Realm of Power

Warm wind blows in the face, and the waterway in front turns an arc and enters the inland waterway of the huge city. The rapids of the waterway begin to slow down here. Lisbon Toben is the outlet of the three major rivers in southern Congo and Africa. It has been continuously flowing for several years. After expansion, this huge city, which covers an area of ​​more than fifty miles, has become more than five or six times larger than its original size, and every expansion of the city changes the river in front of it. The roads were included, thus forming a city scale where inland waterways and city streets coexisted in Lisbon. The fat man stood on the bow of the Imperial Bank's clipper, watching a small clipper coming out of the port not far away and signaling towards it. Coming here was also an Imperial Bank ship. As the ship approached, after a slight tremor under its feet, a pretty figure with a gauze covering her face and a colorful skirt walked down from it.

Tillnarant, who was standing behind the fat man, lowered his head and chose to avoid it.

Seeing this woman, Tiernarant had already foreseen the coming heavy rain in Lisbon. Dark Rose, Queen of Commerce, Head of the Imperial Bank Headquarters, and the Thirteenth Deacon who used iron-blooded methods to control the Imperial Business Alliance, even though she was Lisbon. The Chief Administrative Officer of the Lisbon Trust, but in fact, this uncrowned queen, who holds the business lifeline of the empire in one hand, is the real head of the Empire in Lisbon Trust.

After questioning the fake Catalina, the other party confessed that the mastermind behind the scenes was the Blue Chamber of Commerce, one of the major chambers of commerce in Lisbon. And after learning that those major chambers of commerce were going to intercept and kill her, Anthea's pretty face became quite... Pale, although he kept silent and refused to say what he was doing in Lisbon, he also locked himself in the cabin for two days and did not come out.

"I have secretly sent people to check those chambers of commerce, and they have indeed detained a batch of goods from Ms. Berlant Bonnie. This is the list of those goods. This matter was done very secretly. The other party probably doesn't know yet. I'm checking this batch of goods." Sokutus Stellan waved her hand towards the horrified Clippers captain and asked him to go down first.

She came to the fat man in a graceful figure, stretched out her hand and took out a document and handed it to the fat man. She said angrily, "I just didn't expect these chambers of commerce to be so bold and want to attack and kill Miss Bonnie." Do you need me to clean them up? This incident happened on the Imperial Bank’s ship. If Miss Bonnie’s people really died suddenly on the ship, I, the Imperial Bank, might not be able to tell even if I jumped into the sea.”

"Is this the batch of goods?" The fat man glanced at the cargo list. It was not anything too serious. There were one or two items that may have violated the imperial restrictions, but the quantities were not large. What might be problematic inside was the huge amount of iron. Mine, although it is not something that absolutely cannot be sold, but Bertrand Bonnie's Confederate Army should not be short of iron ore, so Bertrand Bonnie bought such a large batch during the Empire's annual meeting What does iron ore do? Or you can only find out if you ask Anthea!

"My subordinates suspected that these chambers of commerce wanted to use this as a blackmail and asked Ms. Berlant Bonnie to guarantee their monopoly interests on the China-Biya trade route. After being refused, they chose to withhold the goods." Sokutu Stellan is worthy of being the local emperor of Lisbon. She is extremely well-informed about the major chambers of commerce in Lisbon, and she also has a very good understanding of the nature of these businessmen. With just a guess, she is already quite close to the truth.

"Have you ever heard of this woman Charlene?" The fat man crumpled the list in his hand and threw it into the sea. He looked at the dock ahead and asked in a solemn voice.

"A representative of a smuggling force who is also well-known in Lisbon. His Majesty asked what this woman does?'

Sokutus Stellan's pretty face was slightly stunned. With her status, a woman like Charlene was just an ant-like existence. Although Lisbonto's smugglers had some power, they were definitely not in the eyes of her business queen, and even With just one word from her, these smuggling forces will be wiped out immediately in Lisbon.

"She has someone I want to see, find him!"

The fat man raised his head and looked forward with some surprise. He saw a merchant ship coming from the pier in front. It turned out to be a merchant ship from the Central Asian region. It was different from the triangular sails and round sails in the Obaro region. On the mast, there are pieces of four corners The flag fluttering on the sail turned out to be the symbol of the Song people in the south. Watching the Central-Bian merchant ship getting closer and closer, it stopped steadily only ten meters in front. A clear female voice came over, "Excuse me, Anthea." Is the lady on board?”

The fat man's heart skipped a beat. He followed his gaze and saw a group of six or seven beautiful women dressed as mountain folk from the Southern Song ethnic group appearing at the bow of the boat opposite. They were wearing extremely beautiful colorful clothes from the mountains of southern China and Bibia. The colors were bright and colorful. What is eye-catching is that the two sleeves of the small collar and slanted lapel dress are made of red, yellow, green, purple and blue cloth, and the hem is decorated with gems.

This kind of mountain folk's long robe is worn with a waistcoat inlaid with purple-red and dark blue flowers. There is a long ribbon tied around the waist. Both ends of the ribbon are embroidered into flower and black patterns with coiled thread embroidery. A small red drum is tied around the thin waist. Standing there, the gorgeous place looks like the colorful clouds in the sky, transforming into a bright and moving image. Beautiful women appear in the world, one of them is only slightly taller , her legs are extremely long, and her smile is even sweeter. Somehow, she can make people feel that she is more beautiful than any other. It was this woman who asked the question. The other person saw a black-haired young man from China and Bia standing on the boat. The beautiful face was also slightly stunned, looking quite surprised.

"Song tribe in the south, iron mine..."

The corner of the fat man's mouth curled up, and he roughly guessed the reason why Berlant Bonnie bought a large amount of iron ore. Although the southern part of China is known as a mountain with a hundred thousand mountains, high-quality iron ore that can be used to forge weapons is scarce. In addition, in the past, China Due to the heavy restrictions imposed by Bia Chaotang, among the hundreds of thousands of southern mountain troops, only the 20,000 mountain ghosts of the Song tribe are equipped with full iron weapons and armor. Most of the mountain troops are only vine armor.

Now that the Zhongbia court is about to be destroyed, the Southwest Long family is also at war with each other. They are waiting for the moment when the Zhongbia court is destroyed, and they will drive out from Guang Linchuan to snatch this ownerless Zhongbia. The Song clan is fighting in the southwest. After being defeated by the Long family, a rebellion broke out among the mountain people under the instigation of the Long family. Not to mention that their vitality has not yet recovered, it was just before Most of the weapons obtained after entering the court were lost in the southwest of the Long family. Now the only way to buy a large amount of iron ore from the empire is to go back. Without iron ore, it is impossible to restore the strength of the south, let alone It is said that after the destruction of the Zhongbia court, they competed with the Southwest Long family who relied on war for the ownership of the royal power of Zhongbia!

The next owner of this goods turned out to be the Southern Song people!

The fat man and Sokutus Stellan looked at each other at the same time, and sighed inwardly. It’s no wonder. It’s no wonder that Bertrand Bonnie was not really concerned about the seizure of this batch of goods, but just sent them. A Blade Guard came to discuss it!

"I wonder if Miss Asia is on the ship?" The woman from the Southern Song tribe had no choice but to ask again in a more formal Imperial dialect. It could be seen that this woman's Imperial dialect should be short-term. I learned it from within, with a strong sense of elegance unique to southern women. If you don’t pay attention, you may not be able to hear it clearly.

"I knew it, didn't you understand it at all? If I had known it, I wouldn't have rushed to the empire." The Song woman gritted her teeth and complained to herself in Central Bian.

"Miss Anthea is feeling a little unwell and is resting inside. I will ask someone to call her here." The fat man smiled at the corner of his mouth and spoke fluent Chinese-Bian dialect, which made the Song woman opposite look stunned. Then he let out a cheer, "Are you from China? That's great. You are very interested in Are you familiar with Imperial Language? To be honest, I only learned Imperial Language when I came here. If you are willing to be a translator for me, I can give you a commission, which will definitely satisfy you. "The woman's voice is soft and sweet, with a kind of The attractive magnetism made the fat man want to hear a few more words from her even in his absent-minded state. In addition, her colorful clothes are fluttering in the wind, like a beautiful picture in front of her eyes.

The fat man was slightly stunned. He didn't expect that he could be hired as a translator. He said to the woman angrily and funnyly, "It's very expensive for me to be a translator, because I not only know Central Asian and Imperial Language, but also There are languages ​​from several countries in southern Europe, and you even know some of the languages ​​from the northern grasslands of Central and Northern Europe. You Central and Asian people don’t say that you get what you pay for. How much do you think a product like mine is worth? "

"Aren't you from China?"

The Song woman opposite seemed to have heard something.

"Did I say I'm from China?" the fat man said with a smile.

The Song woman's face was full of embarrassment, and she hesitated for a moment. She gave the fat man an imperial salute respectfully, and then said apologetically, "I was in a hurry just now. It's really rude. I didn't mean to insult you." , but I really need a guide who is familiar with Central Asian and Imperial languages."

"Is this lady Song Qian from southern China? If so, I can arrange a guide who is familiar with both languages."

Sokutus Stellan, who was next to the fat man, said in a clear voice that she could tell that the emperor had a good impression of this Song woman. During this time, she also heard about a Song woman named Song Qian from the southern Song tribe in Central and South Africa. The family members came to Lisbon to do business, but they didn’t do much business, so they didn’t pay much attention to it. Now I roughly guessed that this Song Qian was waiting for the iron ore that Berlant Bonnie purchased from Imperial Capital. However, that batch of iron ore was seized by several monopoly chambers of commerce. With Song Qian’s power, , how could it be possible to shake those wealthy businessmen? I was afraid that I was at a loss. In the end, I had to ask Berlant Bonnie to intervene.

"I am Song Qian from the Song clan!"

The Song beauty immediately looked at Sokutus Dailan with her wonderful eyes, only to realize that she had made a mistake just now.

I thought this was the maid of the black-haired young man, but now it seems that is not the case at all. Although the woman in the black dress in front of me has a sandy face, she has an excellent figure, and her long skirt makes her even more gorgeous. , but that kind of beauty gives people an aggressive feeling. Originally, this woman was not very conspicuous standing behind the black-haired young man. But now that she stood up, she immediately felt an overwhelming pressure. Song Qian believed that she had only experienced this kind of overwhelming aura from her uncle, Song Que, the head of the Song clan, but her uncle was The head of the Song family is the head of the entire southern mountainous area, and this time he is a powerful man who wants to fight for the royal power of China and Bia.

But what is in front of me is just a woman! But this woman's words gave Song Qian a natural sense of trust. It seemed that there was no need to doubt the other person's words. With some hesitation, Song Qian bowed slightly to Sokutus Stellan, "Now our biggest The difficulty is because of the language barrier. The other party refused to let us disembark on the grounds that we were a Central and African ship, possibly a smuggling ship. We have been here for more than ten days."

"Chinese and Libyan ships are prohibited from landing?"

The fat man glanced at Sokutusdalan next to him. Although catching smugglers was the business of the Lisbonto Government, without Sokutusdalan's approval, the Lisbonto Government could not restrict all Central Asian merchant ships from landing. The first reaction of the fat man to this order was to think of the retaliation of the several major chambers of commerce that monopolized the Central Asian route against the Yelu family.

"Absolutely not. Some time ago, several chambers of commerce that were mainly responsible for Central Asian trade did ask the Imperial Bank to crack down on smuggling ships. The Imperial Bank did issue an order to the Lisbonto chambers of commerce to temporarily prohibit Central Asian ships from landing, but this order was lifted fifteen days ago. Who prevented you from landing?" Sokutus's pretty face changed color, as if she thought of something, and her fingers clenched suddenly.

"China-Belgium The order prohibiting Asian ships from landing has been lifted, you can land normally!" Sokutusidalan replied

"We also heard that it was lifted, but whenever we want to get off the ship, we will be blocked at the dock!" Song Qian said angrily

"There is such a thing!" Sokutusidalan looked stunned, and her face was covered with a layer of frost. These chambers of commerce were really abominable. There was no doubt that because Song Qian's Imperial language was too poor, she had no idea that the order had been lifted, so she was deliberately left at the dock by several major chambers of commerce. Even if she wanted to get off, she would be blocked back

Anyway, Song Qian didn't speak the language and couldn't find anyone to complain, and the other party only needed to insist that Song Qian was a smuggling ship, and the dock would not care

If it hadn't been encountered today, I don't know how long it would have been left!

These major chambers of commerce that hold vested interests in the Central Asian trade are obviously using all means to block the possibility of other chambers of commerce intervening. This method is not uncommon in commercial competition. She has been in charge of the business alliance for several years and has seen everything. She is just too lazy to pay attention to it sometimes. However, this conspiracy involves her, Sokutusidalan, so don't blame her for being ruthless to these chambers of commerce!

"Your Majesty, I'm sorry. It seems that some people really think that Lisbonto is lawless. The weeds are too prosperous and affect your majesty's mood. Please allow me to deal with it first." Sokutusidalan said to the fat man in a low voice with a cold face.