Realm of Power

The sunny day in Lisbonto at the end of April made the blue sky, which was already reflected by the sea water, even more pure. At the Lisbonto Business Alliance headquarters inside the white marble arch, Biero, a staff member of the Lisbonto Business Alliance, skillfully opened a Application for a new chamber of commerce. As a professional responsible for approving the registration of new chambers of commerce, Biero has been working on it for four years. Work experience, his eyes were on the name of the Chamber of Commerce, and he just paused and glanced over, "Sunrise Chamber of Commerce..." It's a very unique name. After several years of approval, he has seen all kinds of names. Weird names, as long as the application conditions are met, the Business Alliance has no restrictions on the names of chambers of commerce, unless it offends imperial laws.

For example, the Smuggling Chamber of Commerce, overthrowing the Imperial Chamber of Commerce, and the Emperor of the Empire is the Pig Chamber of Commerce. It is not that Biero has never encountered these ridiculous names, and there are quite a lot of them. The greatest influence of the Empire on the conquered areas is to make the original The nobles had to find other ways to survive, and Most of the nobles eventually joined the ranks of merchants. The nobles who had just joined the ranks of merchants naturally did not have much favorable impressions of the empire that had ruined their status. Although they did not dare to face the empire's countless murderous swords, But it is not impossible to criticize the empire by taking the name of the Chamber of Commerce.

This is also the scariest thing about the empire. Biero once saw businessmen who needed to scold the empire change their stance in a short period of time, from being anti-imperialists to die-hard supporters of the empire. To put it bluntly, The empire is powerful and can bring them greater wealth. Their interests are at odds with the empire by joining the business alliance. The countries are connected together, harming the empire is harming their interests. Humans are such strange animals. They hated them to death before, but in the blink of an eye they loved them to death. The identity of the imperial merchants is their protective talisman. The imperial army The more ferocious the ferocious sword, the more it can straighten the backs of the empire's merchants.

Just like the financial fluctuations in Lisbon some time ago, which almost destroyed 80% of the iron ore merchants in Lisbon, if it were not for the strong and decisive Lisbon government, which directly mobilized the army to deal with several wealthy businessmen who did not abide by the rules, it would definitely It was impossible to let that fluctuation pass so easily.

"Any questions?'

Standing in front of Biero at this moment is a middle-aged man with mediocre appearance. His temples are already showing a bit of white. He is thin and dark-skinned. He looks a little nervous. This is normal. Anyone who is about to become the president of the Chamber of Commerce This is true for everyone, and Biero saw through it at a glance based on his experience. This kind of middle-aged person should have been a subordinate of a certain chamber of commerce, and now he has separated from the merchants and established his own business. This kind of person is in Lisbon. It is not uncommon. Although this is an era when everything relies on carriages and feet, the real presidents of large chambers of commerce do not need to travel outside. The ones who really work outside are like the middle-aged man in front of me, who goes to sea all year round. For a person, a trip to the sea may take one or two months, or even half a year, or even longer. Under the wind, rain, and waves, after a few years, he will basically look like this middle-aged man in front of him.

"Don't be nervous, there are no problems with the materials, and the first review is fully qualified!"

Biero said, with a bald head, a smiling face, and wearing the silver-gray dress of a business alliance staff member, he looked slightly happy. "Your application conditions are fully qualified, but I still need to explain to you about joining the business alliance." The alliance must abide by the content, because this is the key to the second review.”

Biero picked up the seal next to him, put it on the red ink pad, then raised his hand to stamp the application materials, and at the same time handed over a thick stack of business alliance manuals together with the documents, and muttered: " As a member of the business alliance, you must abide by the rules of the business alliance. If you violate it more than three times, , you will be warned that if it reaches five times, you will be expelled from the business alliance and will not be able to apply again for ten years. The second review is only held on Wednesdays and Fridays of every week, and the content is a written test on the business alliance manual. If it’s over 80 points, it’s considered qualified. If it’s less than 80 points, it’s a pity. I’ll just ask you to come back next week.”

"The manual you are talking about is not what you are looking at!"

The middle-aged man looked a little stunned. He glanced at the rules and regulations of the business alliance that were nearly half a foot thick in his hand, and took a breath of air. Is this a manual? Who has such big hands! Oh my god, isn't it just a business guild? Why is it more complicated than the annual assessment of the Imperial Navy captain? He just flipped through it casually and was shocked. Not only did it have strict requirements for the operation of the chamber of commerce, it even had strict requirements for the chamber of commerce. business conditions, number of employees, working hours, product specifications, quantity, price and tools used, to ensure product quality, and fraud is strictly prohibited. Once discovered, they will be expelled from the business alliance immediately. For imperial merchants, it is almost overnight Empty

You must know that as the influence of the empire rapidly expands throughout the world, the original concept of merchants as a humble profession is also changing. Moreover, in this era, manual labor is not a sign of humbleness. It is highly respected by society, especially in technology. This is especially true when there are inventions. This honor is earned by providing honest labor to society. For example, "Things made by tanners, coopers, and shoemakers must be 'just'; the wood, leather, and thread used by craftsmen must be 'real'; and the bread baked must be 'fair'." Technically shortcomings and adulteration" that would "undermine the public's credibility

But what makes the middle-aged people even more unbelievable is that the Business Alliance, as a head office and a place where wealthy businessmen gather, actually advocates equality among businessmen. Whether they are small businessmen, workshop owners, big businessmen, or wealthy businessmen, in their mutual relationships In the relationship, they all recognize each other as equals and are united "for a common cause." If there are any disputes, they must be handed over to the Business Alliance referee. Forgive each other and put aside old grudges. Although there will inevitably be quarrels between chambers of commerce, such quarrels must not turn into hatred. "Forget the hatred that may arise, and swear by bread and salt that you will never look at such hatred in a wrong spirit, and the fine will be half of the property." It will also be distributed to the poor of the empire. Except for the special management of the Thirteenth Deacon, other deacons have no right to intervene.

Moreover, the Chamber of Commerce in the same city "meets once a year to discuss personnel salaries. If he hadn't seen it clearly written in the document with his own eyes, the middle-aged man would simply not believe that a businessman who has never been very recognized in his heart, There are actually such regulations and responsibilities,

He does travel at sea all year round, but one thing Biero did not expect is that those who travel at sea are not necessarily businessmen, but also officers of the Imperial Navy, and the middle-aged man in front of him is a former officer of the Imperial Navy, and He was also the admiral of a Dragon Teeth battleship. He retired from the Imperial Navy after being injured in the final battle with Feishan Navy because Due to the conflict between the Imperial Navy and the Imperial Army, it was difficult for Imperial Navy officers to enter the army system after retiring. Navy Minister Dostronkai approached Tirnalante, and eventually the former Imperial Navy officer was transferred to the Lisbon Government Affairs Bureau. After recovering from his injuries and reporting to the Government Office in Lisbon, he received this task assigned by Tiernarante himself.

I thought that everything would be fine after submitting the review materials, but I didn’t expect that there would be a so-called written test!

This was all done on the whim of the fat man. The purpose was to facilitate the management of every chamber of commerce that joined the business alliance. However, the size of the business alliance at the beginning was only in the southern part of the Wikiia region, just a small regional business organization. Now after ten years of development, business alliances have already Unlike before, it has transformed from a small regional business organization into a behemoth spanning three continents. At the beginning, the total number of chambers of commerce in the Business Alliance was only 79, but now the total number of registered chambers of commerce in the Business Alliance has exceeded 400,000. This number is still increasing every year,

So what was really just a small handbook for slaps has now turned into a thick stack more than half a foot high. If a fat man saw this, he would probably faint! After all, he is not a god. The little thing he made on a whim at the beginning, just as a work manual, has developed to the extent it is now.

When Sokutus Stellan served as the Thirteen Deacons, he also proposed changes to this issue, but unexpectedly encountered collective opposition from the other twelve deacons. Even in the face of the brutal Thirteen Deacons, they still unanimously agreed stood up

"As the leading super business organization in the entire continent, the Business Alliance should have the appearance of being the number one in the mainland. Not just cats and dogs can join in at will!"

"The business alliance can develop to this day only because of these rules and regulations. If the rules and regulations are not strict, once one person acts arbitrarily, everyone's efforts and hard work will be destroyed!" The deaconess who had a good relationship with Kutustelan gritted her teeth, stood up from her seat, and explained in a solemn voice, "The whole It is not Miss Dai Lan who is opposed by the executive level of this business alliance. Please don’t misunderstand this. It is the rules of the business alliance that must be followed. After all, as a business guild, the purpose is to protect the interests of the industry and help each other. The most likely problem is the arbitrary behavior of one or two internal chambers of commerce, causing damage to the entire guild."

"Yes, after all, the chambers of commerce that join the alliance are a mixed bag, some are big and some are small, and the prices and quality of the same goods are completely different. The essence of businessmen is to pursue the greatest interests, and shoddy goods are regarded as a common practice. Means, wantonly lowering prices to impact opponents, and even more so on a whim. Once this kind of problem occurs in a chamber of commerce, the credibility of the entire business alliance will be shaken. If it happens a few more times, who will trust the business alliance because of one person? This kind of person is absolutely intolerable. ! "The other deacon snorted with a livid face.

In the end, under the collective opposition of all the deacons, this rule was retained, and it was revised every year according to the new situation. The empire's business alliance had developed to a considerable extent, like an autonomously operating object. Forcibly intervening will cause far more damage than construction. This is another reason why the fat man chose to establish a separate Imperial Bank.

This is why Sokutus Dailan just made a flamboyant notice that seemed to have no execution power. A single charge of trade fraud allowed six people with enough power to control the China-Biyar gold trade route, which has tens of millions of capital flows. The big chamber of commerce was defeated in one morning, and everyone hated it.

The name of the Sunrise Chamber of Commerce appeared on the notice used to hang the nameplate in front of the Business Alliance Hall on Wednesday afternoon. Along with the Sunrise Chamber of Commerce, there were also the names of eleven newly added chambers of commerce. When I go to the business alliance hall, people only occasionally glance at the names on the notices. New chambers of commerce join every week. Who would pay attention to these all the time?

At this moment, at the headquarters of the Blue Chamber of Commerce, six figures were nervously circulating a document signed by the Lisbon Government Affairs Office.

"Everyone, the document that Lisbon has promised to take care of is right in front of us, so we can consider making a gamble with all our strength! It's much better than just sitting there and waiting for death!" The president of the Azure Chamber of Commerce looked at the heads of the other chambers of commerce with a slightly gloomy look, and his loud voice shook the windows. "Although two months is a little short, according to the financial resources of our six chambers of commerce, I believe we can at least take over 70% of the Yelu family's domestic industries. We spent so much effort and took such a risky move that we finally forced Bonnie Berlant of the Gangfei North Army to promise not to sign any Central Asian treaty within two months. Isn't the trade permit for this moment?'

"In Central Bia, the Yelu family has announced the decision to fully open up trade. The central and northern regions of Central Bia controlled by the northern grassland people headed by the Yelu family are the most productive regions in Central Bia. Although we have obtained a lot in the past, it is definitely not as thorough as this time. A completely open Yelu family, not to mention that since Yelu Qiyeguang destroyed the Northern King's Court in a battle on the grassland, the Yelu family has become a new royal court. This time, along with the Yelu family, we also opened up our trade routes to the northern grassland and Dongqi! Since last winter, the cold land people have contacted us several times. If this trade route can be opened, you can imagine that the silk of Central Bia, the horses of the grassland people, and the best animal skins of the cold land people will not be taxed for two years..."

"That's enough. My Lanxia Chamber of Commerce is taking a gamble. I will do everything I can to get the participation funds of 5 million imperial gold! "A short and strong Chamber of Commerce president made up his mind, shouted loudly, and closed the documents in his hand. The strength of the Lisbon Government, the personal praise of the First Princess of the Empire, and the countless wealth from Central Asia finally made the six Chambers of Commerce determined to make a final gamble.