Because of the superior livable environment, there are many large and small cities along the "Leiden Valley".

But in addition to the water city of Niske, which guards the estuary, and Brandenburg, the capital of Salt Lake County, the most special position is the "Golden Lion City", a city of wealth located in the middle of the river valley!

Although it is also known as the City of Wealth, there are indeed many chambers of commerce and trading companies settled here, but the main business has little to do with the most prosperous maritime commerce and trade in this era.

It's actually a financial city dominated by big bankers!

Even the archons of the Golden Lion City are chaired by the chairman of the board of directors of a company called the "Dutch Bank Group", and the garrisons in the city have little to do with the kingdom, all of them are elite private troops hired by the bank group.

It can be said that this "Dutch banking group" has become the de facto ruler of the city, and has received the acquiescence of the country's master, the royal family of Taylor!

And what is the origin of the "Dutch Bank Group", and why did it establish a state within a state within the Kingdom of Taylor?

As a matter of fact.

It is an international financial organization with a long history spanning various countries, and although it is headquartered in the Kingdom of Taylor, which ranks among the top three countries in the Tulip Alliance in terms of comprehensive national strength, its financial business has spread throughout the Old World.

Although the functions are still somewhat primitive, mainly based on currency exchange, collection and storage, lending, credit intermediary, and custody of valuables in various countries, the volume is a well-deserved super giant!

Not only ordinary burghers, merchants, and magnates, but even the rulers of a country may be their debtors.

This is not a joke.

The rulers of dozens of countries in the Old World had large and small powers, and some almost reached the level of a family with all kinds of powers, like the ancient countries of the East.

Some have been squeezed out of their political and economic rights by various domestic forces, and only a nominal co-owner remains.

But the same thing is that under the feudal system that has lasted for thousands of years, the monarch will never have the supreme right to raise taxes at will as much as the Eastern emperors want!

Therefore, even His Majesty the King, who is relatively "supreme", cannot always be short of money.

The huge expenditures of the state, especially war expenses, military expenditures, and extremely risky ocean expeditions, are of course inseparable from the presence of large banks.

After a while, the banking syndicate, mainly composed of large merchants, became the creditors of the powerful kingdom, and the seemingly wealthy and powerful countries became the debtors of private power!

Among the many debtors of the Dutch banking syndicate, two have to be mentioned, the first is the royal family of the Taylor Kingdom, the owner of the land under their feet, which is also the fundamental reason why the banking syndicate can obtain autonomy.

And the second one is something that many people can't imagine at all, and they don't dare to think about it at all, that is, the sea overlord of this era, who suppressed the countries with extremely strong force - the "Kingdom of Sylius"!

Sitting on the strongest invincible fleet in the Age of Discovery, it firmly controls the most oily colonies in the Southern Continent and the New World with fortresses and naval bases all over the sea.

The most convenient trade routes, the most fertile land, and the highest reserves of precious metals were all available for Sylius.

To make a comparison, even if it is a country as strong as the Kingdom of Phaletis, which is faintly the strongest in terms of comprehensive national strength in the "Tulip Alliance", it can only follow behind Cylius to pick up some soup and water.

Such a giant would be short of money?!

The answer is a resounding yes!

The gold, silver, and dividends of the ocean-going trade of the New World poured like rivers into the pockets of the Hirius, or the elites of the Hirius.

However, the hegemon of the Age of Discovery is not so easy to be.

The situation of the kingdom of Cyrius is worthy of the phrase "enemies on all sides"!

The struggle for seafaring dividends, the struggle for faith, the struggle for colonies, the struggle for the expansion of the Old Continent, and the "emperor's dream" of successive generations of kings all combined to make Hirius's relationship with the surrounding countries almost equal.

On land, Cyrius, who believes in the "Eternal Flame", fights with the traditional army power of the Sark Empire, which believes in the "Dawn and Morning Light", and fights with the desert kingdom of Heymar, which believes in the "Bright Starry Night".

On the sea, a third of the country is covered with ice and snow all year round, and Atlanta believes in the "breath of frost", and the gradually developed Sark Empire Navy, and the belief in the "goddess of kingship and navigation", Faltitis, a new sea power.

One-on-one, he can beat any opponent on his knees and shouts "conquer", but the consequences of a crowd beating someone else...

Sylius had to maintain an unbelievably large army at all times to deal with all kinds of warfare, and in recent years it had reached the point of a frenzied 20 to 1.

Note that this is the total number of people including the elderly, children, women, etc., not the number of young people.

It can be said that Cylius has exhausted his army and is fighting wars all the time.

Even as the largest sea power, it does not even have a large-scale handicraft industry in the country, let alone the steam industry that is now in full swing on the mainland.

From the perspective of industrial development, it has lagged behind others by a whole generation.

His rulers clearly don't care, though.

In addition, according to the grapevine, because the stalls are too large, it is possible that the gold and silver shipped back to the mainland from the New World every year will not be enough for one-fifth of the military expenditure.

The gold and silver may have just been heated up in the treasury of Cyrius, and then turned into interest in the pockets of the "Dutch banking group"...

At this time.

Located in the splendid palace-like town hall, it is also the mainland headquarters of the "Dutch Banking Group".

The largest conference room.

A large conference table made of a whole hemlock tree sits in the middle of the room.

If the best core material of such a hemlock wood is used, it is enough to process it into the "canoe mast" of a first-class battleship, but here it is only made into an ordinary table.

Just looking at this table, the smell of money comes to my face.

At this time, around this long table, sixteen directors of the bank syndicate or their agents had all arrived.

Among them are personable middle-aged aristocrats, pot-bellied wealthy businessmen, graceful ladies, wise old men, and fledgling young people.... However, regardless of age and appearance, the expressions on their faces are the same.

Proud of all beings!

They certainly have reason to be arrogant.

Because they have jeweled buttons on their sleeves that are worth as much as a house, because of the signatures of the magnates of the continent on the IOUs in their hands, because they hold the economic lifeblood of more than one country in their hands, because their words determine the future of countless people...

Their status is not necessarily noble, but they are better than nobles. Not necessarily kings, but really like some kings!

Click-

The gold-encrusted mahogany carved wooden door was gently closed by the guards.

Smack!

Sitting in the high-backed chair of the main seat, an old man with gray hair but strong spirit gently slapped his palm, attracting all attention.

"Ladies and gentlemen, you must have heard from various sources about the current state of affairs in the 'Leiden Valley'.

The topic of this plenary meeting of the board of directors was simple, that is, how should we, the 'Dutch banking group', respond to the next turmoil.

Does anyone want to share their opinion?"

At the first place on the right side of the long table, a director wearing a snow-white silk shirt and black dress jacket with a big belly was the first to speak:

"With all due respect, Mr. President, we have the tightest underground vaults and the most robust security in the Alliance.

There is even a third-order grand knight, Mr. Grace, and two powerful official wizards sitting here all year round!

There's no need for us to get involved in the kingdom of Taylor or the dispute between Tulip and the Pirate King.

After all, they're all syndicate customers, aren't they?"

The wealth is moving, and a large number of golden lions are smashed over, and even the unattainable knights and mysterious and dangerous wizards in the eyes of others have to bend down to them.

In fact, there is far more than one third-order combat force in the "Dutch Banking Regiment".

Beside him, another young man with a pale face who could even see the blue veins clearly, also echoed:

"Yes, Mr. Huggins is a very generous customer, and one of the 'Treasures of the Sea' that he entrusted us with a year ago is still on the second floor of the underground vault.

To this day, I still remember that after paying three times the storage fee, this powerful third-order transcendent only wanted to be able to look outside the door of the underground vault.

After I gave him a brief introduction, he was also full of praise for our security measures, and bluntly said that the fourth-order title may not be able to break through in a short time. ”

As a young man's first business after joining the banking group on behalf of his elderly father, he was indeed very impressed by the Pirate King.

The old man presiding over the meeting nodded slightly, and looked around at everyone in the meeting:

"Is there anyone else who would like to speak other than Mr. Swift and Mr. Durand Jr."

The third director on the left, the lady in a burgundy dress, shook the peacock feather fan:

"Mr. President, in fact, many of the distinguished gentlemen here have business dealings with the Pirate King. Even the 'Alberta' Chamber of Commerce, which is only a serious business, has done slave trading with him in the Strait of the Wind.

I don't think this pirate Mr. Wang would be so unwise to live up to the friendship that so many people have for him!"

Seeing that most of the other people present looked in agreement, the old man himself didn't think there would be any problems, so he concluded:

"Then I now announce the final resolution of the Board of Directors, that we, the Dutch Banking Group, will not interfere in the dispute between the Pirate King and Tulip.

But the kingdom still has to give face, allowing Tulip's mobile troops to enter the Golden Lion City.

By the way, I would like to inform Bishop Jasper of the Dome of the Dome of the Rock that it would be nice to join us in preparing for this time.

Until this matter is over, it is strictly forbidden for our private soldiers to go out of the city and intervene in other people's conflicts.

So be it. ”

The day-to-day management of the Dutch Bank is the responsibility of a four-member committee elected by the Board of Directors, whose chairman is also the Governor of the Golden Lion City.

The words of Mr. Joel Theodore, an old man with military, political and financial powers, are the final word!

It also determines the general tone of the defense policy of the Golden Lion City for a period of time in the future.