In the Name of the Queen

On April 21, 1792, the last batch of grain purchased by Roland through Samaritan merchants arrived at Emre Port. The same products purchased by merchants from other countries also arrived the day before, but the quantity was much smaller.

The last batch of grain came from the distant Nubian Kingdom. After a month of trekking through the vast land sea and sunset ocean, it finally arrived at the destination.

In order to welcome their arrival, Schmidt, director of the Port Authority, personally led the staff of the Port Authority to greet them.

Not only that, he also hung an exaggerated red banner in accordance with the requirements of the Department of Commerce.

Although it is not known where this habit came from, it is said that this is the request of the Governor, and the Port Authority naturally dare not ask more.

Maybe it is the custom of the damn Samaritan merchant’s hometown?

Director Schmidt, standing at the dock, thought with some disapproval.

The Governor is good at everything, but he trusts the Samaritan merchants too much.

These dirty pigs have no shame, no bottom line, and only money in their eyes. The Governor must know this, but he has to do business with these people.

He fully understood Governor Roland's action to purchase grain.

As the head of the Port Authority, he not only had a unique understanding of trade, but was also proficient in meteorology.

Last year's abnormally warm winter was rare in recent decades. He was a little worried. At the beginning of the year, he wrote to the Governor General to remind Roland to stock up grain in advance.

For this, he received a reply from the Governor General praising him for his high consistency with the Governor General's ideas and received 10 performance points.

Looking at these large ships full of grain, Schmidt was full of a sense of accomplishment.

Long live Her Majesty the Queen, the Governor General is wise, and Schmidt is also smart!

When this batch of grain arrives at the port, the three provinces under the Governor General's jurisdiction will not have to worry about food problems, even if the refugees are added.

Schmidt saw the rows of sails gradually rising at the end of the sea level through the telescope, and he breathed a sigh of relief, and the displeasure of waiting for a long time was slightly alleviated.

He was not cooperating with greedy businessmen, he was receiving life-saving rations for the people of the three provinces.

It was almost afternoon, and the arrival time was more than three hours later than the scheduled time.

The difference of three or four hours also made it impossible to complete the inspection on the same day.

After roughly calculating the transportation time, Schmidt frowned.

There was not enough time, so he had to move it into the granary first, seal it, and check it tomorrow.

Although many officials in the three provinces had a good relationship with the Samaritan merchants, he was not one of them.

He was not discriminating against anyone, but he was equally disgusted with the behavior of short-weighting and selling inferior goods as good ones.

He was an official of the Port Authority, and naturally hoped that Emre Port would prosper so that he could be promoted.

He was eager to make progress, but he would not go along with the merchants.

Many colleagues could not understand his behavior, but his ambition was not something these idiots could understand.

Her Majesty the Queen was in Hansa, so what were you waiting for if you didn't show it at this time?

Schmidt turned to the dock workers behind him and shouted, "Be quick, move the grain before the sun sets, and your wages will be doubled!"

The lazy porters instantly became energetic, and their eyes looking at the grain ship were as sharp as hawks.

That was not a grain ship, but double the pay!

Amid everyone's anticipation, the grain ship slowly entered the port.

Maybe the captain was too drunk to steer the ship, or maybe the sailors were lazy, the speed of entering the port today was surprisingly slow.

Not only that, a sailor accidentally fell from a high altitude when climbing the mast and lowering the sail, and turned into a blurred flesh and blood on the deck.

The sudden change disrupted the order of the cargo ship entering the port and caused a commotion.

It was hard to restore order, but it was delayed for a while.

If it was normal progress, they would not even think about unloading all the grain today. Fortunately, Schmidt gave the porters double pay.

Spurred by money, they were full of energy, sweating profusely, and the progress of the port was fast.

Fleet owner Rabot came over from nowhere and gave Schmidt a flattering smile. At the same time, he handed over a delicate little box.

"This is a pie made by my wife. You can take it back and share it with your family."

"That's not necessary. My wife is a great cook." Schmidt didn't give him face at all.

He looked at the Samaritan merchant coldly and snorted, "Mr. Rabot, you should think about how to deal with it. This is a big matter that has caused deaths."

Rabot was short, more than a head shorter than Schmidt, but his figure was particularly round, more than two times fatter than Schmidt.

Seeing that Schmidt was unmoved, Rabot smiled and was about to explain that the pie was unusual, but Schmidt had already turned away and directed the people of the Port Authority to maintain order.

More than 50 giant merchant ships and more than a dozen escort ships made the port extremely crowded.

In addition to traditional donkey carts, there were also many steam trucks carrying goods.

Emre Port is one of the earliest ports in the world to promote mechanized loading and unloading. There is a smooth hardened road between the dock and the warehouse area, which is convenient for these big guys to pass.

Looking at this efficient transportation efficiency, Labert didn't know what to say for a while.

At least ten large fleets like the one he led have arrived at the port recently, unloading a total of more than 600,000 tons of grain, basically filling the surrounding granaries.

Animal-powered carts and steam trucks transporting grain are constantly coming and going from morning to night.

Although he didn't quite understand why Governor Roland needed so much grain, it was not his place to ask, he just wanted to make more money.

Although he didn't dare to ask, he could probably guess something.

It's probably going to be a war, thought Rabbert silently.

It can't be prepared for ordinary people, right? In his opinion, if there is a famine year, it means that the gods are angry, and those who starve to death are all weak in faith.

The government spends money to buy food for ordinary people, this kind of thing is beyond his understanding.

He wanted to find an opportunity to send out the box of pies with a large check from Hansa Bank, but Schmidt didn't give him a chance.

Seeing that there were many people on the dock, he had to put the box away and prepare to visit again when it was quiet at night.

Busy until nightfall, the handling work was completed as scheduled.

Although various "accidents" occurred, the porters who were blessed with double pay had amazing work efficiency and completed the task.

Schmidt watched the last ox cart driving towards the warehouse, laughed, and made an invitation gesture to Rabbert and others.

"Mr. Rabbert, you have worked hard. The Port Authority has prepared a welcome dinner, please!"

Although the development of things was not quite what he expected, Schmidt's enthusiastic attitude still made Rabbert feel a little relieved.

No matter what, as long as the other party is an official, it is impossible to win him over.

After the dinner, ask the pioneers of other chambers of commerce about what hobbies Mr. Schmidt has.

I am not afraid that officials are not greedy, but I am afraid that they have no hobbies.

Whether you like money, women or anything else, you can satisfy them! Labert thought silently.

While others were not paying attention, he found his deputy David and winked.

David hesitated and wanted to remind him, but was forced back by Labert's murderous eyes.

"You have a family, my friend."

This sentence made all David's hesitation disappear instantly.

President Labert was right. He has a family and has no way out. This journey of transporting grain across the ocean is not easy. If you submit grain strictly according to the requirements, you can certainly make money, but you can't make a lot of money.

According to President Labert's standards, if you don't make a lot of money, you will lose money.

How could the shrewd Samaritan businessman lose money? Mr. Labert had a plan long ago, but David was still panicked when he thought of the terrible plan.

There is no use panicking, some things have to be done.

He quietly left the crowd and returned to the fleet in the name of arranging the mooring and arranging the action tonight.

Schmidt saw Rabot and his deputy whispering in his peripheral vision, but he ignored it.

Do your job well and don't meddle in other people's business. This is his philosophy of being an official.

He believed that the wise governor had already had a plan to deal with it.

The mobile cavalry unit stationed near the port authority was definitely not here for sightseeing.

Since the governor had made arrangements, he didn't need to act on his own, just cooperate well.

Schmidt enthusiastically invited Rabot and his party into the banquet hall.

Today's dinner was simple and lively. The dishes were all local specialties. They were not luxurious, but they were rich. There was enough blood sausage and pork elbow, enough dark beer, and local delicacies such as fried meat rolls, salt cod, and apple pie.

Looking at the sumptuous dinner on the table, Rabot was a little embarrassed.

Although the Samaritan merchants liked to lie on the Rodinian countries and suck blood crazily, their eating habits were very averse to animal blood.

Blood sausage, the favorite food of the people in the three overseas provinces, is simply a disaster for them.

Seeing Larbert's embarrassment, Schmidt laughed.

"Mr. Larbert, if you want to gain a foothold here in the future, you have to get used to our diet. You can't not eat blood sausage here."

"This is the best blood sausage. Her Majesty the Queen has eaten it and said it is good. The Governor-General even asked us to provide it regularly. There is also this crispy elbow. These are all local delicacies."

Larbert stammered with some embarrassment: "But this is inconsistent with our doctrine."

"Your doctrine?"

Schmidt frowned and reminded loudly: "Mr. Larbert, the Governor-General's jurisdiction implements a relatively free religious policy, but this freedom is limited to choosing between abundance and light."

"Our country is the Abundance Diocese , abundance is the mainstream belief. The Governor is a Knight of Light, so he also accepts believers of the Light Faith. Other beliefs are heresy in the Governor's jurisdiction. "

"I advise you to think clearly as soon as possible, whether you believe in abundance or light."

Perhaps because he felt that this was a bit too aggressive, Schmidt forked the delicious blood sausage, chewed it hard, and then put it into his stomach with a large glass of beer, and said with a smile:

"Mr. Rabot, don't worry too much. Whether it is abundance or light, both advocate no taboos in terms of diet. You can enjoy the food boldly."

Rabot's face was dark, but he knew it was inevitable.

If he didn't eat this blood sausage, Schmidt would make things difficult for him.

Emre Port is the largest port in the Governor's jurisdiction. The director of the Port Authority has great power and can't afford to offend him.

Rabot cursed Schmidt's ancestors in his heart, and then reluctantly forked the blood sausage and trembled to his lips.

He was determined and gritted his teeth, swallowing it like swallowing poison.

There was no taste, only nausea.

He had to grab the beer glass in front of him and drink it desperately.

He lowered his head and let the wild laughter of the officials of the Port Authority come to his ears.

Since the president had eaten it, the other people in the Chamber of Commerce could not say anything and could only grit their teeth and eat.

Looking at the painful expressions of these Samaritans, Schmidt sneered in his heart.

These people will never change.

The Governor was still too kind. According to his idea, these heretics should be nailed to the cross directly like other countries.

During the reign of the Magic Empire, they rebelled, killed the Governor, and were destroyed by the angry Magic Empire, becoming a wandering nation.

However, no matter where they went, they refused to integrate into the local area, did not accept local customs, and even tried to assimilate the locals.

Schmidt sighed helplessly.

The Governor was good in everything, but too kind. Perhaps it was because he was often with the Queen, he was too kind.

Although there were some complaints, Schmidt still completed his job well.

He did his best to strengthen the Samaritans.

If they did not accept the change, then they would be oppressed from all aspects of diet, culture, and living habits until they were forced to change under pressure or jumped out to die.

If they neither accepted the change nor refused to die, it would be difficult to deal with.

The dinner was held in a pleasant atmosphere, at least the people from the Port Authority were very happy.

Seeing the Samaritans eating like swallowing feces was as uncomfortable as swallowing feces, they had a big appetite and drank several glasses of wine.

There was only one person who did not drink at the dinner, Lieutenant Colonel Jess of the Cavalry sent by Hansa.

His cold eyes swept across the whole place, carefully observing everyone's expression.

Although the banquet was full of officials and wealthy merchants, all of whom were good at hiding their thoughts, expressions could be disguised, but the emotions in their eyes could not.

He could see what these people were thinking.

The hostility of traditional bureaucrats represented by Schmidt towards the Samaritans; the greed and viciousness of Samaritan merchants represented by Labbert; and the other accompanying merchants who dared not speak out.

Jess observed silently, without saying a word.

Do your own thing well and don't cross the line, he silently warned himself.

After serving as a colonel in the mainland for three years, not only did he not have the opportunity to be promoted, but he was also demoted to an overseas place by the Minister of the Army.

He thought his life was bleak and his future was bleak, but he met the Queen and the Governor.

His life took a turn for the better.

In just a few months, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of Cavalry and served directly for the Queen and the Governor.

Although his military rank was not high, his actual position was equivalent to that of the Captain of the Guards.

He cherishes everything he has now. He doesn't want to be forced to go home and take over his father's job and run the family business before he is promoted to brigadier general at the age of 30.

He is not short of money, but he is not very interested in money.

He is more eager to show his talents on the battlefield and to stand out.

It is the task given to him by the governor to come to Emre Port to supervise the grain handover.

It seems ordinary, but in fact it is undercurrent.

He vaguely feels that something is wrong. Governor Roland is too tolerant of these Samaritans, which is not even like his character.

In the previous grain handovers, the greed of Samaritan merchants was undoubtedly revealed.

Some merchants tampered with the scales and shortchanged the weight; some merchants stuffed unhusked wheat into flour bags to pass it off as real; some merchants used inferior flour to pass it off as first-class flour, passing it off as good.

He had a keen eye and took down all these shameful behaviors.

However, Governor Roland did not care too much, and did not even make a clear statement, allowing the Samaritan merchants to do whatever they wanted.

Others thought Roland was asking for favors and didn't dare to attack, but Jace knew he was gathering strength.

The Governor had sent someone to give him a verbal order.

Keep checking and don't let go of any problems.

From this ordinary order, Jace smelled the hidden murderous intent.

If the Governor really asked for favors and didn't dare to investigate, he might as well stop the investigation to avoid making things difficult for everyone.

However, he was still investigating.

The greed of the Samaritan merchants blinded their eyes and made them mistakenly believe that Roland was no different from the previous officials.

The prey fell into the trap, and it was time to close the net.

Jace suddenly felt that this banquet was boring, so he found an excuse to leave.

His departure made everyone else feel relieved.

After all, he represented the Queen and the Governor, and he always had a bad face that made others unable to let go.

After Jace left, the officials of the Port Authority became more unscrupulous and soon drank to the point of being drunk.

They hugged the shoulders of Larbert and others, calling each other brothers and shoving crispy elbows into the mouths of these polite merchants.

They were happy, but the Samaritans' fists were hard.

After finally waiting until the end of the dinner, the Samaritan merchants fled in a panic. Merchants from other countries rarely saw them in such a mess, but they were in a good mood and enjoyed the food and wine more vigorously.

Larbert returned to his residence with a livid face. He took the soapy water handed over by the servant, endured the nausea and drank it hard, squatting on the ground and vomiting continuously.

He kept reciting scriptures, saying that he had accidentally eaten it and did not deliberately violate the doctrine.

Just as he was vomiting, the deputy who had just gone out to prepare quietly approached him and asked in a low voice:

"Boss, it's ready. When will it start?"

"Start around four in the morning, wait until these idiots fall asleep, and invite them to see the beautiful bonfire!"

Looking at Larbert's hateful eyes, the deputy lowered his head in fear, and his hands trembled.

Mr. Labert was really crazy. He was at least 20% short of the grain he transported, so he was reluctant to enter the port during the day, hoping to delay the handover and find an opportunity to bribe the port officials.

If that didn't work, he would just use an "accidental" fire to set the granary on fire and settle the account directly.

Mr. Labert had been drifting on the sea for many days before he transported the precious grain back, but it was eventually burned due to poor management by local officials.

If he was a little bolder, he could even ask Roland for compensation.

There are not many people participating in the operation tonight. They are all the death warriors that Larbert has raised for many years. These people will be silenced after arson.

They know too much.

Thinking of this, the deputy trembled a little. He knew more. How would Mr. Larbert treat him afterwards?

Perhaps seeing through the deputy's fear, Larbert smiled and said: "David, don't worry, I will arrange for you to go to the New World. You can enjoy life there, but you can't come back."

The deputy breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly expressed his gratitude to Larbert.

Although the living conditions in the New World are very poor, as long as there is money, it is a paradise.

This is the last time he worked for Mr. Larbert.

After this job, you can go ashore!

He disappeared into the night like a civet cat.

After watching David leave, Larbert's face gradually became gloomy. He snapped his fingers and called the housekeeper who had loyally accompanied the family for two generations to whisper.

David, the new world I am talking about is a pure land of joy. You can definitely get there.

I'm sorry, you know too much.

Promises? Promises are only valid when needed. Now Mr. Labert doesn't need them.

At three o'clock in the morning, Jace, who was still in the watchtower, used a telescope to observe the surroundings again.

Unfortunately, the surrounding environment was too dark, and it was dark and windy tonight, so he couldn't see clearly.

He vaguely felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't tell what was wrong.

He decided to go to the warehouse area to check it out in person.

Putting on night gear, he crouched and walked around a small jungle.

He didn't hear footsteps, but he still stopped vigilantly.

Although he couldn't see clearly, he smelled alcohol and kerosene from the other end of the grove.

This is

This group of desperate people wanted to set fire!

Jace was stunned. He thought these people would make trouble, but he didn't expect them to be so crazy.

These warehouses have been built for many years, with various sentries and strong walls inside. It is very difficult to seize the warehouses by conventional means.

When fire attacks are different.

After all, these warehouses are a mixed structure of bricks and wood, and there are a lot of food inside, which is easy to burn.

Once the fire started, with the strong wind tonight, the entire warehouse area would be destroyed.

Jess subconsciously wanted to run back to the camp, but suddenly stopped.

Wait, could this be part of the Governor's plan?

If this is a bait, will he ruin the Governor's overall plan by taking action in advance?

Jess' heart was pounding, and he hesitated.

Regardless of whether the Governor set a trap or not, he could gather the army first and arrest the arsonists immediately after the fire started.

The price was that the granary garrison suffered heavy losses, and 60,000 tons of fine grain was burned.

He could definitely make a great contribution by catching the arsonist in time.

What about the granary garrison? What about the more than 100,000 tons of grain that were still stranded in the warehouse? What about the refugees waiting for food to make a living?

Jess's soul was tortured.

He made a decision in just one second.

Arrest them!

If the Governor set a trap for these people, the charge of conspiracy to set fire was enough. Although burning granaries are more likely to arouse the anger of the masses and make meritorious deeds more intuitive, the losses are too heavy.

Jace is eager to make progress, but he can't watch his colleagues being burned to death and use their bodies as a ladder to rise.

Maybe one day he will be profit-driven, maybe one day he will be indifferent, maybe one day he will be cold-blooded.

But not today!

Now he is going to arrest this group of lunatics who have lost their minds.

Jace quickly returned to the barracks and blew the whistle for assembly.

The cavalrymen who were resting in leather armor responded quickly.

Jace stood in front of them with murderous intent and announced loudly, "Someone is trying to burn the granary. This is treason. Follow me and arrest him!"

The cavalrymen's eyes lit up.

They hadn't rested well for many days, and they had been holding back their anger for a long time. Finally, they had a chance to vent.

Jace jumped on the horse, holding a flintlock musket in his left hand and a lance of more than two meters in his right hand, and rushed out first.

The sound of horse hooves broke the silence of the night like thunder, whistling with the wind.

Someone is going to be unlucky tonight.