Realm of Power

Off the coast of Lisbon, the rain swept like a huge wide curtain, and the waves rolled up to a height of several meters, slamming fiercely onto a huge merchant ship. On the top of the merchant ship, a red double-headed eagle grasped the pattern of a scale. Zhang, straightened by the rain and sea breeze, stood at the front of the merchant ship, with a dark complexion and a majestic body like a black bear. The middle-aged man with a broad face is looking keenly at the surging sea in front of him. His thick and explosive arms are all arched with muscles, which are almost twice as thick as ordinary people. The clothes on his body are black and red. The rain poured down on him, but he didn't seem to feel it at all, as if he didn't know how cold the rain was.

The middle-aged man's face was unusually calm, and his short flaxen hair stood upright. His cold-as-iron gaze was like a sharp sword, trying to tear open the rain curtain in front of him and project it to the world behind the rain curtain, on the deck behind him. A handsome young man with a feather hat on his head, a red exquisite dress on his upper body, and pure black leather pants on his lower body was walking up from behind the deck of the ship.

"Father, the news is confirmed. The emperor has given up on Istan and is withdrawing to the Eastern Province! The business group's plan has been successful!" the young man said with excitement, the red and yellow buttons on his chest were inlaid with the same double-headed eagle mark. , this is the coat of arms of the Double-Headed Eagle Merchant Group, the strongest one in Feizene, a kingdom in the southern part of the Inland Sea. The president of the merchant group is called Demosey, who is the middle-aged man standing on the bow.

The young man behind who looks very similar to him is his son Demogioia. On the side of the merchant ship where the two of them are standing, more than ten similarly large merchant ships are rising and falling with the waves. , actually one day ago. The merchant fleet of the Double-Headed Eagle Merchant Group has already arrived at the sea off Lisbonto. The reason why they did not enter Lisbonto is that they are waiting for this news.

"On what day is today the contract between the two parties?" Demosey asked.

"Today is the twenty-sixth day! There are still four days left, which is the deadline of the contract, and the news should have arrived. By this time, Lisbonto should have been in chaos." Demoya raised his head and looked forward, his voice After a pause, a cold flash flashed in his eyes, and he sneered and said, "This time, even if the other party has prepared enough goods, it will be useless. The emperor is defeated, will the other party dare to sell to us?"

"After investing so much money and energy, what you get in the end is just an empty hope, and you have to pay ten times the liquidated damages. Even if you don't collapse immediately, your vitality will be severely damaged. Within a year, I'm afraid everything will be broken. Unable to recover, not to mention the impact caused by this incident, I really want to see the annoyed and painful faces of the Falcon Empire vultures in Lisbon, it must be very exciting! "

Vulture is a derogatory name given by merchants from the southern part of the Inner Sea to merchants from the northern Falcon Empire. It implies that wherever there are people, there will be merchants from the Falcon Empire. The empire's merchants are inherently mixed. The methods of doing business are often plundering, or taking advantage of abundant funds to depress the market to maximize profits. This has a huge impact on the entire southern economic system. In just over two years since the empire opened the inland sea, thousands of people in the southern region have been destroyed. Bankruptcy of small businessmen. This is why most of the southern region is very hostile to the Falcon Empire.

"Four days left!"

Demos said to himself, clenching his hands unnaturally. Standing here, the pressure is really great. Looking at the white-capped sky in front of me, my eyes flickered deeply. The coming victory was so easy. Why did I feel uneasy in my heart?

"Father, the news has spread. Lisbon is bound to be in turmoil. Do we need to send people to Lisbon in advance? Otherwise..."

Demogeia looked at the majestic back of his father in front of him and said with some hesitation. He has the character of a young man. He always does things in a hurry. He is a little less calm than a middle-aged man, but more energetic than a young man. As Demoge specially The successors trained will naturally have good business talents. However, facing such huge interests this time, I really can't sit still. What if all the Imperial Chamber of Commerce that signed the contract run away?

"Don't worry, if those business groups really run away, wouldn't it be better!" Demosey was obviously much more experienced, with a face that was used to all kinds of storms, but a slight curl of the corner of his mouth, and a terrifyingly calm tone. "Wouldn't it be better if he really ran away? What does this mean?" Demogioa looked surprised when he heard this. What did his father mean? Although we have not actually paid for the delivery, if those business groups run away, although there will be no loss for this transaction, the profit will naturally be much less." Don't forget, our trade request is through Lisbon Sent by the Business Alliance, "Demosey turned around from the front, glanced at his confused son, and said in a chilling voice" such as If one party to the transaction runs away, then the business alliance, as an intermediary, must bear the responsibility for the other party's breach of contract. With such a huge compensation, even Lisbonto's business alliance will be unable to support it and collapse. Our goal is the business alliance, We want to completely destroy the credibility of the business alliance and let the trade system established by the business alliance collapse from within! "

"This time, the top ten big business groups in the south joined forces and used 80% of their reserve funds. With more than 10 million funds as the backing, they suddenly launched an attack on Lisbon Trust. What they are pursuing is this, Lisbon Trust Business The collapse of the alliance is our greatest victory. In this way, we can fundamentally suppress the pressure of the imperial business group on the south."

This is an invisible war, but its importance is even far greater than the bloodshed of real war.

"Not only the business groups in the south are watching, but also the royal families of the six southern countries are fully cooperating." Demosey paused and said, "The reason why the Falcon Empire is so powerful that no one can match it is because of the Imperial Army. Behind them are tens of thousands of merchants under the banner of the Falcon Empire. The wealth of our south is continuously flowing into the Falcon Empire through these merchants. Our south Resources are constantly being transported away by these merchant ships flying the Falcon Empire flag. If this continues, in less than ten years, the economic lifeline of the southern coastal areas will be completely in the hands of the Falcon Empire in the north. This will have a negative impact on the business groups in the southern region. This is something that all countries absolutely don’t want to see! So if those business groups run away, that’s the best result!” “Yes!”

Demogeia nodded solemnly. As the most powerful business group on the continent, the Falcon Empire Business Alliance has overwhelmed the southern business group in two years. It can only rely on alliance to support it. Its strength is so strong. I'm afraid it's not as simple as what you can see. Being able to hit Lisbonto hard this time is entirely based on the opponent being unprepared. Once the opponent reacts, I'm afraid it won't be that easy to deal with! , the best results. Naturally, the strategic goal of shaking the entire business alliance system is achieved by severely damaging Lisbonto's business alliance.

It is not surprising that the top ten business groups in the south all used their respective gold ticket reserves without hesitation to place the largest order in the history of inland sea trade. In four days, even if the commercial behemoth of the Business Alliance could react, I'm afraid it would be powerless. Demogeia took a deep breath and looked at his father's back. Behind him, he seemed to see a huge wave crashing on the ship. The head exploded, like the roar of a ferocious beast, and the person standing in this world was so small. But at this moment, Demogeia had an illusion that her father was in front of her. He was using his own strength to fight against the city across the sea. Although he had the body of a businessman, he showed the bloody murderous intention of a warrior.

Is this a massacre of the city? With the power of a business group, the entire Lisbon community was slaughtered. Demogeia felt her blood boiling

Demosey turned around from the front, and a heavy sentence hit his heart, "You know. Standing at the bow of the ship, huge waves roared in my ears like thunder, just like the turbulent business war in front of me. As a victory, I What I feel is not joy, but fear. Why? After so many years in business, why do I have such a strange feeling? Is it a premonition or an intuition, or is it danger or victory? Remember, you will get carried away until the last moment. suicide!"

The Lisbon Exchange Hall was in complete chaos at the moment. The news of the defeat of the Eastern Province brought deep despair to the empire's merchants. If the fine iron could not be sold, how could so much money be recovered? And the three times the liquidated damages are enough to make the well-funded chambers of commerce go bankrupt overnight. All their efforts were wasted at this moment. Even the big chambers of commerce that thought they were mentally tough were completely confused at this moment. If the Lisbon Stock Exchange was a battlefield, then there would already be victims everywhere.

"Quickly, throw out all the fine iron you acquired!"

The orders from various chambers of commerce were like a major earthquake spreading from Lisbon to the center. All the freight carriages that were still rushing towards Lisbon stopped. The businessmen who were happily waiting to receive their bonuses, at this moment It was completely messed up, and there was fine iron everywhere. The fine iron that would have been robbed if it was for sale the day before was now something that no one wanted.

The streets are full of businessmen running frantically looking for buyers, or businessmen who are lamenting as if their whole family has died, drinking heavily in the corner. The merchant fleet gathered at the port has also stopped, with piles of Tons of fine iron were placed on the dock with no one to transport them away. Since no buyer was found, it naturally had to be left like this. Cold rainwater like white lines hit the dark and shiny surface of the fine iron, which seemed to be cold and continuous. The air is frozen,

Sokutus Stellan stood in front of the window sill on the fourth floor of the mansion, wearing a dark black dress, slender willow eyebrows, and dark and clear eyes, looking at the commercial city in front of her that seemed to have lost all its vitality in one day, drizzle. , with a bit of desolation and indifference, white raindrops fluttering in the wind, covering the sky like mist over the city,

News of the defeat of the Eastern Province also reached her. At this moment, even a fool knew what the Southern Double-Headed Eagle Merchant Group was planning. Based on the trade notice issued by the Business Alliance, the Business Alliance was a trade intermediary. If the trade partner ran away , the business alliance must pay the other party all the money and liquidated damages. The other party must have such a calculation.

Taking the empire's largest amount of refined iron as the trade target, and using the war between the Eastern Province and the Istan Empire thousands of miles away as the final resort, even I couldn't see this layout, because it was no longer just It's as simple as a trade agreement. This is a war, a war between the entire Southern Inland Sea Business Group and the Falcon Empire Chamber of Commerce.

A battlefield without gunpowder smoke is more cruel than a battlefield, and a cold knife without the sound of killing is equally sharp and bloody.

Corpses littered the fields, rivers of blood flowed, hundreds of imperial chambers of commerce were involved, and more than three thousand merchants were affected. This loss can be described as a failure. The main responsibility for all these mistakes lies with you. If you take action from the other party, If we spend tens of millions of gold tickets to stop this matter, although it will have an impact on the reputation of the business alliance, at least the situation like this will not happen. This time, it was a real miscalculation!

"Miss, the government office has sent an invitation. The new government officer, Mr. Tierlonte, has passed through Naco City and arrived in Lisbon tonight. The government office has prepared a dinner. I would like to invite you..." A man in a dress The maid in palace clothes is holding an invitation Walking in, before she finished speaking, Sokutus Stellan didn't even accept the invitation, but refused directly, "Lisbonto is already like this. The new administrative officer still has the heart to hold a dinner. Look. It's not a good thing to come and reply! "They, I won't go" "Yes, Miss" the maid trembled, turned and left quickly. The situation in the city for the last day or two was something that a normal person could feel, not to mention that as a servant of Sokutus Stellan, so I know more, But not long after, the maid came back again. "What's wrong? Didn't you understand what I said?" Sokutus Stellan raised her head, her eyes so cold that the maid turned pale. "Miss, the government officials heard the lady's refusal." , so I left this! "

The maid put a document in her hand on the table hesitantly. Sokutus Stellan looked over, and her eyes froze immediately.

This...how is this possible! Sokutus Stellan's eyes flashed, and she almost couldn't believe her eyes. In order to confirm, she quickly walked over,

Her white fingers even trembled slightly as she picked up the manuscript in her hand. The red and white cover impressed her eyes. It looked like a common document used by the government, but the red paint on the seal was what caught her attention.

It was a falcon emblem with its wings spread upward. It was pressed on the seal of the fire paint. It was vivid and very bright red. It looked like it had been sealed recently.

Only one person is qualified to use such a seal

Even the Imperial Ministry of the Interior does not have such qualifications, let alone a mere regional government office in Lisbon.

"You go down first!" Sokutus Stellan held back the greatest excitement in her heart and waved her hand to the maid.

After the maid left, Sokutus Stellan slowly opened the scroll in her hand. The content inside made her eyes light up, and she covered her mouth with her excited hand to prevent herself from making a cheerful sound. ,

He's really here! Lisbon is saved! (To be continued)