Realm of Power

Bir Salas is a highland city located on the southwest border of Dorok. The majestic main peak of Dorok reaches its highest peak here, forming the Terla Snow Mountain, known as the pole of the earth.

The towering terrain means that the average altitude here is more than 3,500 meters, and the temperature is below 10 degrees all year round. Therefore, even if June is sweltering in other areas, the temperature here is only relatively warm.

Because of the year-round severe cold and hard frozen soil, almost no crops can grow here. However, the existence of human beings can be described as tenacious. In the beginning, there were no cities here.

It was some Dorok hunters who followed the winter reindeer who discovered this place. Although it is covered with ice and snow all year round and is not suitable for people to live all year round, the rich wildlife resources here still make Dorok hunters flock to it. It is different from other mountainous areas. Compared with prey, more prey can be obtained here, and the number of precious furs is also greater.

When hunters in other areas trade prey furs for a silver coin, a piece of fire fox fur produced in the Biersalas Mountains can be easily purchased in the hinterland of Dorok where nobles like Aaron gather. Sold for a sky-high price of thousands of gold coins at Aaron's luxury auction house.

One thing is enough to change the fate of a hunter. Although this kind of fire fox with red fur only exists in legends, in less than ten years there will always be a lucky person who becomes a person blessed by God. As time goes by, , the most basic human settlement appeared here, and a hundred years later it became a small town, and finally the current Biersalas, which relies on the mountainside, was formed.

This place is known as the capital of furs. Every morning when the mist is still lingering, the fur craftsmen who are knocking have already started working. The tinkling sound conveys an aura of agility. The continent of Ikadiva is nearly 10 kilometers away. Most of the animal skin products are produced here. At its most prosperous time, there were 356 tannery shops, except for furs. There is another thing here that interests the nobles, and that is the Zang Honger flower known as Xuening.

This is a plant that grows in cold mountains and looks inconspicuous, with white downy petals. The needle-like fine teeth make it look like an unfriendly enemy. The Zang Honger flower grows in the snowy area above the middle of the snow-capped mountains. The rhizome buried deep under the frozen soil has an extremely rare hemostatic effect. It is collected from Then it was dried in the sun and ground into powder. This was done in an era when medicine was not developed. This drug that can quickly stop bleeding is simply life-saving.

On the chaotic battlefield, no high-ranking noble is willing to use a hot branding iron to stop his bleeding. This is not only an issue of extreme pain caused by the iron, but also a physical wound that is easy to deal with, and at worst leaves a scar. Maybe it can be used to show off to the beauty you like at the banquet.

Seeing the frightened look on the beauty's face, the nobles often like to use hesitant laughter to express how brave they were at that time. Then he can explain with a proud face how he killed the enemy commander in the midst of thousands of troops, and finally led to the enemy's heroic deeds. As for the real situation, who cares, even if it was because he was afraid of death. Even if they get shot in the butt while escaping, they will shamelessly describe themselves as brave and fearless warriors.

But it’s hard to say about some key parts such as the face, neck, crotch and other soft parts. These parts are absolutely unable to withstand the pain of the red-hot iron.

At this time, a bag made of grinding and drying the white rhizome of Zanghonger flower can play such a key role. With just one bag, you can see a thin layer of blood scab appear on the skin of the wound that is bleeding profusely. , even after full recovery. It will not leave too hideous scars, so this kind of sacred object that can relieve pain and save face is naturally a treasure that the nobles will not hesitate to spend a lot of money to purchase. However, the number of Zanghonger flowers produced every year Definitely no more than 30kg,

Motivated by profit, people will naturally dare to take risks. Although Zanghonger flowers are extremely difficult to collect, there are still bold people who risk their lives to collect them. However, there are also many people who have died on the snowy mountains because of collecting this plant.

In the freezing and biting snow, when people find these people, they are often already fused with the earth. Unless their bodies are cut off from the ground with a sharp weapon regardless of the consequences, they will never be brought back intact. After returning, most people finally gave up on this unrealistic idea.

But the tragedies caused by this have never stopped. Sometimes the previous generation died in this kind of work, and the next generation still goes back to work. The benefits here are so rich. As long as 100 grams of Zanghonger flowers can It is equal to the local lord's tax for a year, but these people who risked their lives to go up the mountain can still clearly see the posture of the previous generation when they died under the cliff where Zanghonger flowers grow, and even several generations were buried. in the same place,

Therefore, Zanghonger flower is also called "Xue Ning". The various sexual acids and tears contained in it can only be experienced by successive pickers.

A caravan was traveling in this yellow and white cold forest in the mountains. The hard nanmu wheels rolled over the rugged gravel road in the mountains, making a creaking sound. The long team was winding along the ridge path. As we walked, the snow-covered peaks behind us were like a white hat, and the biting cold wind swept through the chaotic caves.

The caravan owner's medium-sized carriage was at the front, followed by four small carriages. The three carriages in front were unevenly piled with bags of wheat flour, and their white splotches caught the attention of many people on the road. Straight up, the last carriage was empty, there was nothing.

Bir Salas at the foot of the mountain was not surprised by this strange situation. This was very common in Bir Salas. The caravans who came here to purchase goods would often transport part of the grain in exchange for the goods, because the price of grain was higher than The leather is high, and at the same value, the caravan always needs to spare one car.

When the carriage stopped at the somewhat dilapidated exchange in front of them, a middle-aged man with a white fur hat and an ordinary businessman's robe jumped out of the carriage.

"Is there really what His Majesty said here?"

The middle-aged man raised his head and looked at the exchange in front of him where almost no one could be seen. He frowned slightly and ordered to the dozen subordinates behind him, "First unload all the wheat flour from the carriage, and then send two people there." Contact the city, it’s best to let the whole city know that someone is here to buy goods.”

This middle-aged man looked a little gloomy. Although he was wearing a cotton robe made of not luxurious materials, he stood there as a whole. It always gives people a feeling of shadow, and those bright eyes with a certain gaze give people the feeling that they are like a poisonous snake with half its body raised, staring at you not far away.

If anyone here knew him, they would be extremely surprised. In the Falcon Empire, this person in charge of the Supervision Department, known as the Shadow of the Falcon, holds various powers of life and death and is an important minister. Lidas is known as the Black Hand. Tove unexpectedly appeared in this small town that didn't have much strategic significance, and he was dressed like this. No matter how you look at it, it doesn't look like there's anything aboveboard.

I heard that a caravan from outside the city entered the exchange outside the city, and the cobbler's shop in the city immediately became a sensation. In previous years, June was the busiest season, and caravans from outside the mountains came one after another, because the falcons Due to the imperial embargo, the number of merchants who usually come here to buy wild animal skins and rhizomes of Zanghonger flower is heartbreakingly rare.

In the past, the amount of food that could be trafficked in from outside was much higher than before the war. In addition, the salt nitrate used to pickle leather in the past has also become tense. Although the Dorok Mountains are a mountainous area, there are no salt fields that produce fine salt. Only nitrate mined from mountain rock minerals,

It is said that it was also because of the impact of the embargo that the nobles who held the power of the parliament had just passed the material restriction decree, but they turned around and started hoarding materials in the city and driving up prices. As a result, the originally cheap nitrate and salt became shockingly expensive. Many ordinary farmers have already There has been no salt for more than half a month. This city, once known as the capital of fur, is also in trouble due to lack of nitrate.

There are now less than ten cobblers open for business. Most of them are full-time cobbler shops with various backgrounds, that is, the kind of shops that are dedicated to a certain family. After all, instead of buying goods from middlemen, it is better to produce them locally.

Many Aaron nobles have invested in crafts shops here, making exquisite and expensive fur coats. It is always one of the best tools to win a woman's heart. Sometimes it is even more effective than giving jewelry directly. However, in the current environment of scarcity of supplies, even these cobbler shops can only barely operate.

The exchange where almost no one could be seen just now was suddenly crowded with people from dozens of tannery shops. Everyone was working hard to recommend their own goods to the arriving caravan leader, but the caravan leader just sat there. He was silent in the middle seat, and there was no emotion on his silent face.

"Okay, as long as you are willing to ask for it, we are willing to reduce the original price by another third." Finally, someone couldn't sit still. The person in charge of the largest cobbler's shop in the city slammed the table and directly offered a fixed price without any expense. road

"Yes, as long as you want it, the price is not a problem. We are willing to reduce the price by half." People in other shops also followed suit. "It is hot June now. If the leather continues to be hoarded, even if it is cold all year round like Bir Salas places, there will also be When piles of ready-made leather become rotten and infested with worms, this kind of leather is almost equivalent to a waste product. The smell of leather will remain forever, so the price no longer matters. Instead of waiting to become a waste product that no one cares about, we just want to take it back. Some small capital will do the trick”

"One-half?" Lidastov put his chin on his hand with a stern expression, seeming to be a little moved by the price, and said in a pretentious manner.

"The price is quite reasonable, but with so many cobbler shops, it's hard for me to make an immediate decision. It's really a headache."

In fact, he doesn't care about the price of leather at all now. What he cares about is the target of this mission, Zang Hong'er Flower, where should he get the scarce item personally named by His Majesty the Falcon?

The caravan has arrived at the trading house. The news should have spread throughout the city. With so many tannery shops here, the people in Zanghongerhua should also know about it.

Sure enough, while they were lowering prices and arguing with each other in the exchange, Ridastov caught an unexpected glimpse of a young man who was obviously not an apprentice in a cobbler's shop. He was looking inwardly at the door of the exchange, holding a hand in his hand. He was carrying a package that didn't seem to be important, with a melancholy look on his face, as if he had encountered something difficult.

The young man watched for a while, then stomped away in a hurry. Lidaristo secretly glanced at the deputy next to him, and the deputy quickly followed the young man. This deputy was a master of tracking, and he quickly followed the young man. Dastov continued to pretend to bargain with the cobblers. Everything happened very fast,

Twenty minutes passed before the deputy in charge of tracking came back from outside.

Saw the deputy making covert gestures. Lidastov was reassured. He knew that his deputy had confirmed the whereabouts of the young man, so he continued to make concessions with the businessmen.

Seeing that Lidastov had not made a clear statement for a long time, the leather merchants around him were indeed a little anxious. No one knew whether there would be another merchant after this merchant left.

The current situation can simply be described as collapse. There is chaos everywhere. A large number of local materials cannot be sold, or they are monopolized by the powerful parliamentary nobles.

The organizational form of the Dorok Council is that in addition to the General Council of Aaron, each region also has its own sub-council. This brother council has the power to legislate and adjudicate over its own region. Therefore, it soon became the throat of all local forces. In order to maximize their interests, parliamentary decrees became the best cloak for these greedy nobles to seize profits.

If they had to consider public grievances and their own reputation before issuing orders. Then with the outbreak of war, the power of parliaments in various places has also been expanded without limit. From army expansion and recruitment to material dispatch, all these powers are nominally concentrated in the hands of parliament, but in fact they are controlled by parliamentary nobles.

One bill today, one bill tomorrow, all in the name of victory. Things like public grievances were simply ignored. After all, it was the parliament that was hated. Does it have anything to do with me? This is a foreign war, but in the eyes of many parliamentary nobles, this is also a good time to make a fortune.

It's like a feast for the powerful. The appearance of eating is no longer important. Everyone is competing about who eats first, how to eat, and who can eat more in a short period of time.

There was once a speaker who described the value of Parliament in Dorok so humorously. Before there was Parliament, the nobles were wolves and the farmers were sheep. It was a wolf eating a sheep. Now that there is Parliament, there are two wolves. Join a group of sheep and decide by a show of hands, which wolf will eat the sheep today?

This result is very satisfying for the sheep, because they have the power to decide who is eaten, and it is also satisfying for the wolves, because they can eat freely.

"What kind of world is this?" A leather merchant complained dejectedly, thinking of the current sluggish business. "What do the speakers of the parliament do for a living? Every day they sit there arguing about this, arguing about that, and finally... A war broke out inexplicably with the Falcon Empire

"What else can we do? Of course, just transfer it directly to the name of the sniffing noble." Another businessman said with a sad and angry face. "I heard that the parliamentary nobles are still clamoring for tax increases. I heard that there are some areas where the parliament In the name of fighting against the Falcon Empire, they ask for high military sponsorship fees from passing caravans. They call it an accomplice to cut off the enemy's source of income. They are really shameless people. They don't even think about what would happen if the caravans Everything has disappeared, what should we do with the property of our Dorok people?"

"Everyone, everyone, you can't talk like this behind my back, it will cost me my life." Lidastov pretended to be frightened, stood up from his seat, rubbed his temples with his hands, he felt very sleepy. He repeatedly stopped him and said, "Everyone knows that most of the people who dare to run business now are smugglers or have strong backgrounds. What you are looking for is money. Everyone just knows it."

After all, Lidastov was once the second-in-command of the largest smuggling group in northern Wikidia. He did these small tricks so well that others didn't feel anything unusual.

No one doubted that the man in front of them was the number one minion of the Doroks' number one enemy. Seeing Lidastov stand up from his seat, the businessmen subconsciously gave way.

"Just give me an accurate answer. Do you want our goods?" A businessman on the periphery finally took the opportunity to squeeze in and asked loudly and impatiently.

Lidastov waved to everyone and said with a wry smile, "It's not that I don't want it, but I really can't decide now. My carriage is only so big and the money it brings can only be so much. Even if you are willing to give it all If you sell it to me, I won’t be able to take it away. Just come here today. In three days, I will definitely give you a satisfactory answer.”

Seeing the helpless look on Lidastov's face, the leather merchants had to stop talking. Everyone was so noisy just now that they were quarreling with each other and lowering prices. They calmed down immediately, but they didn't dare to look at each other. , colleagues are enemies, but this is the first time they have broken up like this.

After all the leather merchants were sent away, Lidastov waved to the deputy next to him and asked in a gloomy voice, "How is it? Do you know the address and background of that person clearly?"

"Yes, sir, I kept following him, and finally I saw him entering a cobbler's shop with the sign of Boai Road Cobbler's Shop hanging on the shop floor." The adjutant came over calmly and responded respectfully.

"Oh, so he is not the person we are looking for." When he heard that it was the cobbler's shop, a trace of disappointment flashed across Lidastov's face.

"My subordinates asked around and found out that the man was not from the cobbler's shop. I heard that he was a man who came down from the mountain and went to the cobbler's shop owner to exchange things."

"On the mountain?" Lidastov's expression was shaken, and after a moment of silence he asked, "Do you know what he wants to change?"

"If I heard correctly, it seems to be something called Zang Honger Flower," the deputy said hesitantly. Because of the accent, he couldn't fully understand the local dialect. The other party only told him secretly after receiving a silver coin from him. His intuition told him that this should be a very secret matter.

Sure enough, he saw his boss, who always kept his emotions to himself, smile at the corner of his mouth, strangely like the protruding tongue of a venomous snake (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature, the novels are better and updated faster!