I will be crowned king

When it came to Mason Wetzler, Anson was only half right.

He predicted that the other party would be nervous because of the exposure of the Faithless Knights, but he did not expect that the reason for the opponent's panic was not the exposure of the Faithless Knights, but that he had been hiding this matter from his "boss" Speaker Harold. , leading to a dilemma.

As a businessman, he always regards "equal treatment" as his moral bottom line; whether loyalty or body, there is nothing that cannot be sold as long as the price is right; which one is more valuable, a noble spirit or a good-looking body, should not depend on production, transportation and Cost of sales?

The same goes for gold coins, neither is more noble or more filthy; pagans engraved the symbol of "original" on gold coins, which turned out to be a pious ring of order.

What, you said some things are not for sale?

Oh, there's the Ring of Order... It's a gimmick, a packaging, a promotional slogan, and a way to pay a premium; as long as it can be sold at a sky-high price, a fool won't do it.

The problem was that Anson Bach didn't offer a price.

Then Mason Wetzler panicked.

He doesn't mind at all betraying Speaker Harold and joining the garrison commander who obviously has local support, but there is also a Rune family standing behind him; since the other party is determined to support Rune, he, as the president of the Chamber of Commerce, must To be taken for surgery.

On the other hand, if Harold knew that he had such a private armed force hidden in his hand, the other party's first reaction would definitely not be that he was indeed loyal, but how to deal with the traitor who had deceived him for many years.

Now he is in a dilemma. No matter which side he joins, he may end up in a doomed situation.

But Mason didn't intend to just lie down and die. He still held the last two trump cards in his hands...the Faithless Knights and the Beluga Port Chamber of Commerce.

The former is an armed group composed of talented people who have awakened the power of blood. Even if it has been exposed, it is still an exposed dagger, and it is still a force that cannot be underestimated in Beluga Port.

The latter is the entire meaning of the existence of the entire Beluga Port... Without the Beluga Port Chamber of Commerce to operate from it, no amount of coal, timber, seafood and ore can be smoothly acquired, transported and sold to the mainland.

It is precisely because of the monopoly on trade in Beluga Port that the Wetzler family has its current status; and what Anson Bach seems to want is not only to break this monopoly, but also to have Miss Thalia beside him completely destroy it. Replace yourself.

This is also the most unacceptable point for Mason Wetzler!

Once it is deprived of its monopoly on foreign trade, or even just shared with someone, the status of the Wetzler family will be gone; then there will be no need for Anson Bach to take action, and those directors in the Chamber of Commerce who are "loyal" to them will He will pounce on him and tear himself into pieces.

In order to avoid a sad fate, Mason planned to make a big gamble with the last two cards in his hand.

Mason Wetzler, who was excited inside, slowly raised his head. He picked up the wine glass on the table, and the mellow black rum swayed slightly in the delicate and transparent glass container.

Both the liquor and the glass are high-end luxury goods that have traveled across the ocean from the mainland, and are no different from those that appear on the tables of high-end hotels in Clovis City; only two people can afford to drink such fine wine in Beluga Port, and one It was him, and the other was Harold.

It was under the operation of the Speaker that he had the monopoly on trade in Beluga Port; but now...

"It's all you, you forced me to do this."

Mason, with a ferocious expression of fear, stared at the wine in the glass.

The next second, a full glass of wine was thrown out of the window.

……………………

"boom!"

Pulling the trigger gently, lead bullets wrapped in gun flames poured out of the barrel, tearing through the layers of gunpowder smoke, and accurately hit the fixed chest target fifty meters away.

"The Leyden muzzle-loading rifle in the 70th year of the Saint's Calendar - has been in service for many years and has excellent quality. It is still the weapon with the largest number of equipment in the Royal Army so far. Although the range and hit rate are not good, and the failure rate is high; but it wins The structure is simple and the cost is low. As long as there are materials and tools, even ordinary people can make one at home."

Holding the 80% new rifle in his hand, Anson swore to Bishop Ripper.

"With the arms reserves currently controlled by the garrison, at least five hundred to two thousand militiamen equipped with such rifles can be immediately armed, and they can become combat effective within three months at the earliest."

"As an old-fashioned muzzle-loading rifle, the 70th-century Leyden also has a major advantage, that is, it is very easy to modify; replace it with a thick barrel and it becomes a shotgun, and add rifling to become a rifle, which is very convenient."

"And even though it is a weapon that was more than thirty years ago, it still has some 'advanced technology' - the slot under the muzzle is very convenient for installing a bayonet, instead of having to put the bayonet in like some old-fashioned weapons. Tie it to the body of the gun or get stuck in the barrel.”

"After the spring, we can open up the trade line with the mainland, and there will be as many arms as we need. If the Luen family's steel plant can be successfully completed, we can also introduce assembly lines to produce Leyden rifles ourselves, and rely on cheap raw materials to reduce costs. The price may even be cheaper than locally.”

"For now... I plan to sell each rifle to the League of Trustees at 20% off the price of a new gun in the name of 'material loss', and then calculate it based on the actual cost. What do you think?"

"No problem, I will mobilize believers to raise donations as soon as possible to buy these weapons."

Even though Bishop Ripper couldn't understand a word of Anson's talk, he was still very satisfied.

After all, the more thoughtful the other party is prepared, the more it proves that he really takes the matter of forming an army of believers seriously, and is not just planning to fool himself.

And Anson was also very happy - the accumulated junk in the Storm Division arsenal finally had a good place to go.

"Of course, for an army, weapons and equipment are not the most important. Sufficient training, discipline and a sense of belonging are the top priorities; otherwise, even if you have high-quality and cheap weapons, it is not enough to be called army."

He then changed the subject: "The training work can be provided by the Storm Division, but the easiest way to gain discipline and a sense of belonging is to have your own flag and uniform."

"The flag can create a spiritual symbol, and a uniform uniform can create a group identity and sense of belonging, allowing these brave warriors to spontaneously maintain the League of the Promise Keepers; after all, colonial immigrants come from all over the world, and they want to turn them into armies. The first thing is to break down the barriers between us.”

"I agree." Bishop Ripper agreed, but still looked embarrassed and said:

"It's just that with the capabilities of Beluga Port, I'm afraid it won't be able to provide two thousand pieces of identical clothes in a short period of time; not to mention that these clothes need to prepare at least two sets of winter and summer clothes, which will require four thousand pieces of clothes."

"This is easy to handle. We can first reduce the size of the Army of the Promise Keepers Alliance, and then organize the remaining people to form a textile factory." Anson immediately came up with the perfect plan he had prepared long ago:

"Since it is a militia organization, in addition to funding from the parliament and voluntary donations from believers, the Alliance of Promise Keepers must also be as self-sufficient as possible and develop production."

"Our ultimate goal is to build an organization that can not only protect ourselves, but also unite all believers; in this case, we must let believers see that supporting or even joining the Promise Keepers Alliance can actually bring them benefits."

"It's still difficult to do other things, so let's start with the easiest one - raising your own military uniforms and assisting the army in maintaining law and order. How do you do?"

"Excellent, what a genius idea!"

Bishop Riper's eyes lit up: "That's right, that's right! I should have thought of it a long time ago... The best way to unite the believers in the Circle of Order is to restore the oldest tradition of the church thousands of years ago!"

"Pass on...tradition?"

Anson was stunned for a moment.

"That's right! The Alliance of the Faithful Keepers you mentioned is exactly what the Church in the Dark Ages looked like!" The bishop looked very excited:

"In that ancient and chaotic era, filled with divisions and pagans everywhere, the priests of the Circle of Order were actually very weak - they huddled in simple churches and were powerless to do anything that happened around them."

"But did our great ancestors feel sorry for themselves and sit idly by? No, they organized the refugees, reclaimed wasteland around the church, guided the villagers to build houses, and taught them how to make tools, weave, animal husbandry, and teach them the principles of order. Tamaki’s will…brings the land burned by the war back to life!”

"Under God's will, the blessed warriors took up the weapons forged by their own hands and became holy warriors who defended the church... just like today's League of the Promise Keepers!"

The excited Bishop Riper's hands were trembling, as if he had received a revelation: "You are absolutely right. If you want to reunite the divided believers, the best way is to restore the church to its original appearance... We Let’s restore the old system!”

"Instead of the one we have in our country today...a deformed monster that combines plutocrats, academic lords and warlords, is so greedy for power that he doesn't know how to restrain himself, and is hungry for wealth!"

The corners of Anson's mouth twitched violently.

His original intention was to downplay the military background of the Promise Keepers League as much as possible and turn it into a place similar to a "social organization" or a "club" to prevent Bishop Ripper and his Universalist fanatics from having the opportunity to go to extremes. .

As the most important faith among the immigrants in the New World, unless Anson planned to let the church intervene in the colony, as long as he wanted to unite the entire colony, supporting the Universalist Church was his only choice - after all, this was still a colony of the Kingdom of Clovis, so he could directly convert to the old faith. The God Sect is just too blatant.

Of course, it is not impossible to pretend to regret the day you convert...

If possible, he even plans to build the Promise Keepers Alliance into a public welfare organization, closer to a community committee or a labor union... However, for a jihadist maniac like Universal Sect, this kind of thing can only be done step by step, and he cannot have high expectations.

But Bishop Riper was obviously interested in this matter, and his ecstatic eyes seemed to have seen the "bright future" in the blueprint drawn by Anson: countless believers united around the League of Faith Keepers, just like them in the Dark Ages Unite around the church like that.

"In addition to textile factories, the Promise Keepers Alliance also needs other small workshops to maintain self-sufficiency, and have a certain degree of economic independence, a complete donation system, and a fund management model..." Anson continued:

"This is also to expand the number of participants in the Faith Keepers Alliance. You know, we are all equal before the Ring of Order. Defending faith is not just the privilege of poor believers, but the obligation of all believers."

"I totally agree!"

The excited Bishop Ripper was quite decisive. Originally, the Universalists were not very interested in secular affairs, and they did not have the prejudice that wealth is a sin. To a certain extent, they also agreed with the "adventure and exploration" behavior of doing business: "What are you going to do?" When does it start?”

"Don't worry yet - building a workshop requires planning the site, purchasing raw materials from material suppliers, and preparing enough textile machines." Anson explained with a smile:

"This is a mid-term plan. If it goes well, the Promise Keepers Alliance will be able to have its own flag and uniforms in one month."

"Everything he does is so step-by-step, and he is worthy of being the inheritor of the Qiuzhen Sect." Bishop Ripper praised:

"If this were the era of sectarian schism, you would be fully qualified to join the Society of Truth led by Saint Isaac based on your ability!"

No, I have no interest in that underground terrorist organization... Anson complained in his heart and smiled humbly: "You are really over the top."

………………

After sending Bishop Ripper away, Anson smoked his pipe in the smoking room of the White Whale Harbor Council for a while, preparing to wait for Mason Wetzler to come to his door.

But in the end it was his loyal chief of staff who barged in without knocking, holding an invitation in his hand.

"Mason Wetzler invites you to a banquet tonight. It will be at his home - a small three-story courtyard in the port area." Karl threw the invitation on the table casually:

"Only for you."

"Just me?"

"Anyway, you are the only one whose name is on the invitation."

"Then do you think I should go?"

"That depends on what you want to do." Karl shrugged:

"Anyway, if you insist on going, you must at least bring a guard company and an additional battalion with you, and let the Storm Division be ready to seal the city at any time."

Anson Bach: “…So you don’t agree?”

"nonsense!"

Karl snorted coldly: "We have already killed one talented person and captured two. Do you think he invited you to a dinner party at this time because he suddenly realized that he wants to be a good person?!"

"Definitely not." Anson agreed, but then changed the topic:

"But what is our purpose?"

"How do I know what your purpose is..."

"To prevent the White Whale Port riot from causing too much impact on the colony, at the same time cut off the economic source of the Faithless Knights, and keep these imperial traitors in our hands."

Anson, who directly "revealed the mystery", interrupted: "What do you think is the best way?"

Karl was stunned for a moment, and after being silent for a while, he said with some uncertainty:

"Then...going to the banquet?"