Urban Sims

Mid-July.

A wooden track that goes straight forward and winds upwards stretches from Youken Ling to the top of the daunting mountain range on the Ula Plateau.

Like a miracle on earth, all the people who saw this track for the first time were filled with horror and were deeply shocked by it.

This short track spanning a natural chasm and about 100 kilometers long may not be considered much in modern times, but in this ancient civilization world, there are only the church's thousands-foot-high Holy Light Temple, the thousand-story lighthouse of the Kingdom of Aguston, A few civilizational miracles such as the Baizhang Stone Man in the Kingdom of Pulos and the Castle in the Sky in the Kingdom of Nevis can be compared with it.

A full 6,174 workers died from various altitude sickness during the construction of this track.

Regarding these more than 6,000 dead workers, most of whom were savages and a small number of whom were purchased slaves, Zhou Ming did not forget them. Instead, he had people build a new structure at the end of the track—the top of the high mountain ridge. A small monument records the achievements of these workers for future generations to remember.

…

end of july.

Inside the New Merchant Station on the east side of Yocanland.

Leading from several members of the Free Merchant Alliance, a caravan carrying a variety of goods gathered in this large trading station. For a while, people were screaming and horses were neighing, and it was very lively.

In the center of the commercial station, inside a large wooden house.

A group of richly dressed nobles were sitting around a large table for a meeting.

Sitting at the top, holding a cargo list in his hand, Earl Horton of the Earl of Bame, who was elected as the rotating president of the Merchant Alliance this year, read the text on the list and said: "Youkenling, 50 carts of canned meat and nuts , Nathan collar, 20 carts of bread, Patton collar, 200 carts of ceramics, Glen collar, 500 carts of furniture, fur clothing, paper and ironware... and the goods from other territories added up, there are a total of 1,000 carts of goods, so much When the goods are sold to the Tongshan Kingdom, besides gold coins, what else can we get, the copper from the Tongshan Kingdom?"

Earl Horton asked with some confusion. If the iron from the Iron Castle Kingdom had a great effect on the merchant alliance, then it would naturally need to be traded with it, but the copper from the Tongshan Kingdom would not have that great effect. Of course, copper It's also worth the money, but it's not as practical as iron.

"Knight Edward, this plateau corridor you built makes it easy to transport goods from the Merchant Alliance to the outside world, but it is a bit troublesome to transport the goods from outside into the Merchant Alliance. Even plain horses can't ride in this damn place. , only high-cold horses can pull lighter things, you can pull more if you go to the south... But how do you pull the heavy copper of the Copper Mountain Kingdom from the south back to the north?"

Another count raised a question, feeling that the plateau corridor opened by Zhou Ming had huge flaws in terms of trade.

"Of course I will want copper, and I will find a way to transport it from the south, but not now. What we lack most now is not copper, but people."

"people?"

Everyone looked at Zhou Ming in surprise.

"Yes, they are people. To be precise, they are slave miners. The slave miners in the countless mines in the Copper Mountain Kingdom. These slave miners are the commodity that the Free Trade Alliance currently lacks most."

Zhou Ming explained for everyone.

With the advancement of agricultural technology among members of the Free Trade Union over the years, the meat rations required by each territory are no longer in short supply. There is also no shortage of primary handicrafts such as furniture, farm tools, fur clothing, etc. This now restricts the continued development of the Trade Union. Yes, it is still the population base.

Zhou Ming did some statistics and found that the gap between the seven counties in the north and south of the Kingdom of Voris in terms of total economic output in the past two years is not very big, but in terms of population, the seven counties in the north are only one-third of those in the south. (Not including the royal territory, which accounts for 1/5 of the kingdom's population). Because of the cold climate, the birth rate in the north is not as high as in the south.

If a Civil War breaks out within the Kingdom of Voorhees in the future, the individual combat capabilities of the northern knights will be stronger than those in the south, but in terms of the number of soldiers, the north will be at a great disadvantage. Coupled with the limitation of the population base, once it enters the consumption In the war, it would be more difficult for the North not to mention defeating the South, but also to draw.

Therefore, Zhou Ming needs as many people as possible to expand the market size of the Free Trade Alliance, to promote the economic vitality of the Free Trade Union, to tap the mineral resources within the Free Trade Union, and to increase the war potential of the Free Trade Union.

As a result, he established a mercenary union and absorbed a large number of mercenaries, thieves and other floating populations; he opened up the plateau corridor, obtained slave miners from the Tongshan Kingdom, and transported them to various mines owned by members of the Free Trade Alliance to mine gold and silver. Various underground resources such as copper, iron, and coal (there are also iron ore and copper mines in many territories of the Free Trade Alliance, but the reserves are smaller and the grade is lower, but they can also be used).

And as long as the population base of the Free Trade Union changes from quantitative to qualitative, the power that will eventually explode may not be something that a small Southern Trade Union can withstand.

After listening to Zhou Ming's theory, the eyes of all the barons and earls present lit up.

"There happens to be an iron mine in my territory, but I'm short of people to dig it. Once this business is over, can you sell me 1,000 slave miners?"

"I also have mines in my territory, give me 3,000 slaves!"

"I want at least 5,000 slave labor!"

"10,000!"

"..."

Seeing the extremely enthusiastic expressions of these nobles, Zhou Ming agreed to them one by one, secretly thinking that when these nobles realize the infinite convenience brought by slave labor, they may be like the African slaves in his world history. The tragic scene of being sold to the Americas in quantities of hundreds of millions, with most of them dying during transportation, is probably going to happen similarly in this world.

Is it pitiful?

Of course, but this is capital!

…

Late August.

Copper Mountain Kingdom, the eastern border.

A group of uninvited guests suddenly arrived in the eastern mountains of Baron Baron Baron.

Among these uninvited guests, several hundred were heavily armored knights with bright armor and holding spears; several thousand were ferocious mercenaries armed with all kinds of weapons; and several thousand more were horsemen driving thousands of heavily loaded carriages. , their faces were very tired, but they cheered together because they had arrived at their destination.

Seeing this group of uninvited guests, Baron Gerardi, the lord of the Bamo Territory, was almost scared to death. Because this place was isolated and had not experienced war for hundreds of years, the fief knights he pulled out were not much better than the stronger farmers. , after being teased by the knights brought by Zhou Ming, they were all captured alive. The desperate Baron Gerardi's legs went weak and he immediately knelt down and asked to surrender.

Zhou Ming did not embarrass him. Instead, he gave him some gifts to express his friendship, saying that he was just a businessman who wanted to come to the Tongshan Kingdom to do some small business with his caravan.

After looking at the exquisite goods brought by Zhou Ming, Baron Gerardi's eyes sparkled with gold, and he soon became his first customer. He only used a few sets of furniture, a few Patton porcelain, and a few stacks of white Paper, dozens of fur clothing, and more than 100,000 gold coins, millions of copper coins, and a large amount of grain that had been stored in Baron Gerardi's castle warehouse for hundreds of years were all exchanged.

Baron Gerardi, who had squandered all the property his family had accumulated for hundreds of years, didn't care at all, because the small copper mine in his territory was enough for his family to dig for thousands more years.

Zhou Ming got off to a good start with his first business, and his confidence suddenly swelled!

In addition, I learned from Baron Gerardi that although the Kingdom of Copper Mountain is a large country with 47 counties, the combat effectiveness of its army is not very good. The army defending the kingdom is actually mainly composed of foreign mercenaries. It has failed in foreign wars. More wins less... The so-called wealth kills fighting spirit and arrogance corrodes ambition. This is a true portrayal of this country sitting on a copper mine.

Just like the tycoon countries in the Middle East in Zhou Ming's world, all of them are extremely rich, but the princes' soldiers who are armed to the teeth are scumbags who can't even defeat the guerrillas.

After Zhou Ming understood this, the next thing became easier. Under the guise of doing business, he led his caravan all the way through the market, passing through several earl territories. Facing this country with elite knights and a large number of servants, The huge caravan guarded by soldiers and the lords from all over the country, except for the initial test, no one dared to come forward to provoke him.

After taking a look at the exquisite goods Zhou Ming brought, they all spent money and made generous purchases.

Early October.

Before the arrival of the snow season, Zhou Ming and others, who had sold out all their goods long ago and were holding a large number of gold coins and copper coins to buy mine slaves from various slave traders in the Tongshan Kingdom, had to go there because of time. After purchasing more than 20,000 slave miners, both men and women, old and young, and with a balance of nearly one million gold coins on hand (both gold and copper coins), after more than a month of hard work, I finally arrived on the first day of November. Before the snow fell, we returned to Yorkan Territory.

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