More than a dozen sailboats lined up at the pier, the top of the mast and the staggered hemp rope had been wrapped in snowflakes into white silver threads, and the refugees streamed out of the cabins and poured into the open space in front of the pier. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

This is not the first time that a frontier town has received refugees from all over Greyfort, and the whole process seems to be in order. Four iron railings divide the crowd into two slender columns, both to control the flow of people and to avoid stampede. On both sides of the railing are police officers patrolling with short sticks, and those who push and try to climb over the railing will be hit with sticks. There are punishments and rewards – to appease those who have made it to the place through hardship, refugees who pass through the railings are given a steaming bowl of gruel. In any case, filling your stomach first can effectively reduce the panic and discomfort of refugees in an unfamiliar territory.

This time, in addition to the police, First Army, and City Hall officials, Nightingale and Sylvie were also involved in the inspection in order to find the drug addicts that Tifeco had planted in the crowd. Under the scrutiny of the Magic Eye, neither the pills nor the snow powder were hidden.

"Thank you for all this you have done for the West," Roland said to Margaery beside him, "If it weren't for your fleet, these people would have to spend the winter in the slums of other cities." ”

"It's rare for His Highness to ask me for help in such an urgent tone, so naturally I'll do my best," she smiled, "but many crew members are reluctant to sail in heavy snow, so they can only get together thirteen ships." ”

"It's better than none," Roland exhaled. After learning that there were still a large number of refugees stranded in Silverlight City, Chishui City, and Willow Leaf Town, he sent a letter of assistance to the Margaery Chamber of Commerce, hoping that they could recruit a fleet to help him transport the refugees.

Thirteen boats is a little less, but two more trips can always bring people back - if a sailboat takes two weeks for a hundred people, it would take about a month and a half for 3,000 stranded people. The golden dragon carried by the First Army squad could not support that time, so this return trip had to carry food and winter clothing. Roland didn't want a refugee to get on the boat with their hopes and end up not being able to reach their destination.

Thanks to lightning, Margaery eventually set the cost of transportation twice as much as usual. Other merchants would have thought it was a foolish deal—the freight alone exceeded the value of the goods themselves, and the average freight cost of one gold dragon per two people could buy several strong, high-quality slaves at the current market price. Margaery had questioned him, but Roland insisted on bringing them back to the West.

From the moment they set foot on the sailing ship with the emissaries, they were considered to be the lords of the West, and it was their duty to provide them with refuge. And in Roland's eyes, the value of these refugees is far from being comparable to that of slaves, and the wealth they create in their new jobs after education, training and re-employment will be immeasurable.

......

Back in the castle parlour, Roland instructed the kitchen to serve Margaery a soup to ward off the cold, "Drink this, your hands and feet will be much warmer." ”

"Thank you for your kindness," the businesswoman scooped up a spoonful and sniffed, "There seems to be liquor in it?"

"Indeed," he laughs, "there are peppercorns and honey, and chicken broth as the base." "High sake, which is a great drink to ward off the cold at any time, also makes the taste more mellow when heated with the chicken broth, and the seasonings that mask its pungent flavor make the whole bowl of soup delicious and slightly spicy, and even those who don't drink it regularly can easily eat it.

Margaery slowly drank the thick soup and sighed, "It's really good, every time I come to you, I will be full of anticipation, I don't know what new things you will come up with, but unfortunately I don't think I will be able to visit your territory often next year." ”

"Do you mean trading opportunities?" Roland keenly captured the meaning of her words.

The businesswoman nodded, "Tifeko has issued an order prohibiting the saltpeter trade, and now not only the royal capital, but even the saltpeter in Silverlight City and Chishui City are not allowed to be sold, except for supplying it to the Alchemy Association at a low price, it can only be sold to the nobles in the city." ”

Roland's brow furrowed.

"And according to what I heard from the city hall, it seems that he is planning a complete blockade of the western border, and I am afraid that not only saltpeter, but even merchants will be blocked on the front line of Chishui City. At that time, not only the border towns, but also the Changge Fortress and the Willow Leaf Town will also be affected. Despite the opposition of many nobles, Tifeco was unlikely to retract the order. She shook her head helplessly, "By the next year, not only will I not be able to transport saltpeter and ingots here, but even the steam engine trade may have to be suspended." ”

It seems that he has forced him to be in a hurry, otherwise he would not have moved out of this kind of will, which is also quite harmful to the royal family, Roland couldn't help but think that rashly interfering in the trade operations of other territories without completing the centralization of power is likely to provoke the rebellion of the lords and the great nobles. Even if Tifeco sent his own forces to defend the land and river routes, it would be easy for the local lord to eradicate it from behind, as long as he enforced this policy for a year and a half.

But trade is the death hole of the border town, let alone a year...... Even if it's half a year, it's not allowed. Saltpeter is a raw material for large-scale acid production, and its importance cannot be replaced until the artificial synthesis of ammonia is solved. Once the supply was stopped, the 152-mm guns became an ornament, and the replacement of the new repeating guns would be delayed a lot.

But even worse than weapons was the steam engine trade - there were not many golden dragons left in the city hall vault today, and some of the money was used for infrastructure construction to create jobs, and some of it was paid to the townspeople, which were then recycled through food, convenience goods, and housing transactions. This economic model requires a constant infusion of gold dragons into the market, at least equal to the wealth created by the people.

Now the border towns are still in a state of primitive accumulation, and no credit money is issued, and once the steam engine is lost, the treasury can easily fall into a dry situation of not paying salaries, and then the economy will collapse completely.

In any case, the interruption of funds is absolutely unacceptable.

"This won't last long," Roland said, "I'm sure you'll be back in this westside town soon...... No, by then, you'll see a brand new city. ”

Margaery was slightly surprised, "Are you planning to build a city here?"

"Just after the end of the Demon Moon," he laughs, "I intend to open a trade route directly to the fjords, not through Seabreeze or Blue Water, but directly from the west to the fjord islands. I wonder if you're interested in participating?"

. (To be continued.) )