It wasn't until half a month after leaving Abbasquia that the business development team found the first town to stop.

The leader of the caravan seemed to have made a lucrative business with a few other merchants in the city, and he gave the pioneer team a day off and gave a bounty to the group. Of course, how many of these money can be thrown into the civilian population, that's two words.

Conan crouched at the entrance to the town, staring at the indistinct words on a stone tablet. said that it was a word, but Conan always felt that it was like a pigeon.

But in the end he failed, and no one who could read could recognize a city on its sign, just as a child herding sheep could not recognize the difference between his sheep.

A passer-by looked at Conan for a long time, and finally kindly told him

"This is Cyprustinian, you can't look at those words like that. The lord of the city is the lord of the Dinny family, so this character is painted in the shape of this pigeon, which is the same as the flag of their family. Now you get it?"

Conan nodded as if he didn't understand, and said silently: It turns out that it's really a pigeon.

Conan muttered as he walked a few more steps, and then suddenly as if something was wrong, he hurriedly ran into the town of Cyprus, not bothering to appreciate the cliffs and rivers here, Conan inquired about the whereabouts of the caravan leader as soon as he went to the street.

The town is very right, there is no problem, the caravan is replenished, and it is normal to take a holiday. But no, this is a fiefdom of a duke further south than Abbasquia, which is a far cry from the route originally announced.

"Don't you think we're heading south, Leader Yubon? If I'm not mistaken, this should be a Northland Pioneer Regiment. ”

Because the leader of the caravan had already negotiated a business before entering the city, he happened to be wandering the streets, and Conan found him after running for a short time.

You Bang always felt a little uncomfortable when he saw this little nobleman who had always been silent in the caravan and had never moved, and suddenly the cat came to him like a little adult to question him, but his twenty years of rich experience in the trade still made him suppress his anger and seriously explain the problem to this "imperial clerk":

"Your Excellency Conan, I have a difficult time coming here, and I don't expect you to be able to understand, but I want you to listen to me. ”

"The Prime Minister asked me to bring a group of refugees from the city to support the construction of the Northland, but he only stuffed me with a flag and a messenger officer who could eat and sleep. Don't you think that's unreasonable? The people of the Northland are very poor, and the goods I have just come to from Abbasquia are not at all what the hillbillies can consume!"

"They can only afford these southern bargains, even the dukes over there, they all look poor and sour. But it's no wonder that they used to have wars on the northern side, and no one could save money, and it is said that now the northern land is going to be peaceful. When you get ahead over there, I'll definitely come with good goods. ”

Yubang's words became more and more radical, and in the end they turned into complaints, but fortunately, Yubang suddenly remembered that this child was still a nobleman of the Northland Pioneer Regiment at the end, and he finally stabilized his political tendencies.

Conan was silent when Yubon's questioning was met. Although he has never served in the Empire, it is definitely impossible for him to be born in the aristocratic group of the Empire, and he has just made a few friends of the same rank two days ago, telling him to betray his class and sympathize with the merchants.

"We're almost three months away, and when you turn this corner, and when you get back to the Northlands, it's winter. Conan said coldly.

Yubang didn't expect this young-looking kid to have more knowledge than this age, at least the other boys in the caravan didn't realize the problem, at least they didn't mention it to him.

As soon as Yubang thought of the winter in the Northland, the back of his neck began to ache. Running around on the trade routes, buying and selling goods, making money, and running their own caravans little by little, it has been a matter of the past few years. Earlier, Yubon was just a buddy.

At that time, the trade routes in the Northland were even more dangerous than now, and there were very few caravans to do business in the Northland, because the circulation of goods was not easy, so as long as they could come back alive in the Northland, most of them made a fortune. The good wood, honey, and skins of the north are piled up in the market like those that don't need money, and if you can bring an iron pot and a jar from the south, you can load a wagon.

The owner of the caravan lost a lot of money in business that year, and he estimated that the funeral of Emperor Felipe would be indispensable to use good wine, so he specially imported a batch from the south, and it took more than half a month to rush to Abbasquia. As a result, the funeral turned into a political meeting, the new empire was about to be established, and many of the big people were busy with the issue of land distribution, and few people thought about drinking. The boss spent a lot of money, but even at cost price, half of the wine was still broken, which was not enough to rent warehouses and stalls in the city.

But the mayor of Abbasquia can't manage so much, he only knows that the boss must have spent a lot of money to enter this batch of wine, and the new empire is about to be established, and the emperor is embarrassed to ask for money, but as the mayor of the capital, he really has to go up no matter what he says when the finances are insufficient. The mayor sent men to turn the owner's shop and warehouse upside down, but found only a pitiful few gold coins and half a storehouse of spoiled wine.

The mayor frowned, planning to collect the money first, and wait for the rest of the taxes later. In the end, it was the boss who knelt down and begged the mayor with snot and tears to keep the money for him, and he would definitely be able to turn it over. The people in the caravan were stunned, they were used to seeing the boss talking and laughing with the chiefs of the tribe, but they never thought that this man would have such a day.

The mayor kicked the boss away in disgust, he didn't have time to keep arguing with a bankrupt businessman, but considering that the empire had just been founded, it was not easy to force this person to death, so he simply returned the money to the boss, as well as an IOU for one hundred piana gold coins.

The boss used these gold coins to prepare supplies for the caravan, and then pulled down his face and moved the original relationship, gathered a batch of rags, and planned to try his luck in the northland.

When the caravan departs in the fall, it is inevitable that it will encounter winter in the Northland. A great blizzard struck the caravan, and the first to fall were a few pack horses that had been with the caravan for many years, their eyelashes bent by the goose-feathered snow, covering their tired eyes, and never opened again. Several of the caravan also froze to death, and some had frostbitten legs. Even if the boss tried to encourage the members of the caravan to tell them that the town was ahead, the members of the caravan could no longer walk, and they took the carriage from the horses that had been turned into statues, and formed a circle, and a fire was lit in the middle of the circle.

Yubon was sitting in the middle of the fire, his back tightly in the cold compartment, but his hair in front of him had been roasted by the flames with a strange fragrance. The cervical spine pain that now plagues him was left at this time. A group of crocodile-skinned Wiegand people split the carriage, and they wouldn't listen to the boss's pain. A tall and mighty-looking young man split the boss's head in half with an axe, and then groped for the sword he picked up from the boss's body, and put it on himself happily.

Yubang was knocked out of the head by a fallen carriage, and he was very unlucky, but very lucky. He had only been to the Northland once, and he encountered two major disasters in the Northland. But he miraculously survived these two major disasters. The Weegand only took what they needed in the wagons of the caravan, but gave Yubang quite a bit left. Yubang found a car that could still be turned, and stuffed all the goods that could be used into it.

He pulled the carriage and smelled the smell of toasted bread, and following the scent, he climbed to the village with all his breath, and made his first pot of gold in his life.

It takes two people to quarrel. Seeing that Yubang had already lost his temper, Conan turned and left.

Angry is angry, but this town in the south is really good.

The Greyfriar told Conan many stories in the moonlight over the years, most of which were related to the great experiences of the Red Lion Emperor, including this town.

Dinny is the name of a flower in Cyprarus, which blooms in the summer every year, and they stretch their necks and hold their heads high, like white doves about to spread their wings and fly.

Thirty years ago in the summer, Cyprustini was not a town, but a heavily armed castle. Several tribal chiefs with ambitions to defend their homeland joined forces to establish order here and stop further invasion by the Amaks. It was a difficult decision, and many of the chiefs who had saved their tribes moved north, and although it was inevitable that they would have to fight their own people to change territory, it was better than fighting the Amaks. Although there are still some valley plains, most of the land here is rugged mountains and valleys, and the northern plains are particularly attractive in comparison.

Felipe the Great came here for the first time with his expeditionary force. At that time, the emperor was still an ambitious teenager, and the boy rode a horse to the land, and when he saw the tinny flowers blooming on the edge of the cliff, the boy rushed over and took off his helmet.

"What kind of flower is this?" asked the Emperor.

"It's called Dinny, Your Majesty, and it's a kind of wildflower that grows there. Locals also call it the White Dove. One of the castle's chiefs replied.

The first emperor carefully plucked one, picked it up and smelled it. "It's a good place. One day, I will fill the valley with flowers, the people will be free from war, and the towns will prosper and be rich. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty, if that day comes, I will tear down the castle of the tribe and turn it into a town, and you and the people of the Great Pruss are welcome to come and enjoy the flowers. ”

Seprustinian has become one of the most beautiful cities in the entire empire, and in early summer, the Tinny flowers are in full bloom, like a line of white doves about to take off. In the distance, a few children who were not a few years younger than Conan were giggling in a sea of flowers, and some of the petals that died early fell to the ground, and the children stepped on the petals, fragrant the whole town.

"This street is called Felipe Avenue, and it is said that the emperor's march into the mountains was followed by this road. The kind passerby observed Conan's conversation with the caravan leader, decided that he was not a mortal, and followed him again. "If you don't have a guide, just look for old Charlie. ”

Conan touched his pocket, and with the generosity of several fellow nobles, the half-month trip did not cost him much. Conan saw Montgomery and Mitchelson, who were whirling around the city like two headless flies, and pulled out a silver coin.

"Keep an eye on those two gentlemen, and I'll give you another one at the gates of the city in the evening. ”

Old Charles was grateful for Dade's departure, and in Cyprus, the value of gold and silver was higher than in the city of Abbasquia, and a silver coin was already Charlie's income for three days.

Conan wanted to walk around the city by himself. Walking in a beautiful city is not the same as walking on an endless road.

Even just looking at these beautiful flowers is not a waste of the day.

Conan walked down the street and soon noticed something very interesting. The town's streets are made up of two parts, one part of the hardened pavement of solid rock, and the other part of a small river that runs through the town, and it is not uncommon to see locals drifting over the water in what looks like horse-drawn carriages. Conan was very interested in this thing, he didn't need manpower, and he didn't need animal power, he only needed the person sitting on the boat to swing a little with a wooden stick, and he could rely on the power of the flowing water to get to where they wanted to go.

Conan thought it was a bit like the ship that the monk was talking about, but it wasn't quite the same as what the monk said. In the monk's mouth, the ship could move on a large sea, and even if dozens of men stood on the boat, the ship was as steady as a piece of land, and when the wind was downwind, the ship relied on the sail to lift its canvas, and when the wind was against it, it was only up to the ship's helmsman to slide the long oars across the sea.

Conan looked at the "boat" on the river and became distracted, and a Dinny sailor noticed Conan.

"Young man from a foreign country, do you want to take a boat?

Conan hesitated, but finally nodded and got into the boat where the sailor was.

On board, Conan asks the sailors questions.

"Sir, why is it that the ship here is not the same as the one I have heard of elsewhere, without canvas, nor masts, nor with a tall deck. ”

The sailor looked at Conan's face, and after making sure that he was not trying to make a mistake with some hostility, but really couldn't figure out the difference, he continued to look ahead, and used the wood pulp in his hand to cut a path for the boat

"The kind of ship with mast canvas you are talking about is a sea ship, and it is a sea route, and this is just a small river, and you can't go through sea boats. ”

The sailor's voice was two points of helplessness, three points of freedom, and a little heartiness, catering to the sound of the murmuring water and the chirping of birds on both sides, echoing through Dinny's streets, and ringing in Conan's ears for a long time.