Chapter 312 Storm From the Old World (Ⅱ)

In recent years, the archbishop of the Far East, Philip Wallenstein, has frequently appointed General Rudolph Kolas to lead his troops to conquer the east and west to eliminate the evil forces entrenched in the Far East. It seems that he wants to use up the fighting power of this heretic army through continuous conquests. , so as to achieve the purpose of reaping the benefits.

However, the facts have proved that Archbishop Philip was "intelligent and misunderstood by cleverness".

The combat power of the Kolas Corps is far stronger than he expected. The organizational structure, logistics supplies, weapons and equipment, financial management, and even diplomatic activities are all impressive. First, they wiped out the orc bandits on the land of the Far East, and then went north to Kitland On the German plateau, we wiped out the "Eye of the Dragon" gang who worshiped the "Mother of Dragons" Tiamat. Every victory won a higher reputation for Kolas and his son and more love from the people. Where did the Corps come from? Inspired by the priest accompanying the army, the local residents converted one after another and threw themselves into the arms of Syndra Church. After years of fighting, the momentum grew stronger and stronger.

Today, Kolas and his son have become irreplaceable national heroes in the hearts of the Far Easterners.

After several years of operation, when the time came to July 1620, Colas and his son had actually become the number one warlord in the Far East.

Archbishop Philip was still deeply regretting raising tigers, and the imperial cabinet added to the chaos and passed a bill to increase taxes in the Far East.

Once the tax increase bill was promulgated, it was like adding fuel to the fire. The Far East immediately set off a massive anti-tax movement with the provincial capital "Fort Atonement" as the core.

With the voice of the people resisting exorbitant taxes, under the secret instigation of the Kolas and his sons, local politicians, military officers, literati and businessmen in the Far East took the opportunity to take the opportunity to take the center of the stage and lead the people to take to the streets to protest. Violent clashes erupted between security forces in Fort Atonement.

The bloody suppression by the provincial authorities has further aroused the people's resistance, and the calls for independence from the Ashan Empire and the establishment of an independent country have intensified, showing a situation of wildfires that cannot be contained.

The article published on the front page of the "Leiden Post" described in detail the anti-tax movement and independence trend in the Far Eastern provinces, and the editor-in-chief of the newspaper, Ms. Miranda, also wrote an editorial in person.

Judging from the standpoint of this editorial, Joan found that Miranda and the newspaper under his leadership gave enthusiastic praise to the resistance of the Far Easterners, but they had a cold attitude towards the imperial authorities, and there was no shortage of sarcasm.

This may seem odd at first.

After all, Alfheim is an overseas colony of the Ashan Empire. The local newspaper with the largest circulation does not defend the government of its home country. Instead, it has the meaning of fighting against the rebels in the Far East. What kind of mentality is this?

Eat inside out?

Joan thought about it carefully, and the confusion in his heart was gradually resolved.

From the perspective of the objective environment, although the Far East Province is located in the Old Continent and is part of the empire’s territory, neither the rulers of the empire nor the inland residents have ever treated the residents of the Far East Province as equal compatriots. The province is regarded as "poor mountains and bad waters", and the local residents are regarded as inferior heretics.

Those in power have held such a mentality for a long time, how can the people of the Far East not be alienated from the imperial authorities?

Since they are not treated as equal citizens, they naturally split.

As an overseas colony of the Ashan Empire, Alfheim's geographical predicament is similar to that of the Far East Province.

In fact, Yalfheim is not special. Throughout the ages, no colony has ever been able to love its mother country forever.

Geographically, thousands of miles of oceans will inevitably cut off emotional ties. The first few generations of colonists may still be nostalgic for their mother country and loyal to their mother country government, but as time goes by, generations of descendants were born and raised in the colonies. Most of them have never set foot on the land of their mother country in their whole lives, so they will naturally feel alienated from that illusory mother country beyond the ocean, and their emotions will become increasingly cold, eventually forming a general sense of independence.

The people of Alfheim are in such a state of increasingly weak feelings and inseparable relationship with their mother country.

When most locals talk about the Ashan Empire, they have the same mentality as when they talk about Hailan, Feizhen, and Canaan. They are all "foreign".

The "Leiden Post" has been known for its left-wing political stance since its establishment, and its criticism of the mother country's government is particularly fierce-perhaps this is an important factor for the newspaper to sell tens of thousands of copies.

On the other hand, Joan vaguely guessed that there was an unspeakable connection between the Leiden Post and the Sons of Liberty Association.

Such a large newspaper, with hundreds of employees, has a lot of monthly expenses, coupled with challenging the government's tolerance limit from time to time, its survival and growth cannot be separated from the support of power and financial resources.

No one knows the composition of the Leiden Post's board of directors, but Joan is sure that the "Sons of Liberty" provides indispensable support for the newspaper, which includes both money and the more important intelligence network.

Whoever takes money has to speak for someone, and newspapers are no exception.

The "Sons of Liberty" made their fortune through tax evasion and smuggling. To put it bluntly, it is a "criminal syndicate" composed of countless smugglers, big and small. Of course, they hate the government for taxation.

Seeing the people in the Far East setting off a vigorous anti-tax movement, how can there be any need to think about what is right and what is wrong?

Of course, I unconditionally support the anti-tax party, and severely criticize the imperial tyranny that collects exorbitant taxes-this position is also reflected in Ms. Miranda's editorial.

Counting from his grandfather's generation, Joan is already the third generation of immigrants born in the colony.

He has no impression of the old world that is separated by oceans. The anti-tax riots that took place in the Far East province thousands of miles away will not have a direct impact on his daily life at least from the current point of view. It's nothing more than an after-dinner conversation.

However, in the same newspaper, another major incident in the south of Yalfheim was reported, so Joan couldn't help but stand on the sidelines.

Alfheim is located in the south-central part of Wilnoa. Going south along the Delin River Valley is the famous trade route "Brass Valley". After passing through the pass of the Brass Valley and continuing southward, the climate is dry and hot all year round, and it is full of Gobi and deserts. The "Muspelheim" area in the "Muspelheim", which is also the colony of the Seablue Kingdom.

Alfheim and Muspelheim border on the Brass Mountains. For a long time, the colonial authorities of the two sides have failed to reach a consensus on the issue of border demarcation.

The imperial authorities and the Hailan authorities have different opinions, and they both publicly declared that the land trade corridor that stretches for more than 300 miles from the Delin River Valley to the hinterland of the Brass Mountain belongs to their own country. For this reason, countless verbal battles have been fought, and there have been repeated outbreaks border conflict.

The largest conflict occurred fourteen years ago. It originated from an Alfheim merchant named James, who was selling furs in the Brass Valley, and had a dispute with the local sea blue merchant because the price could not be negotiated.

As a result, our unfortunate Mr. James was not only beaten up by the Hailan businessman, but also had an ear cut off cruelly.

Five more today, there are two more chapters to come