The spring breeze was blowing, and the soft wind gradually blew away the last chill after winter.

The coachman in the carriage, under this warm front, couldn't help but open his thick clothes, let the wind blow through his body and face, and carefully enjoy the warmth of spring.

On this road to the east, such a convoy of dozens of carriages is very eye-catching. A conspicuous chamber of commerce flag was hung on a carriage at the front of the team, and more than 20 carts at the head of the line were all stamped, and even the clothes of those coachmen were neatly dressed, which was obviously the style of a large chamber of commerce.

It's just that the carriages at the back of the convoy look a lot more mixed, and even the groom coachman's clothes are much weaker.

There are also two healthy horses running past in front of and on both sides of the convoy, and the men on the horses are all vigorous and brave, with a fierce taste, although they are dressed differently, but they are all dressed as warriors, but the armor and weapons worn are a little mixed, and they are clearly not regular troops, and the fierce taste seems to be by no means a noble sī arm.

On the other hand, as long as there are experienced travelers on the road, you can see at a glance that these fierce samurai on horseback are the kind of mercenaries who earn commissions.

This is clearly a typical caravan of considerable size, historically on the mainland, especially in the Byzantine Empire, large and small chambers of commerce begging for a living, those large chambers of commerce with strong strength and deep background are to establish their own armed bodyguard teams, and some medium-sized or small chambers of commerce do not have the strength to establish their own defense forces, so they often choose to hire some mercenary organizations to accompany the team to business, along the way to protect their own safety.

This is the case with the caravan in front of you.

There were nearly fifty carts and horses in this team, and the number of caravans reached nearly three hundred, and there were about fifty mercenaries on the bodyguards, but there were only about twenty mercenaries on horseback. After all, it is now the aftermath of the war and turmoil in the Byzantine Empire, and war horses have also become a scarce resource collected by warlords everywhere.

Although there are more than 200 people in such a caravan, in fact, they are not all a chamber of commerce" but some small and medium-sized chambers of commerce, and even some scattered merchants spontaneously gather to partner up, and the hired mercenary group is also hired by each family according to their own capital and size.

On the mainland, such a situation is not uncommon, the game is now, the chaos of "caravans to trade, if you encounter bandits or the local army incarnated as bandits, it is even more dangerous, and the business of these mercenary groups is correspondingly much better."

However, this caravan seems to be quite different.

The merchant flag hung on the first cart at the beginning, along the way, seemed to be more effective than the fifty fully armed mercenaries, the local warlords' checkpoints along the way, those checkpoint sergeants and ruffians who ate and drank in the past, but as long as they saw this merchant flag, they would be allowed to go, even if they were hot-eyed, as long as the two leaders of the caravan came out and secretly stuffed a string of copper horns, they were released, and it was not too bullying.

It seems that those mercenaries are like decorations, "I came all the way, but it didn't seem to be of any use at all."

Along the way, there were also a few small troubles, but the one at the head of the caravan was obviously a powerful large chamber of commerce among this group, and the other scattered merchants in the team were all borrowed their light, and they were safe and sound all the way.

"In the middle of this procession, on a large black carriage, the goods were piled up high, all wrapped in oilcloth, I don't know what it was, but on top of the goods, two people sat there, the one on the left was tall and strong, and he seemed to be able to see his amazing physique, and the one on the right was thinner, but he was extremely lean.

These two people are Char and Hasting.

Char also learned from the appearance of those coachmen, opened his shirt, greeted the spring breeze, squinted his eyes and enjoyed, and only checked the fire fork around his waist. Hasting, on the other hand, was dressed neatly and neatly in black, but a long leather case was placed horizontally beside him, but his famous three-edged war gun was wrapped in it.

It's really helpless, Hastings has fought for so many years, and there are countless Byzantine soldiers who have been killed and injured under his three-edged war spear, and the appearance of his weapon is really eye-catching, but everyone who has seen it will never forget it, and everyone knows that this three-edged war gun is the unique weapon of Odin Valkyrie Hasting, not to mention anything else, if Hasting's three-edged war gun is casually put in a lively place, it will attract the attention of people who are interested in a moment.

Although Char and Hastings were not afraid of others asking for trouble, they didn't want to cause trouble, so they simply asked Hastings to put their weapons up and carry them with them.

As for this caravan, it was six days ago that the two of them had boarded at a place called "Kalan City".

The city of Nakaran was a large commercial city in the eastern part of the Byzantine Empire, and it was quite famous in the Byzantine Empire, but this fame was somewhat peculiar. It turned out that the prosperous city was not under the control of the central government, the imperial capital, and the industry did not belong to a certain military region, but was shared by the two military regions.

It turned out that this city of Kalan was located in the middle of the famous North-South Grand Canal, and on the river was the river that Hastings planned to attack the imperial capital down the river.

And this city is along the river, but there is a wonderful thing, that is, the great river runs through the middle of the city, dividing this prosperous commercial city into two, and the power of the two warlord military districts happens to be divided by the river, so this city is also shared by the two military districts.

Char and Hastings traveled all the way to the southeast, and when they arrived at Kalan City, they stopped for a day, and then Hasteen took Char to the street to find a chamber of commerce, and Char used a bag of gold coins in exchange for permission to go on the road with others.

It turns out that this Kalan City, because it occupies the key point of the waterway and is the junction of the two military regions, is really an excellent commercial base today, and many famous big chambers of commerce on the mainland have opened shop strongholds here.

And the caravan that the two of them joined in Kalan City was going to the Realm of Chaos and the Holy City of Babylon to do business.

The chamber of commerce that collected the money for the two of them was just a small chamber of commerce, and the real main thing in this caravan was the twenty trucks at the head, but it belonged to a top first-class business group in the mainland.

It was the first time for Char to walk with this kind of caravan, so he was quite curious, and pulled the head of the shop who had collected his own money to inquire.

The owner of the shop is about forty years old, but he has an old appearance, about a perennial layman, exposed to the wind and sun, and at the age of forty, he looks like he is sixty, but a pair of eyes are still very flexible and from time to time a little cunning and slippery.

This kind of jiān businessman, Char doesn't know how much he has seen in Wildfire Town, so he naturally knows how to deal with such a person. After a few words, he had a hot fight with others.

The leader's name was Aldenero, but he was called "Daddy Ade", and it turned out that this kind of business was the most dangerous, and he did not die or retire at the age of forty, so he was considered an old man in this team.

He also deserves the title of "Daddy Ade".

Originally, he also joined this caravan with a gang, and followed the twenty cars at the beginning, and when he met Char and Hasting, he came to the door, so he blackhearted and accepted fifty gold coins from them.

Char and Hastings naturally didn't know that this guy was just a second-class dealer, but they both knew that if the two of them went directly to the big chamber of commerce that started to ask for a move, although the price would be much cheaper, but the entry of the big chamber of commerce required strict review, identity guarantee and official trade documents, etc.

Where would the two of them have those things?

I had to buy off this Ade's father, pretending to be an attaché in his shop, so that he could get in.

As for being slaughtered, Char is not short of this money anyway.

This Ade's father slaughtered people, maybe he was a little weak-hearted, but he was willing to try his best to satisfy Char's curiosity, and Char took out a bag of high-quality wine that he was wearing, and the two drank it for a while in the spring breeze, and Daddy's mouth couldn't close anymore.

It turned out that this caravan was going to the holy city of Babylon to trade, but the inside story was not so simple......

The holy city of Babylon is located in the realm of chaos in the inner belly of the continent, transcendent from the world, does not participate in the war between the two countries on the continent, and I don't know how many years have not encountered a war, plus their status is transcendent, neither the Byzantine Empire nor the Odin Empire is willing to offend the holy city, and there are super masters like Saint Laurent Garros, and they are even more located in the place where the race of the Chaos Lord is numerous. You must know that the elves and giants and other alien races have always been extremely unfriendly to humans. However, those alien races of the Chaos Lords are willing to deal with the Holy City, and they are also willing to trade with the Holy City. As for other merchants on the mainland, if they want to get Xihan goods, they can only go to the Holy City to find a way.

There is no war to disturb, the status is transcendent, and at the same time, the rarest treasures on the continent are gathered, so many conditions are gathered together, and the Holy City has become the most mysterious and prosperous commercial capital on the continent.

Anyone knows that the Holy Insert is a place full of gold, and if you can go to the Holy City to do business, you can make a lot of money back and forth.

In such a situation, Tianjia's Chamber of Commerce naturally drilled their heads to that place.

However, the Holy City is also very shrewd, and they know very well that if all the chambers of commerce in the world run into their homes, they are afraid that it will not be long before this Holy City will really change its owner!

If all the merchants from all over the world flock to the Holy City, it won't be long before the lifeblood of the Holy City's wealth will be controlled by outsiders.

Moreover, the Holy City itself is a commercial territory, although the city lord is of high status, but it is the Council of Elders who is in charge of things on weekdays, and the Council of Elders is originally the leader of the local merchants in the Holy City, so naturally he is not willing to come too many merchants outside. But if you keep the door closed, you will only wither the wealth of the Holy City.

Therefore, I don't know how many years ago, the Holy City made a rule.

The Holy City issued merchant tokens to all nations in the world, and only merchants with the merchant banners were allowed to enter the Holy City, and other than that, it was difficult for even the Lords of Chaos to enter.

The trade flags issued by this holy city are not something that can be obtained casually.

Only the world's powerful and financially powerful first-rate chambers of commerce were eligible to receive permission from the Holy City.

Of course, some merchants who are not necessarily the top in strength, but can get some unique goods that the Holy City likes, can also get the Trade Order Flag.

There were no more than 64 such flags in the world. Of these, Byzantium accounted for half of them, and the other half was divided between the chambers of Odin and Lantis.

Therefore, the trade order flag of this holy city is not only a trade license for the merchants of the world, but also a symbol of status.

And if there is no merchant with this flag, you can only sigh yourself.

If you want to force yourself to go to the Holy City, it is absolutely impossible.

Without the Banner, even if you get outside the city of Babylon, you won't want to enter the city!

What's more, the Holy City is in the realm of chaos, the position is even more special, there are many alien races in the realm of chaos, just those elves are a headache, if it is those ordinary natural elf races, although they don't like humans, but Tian xìng is still advocating peace, at most they will expel you back. And if you encounter those fallen elves or dark elves, it will only be a dead end.

And these alien races of the Lords of Chaos are willing to buy the account of the Holy City, or the account of Saint Laurent Garros. Only caravans with trade banners will not be attacked by the aliens when passing through the Chaos Realm, and will be allowed to pass through their territory.

If you don't have the Banner, let alone go to Babylon City, in the Realm of Chaos, you will either be shot into a hedgehog by the poisoned arrows of the fallen elves, or your skull will be made into lacquerware by the hill dwarves, or let the giants dismantle your big tuǐ bones to make totem sticks, so this trade banner is the key to open the golden road to the holy city.

The Holy City also has a very strict control over the qualifications of this trade order, and the qualifications of these chambers of commerce will be re-examined every ten or eight years.

Their reason is very good: if the Chamber of Commerce that has obtained the qualifications has failed to do well and collapsed during this decade, it is naturally not qualified to continue trading with the Holy City.

As for how to re-examine this qualification......

Char asked Ade's father, and the answer was simple.

"Give money. ”

Only... Ya couldn't help but tug at the corners of her mouth.

It's really a way to save trouble and make a profit. Thinking about it, I couldn't help but look ahead.

In the midst of the envious eyes of the members of the caravan, the riders on these horses deliberately showed off their riding skills, and some simply whistled back and forth, deliberately dangling the shiny blades of the caravan, provoking some of the hot-blooded young people in the caravan to be itchy and scratchy.

But young people, who hasn't heard the wonderful story of those adventurers that are rumored on several continents?

Char looked at these mercenaries, and suddenly remembered a thought in his heart: when he first came down the mountain, if it weren't for the series of bizarre encounters later, I am afraid that he would have become a small one now

Mercenary.

Hmph, how many candidates for the guardian of the Holy City have been thrown into this mortal world to experience?

But his ears continued to listen to Daddy Ade's words.

"Legend has it that the Council of Elders of the Holy City, every eight or ten years, has to re-examine the qualifications for trade. Those merchants who have trade flags must pay a large sum of money as a deposit, and if you can pay this money, it will show that you have enough strength to continue doing business with the Holy City.

And if you can't afford to get out of this money, then I'm sorry, I will directly collect your trade qualification, and then transfer it to another family, as for each transfer, the vacated trade qualification quota will be auctioned by the guild in the holy city, and one place can be auctioned for a sky-high price!"

Char paid attention and couldn't help but say, "How much does it cost?"

"It is said that when the qualifications are reviewed, the deposit of a chamber of commerce is as little as 80,000 gold coins and as much as 100,000. Over the years, I have only heard of a quota auction eight years ago, and it is said that the quota was bought by a first-class wealthy family in the south of the empire, costing nearly 300,000 gold coins!"

When Char heard this, he couldn't help but feel nervous, and then secretly sneered: Good deal!

It's a good deal!

Just one trade qualification, a total of 68 trade flags, has to collect a deposit every ten years. According to the calculation of 100,000 gold coins of a family, sixty-eight families is 6.8 million gold coins!

It's a no-brainer deal. It can be harvested once every ten years, just like an iron crop that can be harvested indefinitely, stubble by stubble, as long as the holy city does not perish, you can make this wealth infinitely!

This is not counting the benefits of doing business, but the income from collecting "deposits" is 6.8 million yuan! 6.8 million yuan every 10 years, and the average annual income is 680,000 gold coins!

You must know that the Byzantine Empire is a huge country, with a population of tens of millions, dozens of counties, hundreds of cities, peaceful and prosperous years, and all the financial income of a year, which is only tens of millions of gold coins. And that's not even before deducting the financial expenses!

It is a holy city, and this "interest money" alone has nearly 700,000 gold coins a year.

Isn't it scary?!

And this is still a net profit without capital! No need to pay."

If there is a merchant who can't afford to come out and confiscates the trade qualification, he can resell it at today's price......

In the past thousands of years, can the holy city not be rich in the world, and can it not become the most prosperous commercial mecca in the whole world?

Char couldn't help but curse in a low voice, and Daddy Ade listened to it, "It's not surprising, in fact, among all the merchants in this world, who is not jealous of the wealth of the Holy City? But after being full of wine and food, who doesn't have a hatred of the rich and red-eyed, and slanders behind his back, it is normal for people to be Ade's father's own house, and he often scolds his mother.

On the other hand, Hasting, who had not spoken all the time, "Hearing this, seeing Char's eyes red and jealous", he smiled coldly, and deliberately said in a mocking tone: "The crow laughs at the black pig!"

"What?" Char glanced at Hasting.

"That Holy City can be so bullish, but it just monopolizes the production of the entire Chaos Lord.

The realm of chaos is dangerous, and there are so many alien races entrenched, those alien races only trade with the holy city, and do not deal with other human beings in the world, the holy city is equivalent to monopolizing the resources of the entire chaos realm, it is not bullish, who is bullish? As for you, 1 Bu Tuji, everyone else is qualified to be jealous, but you are not qualified. ”

Speaking of this, Hastings suddenly used an inaudible faint business to reach Char's ears directly: "With the help of means, you have monopolized the property of the Zaku Turen tribe, forcing all the other chambers of commerce on the continent to only eat the leftovers leaking out of your bowl, and you have to look at your face, what you do, isn't it the same as the Holy City......?"

When Hastings said this, Char couldn't help but blush.

Originally, doing monopoly business was naturally a lot of money.

Daddy Ade and Char chatted for a while, thinking about their team, so they jumped out of the car and ran to check back and forth. Leaving Char and Hasting, Char said, "Let's just follow this caravan all the way to the Holy City? With hundreds of people and dozens of carts, when do you have to go, don't you know the way? Why don't we go on the road ourselves." ”

"Hah!" Hastings rolled his eyelids, "First, when did I say I knew the way?"

"You?!"

"Hmph, have you heard of what holy city I've been to?"

The turtle was stunned: "...... There seems to be no this. ”

"I haven't been. Hastings said lightly: "It's just that I just happened to know that I could find a traveling caravan to the Holy City in Kalan City." ”

"But let's find someone to ask for the road, and the two of us can go on the road much faster. Char shook her head.

"In the realm of chaos, to go to the Holy City, you have to pass through the forests and seas of the elves, as well as the sinister mountains11, where in addition to the natural elves, there are also fallen elves, dark elves, as well as hill dwarves, giants, I heard that there are some strange half-human, half-beast monsters living in the deep mountains, all the way, except for holding the banner of the holy city, otherwise they will be supplied. ”

"But the ability of the two of us, it's not difficult to rush over. Char is very confident.

"Not necessarily. Hasting's tone became serious, "Don't underestimate the races of the Chaos Lord. Have you forgotten? I'm a strong man, but I was almost harmed by that Mr. Peach poison at the beginning. A hint of indignation flashed in Hasting's eyes: "What about the strong,

If you trespass without permission, those guys are local natives, and if you get some poison or something, you and I won't be able to bear it. Follow this caravan, although it is slower, but it is better to be safe. ”

"Yi, you dignified Hasting, when did you become so cautious?" Char couldn't help but be surprised: "With what I know about you, according to your temper, I have long been impatient, and I rushed in directly single-handedly with your three-edged war spear." Why are you suddenly turning around?"

“@。