Realm of Power

In the southern part of Nanxi Continent, the royal city of Cotamar State and Agarwood City.

In the southern part of the Nanxi Continent, Agarwood City is famous. Anyone who has been to Agarwood City will never forget the rich fragrance here. It is not a simple fragrance of flowers or simple spices, but the fragrance of hundreds of years of history. Deposited long-lasting fragrance. The geographical location of Agarwood City is very unique. It has a good deep-water port and a calm bay. Two hundred years ago, this place was already the intersection of trade in the South Sea. From here, South Sea merchants entered the Mas Bay Sea to the south, then entered the vaster and boundless South China Sea, and then headed north to reach China. region, this section is like a barb The voyage is called the fragrance route by Nanxi people, because the cargo of Nanxi merchant ships is mainly spices and precious minerals such as gold, silver, jewelry, emeralds, gems, etc., and then brings back precious silk fabrics and smooth pottery from the Central Asian region. Once I went there, I gained a lot.

The Nansi region has fertile soil, rich minerals, and numerous states. It is common for states to compete with each other for the sake of face. Finely crafted Sino-Bian silk fabrics and pottery are very popular among nobles and wealthy families in the Nansi continent, and the Nansi Peninsula is unique. Due to the land environment, it is not only far away and dangerous to go to Central and South-Bia by land, but there are also countless tax checkpoints along the way. It often takes more than half a year to go there. On the contrary, it only takes a month to go to Central and South-Bia by sea route. Over time, the huge trade profits greatly promoted the development of maritime trade in the Nanxi continent. Before the rise of the Gulf of Aden, the Nanxi people were the main force in maritime trade in this area. The merchant fleets of the Nanxi people had already cooperated with the Gulf of Aden region. Asia The Din people, the Ileina people, the Aero people and the Feize people of the Barrow area in southern Europe, the Conflict people in the Barrow area of ​​northern Europe, the Barrow area of ​​central Europe, the Istan people in the eastern part of the Inland Sea, the Yanjing people in the central Bian area, and even The distant northern grasslands and the Longquan Kingdom.

As the largest trading port on the east side of the Nanxi Peninsula, Agarwood City has accumulated over time and was praised by Nanxi merchants as saying that even if it has been uninhabited for a hundred years, you can still smell its fragrance. But eighty years ago, with the rise of the Gulf of Aden, Aden Taking advantage of the huge geographical advantage of the Aden area being the crossroads of three continents, the people first controlled the trade route to Obarro on land. On the sea, the Aden navy was aggressive. Facing the scattered Nansi United Navy, it finally captured the choke point of Mas Bay thirty years ago, ending the history of Nansi people's control of the sea in one fell swoop. Agarwood City became the outpost of Nansi. The important status of Haikou suffered a major blow, and the bustling maritime trade of the South Peninsula has since become a source of wealth that the people of Aden can exploit at will.

In the next thirty years, Nanxi merchants were gradually squeezed out of the maritime market by Aden merchants and became synonymous with smugglers.

This is the history of the Nansi Sea Area era, and now as an unexpected intruder, the Imperial Navy's victory in the Battle of Mas Bay represents the opening of a new chapter in the hegemony of the Nanse Sea Area. The hegemony of the Aden people has changed hands, and the Imperial Navy has We cannot control Mas Bay for a long time and will soon leave. Mas Bay has no owner. For the countries in the South China Sea, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

"The arrogant and domineering people of Aden will also have this day. The leader of the Lapuma State who had his head cut off can finally close his eyes."

"I heard that half of the main force of Aden's navy sank in Mas Bay. Even if the Aden people spent all their resources to build warships, they would not be able to recover in less than five years."

"Haha, five years? Are you kidding? Without Mas Bay as a transportation hub, the Aden people will starve to death on a large scale this winter. I heard that the grain producing areas in the southern part of the Gulf of Aden were destroyed by rioting slaves. The army that went to suppress it was defeated by the emperor's inferior force. Now hundreds of thousands of hungry slaves with green eyes are pouring into the Gulf of Aden. The Aden people themselves cannot protect themselves. How can they have the strength to recapture Mas Bay? "

"But the Empire is not a good bird. By putting the Aden people's Maswan up for auction in such a naked way, it is clear that they want to slap the Aden people in the face. This is done happily!" The empire released news to the southern states. , the auction of Mas Bay is more like a victory for the entire southern continent. Although the winner is the empire and the loser is Aden, it does not mean that the southern states cannot enjoy it and run for joy. They come together to stamp on each other and leave a souvenir, even like the Imperial Navy. He expressed the hope of going to Mas Bay to see the wreckage of the Aden battleship that covered the waterway.

Dostelenko finally knows why there are so many countries in the Nanxi region, but they are still being bullied by the Aden people. The Nanxi people are really not united, even in the face of foreign invaders. No What is the concept of ethnic groups? You are you, I am me, and you deserve to be beaten. This is mainly because the south and north have been invaded by powerful forces many times, and the war has lasted for decades. Normally, the so-called natives of Nanxi have almost died long ago. Most of the current kings of the states in the northern and southern regions are not natives of Nanxi, and the states in the southern region of Nanxi are basically locals, so the war It never stopped. The Aden people bullied the north side and howled, and the south side was still clapping and cheering. They expected the south side to help. There were no doors, and there were many stabbings from behind.

It wasn't until the Aden people rose up in the sea and touched the interests of the south that the south began to face the power of the Aden people. But it was already too late. The Aden navy controlled the Mas Bay and could seize the ships of anyone they wanted and raise taxes. They raised taxes, and even the slightest resistance sank ships and conquered the country. We have been pushed to the ground and rubbed by the people of Aden for many years. Now we see that the people of Aden are also pushed to the ground and rubbed. Naturally I feel very happy inside. As for the empire that defeated the Aden people, what does it matter? They killed hundreds of people in the Oubalu continent, massacred countless cities and destroyed countries, and the empire is called the whip of the immortal sky. What is the evil reputation of the empire? Zhuo Zhuo, with a distance of more than two thousand miles, the empire's iron cavalry sweeping across Obarro can still step on the Hengkuo Plain in the south. Just let him come. Anyway, the first ones to be stepped on are those bastards from the north.

"Commander-in-Chief, out of the thirty-one states in the southern part of the Nansi Peninsula, twenty-seven states have expressed their intention to buy Mas Bay. Among them, the highest bidder is Rancom State, with a price of 600,000 gold. "The adjutant wearing a black imperial navy uniform came behind Dustelenko who was standing on the balcony of the palace in Agarwood City and said with a respectful expression.

"Lancombang should not be among the targets we like. Even if the bid is the highest, we can only express our regrets!" Dostelenko turned around with a wine glass in his hand, his slender eyes flashing A luster indicates that he has no intention of this country. This auction is arranged by His Majesty the Emperor. The important part seems random, but in fact it is very detailed. Who to sell it to and how to sell it must be considered. The empire cannot occupy Mas Bay, an important maritime place, for a long time, and the empire will not return Mas Bay to the Aden people in vain, so The best way is to let a considerable southern force intervene in Maswan

The strength of Aden's navy has been greatly damaged, and it is already a fantasy to control Mas Bay with strong force as before, so we can only spend money to buy it back. As for the southern states, whoever occupies Mas Bay will be the southern states. The enemy, the empire's auction of Maswan was a stroke of genius. Not only did it win the unanimous favor of the southern states of Nansi, but it was also equivalent to drawing blood from the face of the Aden people in front of the entire Nansi continent.

"The emperor wants to turn Mas Bay into a quagmire that drags down the Aden people." Although the empire does not know much about the intelligence of the Nansi Continent, Ankluo, the person in charge of Mount Aitmon, provides relevant information, and so does His Majesty the Emperor. I specifically named a few states. Chemutai State ranked first, and Sota State ranked second. The Russian and Japanese states...the sixth-ranked Lamisub state are all powerful states in the southern part of Nanxi. Among the southern states, they are all ambitious and big-bodied. They are definitely capable of killing the Aden people with a knife. From what he has seen and heard in Agarwood City in the past few days, Dustronkai has gained an understanding of the luxury and greed of the Nanxi people.

Most of the Nansi Continent is in a hot zone. The temperature here is very high and the crops are abundant, so there is no shortage of food. However, because there is not much communication with the outside world, the development level of the Nansi Continent is not as good as that of Oparo. There are some differences, but Nanxi people are really willing to spend money. Even Dostelenko is amazed.

The Nanxi nobles believed in Turinism and had the custom of burning property as sacrifices. It was also a symbol of their huge wealth. On the first night when the imperial envoy arrived in Chenxiang City, the Nanxi nobles in Chenxiang City used large quantities of expensive The silks were piled up on the vast ground, completely burned by the fire. These Chinese and Asian silks were conservatively estimated. Ji Yae, who was only 20,000 imperial gold, turned gray in front of Dustronkai. Looking at the surprised faces of the members of the imperial envoy, the Nanxi nobles in Chenxiang City cheered proudly, thinking that they had suppressed the enemy. After seeing these country bumpkins in the empire, I have seen rich people, but never seen money-burning people. The powerful Nanxi needs no explanation.

In addition to burning things, the nobles of Nanxi sometimes burned people, and dedicated the captured prisoners of war as sacrifices to the gods. The place used for sacrifices was the Guangping in front of the royal palace. Every Nanxi city has a Guangping, right in front of you. Take the Agarwood City as an example. It has a marble walkway that is twenty meters wide. Various exquisite patterns are carefully constructed on the spacious and clean walkway. The fragrant square in front of the royal palace is 150 meters wide and 200 meters long. It is said that it can accommodate up to 16,000 people. The 244 six-meter-high poles surrounding the square are The flagpole has a bloody human head hanging from time to time. Treating such a beautiful Guangpyeong as an execution ground, the nobles of Nanxi seem to have a pathological pursuit of luxury.

A large amount of wealth is spent on building buildings. Although the land area of ​​these southern states is not large, the palaces built are larger than the other. In Agarwood City, the tops of the palaces are all high and white. The dome is inlaid with a whole piece of marble, even on a moonless night, it will emit a cool brilliance.

The hot wind blows through the aromatic square and stirs up dust everywhere. At this moment, there are no heads hanging on the flagpole, but there is still the faint smell of blood drifting in with the wind. There are many people killed in the square just a few days ago, more than 800 people from Aden are here. The executions in Aden City, with their heads hung on pillars in the square, included the tax collector of the Kingdom of Aden stationed in Aden City. A dignified Viscount of Aden was skinned and cramped by the Nanxi people.

"Speaking of the selected companies, Sotaoribang made it clear that he wanted to discuss with us privately." The adjutant hesitated and said. The people from Sotaoribang found the adjutant alone. This time, Maswan The auction attracted too many people's attention, most of them came to watch the fun, but there were also some who really wanted to buy Mas Bay, Mas Bay There must be a gap between the stated price and the actual price, because Sotaoribang, who really wants to buy Mas Bay, knows that the material support of the Imperial Navy will not last long, and the Imperial Navy is eagerly waiting to return. After all, this place is far from the mainland of the Empire. It’s too far away. With such a huge fleet not returning for a long time, no one can guarantee that there will be no accidents.

"Okay, just this afternoon."

Dostelenko glanced slightly at the corner of his mouth. What His Majesty said is correct. If the Aden Navy is defeated in Mas Bay, the biggest impact will not be on the Obaro region, but on the South China Sea region. Sure enough, the Aden Navy is in Mas Bay. The impact of the fiasco in Siwan may not have spread to the Obarro region. For the Nansi Peninsula, which is closest to Mas Bay, the influence of this victory in the main naval showdown has already exploded. The Kingdom of Aden has suffered from the attacks of the Nansi countries. Backlash

The various states in Nanxi began to massacre Aden people. The domineering Aden people did not expect that the Nanxi people who used to be groveling would become so vicious. A large number of personnel stationed in Nanxi by the Kingdom of Aden were executed. Most of these personnel were to collect taxes. Official, responsible for collecting taxes from merchant ships in major ports, Asia The Kingdom of Ding adopts a four-tier tax collection system for merchant ships in the Nansi area. Ships need to pay taxes to the Aden tax collector when they leave the port, pay another tax when passing through Mas Bay, and pay another tax when returning to the port. Regarding taxes, you have to pay taxes four times in one trip. How much benefit can there be?

According to the tax collector in Aden, the goods carried by the merchant ships from the time they departed to the time they returned were no longer the same batch, so there was nothing wrong with collecting taxes twice. The Aden navy provided these merchant ships with safe route services along the way, so they collected them twice at Mas Bay. There is nothing wrong with taxes. For any ship that does not pay taxes, the Aden Navy will directly regard the ship as a thief who steals property and sink it.

By using this kind of exploitation, the Kingdom of Aden made a lot of money, and the Nanxi maritime trade shrank significantly. Countless Nanxi merchants gritted their teeth and endured the cruel exploitation of the Aden people, and used three-quarters of the profits as taxes. Turn it over or risk being sunk by the Aden navy. The danger became that the smuggling fleet was playing hide-and-seek with the Aden navy in the South China Sea. If the Aden people continued to control Mas Bay, the countries in South Asia would not dare to resist the Aden people. But now that the Aden people have lost Mas Bay, the navy The main force also suffered heavy losses, and the Nanxi people had no pressure to retaliate against the Aden people.

Bullying the weak and fearing the strong will add insult to injury! Therefore, if the situation of the Aden people continues to deteriorate, it is very likely that the Nansi region will send troops to attack the Aden people. This is Dostelenko's judgment on the characteristics of the Nansi people.