Realm of Power

The spring breeze blocks the river. After spring, the temperature rises. It has just rained. The refreshing wind adds a little vitality to the whole world. Cotton clouds float in the sky. Huge tawny mountains stand quietly among the lush and vast sea of ​​trees. , a patch of white can be seen at the top of the towering mountains. There are wisps of white clouds floating around

A large lying river divides the land in front of you into the north and south ends. The sparkling water is full of the golden color of the sun. Immediately in the river, a black-haired young man in a robe squints and looks at the rolling river water in the distance. The three forks at the intersection converge into another larger river, and a large-scale river dock is vaguely visible.

Under the sun, several medium-sized merchant ships that can travel on the inland waterway are slowly docking. As the medium-sized merchant ships docked, the dock quickly became lively. Businessmen unloading goods and other people waiting to board the ship gathered around them. In the past, the black-haired young man's eyes fell on the mast of one of the merchant ships. This merchant ship was carrying The merchant ships with different cargoes are smaller in size, but the sails are more and larger. The bow is long and narrow, and it looks like a clipper at first glance. The main mast of other merchant ships is flying the commercial alliance logo of the silver scale, and this one There is a golden scale on the mast of the merchant ship, which gives people a feeling of standing out from the crowd. It is suddenly the symbol of the Imperial Bank.

"We are very lucky. We can also meet the Imperial Bank's special ship to Lisbon here. This special ship departs from the southwest of the Empire and crosses the Congo waterway. It can make a round trip every half a month." The black-haired young man He turned to a thin middle-aged man behind him and said with a smile.

"Didn't His Majesty specifically allow this ship to dock here?" The middle-aged man rolled his eyes with a somewhat speechless expression. Although he was injured in an attack and recuperated in the Imperial Capital for half a year, he still served as Lisbon's political affairs officer after all. How? Do you know the Imperial Bank? The special ships that travel between Lisbon and the southwest region of the empire only dock at a few large ferry cities, and the dock in front of you is obviously not qualified. It stopped this time, and it happened to stop in front of Fatty. There is nothing fishy in it, who would believe it? But when he thought about the fat man following him to Lisbon in casual clothes, no matter how surprising it was, Tiernarant was already used to it.

I am afraid that the entire continent of Opalo does not know that the emperor has left Dahai City, hiding among his own guards, and quietly headed south to Lisbon!

If the fat man wasn't afraid of being exposed, it would be a good thing if he didn't bring the Imperial Navy warship over! I just don’t know who I’m trying to trick this time? The fat man didn't tell me, and the middle-aged man wouldn't be stupid enough to ask. Moreover, this time he was ordered to go south to Lisbon. As the first transfer order issued by the emperor after the New Year's Eve party, he was already in the spotlight, forcing the middle-aged man to ask. He had to go south immediately, and for the first time he went south to Lisbon to serve as a political officer, although it also aroused the suspicion of the Ministry of the Interior. Shocked, but after all, the appointment was issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Empire. The outside world only guessed that there was a big boss of the Ministry of Internal Affairs standing behind him. Only Princess Maomo of the Ministry of Internal Affairs knew who was standing behind her. Even that The deputy minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs who came to hand over his appointment only thought that he was a special figure in the imperial military.

But this time, it was no longer an internal transfer order from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but an order announced by the emperor himself, or an appointment delivered by the old deputy minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but the attitude was completely different. There was no doubt that he was a little scared. . The middle-aged man couldn't laugh or cry at such a arrogant and respectful behavior.

When he was assassinated while on duty in Lisbon, he was transferred back to the Imperial Ministry of the Interior in order to recover from his injuries. This incident also became the biggest laughing stock of the entire Ministry of Internal Affairs. The dignified Lisbon Administrative Officer came back like this? That was given to Lisbon, which is full of gold. I don’t know how many people have tried their best to get in.

I thought that the person who would finally emerge from the tens of thousands of troops, kill the generals and become the political officer of Lisbon must have a strong backing. It is not uncommon for the imperial political officer to be assassinated, but that time was not a bloody storm, not to mention that he was praised. Lisbon Trust, which is the commercial capital of the mainland, was tense within the empire for a while. Everyone wanted to see who stood up in the end and who was the backstage of this Lisbon Trust political officer.

But the strange thing is that for more than half a year, such a major event as the assassination of Lisbon's political affairs officer seemed to have been forgotten. Many people were just gloating and wanted to watch the fun, but they found that this transferred back The middle-aged man who was recovering from his injuries in the Ministry of Internal Affairs actually had no one to stand up for him. Princess Mao Monaqing, the only one who knew the middle-aged man's details, happened to return to the empire during that time. Now, it became lively. Although the middle-aged man was transferred back to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, his position as administrative officer in Lisbon was not He has not been deprived, and is still the legitimate leader of Lisbon's political affairs in the empire.

Someone asked Princess Maumo to re-select Lisbon's administrative officer, and the person selected was someone closely related to the Maumo family. However, Princess Maumo severely refuted it.

So someone came up with the idea of ​​letting the middle-aged man resign on his own. The first person who approached the middle-aged man was an executive in charge of personnel transfer in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In the name of investigating government affairs achievements, he went to a room in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. I saw myself in the office and put the documents on the desk on the desk. The slightly bald executive made a sit-down gesture to the middle-aged man, and then opened one of the documents. , after sweeping his eyes pretentiously, he said with emotion, "Your Excellency, you are really unlucky. How come you were transferred to Lisbon? There are many wealthy businessmen there, and the conflicts between various forces are complex. Although it is the largest source of trade tax in the empire, it is also extremely important." In a dangerous place, even a man as powerful as Lieutenant Plaice was beaten to death because of the Redian faction's attempt to interfere with Lisbon.

Your Majesty's favorite Princess Turrit also tried to intervene in Lisbon Torre, and finally moved the Ministry of Foreign Affairs out of Lisbon Torre in despair. A person with no roots and no foundation like you, just relying on luck to control Lisbon Torre, is simply like standing in the Lisbon Torre. On a thin line, even half my life was lost in Lisbon Please, because of your extraordinary achievements in the past, I can let them arrange for you again. What do you think of this? The administrative officer of the fifth district of Imperial Capital City was transferred back to the mainland two days ago, and now there is a vacancy there. You go ahead, I believe that with your ability, you can manage the fifth district perfectly! "

"The fifth district of the Empire's Ocean City? Is it the fifth district that houses the headquarters of four of the ten major chambers of commerce in the empire?"

The middle-aged man's face showed surprise. That was a piece of fat. The other party really spent enough money to even offer such a position. I don't know how many people wanted it. It is one of the most prosperous areas in the Imperial Capital area. , the best choice for blending seniority and political performance. It only takes two or three years to be transferred to the middle level of the Ministry of Internal Affairs due to outstanding performance. It is much better than the current state of complete idleness! "Yes, that's the fifth district." The executive nodded, with a glimmer of determination in his eyes. He didn't believe that middle-aged people would not be tempted by such a good place, and that a political officer with no roots could climb to the capital. The location of District 5 of Dahai City is simply pie-in-the-sky.

The middle-aged man seemed to be tempted. After struggling for more than ten seconds, he stood up and said, "My lord, I appreciate your kindness, but Lisbon is such an extremely dangerous place. If others are allowed to go there, wouldn't it be wrong?" Harming other people, that’s what I’ve done anyway!” “You!” The bald executive who thought he was a sure shot suddenly stood up, his face turned livid.

"terribly sorry"

The middle-aged man looked apologetic, but in his heart he was coldly disdainful, "You have to understand, I'm protecting you!"

The bald executive also realized that he had lost his composure. He took a deep breath and sat down again, waved his hand towards the middle-aged man, and said in a cold voice with a gloomy and ugly face, "Forget it, you can go, you can do it yourself." There is nothing I can do about jumping into this pit of fire, but because you have not handled government affairs at the government affairs site for more than half a year, so for your I'm afraid you will be offended by the government affairs evaluation. If you are rated as unqualified for two consecutive years, your position as a government affairs officer will also be cancelled. You should be aware of this! I also advise you, middle-aged people, to turn around and leave. I closed the office from the outside and heard the sound of things being thrown to the ground from inside the room. "How about the assessment?" Several political affairs officers waiting for the assessment outside the door looked at him. A foreign political affairs officer who didn't know the situation approached and asked, "No, he probably won't pass." The middle-aged man shrugged his shoulders and seemed a little more relaxed, but In the eyes of others, it is more like a kind of self-mockery, The foreign political affairs officer wanted to ask, but was grabbed by his companion and whispered, "Don't worry about him, he will definitely not be able to pass! He has not been in his own political affairs place for more than half a year, and he will be able to pass." ! ""No, I heard..." low-pitched discussion,

Hearing low voices of discussion, the middle-aged man walked through the corridor calmly. Everyone who saw him moved out of the way. This showed how unpopular he was in the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Seeing all this in his eyes, the middle-aged man calmly walked down the steps of the Imperial Ministry of Internal Affairs and stopped at the door. The corners of his stern mouth turned up slightly. A group of ridiculous guys actually thought that they were A person with no roots and no foundation, just relying on this good luck to get the position of political affairs officer in Lisbon? It's so funny and ridiculous

The reason why Princess Maomo did not let herself return to Lisbonto was just because she was waiting for the emperor to return. In addition, the culprit of Lisbonto's attack had not been found. If she had another accident in Lisbonto, I am afraid it would not be as simple as the emperor's anger. I was afraid that even Princess Maomo herself would be affected, but I didn't expect that Princess Maomo's procrastination and her own forbearance would be seen like this in the eyes of others!

In the end, even a deputy minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs came out, and the middle-aged man still refused with all his strength. But even so, there were still rumors that the Ministry of Internal Affairs would re-adjust the political affairs officials in Lisbon after the annual meeting. Everyone saw that Looking at middle-aged people It's like watching a joke, "Can you hold a position like Lisbonto's if you want to? People must be self-aware! Some things don't belong to you. If you want to forcefully occupy them, I'm afraid you won't be able to!" “All kinds of cynicism came one after another.

Just when everyone was waiting for the re-appointment of the political administrator of Lisbon, the first order from the emperor sent to the Ministry of Internal Affairs after the Imperial Annual Meeting was that the middle-aged man was appointed political administrator from Lisbon because of his outstanding achievements in governing Lisbon. He was promoted to the chief political affairs officer of southern Congo and Africa, and was fully responsible for the political affairs of southern Congo and Africa. The promotion from a city consul to a regional consul was like being promoted from a flag regiment commander to a regiment commander.

Looking at this emperor's order, everyone's first feeling was to explode. The voices in the Ministry of Internal Affairs that originally encouraged the re-election of Lisbon's administrative officer disappeared without a trace in an instant. "The middle-aged man took a long break in the Ministry of Internal Affairs." Half a year later, he was assassinated while still in office. It can be said that it was due to the great financial fluctuation in Lisbon. The main person responsible for the incident was not arrested. But now he is said to have achieved outstanding results, and his position has been promoted instead of being demoted. And the most terrifying thing is that the person who made such an evaluation is not the Ministry of Internal Affairs itself, but His Majesty the Emperor. , at this moment, anyone who is not a fool can see that the middle-aged man’s backer is the emperor!

This joke is a bit too big. It’s ridiculous that people like me are still bullying in front of middle-aged people, thinking that middle-aged people are rootless people, forcing middle-aged people to voluntarily give up Lisbon. Who would have thought that middle-aged people turned out to be The emperor's people were severely slapped in the face! The Ministry of Internal Affairs is completely in disarray. No one knows how the emperor will deal with these people. "What's wrong? Still feeling unworthy of the grievances suffered by the Ministry of Internal Affairs? That appointment should be able to give you a sigh of relief! Is it still possible?" I have to clean up the Ministry of Internal Affairs from top to bottom!"

The fat man smiled nonchalantly, looked away from the Imperial Bank merchant ship docked at the dock in the distance, raised his finger and pointed to the river ahead and said

"Did you see the river in front of you? It's the Leise River at the center of the northern waterway in Congo. It was here that more than 100,000 northern frontier troops of the Congo Empire were forced by the imperial army to jump into the rolling river. The entire river was flooded. The tragic scene clogged with the corpses of countless non-combatants seems like it happened yesterday, but I didn’t expect that the battlefield that was once littered with corpses has now turned into a busy river crossing.”

The fat man paused and continued, "It only takes half a day to enter the hinterland of Gangfei from here by water. You can reach Lisbonto within five days. If you take the land route, it will take at least eight days. The weather is starting to get hot now." , the road is bumpy, it is not as convenient and fast as taking the waterway, so I asked the Imperial Bank to make special arrangements, but it’s okay, this time you go there Spento is too conspicuous. I'm afraid there are countless eyes staring at you on the road. If you suddenly disappear, it will be enough for them to be confused for a while. No one will think that you did not take the fastest sea route, but took the fastest sea route. This line is the Congo-Africa waterway, and it is also aboard a ship of the Imperial Bank. I believe that your sudden appearance in Lisbon, as the Chief Administrative Officer of Southern Congo and Africa, will definitely cause a big sensation."