The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

Chapter 149 Abstract Proposal

After the march and trial, this group was sent to gray and white-collar jobs as quickly as possible.

However, the transport team stopped when it reached Black Iron City, and the rest of the journey was escorted by the Gray Collars.

Pete was escorted to Black Iron City in a daze. The entire city showed no signs of war. Merchants and ordinary people walked on the bustling streets, and there were occasional theatrical performances.

The nobles being escorted all looked on with curiosity at everything happening in Black Iron City.

Although Black Iron City was prosperous, it was still within the comprehension of these nobles. So after the initial shock, the nobles quickly calmed down. Their shock was mainly that the North seemed to be different from what they had learned in the intelligence.

Although they were being held captive, many of these nobles were professionals, while the guards were just ordinary people. Pete looked at the soldiers who seemed to be unarmed and felt a little restless.

When some soldiers changed shifts, a nobleman quietly asked Pete, "Shall we run?"

Pete gave the nobleman the look of someone who was an idiot.

This is like being ordered to commit suicide by the emperor, but instead of taking your own life, you try to escape.

Lilith compromised amidst the machinations of the old nobility, the old party, and some Augustines. But if anyone refused to accept their fate and instead ran away, they were handing Lilith a knife.

At that point, even the Augustins will have no reason to continue obstructing Lilith.

Moreover, this might displease the white-collar workers. If the arms deal goes wrong, the peasants in the southwest are watching closely.

The nobleman had no choice but to return to the group and follow the escort to the Grey Collar.

When these nobles stepped into the gray-white collar, the towering obelisks, the huge waterwheels, the runes and magic circles that could be seen everywhere on the streets, and the roaring factories all refreshed their understanding of the North and shattered their self-esteem.

The intelligence from the North that the capital received was severely distorted, partly due to the chaotic nature of the information and partly due to its absurdity.

After all, under Doug's rule, the scene of hell on earth that Cordick had described was basically realized, and even surpassed it.

The information related to gray and white-collar workers is very extreme. They are either more miserable than Doug next door, with the governor eating two children every day, or they live in a god kingdom on earth where everyone lives like nobles.

Caught between two extremes of mixed true and false intelligence, the general perception of the Northern Gray and White Collars in the capital was that they were very capable fighters, but in reality, they were not much better than Doug and needed to sell weapons to make money.

This is the most rational guess.

This is how it should be, but what is presented to these nobles is not only free of the sour smell of swill, the starving dead, and the beggars, but also more prosperous than the capital, with things they have never seen before.

These aristocrats, known for their extensive knowledge, seemed like unsophisticated old men to the gray-collar workers, curiously looking around.

If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, most people would still be more willing to believe the version that Governor Linde ate two children alive every day.

Soon, Linde met the nobles in the prison cell. These nobles had basically resigned themselves to their fate and had not even thought of escaping along the way. When they saw Linde, they were just stunned for a moment and did not say anything more. There were no tears streaming down their faces, nor did they kneel down and beg for mercy.

"Send it to the mine."

After saying that, Lin De left the cell in disappointment with his men.

I had already instructed the guards to relax their watch, but I didn't expect that none of them would escape. It's a real pity.

This level of revenge cannot be considered true revenge at all; the real revenge is far from over.

“Tell me about the families behind these people, introduce them one by one.”

On his way out of the cell, Lind muttered to himself.

But from the shadows beside him came Lucanus's voice, who gave Lind a detailed report on the family backgrounds of these people.

Originally, those who resisted the new policies of Kran were the extremists among the old nobles. These noble families who assassinated the king were doing things that would put them at the same table as Doug, so it's no wonder that these people could be so compatible with the demons.

"A bunch of filthy scoundrels."

Linde shook his head as he listened; Lucanus's introduction only reinforced Linde's preconceived notions about these nobles.

“These families should all write this down; it will come in handy later.”

Lind wanted to let these people know that trying it wouldn't just mean their own demise, unless their family was in the wholesale business.

After returning to his study, Lind found the letters Lilith had written to him.

In the letter, Lilith described in detail how these people colluded with the demons to carry out the assassination plan, and briefly mentioned the current situation in the capital. She hoped that Linde could quickly open new channels for purchasing muskets and cannons and send the weapons over.

Similarly, Lilith thanked Lind for his support in the letter as always, but unlike before, in order to thank Lind, she hoped to become his sworn brother, and the two would address each other as brother and sister from now on, which left Lind completely bewildered.

Sworn brother and sister relationships are not common in this world. Apart from appearing in churches, they are most often established between very close lords and vassals.

Didn't Her Majesty's prime minister see this letter? A queen calling a local governor "brother"—does this queen really know what she's doing?

Although Linde and the Queen's letters were nominally private, they were actually made public internally and discussed important matters, thus having a diplomatic nature.

Linde wondered if the person on the other end of the line was out of their mind or simply hadn't understood his hints, and that they were going to swear brotherhood over a letter of this nature.

Or does the other person think that if she becomes their sister, they won't rebel?

Let alone a sister who is not related by blood, even if it were a real younger sister, Lin De would still rebel. At most, he would change from beating her up to bringing her back for a proper education, turning the Fengtian Rebellion into a real Fengtian Rebellion.

However, after reading further, Linde began to understand the deeper meaning behind this decision.

Although the people escorted over were indeed the masterminds, they were also pushed out to take the blame. It would take a lot of money to hire high-level professionals and carry out an assassination plan against the king. How could it be decided by one person from a family?

The current queen seems to be enjoying great success. She has just solved the assassination attempt on the former king, opened up channels for purchasing artillery, and is about to become a saint of the Papacy again.

But Lilith was unable to bring about a purge of these families.

Lilith has no army of her own, and her legitimacy comes entirely from Crane's will, the interpretation of which rests with the Augustins.

After all, no matter how comprehensive the will was, Crane was a dead man and could no longer speak out. The Augustine family was the ones who actually carried out the will.

It is clear that Lilith's power has now exceeded what Augustine and his ilk had envisioned.

Perhaps before the reforms are even finished, as soon as the fighting on the southwestern border eases even slightly, the Augustins will begin to act.

No, perhaps the Augustins have already begun to act.

Therefore, Lilith needs to constantly rely on external forces to stabilize her position, and Lind is a very good external force.

In particular, Lind once said that whoever made the Queen abdicate, he would make that person abdicate as well.

Linde even suspected that this was not Lilith's idea, but the work of the prime minister by Lilith's side. It was more of an alliance than a sworn brotherhood, an alliance between the gray-collar workers and Lilith personally.