I Will Be The Crowned King

Vol 4 Chapter 108: "Secret" Gold Mine

Although he was worried about his friend who suddenly became hysterical, Ed Levant accepted this "special" task - without the authorization of the emperor, he took the entire mission to fool the Three Kingdoms of the North Sea and took the initiative to attack Grey Snow Town. and Beluga Harbour, the two Clovis colonies.

Strictly speaking, as a former minister, Bernard is qualified to negotiate and negotiate on behalf of the empire and the enemy; the problem is that his status as a "colonial chief minister" is too watery, and the Morwes family has nothing in the new world. Influence, even if the other party is not willing to accept it, it is far less convincing than a "special envoy" who is escorted by the emperor's honor guard and battleship.

As for whether negotiating with neighboring countries without authorization will attract the dissatisfaction of the emperor, it is no longer within the consideration of the two of them - the "Wind Knight" Levant family is strong in the southern part of the empire, and it is not very harmonious with the royal family; Bernard De is now thinking about how to make a quick fight to avoid letting the damned Clovis continue to do things.

Only when the rebellion is quelled as soon as possible can Bernard take the title of "Colonel Chancellor" thrown out by the emperor for the sake of the blame, take a piece of the cake that Bernard and the royal family could eat in the past, and include Morwes and Levin the interests of the special family.

This was the driving force behind Ed Levant's promise to Bernard.

After all, the Levant family is huge, but it also has a large number of members. If the family wants to get an official or a half position, it has to compete with countless peers; but if it is to open up externally... He may be able to build a brand new Levant in Sail City. family branch.

With the temptation to start a new family, Ed Levant embarked on a voyage to the colony of the Three Kingdoms of the North Sea.

Before the representatives of the colony left, Bernard immediately began to mobilize the army to go to Grey Dove Castle, preparing to cooperate with the "loyalists" within the city council to carry out a purge of the "liberals", and to remove the colony closest to Sail City. Completely included in the sphere of influence of his "colonial chief minister".

At the same time, although he promised not to come to harass him again in the short term, this did not prevent Bernard from sending the recently collected information, especially the content of "Clovis' invasion of Long Lake Town" to Louis Bell. The chapel where Na was located, "helped" him to understand what kind of internal and external difficulties the Empire was facing in the New World.

Although the ultimate goal is to dig the Bernard family's corner, this does not prevent Bernard from using the Bernard family's influence in the new world - especially those "loyalists" who have a stake in the empire are not so loyal to the empire as it is Loyalty to the Bernard family is more appropriate.

As long as Louis Bernaken comes forward, even if he only serves in the governor's mansion, the "loyalists" in the colony will think that this is a statement of the Bernard family, and take the initiative to move closer to him, the governor of the colony, instead of using it. The army is willing to be obedient.

With what he knew about the Bernard family heir, it was only a matter of time before he was convinced.

…………

Inside the chapel, an elf girl dressed as a nun squatted down with her calves in her hands, pointed to the mountains of newspapers and letterheads in the corner of the desk, and looked at Louis behind the desk in doubt:

"Are these all going to be thrown away?"

"Yes, all of them." The young knight was lying in front of the desk, flipping through a copy of "The Life of Saint Isaac" expressionlessly, and said in a low voice:

"If you think it's a waste, you can also use it as fuel for the fireplace, or pick out the unimportant parts—it might be useful when you go to the orphanage to teach the children to read."

"But... Louis, you haven't seen it yet."

"There's no need for that—even if I don't read it, I know what's in it." The young knight said lightly: "Bernard Morwes wants me to serve him, I don't want to, it's as simple as that."

"Are you sure?" Looking at the old newspapers she had pulled out from a pile of documents with interest, Freya couldn't help raising the corners of her mouth:

"There are a lot of interesting things mentioned above, such as um... Do you know that the reason why Changhu Town is so rich is because they have a secret gold mine?"

A secret gold mine?

Louis was stunned for a moment, and then suddenly laughed: "Of course I know, this legend has been around for some years."

"I remember when I was very young, Brother Kroger and I were excited about this for a while, thinking that the New World was full of gems and gold, and we promised to venture to the New World in the future and build our own colony."

"In order to be afraid of being discovered, we also drew the plan on the bed board, and agreed to use the secretly built small sailboat to cross the turbulent sea on a full moon night and go to the new world."

"And then?" Freya suddenly became a little excited.

"Later... that rumor was false."

The young knight closed the book in his hand and smiled softly at the elf girl: "The city council of Longhu Town concealed their annual trade volume with Beluga Port, and the tax collectors sent by the emperor to collect taxes found out the tricks; Going down, rumors of a 'secret gold mine' are released."

"But hasn't the tax collector already found out the problem?"

"Yes, but he was bought - that's why this rumor spread to the mainland." Louis said truthfully.

"Hey-?"

The elf girl looked disappointed, but soon turned her attention to the next "anecdote": "Then do you know the Knights of No Letter? It is said that this is a very mysterious underground organization with many members and almost all of them. It's the old gods... lurking in every corner of the new world, always waiting for an opportunity to build their kingdom!"

"The Knights of No Faith... Well, this is also a very old organization, but it should have nothing to do with the old gods." The young knight shook his head again:

"These people were originally a group of ecumenical knights who swore to protect all believers regardless of their sect, so they were called the 'Knights of Unbelief'—similar extremist organizations include the Truth Society of the Qiuzhen Sect, the Supreme Court of the Protectorate Sect... In the age of sectarian divisions, such presences are quite common."

"As for the one in your hand..." Louis tapped the newspaper in the elf girl's arms:

"It should be talking about the later Knights of Unbelief - because the sect returned to the church, they thought they were betrayed and split like all extremist organizations, some chose to leave, and some joined the church's inquisition. With the Knights of Judgment, part of it has been reduced to an underground organization that continues to carry the name of the Knights."

"But even this last 'Knights of No Faith' has long since died."

"Dead?!"

"Yes, it was probably a few years ago..." An invisible loss flashed in the corner of Louis' eyes, and he quickly returned to normal:

"They were found to have colluded with the 'Old God Sect' of the Cressey family. In order to eradicate them completely, the Church of Order dispatched the Tribunal and the Knights of Judgment, and cooperated with the strength of the Bernard family to wipe them out completely."

The elf girl's body suddenly trembled.

"Fleia?"

Louis said with concern, and suddenly realized something: "Sorry! I-I didn't mean to bring up the knight of judgment..."

"It's okay!" The elf girl snapped back to her senses and forced a smile:

"So... the Faithless Knights, they have perished, haven't they?"

"Yes, it was Brother Kroger who killed them with his own hands... They were buried in the burning ruins together with the last members of the Kresi family."

The young knight sighed with emotion, stood up against the table, and wanted to return the book to the bookcase: "Although it is to eradicate the old gods who ambushed in Edland, I still feel that the original approach was too extreme."

"But it says that the Faithless Knights still exist." Freya said suspiciously, pointing to the burning warehouse on the newspaper:

"Just last month, they were planning to use an abandoned warehouse as a stronghold to unite with the old gods of the indigenous people to control the riots in Beluga Harbor, and eventually control the entire colony!"

"This is impossible!"

Louis said without hesitation: "This is absolutely impossible for the Untrustworthy Knights to do. Their purpose itself is to deny the existence of gods, and the evil gods are naturally among them. How could they be associated with a group of old gods..."

"Wait! Where did you say they caused the riot?!"

…………

Changhu Town, in the cellar of a farmhouse on the outskirts.

Standing beside a pile of wooden barrels full of bacon and potatoes, Anson stared at the open movable board under his feet. A dark tunnel led directly to the depths of the ground, and someone could vaguely hear something beating.

"So... this is the secret gold mine in the legend of Changhu Town?"

"Yes, it's here."

Joseph, the head of the militia group in charge of leading the way, held a torch and nodded seriously: "Although it is only a small mine, it is said that because of its good management, it can excavate three or four thousand tons of ore every year. Nearly three-fifths of an ounce of gold is produced.”

Three or four thousand tons of ore, three-fifths of an ounce of gold per ton, that is, the maximum annual output...nearly seven tons of gold? !

This amount is not much compared to some local gold mines, and it can even be said to be pitiful. It is not an exaggerated figure for a settlement and trade center with a population of tens of thousands... But this is a colony!

In the new world, where precious metals and hard currency are severely deficient, seven tons of gold is definitely not a small number. In terms of purchasing power, it is almost five or six times that of the mainland. The value of some remote colonies is likely to be even higher.

An Sen's expression froze: "How did Changhu Town hide it?"

"This is the most interesting part, they didn't hide it."

Fabian, who was standing on one side, took a half step forward and said in a low voice, "A few years after it was excavated and profitable, this gold mine has already been exposed—considering the hired workers, the movement when the mine was dug, and more It's not surprising to buy all kinds of equipment to process ore."

"So they took the initiative to release the news and spread the rumor that Changhu Town had a secret gold mine. As expected, they attracted the tax collectors of the empire. After successfully bribing the other party, the rumor was 'confirmed', and the other party will take Changhu Town every year. The inexplicable increase in revenue is due to trade with Beluga."

"It is also based on this that the empire mistakenly thinks that Changhu Town and Beluga Port have close trade relations, coupled with the annual contribution of tax revenue, it is regarded as a key town that needs to focus on defense and resist the invasion of Beluga Port... Of course, it has some meaning. They didn't guess wrong."

The former Guards officer glanced at the militia commander and silently turned his gaze to the mines: "Even after the beast slave riot, Longhu Town can still pay the taxes levied by the empire and build its own small steel factory and munitions workshop. , and even have complete defense facilities."

"All paid for with the output of this gold mine?"

"Strictly speaking, yes; there is no mint in Changhu Town, and they mainly sell the gold they produce as a 'product' in exchange for salt, fuel and local luxuries like coffee beans and sugar." Fabby Ann explained:

"Those are the real 'hard currency' in the new world."

This is also true... Anson nodded slightly, even in the mainland Beigang or Clovis City, the "hard currency" with the highest circulation is not gold, but silver coins engraved with saints and copper plates of the archbishop.

"By the way, how long has this mine been mined, and are there any proven reserves?"

An Sen asked the head of the militia holding the oil lamp. He suddenly remembered that it was mentioned in the textbook of the Wang Family Military Academy that the reserves of such small mines are generally not large, and the mining period may be several years, and may even be only a few days. months.

"I don't know exactly, but I remember when I first came to the New World, there were already rumors about the 'secret gold mine' nearby." Joseph scratched his head and tried to recall:

"I remember the year I set out. It seems to be the saint's calendar... seventy-five years?"

Hearing this number, Fabian raised his eyebrows and glanced over the face of the militia commander who was at most in his thirties.

"The seventy-fifth year of the saint's calendar?" An Sen's pupils shrank slightly:

"You mean this gold mine has been mined for more than twenty-five years?"

"Uh... I don't know, maybe it is, maybe it's been more than 30 years." The militia commander shook his head in a panic:

"But you don't have to worry too much - in the first few years, Changhu Town only dared to dig a little secretly. It is said that there is one or two tons every year. The real large-scale mining has only happened in the last one or two years."

"Probably because of the war between Clovis and the Empire, the goods from Beluga Port have decreased significantly. In order to continue to pay taxes to the Empire, we have to expand the production of gold mines."

So if you are lucky, this gold mine can continue to be dug for another three or four years. This output is definitely not enough for a bank to reserve funds, but if it is properly controlled, it is absolutely enough to hedge risks and fool investors.

For the New World, which lacks funds but has mines, enough investors and a huge market are the source of its vitality. As long as this gold mine can be used to win over the Royal Bank or other gold owners, and establish a large investment bank in the New World, even if Zero production doesn't matter.

Thinking of this, An Sen hesitated, then suddenly said:

"Can you go down and have a look?"

Even in reinsurance, seeing is believing - he was really frightened by Major General Ludwig's "New Year's surprise".

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