Even Aiwass himself didn’t expect that the fish could take the bait directly.
He didn't even say a few words, he had just started making a nest, and he hadn't even officially set the hook... the fish just jumped ashore on its own.
——It seems that Mr. Fish is really in a hurry.
So Aiwass didn't point it out, but followed Mr. Fish directly to Lloyd's.
The metropolitan area is northwest of the Red and White Queens. If you want to go to Lloyd's District, you have to go directly across the entire Red and White Queens... But as a port area, Lloyd's District certainly can't have a backlog of goods that can't be shipped out. From then on,
There is more than one railway line from the most populous metropolitan area to Lloyd District, which faces the sea in the southeast. However, they all bypass the Red and White Queen District in the middle.
Attorney York took Aiwass on the train.
It was only after nine o'clock, and they had already arrived at Lloyd's.
——Although Lawyer York said that they were not a commercial company, what came into view was a skyscraper.
The building has more than 30 floors, which is quite astonishing considering the technological level of this era. It is the tallest building in the entire Lloyd District, compared with the surrounding buildings that are only one or two floors high.
The objects form a sharp contrast.
It can be said that the Lloyd's headquarters building is full of people coming and going, and the people who come and go try to keep their clothes decent. There is a huge revolving glass door at the entrance of the building, and the marble floor of the lobby is as bright as new.
There are many small round tables in the hall with low stools next to them. Some young men in suits who look like salesmen are sitting there, chatting in a low voice with some well-dressed but embarrassed people.
.
There is a huge display board on the side of the hall. On the left side are names such as Tyson Crude Oil, Nemancha Ocean Group, Bizu Metal and Wood Company, and behind it is a row of flippable digital signs accurate to one digit after the decimal point.
On the right side are the names of some goods, such as cotton, soybeans, sugar, wine, etc., and the flippable sign on the right is their price.
A large number of people in suits and ties gathered there. Some were discussing in low voices, some were nervous, some were talking nonsense, and some were standing in the corner holding notebooks to write down something. From time to time, people came over to flip the counting cards and adjust the numbers to the latest version.
.
After Lawyer York brought Aiwass and Lily in, someone immediately came to greet them.
A receptionist who looked to be in his early twenties, elegantly dressed, with mature and beautiful makeup came over and greeted politely: "Mr. Consultant."
"Who is there?" Attorney York asked.
"Mr. Boca, Mr. Forbes, Ms. Gray Green." the female receptionist replied.
"Isn't Mr. Lloyd here?" Lawyer York murmured in a low voice, and then gave instructions, "Please ask Vice President Boca to come to my office and tell me that I have brought a new person."
"yes."
The female receptionist responded.
Immediately afterwards, York took Aiwass and Lily into the elevator and said to the elevator manager: "Go to the seventeenth floor."
The elevator manager was a middle-aged woman in her forties. She nodded, turned the wheel at hand, and raised the gate made of barbed wire. Then she pulled the gate in front of her, and the half-opened elevator opened directly.
He rose up unsteadily.
This is the first time Aiwass has seen an elevator in Avalon.
And this elevator is too old - when the elevator rises to the mezzanine of the two floors, you can even see the red bricks through the wire mesh door, and the elevator is still shaking as it rises, making a knocking sound.
The noise made Aiwass suddenly worried, fearing that it would suddenly break and fall directly from the air.
From time to time, powder and fine gravel would roll into the elevator through the gaps in the barbed wire. The elevator administrator was not surprised by this and kicked it down again along the gap in the barbed wire.
In the end, it rose safely to the seventeenth floor, and after a violent vibration, it slowly stopped shaking from side to side.
At least we arrived safely. Lily breathed a sigh of relief. Her fingers that were clenching the wheelchair so hard just now were turning white.
"Have you ever been in an elevator before?"
Lawyer York said with a smile: "I have brought many people to the Lloyd's headquarters, but when they came for the first time, they were all scared by the elevator."
Co-authoring this is still the show of force you are preparing for, right?
Aiwass cursed.
But he just shook his head slightly and said very firmly: "I have never been in an elevator like this."
"This elevator and this building were all designed by architects from Xingzhi."
Lawyer York walked in front and introduced enthusiastically: "You may not know that our buildings in Avalon usually cannot reach this height. Buildings such as the Candlestick Cathedral and the Palace of Silver and Tin are all
Designs from the Theocracy. But they are not that high.
"When a building reaches this height, special reinforcing materials are needed. Otherwise, if a strong wind blows, the high-rise building will be crumbling, and with a wheeze, it will easily bend and topple over."
As he spoke, he gestured happily with his hands.
It was as if he had forgotten that he had just returned from the funeral, and as if he had finally let go of something.
It was a natural overflow of ease and ease. Even my steps became brisk, and I almost started humming a song.
"Not all buildings can be regularly maintained by conservators like the Palace of Silver and Tin. It is very normal for most buildings to gradually age over time. In this case, it is reflected
The advanced technology of Star Antimony..."
As Lawyer York talked, he highly praised the technology of Star Antimony Kingdom. He talked about the advanced technologies used in this building, from the architect to the physical structure, and then talked about the daily flow of people in this building.
——But you have never been to Star Antimony. I have really been there. Even though it was in a previous life.
The elevators used by the Star Antimony people are much more advanced than this. Aiwass thought to himself.
After listening to Lawyer York chatting for a long time, Aiwass finally couldn't help but interrupted: "Did this building exist at Lloyd's two hundred years ago?"
"...Do you actually know that Lloyd's has a history of two hundred years?"
Lawyer York was a little surprised, but soon realized: "Yes, you are also a 'Moriarty' after all.
"But unfortunately, no. It's less than a hundred years since the elevator was invented, and this building was built about seven or eight years ago."
Lawyer York said with a smile: "This building didn't even exist when I was a child. I remember that ten years ago, the old Lloyd's Building was attacked and demolished, so President Lloyd paid for the construction of this new building.
.”
"President Lloyd?"
Aiwass knew where York wanted to turn the topic, so he just rightly said, "Mr. Lloyd...does he have anything to do with the then Prince Lloyd?"
As expected, this is what York wanted to say.
He pushed open the door of his office and smiled happily: "Now that you know Prince Lloyd, it will be easy. Please sit down, Aihua - oh, I'm sorry. Please wait here with Mr. Aiwas, Ms. Lily."
In a moment, I will make tea for you two."
Aiwass keenly sensed that York deliberately said the wrong thing. His purpose was to temporarily interrupt the conversation between them.
In this case, Aiwass would look around when he was bored. And this position just happened to bring the entire room into view and clearly see the layout of the entire room.
The office is full of well-cared for green plants, and there is a green parrot with colorful tail feathers in the cage. There are goldfish in the water tank next to it, and on the wall are warm photos taken by Attorney York and other friends.
Group photos, arms around each other, smiles on faces, and even photos taken when they were joking with each other - from when they were in their twenties to now, and those friends are almost all celebrities or big shots.
And when the water was boiling, York didn't stop completely.
When he was guessing that Aiwass was starting to look at his photos, he once again introduced the history of Lloyd's: "How much do you know about Prince Lloyd?"
"A successful businessman, a disgrace to the royal family."
Aiwass replied.
Prince Lloyd was not named "Du Lac". He was a businessman named "Lloyd" more than two hundred years ago.
——More than two hundred years ago, Avalon's shipping industry reached its peak.
Prince Lloyd was just a coffee shop owner at first. Because he was good at making coffee, many businessmen in his coffee shop would come to patronize him. They also brought a lot of information during their conversations.
Prince Lloyd was keenly aware of the business opportunities, and borrowed money at his own expense to publish a newspaper called "Lloyd News", which was published three times a week, with each edition limited to 500 copies. It contained various shipping news and maritime intelligence.
Things were extremely valuable to merchants on extremely costly ocean voyages.
At that time, the newspaper industry was not yet developed, and news lagged seriously. Lloyd's contacts were wide enough to provide the most accurate and reliable news in the industry. Because of this, "Lloyd's News" created a lot of excitement among weaker businessmen.
The price is high. Those who cannot buy newspapers can only come to his cafe to deal with him personally and consult for information.
But in fact, the information Lloyd wrote in the newspaper was only "second-tier" news. He also had more secret "first-tier" information, which he only sold to those who were willing to deal with him - using his own intelligence
and favors in exchange for his information and favors.
By running his own intelligence business, Lloyd gained a considerable voice. Captains, merchants, and loan sharks all had to please him. In this case, he set the rules in his own name and developed an insurance agency.
industry.
Initially, Mr. Lloyd did not issue insurance himself, but all "marine insurance" had to go through him, and he had to take 5% of the net profit.
This is an industry with no capital and huge profits, and of course there will be people who want his life. So he started to run his own private armed force. Finally, when he saw that he had the power, he personally started to issue loans-that is, "Lloyd Loans"
, gradually became a giant. And he also gradually entered the circle of the upper class.
In the end, as a businessman with a civilian background and no knight blood, he fell in love with the queen at the time and became a prince. But even so, he still did not give up the Lloyd's that he built with his own hands. Instead, he used the royal family's
With great convenience, the authority approved Lloyd's members to operate all insurance businesses including marine insurance, and transformed the original "Lloyd's News" into "Lloyd's Weekly".
Prince Lloyd continuously drew blood from the royal family through Her Majesty the Queen, who was devoted to him, and passed various legal provisions that were beneficial to Lloyd's side. At the same time, he also operated an exquisite and delicate human network, allowing some knight families to
All the important members of the society joined Lloyd's, or joined in disguise. By the time the queen passed away, Lloyd's had become an unshakable behemoth.
At this point, even the Round Table is not able to attack Lloyd's. It is even closely related to the income of multiple departments.
Prince Lloyd has become "the disgrace of the royal family." Because of Prince Lloyd, many of the royal family's powers were deprived and restricted. It was also after him that the knight family prohibited intermarriage with non-blood merchants.
But Lawyer York didn't care about Aiwass's sharp words and just smiled.
This is the first chapter of more than 3,000 words. The second chapter is not finished yet and will be posted at 6pm! Double updates will resume today!
I went to bed at nine o'clock last night and woke up at three thirty in the morning.
I feel like I've almost adjusted it, although my head is still a little groggy. Although I think what you said makes sense, it's already halfway done, so I have to stop adjusting it (sad)
