Infrastructure Throne

It is the time when spring is warm and flowers are blooming and all things are recovering. The sparse branches on both sides of the road sprout green buds and weeds are overgrown.

The horse convoy of Lu's company was driving slowly on the avenue between Beiji City and Yuanliu City. The team in the convoy was very dull. Everyone just focused on the road and had no time to appreciate the scenery on both sides of the road.

This time the convoy was particularly lengthy. What was tied to the truck in the middle was not the bulk of the goods for sale, but the belongings accumulated by the Lu family over the years. The whole family took several carriages. They were not doing business, but migration.

Lu Xin, the young master of the Lu family, leaned on the car window and looked west. Tall trees and bushes blocked his sight. He sighed and retracted his head into the car.

"Third Uncle, when will we arrive at Yuanliu City?"

Uncle Lu touched the top of his head kindly: "Go to sleep, there are still a few days to go."

Behind what Lu Xin couldn't see, Uncle Lu's face was wrinkled by worry.

In the past few months, after Yuanliu City cut off its trade with Mingzhu City, no ore was sold to surrounding cities, including coal, which is the basic fuel.

After the winter passed, people's demand for heating gradually decreased. The briquette factory in Yuanliu City, the briquette produced was directly used for the fuel supply of the industrial area in the city, and the export of briquette was also stopped.

Several neighboring cities, including Mingzhu City, suddenly lost a major source of fuel. The prices of charcoal and coal in the city soared, which directly led to an increase in the living costs of residents for cooking and heating.

At the same time, industries such as smelting workshops and ceramic brick kilns that require a lot of fuel are all affected.

Slowly, at some point in time, the products "Made by Yuanliu" became popular in Beidi, especially the cloth, whose price was about [-]% lower than the general cloth on the market.

Regardless of the mere [-]% price difference, for ordinary people who live on a budget, it is completely enough for them to give up the fabrics they often buy and invest in the goods of Yuanliu City.

Matches are the most in-demand commodity other than cloth. As soon as the store is new, they are sold out quickly. With its appearance, the traditional fire tools such as fire folding and flint have directly withdrawn from the stage of history and become the only one in this industry. monopoly boss.

The production cost of matches is unbelievably low for Yuanliu City. The price in the city is only a few copper coins a box, and when sold in the outer city, even if the price is increased by five to ten times, the supply is still in short supply.

If the textile industry is an ancient industry, there are so many cloth merchants, everyone competes with each other, and they can always get some market share, but for matches, there is only one in Yuanliu City, and there is no other colony.

Without the elementary chemistry provided by Shen Qingze, without a full-time chemical alchemy laboratory, without mechanical thinking and cheap steel, within three to five years, even if it looks simple, no one can imitate it in large numbers.

Wealth began to flow from the surrounding small towns to Yuanliu City. This process was very hidden at first, but slowly and steadily increased month by month.

Gradually, some small businessmen and small workshops in the industries that formed a competitive relationship with Yuanliu City were the first to be unable to bear it. At first they lowered prices and gritted their teeth to fight a price war, but soon Yuanliu City was able to suppress even harder. Sooner, these small businessmen either go bankrupt or change careers.

Among these industries, quite a few are properties owned by the nobles, and the pressure of losses was quickly transferred from the merchants to the nobles, and they began to unite to express their dissatisfaction with the impact of cheap foreign goods.

In the textile industry, only large companies have the qualifications to enter the silk business. This kind of fabric is very popular with nobles, and the profit margin is quite large.

Lu's firm, which started with cloth, is also one of the few big silk households in Beiji City.

But since the silk with Yuanliu City's logo entered the market, Uncle Lu immediately felt a strong sense of urgency.

The raw silk produced in Yuanliu City is soft and smooth, with neat fineness and good elasticity, and its quality is extremely high. It is not at the same level as what Lu Sanshu bought from ordinary silk farmers.

The raw silk spun by the own workshop is of the best quality, and it can barely compete, but not to mention the low output, the price is quite expensive. Compared with the silk produced by Yuanliu City, it has no advantage at all.

Uncle Lu has traveled all over the world and has been in business for many years. He is particularly sensitive to commodities, especially cloth. Ordinary people may not understand the consequences behind these appearances. As buyers, they feel that they have taken advantage of it.

But Third Uncle Lu had already faintly noticed that there was an invisible undercurrent flowing from Yuanliu City to all directions, and what he could see in front of him was just the tip of the iceberg.

With his knowledge, he can't understand the nature and laws behind the appearance, but it doesn't prevent him from being aware of the danger.

If you continue to turn a blind eye, the chain reaction caused by this undercurrent will eventually make the small cities around Yuanliu City fall into a situation of being eaten up.

Thinking of some terrible possibilities in the future, the more Uncle Lu thought about it, the more terrifying he became. He was worried during the day and lost sleep all night. Finally, he talked with the elders of the Lu family for three days and three nights.

After thinking about various plans, and based on the comparison of strengths between the two sides before and after the beast tide, the Lu family finally made up their minds to become the No. .

At this time, they didn't know that Mingzhu City decided to send troops to "teach" Yuanliu City under the pressure of Luo Te and Nan and Bei Jicheng.

If Third Uncle Lu found out about this, he would probably be even more anxious than the senior management of Yuanliu City.

When the Lu family really set foot on Yuanliu City's sphere of influence, Third Uncle Lu realized that the territory actually controlled by this city is much larger than he imagined.

The convoy was walking on a field ridge, and he opened the curtain of the carriage to look out.

This piece of farmland used to be an unremarkable small village in Beiji City. The land was barren, the villagers were sparse, and the entire village was illiterate. It took even a year and a half for the decree to be delivered from the city lord's mansion to the actual implementation in the village.

Now what?

In the distance is a straight water canal, a tall waterwheel, and fertile black soil under your feet. Large tracts of eared wheat are swaying in the wind, and cattle can be seen walking in the field from time to time.

Uncle Lu looked at the neat wheat field and was speechless. Not long after, he saw a "Security Pavilion" at the entrance of the village. It was a rare red brick and black tile house, which was very elegant, and it was clearly a beautiful brick house that can only be found in the city.

There was a person who looked like a village chief giving lectures in front of the pavilion, and there was a striking sign on the notice board at the gate of the security booth, with an easy-to-understand sentence written - If you have anything to do, come to me.

The Lu family caravan traveled all the way from Beiji City, and found that all the villages in the territory of Yuanliu City had similar security pavilions. Each pavilion had a pavilion chief and three to five clerks.

Not only in charge of law and order, but also in charge of taxation, issuing edicts of the city lord's mansion and other messy things.

As big as murder and arson, or as small as neighbors' quarrels, there are security booths. Uncle Lu even found someone holding a book near the security booth in a certain village, teaching the children in the village to learn calligraphy.

Simply fantastic!

Along the way, Third Uncle Lu couldn't understand why Yuanliu City gave up the autonomy of the village directly and adopted such a thankless and troublesome way of management.

How much manpower, financial and material resources did they invest in twisting the scattered villages together like this, and what benefits can they get?

It was as if he could never understand why those farmlands were barren and poor when they belonged to Beiji City and Nanji City, but once they were developed by Yuanliu City, they became fertile soil!

Could it be that the officiant in Yuanliu City really has the unpredictable ability as in the legend?

Maybe they will find the answer when they arrive in Yuanliu City.

When the Lu's caravan finally entered Yuanliu City and asked to meet the chief priest, they were told that Shen Qingze had already gone to Nanji City to accept surrender.

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Shen Qingze did not choose to take the more convenient land route for this trip, but went around a circle and took the water route, entering Nanji City from a tributary of the Chiyuan River.

The senior officials of Nanji City who received this information laughed out loud.

The so-called "surrender" is of course fake, the purpose from the very beginning was to divert the tiger away from the mountain and detain this strange creature, Shen Qingze, so that Mingzhu City could send troops to teach Yuanliu City a lesson.

In order to achieve the purpose of procrastination, he naturally hoped that Shen Qingze's delay on the road would be as long as possible.

On the second day after learning that Shen Qingze set off with the fleet, there was movement in Mingzhu City.

A huge army of 8000 people is ready to go at the gate of the city. They have bright armor and banners. Everyone's face is full of ease and confidence.

Although this team is not all the armed forces that Pearl City can produce, it is already the most elite part.

Once they leave, there will only be a force to defend the city in Mingzhu City.

After being ravaged by the beast horde, this land is waiting to be rebuilt. With the [-] intact elite cavalry, Lott can sweep the entire Northland!

Here, no human city can resist the trampling of Pearl City!

Lott rode on a black armored horse. The armor and swords on his body were carefully selected, and his whole body was armed to the teeth. Except for being bulky, there was almost no fault.

He didn't order to bring too much luggage. In Lott's plan, this should be a blitzkrieg that would destroy everything.

Eight thousand iron cavalry rushed to Yuanliu City for a long distance, caught the opponent by surprise, broke the city in one battle, and used Yuanliu City's abundant warehouses as a reward for the iron cavalry!

And myself, relying on the prestige of this battle and the strength in my hands, I have since become the real ruler of Pearl City!

As for the possibility of losing to Yuanliu City, he never considered it at all. In Lott's eyes, Yuanliu City is always the rural earth city where cheap ore is exchanged for food.

With full confidence and ambition, Lott raised the long sword in his hand and shouted loudly: "Let's go!"

At this time, Lott didn't know that there was another fleet led by Els who left the port of Yuanliu City at the same time as Shen Qingze.

The two fleets separated from the port, one headed west and headed for Mingzhu City, and the other headed east, carrying Shen Qingze to Nanji City, and disappeared on the bank of the vast Chiyuan River at the same time.

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Nanji City.

The port is heavily guarded, and the guards surrounded Shen Qingze and his party tightly, it is more appropriate to say that it is not so much protection as precaution.

In order to welcome Shen Qingze, Nanji City City Lord's Mansion specially arranged a grand welcome ceremony, and the red carpet was spread from the port all the way to the City Lord's Mansion.

Shen Qingze and a group of accompanying guards passed the red carpet in a carriage, and he even suspected that these red carpets alone would be able to empty out the empty wealth of Nanji City.

On both sides of the road, some sallow-faced and emaciated people reluctantly put on a cheering posture, but finally yawned twice listlessly.

Shen Qingze kept his composure all the way, and followed the envoys from Nanji City to the City Lord's Mansion.

Apparently, the city lord hasn't learned the face-saving projects of his previous life. Even the main road has not fully recovered from the tragedy after being destroyed by the orcs.

Entering the City Lord's Mansion, the majestic hall, luxurious furnishings, and cloud-like attendants instantly split the mansion into two worlds.

The envoy led the way with his head held high, and he kept introducing to Shen Qingze the long history, expensive collections, and various rare treasures of the City Lord's Mansion. Shen Qingze watched with relish and was very happy——

After all, these treasures will soon be his, of course the more valuable the better!

The envoy secretly laughed at the other party's ignorance, it really was a blacksmith from Yuanliu City, with so many treasures, it must have been a fool's errand!

Shen Qingze casually picked up an iron gun that was standing on the weapon display rack, Yan Zui's gun was lost, and he didn't have time to buy him a new one, so he didn't know if this one would work.

With the gun in his hand, he said casually: "Your city master, when will you come out to see me?"

The envoy was stunned, and said with a smile on his face: "Don't worry, our city lord has been sick recently, and told me to let you stay here so that we can entertain you."

Before Shen Qingze could answer, the messenger clapped his hands lightly.

Behind the curtain, four handsome men and women with graceful figures, dressed in light gauze and thin clothes, came slowly.

The messenger smiled meaningfully: "Master Officiant, are you satisfied with having them accompany you during this period?"

After a long silence, the corner of Shen Qingze's mouth twitched: "...Your city lord's plan is really thoughtful."