The King

  Chapter 136 Potato Price

  In the royal capital, along with the transmission of photo stones one after another, the people of the royal capital are really addicted to their eyes.

  For a while, the nobles of the North were once again pushed to the forefront by public opinion.

  The evidence of the stone hammer is in front of everyone, and any cover-ups and excuses become meaningless.

  …

   "Who did this?"

   Caesar III asked angrily.

  Although the five giants in the Northland are unhappy, it does not mean that all the nobles in the Northland will be pushed to the opposite side.

   Robbing merchants has never been a big deal. If the nobles in the southeastern province hadn't brought the lawsuit to the capital, Caesar III wouldn't have had time to pay attention to such trivial matters.

  Originally, I thought that the big thing would be reduced to a small one, and if the small matter was reduced, it would be over if the responsible person was dealt with in a low-key manner.

  The current wave of public opinion has directly revealed the matter. The incident has spread from the parties to the entire northern noble group.

   As a political strongman, Caesar III could tell at a glance that someone was deliberately provoking trouble.

   "According to the investigation data, these ripped photo stones were all lost from the hands of a businessman named Philip.

  It's a pity that our investigators were a step too slow. When they went to find it, the building was already empty, and only a few peripheral miscellaneous fish were caught.

  We have collected very little information about Philip. This person seems to have popped up out of nowhere, and there is no other information other than spreading photo stones.

  Including the surrounding neighbors, none of them knew this person. We're not even sure if the name is real or not. "

  The Grand Duke of Newfoundland bit the bullet and explained.

   It's not that he, the prime minister, didn't work hard, but it happened suddenly. No one expected this scene to happen.

  There are too many suspected forces.

  There are dozens of domestic and foreign companies.

   Even if you want to check, you don't know how to start.

   "What did Earl Pierce say?"

   Caesar III asked angrily.

   It's not that he is venting his anger on others, it's just that the disturbance is not going to end well, and he must come up with a result as soon as possible to suppress the heat.

  The incident was detonated from the southeast province. Whether he wanted it or not, Earl Pierce was passively involved in the vortex of the storm.

   "Governor Pierce's opinion is: only deal with the following specific executors, in order to quell public anger.

   Regarding the noble children involved in this matter, he suggested not to deal with it directly in order to minimize the impact.

  If necessary, the southeastern province will announce the results of the investigation to the outside world, claiming that people from the Skull and Bones Society pretend to be these nobles to do evil. "

  After listening to the prime minister's words, Caesar III's anger eased a little.

  This kind of explanation, although it cannot be hidden from those who are interested, is a reliable solution after all.

   "Just do it according to his opinion. But it can't be called pretending. This kind of rhetoric is too difficult to be convincing.

   Announced to the outside world that the Skull and Bones used evil methods to control these nobles to do evil.

  At the same time, increase the intensity of the arrest of the Skull and Bones, let the nobles of the Northland find their own way, and come up with substantive evidence that the Skull and Bones did it! "

   Caesar III said indifferently.

  It may seem like this changes the narrative, but the end result is something else entirely.

  "Being pretended to be" means that this matter has nothing to do with the children of the nobles of the Northland, and there is no need to bear any responsibility.

  "Evil law control", although it can also escape being held accountable, but with such a hat, the way forward will be cut off.

  An aristocrat who has been controlled by a cult organization, no one can guarantee that he will come again, and he is destined to be unable to take on important tasks.

   After all, being able to be controlled by a cult in the continent of Aslante is equated with being weak-willed.

  It runs counter to the mainstream chivalry and aristocratic spirit. Not only is the development path blocked, but it will also be despised in future life.

   "Your Majesty, the changes in the southeastern provinces were mainly caused by the friction of interests between the children of the northern nobles and the local nobles.

   If this problem is not resolved, no one can guarantee that similar incidents will occur in the future. Why not just take this opportunity and solve it together! "

   Grand Duke Afiero proposed.

  As Minister of Military Affairs, he remained neutral most of the time to the political struggles within the kingdom.

  But it is different now. Seeing that the northern land is filled with gunpowder, it is only a matter of time before the orcs invade the south.

  At this juncture, the Alpha Kingdom must be united.

   Otherwise, once the war breaks out, it will be the beginning of disaster.

  Facing an enemy like the orcs, there is no room for relaxation. In essence, we are all in the same boat.

  Glanced in the direction of northern Xinjiang, and after sighing, Caesar III said thoughtfully:

   "This matter, the prime minister can figure it out!"

  …

  The decision of the capital is still on the way, but the two counties of Wyton and Wright exploded first.

  Governor's mansion's large-scale acquisition of people, but without keeping it secret, soon caused an uproar in the aristocratic circle.

  Seeing the misfortune of one family after another of the nobles, the children of the northern nobles who participated in the robbery panicked instantly.

   Many unlucky people, except for himself, all the troops under his command were arrested.

   It's not that no one tried to organize a rebellion, but the fate of the rebels was really miserable. Not only were all his subordinates killed, but even the lord himself was beaten up.

  The army responsible for carrying out the arrest task all brought chaplains with them, who specially treated these restless nobles.

  Injuries with missing arms and broken legs can be recovered instantly. As long as you dare to resist, people will dare to do black hands.

  The only criterion is—undead nobles on site. They don't care about all the sequelae.

  Especially the local aristocrats who cooperated with the past, it is even more revenge and revenge, and the behavior is so bad that it is too difficult to write.

   At such a time, Baron Sith, who is the backbone of the nobles of the Northland, unexpectedly announced to thank guests behind closed doors.

   "Master, are you really missing?"

   Butler Faerun asked hesitantly.

   Baron Sith stopped early, and no evidence of the stone hammer was found. It is indeed a good choice to protect himself wisely at this moment.

  But there are too many northern nobles involved, except for a few lucky ones who escaped the record of the photo stone, most of the participants were unfortunately arrested.

   "It's meaningless, the handle has fallen into the hands of the enemy. If the Governor's Mansion wants to take advantage of this opportunity, no one can stop it.

  We get involved and we don’t help anyone but ourselves.

  Anyway, I should remind you beforehand.

   Most of the nobles who were close to us hid in the past. What does the life and death of others have to do with me?

  Our finishing work is not so neat, no one cares about it. If it is investigated, the situation will also be difficult to clean up.

  If it really mixes too much and angers the Governor's Mansion, it may not be impossible for us to do it together. "

   Baron Sith said calmly.

  The most fearful thing in everything is to be true, and the face of my father is not easy to use here. If people don't investigate deeply, it is due to the unspoken rules among the great nobles.

   After all, every family has younger generations who are not worried. When you encounter some problems, you cling to them to death. Isn't it true that the children of the N generation are not living a good life.

  If people don't pursue it, it doesn't mean that he can die indefinitely. If he sent it to the door by himself and was cleaned up by others, even Grand Duke Kavadia would not be able to say anything.

   Glancing at his young master, Butler Fei Lun hesitated to speak. This time, what I did was unreasonable.

  On the surface, they just sit idly by and watch everyone die, but secretly they are taking the opportunity to eliminate dissidents.

  …

  With the maple leaf collar, Baron Kettley is welcoming the inquiries of the arresting army with an expression of a dead pig not afraid of boiling water.

   There is no problem in wanting to arrest someone, he fully cooperates with the action, but the prerequisite is to produce evidence.

  He took the picture stone and compared it over and over again, and was surprised to find that none of the soldiers in the territory could match up with the soldiers who participated in the robbery.

   If someone hadn't seen it, the convoy entered the Maple Leaf collar after the successful robbery, and almost fooled it.

   "Baron Kettley, please tell the truth, where are the rest of your soldiers and the supplies you robbed?"

   Baron McNamee asked sharply.

  Many diehards were planted in his hands. But this time was an exception, the main force of the Maple Leaf Territory was not there at all, and only serf soldiers in armor remained in the territory.

   Those who participated in the robbery must not be serf soldiers. Caravans these days are not soft persimmons.

   "Your Excellency, what are you talking about? All the soldiers of my Maple Leaf collar are here, where are the other soldiers.

   You must have read it wrong, maybe some unscrupulous nobleman sent someone to impersonate. You should go look elsewhere, lest the real culprit escape. "

  Kately's words of treating people as fools completely angered Baron McNamee, who was on the arrest mission.

   If the key perpetrators hadn't been caught, Kettley couldn't handle it. He had to let the guy in front of him know that the investigators couldn't be messed with.

"Is it?

  Since Your Excellency said so, don't regret it.

  Now the governor is magnanimous and intends to give you a lighter sentence, but it will not be so simple later. "

   After uttering a harsh word, Baron McNamee turned around and left with the people.

  The murderer ran away without even finding the stolen goods, so there was no question of conviction.

  Continuing to stay and entangle is meaningless except to increase the jokes.

   However, he wrote down the account first. Once the opportunity arises in the future, he will definitely come to liquidate it.

  …

  After narrowly escaping, Baron Kettley's face showed no joy at all.

   Sensing that the limelight was wrong, before the Governor's Office reacted, he asked his subordinates to pretend to be laborers to transport goods to the Northland.

   But the army can hide away for a while by sneaking away, but they can't hide for a lifetime. Once they return to the southeast province, old accounts will still be revealed.

   "Sith, if you really did this. Then we all underestimated you!"

  The idea of ​​doubt, just born, lingered in his mind.

  Shortly after Baron Sith reminded, the picture stone recording the robbery popped up. It happened that his cronies escaped unharmed, and those who suffered heavy losses were those who did not buy him in the past.

  As an old opponent, Kettley has never really taken the second-generation Baron Sith seriously. But the current situation made him have to re-examine his opponent.

  After this turmoil, the children of the northern nobles suffered heavy losses, but this fragmented alliance has emerged as a dominant family.

  The losers are ruined, not only will their future development be frustrated, but even their survival will be a problem.

  The strength in their hands has been greatly damaged, and the family behind them is beyond their reach. If they want to keep this foundation in their hands, the only choice left for them is to find a backer to rely on.

  The local aristocrats couldn’t integrate into it for a while, and there was no way to join them. Baron Sith naturally became the only choice for everyone.

  Sacrificing the strength of the unstable elements in the alliance in exchange for control of the entire alliance, this deal is obviously a bargain.

  According to the principle that whoever benefits is the biggest suspect, Kettley has enough reasons to suspect that this is the work of Sith.

   It's just a suspicion, but at the moment he can't do anything.

  Although he doesn't know what the final outcome will be, he can be sure that the northern nobles in the two counties will only be respected by Baron Sith in the future.

   It is useless to refuse to accept. The strength of the opponents has been severely damaged, and they are no longer able to compete with the Sith for the right to speak in the alliance.

   Even in order to survive, many people were forced to seek refuge in the past.

  …

  In the mountainous region, Hudson, who was sitting and watching the situation, no longer looked at the children of the Northland nobles whose strength had been damaged.

  Starting from the network collection plan, the subsequent plot is out of his control. Facts have proved that the thinking of the big shots above is really different from what he expected.

  The robbery incident, which was supposed to be handled lightly, directly ruined the future of half of the northern nobles in the two counties because of an accident.

  Of course, for ordinary nobles, this level of social death is not completely unacceptable.

  In the Alpha Kingdom where the class is severely solidified, every step forward is full of difficulties.

  Most of the feudal nobles find it difficult to make a leap to the upper echelon in their lifetime, but it is very easy to slide down.

   But for some ambitious guys, this is the biggest disaster, and you can imagine how much resentment these guys will accumulate in their hearts.

  Where this resentment will eventually be vented is unknown for the time being, anyway, hidden dangers are buried.

   "Tom, go back to your hometown and hand over this letter to Baron Redman."

   Hudson asked.

  Everything has two sides, and the subordinates show mercy to the northern nobles, so the kingdom must appease the local nobles.

  As one of the spokespersons for the interests of the local nobles, Hudson is undoubtedly able to enjoy this wave of political dividends.

   Failed to trap Baron Sith, but created an opportunity for him to integrate the nobles of the Northland. Naturally, Hudson did not have the position of Sheriff.

   Correspondingly, the Dalton family came forward to operate the Viscount position for him, but now there is basically no suspense.

  The promotion of the title, especially the promotion of the title of the fief nobles, every step is extraordinary.

   Especially this symbolic promotion can be called a class leap, and it is of great significance to any family.

   This is no longer a personal matter for Hudson, but has risen to the level of the entire Koslow family. Correspondingly, the preparatory work that needs to be done has also increased a lot.

  There are so many messy things, Hudson doesn't want to get himself into it. If you have this spare time, it is better to work hard to improve your strength.

  Hudson didn't want to do it, but someone was willing to do it.

  As the father of a five-year-old, Baron Redman has long passed the golden period of cultivation, and the ancestral territory has nothing to worry about.

  At this age, the low-level nobles who have not yet climbed up are no longer competing for careers, but for the younger generation.

  Since the father has a need, the son can only cooperate. There is absolutely nothing wrong with entrusting this kind of showy scene to him.

  Notify in advance, and prepare the preparations, so as to save time and make jokes.

  …

   "Master, in recent days, the slaves in the territory have been attrition somewhat.

  Someone has sold orc slaves recently, do you want to take the opportunity to purchase a batch at a low price as a supplement? "

   It was Luke who was in charge of the swamp reclamation work.

   He was originally a businessman, but unfortunately he went bankrupt during the previous looting of the nobles of the Northland, so he defected here in order to avoid his creditors.

  Seeing that Hudson, who has a good ability and is seriously lacking in talents, promoted a land reclamation supervisor on the front line.

  Facts have proved that when it comes to squeezing methods, businessmen are more professional.

   With one more person in charge, the development progress of the swamp has increased by 40% again, but the corresponding loss of slaves is also increasing day by day.

   It can be said bluntly that every mu of developed swamp is full of blood and tears.

  If it weren't for the benevolent Master Hudson who really couldn't see it and intervened, the speed could be even faster.

   Kindness is kindness, and Luke is still in charge of the position, and he has become the right-hand man of Master Hudson.

   "Those Northland guys can't hold on so soon?"

   Hudson asked with a smile.

  In fact, everyone has secretly contacted about the issue of the orc slave trade before.

  However, the gap between the expectations of the two sides is too large. Hudson, who is only willing to pay the price of potatoes, cannot satisfy everyone's appetite at all.

   In order to show their indomitability, a group of northern nobles even committed atrocities to artificially reduce the population.

   It's a pity that these things don't scare Master Hudson. Anyway, the orc slaves who are disposed of are not his property, so there is no need to worry about them.

   "Master, it is said that because of the poor food, the orc slaves led by Tago started a riot.

  Although the rebellion was quickly suppressed by the nearby noble lords, the Tigerland still suffered heavy losses.

   In a fit of anger, Knight Justin executed all the remaining orc slaves.

  Just after killing someone, he regretted it..."

   Luke said gloatingly.

  The slave rebellion in Tigerland was no accident. As one of the main participants in the robbery incident, the soldiers in Justin's hands naturally failed to escape the fate of being arrested by the Governor's Mansion.

  With no soldiers in hand, the orc slaves who were originally valuable labor force naturally became the biggest security risk in the territory.

  When a fuse is lit, the mine explodes directly. Seeing the unlucky situation of Knight Justin, the other northern nobles naturally felt lingering fear.

  Instead of keeping the mine in your hand, not knowing when it will explode, it is better to sell it as soon as possible, and you can exchange some gold coins to make up for the loss.

  The only regret is that there are too few buyers and there is no room for choice. After turning around, I still could only find Hudson.

   It was originally part of the plan. At this time, Hudson will naturally not be polite to them.

   "Tell them, I'll give you thirty pounds of potatoes for every strong ratman slave, fifty pounds for tauren slaves, kobolds..."

   Cut the original offer in half, and Hudson reported it directly. As for whether the northern nobles accept it, it doesn't really matter.

  The forest is big and there are all kinds of birds. Not every noble in the Northland has the capital of toughness, and there will always be compromises.

   Now you can sell some food in exchange for some food. If there is a slave riot, it will be nothing.

  (end of this chapter)