Infrastructure Throne

The afternoon autumn wind blew through the branches, and the carriage drove through the dirt road in the forest, leaving a series of deep ruts on the yellow land. The orderly footsteps of the guards startled the birds on both sides.

The convoy of the Blue Sky Merchant Alliance headed north, and the road they passed was getting more and more difficult.

In the gilded carriage, opposite the blond elf sat a young girl with the same pointed ears and long flaxen hair combed into two twisted braids and hanging down her shoulders.

The girl closed the car window to block the flying dust outside, pinched her nose and complained:

"Your Excellency, you came all the way to this poor and remote north, because of this letter? In my opinion, the semicolon of Pearl City is becoming less and less important, and even a little-known border town robbed the business."

The blond elf slowly folded up the letter and put it away, picked up the tin teapot on the table and poured two cups of scented tea.

Seeing that the other party ignored her, the girl continued to babble on her own: "The Northland is already poor, and it is completely incomparable with the three great empires. I heard that the beast tide swept the Northland last winter, and it must be in depression right now."

"Except for the slave trade in Pearl City, where you can make money, it's good to have a full meal in other places. Why waste your energy on this kind of place?"

The blond elf lowered her head and took a sip of scented tea, and gently wiped the gold-rimmed glasses in her hand with a soft silk cloth:

"Your cognition is too superficial. The Northland is not as simple as you think."

The girl refused to accept, pouted and looked at him.

The blond elf put down the scented teacup, and said slowly: "The three great empires occupy the east, west, and south of the continent, and each wants to protect domestic trade and earn gold coins from the opponent."

"Our Blue Sky Merchant Alliance is different from the Terran Empire. We are a loose alliance formed by commerce and trade. There are many races. In the Dawn Continent, we occupy the smallest territory, and the area is not even as large as the Northland."

The girl immediately retorted: "We still occupy the sea!"

The blond elf raised his eyebrows: "The sea is the territory of the sea people. You and I are both tree elves. Can you swim?"

Girl: "..."

The blond elf shook his head: "The interior of any force will not be monolithic. The sea is not our destination, but the mainland."

"The two empires of Manxi and Daxia are fighting each other openly and secretly. We are caught in the middle and can only retreat to a corner in the south. If we are content with the status quo and don't think about making progress, in the future... we can only gradually lose the right to speak and become a vassal of the Sea Clan."

The girl tilted her head suspiciously: "What does it have to do with us coming to the North? This place is poor and remote, and there are annoying orcs."

The blond elf put on his glasses, and the sunlight slanted in through the car window. His blue pupils were immediately covered with a faint gleam, and his handsome face became more elegant and gentle, like a profound scholar.

"Because there is no unified powerful force in the North."

"Since the kingdom of the Northland fell apart under the attack of the orcs more than a hundred years ago, the dragons in the Northland have no leader until now, and it has become more and more loose and chaotic. Even the Pearl City cannot manage to unify the Northland."

"Poverty, bitter cold, and danger limit the development of the Northland. At the same time, the two empires of the East and the West are not interested in dividing it up, because no one wants to face the threat of the orcs."

The girl listened quietly, thoughtful.

The blond elf laughed softly: "A territory without a master is the easiest to encroach on and control. Besides, we are not a human race, and we have no blood feud with the orc race."

"There is a proverb in the East, don't put all your eggs in one basket."

"Let's lay out the northern land one step earlier. If there is turmoil in the south in the future, we elves will have an extra retreat."

The girl half understood: "So, in the past, you tried your best to set up a branch of the Blue Sky Business Alliance in Beidi."

The blond elf smiled helplessly: "But now it seems that the utilization value of Pearl City needs to be re-evaluated."

The girl Nunuzui: "The skinny camel is bigger than a horse. I don't think Yuanliu City is very good. I heard that the officiant was born as a lowly blacksmith, and he was particularly cruel to the nobles. This kind of rude guy is also worthy of being the officiant." ?"

The blond elf frowned slightly, but said nothing.

In the secret letter sent by the branch of Mingzhu City, the officiant named Shen Qingze was ambiguous, more derogatory than praised, saying that he was cruel and sinister, once burned down the smelting workshop of the young city master in Mingzhu City, and later They secretly sent a fleet to bombard the walls of Mingzhu City at night.

No matter how indignant Mi Xin's tone is, the more it shows how good this person is.

"Master Shelley? Lord Shelley?" Seeing that he was in a daze, the girl couldn't help calling out, "Your scented tea is getting cold."

Shelley hummed absently, and glanced out the car window.

I don't know when, the carriage has been driving more and more smoothly, and the previous bumps are no longer there.

Suddenly, he gave a slight snort: "What is that?"

The girl followed his line of sight, and saw that the road under the carriage was gray and smooth, and the two steel rails were laid on rows of square wooden slats, extending straight into the distance, with no end in sight.

After a while, the horse convoy met a caravan from other places, and the destination was also in the direction of Yuanliu City. The wheels of the other party's truck happened to be on the rails, and several black horses were pulling the cart in front.

It was clearly loaded with goods, but the speed was not at all slow as Shelley's carriage.

The girl covered her mouth in astonishment: "Can the carriage still go like this?"

Shelley leaned against the carriage window, looking at the long track, thinking.

※※※

Yuanliu City trading area, Red Wall Lane.

At the entrance of the Diaoyutai Hotel, a dark gold carved carriage and three snow-white tall horses were parked, which attracted passers-by nearby to look back frequently.

On the carriage, Black Eagle frowned and looked at the opposite owner who closed his eyes and took a nap: "Master Tia, do you need to come in person? You are not in the city lord's mansion, and my subordinates are worried..."

Tia opened his eyes wearily. Since he succeeded in ascending to the throne of Pearl City Lord, he realized that sitting in this position is not as beautiful as he had imagined.

Balancing the interests of all parties every day has exhausted him physically and mentally. The body of his younger brother Lotte has not been found so far, as if the world has evaporated.

"Yuanliu City held the Autumn Harvest Festival. Since the invitation letter was sent to us, if we didn't come to Pearl City, wouldn't it be a scandal? What's more, I think this is a good opportunity to find out what's inside Yuanliu City."

Hei Ying: "You don't have to come in person, what if Shen Qingze wants to harm you?"

Tia smiled slightly: "This is an official invitation from city to city. It's too late for him to protect me. How could he blatantly attack me?"

Black Eagle helped Tia get off the carriage. The Autumn Harvest Festival has not yet officially opened, and the Red Wall Lane is already filled with a strong festive atmosphere.

On the whole street, a black-painted iron lamppost is erected ten steps away. Red lanterns with the characteristics of Yuanliu City are hung on the lamppost in strings. At night, the red lanterns light up the red wall alley. The bustling night market is full of tourists, which is not much worse than during the day.

Surrounded by a group of attendants and black hawks, Tia was about to step into the hotel when she saw another extremely luxurious gilt carriage parked nearby.

Tia's eyes narrowed slightly: "...that's the emblem of the Royal City of the Bikong Merchant Alliance."

It seems that this year's celebration in Yuanliu City has attracted many people from all walks of life, much more than he imagined.

※※※

Since Yuanliu City became famous in the Northland, the orc army, Mingzhu City, and the annexed Beiji City and Nanji City have all become stepping stones to establish Yuanliu City's reputation.

Whether it is the creation of Abyss that is popular in the Northland, or the powerful force it displays, no matter what the rulers of other cities think of it, Abyss City has become a new rising force in the Northland.Every move attracts people's attention.

Even if it is just to hold an autumn harvest festival celebration, the major cities in the Northland have heard the news, and envoys, businessmen, and tourists with all kinds of thoughts gather here from all directions.

Although the invitation letter said Food Festival, no one took these three words seriously.

The ironware, luxury goods and daily necessities produced in Yuanliu City are widely circulated, but I have never heard of any delicious food, and the potatoes grown are bigger than those in other people's homes.

Most of the land in the Northland is not fertile, coupled with the harassment of the orcs, and the lack of food is commonplace, the people of the Northland have developed sturdy stomachs, as long as they can fill their stomachs, they can even eat soil!

The noble pursuit of appetite is only worthy of a very few nobles.

Many forces from all sides were invited to come here, with different purposes in mind, but none of them came to taste the delicious food.

※※※

This is an ordinary house in the outer city. This area was once used by Shen Qingze to set up temporary literacy training tents.

Later, it was rebuilt into a brick house and used as an adult literacy training school.

The people Shen Qingze threw here as literacy class teachers were all aristocrats, big and small, who were caught by him. These guys are usually pampered, and they can't lift their hands or resist. They are useful except for their knowledge, and they can't do other jobs.

Shen Qingze is not a sage who would kindly support idlers, and his motto is to make the best use of everything.

Under his oppression, these humiliated old aristocrats kept company with the dirty and smelly poor who used to look down on them every day, and they had to be taught to read and write. If they were perfunctory, they would be deprived of food and even sent to work in mines. It's called reform through labor.

It is simply unbearable!

The old nobles hated Shen Qingze so much, but they had no choice but to collude with some extremists secretly and spread some unfavorable rumors about him. Like the Beiji City Lord, they firmly believed in the truth that one mountain cannot accommodate two tigers.

Shen Qingze continued to make public like this, the higher his prestige, the greater the threat to Yan Zui!

The old nobles are eagerly looking forward to the day when the two will tear their faces apart. There will be no cracks, but cracks will be created. At that time, it will be the time for them to make a comeback!

The old nobles never expected that the opportunity they had been looking forward to for a long time would come so soon.

※※※

The venue for the food celebration of the Autumn Harvest Festival is located near the Red Wall Lane in the east trading area of ​​the city.

On the opening day, the entire small square was transformed into a food and beverage self-service exhibition area, where guests can enjoy a wide variety of delicacies.

As soon as Shen Qingze appeared in the square, it immediately caused a sensation among the people. The accompanying guards dutifully formed a human wall, proudly and nervously blocking the overly enthusiastic crowd for the chief priest.

For envoys and guests from other cities in the Northland, the City Lord's Mansion has arranged a special area for them to have a banquet.

Shen Qingze came all the way to the VIP area, and there were already many guests seated.

Pearl City and Moon City - the largest and second largest cities in the Northland both sent heavyweights here. To Shen Qingze's surprise, Tia actually came in person.

After looking at each other briefly, Tia got up from her seat and toasted him from a distance.

The two haven't seen each other for a long time since the farewell in Mingzhu City. In the past, the sick and weak young city lord who was still unwilling, and the suppressed small businessman in the countryside, when they meet again now, their status and status have undergone earth-shaking changes.

Shen Qingze nodded slightly, looked around, and finally landed on the blond elf on the other side.

The natural advantages of the race are vividly reflected in Shelley. His outstanding appearance and noble temperament make him the focus of people's attention wherever he goes.

Even Shen Qingze couldn't help but take a second look.

While he was looking at Shelley, Shelley was also looking at him calmly.

The blond elf crossed the crowd and approached him step by step, with a gentle smile on the corner of his mouth, he said meaningfully: "I have admired you for a long time, Your Excellency the Priest."

Not long after, Yan Zui, who had finished handling the affairs of the City Lord's Mansion, finally came late, and happened to see the scene where the two had a happy conversation.

Yan Zui stopped abruptly and narrowed his eyes slightly.