Whoever is in charge is a very serious question, no matter where it is.

This is not only about sovereignty, dignity, freedom, equality, justice, the rule of law, and so on, but most importantly, it is about tangible benefits, such as the right to collect taxes.

But that's obviously not what men care about.

"Tell me who's in charge here now?"

He looked ashore, saw nothing disturbing, and shoved two gold coins into the fat man's hand.

The fat man's rough fingers twisted the strangely patterned gold coin in his hand, and then looked at the man with some suspicion.

It was the first time he had seen such a gold coin, so he was inevitably at a loss.

"Take it, put it away, maybe you'll see more gold coins like this in the future."

The man didn't explain the suspicion on the fat man's face, he didn't see it and stretched out his hand to push away the two people who were blocking him and walked towards the shore on the plank, and he didn't forget to continue to ask: "Tell me who is in charge here now, I probably have something to talk about with them." ”

"This place is now in the hands of Master Alyoscu," the fat man pinched the gold coin hard, and then simply put it in his mouth and bit it, the clear tooth marks on it made him smile, but it was a pity to see that the beautiful and delicate goddess carving on the gold coin was destroyed because of this, and then he glanced at the companion next to him with a warning look and put the gold coin into his pocket, instead of putting it in the leather jacket for collecting taxes, while chasing after the man behind his back and said earnestly, "Lord Alyoscu is our county magistrate, he is the ......" Speaking of this, The fat man shrugged as if he didn't care, "At least nominally, he serves Lord Count Tubro." ”

"Nominally?" The man looked back at the fat man.

"Friend, you know that these years are not easy to mix, the king is coming, we have to entertain, the archduke is coming, we have to entertain, even when the Ottomans come, we still have to entertain, before this place was under the management of the Archduke Stefan of Moldova, but then the archduke seems to have given this place to the Count of Tubro, so we are now the Count's people."

"Oh, you're a pretty mess." The man walked along the path paved with sand and cobblestones, as if he were in his own backyard, while the fat man and his companion followed like two well-behaved henchmen.

"It's not a mess, we're actually pretty good, the Ottomans don't care much about us, probably don't look down on our place, the year before last, the Ottoman fleet passed by the sea near us all day, but they went to Moldova, I heard that Grand Duke Stefan was fighting with a king over there, and the Ottomans seemed to go to help, but they didn't pay much attention to us here."

The man stopped and looked back, he didn't expect that this fat man was quite well-informed, knowing that it was not easy to find someone to explain these things even in the Vatican.

Probably because of the proximity, the man thought to himself, and then asked, "I want to talk to your people who are in charge here, but I only look for those who can really manage things, and I will do more than that." As he spoke, the man threw another gold coin from the same one he had just made.

The fat man took it with a dexterous movement that did not match his size, and after weighing it, the chubby face was already smiling so much that he could not see his eyes.

"Don't worry, we'll take you to Lord Alyoscu, but I don't know what you call it?"

Speaking of this, the fat man looked at the man in front of him a little vaguely, although he was generous, but he looked a little sloppy on the outside.

Look at the way he dresses, and say that he is a bohemian, some people will believe him, if it weren't for his lavish shots, the fat man would have been sure that he would be a bohemian.

"Nashan," the man reached out and twisted the tip of his upturned beard, and took out another gold coin from his pocket as if by magic, but this time he didn't throw it to the fat man, but held it up to the two of them and gently twisted the pattern on it, "Tell your county magistrate to let him come to the docks, the young lady above wants to talk to him about something." ”

Then he solemnly handed the gold coin to the fat man.

The fat man took the coin suspiciously, he had already noticed the pattern on the coin, it was a delicate pattern he had never seen before, an image like the goddess Athena stood on the obverse of the coin, but to his surprise was that this Athena was holding a musket instead of a spear.

Looking at the backs of the fat man and the two of them hurriedly leaving, Nashan walked slowly on the shore of the pier, sometimes stopping to glance at the brig moored not far from the sea, and then continued to walk slowly.

The fat man was very efficient, or rather the magic of gold coins, and just as Nashan felt a little empty in his stomach and wondered where to find something to eat, he saw a very tall carriage running from a distance along the narrow road with high smoke and dust.

The fat man sitting next to the coachman kept waving his hand to Nashan, which was impossible to ignore, and there seemed to be two people sitting in the open carriage without a roof behind him, and when the carriage approached, Nashan could already see the eye-catching ribbon around the neck of one of them.

This indicates that the person should be a local official.

Sure enough, as soon as the carriage stopped, the fat man jumped out of the car smartly, and then struggled to remove the baffle of the car and put it on the ground as a footrest.

The two men stepped out of the carriage, and one of them, an elderly man who looked to be in his 50s with a gray beard, with a scarf on his chest, followed closely behind him by a clerk dressed in black with hair cut like a pot lid.

"Friends from afar, welcome to Constanta County," the county magistrate reserved and slightly opened his arms to Nashan and made an inviting gesture, although he tried his best to hide it, but looking at Nashan's dress, his eyes couldn't help but flash a look of doubt, he looked at the gold coin in his hand, and then raised it up and gestured to Nashan, "I don't know what you want to talk to me." ”

"You misunderstood the county magistrate," Nashan shook his head as he pinched the hilt of his knife, "it's not me, it's the young lady on the gold coin who wants to talk to you." ”

The county magistrate looked surprised, and he couldn't help but raise the gold coin to look at the pattern on it.

"You heard it right, it's the lady on the gold coin," Nashan said, raising his hand and pointing with his thumb to the brig in the sea behind her, "she's in that boat right now, Miss Countess Kosenza of Naples." ”

While Nashan was negotiating with the magistrate of Constanta on the shores of the Black Sea, on the deck of the brig on the sea, Josha was elegantly fiddling with a short-barreled musket that was more of a work of art than a murderous tool.

Unlike the previous short muskets, the barrel of this musket is shorter than that of the long gun, but the handle is not a rabbit leg style, but a hard walnut butt like the long gun, the whole butt is cut smoothly and comfortable to hold, and at the tail of the butt there is a small arc and a layer of deerskin embroidered with delicate patterns, as a cushion for shoulder shooting.

Under the handguard, also made of walnut at the front near the barrel, a slightly heavier horizontal grip gives the musket a more balanced look.

The rest of the gun, whether it is the trigger ring, the hammer or the barrel, is etched with intricate and delicate textures, and one of the rosettes wrapping around the entire barrel extends from the trigger to the front of the barrel, and finally forms a blooming bud around the muzzle.

Such a work of art made many people who saw it think that it had lost its meaning as a weapon, and people thought that it should be placed as an ornament in the hall of the castle or in the master's room, rather than being taken to the battlefield by some rude soldiers to kill each other.

But Josa knew it was all, for she knew better than anyone how terrible this beautiful weapon was, especially after being loaded with the kind of gunpowder that had been squeezed so thickly and stuffed with oiled paper that she had seen with her own eyes the terrifying bullet holes left by the musket in a pair of armor that looked unusually hard.

Carefully fiddling with the musket, she took out a brush from a small box made of the same wood, dipped it in butter and combed the chamber through the muzzle, and then took out a small hammer with a pattern and carefully corrected the clasp of two gears that were engaged in each other.

Listening to the gentle tapping, Zhosa remembered Alexander's request in his letter to her to make muskets in Agri's factory: "Don't be delicate in your craft, it's a bad habit, because too delicate weapons will only cost us more effort and money, and we can't guarantee that these weapons will fall into the hands of any reckless man, so that our factory can keep the weapons reliable and minimize the pointless processes as long as we are familiar with the advice I have given you. In addition, I would like you to pay attention to the suggestions I have made before, which is to divide as many workers as possible into several teams that have only mastered their own different skills, which has two purposes, one is to allow the workers to be more efficient because they are familiar with the process at hand, instead of losing too much time because one person is making a weapon from beginning to end, and the other is to protect our own little secrets to the greatest extent possible through the division of labor, although this secret can not be kept for a long time. But that's enough for us, knowing that there are many places where you need to provide weapons, and in the current situation, at least try to arm Pisa and Montina before the French invade again, and as for Agri and Cosenza, I'm sure you've taken care of it in advance. ”

Thinking of Alexander's words, the small hammer in her hand increased her strength slightly, and then she was a little distressed to find that the pattern on the top of the finger buckle of the forked hammer seemed to have been knocked out by her with a small scratch.

A little annoyed, she put down the hammer, picked up the deerskin next to her and wiped it with butter, hoping to wipe the scratch off, and at this moment, the sailor who had brought Nashan ashore came over.

"Miss, Master Nashan asked me to come back and tell you that he has already agreed with the local officials that you can see them at any time."

She nodded in response, put down her work, stood up, looked ashore, and instructed the servant next to her to put the musket back into the case, while she descended to the bottom and returned to her cabin.

First washed his hands, then combed his hair in the mirror that was blown by the sea breeze, looked at his face in the mirror, which had gradually become more and more charming from youth, Ji Sha picked up a handful of water and covered her face hard, and then raised her head again to look at herself in the mirror.

"You're really crazy, Shosha, you must be crazy." "It is an honor to meet you, my lord, I am the Countess of Naples, the Countess of Cosenza, the Lighthouse of the Two Sicilies, the Regent of Pisa, the Count of Montina and the sister of Alexandre Giulian Gombray, Lord of Montina and Lord of Agri. ”

When the magistrate of Constanta County heard this series of awe-inspiring titles, he looked quite spectacular because of the ignorance that he was shocked to the point of stammering.

"Miss Countess, have you come to Constanta for something, I mean I can do something for you?" The county magistrate asked a little restrained.

Standing in front of such a countess, the county magistrate deeply felt the frustration of being a hillbilly.

That kind of thick she is the Vatican, and the pressure of me being a dirt bun makes the county magistrate regret why he didn't wear his best clothes before, at least the cashmere jacket that the trustee bought from Mainz still looks a little good.

"I've heard of this place," Josha looked at the simple furnishings around the house, which was the office of the magistrate of Constanta, a simple castle made of two stone walls inside and outside and a few sturdy towers, and the stones everywhere on the nearby hills provided enough material for the building, but because there was not much wood for the roof, many things in the house had to be replaced with stones, so there were hardly any decent furnishings in the house except for a few simple tables and chairs." In the past was the domain of Grand Duke Stefan of Moldova? ”

"Yes, Miss Count, but we are now loyal to Lord Count Tubro," the county magistrate nodded vigorously, as if to emphasize that he also had a very strong backer, "The count is a relative of the noble Patriarch of Bucharest, who had previously participated in the war between Grand Duke Stefan of Moldova and the King of Poland, and later the count married one of the daughters of the Grand Duke, and this domain was considered a dowry for the Grand Duke's daughter. ”

Jisha nodded, she knew that things must not be so simple, no one would easily cede a piece of territory to others, not even a son-in-law.

But if he married, would Alexander give him Agri as a dowry?

There was a feeling of anticipation, but she soon learned that this was obviously impossible, and even estimated that the only thing Alexander could give to her sister-in-law would probably be a bullet.

Shaking his head slightly to get rid of those cranky thoughts, Qi Sha's slender fingers tapped slightly on the rough tabletop, and for a while the silence in the room made the county magistrate a little uncomfortable.

"I've brought a lot of goods," said Tsuna, "and they're all very precious goods, so I need a place to store them, you ......."

"Constanta, our name here is Constanta," the county magistrate hurriedly said, his eyes lit up, and he leaned forward with some excitement, "We are a good place here, with a beautiful environment, simple customs, convenient transportation, and convenient transportation, I can make a fortune here." ”

He looked at the magistrate carefully, and then said to him, "I hope to see Count Tubro, or if there is something he is interested in." ”

"What you're talking about is ......"

The county magistrate asked a little puzzled, speaking of which, he really hadn't seen the big nobles who went out to do business, in his mind, the big nobles were unattainable, not to mention that she was a countess who seemed to have a high status, which even made him vaguely suspicious of the other party's identity.

Ji Sha waved his hand slightly to the entourage following behind him, and the two servants immediately moved a heavy long box over and paused on the ground in front of the county magistrate with a "bang".

As the planks were pried up, several hay-padded muskets were revealed in the boxes.

The county magistrate showed a sluggish look on his face, he looked at the musket in the box on the ground in a daze, and then looked up at the calm expression of Ji Sha, and moved a little dry throat before he said cautiously: "So, Miss Count, do you want me to relay the news of your arrival to Lord Earl?" ”

Ji Sha shook her head slowly: "No, I just need you to help me take care of the cargo on the ship, and find a reliable guide for me." ”

The magistrate looked at him differently, and he felt the need to warn this strange foreign aristocratic lady.

"You probably don't know that we are at war here," the magistrate probably thought it might cause a misunderstanding and quickly explained, "Of course we are not at war here, I mean the war between the King of Poland and the Grand Duke of Stefan, they just stopped fighting for a long time, and the Ottomans have just concluded a treaty with Moldova not long ago, and now there are still many troops near Moldova who have not had time to return, and the road is not smooth." ”

The county magistrate's kind reminder touched her a little, but she glanced back at Nashan, who had been playing with the hilt of her knife in boredom, and then said, "Rest assured, my mutual guards can protect me, and we may need this opportunity to show your count the power of our goods." ”

Looking at the reserved and calm expression on Qi Sha's face, the county magistrate was a little dry and reluctantly squeezed out a smile.

"But Miss Count, you may be disappointed, Lord Count is not in his territory now, you know I just talked about fighting, probably you don't know yet, in fact, the war in Moldova is almost over, but the Ottomans are now besieging Bucharat, and Lord Count has been called to defend Bucharest."

"Really?" She didn't look disappointed, she looked back at Nashan, who was sitting behind, and after seeming to get some kind of acquiescence, she turned back to the county magistrate and said, "But please send us a guide, we are going to a new place." ”

As he spoke, the toes of the toes hidden under the skirt unconsciously kicked the box on the ground, making a soft "bang" sound.