I will be crowned king

Since the entire confederation is its own people from the inside out, and it is impossible for Sailing City to fall to the empire, Anson naturally behaves very generously, and allows Louis to impose all conditions, but the time must be as soon as possible.

After all, the war is over, and the armies of all parties must return to their original locations as soon as possible to carry out post-war reconstruction and recovery work. They cannot stay in Sailing City indefinitely.

The young knight expressed his understanding of this practical need and promised to give an answer within one night at most.

So the next day, Anson and the top leaders of the Confederacy received such a document called the "Draft Agreement of Sailing City"; to simplify it, Louis made these small requirements for joining the Confederacy:

First of all, because of the special nature of Sailing City among all colonies, it should have a special status different from other colonies.

What is "special status"?

To put it bluntly, there cannot be a Storm Division base, let alone a Storm Division garrison; not only the Storm Division, but also troops from any region are not allowed to enter the territory of Sail City without permission, otherwise it will be regarded as an invasion, and Sail City has the ability to counterattack right.

At the same time, in terms of political power, considering that the Confederacy still does not have a real capital; Sailing City believes that the capital of the Confederacy should be Sailing City - regardless of economic, military or importance in the colonies, including historical value, any other Nowhere can compete with Sailing City.

In terms of trade, Sailing City agreed to unify tariffs and was even willing to bear a large part of the Confederacy's expenses; but since Sailing City pays the most taxes, it should have more say in the Confederacy's trade policies. ,

Sailing City respects the laws of the Confederacy. In addition to the laws enacted by local parliaments, the Supreme Court of the Confederacy should serve as the highest arbitration organ. However, considering that Sailing City is the most populous area in the Confederacy, this court should preferably be located in Sailing City.

As for religion... Although the Confederacy has clearly established through law that the Faith Keepers Alliance is the only legal religious organization, its beliefs belong to the Universalist Church, and the believers in Yangfan City are still more inclined to the church; since the Confederacy advocates freedom, Yangfan City believes that it has refused entry to the Faith Keepers Alliance. and missionary power.

There is no need to think about newspapers - Yangfan City welcomes newspaper agencies, but only welcomes the exchange of technology and experience. It also hopes to establish its own newspaper on the basis of mutual learning.

And although Louis appreciated the "liberty" principle of the Confederation, his so-called "equality" is open to question; although everyone is a colony (although it is temporarily called a republic city-state), if there must be absolute equality, then it really means that everyone is a colony. Are all people fair?

Apart from anything else, the population and wealth of Sail City are more than five times that of Gray Pigeon Castle. Why are the powers and responsibilities of both sides completely equal? If a small colony with only a few dozen people declares independence tomorrow, will it be on an equal footing with the six major colonies?

Louis believed that both sides could be equal in terms of moral dignity, but the political power each held should be directly linked to population or taxes paid to the Confederacy; after all, you would get as much reward as you paid, which was also a type of "equality."

Therefore, since Sailing City has the largest population and must pay the most taxes, it is very natural to become the capital of the Free Confederacy and the leader of the Confederacy...

As soon as this draft appeared, it immediately cured the hypotension of countless people in the Confederacy; many people who originally had a good impression of Sailing City or Louis himself suddenly felt that they had been humiliated, and their cheeks hurt as if they had been slapped a hundred times. A slap in the face.

But Yangfan City on the other side seemed completely unaware that he had offended the public, and even felt aggrieved.

The largest colony in the New World, even after experiencing previous turmoil, its population and wealth were greater than those of Red Hand Bay, Black Reef Port and Long Lake Town combined in their heyday, and the trade volume was even greater than that of Clovis, Moby Dick Port. The only designated New World treaty port is not up or down.

Although he is so powerful, he is still willing to accept being equal to Gray Pigeon Castle in terms of status, and is willing to assume due obligations and responsibilities. He just hopes to get more preferential treatment... What is wrong with this?

On the one hand, a rich family looked after their poor relatives, and on the other hand, they regarded themselves as the savior of the other party. It was a blessing that there was no fight.

Fortunately, both sides know each other's true bottom line, so it's not completely impossible to talk about it.

In particular, Louis, who had been encouraged by Bernard, understood very well that only by joining the Confederacy could he save Sailing City, and at the same time use this city to make the Confederacy gradually develop a favorable impression of the Empire, so that it could gradually get rid of the influence of Clovis - or a certain commander-in-chief - -Impact.

Anson is also happy to see this happen.

He also did not want the local people to have the illusion that the Free Confederacy was a vassal of Clovis, but there were some things that he, as a loyal minister, could not say; since Louis was willing to stand up and be the villain, out of respect for his friends and allies, The commander-in-chief of the garrison certainly cannot refuse.

As for the top leaders of the Confederacy...except for Polina Frey, who has followed Anson wholeheartedly and even plans to be more progressive, the rest of the liberal leaders are somewhat schizophrenic: they are worried that Sailing City's too strong power will erode the power they already have; There is hope that such a strong "one of our own" will join us to offset the influence from Beluga Port.

In this situation where many parties had their own agendas but no one dared to turn the table over, the negotiations that everyone thought would turn into a protracted war ended in only three days.

The result of the talks was that Sailing City gave up its "special treatment" - it did not ask to become the capital of the Free Confederacy. The status and power of the six major colonies were equal to each other. At the same time, normal commercial exchanges were not blocked, and the Storm Division and Confederate troops were allowed to pass freely within its territory.

In return, the Confederacy agreed with the suggestion that Sailing City establish a "Grand Court" as the highest arbitration body. At the same time, Sailing City could continue to retain its own religious beliefs, refuse the entry of the League of Faith Keepers, and have the "freedom" of newspapers.

Regarding this agreement that was obviously deliberately targeted at Beluga Port, the top leaders of the Confederacy were actually quite uneasy at first, but as a result, Anson, whose interests were obviously damaged, did not make any protest and only raised the issue of sending troops to assist the Clovis army. , hoping to get compensation from Yangfan City.

There are not many requirements. One is the unconditional right to use the port of Sailing City, because it has the most complete dock in the entire new world; the other is preferential trade rights. In the future, I hope to buy some "small industries" in Sailing City, and may even operate them accordingly. A private bank.

Louis, who felt somewhat guilty, readily agreed without consulting anyone.

………………

“…So that’s what it ended up being.”

With a tone of regret, Anson looked guiltily at Bishop Ribo who had come from afar: "Because the influence of the Church of Order on Sailing City is too strong, even though we have tried our best to fight for it, the other party still refuses..."

"Commander-in-Chief, you don't need to apologize at all!"

The words were like bells reverberating in the room. Judging from the voice alone, it was completely impossible to tell that this well-traveled bishop had just arrived in Sailing City a few hours ago, and that he was still in Red Hand Bay ten days ago.

As the religious leader of Ice Dragon Fjord and the Free Confederacy - at least in name - the Universalist missionary is still no different from what he was in Moby-Dick Harbor, except for three sets of clerical uniforms and two sets of winter and summer attire. , without any extra clothes, living in a townhouse suite of only 45 square meters in Beluga Port, with less than 1,000 gold coins in all his belongings.

In order to help the local Faith Keepers Alliance in Red Hand Bay recruit manpower, Bishop Ribo, who was unable to set off with the large army, could only ride on a caravan carrying light goods. Even the travel expenses were paid for him by local believers.

When they first arrived in Sailing City, if they hadn't happened to meet the hussar company commander who knew him, even the officers and soldiers of the Storm Division would not have believed that this unkempt guy who looked like a tramp was actually the spokesperson of the Promise Keepers Alliance.

"I am not completely ignorant of the actual situation of faith in Sail City; the difficulty of getting them to accept the Universal Sect is far beyond what it can be compared to in Winter Torch City or White Whale Port."

His rough palms gently held up the newly heated wine, letting the warmth flow down his palms into his limbs and bones. Even Bishop Ruibo's cheeks became much rosier than before.

"In fact, even if you can force the Sailing City Council to accept it, the Promise Keepers Alliance currently does not have the extra strength to expand the organization here; just establishing branches in the five colonies from Long Lake Town to Gray Pigeon Castle has already exceeded the alliance. The limits of strength.”

After taking a long breath, Bishop Ruibo's expression was quite emotional: "As for Yangfan City... it's not a bad idea to let them maintain the status quo for the time being; it will take time for the Universal Sect to grow, and it will be easy for the Universal Sect to absorb too many believers who are loyal to the church. The alliance gradually turned toward the corrupt customs of the homeland."

Anson nodded slightly, deeply convinced of this.

Another reason why he agreed to Louis was that even if the Rune family and the Alliance of Promise Keepers expanded their power, they had reached their limit; the fat meat in Sailing City was very fragrant, but the price required to eat it was too high. Not small, it is easy to have various negative consequences due to indigestion.

It is a pity that a newspaper office cannot be established in Yangfan City, but public opinion is sometimes more dominant from outside; on one side there are "regional newspapers" that cover most of the New World, and on the other side there are street tabloids that can only be limited to the local area. It’s clear who has more influence.

Louis Bernard, you can control me when I open a newspaper, but can you still control who the readers of Sailing City like to read?

"What's more, we have more important things to do right now than the expansion of the alliance."

Bishop Ruibo changed his attitude and said with a serious expression.

"Something more important?"

Seeing the other party's suddenly serious expression, Ansen was a little surprised for a moment.

"Indigenous people." Bishop Ruibo announced the answer:

"To be more precise, it is the Old God Sect among the indigenous people - now that the crisis from the empire has finally been resolved, it is time to deal with this part of the threat."

As he spoke, the originally gentle bishop's eyes immediately showed a bit of solemnity, solemnity, and... fanaticism.

If the Qiuzhen sect, which prospered because of Saint Isaac, focuses on the pursuit of knowledge, the Protectorate sect, which was born in the imperial court, is concerned about the dualistic relationship between secularity and faith. The Church of Order is biased towards rule, and has no desire for anything, and is dedicated to spreading the universal message of faith. For King Sejong, the most important thing was the holy war.

Overthrow all evil beliefs, eradicate all ungodly heresies, and spread the teachings of the Ring of Order to every corner of the world with boots and swords... This is the faith value pursued by the Universal Sect.

"I received a very important piece of information. The other party mentioned that the Aboriginal Old God Sect is planning a massive operation and is preparing to take advantage of the coming winter to launch a full-scale raid on the colony." Bishop Ruibo said solemnly:

"It's not just Beluga Port or Winter Torch City, but all the colonies - from Sailing City to Gray Snow Town, and even the areas controlled by the Three Kingdoms of the North Sea. There are a total of thirteen largest colonies, all of which are targets of their attack! "

Anson raised his eyebrows but didn't say anything.

"Of course, there have been many similar rumors before. Many people even swore that the Aboriginal Old God Sect had formed an alliance with the Empire and was preparing to attack the Confederacy and Ice Dragon Fjord."

The bishop gently put down his wine glass, his expression as solemn as ever: "But this time the situation is different. The believer who provided the information also told me a very important piece of information - he knows the cause of Sir Ed Levent's death!"

"The imperial knight captured by Colonel William Cecil did not die from the harsh life and disease at sea, but was killed by a powerful indigenous Old God sect!"

Before he finished speaking, Anson, who was just thinking about how to deal with Bishop Ruibo, his pupils suddenly shrank.

Although Ed Levent's death is not a secret, in the entire White Whale Port...or even in the entire New World, the number of people who know the cause of his death should not exceed one hand!

He, Thalia, the murderer, and Ed Levent himself—other than that, not even the sailors of the Crown knew anything about it.

How did he know?

No...the question now is, how many people already know about this? !

Once the news of Ed Levent's death from the Old Gods spreads back to the mainland, the Church of Order and the Knights of Judgment will have sufficient reason to interfere with the Free Confederacy; all the preparations they have made for the Rune family will be wiped out. Destroyed!

"I didn't tell anyone the truth about Ed Levent's death." Bishop Ruibo suddenly lowered his voice and his expression became more serious than before:

"This matter must not be leaked, Commander-in-Chief... What the Old God Sect hopes most is to spread fear and make the believers of the True God give up resistance because of fear; it must be kept secret until the murderer is caught."

"But it is also a clarion call, a clarion call before the Old Gods are ready for war - you...we...the Confederacy...must be ready!"

"I understand, I understand!"

Anson responded and looked at the bishop solemnly:

"The believer who told you this, where is he now?"