Chapter 42: kingdom crisis one
After visiting the shipyard, Paul and Quiller walked to the beach to enjoy the scenery. Today's weather is good, and the slightly fishy sea breeze is blowing slowly, which makes people feel refreshed.
Quiller suddenly asked curiously, "What are you going to sell?"
"Some novelties, a new type of paper, cheap and plentiful, not as expensive as parchment. There is also a beautiful vessel, you will definitely fall in love with it."
Paul said with a little pride, thinking of the enthusiasm of Europeans for porcelain, he is confident that he will definitely be able to make a lot of money.
He took out a piece of paper and handed it to Quiller, and said, "This is the paper I want to sell. I'm going back to Huxin Town in a few days. Do you want to go with me to see that kind of utensils? It's really better than what we use. The pottery is much nicer."
"Okay, I'll definitely go." Quiller took the paper and exclaimed, "You mean this kind of paper can be mass-produced?"
The southern countries are economically developed, and a large amount of paper is used in daily business activities. Activities such as contracts, bookkeeping, and letters consume countless papers every day. Economic development has brought cultural prosperity, and the cultural industry has Is a big paper consumer. If there is a new type of paper that is in sufficient supply and cheap enough, there is no need to worry about finding a market.
"Yes, in my workshop, with the same manpower and time, I can increase the output to dozens of times that of parchment." In fact, this was made up by Paul casually, and he didn't know how many times it could be. However, in view of sufficient raw materials and insufficient manpower, he can recruit more. He thought to himself that it should be no problem to be thirty or forty times taller.
He suddenly thought of another idea, and slapped his forehead: "Ah! By the way, I heard that your southern culture is developed, and there are countless great writers and dramatists?"
Brother Young Master put his left hand on his hip, and stroked his hair with his right hand, showing a proud expression: "Thank you! Although we in the south are inferior to your north in terms of force, we really can't be too modest when it comes to literature and art. Haha!" That expression As if he himself is a master of literature and art.
Paul immediately put on an expression full of expectation: "Little brother, I have admired this for a long time. After you go back, can you send me some popular literary works, such as novels, poems and so on."
Quiller was full of pride: "It's easy to say, easy to say! Hahahaha—"
"But why do you need to ship by sea? There are still very few ports on the west coast of the Aldo Kingdom where you can dock for supplies? What if there is extreme weather or the ship breaks down?"
Paul said helplessly: "I can't help it. You have been imprisoned by pirates for several months. You probably don't know that there is a war going on in the south of our country? To say something disrespectful to His Majesty the king, I don't know when and what month this war will start. I don’t want my caravan to go through a place full of war, what if it is robbed. Even if there is no war, there will be checkpoints along the way, and several layers of skin will have to be peeled off just to pay taxes.”
Quiller showed a comprehending expression: "I just heard that it's Greedy Wolf Giles, right? He's a dangerous guy, and he's 'famous' even in our country. I don’t know how high it is, but they have controlled the trade between Aldo and Jiaowan by lowering tariffs and favoring businessmen, but they have made a lot of money.”
Quiller suddenly remembered something, he paused, looked around, and whispered in Paul's ear, "I'll tell you a secret secretly, don't tell anyone."
Seeing him so mysterious, Paul was aroused curiosity, nodded and agreed: "Don't worry, I will keep my mouth shut."
I only heard Quick whispering: "It is estimated that the royal family of your country is in danger this time, and there is a big force behind Giles to support it."
"What did you say?" Paul looked astonished as if he had heard some terrible news.
"I mean, your Aldo kingdom is very likely to change its dynasty!" Seeing that his friend was stunned by the secret he told, Queller felt a little satisfied.
Paul had a look of disbelief: "Don't lie to me, Giles launched a rebellion after you fell into the pirate's lair. How do you know that there are people behind him? And he is powerful enough to overthrow the royal family?"
"You don't think that Giles came up with the idea of rebellion just a few months ago? He has been preparing for several years, and the top leaders of all countries are well aware of this. But there are people behind him, I only found out about it by accident shortly before I left home. It is probably the support of this force that made him make up his final determination to rebel."
"And how did you 'unintentionally' know?"
"Did you forget that my father is a member of the council? I secretly read some documents in his study. It seems that some chambers of commerce of the Horn Bay Alliance are sending supplies by sea to the territory of Giles for the forces behind it. The amount of ordnance, food, etc., is astounding. So I say that your majesty the king is a little bit hung up this time."
"Hmm—" Paul frowned. If that's the case, as the lord of one side, he would have to carefully consider the issue of which team to join. The Gleiman family was kicked to the Northwest Gulf because they were on the wrong team before.
Quiller seemed to see what Paul was thinking, put his hands on his shoulders and said, "If you don't have the strength to protect yourself, just be a fool for a while, and wait until the situation is clear before expressing your position~www.readwn. com~ If it really gets to the point where everything is irreversible, come to Jiaowan to find me, you saved my life, and I will protect you for the rest of your life."
"It takes some strength to be a fool." Paul thought to himself, but Queller's words were very touching.
He looked up into Quiller's sincere eyes: "Thank you, Quiller." Then he asked curiously: "Which side do you support in the Horn Bay Alliance?"
Quiller immediately replied: "Since the establishment of the Horn Bay Alliance, the diplomatic principle of 'armed neutrality' has been pursued. We just want to do business quietly and not get too involved in the internal disputes of other countries. Just in case we make a mistake If not, the business may not be done.”
"Uh..." He changed the subject: "At least that's the official attitude. As for what's going on behind the scenes, I'm not interested in politics and know little about it. After all, it's impossible for a country to exist so far as it is on the surface."
He went on to say: "Third-party business such as transportation of materials will not be prohibited by the laws of Jiaowan. If your king also places an order, our chamber of commerce will accept it."
"Then do you know who is behind Giles?"
"As long as the alliance's own interests are not harmed, the Council has no right to investigate commercial secrets. The document does not specify who it is. However, there is not much scope for guessing. Aldo is not considered a small country anymore, and has the ability to interfere with your affairs. How many powers can there be? Moreover, I remember that those chambers of commerce are doing business in the east of Jiaojiao Bay."
What a good way, it is easy to deceive people by sea transportation, and the transportation volume is huge. Since it is a large amount of ordnance and food, it is probably an act at the national level.
East of Cape Bay? Isn't that Tria Sea? It is estimated that only the Holy See and the Gabela Empire are close to the Trian Sea and capable of supporting Giles.
