The spacious city walls were covered in a thick layer of ice. The city walls had been repeatedly modified and increased in height due to the passage of time. There were towers, ballista holes, winches, ballistae, catapults, and so on. Traces of construction could be seen everywhere. Perhaps it should be called the smell of war.
Thanks to the combined efforts of the smiths and mages, the entire city walls had been reinforced by at least thirty meters. The city walls that were over a hundred meters tall seemed like they were reaching into the clouds. Just judging from the outer appearance, this was probably the strongest city in the Northlands.
Currently, this city wasn't under the threat of war. All its doors were wide open. Even before entering the city, the crowds of people walking about were already quite eye-catching.
Orcs hawked their leather goods and prey on the streets, while buying tobacco, liquor, cotton clothes, and other "Northland luxury goods" without restraint. The undead in black cloaks carefully stayed away from these hot-blooded people, and bought those shady and legal "goods" in the small shops deep in the alleys.
In the dark alley, black smoke rose from the furnace in the dwarves' shop. No matter what, dwarven weapons were always best-selling items. Outside the shop, the northern barbarians were showing off their martial arts skills in the street, hoping to find an employer. At the same time, they were drooling over the liquor and fine weapons in the shop.
When I first arrived in Diffindor, I thought that I had come to the wrong place. After all, compared to the city that was eternally burning with the flames of war in my memories, this commercial city filled with the sounds of hawkers and shops seemed to be a bit different.
"Compared to eight years ago, the number of transactions and business taxes here has increased by 337 times. It wouldn't be wrong to say that it's a hundred times more prosperous."
Renée's words were filled with pride. I could understand her feelings. The reason for such a ridiculous increase was not only because of how pitiful the population had been in the past, but also because of the hard work and hard work of the people of Diffindor. What could make people feel more proud than seeing their hometown slowly becoming more prosperous?
I looked at the map and discovered that just the market area, which was only used for transactions, was already larger than the old Diffindor city district.
I looked at the markings on the map. Most of the shops here were opened by local residents and goblins. Most outsiders were tourists and merchants who came here because of the city's reputation. It would seem that as the Mist Alliance's capital, Diffindor's increased political status also greatly improved its economic and military status.
Diffindor was quite qualified to be a fortress city. From the very start, it had been chosen based on geography. The Mist Kingdom's many generations of construction had made this city a sturdy fortress facing the north. As long as this place was blocked, neither the beastmen in the north nor the Demon Abyss in the northeast would be able to pass through.
As the Mist Kingdom entered a period of peace with the entire Northlands, Diffindor's supposed enemies became allies. Diffindor's original strategic importance greatly decreased. However, this didn't mean that Diffindor had left the stage of history. It was the opposite. As the Mist Kingdom became more and more important in the new Mist Alliance, the city of Diffindor also became more and more important.
The current Diffindor was no longer a lone city. There were seven satellite cities within several hundred kilometers of Diffindor. Some of these cities were mining and smelting facilities, some were warehouses for raw materials and food, and some were the Northlands' largest trading center for weapons, food, and equipment. Half of these cities were the Mist Kingdom's Knight and warrior training centers. Diffindor and its satellite cities were also the Northlands' largest military camp.
Every day, merchants and diplomatic envoys from all over the world would travel thousands of kilometers to Diffindor with various missions. Young Knight and heroes would come here with hopes for the future. Various species of the Mist Alliance would come here for various reasons. The flow of people brought prosperity to Diffindor. The fact that there were so many different species and species living here meant that Diffindor's economy and culture would skyrocket.
As the Northlands' political, cultural, economic, and military center, the more important the Mist Kingdom was, the more important Diffindor's role would be. Compared to the past, Diffindor's central city had expanded by at least four times. If you counted it as a satellite city, it wouldn't be wrong to say that it had expanded by several dozen times. Diffindor's many expansions in such a short period of time made the city's streets seem rather crowded and chaotic. But looking at it from a different angle, the fact that there were countless different languages and citizens living here represented endless vitality.
Diffindor had one advantage compared to other commercial cities. This advantage was something that no other city could compare to. This was also the foundational reason why Diffindor was able to prosper.
Holy silver light formed a faint screen in the sky. It was as if an invisible eye was watching over this miraculous city. The Mist Kingdom's guards weren't the only ones patrolling the streets. The Law Priests and Justice Knight who wore the symbol of a scale were also the city's protectors.
Transactions here were quite special and quick. In fact, outsiders might even think that it was inconceivable or magical.
"I swear to the God of Law and Hell that everything I've said in the contract is true. I shall fulfill all the requirements and rules of the contract and deliver the goods to the God of Hell within three months."
"I swear to the God of Law and Hades that I shall deliver the goods within one month after receiving the furs."
The barbarians and gnomes simultaneously swore to the God of Law and signed their names on the contract. As witnesses, the contract intermediary silently prayed. After a short flash of silver light, this contract was now under the supervision of Wumianzhe, the God of Contracts. No mortal would ever go against this contract.
Eight years ago, when I brought my army back to the Northlands, Wumianzhe blessed this city and used a divine forbidden spell to transform it into Wumianzhe's Holy Domain. This was a sinless city with no crimes. All criminals and deceivers would be marked by a red light representing deceit, and the Judge and Justice Knight would appear within five minutes.
And as Wumianzhe's Divine Concept as the God of Contracts improved and improved, guaranteeing contracts became part of his responsibilities as well. A city where there was no crime, no fraud, and all trade contracts would definitely be fulfilled? Perhaps every serious merchant would go crazy over such a city.
Not to mention the fact that all the major transactions in the Northlands would be conducted here, even the transactions between the kingdoms within the continent would be conducted here. Just the commission that the Law Priests received from the contracts was already an astronomical figure.
In fact, many people even suggested to expand the scope of supervising contracts, hoping that Wumianzhe would not only supervise commercial contracts, but also the more important diplomatic and military contracts. If this really happened, Wumianzhe's reputation would probably reach new heights.
But when I thought about it carefully, I realized that this was a trap.
"Supervising contracts between countries" sounded quite impressive, but countries weren't existences with personalities. There were only benefits between countries. As long as there was a need, it would be common for countries to betray their contracts. And if they really did supervise contracts, it would be impossible for the entire country to receive divine punishment for breaking a contract. Those who should betray would still betray.
Even if the signatories received divine punishment, the contract would still be broken. In the long run, the gains wouldn't make up for the losses. One failure, two failures, and more and more contracts would be broken. Wumianzhe's Divine Concept would also be blasphemed, which would instead cause negative effects.
Let's get back to the main topic. The business tax that Renée mentioned was increasing exponentially was at least half due to the taxes on trading contracts. Also, the establishment of a financial exchange for long-distance trading of large commodities and futures made Diffindor the center of the Northlands' financial system. Every year, the national treasury's income would increase exponentially, and this was under the premise that a tremendous amount of money was spent on military construction.
From small transactions like fur trading between hunters and beastmen to large transactions like arms and resources trading between mega empires, the taxes would range from 6% to 30%. Just thinking about it would be an astronomical amount of income.
It seemed inconceivable that Diffindor had gone from a land of bitter poverty to a land of riches in less than ten years. But in the world of Aichy where True Gods existed, this was the norm.
The rise of a new God would bring about the rise of a country and a people. As the first country to have Wumianzhe, the God of Law, as their national religion, the People of the Mist were currently benefiting from the rise of the Hades Gods and Wumianzhe. At the very least, it was certain that they would prosper before the Gods died.
And the Gods' attention also brought about another essential factor for prosperity — a sense of security.
No matter how profitable a business was, it would be useless if you didn't have the life to spend the money. Nobody was an idiot in this day and age. Just who was behind the Northlands Mist Alliance was already an open secret. The long-term stability of investments and transactions didn't just depend on regular security, it also included the "security" of domestic politics and policies.
In this aspect, the newly born Hades Gods were all veteran Gods. The Goddess of Wealth, the God of Fate, the Moon Goddess, and the God of Death were all neutral Gods with good reputations. And, Wumianzhe represented law and fairness, which was what merchants desired the most.
As for the most important trade routes and travel safety, the Northlands' airships had already opened up several regular trade routes between cities on the continent, including the Bardi Empire's capital, Diffindor, and the Ottoman Empire's capital, Diffindor. Although the transport fees were indeed quite high, compared to the potential of encountering bandits, magical beasts, and war on land, the expected additional costs weren't much at all. At worst, they could just transfer the costs onto the goods, which was far better than losing both the people and the goods.
Safety, speed, stability, and inconceivably fair contracts. Thanks to so many factors, Diffindor was faintly on the verge of becoming the commercial capital of Eich. A remote Northlands city was now on the path of commerce, and it even had the potential to become a mega commercial city. I really didn't know how to evaluate this.
The Northlands' prosperity also brought wealth to the Mist people and even all Northlanders. The Northlands wasn't truly empty. A complete Northlands Winter Wolf's pelt would only be worth 50 gold coins in the Northlands, but it could be sold for thousands of gold coins in the center of the continent. It wasn't that nobody had ever thought about these Northlands specialties. It was just that the high transport costs and the dangers of the trade routes made most hunters rather take the safe 50 gold coins.
Firearms, various handicrafts from other species, magical beast materials, alchemy products, engineering products, and so on were the most commonly traded items here. They were also the best-selling items.
As for me, even though I sighed in admiration, I still had to wear a thick white cape. I didn't dare to take it off even when I was eating or drinking.
After all, no matter how thick-skinned I was, I still couldn't take it off when I saw all the statues of myself everywhere. Not only that, I also couldn't help but see people praying to my statues in gratitude, especially …
"It's one thing for you to bless me with a promotion and wealth. I've already tolerated the obvious discrimination of you worshipping Karwenz instead of me. But what's the big deal with you worshipping me instead of me? If you want to worship someone, you should worship Beifeng's portrait."
"Don't mention it. There really are people who worship Beifeng's statue. However, it's an evil sect that's forbidden by the continent's laws. They call themselves the 'Brotherhood of Truth with Boundless Love' …"
"… I don't want to know at all."
While gagging Harloys's mouth, I recalled the person who was still in the Chaos Abyss. Not long ago, he had sent me a letter saying that it would take some time to deal with that arrogant birdman. He told me to be patient … At that time, I really wanted to ask him, "Who told you to deal with that birdman? I only want Myth-ranked materials. I only want materials. Please don't make a big deal out of this.
Everyone in the world will thank you … "However, I felt that no matter what I said, it would be useless. I shouldn't suspect the person I used, so I decided to just let him be. Yep, I definitely wasn't intending to cut ties with that bastard right after I obtained the materials, and then toss him out for bounty. Was I such a heartless person who would burn bridges after crossing the river?
"You still have the face to say that? Amelia, I … You were so loyal back in the day. Do you still remember how many bridges you destroyed? But for the sake of world peace, it's best to destroy 'that bridge' as soon as possible. The entire world will thank you."
While I was still idly chatting and drinking tea, something major had happened over at Renée's side.
"The Soen Dukedom and Feldis Kingdom are requesting to join the Mist Alliance? When did this happen? Why are they doing this? "
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