It was 1531 in the Church’s Holy Calendar and June 1332 in the Lamanite Calendar. The pace of spring has faded away, and Parnira, the largest port city in the Padrosi Empire, has arrived in midsummer. The scenes of suffering caused by rebellion in the past have long disappeared.
Under the erosion of capital, seasonal new products are replaced almost every 10 days. As if deliberately trying to forget the painful history, people laughed as much as possible.
The optimistic and nonchalant mentality of the imperial merchants was most fully developed in this city.
Just like the ancient people who practiced slash-and-burn farming burned down the mountains and forests in order to fertilize the soil with ashes so that new seeds can grow stronger, the disaster of the empire caused the original forces to wash their hands again and again. Today, many of Parnira's wealthy workshops have long since The master has changed.
The finest wool from Suomir, transported by sea, is washed and felted here. In order to show that they are made by the best craftsmen and materials from both countries, the woolen clothes produced in Parnilla are marked with the lily of the valley and the imperial daisy, respectively representing the country of a thousand lakes. The lily of the valley and daisy logos have become the brand's logo. symbol.
The economy here is slowly recovering. In addition to clothing, luxury goods and daily necessities, among the emerging industrial pillars of Parnira is the military industry, which has occupied an important position in the past.
There are many armor-making workshops, large and small, and affordable weapon shops and armor shops. In the most glorious moment, the Parnilla armorers who worked together prepared enough equipment for a certain west coast king to have 8,000 infantry and 3,000 cavalry in just one month.
Food was plentiful again in the markets and people were eating well, so there was nothing to complain about.
"Thank you, dear Royal Highness Margaret." became the most common words on the lips of citizens and businessmen.
Tariffs have been lowered and various tax burdens have been reduced or reduced. In an era when the southern kingdoms were hostile due to rebellion, she did the opposite and recruited a large number of young people from the southern Lamanite kingdoms seeking work that other regions refused to accept.
Instead of taking advantage of the chaos to lower wages, we treated each other with courtesy.
Businessmen and citizens could not understand this approach at first, because these people were almost equivalent to refugees. They could accept working conditions comparable to slaves just to make a living, so why not take advantage of them?
Anyone can say beautiful things, but why do you have to pay 100 people a salary of 1 silver coin per person per day, if they can just accept a piece of bread?
Not many people can donate generously after settling the accounts. Reducing labor costs is something that every qualified workshop owner has done.
But this is also the reason why they are just workshop owners, not lords and nobles.
Parnilla is a city that extends in all directions, and the gossips gathered by the workers here spread far wider than the self-righteous merchant nobles above imagined.
The news of treating people with courtesy and being treated well spread quickly.
Margaret was one step ahead.
She sees further.
The rebellion did generate hostility and ostracism, but the hatred dissipated over time, and the jobs needed workers. The pampered burghers in cities outside Parnilla also refused to do too hard physical work, and after excluding workers from small southern countries, they had to rely more on slaves.
The changes in supply and demand gradually developed to an alarming degree a few months after the rebellion was suppressed. Slave owners began to claim that the imperial decrees that they had never cared about before suddenly had some control, and slave trading became difficult. ——And naturally, their prices have become higher.
Cities that had previously rejected southern workers suddenly found themselves in short supply of labor. With the price of slaves also rising, they had to offer higher prices to try to attract southern workers. However, within a few months, many people had already moved in. Parnilla has a stable life.
For people at the bottom, a job that treats themselves as human beings and is stable and difficult to lose is more attractive than a seemingly high salary.
So a wonderful scene happened. While other places were shut down due to labor shortages, Parnilla quickly returned to life and was even more prosperous than before the rebellion.
The practice of treating southern workers with reasonable treatment seemed to increase labor costs in the early stage, but when workers received higher wages, they naturally wanted to eat better food, drink better wine, and live in better houses. So the food merchants, brewers and people in the hotel industry laughed and naturally became loyal supporters of Margaret.
"Palnila is a city that treats people as human beings, and it is a free city." This saying began to spread among the people, from Suomir in the north to the City-State Alliance in the south.
The name "Liberty City" began to spread, attracting more and more people to come here.
Gulaman once had a fable called "A Thousand Gold Buys Horse Bones", which was the inspiration for Margaret, who likes to read storybooks.
Consumption has kept up, and the labor force is also flowing in. The next step for our eldest lady is to further develop the advantages of Parnira as the largest port on the east coast.
The civilian fleet was integrated under the name of the lord's family, and the ships were maintained and repaired to form a larger fleet. The captains got what all sailors dream of - personal protection from the nobles, and even if their families were killed at sea, they could receive a large sum of compensation.
For the men at sea who place their lives on ships, sails, the sea and their partners, if their wives and children are buried under the sea, they will lose their financial resources. This is probably the least romantic aspect of this industry.
After the insurance system was introduced, these people were naturally willing to follow this young lady who they once thought was just a arrogant little girl.
Reuse those who are capable and integrate them in an orderly manner. Parnilla's maritime trade, which had always grown wildly, suddenly became simpler and more efficient.
With orderly entry and exit, raw materials such as minerals, wool, hides, and various grains from all over the world are flowing in. This city, which has gathered a large number of labor and superior workers, uses the strictest standards and the most amazing efficiency to transform them into world-renowned products. exquisite finished product.
No matter whether it is east or west of Rigar, anyone with a little bit of Lamanite blood will inevitably have a stubbornness in their bones.
Because their bodies are filled with the blood of their ancestors who once dominated the empire, they are naturally nobler than anyone else.
But most of the time this nobility is not bought by others.
Further west, those blond aliens are rising, and the Otolo Empire, which is bound to the heretical branch of the church on the west side, is watching. And even Padrossi, who claims to be the descendant of the great orthodox Lamanite, his territory has shrunk significantly compared to the past Lamanite empire.
Therefore, the noble and stubborn Lamanites often returned to "the generosity of their ancestors" in their lofty speeches in the end.
The best times have passed and now are the dark ages. This was the favorite emphasis of Lamanite literati everywhere—except in present-day Parnira.
The golden age has arrived again.
The rapid development and rapid accumulation of wealth have caused people's self-confidence to begin to expand.
But this is not entirely what Margaret wants to see.
This is a double-edged sword. The once glorious Lamanite nation was revived, noble again, and great again.
What's the cost?
Slavery has not died out, although in the short term slave owners have taken the opportunity to raise prices due to the reduction in employment positions. Slaves who have become expensive can also receive relatively humane treatment from their owners. Because they are no longer such cheap consumables.
But as time goes by, the price will eventually drop back.
Moreover, the once-famous dwarf craftsmen on Parnilla Street also disappeared at some point. Their workshop was suddenly taken over by human merchants.
As the economy recovers and the city-state prospers, people's voices become more and more unified. Parnilla is great, Her Royal Highness Margaret is respectable, and being a citizen here is proud.
So what about other than this?
Holding and stepping on each other is a common trend.
Margaret showed an outstanding level of economic development, but she was still only a young person.
She still doesn't understand that even if she does things seriously, there will still be endless malicious intentions in this world that are motivated by profit and will come towards her.
When she came to her senses.
"The royal family should give Her Royal Highness Margaret a high position in the palace."
"Compared to the incompetent church that only preaches salvation all day long, Her Royal Highness Margaret is the one who can truly give us salvation. She should be canonized as a saint."
Everything that was destined to happen happened with the secret encouragement of certain forces.
On June 17, 1332, nearly 50,000 people, mainly low-level groups such as migrant workers from small southern countries, fanned the flames and gathered in front of the church in Parnilla City. They held up placards and unanimously asked the bishop to confer the title of Mary. Gretel is a saint.
Later, after the white church clergy explained that the canonization issue could not be solved so simply to no avail, workers broke into the church door and smashed and looted the interior. Some even took off the bishop's holy crown and beat him.
This vicious conflict, known as the "St. Margaret Incident" in history, caused great turmoil inside and outside the empire. As the person at the center of the storm, Margaret only realized later that she had been promoted to the royal family. The opposite of the church.
During the subsequent investigation, traces of those who secretly fueled the incident were found in many places. According to the investigation of the captain of the personal guard, Knight Filippo, many things can be traced to other nobles.
This is the revenge of the experienced nobles outside Parnilla for her taking the lead in seizing the labor force and developing vigorously.
She became the flashpoint, the tip of the spear at which the conflict became apparent.
As business developed and capital accumulated, the nobles who combined with the rising merchant class were no longer satisfied with the power in their hands being subordinated to divine and imperial power.
them.
Want more.
The royal family was weak and the church was declining. The powerful nobles are like wolves, tigers and leopards, already gearing up and waiting to re-divide the wealth within the empire.
At this moment, the new star Margaret, who is rising but inextricably connected to the royal family, becomes their best choice to kill with a knife.
The people are stupid. They must not have realized in their hearts that they had been instigated, and they thought wholeheartedly that they were united in fighting for the honor that their great benefactor, the eldest lady, deserved.
The momentum was huge, and she had been pushed into a position where she couldn't help herself.
On June 23, 1332, the church in Parnilla announced the evacuation of all personnel.
No matter how Margaret tried to contact and defend herself in private, the reply from the White Church was as cold as the winter in Suomir.
"This city will no longer be favored by the gods." With these words, they left, never to return.
To make matters worse, on June 25, just two days later, a fully armed cavalry regiment sent by the palace came to Parnilla.
This legion, whose armor is all black, is the latest formation of the empire.
Elites who specialize in cleaning up civil strife.
The leader is tall and muscular, nearly two meters tall, with a pair of gray-blue eyes.
A similar trend occurred in two empires with the same long history on the other side of the ocean.
Power is like wine, the more you have, the more you want.
But the total amount is limited, when there are more wolves and less meat.
There will be a bloody storm.
It was the end of June 1332.
The Padrosi Empire is facing a storm, and the long-hidden contradictions have been brought to light.
This man, who has a face similar to that of the sage, but the eyes of the same color are not as calm as the lake, but like a ball of flames. He returned after a long silence and looked down at his sister while riding a black horse. ——
What he asked was the question he had asked that man in the past:
"Which side will you choose?"
He is ready. Margaret realized this immediately.
The people and even her subordinates were still worried about whether the arrival of this army meant that the royal family would be disadvantageous to her, but she knew that her brother's arrival had a different purpose.
This is a man who definitely wants to reach the top.
Hymelnen Heinzworm gave up all the honor and power he could have had. The man had the ability to lead the empire to its peak, but he gave up.
What if the sage Henry Meyer was not a sage, but an emperor.
Hymernin I.
His unyielding will and sufficient knowledge are enough to make him an unparalleled wise king in the history of the empire. So from the perspective of the empire, in the eyes of those who know this legend.
Isn't this a betrayal?
Disappointed.
In two hundred years, with a lifespan of immortality, you choose to abandon the past and become a down-and-out mercenary without accomplishing anything?
When she thought about it at this point in time, Margaret suddenly realized.
These two people are so similar.
Not only their looks and abilities, but also their birth experiences are so similar, like twins separated by more than two hundred years.
It's just that they are different after all.
On the surface, both of them appear to be equally calm and in control of the overall situation.
But his brother was just suppressing himself. The rage in his heart like a roaring lion had nowhere to vent, and he just locked them all away with amazing willpower.
Henry Mayer's anger has long subsided, just like the frozen lake in Suomir, with only the calm and determination left by the years.
What awaited the sage at the end of his aimless journey, Margaret had no way of knowing.
But she always knew what Constantine wanted to do.
This is a man who definitely wants to reach the top.
The long-dead black flag representing the Padrosi Empire is destined to fall, and it is a foregone conclusion that the entire east coast will fall under the banner of lilies of the valley and daisies.
Just thinking about how many people would die and families would be broken during this period made her hair stand on end.
But she had no choice.
The big nobles are still planning to gain more benefits through small fights, but they don't know that Constantine has already made full preparations.
An idea that Margaret had long guessed but had been reluctant to admit popped up again. The real culprit of the rebellion jointly organized by the Lamanite kingdoms and the dwarves in the south has not yet been identified, perhaps because their investigation was in the wrong direction.
We should not check outside, but inside.
The empire was vast and filled with all kinds of deeply intertwined interest groups. These interest groups are like pimples on the faces of adolescent boys and girls, hiding beneath the surface, causing misery to the people and the country. And to remove them, you have to cut your own skin.
Cut open to intensify conflicts, bring them to light, and turn them into conflict.
Hit the snake within seven inches.
He has figured out his opponent, won a partner, and - Margaret looked at the entire team of knights behind Constantine who hid their faces under fully enclosed helmets in the summer heat. The movements of these people It was so uniform that it made one's head tingle, almost as precise and orderly as something that was not human.
This day finally came, and the man she once relied on, the girl she regarded as her best friend, was not here.
But the experience of being together was enough to make Margaret grow further. She knew the purpose of Constantine's trip. Although she was still young, she was no longer the ignorant and reckless little girl she was.
"Palnilla is your partner, and we have no intention of rebellion." Margaret chose her words carefully and bowed to the knight in black armor.
She is no longer a noble lady who can run away privately as she pleases, but a lord who needs to be responsible to all the people of the largest port on the entire east coast.
The imperial aristocrats, who were still calculating the gains and losses, thinking that this loaned-out knife would make Margaret miserable and the distribution of benefits from the airport could be rearranged were unaware of it.
The members of the White Church and the old royal family, who only knew how to maintain their current status in vain, completely failed to see all this coming.
As long as he can achieve hegemony, he will use everything that is available.
As long as there is something in front of you, even your closest relatives will ruthlessly eliminate it.
It was laid down a long time ago. In those blind spots invisible to the imperial nobles, those places that belong to the same Lamanite cultural circle, those on the west coast, the south of the east coast, the city-state alliance, all places with the same belief.
A steady stream of young people are training intensively.
After integrating and mastering maritime trade, Margaret inadvertently noticed those who came to the empire across the sea but did not seek positions in Parnilla.
There were at least hundreds of people a day, hurriedly getting off the boat and leaving as if they had a direct purpose.
After investigation, she found that all this had been going on for at least three years.
Young radical church knights who were dissatisfied with the weakening of church power year by year.
The descendants of those who were lost and wanted to return to the homeland of Laman.
Foreigners from a small southern country who do not belong to the civil class and suffer discrimination.
Even the slave she wanted to save but had no way.
Many things have existed for a long time and been ignored for a long time. The only thing missing is a person with enough knowledge, yes, almost omniscient like a sage, to connect these things.
The longer the backlog lasts, the more intense conflicts will become when they break out.
Just thinking about how much bloodshed there will be in the empire is enough to make one's hands and feet go cold.
But new things always need to be built from the ruins of the old, whether it is lily of the valley or daisies, seeds cannot germinate without the nutrients brought by things that have perished in the past.
no matter what.
Things are going to change.
