Anyone who knows a little bit about the history of the East Coast knows that the rise of the Lamanite civilization is closely related to the dense waterways on the East Coast. After unifying and establishing their empire, the Lamanites still attached great importance to water transportation. This tradition continues until the present day of the Padrosi Empire. Countless ports and shipyards have been built over thousands of years, and quite a few of them were abandoned during the country's civil strife. However, the ports and maritime transportation industries that have survived and developed today are still extremely prosperous.
Thanks to this, if ordinary East Coast travelers want to travel, the most economical and relatively more convenient way is to take a ferry.
Land transportation is not only messy, but also bandits and magical beasts are often waiting for opportunities. Although the stone-paved road of "Vann-ti-Lamania", which means "Veins of Laman", has been in all directions many years ago, it is obviously more suitable for people in inland areas far away from the inland sea.
Water transportation is the lowest cost mode of transportation. No matter how strong a horse is, there is a limit to the weight of cargo it can pull. Coupled with the twists and turns of the terrain, uphill and downhill and other various influences, if you encounter hills or war, you will have to take a detour. Both the time consumed and the total amount of cargo that can be transported at one time are far less than those from the port. Ships traveling point-to-point.
The circulation of wealth between Padrosi and the Southern City-State Alliance is based on the pleasant sailing environment of the calm Morbigas Inland Sea and these magnificent large sailing ships.
To sail these large sailing ships, a large number of rowing slaves were needed.
——This is what our Luoan girl saw before boarding the ship. They were brought in from a trail on the other side. There were more than a hundred people in total, all of them were men in their prime. Their skin looked a little pale because they had been at the bottom of the boat all year round and not exposed to sunlight. Because of the hot weather, every day Everyone was wearing only a pair of tattered linen shorts. The pale skin made the whip marks and dirt more eye-catching. They staggered through the other side with the sound of the clinking of shackles.
That was an area where travelers and merchants were not allowed to go.
Unlike the West Coast, where you might see slaves walking around in the streets, which was considered barbaric by the Imperials in "Wiesland". The "orthodox" Lamanites, the Southern City-State Alliance and the Padrosi Empire, are very particular about class and taboos because they have a deep sense of pride in the civilization that has been passed down for thousands of years.
This is also the reason why Mira was not able to see this scene when she first arrived. People seemed to turn a blind eye to this scene as a matter of convention. Despite their knowledge of the existence, the city's administrators and people from all walks of life have developed a strict set of underground rules to separate the slaves' actions from the bright world and avoid being seen by new visitors. "Dirty eyes" stuff.
Even their names are taboo.
After all the rowing slaves boarded the boat, Mira heard the two sailors on the boat next to her saying, "La Zafora is on board, ready to go" - because this was something she didn't often do. Lamani language, the girl searched in her mind for a long time before she remembered the meaning of this word.
"Ballast."
Except for the occasional flat-bottomed river ship in freshwater basins, the bottoms of large ocean-going ships are dome-shaped. It is constructed in the form of a raised keel in the middle and arc-shaped extensions on both sides. If the ship is empty, it will sway left and right on the water and eventually capsize. Therefore, it is necessary to fill the bilge with heavy objects to give the ship a certain draft in order to maintain stability.
If the ship sinks, the heavy objects filled in the bilge will naturally sink to the bottom of the sea with the ship. Such a noun is an appropriate term for a rowing slave. There is no way to escape, and it is not even considered a human being. It is even less valuable than the goods transported on the ship, and it only exists as a part of the ship.
"..." For a moment, she suddenly felt an inexplicable feeling of powerlessness.
It is inevitable that injustice will exist, but if everyone takes it for granted, even if they have lived like this for many, many years, they have developed a corresponding system, so that it can be called an "unshakable tradition" ——
How to change all this? Even if I have this idea, it is just like a climber looking up at the endless thousand-meter peaks of the Tambur Mountains on the west coast, and there is only a feeling of weakness and no way to start.
Don't think about things that you can't understand. As always, this is Mira's advantage.
The reason why I cannot give an answer is because my own abilities are still insufficient. If I continue to move forward and continue to experience, maybe I will be able to give this answer in the future. She thought this, and then she heard the sailors on the ship blowing the horn three times in a row.
"Woo - Wu - Wu -" With full lung capacity, he then raised the small red and white pennant high, twirled it in a circle and shouted loudly: "Passengers and businessmen, put down your things and pack up." All my belongings are ready to go on board.”
He shouted like this, and people who were eating and drinking at the various mobile canteens below the ship packed up their things and started walking this way. The merchants selling these roadside stalls pushed their carts towards the next ship.
Densely packed businessmen, travelers and mercenaries in various costumes boarded the trestle with stairs on the shore. This ship is much taller than the one that Mira and Henry took from Avonne, so when getting on and off the ship, you have to go through the trestle instead of just placing a board directly. Some larger ships will first transfer people and cargo to smaller ships and then transport them to the port.
However, for Parnilla, the largest port on the east coast, the only ship that is so big that its highest pier cannot reach it is the royal flagship used by His Majesty the Emperor and several princes when they travel.
"Here." Our Mr. Sage was also among the crowd. He was holding a burrito wrapped in clean linen. As soon as the hot burrito was handed over, there was a nice smell of tomato meat sauce. Luo Miss An took it and took a big bite.
"Pfft--" Some of the passengers around him laughed maliciously. Mira turned her face away and looked at him from the corner of her eye. The man was about 20 or 30 years old, and he looked like a typical Laman businessman. Although he is young, he must be an experienced sailor from the point of view of his laughter.
There is a famous joke about mobile food stalls in the empire called "recycling". It tells the story of food stall owners using their aromas to seduce travelers. However, when people board a rocking ship after eating and drinking, they often suffer from seasickness, etc. Because of this, he lay on the fence and vomited in front of the sea. The vomit is eaten by fish in the sea, and finally these fish become delicacies on food stalls, thus completing a natural cycle.
This story has a Lamanian metaphorical irony, and people who often go to sea have developed the habit of not eating too much before boarding the ship. This young businessman was obviously gloating about his misfortune. He mistook our Luoan girl as a novice boarding the ship for the first time because of her appearance. But when she turned around, she revealed the eye-catching orange badge on her waist. When he picked up the mithril brooch on his chest, his expression immediately became sarcastic, even a bit fawning.
This was the most annoying part of the character of the Lamanites like Parnilla, but it was also the most common part.
Typical Lamanite young people have this kind of imperial pride, jumping to conclusions based on superficial knowledge of others before getting to know them deeply. He always thinks that other people are barbarians, uncivilized and lowly people. Even businessmen only seem to be enthusiastic, but in fact they are thousands of miles away from others in their hearts.
In addition, these guys change their faces very quickly. They used to be full of ridicule and condescension. Once they find out that you actually have some financial resources or strength, they will immediately become groveling and very polite, trying to curry favor in order to gain some benefits. .
——Flattery and polite, but still not really sociable.
The pride of the Imperial people is deep in their bones. This is no exaggeration. As an outsider, and a foreigner with a striking feature like white hair, they may approach you politely because of their money or strength, but in their hearts they still think you are inferior to them.
This kind of disdain hidden deep in the soul is very common among most young people in Padrosi. They always regard themselves as having thousands of years of inheritance. Although they pursue profit, they always think that they are noble and orthodox. They will take advantage of the other person's superiority over themselves to obtain benefits. On the surface, they are very polite, but in their hearts they always think that people in foreign countries are just "rich/powerful but uncultured idiots".
They kept tradition and believed that class relations were irreversible. They nodded and bowed to the upper-class nobles of the empire, but showed contempt and rejection to foreigners or slaves who considered themselves to be of lower status than themselves.
Immerse yourself in the dream of unshakable imperial power and everlasting national pride.
Even though it had only been a few months since the attack on Parnilla, they were still unaware of all this in the capital where many traces of war could still be seen.
is turning a blind eye.
This is true for civilians, and so is the same for the nobles at the top of the empire.
A full month after Parnilla recovered, the imperial capital and the front troops guarding nearby arrived belatedly. After eating and drinking and asking for part of the battle merit, they turned around and returned to the central region.
This is just an inconspicuous little disturbance. Parnilla, who is regarded as the apple of his eye, is attacked, so what? Hasn't it been recovered? What's more important is how to divide this military exploits to add some color to one's resume.
The Empire will not be defeated, and this attack is nothing more than a minor accident. The people who have inherited orthodoxy for more than a thousand years have been so proud in the past, and they will continue to be so proud from now on.
No one can shake him because Padrosi is so powerful.
How ridiculous.
What a ridiculous person.
He obviously has eyes, but he turns a blind eye.
He obviously has ears, but he hears but does not hear.
Blindly maintaining tradition and class, immersed in the dream that nothing will ever change.
The tragic attack sounded the alarm and raised a clear battle flag for all those who hated the empire. But right here, in the same place, in this alley, under the ruins, the bodies of the tragic victims can still be found. a city.
Most people act as if nothing happened.
"Is something big happening in this country?" The moment the trestle was removed, Mira folded up the linen cloth after finishing the burrito, and then said softly in Avenela.
Henry next to him was noncommittal, just looking at the emperor's statue in the distance that still reflected the light in the sun.
"Hey - yo - hey - yo -" The sailors turned the winch to collect the thick iron anchor from the sea. The slaves at the bottom rowed the big oars under the command of the overseer, and the huge merchant ship started Slowly sailing towards the outside of the port.
Minna did not show up at the port to see them off until their ship left. The Dame of Avenella was extremely busy because of the turmoil that Padrosi was about to bring. How will the Kingdom deal with the relationship with the Empire? You must know that Avenella has had some conflicts with the Empire in the past, although it was not taken seriously because it was not an opponent of the same level. But now, at a time when the southern countries and dwarves, and probably the minorities in the Palohia Highlands in the future, will join the rebellion against the empire, what on earth is going to do with Avenella?
The icing on the cake is obviously not as good as providing help when the time is right. Although Minna, as a special envoy, has a closer relationship with Margaret's family and the palace of the city lord of Parnilla, there are only interests and no friendship between countries, and Padrosi has so far The top leaders of the empire had no intention of paying attention to this small kingdom.
Minna has worked hard for more than half a year, but she has only established basic business relations with the city of Parnilla. The top leaders of the Padrosi Empire, His Majesty the Emperor and the high-ranking nobles, have probably never even heard of this tiny kingdom.
Although it started off smoothly, there was no progress outside Parnilla. The efforts made by Minna and Avenella's long archers during the witch disaster and the siege of Parnilla have been reported to the city lord's palace, but it is obvious that such "natural" things are not considered by the higher-ups of the empire. Disregarded.
Continuing to try to build a good relationship with Padrosi is likely to end up just like it has always been. And if we can support these attackers in the southern countries when they are just getting started, and provide help in times of need, this kind of kindness and the relationship established will obviously be much more stable.
But then again, the pride of the Padrosi people is not completely blind. They are indeed strong enough. Once the entire country reacts and enters a state of combat readiness, the energy they can unleash is amazing.
Which side should you be on? This question was not only placed in front of Minna, but also in front of Margaret.
After giving away the brooch yesterday, the noble lady turned back and started busy with her own affairs.
The road ahead for the kingdom; the road ahead for the city of Parnilla.
And, in front of Constantine, who was now far away in the imperial capital, was the way forward for the empire.
These three issues are as entangled as tangled threads, and how they make choices is their own business.
If we want to trace back to the source, go and watch and think, the reason why they took this path and made such a choice is inseparable from our sage and the Luoan girl.
Because of certain influences, certain influences of hearing and seeing, I finally made a certain choice.
If they were not here, maybe everything would go completely differently.
But it only ends here, the choice has been made, and they should walk the next road by themselves.
Just like the same path that Mira and Henry will take.
A long-standing mystery is about to be solved.
"preparation--"
The oars were stowed away, and the sailors on the merchant ships rowing out of the safe harbor were neatly prepared.
"Sail!"
"Wow——!"
The huge white canvas was pulled open quickly, and the sailors rolled up the thick hemp rope again and again on the winch. After leaving the shelter, the straight wind immediately caused the entire sail to bulge, and the huge ship The ship began to move forward under the power of nature. Seagulls soared in the sky, and the blue sea stretched as far as the eye could see. Where the sky and the sky met in the distance, it was hard to tell where the sea was and where the sky was.
Looking to the west, below the sea level is the distant west coast and the distant Avenella. There must be a refreshing wind blowing on the Ecasta Plain at this moment.
Looking to the north, it is beyond the reach of human eyes.
That is the destination of this trip, a country of aurora and lakes located in the ice and snow.
Henry's hometown.
Suomir.
