Hindlaire University, which is a project for the future, is difficult to see in the near future. Even the most urgent shortfall in the number of administrative staff www.biquge.info difficult to fill in the short term. The first batch of students in the Administration Department, even if they graduate urgently, will not be until three months later.

But Dane's pace of expansion won't stop there.

After the Sweetwater Continent area was reclaimed, Dane's eyes looked to the west of Shawan Harbor.

To the west of Shawan Harbor is a desert with a range of more than 200 kilometers.

It was a real wasteland.

Cindelare's location on the edge of the Eastern Moors is right; It's a barren land, and that's right. But even so, Schindlaire's land wasn't really that barren. At the very least, there are places where water can be mined and wells can be drilled, and people can still live in them for a long time. What's more, some oases, some underground rivers exposed, and other places where water can be obtained, that is also a place where life can be preserved.

However, more than 100 kilometers west of Shawan Harbor, all this is a luxury. It was a real desert, there was no water, and there was no place for life to survive for a long time.

After walking through this area, the land will gradually become vibrant, and you can see patches of grass and even forests.

It's just that it is no longer Sindelare's land, but has entered the most marginal country of the Western human world, the Duchy of Florence.

Dane had no intention of going to trouble the Duchy of Florence for the time being. The Grand Duke of Florence had more than 20,000 direct troops under his hands, and these 20,000 were all professional soldiers, and the famous Duke's Guard was a knightly order of 1,000 people, which was the foundation of the country's foothold.

And in addition to these forces directly under the Grand Duke of Florosa, his vassals, counts, viscounts, and barons...... Combined, these nobles, large and small, exceeded fifty people. They may not be much in themselves, but they represent more than fifty noble dominions.

These were the vassals who swore allegiance to the Grand Duke of Florence. When the Grand Duke of Florence sounded the horn of war, they would be armed and assemble under the banner of the Duke with their own army.

At that time, it will be another army that may be able to reach more than 30,000 troops in total.

Not to mention, the land of Florence is not known to be many times richer than that of Sindelare, and with the guarantee of sufficient wealth, their army is difficult for Schindlaire's warlords to contend with, both in terms of equipment and training.

Dane, of course, is an exception. Not to mention his main army, even the Governor's Guards, would not be intimidated in a fight with Florence's Central Army.

However, there is still a relatively large gap between the two sides in terms of overall national strength and volume. Dane didn't have that much appetite for the time being, and if he wanted to swallow the Florentine, it could be a more difficult task than defeating Conry.

However, while Dane had no real intention of fighting a big battle with the Duchy of Florence, he had to prepare for a battle with the Grand Duke now.

The reason why I say this is because of a place called 'Wasteland Pass'.

It is said to be a pass, but in fact it is a fortress-type town, located on the wasteland more than 200 kilometers west of Shawan Port, in the very center. The water resources, food resources, and all sorts of other resources are not self-producing, but can only be mobilized from other places.

And the reason why the owner of this 'wasteland pass' has to work so hard to maintain the existence of this city is, of course, for his reasons. The guy known as 'Daddy Imu' relied on the Wasteland Pass to reap huge profits: this pass was Hindlaire's only access from the land to Western human society.

In the absolute wasteland more than 200 kilometers away, there is no road, and the plain land can be walked anywhere. However, there are too few places to be replenished in the Absolute Wasteland.

At a distance of more than 200 kilometers, any caravan carrying bulk commodities must carry supplies for at least half a month before it can be completed. The heat, wind and sand are deadly killers for the caravan, and in case of accidents, this supply has to be carried even more.

In fact, usually a caravan has to go this way, and if they do not intend to replenish supplies in the middle, they must at least prepare supplies for the members of the caravan and the livestock.

However, the caravan's capacity is limited, and when there are more supplies to carry, there are fewer goods that can be carried, and profits will naturally be reduced.

If, then, in the middle of this road, there was such a town that could provide them with supplies?

Obviously, it will be a favorite place for businessmen and travelers.

However, supplies for the Wasteland Pass do not come out of nowhere, and the prices they sell to the merchants will naturally be very expensive. This kind of expensiveness has become essentially a means of exploitation.

But relatively speaking, being able to take a break in one area allows the caravan to rest without worrying about being attacked by bandits, not having to worry about the baptism of wind and sand, and most merchants are still willing to stay there for a while.

Not to mention, that place can also complete the payment of customs duties into the Duchy of Florence by the way, and with the tax certificate issued by the Wasteland Pass, the caravan can move through the territory of the Duchy of Florence unimpeded.

Of course, even if this is the case, there will still be some merchants who are reluctant to go through the wasteland pass in order to save money. But such a person, in this no-man's land, is easily attacked by bandits who don't know where they come from, and they are thrown into the sand with their lives and money.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see what these inexplicable sand thieves are all about, and if they have nothing to do with 'Daddy Imu', then no one will believe them.

But there is nothing anyone can do about him.

Merchants can only endure such exploitation, after all, everyone still has to make money.

And because of this, Daddy Imu's life is quite nourishing. Legend has it that there are never less than ten beautiful maids around them, and the carpet at home is made of the softest belly fur of the precious mammoth from the Argus Plateau; The night pearl hanging in the living room comes from the most precious treasure of the Naga clan under the sea; Legend has it that Papa Im also had a pair of dragon's eyes, the eyes of a real dragon, as decorations.

All in all, Daddy Imu is rich, which is recognized by all.

And while being rich, Daddy Im is also a figure that no one can afford to mess with. Even the Governor of Conriy, at his most prime, never hit Im on the head.

Im's Wasteland Pass, of course, is in the land of Hindlaire. During the Second Caesar's Empire, this area was part of the province of Schindlaire. Even after the collapse of the empire, when the princes were merging, no lord ever claimed sovereignty over the area where the Wasteland Pass was located. Then it should undoubtedly be the land of Hindlaire.

And Yim, who built a city on this land, should also be a warlord of Schindlaire.

But having said that, no one would really treat Yim as a warlord.

The reason is simple, his wasteland pass can even handle customs duties into the Duchy of Florence! If you think about it, you can know what kind of relationship he has with the Duchy of Florence.

Therefore, even the original Kang Li didn't dare to mess with him. When the Sindlaire all-out war was in full swing last year, this old guy was still able to earn his own money and live a comfortable life.

He didn't even say which side he was for, and he didn't even bother to say it verbally, as if the great battle that swept Hindlaire had nothing to do with him.

It really doesn't matter much.

It's just that now Dane doesn't want him to continue to live so nourishingly.

The existence of the wasteland pass fattened Daddy Im and the Florentine nobles behind him, but it did not benefit Hindlaire at all.

The high supply price has made the Wasteland Pass a veritable black shop. Im's indulgence with bandits, and sometimes even his army, took it into battle, which dealt a major blow to commercial activities.

In addition to influencing commerce, the Wasteland Pass also served as a means of exploitation by the Duchy of Florence against merchants from Schindlaire.

The customs duties collected at the Wasteland Pass are not subject to normal commercial taxes. Through the Wasteland, the Florences controlled Sindelare's land exit to Western human society, grabbing enormous wealth.

In the past, Dane was incapable of taking care of this, but now, he decided that he couldn't continue to let that guy Yim continue to be so arrogant. The wealth he withheld, the benefits that flowed from the wasteland to the Duchy of Florence, in Dane's opinion, should have been Schindlaire's.

As governor of Sindlaire, he was obliged to preserve this wealth and put an end to the exploitation of the Florentines. He is equally obliged to guarantee the territorial integrity of the whole territory of Cindelare.

Of course, these high-sounding things, just talk about it. The reason why Dane really wants to take Yim's wasteland pass is purely because of profit factors.

Im, and even the Duchy of Florence, could earn at least 50,000 gold coins a month from the Wasteland Pass, and not a dime of that money would fall into Dane's hands, so he would naturally not be so happy.

As for whether it will anger the Florentines behind Im......

To be honest, Dane was not intimidated at all.

Dane won't attack Florence, but that doesn't mean he's afraid that the Florentines will attack him.

Schindlaire's barren land is Dane's home turf, where he is no longer afraid of any enemy.

Only when there is enough strength can there be enough diplomatic capital. The Wasteland Pass, a parasite controlled by the Florenceians and that grew on the Hindlairees, had to be disposed of.

……

On the first of September, 218, Dane sent a letter of order to the warlord Imu, the master of the city in the Western Wastelands. The content of this order is generally similar to the content of the "Notice on the Trial Implementation of the Restructuring of the Local Government in the Sweet Water Island Area", requiring him to hand over the army and the administrative power of the Wasteland Pass as scheduled.

Of course Imu didn't do it, but with the experience of 'Executioner' Molotto, Imu didn't dare to be too Dane in words.

He did not react in the slightest to Dane's orders in the name of the Governor in public, but in private, there was quite a bit of activity.

So, next, Dane welcomed the arrival of two groups of people.

The first wave came from the direction of the Wasteland Pass. They came with the kindness and gifts of Papa Imu.

This rich old man has made a lot of money this time. The gifts brought by the caravan are caravans, and there are many rare treasures. According to the estimates of Dane's business accountants, the total value of these Imra gifts is no less than 50,000 gold coins, which is already half of the money Dane borrowed from the Sequoia Chamber of Commerce!

Along with these gifts came a letter from Im.

In the letter, Imu's tone and wording were quite sincere and respectful, and at the same time, he also put his own status very low.

In the letter, Dane was addressed to 'the great Governor of Hindlaire', and he addressed himself as 'a subordinate who defended one side for the Governor-General', said that he had 'worked hard for half his life to build the Wasteland Pass for the development of Hindlaire', and said that he was 'willing to continue to spend the remaining half of his life to continue to defend one side for the Governor-General, and never give up'.

The words are quite beautiful, and the substance is also vaguely mentioned. For example, Im stated in his letter that if Dane could continue to keep him in the Badlands, he would give him a gift of no less than fifty thousand gold coins every year as a 'tribute to the Governor'.

The gift, Dane accepted; conditions, he is absolutely impossible to agree to.

Dane had a reply letter written, still very harshly worded, without any grace requiring Im to relinquish his powers within a time limit in accordance with the contents of the "Notice of Trial Implementation of the Local Government System".

The loss of 50,000 gold coins was in vain, and Imu was quite distressed and angry. Later, the news from the Wasteland Pass said that this guy even broke his usual favorite luminous cup, and strangled one of his favorite Mei Ji.

The soft Dane didn't eat it, and Imu was going to come hard.

Of course, this so-called hard, of course, is not a military operation. He has an elite group of sand pirates at his disposal, as well as an elite guard army stationed in the Wasteland Pass. But he wouldn't be as stupid as Moloto, naïve enough to think that he could wrestle with Dane with such a force.

His hardness is based on the Florentine.

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