Jumping out of the carriage, he touched the two big beards on his upper lip vigorously, and gently twisted the ends of the beard to make the beard look more curvy. Humming a brisk tune, Hesse walked into the palatial city hall of Port Tulun with the steady pace that a noble lord should have.

A dozen or so guards, four of whom followed behind Hesse, were grouped in carriages around the town hall building and headed for the special parking lot behind.

Along the way, many people from afar bowed to Hesse.

Ordinary employees of the town hall, petty officials of various departments, small merchants, small boat owners, petty nobles who came to the town hall to do business, and small rich people who dealt in wine, olive oil, fruits, and vegetables around the port of Tulum.

When he saw Hesse, no one dared to slack off.

"Good morning, Lord Ritu!"

"You're looking great today, Lord Ritu!"

"Have a perfect day, Lord Ritu."

Hesse nodded to these courteous greetings in a reserved manner, the Veton family has deep roots in the port of Tulun, and many of these people are inextricably linked to the Vetul family.

Walking through the spacious hall on the first floor of the city hall and up the stairs to the sixth floor of the city hall, a lean middle-aged man was standing at the top of the stairs, frowning, smoking a pungent smell of mixed tobacco.

Behind the lean man, at the end of a wide hallway, there was a commotion in the half-open door, and someone could hear the angry roar of someone, and some people banging on the table.

"Hesse." The lean man raised his hand to greet Hesse.

"Modell." Hesse picked his beard in surprise: "Is the great Mu lost today?" Did he rise from the west today? Dear Lord Wells, don't you have to wait for all of us to come together before you are late enough to show your status? ”

Hesse walked over to the lean man, Modell, reached out his hand, gestured to his chest, and grinned.

He was in a position that was about the same height as Modell's.

Modell, a typical native of Port Tulum, was only a little over five feet five inches tall, and standing next to Hesse, he looked particularly short and shriveled. The action of the tall and burly Hesse was undoubtedly a malicious provocation.

Behind Modell, several men were lazily sitting on the rest chairs against the wall, and when they saw Hesse do this, they were like a cheetah awakened, and they suddenly tensed their bodies and stood up, and took two steps to this side with fierce eyes.

The men wore riding boots, brown canvas hunting pants, long-sleeved white cotton shirts, and black and yellow leather vests. Each of them wore a large belt of antique color, very old, delicate and ornate workmanship, inlaid with various pearls, precious stones, and gilt and silver.

This is typical of the Cassica style, and the Cassicans are synonymous with the native power of Tulum Port.

The four guards behind Hesse quickly crossed Hesse, grinning in their full hunting outfits, and lifted their coats to reveal the firearms and swords hanging from their waists.

The two sides did not say a word, but the atmosphere became extremely tense, and there was a big fight without saying a word.

Hesse and Moder did not restrain their guards, and the two families fought in public and in private, a tradition that lasted for many years. The Rittal family can have today's scale, all of which are bloodied from the local forces led by the Wells family.

The two sides have a blood hatred and deep hatred, and there is no need to pretend to put on hypocritical etiquette.

Modell gulped down a mixture of tobacco, rosemary, and betel nut leaves in a certain proportion to stimulate and refresh the body, and it is said to expel parasites from the body, which is a tradition of the Garcycans.

It's just that the taste of this mixed tobacco is extremely bad, and no one can stand this smell except the real old Cassican.

Hesse took out a large cigar and put it in his mouth, and put his head in front of Moder: "Build a fire, so to speak, you came to wait for me today." Tell me, maybe it can be done, who knows? ”

Moder stood on tiptoe slightly, took a few hard breaths, and the cigarette in his mouth lit up violently. Hesse's cigar smoke hit the flame of the cigarette, and Hesse took a few puffs and lit the cigar by the fire.

It's a tacit understanding, and it means that Hesse is willing to give Moder this face, and he is willing to waste a little time to hear what the old rival has to say.

The Vetots and Wells were undoubtedly bitter rivals, but as members of the Council of Seven in Port Tulum, it was inevitable that Hesse and Moder would do something together.

For example, they teamed up to stuff some 'strong dragons' who didn't know the height of the sky and wanted to get a piece of the profits from the port of Tulum into beer kegs, poured enough volcanic cement into them, and threw them into the deep sea outside the port of Tulun.

There is no shortage of precedents for such cooperation.

The port of Tulum, which is decided by the Committee of Seven. Outside of the Council of Seven, the City Hall of Port Tulun, and even the Lord Mayor of Port Tulun, were the same as housekeepers and servants jointly hired by the Council of Seven, helping them with all kinds of chores, nothing more.

Being a member of the Committee of Seven, loving and killing each other, and cooperating with each other, there are many such things.

Moder exhaled a few pungent puffs of smoke and said indistinctly: "Three months ago, three large cargo ships of the Rose Chamber of Commerce unloaded three thousand barrels of cane sugar at the fish intestine wharf. But it is clear that the 3,000 barrels of cane sugar were not taxed. ”

"Two and a half months ago, five medium-sized cargo ships of the Rose Chamber of Commerce unloaded 10,000 barrels of fine rum at the fish bladder wharf. The Turing family expressed great dissatisfaction with this, and these goods greatly impacted their market share. ”

"These rums have been taxed, but there are only a thousand barrels on the tax bill!"

"Of course, whether it's cane sugar or rum, it's a minor issue."

"Next, it was a month and a half ago. The Golden Rose Ocean Fleet of the Rose Chamber of Commerce returned to the port of Tulum with a large amount of silk and tea. Silk, tea, which is licensed by the Chamber of Commerce of the Rose, for which the United Chamber of Commerce of Port Tulum has been licensed. ”

"But there is a lot of black pepper in the hold of the Golden Rose ocean-going fleet." Moder exhaled heavily: "A whole ten thousand pounds of black pepper, according to the current market, one pound of black pepper is worth one pound of gold." ”

"Four and a half million gold marks, ten thousand pounds of black pepper, four and a half million gold marks." Modell's face was gloomy: "Dear Hesse, spices, those charming little ones, have always been the preserve of my Wells family. ”

"Some small chambers of commerce, they can get a certain share of the trade from the Wells family, and their ships can bring back a part of the spices to sell. Every year, hear me clearly, is it every year, and these little chambers of commerce of them may have a hundred pounds? Two hundred pounds? Three hundred pounds? That's all. ”

"And you, Hesse, your Rose Chamber of Commerce, the ocean-going fleet has four fleets: Golden Rose, Silver Rose, Bronze Rose, and Iron Rose. Every three months, an ocean-going fleet returns to the port of Tulum. ”

"The black pepper I found this time was 10,000 pounds of black pepper that harmed my family's interests. Hesse, I know you are bold and lawless, is this the first time you have been in the spice business in secret? Just 10,000 pounds of black pepper? ”

"This is not good, this is very bad, you have harmed the interests of your friends again and again."

Modell dropped the cigarette butt, which was almost burning to the corner of his mouth, stepped on it with a strong foot, and crushed the cigarette butt to pieces.

Hesse took a hard puff on his cigar, and he looked down at Modell: "So, your Excellency Modell Jung Wells, what do you want to say about waiting for me here early this morning?" ”

Morder shrugged his shoulders and pulled out a scratched, apparently old sterling silver cigarette case from his waistcoat pocket, and pulled out a slender mixed cigarette roll.

Hesse voluntarily lowered his head and leaned his head over, and Moder lit a cigarette with the help of the fire on the cigar, and the two of them took a breath at the same time, and then exhaled a puff of smoke.

"Small problems, small problems." Moder coughed and said dryly, "I forgive everything you did before, and everything before you should have never happened." ”

"I am very touched by your generosity." Hesse spat out a perfect smoke ring: "I don't care, but, since you took the initiative, what do you want from me?" ”

Mauder pulled out a folded piece of white paper from his trouser pocket, which he spread out and placed on the staircase railing in front of him.

"The basic losses of the Mid-Autumn Bloody Case have been counted."

"2,378 residential houses were destroyed by shelling, 245 large and small shops were destroyed, 1,897 innocent citizens were killed, and more than 10,000 were injured. And those who were killed or injured by the patrolmen, the mounted police. ”

Shaking his head, Moder said in a deep voice: "According to rough estimates, the economic loss this time is more than 80 million gold marks. Public opinion is boiling, not to mention the citizens of Tulun Port, this incident will definitely alarm the imperial capital. ”

"Who will bear this loss?" Modell looked at Hesse.

The two said in unison: "Of course it can't be us, we are the victims." ”

Coughing, Moder put away the paper, put his hands in his trouser pockets, and looked directly at Hesse: "You must already know the origin of those people." Imperial Intelligence Headquarters, of course, we can't offend. ”

"Navy?" Hesse smiled and patted Moder on the shoulder: "It was they who provoked the battle, the shelling, it must have been directed at them." Moreover, the shells of the old battery were also moved from the warehouses of the military port. ”

"Army!" Modell gritted his teeth and easily squeezed out a sentence from between his teeth: "Of course, it is the responsibility of the Army's Military Intelligence Directorate." Hesse, as long as we speak in unison, I know that you have a good relationship with the police department, and we can get an investigation report as soon as possible. ”

"It's the Army's responsibility!" Modell's voice became soft: "As long as we speak in unison, the things I said before ......"

"We have to be realistic." Hesse strode towards the conference hall at the end of the corridor, and said without looking back, "What promise did the Navy give you?" That's your thing. ”

"We have to seek truth from facts, and whose responsibility is whose responsibility is whose responsibility."

Looking at Hesse's back, Moder took a few puffs of his cigarette and dropped the cigarette butt heavily on the ground.