Chapter 664 Earl Kazi and the Sugar Trade
The boundless forest sea makes a rustling cry in the evening breeze, and the Morne River, a tributary of the Ibe River, cuts through this misty green like a dark blue ribbon.
It's almost evening, and although it's still winter, the southern county of Black Snake Bay has always been like spring all year round, and people even wear thin linen clothes or animal skin vests.
Different from the boxy sandstone houses in the northern county, the settlements in the southern county are closer to the Green Dragon Forest and have a longer rainy and wet season, so most of them are wooden houses with stilts.
Dozens of wooden houses on stilts and long walls surrounded by logs form the most basic form of Black Snake Bay Village.
However, the village community that should have been filled with smoke was now engulfed in raging fire.
The damp grass and roofs exhaled thick smoke, and were actually tinged with a layer of gold under the rays of the setting sun.
Next to the stone temple in the center of the village, dozens of Black Snake Bay warriors holding shields, blades and obsidian spears roared and stabbed out.
Surrounding the temple, hundreds of armored sergeants and double-paid swordsmen wearing chainmail and leather armor waved long swords and hammers wantonly, while the serpent servants kept throwing spears.
The sharp two-handed sword slashed across the air, tearing open the animal skin clothing of the Black Snake Bay warriors in the front row, revealing the bright red flesh and white bones wrapped with blood vessels inside.
A scream could be heard every half minute. A Black Snake Bay warrior was either pierced by a spear or beheaded by a long sword, and Gululu rolled down the steps.
Although in terms of bravery, these Black Snake Bay warriors are no less inferior to the imperial soldiers, the battle line is still moving towards the top of the temple at a speed visible to the naked eye.
This is not because the martial arts skills of the Black Snake Bay warriors are inferior to those of the imperial soldiers, but because of their weapons and equipment.
Black Snake Bay is a poor mineral land with little iron ore output at all and relies almost entirely on imports.
Therefore, most of the Black Snake Bay warriors wear rattan armor, not even leather armor, and most of their weapons use blunt weapons and thin blades.
"It's really ugly." As the commander, Earl Kazi stood at the entrance of the village community, watching the siege at the entrance of the temple, and couldn't help but shake his head.
On the muddy dirt road in front of him, dozens of prisoners with their hands tied behind their backs stared at him fiercely, men, women, old and young, their dark pupils filled with resentment.
Count Kazi was surrounded by only a hundred or so guards, but he was not afraid of reinforcements from the village at all, because there were no reinforcements at all.
In Black Snake Bay, which is completely autonomous from top to bottom, there are simply not many resources available to form a mobile force.
The Grand Secret Party with this kind of mobile power was trapped in the city by the coalition of nobles in Lilac Corridor, and the villages and towns outside the city could naturally be defeated one by one.
This scene was the most common during the attack on Black Snake Bay.
If it were within the territory of the empire, Count Kazi would not dare to lead two hundred people to attack a manor with four to five hundred people.
The biggest difference is that the imperial manor can attract many people, but the autonomous village community of Black Snake Bay cannot attract many people.
With the loose state of Black Snake Bay, even if it comes, it will only end up being defeated one by one.
The only ones worthy of the attention of Count Kazi, the commander of this offensive operation, were the wizards in the temple.
"Can it be done before dinner?" A monk in chainmail came leading the horse. "Dragonfly Port sent a box of parrot-beak lobster from the pioneer area. The Duke of Portosa hosted a banquet in the castle. It will be late and we won't be able to eat it. .”
"I also wanted to go earlier, but the wizard in the temple has not shown up for a long time, and the two hundred people I have at hand don't dare to go up." Earl Kazi put his hands on his hips with regret on his face, and kept shaking his head, "Weak man, why Want to fight?”
"After all, they can't survive without fighting." The armed monk drew a cross on his forehead with the same enthusiasm, "I hope their souls can rest in peace."
"Whether they rest in peace or not, these captured slaves can be sold for a lot of money." Walking to the prisoners of war, Earl Qazi lifted the chin of a female prisoner with his riding boots, "The recent rise of the tobacco trade is exactly what is needed. This kind of slave goes to plant and pick tobacco...Eh! "
Before Earl Kazi finished speaking, he felt a pain in his toe. He lowered his eyes and saw that the formerly rough-looking but wildly beautiful prisoner had a ferocious face and was biting his riding boots.
After noticing the prisoner's movements, he didn't have time to call the guards. He directly picked up his cane and slammed it on the prisoner's cheek. The plump lips exploded instantly, and three broken teeth stained with blood flew out. The female prisoner let out a sharp scream and fell to the ground.
The two guards immediately stepped forward and pulled the female prisoner aside.
"Damn it, it's disfigured." He wiped the blood spattered on his hand with a handkerchief with a gloomy face. He regretfully pulled off a piece of rotten meat from the female prisoner's mouth, "Forget it, give it to the sergeants for fun. .”
The sound of heavy breathing sounded simultaneously from the array of sergeants guarding the prisoners and the array of prisoners.
"Thank you, Earl!"
"You are truly the most good man after St. George!"
"We love you, lord count."
The sergeants cheered, while Earl Kazi smiled and pressed his hands.
As the border count of Black Snake Bay, this was the second time that Count Kazi participated in the Qing Suppression War. He thought that his son would participate next time.
Because this kind of purge war occurs every ten or decades, and normally there is only one for each generation of earls.
According to his estimation, the next time will be ten years later, but the reason for starting it now is all because of the bag of sugar brought from Qianhe River Valley.
Check out the 16-9 book bar and see the correct version!
The nobles are short-sighted, and they are not fools.
Thousand River Valley has sugar refining technology, sufficient food and closer zoning, and even the iron ore that Black Snake Bay desperately needs.
Even a fool knows that Black Snake Bay will definitely choose to transport sugar and spices to the north.
Although Qianhe River Valley may be destroyed within two or three years, Qianhe River Valley Trading Company will not.
If brown sugar is really allowed to flow to Qianhe River Valley, even if the sacred monarchy of Qianhe River Valley is destroyed in the future, sugar will still pass through the hands of Qianhe River Valley Trading Company.
So this time the nobles of Lilac Corridor made up their minds with great speed and unimaginable efficiency.
They learned of this in September, and in January of the following year they assembled and sent troops to Black Snake Bay.
As for the goals, there are two. The first is to force the people of Black Snake Bay not to sell brown sugar to Qianhe River Valley, and the second is to capture several important sweet stick plantations.
If the royal family’s access to the sugar trade is not forcibly cut off, the Lilac Corridor will have nothing to do with the sugar trade in the future.
A contemptuous smile appeared on Earl Qazi's lips.
The people of Black Snake Bay had exerted too much effort and shed too much blood in the previous Thousand River Valley War, and their resistance was much weaker than before.
If the current offensive continues, it is expected that the city of Tiannv City will be reached before the rainy season arrives.
The last time they fought at the gates of Tiannv City was more than a hundred years ago.
"It's the Poison Smoke Technique, it's the Poison Smoke Technique, retreat quickly!"
"Holy water, prepare holy water."
Seeing the green smoke that finally dispersed in front of the temple, Count Kazi smiled and said to the armed monks on the side: "Finally we are out, now we have time to eat lobster."
(End of chapter)