Chapter 353 Crossing Fee
Another ten days passed. A few days ago, on a small island a few hundred kilometers east of the Kingdom of Thebes, the Shadow Kingdom initiated a multinational summit.
Those who participated in this summit were all those countries whose seas were blocked by the Shadow Kingdom. Each country sent at least one representative, and some large chambers of commerce that mostly transport goods by sea also participated in this summit.
At this summit, the Shadow Kingdom showed its dominance as the overlord of the sea. Yorick attended the summit and clearly explained the reason why the Shadow Kingdom blocked the seas of many countries at the meeting-from now on, the eastern and northern seas of Eslazer are the territory of the Shadow Kingdom beyond the coast, and naturally no other country is allowed to "invade".
Many countries are naturally dissatisfied with this domineering statement, but there is no way, the situation is stronger than people! Although the national strength of the participating countries combined is much stronger than that of the Shadow Kingdom, if a few countries on land unite to destroy the Shadow Kingdom, but in the comparison of maritime power, the coastal countries combined cannot compare with the Shadow Kingdom.
Perhaps only the Canaan Empire can compete with the Shadow Kingdom at sea? Representatives of many countries couldn't help but think of this when they participated in the meeting.
Indeed, the reason why the Shadow Island Organization was only rampant in the northern and southern waters of Eslaze was indeed because of the existence of the Canaan Empire.
The Canaan Empire is located in the south of the Eslaze continent and has a long coastline. Unlike ordinary human countries, the Canaan Empire does not despise the development of the navy. This may be because Canaan I came out of a small fishing village at the southern end of the continent.
The national strength of the empire is naturally not comparable to that of ordinary countries. The southern waters of the Eslaze continent have always been firmly controlled by the Canaan Empire. Perhaps in terms of the number of warships, the Canaan Empire will not be as good as the Shadow Kingdom, but the actual combat power plus the name of the empire makes the pirates not provoke the Canaan Empire at all.
In fact, in the plan to conquer the human world and unify Eslaze, the most worrying thing in the human world for Yu Fei is the Canaan Empire. Unlike the other two empires with a long history, the Canaan Empire has not risen for a long time, and the entire country is still in a booming period of growth.
Although a long history means a profound foundation, the long-term prosperity is also the soil for corruption. In Yu Fei's opinion, the Holy Lion Empire he had contacted was just like the late Qing Dynasty on Earth. Although there were no external enemies, there were already many problems within the country.
Apart from anything else, even the title of earl could be purchased, which made Yu Fei think of the sale of official positions and titles in ancient China.
But the Canaan Empire was different. This empire was founded only about three hundred years ago. In the Eslaze continent, many kingdoms and even some principalities have existed longer than the Canaan Empire. This makes the Canaan Empire have a new and upward force.
Apart from anything else, the Canaan Empire has experienced a lot in war. The other two empires have been established for a long time, and their territories have long entered a balance. There are also small countries around the country, but these countries are either secretly controlled by them or exist as buffer zones. There are very few wars between the two empires.
However, the Canaan Empire has been expanding its territory to the north. Although it often takes more than ten years to occupy a small country, the Canaan Empire is fighting a long and protracted war with several kingdoms and more principalities at the same time.
With these deliberately opened battlefields, the Canaan Empire has been training its army. The most recognized strongest human country in the Eslaze continent is the Holy Lion Empire, because their predecessor was the Holy Empire that almost unified the Eslaze continent, and has an extremely strong foundation.
In terms of masters, the Holy Lion Empire is full of legendary epics-think about it, there are several legendary strongmen in the Saint Child family, and even epic strongmen. This is unmatched by other countries.
But in terms of the strength of the army, even if the equipment is better, Yu Fei believes that the army of the Holy Lion Empire is not the opponent of the Canaan Empire army that rotates for actual combat training. Personal strength may play a big role in war, but without sufficiently powerful means, it is obviously not decisive. Yu Fei feels that the biggest obstacle for the night elves to attack the human world may be the Canaan Empire.
Even though the Shadow Kingdom now controls the powerful navy, Yu Fei still feels that the Canaan Empire is a threat.
However, all this has nothing to do with the summit held by the Shadow Kingdom. Although the Canaan Empire has a strong navy, it has never extended its tentacles to the waters controlled by the Shadow Island Organization. Even if the Shadow Island Organization has become the Shadow Kingdom, it will not be an exception.
At that time, the Canaan Empire will have other ways to deal with it.
The camera returns to the summit of the Shadow Kingdom. After domineeringly declaring that coastal countries going out to sea is an invasion of the Shadow Kingdom's territory, Yorick simply directly points out the real purpose of the Shadow Kingdom.
Since it is the territory of the Shadow Kingdom, then fleets from other countries must pay tolls if they want to pass through, right? This is the same as on land. A country's caravan must pay certain taxes when passing through another country.
It's just that the sea is vast, and no force has ever declared that all seas belong to them, so there is no such thing as sea tax. Even the original Shadow Island Organization only charges protection fees after some powerful pirate groups and some chambers of commerce reach an agreement on controlling shipping routes.
To put it bluntly, the current Shadow Kingdom is going to put the previous form of collecting protection fees on the table and turn it into a sea crossing tax. As long as the sea crossing tax is paid, the ship can sail within the route designated by the Shadow Kingdom and conduct trade.
According to the length of the route and the number of Shadow Kingdom states passing through, the amount of sea crossing tax will also be clearly divided. From now on, the Shadow Kingdom will no longer engage in looting during the Shadow Island Organization period, as long as the fleet passing through the kingdom pays the fee.
Even some chambers of commerce that have cooperated before are allowed to trade with the states of the Shadow Kingdom. The world of Eslazer is strange, and the resources in the sea are not as abundant as on land. However, some seafood is not available on land, and these items are also the commodities that the chambers of commerce on land yearn for.
This system, called sea crossing tax, is actually a protection fee. Once Yorick proposed it, it immediately caused an uproar among the representatives of the countries participating in the meeting.
The sea has always been a place where coastal countries can pass freely. Although there are pirates and merchant ships are at risk of being looted, there are also escort fleets. Many caravans and national transport fleets can transport much more goods than on land without paying much cost.
It is precisely because the sea route can transport more goods and does not have to pay taxes and fees for passing through multiple countries that fleets are popular in coastal areas. Now the newly established Shadow Kingdom is actually going to start charging tolls, which is unacceptable to many national representatives.
However, after a commotion, these representatives finally fell silent. What if they can't accept it? The Shadow Kingdom has a big fist and has the power to set the sea crossing fee. If you don't want to pay, you can - then don't think about transporting by sea anymore.
Those chambers of commerce that had previously cooperated with the Shadow Island Organization did not riot when Yorick announced the sea crossing fee system. Obviously, they had already known about this matter in advance through their partners in the Shadow Kingdom.
When the atmosphere gradually calmed down, these chambers of commerce that had already accepted the sea crossing fee system in advance first expressed their agreement to this system and were willing to spend money to buy peace.
Anyway, I paid tolls before, and now it's just a name change. Paying tolls to a kingdom is much better than paying protection fees to pirates, right? And now after paying the tolls, safety is more guaranteed, and you can travel freely on the selected route, unlike before when you had to worry about attacks from unruly pirates.
With the Chamber of Commerce representatives who had informed them in advance, all non-state representatives participating in the meeting quickly agreed to the toll system. Those state representatives said they needed to ask for instructions, and returned to their respective countries to report the news after the meeting.
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In addition to the normal update at 5 pm, there will be an additional chapter at 8 pm tonight. The reason for the additional chapter will be explained in the chapter.