Take Taobao with you to another world

"Of course," said the queen, "you always have a choice."

Leah was silent for a moment.

"Tell me about that magician." He said, "I still haven't repaid the favor I owe him, and now it seems that I don't know when I will be able to repay it. When I saw him back then, I knew he would definitely stir up trouble." Fengyun, but Central Continent is so vast, even if it is the second Astaros, surrounded by such a group of people, I think the Western Continent is enough..." He paused, "It's unbelievable."

"The changes of the survivors and elves all come from him, and the central empire today also has an indispensable contribution to him."

His tone was not sarcasm, but a deep sigh, "He obviously came to this world alone."

"This should be what I'm going to mention to you next." The queen said. At this time, they had passed through the water and came under a giant tree. The queen raised her arm, pointed to the air, and summoned Draw a zigzag ink line, and draw a long scroll map in front of the two, "As long as you follow the laws of nature, a bird flapping its wings can also bring about a storm. That Your Excellency did have only one person at first, but behind him is a whole , huge and terrifying civilization."

"The laws that work there can work here. He blows a strong wind in people's souls before it manifests itself in the real world," she said. "He brings something fundamental. The change."

"Look."

At the edge of the world where the eyes of the two gathered, the golden light gradually lit up, and then spread from west to east.

In a riverside city tens of thousands of miles away, in a large office with no frills, almost only black and white, a tall, black-haired young man was also standing in front of a map. Cross the field, go down the river, choose one of the forked rivers and continue on, and then come to a wide plain.The mountains piled up like waves at the end of the plain, and the tough water flow was blocked here. After an unknown number of years, a steep incision was finally made. The gentle water turned into a turbulent tide and continued to rush eastward, but his eyes did not follow it. Going down, instead going up along the mountains, it looks like a long dragon winding on the ground, and also like a giant tree with thick trunks and thin branches, zigzagging and connecting to the north.

There are two worlds separated on both sides of the mountain range, one side is green and green, and the other side is full of yellow sand. Kingdoms of all sizes are dotted on both sides of the mountain range, like the fruits of the trees of the earth. In the north, it finally stopped at one place.

Where his gaze finally fell, a name was marked.

Ridan.

Land of Ice and Snow, Land of Hot Springs, Ice Checkpoint, Land of Iron and Brimstone, Land of the End of the World.

As if to compensate for the difficulties of human beings living here, the resources of the Principality of Ridan are quite rich in the northern border. No matter how small the city is, as long as their lords explore diligently, they will eventually find one or two aboveground or underground resources. Only food and other products are not abundant. In order to exchange enough survival resources, they have developed a relatively developed business.

Thanks to the long-term contributions of merchants, although they are at the end of the world, as long as they are willing to take risks, many people can still live a relatively comfortable life. The wealth and living needs of these people have supported the prosperity of the Principality, so Enjoying a distinguished status, they know their own value and are good at expressing this value, and have maintained a proper relationship with the principality's administrators for a long time.

This is a harmonious, stable relationship of mutually beneficial coexistence that should be maintained until the end of the world.

They will never allow someone to destroy it—but there is no absolute thing in the world. This beautiful relationship has been destroyed. In the past two or three years, it was so short that even a child had no time to grow up.A lot of bad news spread from that most prestigious city to all parts of the Principality, shrouding the entire Principality in a depressing atmosphere, just like this cold, dark and stagnant winter day.

The root of everything lies in the new Grand Duke's supremacy.

The new grand duke brought such an unprecedented period to Zhdan: the authority of those in power was completely above the joint meeting of the chamber of commerce and the guild, and the young successor could not listen to any rational advice, and he wholeheartedly relied on the strangers around him Dear Guest, strike mercilessly at chambers of commerce and major guilds, formulate all kinds of strict regulations against them, crowd out their markets, seize their profits, poach their apprentices, and reach out to the source of raw materials Origin...

It's absolutely worthless!

Such relentless oppression naturally aroused people's anger. Not only merchants, but even nobles rose up to resist him. He wanted to shake his position, but he hit them hard with such crimes, and the gentle resistance had to end in failure.Then these brave people also suffered severe revenge, some people lost their lives, and those who escaped by chance could not recover.What is outrageous is that the Grand Duke has the audacity to say that, as the supreme ruler of the principality, he is only using reasonable means to maintain a fair order, even though he has used despicable violence.He is so selfish, even if he uses his wealth to those lazy people in the city, he refuses to let them get a little bit of profit, which makes the city full of complaints, not only the merchants who are innocently involved are getting more and more difficult, even the nobles who rely on annuity investment Feel the embarrassment of life.

While the spread of new heating technology this year—a begrudging favor from the new Grand Duke—has eased the winter burden for many families, the early part of the social season has seen a lot of activity, from mansions in town to hot springs outside the city. , as long as people get together, they either sigh or curse, because they can't find any useful way to prevent the situation from getting worse because of their collective efforts.

Because the Grand Duke now has three hopeless and unfavorable artifacts: one is iron smelting and steelmaking, the other is glass manufacturing technology, and the third is textile machines.

All of them are things that will seriously affect the balance of domestic commerce. Dagong not only took them out one by one, but also put them into mass production without notifying the chamber of commerce and the guild, which seriously impacted the market order and caused price fluctuations in the dukedom. How many people fell from heaven to hell because of this, but the wealth of the Grand Duke rose instead.

As is always the case, the good can always get better and the bad can always get worse.The more wealth the Grand Duke has, the more property he can buy, and the more mages and soldiers he can raise, the more stable his rule will be... And because he is good at buying people's hearts, not to mention the poor in the city, some civilians and small The merchant sometimes dares to speak well of him only because he has received a little careless favor from him.What a pathetic scene!

The bleak future can already be foreseen, how can we teach people to generate joyful emotions?Even if you drink good wine and let go of your body, it is difficult to get rid of your worries.

But after more than half of the winter passed, some news from unknown sources was quietly circulated in various salons. People whispered and warned their close friends to keep secrets, and then the close friends warned the next close friend. "It became a blatant statement, and the rumors continued to develop, and the categorical statement turned into an invisible storm, sweeping the whole city.

People have always wanted to know that the Grand Duke was so domineering and greedy when he came to power, where did he get the confidence to offend many nobles and businessmen?Who did the miraculous technology he possessed come from?Could it be the bereaved guest minister beside him?When did these sinners come to him to serve him faithfully, and what did he exchange with them?

The answers to these questions used to be widely discussed, and all guesses were hypotheses, but now people seem to have found more and more truths—this depraved nobleman who was once exiled by his father was shamefully captured in the Orc Empire, in order to survive, He signed an unspeakable contract with a foreigner, roughly at the price of selling his soul or faith. Not only did he save his life, but he also obtained the secret human and material support from the other party, enabling him to turn around and return home, with lightning speed. He rushed into the castle under cover of deception, killed the agent of the previous Grand Duke of Ridan, forced the former Grand Duke to abdicate, and then began his harsh rule.

Finally found the source of the Grand Duke's strength, and the long-suppressed excitement of the people grew rapidly like thorns.

Strange to say, people have known for a long time that the Grand Duke has a stable connection with the orc empire, but the impression of the orcs for a long time makes it difficult for people to imagine what kind of light of civilization can be born in such a barren land, and people think that this unscrupulous The fastidious adults keep the bad relationship in the past as a reliance, and the exchanges are not too frequent. The not-so-large convoy can easily mix into the team that transports various raw materials to the castle and surrounding workshops. Among the people who come and go, only The survivors can be regarded as eye-catching, but they are also very good at hiding themselves. Among the rest, none of them wear robes or gems, just like a group of ordinary guys with better spirits...

But who would have guessed that this turned out to be their disguise?Except for the Grand Duke, in such a long period of time, no one knows when the orc empire started to have a human power that could lay the foundation, and from it was born a power that can not only bring wealth, but even change the pattern of a city and a place. Astonishing things—especially the art of ironmaking, which is still monopolized by the Grand Duke.

Obviously, the road to the rise of this lord is unusual in every way, why on earth are people blinded to their own eyes, so that they are only now tracing back to this source?

If the source they found is correct, does that mean they too can find their way out by taking certain risks?

Some people began to regret why they fell in love with those foreign guests under the command of the Grand Duke, some people wanted to repair their relationship, and some people made up their minds to organize a team of adventurers to go west and set off as soon as Xuerong... All these things are disturbing. It is of course impossible for the current Grand Duke to know nothing, but the exposure of Lao Di seems to have no effect on him, and he even announced to those merchants and nobles who are still hesitating through the acting lord in the city:

"That's where it all comes from. If you want to create wealth too, go west!"

This response almost confirms the message. Is the Grand Duke breaking the pot or relying on something?

"Of course not." The Grand Duke said with a smile to the visitor, "I am not one or two steps ahead of everyone, but a long way. Most of the opportunities have been taken by me. What can you take away from me? Woolen cloth?"

—What arrogance is this!

Businessmen, nobles, guild leaders, and even the church have come out to condemn the Grand Duke’s words and deeds. However, as he said, anger cannot change the reality. Now, most of the power and resources in the Principality have been firmly controlled by him—— But not all of them.

Although the grand duke has a big appetite, he still can't swallow the entire principality in one gulp. He doesn't have enough manpower, nor does he have enough caravans. The products produced must be sold, and he doesn't have enough people in the northern regions. contacts.

But there are chambers of commerce in the city, and they have everything.

After calming down and thinking carefully, people found that not only was there an additional magical gold mining land in the West, but they also found an opportunity to get rid of the status quo.

With the outflow of some evidence from the other side, unprecedented vitality has been injected into people's lives.At the tail end of this social season, no one is talking about clichés like marriage, and no one is complaining about the grand duke's yin and yang. People who kill time by drinking and playing cards are cheered up, whether in the salon or at home. In the novel, no matter between men and men, or between women and women, most of the topics revolve around the aliens born within the orc empire-several printed publications called "newspapers" are the proof of its existence, although there is no People decipher the strange writing on it, but the pictures are relatively easy to understand, and one of the detailed illustrations in black and white is particularly hotly debated, not to mention how a picture can be printed so clearly on paper. What was depicted was a huge and extremely strange city.

is it trueOr is it just a fantasy picture?

They would soon be proven, for it was rumored that the Grand Duke would send an army of emissaries to the Orc Empire at the beginning of spring—no one was ever allowed to follow.

During the frenzy, some people naturally have doubts, whether all the ups and downs are a trap set by the Grand Duke, but since ancient times, wealth and wealth have been sought in danger. As long as there is enough profit, the most important thing for businessmen is to take risks. the spirit of.

They will definitely go.

Like a dog chasing a bone, the Grand Duke thought.

The pattering icy rain and snowdrops fell outside the window, the sky was gloomy, and the scenery in the garden was so dilapidated that people didn't want to look at it, but as long as the gauze curtain was put down, a warm little world would embrace it, and all the coldness would fade away. are isolated.Before winter, the castle was overhauled by a working group from the Alliance. Some windows were widened and wooden window frames were installed. The thick double-glazed glass blocked all wind and rain, and only warm sunlight could come in. , the necessary shooting holes were left and concealed, and all the gaps that had been in disrepair were sealed flat with mortar, and the iron heating pipes were almost spread all over the castle. Whether the Grand Duke himself or the servants of the castle, almost no one cares about this.

Archduke Colson sat at the table in loose home clothes, the firewood crackled in the fireplace, and a map was also spread on the table.

The sound of rain came from outside the window, making the night even quieter.

During this alone time, Coulson pondered his situation.

Since he decided to follow the advice of the working group from the alliance, he has transformed the city, vigorously developed the government-run chamber of commerce, recovered various minerals from nobles and chambers of commerce, established workshops, recruited a large number of workers, taught them various crafts and carried out basic education. A reading club is held in the castle, and newspapers and books from the industrial alliance are regularly shared, and the important information collected through the radio is compiled into a book, allowing members of the working group to discuss with those outstanding students selected from the bottom up.

He is not particularly secretive about doing these things. Even when the castle laundry maid was whispering about related topics with her companions, the rumors in the city are still nothing new, and the correct news has not been added for a long time, so that Coulson had to personally add fuel to the flames , and finally let the situation develop as he expected.

Coulson is certainly not crazy.In fact, after enjoying the benefits brought by the monopoly, he once thought about how to keep the secret for a long time, but the development of the alliance is too fast, the so-called rapid changes are nothing more than that, through the radio and newspapers delivered several times a year Documents and other materials, he watched a "spoiler" rapidly grow into a giant tree with deep roots and leaves, the more he knew about this growing alliance, the more he understood what the magician brought to this world .

You don't have to take a long-term view, just look at what happened to those two places called Key Point.

Before the "pioneers" arrived, the two cities were considered to be places where order was stable and people lived and worked in peace and contentment. Neither the local rulers nor the people thought that there was anything that needed to be changed in their lives.After the arrival of the pioneers, all "unnecessary" became needs, all common sense was denied, and all orders were overthrown. There has never been such a thorough conquest, and the new order has almost wiped out the past without leaving any traces.

Coulson believes that the magician is the same as the outside, and has no malice towards the world, so he is more terrifying than any king full of lust.He has no selfishness and no weaknesses.

Compassion is not a weakness.

Instead, it was seeing the suffering of so many people that made him decide to make the source of that suffering go away.

It is inevitable for the industrial alliance to unify the orc empire. It does not take much time or effort. It is very likely that within a few years they will complete this task silently.After unification, the alliance will take over the north, and the geographical barrier between the principality and this behemoth will be reduced to only an isthmus. For the alliance, it may only take one step to cross.At that time, no matter whether the alliance wants to cross the isthmus and annex the principality like an orc empire, or use him as an agent to deeply develop the rich mineral deposits of the principality, and then use the torrent of goods as a means of invasion to the northern region facing the principality It may be just a matter of documents for the countries to launch an attack.

Coulson's fingers slowly slid along the map.

Since it is destined to become a portal, it is better to make this road smoother.

The pencil slashed heavily across the paper, connecting the dots into thick, zigzag lines. Scar put down the pencil, took two steps back, put one hand on his hip, and looked at it for a while.

"Like pliers," he said.

Hanging on the wall is a high-precision map, the original may be the most detailed regional map in the world (partial data provided by Meravia and Fan Tianlan), after being smeared by Scar, the three directions are clearly in the show on paper

One goes north, passes through the Orc Empire (the remaining part), passes through the Principality of Zhdan, and finally points to the northern region, one goes along the river and enters the hinterland of the mainland, and the other goes along the coast, connecting several virtual points, and then reaches the south of the Central Empire The sea area, boarded the coast, connected the forest of elves.

Letting go of the sea line of communication, just looking at the other two extension lines, they embrace almost half of the western continent, more like a hug than pincers—a hug that can kill.

Although it has not been announced, this is almost the direction of the alliance's external development.Not commercial.

Scar let out a light breath, and threw the pencil on the table.

"The Lord of the Western Regions..." he murmured.

The pencil fell to the table, the barrel of the pen rolled to the edge, was picked up by one hand, and gently put back into the pen holder.

Scar turned around and looked at Yun Shen, "Think about it seriously, you are really scary."

"Where is the horror?" Yun Shen leaned against the table, looking up at the map as well.

Scar thought for a moment.

"The horror is your persistence," Scar said. "You have been holding on to a fantasy, and it seems that you can really make it come true."

Although Yun Shen's identity has not been made public yet, no one will associate him with the monarch of the Far East anymore.

He is not from this world.

Everything that made him came from another world, and his knowledge, language, ideas, and goals had never been contaminated by the world in which he lived, and he was alien to others.A complete oddity, he's doing just fine here—or at least he seems to be doing very well.He has not been assimilated by this world, nor has he ever compromised with the environment. In fact, he is assimilating the world and made the environment compromise with him.

The power he possessed to carry out large-scale material transfer certainly played a big role, but Scar didn't think that another person with this power could be like him.

It's almost an instinct to choose a lifestyle that's better for you.Since he came into this world, this person has had countless choices. Even now, he can always choose a path that is easier and more "pleasant" for himself and the people around him.He can become the overlord, sweep across Central Continent, let hundreds of millions of people praise his prestige, or he can settle down in a corner, carefree, or under the heavy protection of various powerful forces, he can just be a bystander in the world.

Although possessing strange powers, he is still a "human" with a limited lifespan and poor physique after all, and preserving himself should be his first choice.

But Scar knew that he hadn't changed a bit since then.

Why should he insist on a "dream"?

"People should have dreams." Yun Shen said calmly.

Scar looked at him.

In terms of personal gain, this person does not get what he gives in return.

His choices will make him hard, hard to understand, and while respected, he will face suspicion and hostility from many, and cannot easily leave the territory he is in, because he no longer belongs to him in a way Myself, his life and death are related to the fate of countless people, and even Scar cannot bear the consequences of the damage to the "magician".

But if he wasn't such a person, why would the unruly Ruska Nightmare willingly obey his commands? How could orcs and human races with such conflicts coexist peacefully and strive for a common goal? Those developments that carried his will How can the creators lay such a solid foundation in such a distant land?

Scar had seen many strong-willed people, and strong desires could sometimes perform miracles—but no such miracles: disrupting the order of historical development, transplanting an order from one world to another.There is no soil for it to live here, and he creates this soil.To those who cried out to him he answered, and to those who did not ask him, he gave them the hope they never had—and made it impossible for them to look back.

In the eyes of this "magician", humans and orcs are not fundamentally different, so he is equally tolerant and ruthless towards them. The seemingly free choice gives people the illusion that they can control their own destiny. But the same goal by different routes.In Ska's view, these small disputes among the orcs are just passing clouds, and the greatest significance of their appearance is to become a ladder for this person to go to the next step.

He never pinned the future of the league on his own talents and any form of contract, nor did he hope to have a successor who was extremely smart, rational, insightful and never made mistakes, and he never thought about letting those who were The things that appear from him will last forever.

He will light a fire, he will lift a lamp.