The direction indicated by Charlie is not too far from here.

The port that Leonardo and his party arrived at was Palermo Bay in Sicily. Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and Palemo Bay is the largest city in Sicily, and it is also a good natural harbor. The largest citrus and lemon plantations in Sardinia, and even in Europe, are located here. Business flourished throughout Palermo because of the arrival of ship after ship for good quality oranges and lemons.

"Palermo's Market" has even become a proverb in Sardinia, which means that everything is available. There are even signs on the market in some places called "Palermo"

But this abundance, of course, comes at a price. In the orange groves of Palermo, there were no free and wealthy farmers as rumored, but planters earning hard-earned money.

They colluded with each other, lowered the price and annexed the land that originally belonged to farmers, and then hired their original owners to work in the field at a low price. The benefits all go to the plantation owners. And when they can guarantee that most of the proceeds belong to themselves... and after confirming that no matter how much they sell, "those mud legs will not get any benefit from it", these plantation owners immediately started Try to expand the market. The first is to put a lot of advertisements in Sardinia and even abroad, and then give their plantations some famous brand names. Then pay actors to praise the quality of their oranges and lemons, or spend a lot of money to have some socialites speak for themselves in public.

Afterwards, these plantation owners bribed the local nobles, allowing these nobles to open up some authority for themselves, and took the opportunity to set up a railway freight company. Then they began to invest in road construction, repair and expansion of ports, and even the laying of railway tracks under the preferential policies of the policy. This is a policy that requires bidding. According to the current policy of Satin, bank entrepreneurs are especially encouraged to invest in the railway transportation industry. All companies that invest in the construction of railways have the right to use the railways for 20 years. If the operation is good, this will be not a small fortune.

Even the railway is still in its construction stage, and it has already created many jobs for Xili Island.

Of course, these jobs will not have any good wages, at least less money than working on a plantation. Only in this way can we ensure that the hard labor in the plantation can be batched one after another, and there will never be any vacant jobs. And at the same time. The plantation owners first increased the work intensity in the plantation, and then increased their new salary. In fact, this level of remuneration is the normal level of labor intensity, so those who cannot enter the plantation to work hard can only go to repair roads or work as construction workers. This is the next level of work, which can only be done as hard work, and there is no hope for a lifetime.

After the railway was opened and the road near the port was paved, no one knew how many people had died here, and how many bones were buried under the railway sleepers.

After that, with the opening and operation of the railway, it gradually extended from the freight railway to the passenger railway. Then to the steam locomotive... These three plantation owners used the locals in Sicily to earn money from outsiders and even foreigners, and seized a lot of wealth. This is like the Pazzi family back then.

After confirming that nobles were not allowed to be involved in politics and could not stand for political office, the Pazzi family decisively announced their separation from the status of nobles, and sold their fiefs in exchange for a sum of money. With this money, they made a fortune in the financial industry and bought back their own fief.

At this time, they have become the second largest "substantial nobles" in Sardinia. They did not have the title of nobility, nor did they have the status of nobility, but they still existed in the form of a family, and their status was second only to the Lorenzo family in power, except for the worthless title of nobility, they had nothing to lose.

Before the collapse of the Pazzi family, it can be said that it was the biggest force of the "emerging faction" in Sardinia decades ago. And now, this great title is about to be given to these plantation owners.

With the expansion of the port and the construction of roads and railways, Sicily has gradually become a gathering place for multi-party cultural exchanges. Today, people who speak various dialects and have various hair colors gather here, but the only ones who suffer are the locals here. It is far away from the mainland of Sardinia, and the laws of Sardinia are not even stronger than the "rules" of the locals here. And it is quite difficult to escape across the sea to the other side from here. The people here are not even as good as the slums in the northern part of Florence, but they are much cleaner than the slums. And their income is relatively stable. manual labor... and it is difficult for them to find anything else to do. Because the only and only way out and way out for ordinary people in all jobs is to pass the entrance examination for church schools.

There are three third-class and one second-class church schools on the island. The maximum graduation age is 22 years old. If you finish all the courses, you can already be called a half-scholar. At the same time, church schools teach for free. Even provide free meals, if you can send your own children to church schools. It's like losing a mouth to eat. Even in the future, they can become the company's atmosphere. Compared with the uneducated bottom labor islanders, these people who graduated from missionary schools can get enviable high-tech. This weak salary is even three to five times that of the port city on the other side of the sea... This is also a very simple and crude method to control the flow of talents. Therefore, those children think that "you must leave here when you graduate, and you will leave with your family when you take root", but when they really graduate, they are often tempted by Gaoxin and stay in Sicily. Although he has understood the profound meaning of "True Fragrance", he still stubbornly hates and resists those people who do whatever they want. Exist every day.

They are the Blackstone Gang.

They use black hands to hold hot volcanic rocks as a banner, which symbolizes the simple wish of "we want to return to the peaceful life we ​​used to have", and secretly recruit those rebels who do not cooperate with the company in various places.

Of course, even among those who are willing to join the Blackstone Gang, those who hope to "protest in a moderate way" still stand in the majority. This may be because they still hope that their children can pass the exams in the missionary school and become a master. And their disguise is the "puppet troupe"

They don't enter the theater to perform, but find a place with few people on the side of the road, and perform voluntarily under the guise. If someone is willing to give a reward, you can also give a symbolic point—it is better than nothing.

The guise of the puppet troupe is a wooden frame with a hand holding a cross. And if someone wants to find them. Just put a few volcanic stones under the cover. Put a few volcanic rocks. They would send people back here a few hours after dark.

They will then guide those seeking help to the nearest "shelter".

The bishop from the Holy Land lived there.

Following the guidance of Zhili, Leonardo came to the market in Palermo, and gently lowered a volcanic stone under the banner of the black puppet hand. Then he raised his head, stared frankly at the middle-aged man with dark brown skin, and nodded slightly.

That's a yellow name.

Ivan, forty-two years old.