"I don't need to pass this sentence back. Your Highness sent me here this time. On the one hand, I have my own affairs, and on the other hand, I want to help you deal with the trouble of that batch of goods as soon as possible."
He looked at the woman in front of him:
"There can be no further delay."
"I understand, Miss Princes asked us to assist you, and we must obey your orders no matter what."
Lesia's subordinates were willing to carry out this rather inappropriate order. Shade could only say that her leadership was indeed first-rate.
Although the "Princess Trading Partner" has many subordinates, very few of them are fully aware of Lesia's identity. There are only three people who can directly contact Tobesk, except for Anne Bonny, who looks like a fierce pirate.
In addition to the ladies, there are William Kidd and George Robert.
The former is a businessman with a decent background, around forty years old, and is the oldest of the three. The latter is in his early thirties, a baron, but the kind of down-and-out nobleman who has lost his family property and fiefdom.
Ms. Anne Bonny is responsible for handling private matters, Mr. William Kidd is responsible for the purchase of goods, the nominal operation of the small fleet and the preparation of false accounts, and Baron George Robert is responsible for managing the upper and lower relations of Moon Bay City. The three have a clear division of labor.
, coupled with the fact that it supports a large number of thugs, although the trading company has a low reputation, it is still considered a force in the eyes of the underworld in the dock area of Yuewan City.
This afternoon, the three of them met with Sha De. After confirming Sha De's identity, they all expressed that they could obey any order from Sha De.
The conversation moved to the study room at the top of the three-story building. Shade wanted to know where Lesia's batch of goods was currently stuck:
"The information your Highness received is not very detailed. I want to emphasize that I am not the kind of guy who likes to kill people. But if we can eliminate this trouble by just solving one or two key people, then
It could not be better."
When he sat down, Shade talked about his code of conduct, and then apologized awkwardly amid the different expressions of the three of them:
"I may have a strange smell on my body, please forgive me. It's not that I'm unhygienic, it's just the smell of corpses. You won't have to keep me for dinner in a while. I want to clean myself up first."
In short, although Xia De, who came from afar, had not done anything, he had already left the impression of a "ruthless person" in the eyes of the three people in the trading company.
As for the goods in Lesia's three ships that cannot leave the port, they are still impounded. Special alloys are used on the bottom of the ships to pretend to be ordinary metals as ballast stones, and the goods they are transporting are nominally grain.
There is currently no embargo on grain between the two countries, and there are many businessmen who have the idea of reselling grain after seeing the special weather this summer. Therefore, the goods of "Princes Trading Partners" were detained not for political reasons.
"Our ship cannot set off for three reasons.
The Kasenlik Customs Department believes that the three ships of grain have quarantine problems; the Port Bureau under the Yuewan City Council believes that our ships have passed the maintenance period and need to be re-inspected for safety before they can leave the port; the dock office in the dock area,
They think that we have defaulted on the 'Public Maintenance Fee for the Pier' that everyone has to pay, and they will only let us make up the money."
"Customs, Port Authority and Terminal Office? How did you offend so many people?"
Shade curiously asked the three of them. The three of them looked at each other, and Mr. George Robert, the down-and-out nobleman in charge of the up and down management, explained:
"The quarantine issue of the customs department is just an excuse. They actually suspect that we are spies, spies of MI6. But it is just suspicion, so they temporarily detained our ship and will not let our fleet leave until the investigation is completed. This
The most troublesome thing is that it is difficult for me to directly deal with gray gloves."
This was actually an injustice to them. Lesia was just doing some small business, and she had nothing to do with MI6. Of course, it actually had something to do with Shade sitting here at this time.
"The matter with the Port Authority is because we robbed the Eddington family's business last year. You know the Eddington family, right?"
"I know that one of the seven glorious families of Yuewan, like Hawthorne and Belindel, is the family that still controls the city council. Therefore, the Eddington family can influence the Yuewan City Port Authority, so that's why your ship
Just do the security check again?”
Shade asked, and businessman William Kidd nodded helplessly:
"It's like this. Safety inspection is actually a trivial matter. If we want to check, we don't mind. But the Port Authority has been reluctant to send people to do this. We sent people to ask, and every time they said they were
Manpower is tight, or we are still waiting for the inspection documents to be stamped, so let us wait for a while. I am very familiar with the port authority's methods of doing things. This is simply a deliberate delay, and we have no reason to refuse."
"What's going on with that dock office?"
Shade asked again, so Baron George Robert continued to introduce:
"The terminal office is responsible for managing and coordinating matters related to port operations, such as cargo warehousing management, coordination of ships entering and leaving the port, port usage charges, etc. We originally got along well with the port office, but this spring, our people and
There was a fight between another group of people on the dock. That group of people was called the 'Black Hand Gang', they were serious dock gangsters and the gloves of the Hawthorne family. Yes, it was the Hawthorne family."
"You have been operating the dock for many years, don't you know this?"
Shade frowned slightly, and Baron Robert quickly explained:
"We actually know, but this kind of small-scale fire is not very common. It has happened before. The big shots above will not interfere with the dock just because of such a trivial matter. I just don't know what happened this time, Hawthorne
After that, the family asked the dock office to target us. Such targeting should be just a casual comment from a big shot, but when combined with the other two things, it became a troublesome matter."
"The Gray Gloves influence the customs, the Eddington family, who steals business, instructs the port authority, and the Hawthorne family, who also control the gang, can influence the dock office."
Shade summed it up and felt that the brand new city was really different from other places. Most of the things in the City of Fortune were related to wealth. Just by getting involved in these troublesome things, you could already get a glimpse of the whole city:
"Customs matters are the easiest."
He said to the three of them, and then explained a little:
"I have acquaintances in MI6. It should be no problem to ask them to help."
The three people immediately expressed their understanding, probably thinking that MI6 could do something inside the Gray Gloves. But Shade actually wanted to go to MI6, and then ask how to contact the local Gray Gloves agents, and then use "Grey Gloves"
As the "head eagle", he tried to find a way to get the trading company away from suspicion.
Margaret had given him complete identification documents. The only problem was that Shade couldn't just go to the door and tell him, lest the agents cause trouble for "Princess Trading Partner".
"I don't have a clue about the Eddington family at the moment. Baron Robert, I have to rely on you to smooth over the relationship."
He added, and Mr. George Robert nodded:
"I understand, this is my job."
"As for the Hawthorne family and the dock office, just like what you said, if it was just an ordinary conflagration, those big shots wouldn't be able to target small forces like us casually. What exactly happened at that time? Why did you conflagrate?"
Ms. Anne Bonny recalled:
"That's a very common thing. Their people and our people had trouble playing cards while drinking in the pub, and then they came to us to collect protection money. Of course we wouldn't pay it, otherwise there would be nothing we could do
Hanging out at Yuewan Pier.
That night, we brought more than 20 people, and they were also more than 20 people, and they were negotiating in the warehouse. When the negotiations didn't go well, they started fighting. But it wasn't shooting, it was just a cold-arms fight. One of their people had his head opened.
There was also a person on our side who had his right leg disabled, which was actually a minor matter. We all had a tacit understanding that no one fired, and no one was killed in the end. Even the police were not alerted afterwards."
It seems that the local martial arts is very strong.
"So was there anything different then?"
Shade asked again, and Ms. Bonny thought for a while:
"We won that night. According to the rules, we arrested a few people and asked them to pay a ransom. Then everyone sat together and drank. It was over. But later it was rumored that some of the people we arrested were working for the big shot.
He seemed to be looking for something. But because he was caught by us, some things were delayed, which made the local big shots unhappy. Does this have anything to do with it? This is just a rumor."
"Let me go investigate first."
Shade made up his mind:
"I will take care of the customs and Gray Gloves matters. I will go to the Hawthorne family and the dock office to check on the situation. I will leave the rest to you. Miss Princes is waiting for our good news."
"Yes, sir."
"Besides, I have some personal matters that I need your help with."
He briefly talked about finding someone in the lower city area centered on Herring Street, and emphasized that it must not be too conspicuous. Ms. Bonny also promised that Shade would arrange someone to do it, and her people could do the job.
Work.
"Also, have you encountered any strange corpses locally recently?"
Shade asked again, he had not forgotten what happened with Mr. Bernhardt and the coroner:
"A corpse with its head missing, or a corpse with all the blood drained from its body."
"The murder case of the missing head is a very famous topic in the city recently, but we have never encountered it. I heard that the bodies were found in the city, and there has not been one at the dock. As for the whole body blood being drained, I have never heard of it.
Urban legend?”
Shade nodded, and after informing the three of them that some letters addressed to him would be sent here, he also said goodbye to them. The sun set and the day came to an end. He did not stay here to continue to experience the city of wealth.
Instead of being prosperous, he threw his glass slippers in the alley and returned to his warm home.