Most people who have studied history for many years have heard the phrase "geography and history are inseparable".

Nothing exists in isolation, and if you push anything out, you can always find clues that are linked together. Interconnected, mutually influencing, causal cycles.

Based on such a notion. If you lay out the map of the Rigal continent on a long table, carefully search for the bottom end of the branch on the right side of the slingshot-shaped continent, and carefully examine the terrain, it seems that the rise of the Lamanite civilization was predestined from ancient times.

Although the Padrosi have always claimed to be the great Lamanite lineage, they are indeed closer to their original territory than the people who migrated westward. But the origin of the ancient Laman civilization, the original "Mother City of Laman", actually existed in the territory of those small divided countries in the south today.

The climate along the Moby Gas Inland Sea is always mild, and even more so in the south. The islands that exist in the area adjacent to what is now the Union of Southern City-States are still the retreats of many philosophers and thinkers.

The resources are just right, and the climate is not too harsh. The shallow, mild and vibrant sea and fertile soil along the coast provide enough food to sustain a small number of people, even if they are not farming, by fishing and harvesting wild fruits and shell crabs on the tidal flats.

This natural attraction naturally attracted people to settle here, and the convenient waterways of the lowlands became a barrier before the possession of ships, and to some extent created a relatively isolated environment for those who settled in the area.

Instead of a unified large tribe, they were divided into several small settlements. After the development and growth of the local area, the local resources began to be stretched, and various contradictions naturally intensified because of this situation.

Just as the White Church hated heresy within its own religion more than the pagans, the early Lamanite civilization, which had common ground in common with each other but was divided in some opinions, almost developed a certain scale before falling into a never-ending war with each other.

The Tao is not the same, and few people will have a conflict or even a rebuttal to those who can be identified at a glance with very different values. But if 9 percent of the other person is similar to you, and only 1 percent is different, then most people will try to make the other person become the same as themselves even the last 1 percent.

Therefore, the object of people's quarrels is often the people around them who speak the same language, rather than foreigners who do not even understand the language.

A strong desire for self-justification led to the frenzied growth of polemics in what contemporary historians call the pre-Lamanic period of antiquity, and satirical literature and various philosophies became popular. Everyone tries to prove that they are the best in this similar cultural family, in order to make everyone else accept their values and ways of being.

And when the quarrel does not achieve the desired result, people will eventually take up the sword and resort to force.

In the plains, this scenario will eventually evolve into a national unity formed by a dominant culture conquering other surrounding cultures, forming a certain area.

But this is what makes the Lamanite civilization unique – because of the many waterways and islands in the south, it is extremely easy to escape and hide. Therefore, the great national unity, which was a matter of course in the plains, has always been in a state of entanglement here.

Powerful tribes try to conquer other tribes, but even if they conquer other city-states, they find it difficult to really eradicate the grass due to the many islands where they can hide and the extremely developed waterways.

As a result, the pre-Lamanite rulers were always unstable, and the longest monarch was overthrown after less than nine years in power.

It is not enough to have the same strength as the ruler of the Plains.

To unify such a complex and changing region, it is necessary to integrate and evolve a unique culture. This culture must be contagious and tolerant, able to absorb the culture of the conquered and still maintain a desirable superiority.

Yes.

It's like a culture of poison.

But culture alone is not enough.

It also needs a helmsman, a strong man with great charisma and ambition, and a skill that matches his own strength.

A hegemon.

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The end of June and the beginning of July were always relatively easy times for the people of the southern region.

Sowing seeds from early to mid-April and planting in May have passed, so the next thing you need is to take care of them and wait until the end of July and the beginning of August. In the south, where water and sunlight are abundant, early rice matures in just over 100 days. In June, the rivers and lakes are densely packed with untainted rice and the farmers harvest in early August.

The Lamanid peasants of the south also liked the fashion of the Padrosi Empire and Suomir, but even the wool cropped pants, which were relatively cool, were still stuffy here. As a result, they often wear it as formal attire for gatherings of friends and family, and when they go to work in the fields, they wear only loose linen underpants – which are often paired with linen shirts and serve as a base for pajamas and outfits.

Most of the farmers with limited financial resources worked with their trousers rolled up, while a few of the more affluent would hang the end of their trousers vertically from their belts with a small belt with a delicate brass belt buckle.

Belts and purses were often the only things that farmers could wear with their ornaments, and in the southern part of the country, where the Lamani originated, leather goods were as famous as the rice here.

The cold lands of the Parosian plateau to the east of the Palosian Empire were cultivated in large quantities with rye, which not only served as a cheap raw material for bread, but also served as a great resource for harvesting large leaves as pasture.

Thanks to Parnila's strong water transport capacity, various resources from the north can reach the south in a continuous stream. Cheap pasture, fur and hides have allowed the local leather industry to flourish, and farmers who are close to the water can buy leather products at lower prices. But as with everything else, this ease of doing business brings more than just benefits.

"8 rye loaves of bread cost 1 silver Ella?" The incredulous words came out of the mouth of the young man in front of him, who was obviously emotional, but the owner of the bakery just basked listlessly in the sun and said weakly, "Yes" - because he had been surprised by this situation for the past few days.

The city-state of Gradara, where the shop is located, is one of the emerging cities in the south, and it was founded more than 200 years ago next to the origin of Gulaman.

Gradara is said to have been built on the wreckage of the Mobigas civilization, which used to have direct access to the distant country of Katigali by land and the Padrosi Empire from the southern states.

But with the chaos and fragmentation of the southern region, several different countries had to pass through the road, and these kingdoms set up border checkpoints and imposed heavy taxes for their own interests, and after a long time, no merchants were willing to leave, and naturally they were ruined.

Nowadays, with the development of water transportation, fewer people use land routes, and as a center of industry and commerce for leather and rice cultivation, Gradara has naturally become one of the main commercial towns with the empire.

- Hence the scene we are now in.

Outside the city is a dense cluster of rice, known as "fragrant rice" by the people of the Rice Empire near Gradara, which is a unique rice with a nutty aroma. Locals are more commonly called

Long Grain Rice – True to its name, this rice is about twice as long as regular rice, and when cooked, it grows even longer, making it look like noodles at first glance.

This jasmine rice is less sticky than other regions, so it is perfect for making fried rice. Southerners are fond of using a variety of locally produced spices to add to it and make it in a casserole, and in the memories of the older generation, it was a daily scene for families to waft out this aroma of rice grains at the end of July and early August when the early rice was harvested.

But most of the fragrant rice harvested today, along with local spices, was transported to the Imperial people, and the peasants who worked hard to grow it ended up eating bread made from rye, thousands of miles away.

Because it's cheap.

An imperial liter unit, that is, 1.5 catties of rice, costs about 7.5 small copper coins. In other words, 15 liters, or about 10 kg, of long-grain rice is about 112 small copper coins. Considering the local exchange rate, this money can be roughly converted into one silver coin.

Even if cheap rye and barley raw materials are transported from Padrosi over long distances, the final price of the finished product can be much lower than this level, taking into account various factors such as shipping costs and packaging costs.

Most ordinary people in Gradara don't have ovens at home, so they either buy flour to knead and ferment it themselves before sending it to bake, or they go straight to the bakery to buy it.

And while older generations prefer to eat locally grown rice, rye bread quickly became popular because of its low price – but that's a thing of the past.

First, the price of jasmine rice rose to the point that the farmers who planted it could not afford it themselves, and then rye bread became the replacement staple food. Eight years ago, you could buy 30 pieces of silver coins, and one piece was enough for a family of four to eat for at least 5 days, and then it became only 28 pieces, and little by little to now, it is almost the same price as the fragrant rice before the price increase.

The clucking sound of the farmer gritting his teeth in his hand reached the ears of the bakery, but he was still basking in the sun leisurely, and after several minutes of struggle, the other party finally put down the silver coin that was pinched and sweaty.

“...... Give me 8 strips. The young farmer who left with the bread in his arms was sad and angry, but as a businessman, the boss had long since lost his compassion.

Even if the price increases, these people still have to pay. Because they don't have a choice.

The lords and merchants of the south made a lot of money by dumping spices, fragrant rice and leather products into the empire, but who would be too rich?

The large chamber of commerce colluded with the aristocracy to issue a purchase restriction order, and fragrant rice became a person who sold state-owned assets without permission, and served directly on the gallows. The only thing that the common people could buy was rye, and although it was true that there was no restriction on the purchase, the price of imported raw materials was firmly controlled by the aristocracy and the merchants.

The price of rye exported by the empire has not changed, only the local selling price.

The original price of 30 silver coins has now become more than three times, and people in related industries have made a lot of money, and farmers and citizens, although they are dissatisfied, can still make a family full of food with one silver coin, so they endure it.

Basking in the sun, even if you don't put on a good face for customers, the bread that is put out every day can still be sold short.

In the mind of Gradara, the owner of a well-rounded bakery, such a peaceful and happy routine will probably last forever.

But where there is pressure, there will be resistance, and where there is price restriction, there will be smuggling.

Maritime transport was firmly controlled by the great nobles and large trading houses, but the land transport was also unguarded because the road passes had been abandoned for many years. The cheap grains smuggled by land were not only rye and barley, but even wheat and even rice, which the Empire loved to make noodles, at a very reasonable price.

The small merchants who were suppressed and had nowhere to make a living formed a gang and began to smuggle grain, and after half a month when the price of rye bread rose to 1 silver coin and could only buy 8 pieces, more and more people joined.

Suddenly, the owners of the trading houses and bakeries who were hoarding rye raw materials and rye bread in large quantities at price gouging found that they had to grit their teeth and buy them even if they had raised prices in the past.

Gone.

Things can't be sold, so they can only be sold at a low price. But few of the peasants who had other ways to get their food bought it, and the large batches of moldy rye bread had to be fed to livestock, and the dissatisfaction of the merchants and nobles whose interests had been hit eventually turned into a high-speed operation, and only at the end of August did they hire mercenaries to guard the pass and crack down on the smuggling of small merchant groups.

Hundreds of people were put on the gallows and beheaded, or simply hacked on the spot.

The great nobles and merchants defended their interests with their usual violent methods, and wiped out these small merchant groups who dared to touch their cakes. Life looks like it's going to return to the way it was, and they can live a leisurely life where they bask in the sun and raise prices without fear of things not being able to sell.

But no one expected that the matter would be revealed like this.

The heirs of the executed merchants managed to obtain the customs books and publish the import prices in the square in the center of Gradara, and the already disgruntled populace rushed directly to the lord's mansion and the headquarters of the Chamber of Commerce with a fork and hoe.

This was the beginning of the peasant revolt against the big capitalists, known as the "Gradara Square Revolt" or the "Rye Bread Revolt", and soon swept through all the small Latin states that had maritime commerce with the Patrosi Empire.

The chaos washed over all the countries of the southern Lamanite cultural sphere, and even the southern city-state alliance was not able to stand alone.

The workers and peasants at the bottom raised their arms and shouted for more rights, while the conflicts were further exacerbated by the great chambers and aristocrats who hired a large number of mercenaries to carry out bloody suppressions in order to protect their interests.

During the harvest season in August, the golden fragrant rice in the fields was left unharvested.

Blood soaked the rice fields, wild dogs gnawed on the corpses lying on the roadside, and many of the recruited mercenary groups saw the size of the mob group, killed their employers and seized the family property, and became a dominant bandit group.

In just over half a month, the situation has developed to an unimaginably bad situation.

And it was at this time that the headquarters of the Padrosi Empire and the White Church in the far north carried a large number of supplies and armed men.

In the name of "humanitarian relief", a black naval flag marked with lily of the valley and daisies was raised.

Came to the south in a mighty way.

On October 1, 1531, in just one and a half months, this army, known as the "New Imperial Army" by later generations, was fully dressed in black armor and wiped out all the local rebellious mercenaries, and by the way, wiped out the local nobles who were intertwined.

The local powers of the southern Lamani kingdoms suddenly ushered in a great purge, and many of the great families of centuries of local tradition disappeared overnight.

But the people are not disgusted with these people.

The troubadours sang:

[The knights in black armor and the priests in white clothes are punished by the holy hammer of iron and blood on the corrupt nobles and merchants, and the poor and hungry people are treated as mildly as nectar]

[They are God's divine army, saving us from fire and water]

[The Holy Army of the Empire has descended, cleansing the evil, noble and gentle. 】

The people of the south of the Lamani were grateful, and when the banner of the Patrosi Empire was finally raised in St. Lamaniyah, the homeland of the Lamani, the rulers of the far west knew.

The once invincible Lamanite Empire has returned.

The Lamanite cultural sphere on the east coast has been almost unified under the banner of lily of the valley and daisy, and all the Lamanite nations in the vicinity of the Soradin Heights on the west coast have openly formed a national alliance in response to the call of the Church.

This is a scene that some people have long expected to happen.

The "Holy White Alliance", with the Padrosi Empire and the emerging hawks of the Church as the core, merged from the east and west, and put pressure on the southern city-state alliance on the southern coast of the Moby Gas Inland Sea, as well as the dwarves in the mountains.

"Surrender, or destruction. ”

This is where the change begins, and no one can escape it.