Realm of Power

After reading the alliance document with the Gangfei royal seal in his hand three times, the fat man heard a rush of footsteps coming from outside the tent. The military tent door was opened, and two figures walked in. It was Statu, the southern governor of the empire. Enko Central General Hu Keqili, both of them saluted the fat man at the same time

"Why are you here now? Where have you been just now?" The fat man raised his head from the table and threw the somewhat useless document to Hu Keqili who was a little ahead. "Look at this!"

"Is this?" Hu Keqili held the scroll in his hand, frowned slightly, and slowly opened his hands, with a look of astonishment on his face, "Is this Gangfei's covenant book?"

"That's right, it's the covenant grass scroll given to us by the Gangfei Empire!" The fat man smiled slightly, stood up from his seat, came to a brazier erected in the middle of the military tent, stretched out his fat hand and gently placed it on it. Warm roast. He said, "This time the Gangfei people are willing to use two provinces close to the border in exchange for us sending troops. I'm still hesitating whether I should agree to them!"

"Two provinces want to exchange for us to unite against the Istani people? How is this possible!"

Statunko frowned slightly when he heard it, took the document from Hukoqili's hand, read it carefully, and said dissatisfiedly, "To be honest, Your Majesty, I don't think this military alliance is beneficial to us, although I don't I have fought against the Istantians, but I have also heard that this is a large empire that is not inferior to Gaul, with strong military strength. , there are many war generals. Once you fall into it, you are likely to offend an enemy for no reason. The most important thing is that Gang Feiren is so stingy that he expects to use two marginal places that are not of much value. In exchange for forming a military alliance with us, we really think that our Falcon Empire is a barbarian who has never seen the world in the northwest!"

"Yes, such a condition is more like an insult than asking for help!" Hukoqili, who read the terms, agreed with Statunko's view.

"Yes, your views are the same as mine. In fact, just before, I have arranged for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to send people to Congo and Africa and clearly told them that the conditions are at least four provinces, and one of them must be the southern part of the Congo Empire. Commercial Center Valencik, otherwise, stop talking here!" The fat man rubbed his hands on the fire with a proud look on his face.

"Valencik!"

Hearing the name from the fat man's mouth, Statunko and Hukoqili both took a breath of cold air. His Majesty really dared to speak. This is the rhythm of seizing the opportunity and biting it to death. Even Gang Fei The richest areas are all thinking about it

Ruda Cape in Congo is the largest province in the south, not only twice the size of other provinces in area. Moreover, it is also the location of the inland sea port of the Gangfei Empire. If it can be included in the territory of the Falcon Empire, the empire will no longer be an outsider entering the inland sea through the inland sea channel, but directly become a member of the inland sea countries. The empire will be in advance of the inland sea. Having a well-equipped logistics center is of immeasurable value to the entire empire’s inland sea strategy.

"Your Majesty. I'm afraid you won't give up on Valencik so easily." Statunko glanced at the fat man's face cautiously.

"That's not possible"

The fat man curled his lips slightly, like a profiteer who succeeded in his conspiracy, and said with a smile, "You must have heard that the Congolese army made a big fool of themselves in Focodir some time ago. It was impossible to ambush the enemy with 200,000 troops." A force of 100,000 people, instead of trapping the Istani troops who broke into Fokodil, were bitten by the opponent in the battle, and the number of casualties was no less than that of the Istani people. , now the main force of Gangfei was completely restrained and unable to move, while another force of the Istan people got rid of Gangfei's entanglement, like a poisonous snake pounced directly on the bird's egg on the branch, safely ignoring the words of the old birds next to it. There are panic calls, if we can’t get support, Gangfei Xinjing will not be able to survive this winter! Whether we want Kyoto or a southern port, I believe the Gangfei people will weigh it clearly.”

"Your Majesty still has a unique vision!"

Statunko's eyes lit up when he heard this. Who would have thought that the Istan people and the Gangfei people would fight to the death, and the one who got the biggest advantage in the end might be the Falcon Empire. No wonder His Majesty's reaction to the Istan people's invasion of Gangfei some time ago was So calm and cold, it turns out that a hole has been dug long ago waiting for Gang Fei People jumped in. Currently, except for the Falcon Empire, there is no other country in the Barro region of Central Europe that is capable of fighting against the Istanes. No other country is willing to take the risk. The wall is falling and everyone is pushing it. At present, it is just the crumbling wall. I don’t know how many eyes are watching, waiting for a bargain!

"Then let's cool off Gang Feiren first!" The fat man nodded. In the afternoon, the fat man convened a meeting of all the generals on the Gallic Kyoto front to discuss the deployment of the siege of Gaul Kyoto. At the meeting, a general proposed " If we want to force the capital of Gaul to surrender, we must completely cut off its supply. If we can mobilize a force to cross the Gallic capital and attack the eastern region of Gaul, then the Gallic capital will be truly cornered." Fatty agreed with this view, but considering that the troops had just experienced a war and needed some time to rectify, The plan to send troops to the east cannot be implemented for the time being.

On the fifth day, the situation took an unexpected turn

An urgent letter from the south was delivered to the fat man, and turmoil broke out in Gangfeixinjing. Some defeated troops who failed in the front battle rushed into Gangfeixinjing. In the chaos, the arrogant Istani negotiator tried to go alone. Facing the defeated army, before he could say a few words, he was swarmed by the defeated army and hacked to death with random swords.

Enkodo, the envoy of the Falcon Empire, was a confidant of the former Foreign Minister Lidakus. When he sensed that the situation was not good, he used a bed sheet from the high wall to hang into the street below to escape from the foreign affairs office where the envoy was located. However, The more than 20 Falcon Empire guards who stayed at the Foreign Ministry were all killed in the battle.

Chaos in Xinjing! It shocked the entire Obaro. Although the Confederate Guards in the city responded quickly and took control of the situation, it was a foregone conclusion that one of the two imperial envoys of the Istan Empire and the Falcon Empire would be killed and the other injured.

"Barbaric Gang is inhumane!"

After a long period of silence, the Barrow countries in Central Europe, which had been sitting on the sidelines and watching the fire, suddenly erupted in one-sided condemnation

"We are going to attack such an untrustworthy country like Gang Fei! Why should we have any mercy!"

The Emperor of Istan was furious and issued seven Golden Orders of Istan in one day. He ordered all the armies to launch bloody revenge on the occupied areas, especially the Eastern Governor Hayela, who had heavy troops. The city was massacred in three days. Nearly 400,000 gangsters were transformed into ghosts under the sword of his great saber. Countless corpses were inserted into wooden stakes and erected on both sides of the long road, because the Istanbul envoy who died at the hands of the defeated army was his half-brother. , the upstart Earl Hag of the Istan Empire, a confidant of the emperor who has been confirmed to go to Liour Province as governor in three months, is different from his cruel and murderous brother. The slain Earl Hag gave people the image of being upright and brave, and he was one of the few military ministers in the Istan Empire who did not have much hostility to the Congo Empire, because his mother was the daughter of a Congo Empire noble.

Another consequence of the Xinjing Rebellion was that the former Minister of Military Affairs, Ruben Thacker, had spent countless efforts and efforts to behave like an iron barrel to the outside world, and the imperial court finally split for the first time. Undercurrents are surging, and the confrontation between the warring faction represented by the military Duke Andia and the peace-keeping faction of Prince Dunard has just surfaced. Using the Xinjing Rebellion as a weapon, Prince Dunard and other peace-keeping factions have openly He blamed the collapse of the army for causing Gangfei to fall into an extremely passive and unfavorable situation. It was a farce planned and arranged by military officials in order to gain more power.

The military complained that the collapse of the army was a farce directed and staged by Prince Dunard's peace faction, considering that Andrea, the city guard officer who was the main person in charge of the South Gate, was at such a critical moment. He didn't even sit on the city wall to command, so the final conclusion was that Andrea's dereliction of duty led to the collapse of the army. Andrea was sentenced to death. As for why Kyoto, where 30,000 troops were stationed, reacted so slowly after the defeated army entered the city, both the peace faction and the war faction automatically ignored it, because at the moment the defeated army entered the city, Both sides are planning to use this matter to attack each other.

In December, the Istani people carried out a massacre outside the capital of Congo. The special envoy of the Falcon Empire entered the capital of Congo again, bringing new conditions, six provinces, four ports, and the fat lion opened its mouth. Claiming that an important official of the empire (a minion from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) almost died during the Xinjing Rebellion Difficult, this is a naked humiliation to the "chiluo" of the Falcon Empire, and seriously harms the profound friendship between the two countries (killing the emperor of the other party!) Therefore, the conditions must be doubled, otherwise, the Falcon Empire will not rule out Xiang Gangfei The empire denounces all actions to seek justice (taking advantage of the situation)

At the same time, when the war in the Gangfei region was raging, everything from the court to the people was ablaze. In contrast, the Putao region in the south, which was once the focus of the war, was very quiet. The rough winter ocean currents were flowing along this long natural stretch. The inner bend seems much quieter, the waves are surging gently, and the layers of white waves are swaying. Like the snow layer against the hash, the seawater looks like a hint of gray and white ice floes in winter, and you can't see the bottom at a glance. The huge waves on the sea that were often seen some time ago are completely invisible this time. This is the cold winter. There are signs of condensation. In fact, in the depths of the ocean, undercurrents are still surging and extremely dangerous.

Since the Falcon Empire became the actual control of the coastal area of ​​​​Putau, it only took a few months for a large number of immigrants to migrate from the northwest region. The once deserted towns were re-cultivated, and piles of stones could be seen along the coast. The city wall outside looks particularly beautiful from a distance. Under the sunlight, it looks like a burning sunset winding along the ridges and coasts. This makes sailors passing along the coastline call this place the Red Coast.

In July, the Duke of Putau officially declared that the Principality of Putau was a vassal state of the Falcon Empire. The four coastal counties were directly under the jurisdiction of the Falcon Empire. The original four northern counties were built into free trade ports. The vast and fertile central area Three counties and a population of nearly 200,000 were reunited into Kyoto, the Principality of Putau. area, the Duke of Putau has been very busy in the past few months. He is busy doing business, playing "trouble" between the coastal area and the Congolese Empire, transporting goods from the coastal areas to Congo, and then transporting goods from Congo. When he went to the coast, with his status as a duke, the merchants also allowed him to pay after selling the goods.

"Really, don't you know where to stop even if you are just a human?" Putting down the detailed report on the Xinjing Rebellion in his hand, Duke Putao sat on the armchair and took a cup from the hand of a young lady with big breasts and pretty arms next to him. Red wine, and I didn’t forget to joke about it. I was so leisurely that I no longer looked like I was depressed.

The newly built Duke's Palace is far more magnificent than the previous Dukes of Putao. This guy has grown up. In his Duke's conference room, the nobles sitting down are discussing their own family business, caravan trading, and the recent one. A batch of goods can be worth the investment. What are the most popular goods in Gangfei? As for the territorial gains. The power of aristocrats has long been something no one wants to mention.

As the war between the Congo Empire and the Istani people intensified, the status of the Putao noble business group rose rapidly. The last time the Duke of Putao went to Xinjing in Congo, he received continuous invitations from more than a dozen wealthy families in Congo. This was absolutely impossible in the past. Who would remember that down-and-out guy who even lost his country?

But now, it's really normal. The Duke of Putao wouldn't even bother to deal with an ordinary wealthy family!

With the rapid development of commerce and trade, the Putao nobles have begun to take the initiative to exchange inland land for funds that can be used to build caravans, and have taken the initiative to assume the springboard for the coastal areas and the inland markets of the Congo Empire. If they had changed to other places For the country, such a situation may be very embarrassing and may even cause fierce resistance at the aristocratic level, but it is a common practice to almost destroy the country. In Putou, who was exploited and squeezed by the Gangfei people and almost didn't sell his pants, there was no such unnecessary consideration. No matter whether they were nobles or commoners, everyone had only one idea, and that was to make life as good as possible, as for face. The national pride and other things had already been cut away like a soft knife when the Gangfei people took full control of Putao. The Gangfei people spent countless efforts and energy to soften the Putao people's will to resist, but they were defeated by Falcon. The empire bought the bottom,

I have witnessed the game of iron and blood between real big countries. More than 100,000 troops were wiped out, and corpses littered the fields. The Duke of Putao who dared to cut him severely in the first place. I have long since given up on the idea of ​​independence.

Because he finally realized that Pu Tao's territory was too small, and there was still room for improvement in commerce. On land, he would be a small minion that a big country could just crush to death. In this case, Teng Yuan focused too much energy on this. A piece of land that cannot be defended at all. It is better to expand from the perspective of influence. The Falcon Empire can allow the Principality of Putao to continue to exist and retain about half of its land without interfering too much in the internal affairs of Putao. It is already a matter of gratitude. How dare you ask for anything more?

"Your Majesty the Duke," an attendant walked over cautiously and handed him a letter.

"Who sent it?" asked Duke Putao

"Falcon Empire Admiralty!"

The attendant looked a little nervous. Since July, the Falcon Empire's naval fleet has been gathering in the Putao Sea. It is said that there is a tendency to move into the inland sea. Although they are not enemies, watching those cruising on the sea, occasionally A huge warship with dense black muzzles exposed on the side of the deck , Puntau people are always frightened. They consider themselves a maritime nation, but in terms of shipbuilding technology, they are far behind compared with the Falcon Empire. Many Pantao workers are working in the port dock. work, and a small number of people were recruited by the Falcon Navy to become members of the Falcon Empire Navy

"Admiralty!" Duke Putau's hand holding the letter trembled. He quickly opened the letter and read it again, with a look of ecstasy on his face. He read it again with some disbelief. He jumped up from his chair and shouted loudly to The attendant shouted, "Go, gather everyone in the business group immediately, we have a distinguished guest coming!"

In the afternoon, the sun shone lazily on the port of Varkala, the new capital of the Principality of Putau. The port was under martial law. Putau honor guards wearing white breastplates and holding long-handled axes lined up on the main road of the port. Wearing the blue ducal uniform of Hongkou, he stood at the docking position of the pier. Behind him were more than thirty nobles of all sizes.

Not far away, a long and narrow Falcon Empire Dragon Tooth class battleship slowly docked under the eager eyes of everyone. The springboard was lowered with a "pop", and a tall woman appeared from the deck of the battleship, her slim long skirt trailing. to the ground, soft and plump, nearly 1.8 meters tall She has a super slim figure, is gracefully round and slender, and her whole body exudes a mature fragrance. Leng Gui makes people dare not look directly at her. However, her white dress looks so graceful and elegant, as if she is deliberately suppressing her own beauty. Be fiery and make yourself pure and elegant.

"Excuse me, is this Miss Sokutus Stellan?" Duke Putau hurriedly greeted her. This is the most powerful woman in the business alliance. If she is not received well, she can easily make Putau return to liberation overnight. At present, half of the common trade lines are in the hands of the business alliance, not to mention the private goods of common products, which are only given special permission by the business alliance after special care.

"Your Majesty the Duke! What are you..." Sokutus Stellan smiled crookedly when he saw the Duke of Putao, and then looked at the formation at the port. He was a little surprised. This was a secret trip, so The battle is too big! Not far away, a carriage with the logo of the Falcon Empire's Admiralty was also parked. It seemed that it was also afraid of such a formation, so it did not come forward.

"They are all people who have received the grace of the young lady. They are here specifically to greet the young lady this time!" Duke Putau looked a little embarrassed. He felt that there was something wrong with the other party's attitude, but he didn't know what was wrong.

"Grace? Haha, I think the Duke made a mistake. I don't want too many people to know this time!" Sokutus Stellan looked at him with bright eyes.

"That's it!" Duke Putao suddenly realized it. He quickly turned around and whispered to the attendants behind him. Soon, the nobles on the dock were dispersed.

The black Admiralty carriage arrived in front of Sokutus Stellan, the door opened, and what appeared inside was the Imperial Navy Minister Dustelenko.

"Lord Dustrunkai!"

Duke Putao was shocked when he saw it. Do the people from the Business Alliance need the Minister of the Navy to personally come forward? Could that rumor be true? Behind this woman is the Falcon Emperor

"Miss Sokutus Stellan! That order..." Dostronkai asked with a kind expression.

"Here is the order." Sokutusdalan took out two letters, one for Duke Putao and one for Dustrenkai, and said calmly, "Congratulations, Your Excellency the Duke. Soon, you can be called the king!"