return with sufficient funds to bring new cargo.

In this cycle, businessmen can relieve financial pressure, and chambers of commerce can also gain more benefits. This is a win-win policy.

But the problem is that the price of goods fluctuates over time. The price one month ago will not be exactly the same as the price one month later, either rising or falling. Therefore, there is an average price purchase, which means that both parties enter into a contract. No matter what the price of the goods is one month later, they will be traded at the price agreed one month ago. If the goods rise this month, the buyer who signed the contract will make a profit. If the price of the goods falls, the seller will make a profit, and risks and benefits coexist.

"This is a golden ticket issued by the Business Alliance. If you don't believe it, you can check it directly through the Business Alliance!" The representative of the Double-Headed Eagle Business Group with a proud look on his face took out a gold ticket issued by the Business Alliance worth 12 million gold coins. After the volume was authenticated by the Business Alliance, the criticism naturally subsided. As long as the merchants made money, it didn't matter where the gold tickets came from.

"Are those golden tickets real?"

Sokutus Stellan, who was sitting in Lisbonto, looked at the report and raised his head unexpectedly, with some confusion on his pretty face. Golden tickets are very convenient for the commercial alliance to trade large quantities of goods. With the expansion of the empire's influence, and the commercial alliance in In commercial activities in the inland sea area, the commercial alliance gold ticket has become a common currency note in most inland sea countries.

"It is certain to be authentic. The numbers on the golden tickets match all those issued, and there is no problem with the secret code of the actress!"

The person who sent the report was a person in charge of the Business Alliance. After experiencing that turmoil, the Thirteenth Deacon Sokutus Stellanzhen was already the real leader of Lisbonto. Every gold issued by the Business Alliance The tickets have numbered stubs, as well as passwords that can be matched with the secondary tickets. Unless the other party can get the password and stubs, they cannot be copied. The copy of the password book is in the hands of Sokutus Stellan, and the original is In the hands of His Majesty Falcon

The person in charge of the business alliance hesitated for a moment and said, "My subordinates believe that the other party has received so many golden tickets and should be prepared. However, the number one empire in the north of the mainland will naturally not be short of refined iron. Even the entire Lisbon Chamber of Commerce cannot come up with the amount of refined iron required, so it is understandable that the other party proposes to buy it at an average price."

“Then issue this trade announcement!”

Sokutus Stellan put down the notice in his hand. There was no reason to reject this trade, because what the other party presented was the golden ticket of the Business Alliance.

The Golden Tickets of the Commercial Alliance can now be used in the Inland Sea area. Even in the southern region of the Inland Sea, those countries that are unfriendly to the Falcon Empire also have many countries that purchase Golden Tickets from the Commercial Alliance to purchase needed supplies, so Double Head It is normal for the Eagle Merchant Group to use a large number of Golden Tickets from the Business Alliance, but this time the number is too scary, twelve million. This amount is almost the trade volume of Lisbon Trust for a quarter, even if it is a double-headed eagle The business group, a super business group in the southern region, is afraid that it cannot have so many golden tickets. Sokutus Stellan vaguely felt that something was wrong, but he could not tell what the problem was. What the other party took out was from the Business Alliance. Golden Ticket, if the Business Alliance comes forward to obstruct it, once word gets out, it will be a devastating blow to the Golden Ticket system that the Business Alliance has spent countless efforts and energy to establish. Once the Chamber of Commerce no longer believes in the Golden Ticket of the Business Alliance. If it is required to be exchanged for cash coins, even a behemoth like the Business Alliance will collapse overnight.

The notice was released, causing a sensation throughout Lisbon, with strong funding of 12 million. All the chambers of commerce flocked to it, and all the fine iron on the market was wiped out. The major chambers of commerce were still mobilizing supplies from all over the country. Fine iron was a material for forging weapons, and the imperial army was fighting in the north and south. A large number of weapons and armors captured were processed into fine iron. Although fine iron is a resource controlled by the empire, it is also the largest export commodity of the empire. Especially after every war in the empire, the price of fine iron will increase. Affected by the fluctuation, the empire killed 300,000 Feishan troops in Feishan two months ago. The price of fine iron was already very low, and there was a one-month buffer period. The amount of refined iron gathered by the Chamber of Commerce has reached a frightening scale. The price of refined iron is even lower, but the other party issues an average price purchase, so the greater the quantity, the greater the profit the Chamber of Commerce will make.

In the lobby of the Business Alliance branch of the entire southern region of the empire, clerks holding various business contracts in their hands were flowing in and out of the stairwell. A desk that was more than ten meters long was dotted with four windows. The front is already full of businessmen

"All the fine iron, load it on the truck immediately!" A businessman crowded at the front desk handed the contract in his hand through the iron fence-like window. His fat face was covered with sweat, and his fat hands struggled to reach in through the narrow iron window. There were too many people behind him, even considering his size. I can only try my best to maintain the position in front.

"Hurry up, hurry up, those in front of you, hurry up!" The merchants at the back formed a long queue, and most of them were personnel sent by the Chamber of Commerce to purchase refined iron, behind bars. The clerk of the Business Alliance wearing a feather hat carefully compared the copies of the documents and neatly stamped the shipping seal on the contract, then handed it back to the businessman opposite, "Please pay another 110 gold coins."

"How could this happen? It shouldn't be! My goods were verified when loading. How could I have to pay additional freight for no reason?" The freightman took the contract, looked at it carefully, and tried to raise his head. He argued to the clerk in front of the desk, trying his best to resist the crowd behind him with his strong body. There are only so many sources of fine iron. Because of this incident, many sources of fine iron that originally belonged to the military were affected. Many of them were affected. All chambers of commerce choose this place I temporarily paused the goods in hand to retain enough mobile funds, hoping to gather the fine iron as quickly as possible within this month. "Your Excellency, the quantity of your goods exceeds one-tenth of the standard quota! So we must follow Chapter 1 The three tax points charge a handling fee." The clerk glanced outside and explained impatiently, "There are too many people who need to deliver goods recently, and these are the only vehicles left. If you don't want it, please don't block the people behind. !”

"Who said I don't want it? I want it all!" The clerk completed the formalities as quickly as possible and then left with great satisfaction. The people behind him cursed in succession. This kind of situation happened in the entire southern part of Obaro. This huge order affects the entire Lisbon trade network. One month is too short! It's like a war has begun and the smoke is filling the air,

"The quantity of fine iron is almost reached, but part of it comes from...!" The head of the business alliance who was reporting for the first time could no longer calm down. He hurried to the search station with the report he had just gathered. In front of Kutustila, when reporting, his voice paused, and he did not dare to say any more, but handed over the report.

"Is it from Feishan?"

Sokutus Stellan glanced at the report, frowned slightly, and the hand holding the report turned white. Selling refined iron by the military is not illegal. After all, in the Imperial Regiment, there is a tradition of selling trophies. It has been around for a long time, as long as the Ministry of Supervision approves it, but the storm caused by fine iron this time has spread too widely, and As the smoke is thick in Feishan, these fine irons are likely to come from the Varisian side, "not Feshan," our investigator's report said, "Battle of Feshan. Most of the loot has been confiscated, and the rest , were all assigned to the new army by Lord Varisien!" the head of the Business Alliance said with a solemn expression!

"You mean, the Eastern Province? These fine irons come from the Eastern Province!" Sokutus Dailan suddenly stood up, her eyes suddenly became sharp and cold,

"I will report this matter to His Majesty, please go down!"

Sokutus Stellan took a deep breath and waved her hand to the person in charge. Sokutus Stellan knew very well how much armaments the empire sponsored for the Eastern Province, because many of them were mobilized by her personally and were enough to equip the province. There are 70,000 to 80,000 weapons and armors, all of which are truly first-grade fine iron. Although the empire is generally calm, the war in the Eastern Province is still burning. Hayera, the governor of the Eastern Province, has successively conquered two provinces of the Istan Empire. At the time when his reputation was rising, I heard that in order to raise military expenses, Governor Hayera scoured all over the area and almost scraped off a layer of land in the occupied areas of Istan. It is no wonder that some military equipment was melted into fine iron and sold secretly. , just because of the distance, Sokutus Stellan did not expect that the scope of the impact this time would be so large. Some of the fine iron secretly sold by the Eastern Province actually flowed to Lisbon, which shows how wide the impact is. horrible

"Hope everything goes well!"

Time passed like this, and the time for the arrival of the Double-Headed Eagle Merchant Group was quickly approaching. Everything seemed so smooth. The merchants were busy running around, and the Chamber of Commerce had hoarded enough supplies and was waiting to make a big profit. However, a piece of news came from the east. The calm waters in Lisbon began to roll. The six southern countries suddenly started a war against the Imperial Army in the Istan Empire. As the largest merchant group of Fezer, one of the six southern countries, the Eagle Merchant Group's intention to purchase such a large amount of fine iron is self-evident. The fine iron will be made into weapons to fight against the empire. This is an act of treason and benefiting the enemy. , if the Six Nations are defeated in Istan, then the anger of the Imperial Army may not be ignited. If the Six Nations win, the consequences will be unimaginable.

The rain hit the sloping ceiling of the exchange, but it was more like hitting the hearts of all the merchants in the exchange. In order to collect as much goods as possible, the chamber of commerce invested a large amount of money. Once the military came forward, the entire Lisbon chamber of commerce would Their vitality was severely damaged, and everyone was looking at the door.

Today, news from the east will arrive,

In the afternoon, a carriage hurriedly arrived at the gate of the Commercial Alliance. A businessman jumped out of the carriage. Regardless of the raindrops falling on his head, he stepped onto the steps with a flow of water in front of him with a dejected look. The water wet his pants. But he didn't realize it. He pushed open the door in front of him, glanced at everyone in the hall, and said in a painful voice, "Latest news, the army of the Eastern Province has been defeated." (To be continued.)