"He still won't say anything?" Rand asked vaguely as he cleaned his mouth with a simple toothbrush.

"The mouth is very hard, and nothing useful is revealed at all, except for introducing his identity. Iron Fist greeted him, as a veteran sheriff, he has a lot of experience in interrogation, but in the face of this guy, the previous methods don't seem to have any effect at all, "Actually, I think it may not be that he deliberately concealed it, but because he really didn't know anything, and when it came to the assassination of the duke-level, the employer would definitely be very careful to conceal his identity, maybe through an intermediary." ”

Wenko was pressed into jail in the middle of the night last night, and after several hours of interrogation, he was never able to learn anything about his employer.

This was also expected by Rand, who, as Iron Fist said, was not stupid enough to tell a killer who he was.

"Who do you think it will be?" Rand rinsed his mouth and wiped the water with a towel, "Southern families, local nobles, or some other hostile person?"

"The local nobles, although they have been plundered by us and lost a lot of land and money, but in essence they are just a group of cowards, and they cherish their own lives the most...... They don't have the guts yet," Iron Fist analyzed, he had already seen through those nobles, they were all cowardly and cowardly fellows, and Lightning Island was hundreds of kilometers away from the air ferry territory, and ordinary people would not be able to reach the members of the Storm Raven Organization without an introduction.

This matter is too difficult for the nobles who have lived in the empty realm for generations.

"It's very likely that the people of the southern family will assassinate you because of the closure of the waterway, after all, the shallow water beach will be impassable for a day, and they can only watch the goods of the Peruvian family slowly encroach on the market that originally belonged to them, and the merchants can do anything for the sake of profit. Iron Fist said in a heavy tone: "I dare to say, if it were them, then they would definitely not give up on this defeat, and they will definitely strike again until the goal is achieved." ”

What Iron Fist said was completely in line with Lante's conjecture, he expected that the blockade of the shallow water would definitely bring trouble to himself, but he did not expect the trouble to come so quickly, and the people of the Southern family did not seem to have any intention of negotiating, but intended to solve the problem directly in the most brutal way.

Who told me that merchants are the most sensible?

"It's a pity that we don't have direct evidence, otherwise we can report to the Duke and let the Imperial City army sail south to exterminate those families who dare to hire killers. Iron Fist said with regret: "Even if you don't destroy the clan, you can ask them for a large amount of silver coins for compensation." ”

Iron Fist's words made Rand laugh, and the Duke of Winton's eyes had been on the rich cities of the South, where there was a great deal of wealth, and if anyone could get their hands on the Southern Isles, they would have an inexhaustible treasury of silver.

On this continent, the most important thing to support the war is money, and the horses, grain and grass, camp tents, and weapons and equipment used by the army to go out on the expedition all need a lot of money to replenish it, and a poor army still has no combat effectiveness.

The reason why the Duke of Winton was able to rise so quickly was largely due to the excellent innate conditions provided for him by several silver mines in the Imperial City.

It can be said that money is the lifeblood of the army.

The vast south, on the other hand, is rich enough to make all the warlords jealous, but there are very few families with excellent armies, and perhaps because of the topography and climate, the inhabitants of the south are mostly small and lean, very good at business, but very unsuitable for fighting.

Poor stamina, weak explosiveness, and obedience is not even as good as a mule.

This is what the Duke of Winton said about the soldiers of the South.

But even so, the southern Shang clan was still not annexed by the ambitious warlords, and one of the most important reasons was the terrain.

The Southern Isles, as the name suggests, are located in the ocean, and the sea brings them countless business opportunities, such as precious pearls, delicious fish, and corals that live in the depths of the sea, which can be easily processed into expensive crafts, and at the same time, the sea also provides shelter for them, and there are countless dangers lurking under the calm waters, reefs, whirlpools, storms, these natural disasters are powerful enough to destroy most of the invaders who easily set foot in this sea, and foreign ships cannot get close to the southern islands unless they are led by someone.

"Our army will definitely not be able to set foot in the South China Sea in the short term, and those natural barriers protect them very well, and also make them more unscrupulous. Rand opened the window, and the morning breeze came in with the scent of earth and flowers, clearing his drowsy mind.

"Let's write it down for now. Rand exhaled lightly: "There will be a long time in the future, and this account can be calculated slowly." ”

"The killer?" Iron Fist hesitated.

"Confirm the confession again, and if there is no objection, hang him. Rant's cheeks were cupped.

......

After a hurried breakfast, a surprising news came from the town hall.

There was a red-clothed priest from the royal capital who came to the empty ferry collar.

When he heard the news, Rand was stunned.

Unlike the low-ranking priests in the churches of the Imperial City, the cardinal priests are also regarded as important figures in the entire Holy See, and the power hierarchy of the temple is very distinct, like a pyramid, the top pope is in charge of the power, in the hearts of most believers, the pope is the symbol of the sacredness of the entire Holy See, and then there are three archbishops, who are in charge of the three temples, and the division of labor is also very clear.

The Temple of Judgment was responsible for military affairs, warfare, and the suppression of unrest.

The Temple of the Saints is responsible for political affairs and diplomacy with the mortal realm.

The temple of the goddess is mainly responsible for worshipping the gods, and has the most special status among the three shrines.

Below the three archbishops are the cardinal priests.

Compared to the archbishop, the cardinal priests are more like the main powerful figures of the Holy See, they control the huge machine of the Holy See to run constantly, and in some small countries, the status of the cardinal priests is even higher than that of the king.

They are in charge of all the churches and clergy on the mainland, and are responsible for assisting the pope in affairs, and they also have the power to decide on certain matters.

Rand thought about it, the status of the red-clothed priest was somewhat similar to the cabinet of the Ming Dynasty in China.

This is a big shot.

But Rand didn't seem to be so shocked, perhaps because the Duke of Winton had been curbing the development of the Holy See in his own domain, and the Holy See's position in the Capetian family's territory was not as noble and sacred as in other regions, although there were some soldiers and residents who believed in them, but they were not very fanatical.

"Didn't he say where this came from?" Rand asked.

Touron shook his head.

"Could it be because of the Oak ......," Touron asked, worried.

Rand shook his head, "If it's because of the Oaks, then it's the Holy See's army, not the Cardinal." ”

Forget it, no matter what the reason is, let's meet the other party first, anyway, it's on their own territory, even if the other party is as strong as Rambo, they can't escape from the palm of their hands.

"Bring him. ”

......

Rand met the red-clad priest in the castle's drawing room.

"Honorable Lord of the Sky Ferry, may the gods protect you, and may you be young and immortal. "The other party wears the iconic bright red robe, the cuffs and neckline are drawn by gold thread, and on the left chest of the robe is inlaid with a precious sapphire, suspended by silver chains, and the inside is covered with strange patterns, which looks even more gorgeous and extravagant than the royal robe.

The other party was very polite, and he behaved like a polite gentleman, and Rand could not force himself to pretend to be rude and deliberately humiliate him.

No matter how tense the relationship between the Capetian family and the Holy See is, the superficial work still needs to be done.

"You may be seated. Rand ordered the servant to bring snacks and tea, and took a cursory observation.

The other party was about thirty-five years old, his face was fair and calm, his clothes were very neat, the journey did not bring him a tired look at all, and the gentleness revealed between his words always made people unconsciously have a good impression of him.

Compared with some royal nobles, it is obvious that this red-clothed priest is more temperamental.

Graceful and luxurious.

That was Rand's first impression of him.

"Lord Priest, I'm glad you took time out of your busy schedule to come to the Empty Ferry Territory. Rand said in a relaxed tone, "I don't know where you came from, if you need help, just ask." ”

The red-clothed priest smiled and nodded, obviously satisfied with Rant's attitude, he took out a folded parchment roll from his cuff and handed it to Rand, "Please take a look at this first." ”

Rand took it, opened it and glanced at it casually, and quickly frowned.

"You mean, you want to build a church in the Kongdu Territory?" Rand's face stiffened, isn't this a joke! His own development of the territory and the acceptance of demon seeds need to be kept secret, and he originally wanted to avoid the Holy See, and the other party actually wanted to build a church in the Kongdu Territory, wouldn't that be equivalent to inserting an eye in his side?

"Yes, this is what our archbishop means, with all due respect, you should know that the Empty Ferry is very poor and the people do not have enough to eat, and that after we build a church here, we can raise food and silver to finance your people, and to teach the children, and to ease your burden. The red-clothed priest Kai Kai said, "This is a win-win situation, what do you think?"

What a fart! Rand scolded in his heart, wanting to engage in surveillance and talking so sacredly and tall.

"I'm afraid this won't work," Rand simply rejected his proposal: "Don't you know, the land that can be used for construction in the empty ferry territory has been almost developed, and most of the rest is subsidence and fault layers, and you don't want the church to be destroyed because of the collapse after it is built, right?"

"It's not a problem, we can buy their building land from the residents, and the price guarantee will satisfy both you and the owner," the cardinal priest said as if he didn't understand what Rand meant, and still said in a gulp of words, "The church doesn't need to take up a lot of space, I've brought a sketch of the building, you can take a look at the ......." ”

"Wait, Priest," Rand interrupted helplessly, "if you're here just for this matter, then there's no need for us to talk about it. ”

The red-clothed priest's movements paused, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"No, it's just a trivial matter, the main task of my trip is to talk to the lord about cooperation. ”