Chapter 203 Foreign Country

"Se...what happened?" Ajin asked uneasyly. "Ashu Rufat, you don't have to hide it from me. Friends should be talking about everything."

"Well, there is no need to hide it." Ash Rufate replied. "Akin, on the way back, I met someone sent by Her Majesty the Queen. He revealed something to me."

"What kind of news?"

"The public opinion in Eagle City is very unfavorable to me, I must be prepared to go to jail." When talking about this, Ashu Rufate smiled softly. "Well, it's the thing in Fornoros."

"But...but...this is a forced one." A Jin replied carefully. He is a businessman, but as we all know, the dangers and treacherous business are no less than those in the officialdom. Although A Jin is not old, he has been educated since childhood, and has learned from his own eyes and practical experience, which makes him a qualified businessman in all aspects. In other words, although he shouts "You must be honest" all day long, he is not unfamiliar with conspiracies. "...It is not because of his original intention. Public opinion is like a wave, and it will be calm after it passes..."

"I think so too." Ashu Rufate replied faintly.

"I admit she did something wrong..."

"She did nothing wrong." Ashu Rufat replied softly. "The first choice of human beings is to protect themselves. This is not a mistake. Well, it should be said that this is a normal choice for a king."

That's it, but Ajin clearly felt the burnout in Ash Rufat's voice. He wanted to speak, but for a moment he found that he didn't know how to speak.

"But...but..." After hesitating for a long time, Ajin finally said. "She is the queen and your monarch."

"Well, it was from the beginning."

"According to the moral norms of modern humans, subordinates cannot make demands on the monarch, right?"

"I didn't make any request." Ashu Rufat laughed. "Look, I've planned to make everything up to her in this matter. I'll obey her arrangements."

"Ashu Rufate, are you very dissatisfied?"

"Do I have it?" Ashu Rufate asked. "In fact, this issue should be considered in this way. She made this choice according to the logic of a monarch. Then I should also follow the logic of the subordinates and obey her choice. Do you think so?"

"Ashu Rufat, what do you want to do? Don't do stupid things!"

"Don't worry, I won't do anything stupid. I just... fulfilled the obligation of a minister. I will sacrifice myself to free her from this trouble. Just like before, I was her guard, my obligation is to protect her safety... Well, that's it. I will definitely do my best to fulfill my obligations."

"To be honest, I think you are like doing something stupid." Ajin said in confusion. Although Ash Rufate said this confidently, the tiredness in his voice could not be removed.

The carriage stopped at this time. What Ajin said before was not entirely an excuse, because the carriage was parked at the entrance of a tavern. The two got out of the car.

"Ashrufat, the wine here is very good." Ajin pointed to the hotel in front of him and said. "Don't look unremarkable, this tavern has dozens of wines to taste!"

"Is that?" Asu Ruffat followed Ajin into the hotel. Ajin's recommendation was not completely unreasonable, because the business in the hotel was so good that there were no empty tables. However, Ajin was prepared for this. After reporting his identity, they were taken to a elegant seat upstairs. Here, they could talk about it. However, this time, their topic was separated from the previous one and turned to what happened in the Hawk City recently.

"Well... so, someone is here to investigate the source of the authorization letters of the Elf Princes?" Ashu Rufate asked with a glass of wine. Since he woke up, he has found that he is not sensitive to alcohol - it should be said that he cannot feel the anesthetic effect of alcohol on the human body.

"Of course, hahahaha... the Tulan people were anxious... They will definitely take action..."

"Is it so exaggerated?"

"Hey, the Tulans made a living by monopolizing the trade between humans and elves! It is said that one-third or even half of their treasury income comes from this transaction. If there weren't such a comparison of income... could they maintain such a powerful army?"

"Oh, they came to you? Don't tell me you've told the truth!"

"What do you mean? I, Ajin, is that kind of person? The most basic code of businessmen is integrity. I promised you to keep it confidential, of course I will keep it confidential to the end. Hehe, they can't find anything, but I have stolen a lot of words."

"What's the matter?"

"Well, it is said that the elves do not attach much importance to the Tulans. The elves have only traded with the Tulans before, but it was just a habit. In other words, these licenses directly shake the Tulans' monopoly rights. But it may be another situation, that is, the Tulans are afraid that the elves prince will write a letter and directly reject the contacts with the Tulans. Alas, they are very nervous. This is a problem with the foundation of the country!"

"National foundation? It's just a income..."

"Ashrufate," Ajin shouted. "You have also been the Minister of Finance. How could you not understand this little thing? This is a matter that concerns half of the treasury's income! People die for money, and the country is the same. This can directly provoke a war! You don't look at it. During the Battle of Kaleyan, Turan and Tiberius both suffered heavy losses. But Tiberius is still in financial difficulties, but the Turan people have recovered. This is not entirely based on this financial path? To be honest, Asshrufate, if you didn't sell these license documents, but let our country intervene directly in the name of the queen... I'm afraid our two countries have officially done it! The Turan people will protect this goose that can lay golden eggs at all costs."

“Haha…it seems my choice is correct.”

"More than just right." Ajin picked up the wine glass and took a big sip. "For this reason, the Turan people turned their eyes to Shem."

“What does the relationship between these two?”

"The problem of the port." Ajin replied. He did not spend much time to let Ashrufate understand this problem. The Tulans were able to monopolize trade with the elves. One was the exclusive management right arising from habits, and the other was that Tulans owned the port closest to the elves. In the past, the second condition had no effect. But now with the licensing documents of the elves prince Ashrufate, the first condition was abolished. The Tulans hoped to continue to achieve monopoly based on the latter condition. But how could those merchants who spent millions to purchase the licensing documents allow this kind of exploitation? So they simply came to take off the firewood from the elves. After the ship set out from the elves, they headed south to Sham without passing through the elves' port.

In Sham, there are much better tax conditions and social environments.

Of course, the Tulan people refused to watch their golden river go to other people's homes. At first they tried to use warships and dragon knights to block these merchant ships at sea, but were warned by the elves. Although Tulans claimed to be a powerful country, they did not dare to provoke the elves alone. Because the Tulan people knew very well that the elves had hundreds of times more war dragons than them, a ten times more powerful navy, and an army that could make any human kingdom fear. According to the principle of "a persimmon must be picked up and pinched", they targeted Sham. The Tulan people asked Sham to block the port and reject the entry of these merchant ships traveling to the elves.

From a neutral perspective, this kind of requirement is very arrogant and selfish, both in terms of emotion and reason. It is entirely the freedom of merchants to deal with and whom they want to do business with, and it is not the turn of outsiders to interfere. In fact, let alone merchants, even if they are wanted criminals in one country, they can often swagger around openly in another country.

However, the problems between countries never talk about the four words "informative and reasonable", but focus on the level of strength. The strong and the weak will not talk about any reason, but can only follow the logic of the strong - the logic that is beneficial to the strong. For Tulan, because Shem opened the port to these merchants, it affected the fiscal revenue of the Tulan people, which was a big crime.

Fools also know the gap in strength between the two countries. Since the last time they participated in the coalition expedition to Kalean, the Tulan people have hardly used much force. Moreover, due to monopolizing the elves trade, the country has obtained huge fiscal revenue. Now Tulan is in a strong country. If it weren't for the hidden danger of ethnic minority rebellion in the country, it involves a lot of energy, and I'm afraid they would have been there to expand.

Shem was in trouble all the way. First, the young and promising king died suddenly, leaving only a baby as king and an incompetent empress dowager regent. Then she encountered a large-scale invasion by Green Skin and suffered a heavy blow. Although she took this opportunity to regain a lot of benefits from the church, the losses were ultimately greater than gains. Then there was an incident of Beiru's rebellion and ultimate independence, which basically shook the foundation of the country. Now Shem has greatly weakened its military strength, financial difficulties, and people from all over the country, and is really unable to fight against the Turan people.

But no matter what, the Shem people must be very unwilling to see a piece of fat fly. The two sides are conducting diplomatic consultations, and the Turan people are threatening the border as a force, while the Shem people are trying to introduce third-party forces and try to solve the crisis with diplomatic means.

"So... the situation is very delicate now." Ajin took a big sip of wine again. "It can be called a troublesome."

"But it has nothing to do with our country."

"Of course it has something to do with our country," said Ajin. "The last time the barbarian invasion, the church was the power of the various countries that gathered to support our country. But this time... it would be difficult."

Asu Ruffat knew this history. Although in fact, only Tiberius was the country who really sent troops to help, all countries provided considerable support in terms of materials and money.

"The Ryans were disabled by vampires and civil wars." Ajin lifted his fingers. "Turan and Sham confronted each other... they removed half of them."
Chapter completed!