Rose Empire

Another reason why Jarrod Garcia was transferred to look after the mountain slave camp was that the Lanwan Isthmus, which had been blocked for almost a month and a half, was finally reopened.

Not long ago, Martin Kramer and Harvey Shervin visited Charlotte again and said that the Ambratu Council of Elders hoped that Charlotte would give some more concessions on tariff issues.

Martin Kramer knew this might be difficult, but he had to come to Charlotte for help because the Citizens' Assembly needed a step.

The democrats have already forced the Citizens Assembly to reopen tariff negotiations by raising prices. If they bring the same tariff agreement to the Citizens Assembly for a vote, it will undoubtedly be a slap in the face. Even if the Citizens Assembly compromises this time, the conflict between the democratic elders and the Citizens Assembly will be further intensified, and their resolutions will probably never get the support of the Citizens Assembly again.

But if Charlotte could make some concessions and offer better tariff conditions, then the Citizens' Assembly could say that last time everyone just felt that the terms of the agreement were not favorable enough, and it was not a momentary impulse, so they vetoed the idea of ​​negotiating tariffs with Viscount Lanwan.

At least the Citizens' Assembly saved some face.

However, what Martin Kramer did not expect was that when Harvey Sherwin spoke again, Charlotte actually chose to give in again.

Charlotte agreed to exempt Ambratu from tariff compensation for another year and only demanded three years of compensation, which Ambratu would pay in six years.

"We must express our gratitude to Knight Harvey Sherwin."

The Ambrato Citizens' Assembly was convened again, at which the democratic elder Olivier Capino stood on the podium and announced to the citizens the "good news" brought back by Martin Kramer.

"Thanks to Mr. Harvey Sherwin's strong persuasion, Viscount Lanwan finally agreed to give Ambratu greater leniency. His kindness and integrity are admirable."

Harvey Sherwin stood beside Olivier Capino, with his belly sticking out, accepting compliments from the democratic elders and upper-class citizens of Ambrato. Compliments like "elegant and noble", "a true aristocrat", "worthy of the blood of the king" were thrown at him without paying any money. Harvey Sherwin smiled happily and was very proud to hear them.

However, at this moment, an abrupt voice sounded from the audience below the podium: "If he is so powerful, why doesn't Viscount Lanwan simply cancel the damn tariff compensation?"

It was Pande who spoke again.

There was silence on and off the podium.

"Mr. Pande, you should know that this is the best condition that the elders can get. Citizens, please start voting." Olivier Capino responded coldly, and then asked someone to bring up the pottery jars and pottery fragments on the ballot.

Pande exposed a fact - no matter how much the democrats talked, it was Ambratu who would suffer the loss.

Most citizens of Ambratu agree with Pande's words from the bottom of their hearts, but unfortunately the prices in Ambratu have not come down yet, and some people even worry that the prices will rise again.

Therefore, even if citizens are reluctant, they have to make "rational" choices.

The Citizens' Assembly passed the tariff agreement between Ambratu and the Viscountry of Lanwan by a narrow margin.

Faced with such voting results, Pande was extremely disappointed.

"Don't be sad, kid. The Citizens' Assembly has made its choice." The one-eyed old citizen Logan patted Pender on the shoulder and said.

"I don't think this is right." Pender said with his head down.

Pande's feeling was correct. This time the vote was completely hijacked by the Democrats. The so-called referendum was just a decoration. The Citizens' Assembly completely lost the effectiveness it should have. However, Pande's experience and knowledge accumulation were not enough for him to point out what was really wrong.

Logan took the opportunity to say something inflammatory: "Of course it's not right. We were blackmailed by the Oran nobles, but we still have to thank them. When have we in Ambratu been bullied like this? Look at those elders, they are still groveling to that knight..."

Pender looked towards the pulpit and saw a group of Democratic elders gathered together to celebrate. Harvey Sherwin was surrounded in the middle and laughed. In Pender's eyes, this scene became a group of elders flattering Harvey Sherwin.

Pender suddenly felt that Logan was right and couldn't help but clench his fists.

Before the voting crowd dispersed, a horse came galloping over and a man jumped off the horse. It was Antanas, the leader of the oligarchs.

"Everyone, I may have to interrupt your celebration," Antanas raised the parchment in his hand and said seriously, "I just received news that the little Sassenians burned to death our twelve detained citizens!"

PS: Thank you for your monthly tickets, blades, recommendation tickets, and the reward from the sweat of the world.

Volume 55: Chapter 48 Chapter War and the Wolf Warrior

"Sir, are we really going to do this?"

John Rice looked at the parchment in his hand and said to Antanas with hesitation.

All twelve citizens detained in Ambrato were burned to death - this information was delivered by a merchant doing business in Little Sassini. That merchant had cooperated with Antanas and others for many years and could basically guarantee the reliability of the information.

After receiving this information, Antanas' first reaction was naturally anger, but after the anger, Antanas felt excited and thrilled.

"War! We will use war to severely punish those shameful little Sassini people!" Ambratu declared loudly.

"But..." John Ras expressed a concern, "The war between the Aiye Alliance and the Delme Alliance is still going on. Little Sassini and I belong to the Aiye Alliance. The internal conflict between us may cause dissatisfaction among Feidi and other allies."

"The war was not started by us, but by the Lesser Sassenians. When they decided to burn our compatriots, they were declaring war on us," Antanas said firmly.

In fact, what John Rice wanted to say was that Ambratu had experienced too many wars in recent years, and citizen soldiers had to be conscripted almost every year. Some citizen soldiers had just returned from the battlefield and had no time to rest, and even their wounds from the previous war had not healed. Even now, Ambratu still had 2,000 citizen soldiers, including 300 extraordinary people, struggling to support the war front between the two alliances.

The citizen soldiers are too tired and the people need rest.

However, Antanas was considering another issue - on the issue of tariffs, the oligarchs led by him first made concessions in the Senate, and now they are watching the democrats coerce the Citizens' Assembly to approve the tariff agreement. Throughout the process, the weakness of the oligarchs has been fully exposed. If the democrats cannot be suppressed in time, will the oligarchs still have the right to speak in the Senate in the future?

Another oligarch elder, Salius, saw that John Rice still had concerns, so he smiled and comforted him, "Little Sassini was just recruited by Fidi a month ago. There are about 400 extraordinary people. Now there are only 600 extraordinary people in Little Sassini, and we still have 1,000 extraordinary people. We have a great advantage in attacking Little Sassini at this time."

So, there was a scene where Antanas rode into the citizens' assembly on horseback.

"Citizens, the wicked little Sassenians have hung our countrymen on flagpoles, locked them up in sheepfolds, forced them to eat hay, and now they are burning them to death!"

Antanas roared, holding the parchment in his hand.

"This is an insult, this is bullying, how can we tolerate it? We must make the little Sassenians pay the price! We must let them know that slaughtering our citizens means - war!"

The faces of the democratic elders changed drastically when they heard this.

"Elder Antanas," Olivier Capino scolded, "This matter has not yet been discussed by the Council of Elders, and the Council of Elders has not made a resolution to declare war. How can you declare war on your own?"

"I've had enough of the cowardice of the Council of Elders!" Antanas interrupted Olivier directly. "Our compatriots are wailing in the flames, and their families are still crying at home! Can we just sit back and watch? Why? Why do the little Sassini dare to bully us now? It's because we are too cowardly now! The little Sassini think we are afraid of them, and that they can bully and kill our compatriots without paying any price. We can't go on like this! We want an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. We will hang those little Sassini on the flagpole and burn down their city-state. We will tell those guys who want to bully us that Ambrato is not easy to bully! We want revenge!"

"revenge!"

"revenge!"

"revenge!"

"revenge!"

……

The citizens' emotions were ignited, they raised their fists and shouted loudly.

Seeing this scene, the elders of the Democratic Party chose to remain silent.

The citizens were already extremely dissatisfied with being forced to sign a tariff agreement with Viscount Lanwan, and now they happened to be provoked by the Little Sassini. The public opinion at the moment was like a powder keg, which could explode at any time. Whoever wanted to forcibly go against the public opinion had to be prepared to be sacrificed. The elders of the Democratic Party obviously did not want to be sacrificed.

However, the democratic elders did not want to talk, but Antanas did not want to let them go.

"Elder Kapino, Elder Barak, Elder Kramer..." Antanas called out their names one by one, and then asked, "Everyone, what do you think?"

Facing the scrutiny of so many citizens, Olivier Capino could only bite the bullet and say, "Elder Antanas is right."

As a result, the Senate unanimously passed a resolution to declare war on Sassini the Younger.

Then, the Citizens' Assembly voted to appoint Elder Antanas as general to lead the Ambratu citizen militia to attack Sassini the Younger.

The Viscount of Lanwan.

"It's so beautiful."

Charlotte sat barefoot on a rock by the rippling lake, kicking the water casually with her slender, white feet.

The locals call this endless lake Fairy Lake. The water is blue and clear, and from a distance it looks like a gem inlaid on the earth.

However, such a beautiful lake is actually a pool of stagnant water. The salt content of the Fairy Lake is very high, and even white salt crystals can be seen at the bottom of the lake. Such lake water can hardly support fish and shrimp, and cannot be used for irrigation. Therefore, the people of Viscount Lanwan hate this useless lake far more than they like it.

“If the river channel is dug, I wonder if the lake here will still be so beautiful,” said Charlotte.

"The premise is that you can dig the canal." Cecilia flipped through the parchment in her hand and said, "I have done a field survey. It is about 11 miles from Fairy Lake to Nimue River, and about 21 miles from Fairy Lake to the Lanwan coastline."

Charlotte plans to dig a canal to connect the waters on the east and west sides of the Isthmus of Lanwan.

To the east of the Lanwan Isthmus is naturally Lanwan.

The sea area west of the Lanwan Isthmus is called the Yuzhu Sea by the Sokyan people. There are two theories about this. One is that this sea area is rich in pearls, and the other is that there were many mermen active in this sea area in the past. Of course, with the fleet activities of the Sokyan city-state and the Kingdom of Lesare now, mermen are no longer common.

The canal route chosen by Charlotte is not the narrowest part of the Lanwan Isthmus, but this route has two water areas that can be used, one is the Fairy Lake in front of her, and the other is the Nimue River to the west of the Fairy Lake.

Nimue also means beautiful girl in Oran language. Judging from the name, Charlotte guessed that this river should have been connected to Fairy Lake a long time ago.

With the help of these two bodies of water, the construction workload of the entire canal can be reduced by at least half.

Once this grand canal is built, ships traveling from the western coast of Eagle Continent to the eastern coast will no longer need to bypass the entire Sokya Peninsula, and vice versa!

However, even with two existing water areas to use, digging this canal is not an easy task. If it is built according to Charlotte's idea, the average depth of the canal is two meters and the riverbed is twenty meters wide. Charlotte estimates that at least 2.5 million to 3 million cubic meters of earth and stone will be needed to dig this canal.

"If you want to open the route by this time next year, we will need at least..." Cecilia thought for a long time before giving a number, "10,000 slaves."

"Ten thousand?" Charlotte muttered to herself, then turned to ask the mountain leader Black Wolf who was kneeling beside her, "Can I get ten thousand slaves?"

Black Wolf knelt on the ground, his face almost buried in the soil. After hearing Charlotte's question, he answered without hesitation: "Yes, there are many mountain people in the Campe Mountains."

It seemed that the mountain chief was not sad at all about his compatriots becoming slaves. Instead, he was actively trying to find more mountain slaves for Charlotte.

"Actually, rather than just slaves, I would like to recruit some extraordinary people. Do you have any ideas?" Charlotte asked again.

Black Wolf thought for a while and actually came up with some ideas: "I wonder if the Viscount has ever heard of the Fierce Wolf Warrior?"

"Fierce Wolf Warrior? What is that?" Charlotte looked at Renee beside her in confusion.

Renee moved her lips and then whispered, "Monkey Warrior."

Charlotte suddenly realized.

Fierce Wolf Warriors is a general term for the extraordinary humans in the tribal alliance. They are small in size, but they are fierce and cunning in combat, so they have won the title of "Fierce Wolf Warriors" in the tribal alliance. In an environment where the strong prey on the weak, this is a compliment.

However, the Orlan Knights who were on the enemy side gave their enemies no compliments.

Because the humans in the tribal alliance are generally skinny and their weapons are very simple, often just a stick tied with sharp obsidian, the Oran Knights contemptuously call them "monkey warriors."

For the Oran people, the "Monkey Warrior" is much more famous than the "Fierce Wolf Warrior".

Although Renee had tried to lower her voice, the surroundings were empty and quiet, and Black Wolf still heard what Renee said. He looked slightly embarrassed. He was also a fierce wolf warrior when he was young, which is why he got his name. But Black Wolf lowered his head deeply, so Charlotte could not see his expression.

"So what about the Fierce Wolf Warrior?" Charlotte asked Black Wolf again.

"Ever since Basha and his cannibalistic subordinates began to conquer the tribes in the Campe Mountains, the original humans in the tribe felt that they could no longer stay there and had to leave the tribe. I don't know exactly how many people left the tribe, but it must be tens of thousands, and many of them were once fierce wolf warriors." Black Wolf paused for a moment before adding, "In the Campe Mountains, people who are not fierce enough cannot survive and cannot reproduce."

"So where are these wolf warriors who left the tribe now?"

"They can't join the tribe, nor can they go down the mountain. They must still be scattered in the mountains and forests. In winter, they lack clothing and food. If you are willing to accept them, they will probably be willing to work for you."

Charlotte became interested: "Really? Then can Mr. Black Wolf recruit these fierce wolf warriors for me?"

"Heilang is willing to serve you, Your Excellency." Heilang replied immediately.

"Well then," Charlotte clapped her hands lightly, then raised a finger and said, "If you recruit a Black Wolf Knight for me, I will grant ten of your people the status of civilians. How about that?"

"Thank you for your gift, sir, but..." Black Wolf hesitated for a moment and lowered his white-haired head even lower, "However, can I beg you to change my reward?"

"Oh?" Charlotte raised her eyebrows. "What kind of reward do you want?"

"I would like to ask Your Excellency to confer on me the title of knight." said Black Wolf.

"Oh..." Charlotte laughed, "That's fine. If you can recruit a hundred Fierce Wolf Warriors for me, I will make you a knight. If you can recruit a thousand Fierce Wolf Warriors for me, I will make you a baron."

"Thank you, sir!" This time, Black Wolf's gratitude was much more sincere than before.

With ecstasy written all over his face, Black Wolf couldn't wait to carry out the task Charlotte assigned to him.

Cecilia looked at Black Wolf's departing back, frowned slightly, and couldn't help but ask, "My Lord Viscount, are you really going to make Black Wolf a knight, or even a baron?"

"Don't be so formal. I've already told you that you can just call me Charlotte in private," Charlotte asked casually while writing a poem with her toes on the fine sand at the bottom of the water. "Is there any problem with me enthroning Black Wolf?"

"This person..." Cecilia thought again and again, and then said in a tone that was as non-harsh as possible, "This person's character seems to be a bit despicable..."

"Despicable? Cecilia, there are many shameless people in this world, but few capable people," Charlotte said with a smile, "So, when you really need to find someone or some people to do something for you, you'd better not be too picky. Otherwise, you will often fall into the dilemma of whether to choose a noble incompetent person or a capable shameless person."

After listening to Charlotte's words, Cecilia nodded slightly, as if she understood something, but then she smiled helplessly and said, "But I am more worried that Black Wolf will find a group of ferocious wolf warriors who also lack moral cultivation. If that happens, the order in the territory will become a mess, and your orders will be difficult to enforce."

"That is indeed a problem..."

Charlotte had to admit that there was some truth in what Cecilia said, but before she could say anything, Celine's figure came galloping from the direction of the castle.

"The information sent back by Knight Robin Mancini." Celine handed Charlotte a roll of parchment.

Charlotte unfolded the parchment and read through it, an inexplicable smile appearing on her face.

"What you said makes sense, but I would rather have one or two hundred more wolf warriors." Charlotte said to Cecilia.

"What happened?" Cecilia asked curiously.

"The Ambratu people have declared war on Little Sasini," Charlotte handed the parchment to Cecilia, "and almost all the citizens' militia of the Ambratu city-state has been dispatched."

PS: The application for recommendation of this book failed again. I feel so sad. I am rolling around in circles~~~~

PS2: Thank you all for your monthly tickets, blades, and recommendation tickets. Thank you very much to all the big guys.

PS3: Thanks to "World Sweat" for reminding me that the previous error has been corrected.