Late at night, in the palace of Susar, the capital of the Kingdom of Cormyr, the regent Yalussel still did not rest. Instead, he was half-lying on the bed in a nightgown and reading the latest information just sent by the spy.
As the largest city in the entire country, Susar, like all regions that have joined the Trade Alliance, has seen a surge in population in a very short period of time, and now has a total of 100,000 permanent residents.
Countless young and middle-aged laborers from nearby villages are looking for opportunities here, eager to make a lot of money one day, and dream of becoming a respected noble or a wealthy businessman.
After all, the Kingdom of Cormyr is too close to the West Coast Empire. It is only separated by an inland sea called "Dragon Lake". Three sides of it are surrounded by land. Only the easternmost Ximen Port guards the entrance and exit to the Sea of ​​Fallen Stars, so trade is natural.
It became prosperous.
Ships of all sizes sailed freely on this water where there were neither pirates nor too many waves.
Some ships are even so small that they only have one mast as a sail, and they also require manpower to row. They look round and fat, almost like a large bathtub.
They continuously transported grain, livestock, wine, fruits, vegetables and other agricultural products that abounded in Cormyr's countryside, as well as exquisite carvings, coal and wood, to the port city opposite to sell them.
Then they purchase all kinds of exquisite clothing, sex toys, magic items, strange potions, industrial assembly line weapons and equipment, spices and various luxury goods from the West Coast Empire and bring them back to Cormyr and even the valley for sale.
Although the profit is usually not too high due to the close distance.
But the advantage is that the risk is almost negligible.
Those who are brave will even enter the Ainor Otech Desert to do business with the "Netheril Empire" under the control of Shade City.
A sudden increase in population and prosperous trade will naturally cause the port and the entire city to become a mixed bag. Noble forces of all sizes will be involved, making management and taxation extremely difficult.
Especially those who are dissatisfied or even full of hatred for the royal family are often hidden among these businessmen and vendors.
What makes Yalusel even more unbearable is that due to improper management, several thieves guilds and their affiliated gangs and thugs have appeared in the dock area.
Some so-called "rules" that are above the law have begun to be accepted by many businessmen.
You must know that Yalusel has served as the governor of the empire for a period of time. He has systematically studied and understood the roots of the birth and long-term existence of the Thieves Guild and all other underworld groups.
To put it bluntly, there are two points.
One is the lack of grassroots control and governance capabilities, and the other is the collusion between officials and gang members.
As long as these two things are taken care of, the seemingly dangerous and cruel Thieves Guild will become a bunch of out-and-out garbage.
It can be easily cleaned up by one officer and several teams of soldiers.
threaten?
Intimidation?
buy?
Sorry, in the face of a national-level violent machine like the military, even legendary thieves or assassins can only run away in despair.
Because their profession determines that they are not suitable for confrontation at all, nor can they rush into the crowd like legendary warriors and use unparalleled skills, or kill dozens or hundreds of people with a high-level spell like spell casters.
Therefore, Yalusel is very sure that there must be support from nobles behind these thieves guilds, and their status and status will definitely not be too low.
Otherwise, the Purple Dragon Legion's previous raids would not have been in vain.
Someone must be tipping off the leaders of the thieves guild.
Sometimes she really envied Zuo Si and the imperial cabinet for their unlimited power.
If the empire encountered a similar situation, it would 100% dispatch the imperial army to surround the entire city's port, and then conduct an investigation on everyone in the entire area.
Through forced thought exploration and memory reading, all relevant persons were found out. Those who deserved to be executed were executed, and those who deserved to be sent to hard labor were sent to hard labor.
If the circumstances are serious, the criminal's family may be implicated.
What?
You mean human rights and law?
What makes you think that this thing would exist in a totalitarian empire ruled by a tyrant?
What's more, the first article on the first page of the imperial law stipulates that the emperor himself has the supreme power above all laws, and can add, delete and modify existing legal provisions at any time.
The power of the cabinet is conferred by the emperor.
There is no need to use such methods to deal with ordinary crimes.
However, organizations like the Thieves Guild, which may cause great harm to society and promote the rapid corruption of the bureaucracy, have always had an attitude that they would rather kill a thousand by mistake than let one go.
Yalusel himself once cleaned up a thieves guild supported by a red-robed mage on two islands in the Araul province.
At that time, 730 people, including their families, were executed in public in public. The seawater in the entire execution port was dyed red with blood, and the corpses thrown in made the residents of the island afraid to eat fish for a long time.
Even the evil, cold, selfish and cruel red-robed mage was trembling with fear from this merciless massacre.
Since then, there has been no sign of any Thieves Guild activity in the Araul Province.
Even if someone offers a higher salary and wants to take a chance, local residents will stay away from them.
As a saying goes, the death penalty and appropriate combination of sentences are always the most effective weapons to increase the cost of crime and deter criminals.
Now, Yalusel is obviously a loyal believer in Zuo Si's theory of tyrants and tyranny, and is eager to build the Kingdom of Cormyr into a powerful centralized country.
Just when she was concentrating on finding valuable information from a large amount of messy intelligence, an older woman walked in from outside and asked in a helpless tone: "It's already midnight and you still haven't rested."
?You must know that you are a pregnant woman now and will give birth soon."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Don't worry, Queen Mother, I'm not sleepy yet, and I've never felt any fatigue. I don't know if it's because of this little guy, but every time I wake up after dark
Your mind will be clearer and your energy will be more abundant.”
Yalusel casually threw a piece of useless information into the red basin and burned it.
As the due date approaches, not only does she not get sleepy or tired like a normal pregnant woman, she doesn't even have the slightest pregnancy reaction.
This is obviously quite unusual.
But the priests and court doctors could not find any problem with this, and they could only think that it was the fetus with an extraordinary life experience in the belly.
Because whenever night falls, a mysterious energy field will surround Yalusel's body, putting his entire body in a state of strengthening that far exceeds his own abilities.
Whether it is strength, agility and physique, or intelligence, perception and charm, they will be greatly improved.
Therefore, the more nights you have, the more energetic you will be. On the contrary, when the sun comes out during the day, you will become listless.
"Sigh - if you keep going out day and night like this, I'm afraid you'll be mistaken for a vampire."
The woman whom the Iron Princess called her mother sighed helplessly.
It is not difficult to judge from this title alone that she is the queen of Assan IV and the current queen mother-Phil Farrell.
Although according to the tradition of the Kingdom of Cormyr, the Queen Mother actually has no right to interfere in political affairs, she is still an important figure in the palace that cannot be ignored.
Among them, the nobles loyal to the current king Assan V are currently nominally united under Phil Farrell.
There is no way, why Assan V is still a baby who can only babbling and babbling, he belongs to the true master Shao Guoyin.
Moreover, the news of Yalusel's pregnancy also made the already complicated and chaotic kingdom even more chaotic.
The royalists feared that the regent would do something to the young king so that his own child could ascend the throne.
Those nobles with bad intentions hope that the two factions will fight, and then they can reap the benefits.
So now, even to maintain the apparent unity of the royal family, the mother and daughter have to meet at least once a day.
If not for anything else, it’s just for timely communication to prevent the people below from suddenly starting to do it.
If the royal family fights over inheritance rights at this time, it will only benefit the real enemies.
Thinking of this, Yalusel couldn't help but rubbed his eyebrows and asked: "Mother, you came all the way here so late, could something have happened?"
"Shafa is missing."
Phil Farrell said an explosive piece of news in a very serious tone.
"What? Say it again!"
Yalusel suddenly stood up, with an expression of shock and disbelief on his face.
Because this Shafa is none other than the supreme commander of the Purple Dragon Legion of the Kingdom of Cormyr. He is also the guarantor of the security of the capital Susar and the royal family.
Most importantly, this man was loyal to King Assan V.
If he disappears during this sensitive period, it will definitely be a huge event, and it may be used as a trigger to trigger a war over the succession of the throne.
Phil Farrell obviously also knew how this news would affect the already tense situation, but he still explained clearly: "According to the description of Shafa's guard, after he left the Purple Dragon Army barracks, he was used to
Xing went to a pub called Blue Dream for a drink, and then walked straight to his residence.
To be continued...