The political structure of the Gold Coin Federation is roughly divided into two divisions. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 One is the central aristocracy headed by the two marquises, and the local powerful faction led by the earls of various places, the other is the merchant faction represented by the coastal and border trading circles, and the aristocratic faction represented by the hinterland.

The former division doesn't make much sense, and the contradictions between the central and local factions can be seen everywhere in all countries - oh, except for the North-Western Republic. This kind of thing is so commonplace, for thousands of years, and even longer, that every race and every nation has faced the same problem, and no one has ever come up with a solution, and it has rarely been a large-scale conflict.

The power of the great nobles is absolutely no match for the union of the local nobles, and the local nobles will not easily unite, this is the balance between the two sides.

But the latter division is the biggest problem of the Gold Coin Federation at the moment.

With the long-term operation of this country based on commerce, the contradictions between the two major factions of merchants and nobles have accumulated more and more, and gradually reached the point where it is difficult to clean up.

The merchant faction controlled more than sixty percent of the country's assets, and even more than seventy percent if it was limited to money. The aristocracy, on the other hand, had relatively little money, but they controlled nearly eighty percent of the country's population and almost the same amount of land.

One party has money, the other party has people, and when the relationship between the two parties is good, they cooperate sincerely with each other and have done great things more than once.

But as time went on, the contradictions between the two sides also grew. The merchant faction hopes to promote the construction of more trade routes, promote consumption, promote the movement of people - in short, make the business of merchants better and better. The aristocracy wanted to maintain the status quo or even reduce trade routes in order to stabilize the situation, cut unnecessary expenses, and especially limit the movement of people, so as to ensure that their territories could have a stable output.

This contradiction is almost irreconcilable, and even the great goddess of wealth has nothing to do about it. He can only put his clergy in a neutral position, trying to mediate the dispute between the two sides, to ease the relationship between them, and to act as lubricants or cushions.

In the past, because the merchants sent a lot of money, by recruiting mercenaries, they were able to obtain strong force and firmly suppress the aristocratic faction. Even though the aristocratic faction is outnumbered, it has always been at a disadvantage in the face of the merchant faction, which can recruit a large number of mercenaries at any time.

In recent years, as the gods of nobility have become more and more powerful, the power of the aristocratic faction has also increased. They already had the advantage of population, and then they had the support of the Church of the God of Nobles, both openly and covertly, and the more they accumulated combat power in their hands.

The so-called murderous weapon is murderous, and the aristocratic faction has increased the force at hand, so it is inevitable that they want to rely on this power to strive for greater interests. In addition, since the battle of "The Day the Sun Goes Out", the number of mercenaries walking on the main plane has greatly decreased, and the mercenaries have become more and more reluctant to join the army to fight, so the strength of the merchant faction is indeed declining. As the years went by, the ideas of the aristocratic faction became more and more radical, and various conflicts in the country occurred from time to time.

One of the most famous incidents took place in a city in the Midwest of the Commonwealth. The local lords and the big chambers of commerce had conflicts, which began with a quarrel and eventually led to a conflict of no small scale. The two sides mobilized a total of more than 500 troops and fought back and forth for almost half a month. If it weren't for a marquis uniting with the Goddess of Fortune Church to mediate, I'm afraid that the two sides would still be fighting.

This incident can almost be regarded as the fuse, which completely clarified the contradictions between the two factions and put them on the table. Since then, there has been more and more friction and conflict between the two factions, and bloodshed has occurred from time to time.

It is also for this reason that the leaders of the two factions are currently stepping up their efforts to win over the forces of each other, wanting to increase the strength of their own camps as much as possible in order to overwhelm the other side.

Since the summer, Baron Dahl has been receiving letters from both sides. Whether it was the aristocratic faction led by the two marquises, or the merchant faction led by the Seven Great Trading Houses, they were constantly persuading him to support him, and they all had nominally justified reasons.

In any case, Baron Dahl was always a nobleman and a lord, which made him naturally belong to the camp of the aristocratic faction. But for a long time, the Dahl family has always made a profit from the smuggling business, and it can be said that the lifeblood of the family does not depend on the status of the lord, but on the identity of the smuggler, which makes him naturally belong to the camp of the merchant faction.

In fact, in the Gold Coin Federation, most of the small and medium-sized nobles like the Dahl family are like this. While being a lord and running the territory, he also did business to subsidize his family. It's just that few of them can think of Baron Dahl as he is, whether he is a lord or a businessman, and he has done it very successfully.

The bad thing is that this "very successful"!

Probably regarded Dahl Ling as a model, and both sides became stronger and stronger to win over Baron Dahl, and their attitudes became more and more tough.

Especially this time, the envoys they sent hinted at the meaning of "if you are not a comrade-in-arms, you are an enemy".

That's what caused Baron Dahl the most headache.

He really didn't care who he was a comrade with, but he cared a lot about who he was going to be an enemy with.

After all...... Either way, it's too powerful a behemoth for the Dahl family. No matter which side he throws to, he may be slapped to death by the other party...... It's like shooting a dead mosquito.

Although both sides swore that as long as Baron Dahl took refuge in them, they would already be able to get some benefits and would be able to be well protected, but Baron Dahl didn't believe it!

What a fool to believe!

Protection? Very good protection?

Hehe, how did the heir of a certain viscount who suddenly fell off his horse and died not long ago die?

A young man with the strength of a quasi-knight will fall from his horse and die?

Also, how did a medium-sized chamber of commerce, how did their warehouse by the sea get breached by the fishmen? Don't tell me that those abandoned by the goddess of the sea are capable of breaking through the fortress made of rocks on the shore, that is insulting everyone's intelligence!

Baron Dahl dared to bet with his head that as long as he took refuge in one of them, after the news spread, it would not take half a month for the people sitting here today to be several less.

Everyone naturally understands this truth, so you look at me, I look at you, and they are all worried.

An embarrassing silence enveloped the small conference room.

After a long time, in the midst of this silence, suddenly a voice sounded, but it was a young would-be knight surnamed Dahl.

"I think...... Why don't we take refuge in the Church of the Void Masquerade!" (To be continued.) )