Chapter 51: Duchy of the Benelux

The Benelux countries lie to the north of the Kingdom of France. The two countries share a short land border. This country has a long coastline and an area of about twelve counts. Of these, Archduke Philip directly controls four counts and the rest are granted to more than 30 barons.

Archduke Philip is of the divine bloodline of the Sea God. Therefore, most people in this country believe in the Sea God. The shipbuilding and maritime industries are particularly developed. Although it is a principality, it has a naval power not inferior to that of a kingdom, and it is also an important force against the orcs crossing the sea to the south.

The principality's navy is very strong, with over 8,000 men. It has six four-masted warships, ten three-masted heavy warships, fifty two-masted light warships, and over a hundred single-masted patrol ships. As for the Principality's army, its main task is to maintain law and order.

The principality relies heavily on maritime trade for its income, and fishing is an important part of its food supply. All of the nobles in the principality are very wealthy, as they all have fleets of varying sizes.

A unique feature of the Church of Poseidon is that its priests are more than willing to go to sea with the Navy or Merchant Marines. Generally, any fleet with the means to do so will hire one or two Poseidon priests to go along, not only to provide medical care along the way, but also because they are experienced sailors. Merchant mariners themselves have high incomes, so they are generous in their worship of Poseidon, and the priests who go to sea have very impressive incomes.

The "Sari" docked at Rotterdam, the largest port in the Benelux countries, which is also the largest city in the duchy.

The elven-style warship was very conspicuous, flying the flag of Baron Stewart. The harbormaster knew who was coming as soon as he flipped through the heraldry book and hurried to greet him.

The harbormaster had inevitably picked up a few merchant habits from his daily encounters with people, and if it was an ordinary honorable nobleman, he could of course pretend not to see him, but Baron Stewart was a field nobleman and had a reputation for being wealthy, so of course he had to be received hospitably.

The port official saw Christian get off the ship and immediately greeted him with a smile: "My respects, Baron Stewart. I am Oliver Berger, administrator of the port of Rotterdam."

Seeing that the other man wore the badge of an honorary lord, Christian replied: "Good day, Lord Oliver."

"What can I do for you, Baron?"

"I would like to stay here for a while, so please find me a manor."

"As you wish."

Lord Oliver Berger was clearly well versed in matters of hospitality. After confirming the number of people with Irina, he immediately ordered his subordinates to prepare the carriage and at the same time recommended several mansions to Christine. Obviously, as a port city, the rental service for such mansions is already very mature.

While everyone waited for the carriage, the clock tower in the harbor suddenly chimed three times, and people rushed to the central square. Many outsiders, including Christine, are confused and don't know what's going on.

When the administrator Oliver Berger sees this, he immediately explains: "My Lord Baron, this is the God of Order dealing with the lawless merchants who have been secretly trading with the orcs. They will be burned in the square."

He then explained in detail.

It turned out that the maritime trade of the Benelux countries was well developed. The Orc continent was separated from the Wendel Principality only by the Wendel Sea. With ships in hand and a short distance to go, it was natural for some people to smuggle goods to the orcs by going around the Wendel Principality and crossing the Øresund.

The orcs are poor, so they can sell everything they take there. The orc furs, magic cores, magical metals, gems, etc. that they bring back are all profitable. Especially since these things are not bulky and a single ship is enough. Moreover, there are no taxes to pay, so it is a profitable business.

With such huge profits, smugglers are naturally flocking to it. The Church of the God of Order has to burn an average of a few lawless merchants who have illicit ties to the orcs in the harbor's central square every month, but they can't stop it.

In fact, the three countries of the Principality of Wend, the Kingdom of the Rhine, and the Kingdom of the Piasts, together with the Churches of the God of Order, the God of War, and the Goddess of Winter, issue a considerable number of "Privateer Certificates" each year, which are tantamount to official permission for slave hunters and mercenary groups to plunder the Orcish continent. Of course, they have to pay taxes when they return.

These smugglers do not pay taxes, so if they are discovered, their families are burned and their property confiscated. The major kingdoms and churches have taken strong measures to crack down on them.

After hearing the whole story, Christine no longer cared. Soon the carriage arrived. Oliver Berger was very efficient. The carriage he hailed was not only clean and tidy, but also smelled of spices, obviously prepared especially for the noblewoman. So everyone got into the carriage and drove to the manor where they would be staying.

A developed trade does not mean a good city. Although the road was clean and well laid out, it was narrow and inevitably had untidy buildings on both sides. Of course, it was much better than the city of Rennes.

The carriage drove along the main street of the city, and through the window I could see the characteristic taverns on both sides.

This is the headquarters of many sea traders, so the streets are full of sailors dressed in all sorts of ways, and there is no shortage of drunks staggering along with bottles in their hands. After all, alcohol often serves as a substitute for fresh water on ships, so how could sailors be allowed to drink openly? But if they are not allowed to drink to their heart's content, even if they drink a little every day, they will naturally go to the pub to have a good drink when they come ashore.

That's why the various taverns in the city offer drinks at different prices for the captain, the first mate and the ordinary sailors, and the enthusiastic waitresses in the taverns don't mind spending a wonderful night with the generous sailors.

These sailors, who have been at sea for a month or even several months, are not satisfied with just the waitresses in the taverns, so some special service establishments have flourished. Don't underestimate these women who sell their bodies for money. Behind them is the Church of the Goddess of Love.

The goddess' ministry includes love, pleasure, etc. Although she is a weak deity (in the setting of this book), she is also a real god. The port city of Rotterdam, where the service industry is well developed, is one of her important places of worship for the faithful.

Therefore, I saw several priests of the Goddess of Love along the way. Their priestly robes are very different from those of other churches. They are tailored to show the female figure as much as possible to show her beauty.

Whether you are a follower of the Goddess of Love or not, if you donate more than a certain amount to the temple, you can spend a night with the Goddess' priestess. They all have professional training and special divine skills that can bring each other incomparable pleasure. If the amount is large, the bishop and archbishop will also receive them personally.

In fact, the Archbishop of the Church of the Goddess of Love is the most popular person in the upper circles of the Benelux countries because she arranges all kinds of lovers for the aristocrats and strictly protects the privacy of the parties involved. Of course, it is only reasonable to charge a small commission for this service.