I just covet their strength

Chapter 124 Young people should not be too arrogant
"Tell me slowly, what exactly is going on? Roy, do you know?"

Seeing the tearful look of the little girl, Westhead tried to comfort her while asking the tax collector.

".As I just said, after the fall of Qinghui Territory, we first fled to the nearby Imperial Frontier Territory. However, the price we had to pay to gain a foothold in those frontier territories was unbearable."

Roy's face looked very ugly, and he sighed:
"Most people are unwilling to sign a contract to sell themselves, but some compatriots have no choice."

With that said, Westhead understood what had happened and sneered:
"The damn pioneers are taking advantage of my misfortune to rob me. They are so desperate to get ashore!"

"That's true, brother. You should also know how attractive the empire's formal organization is to the pioneering territories. For this reason, they will spare no expense to fill their territories."

Yurda spoke.

"In that case, let me do the first practical thing for the people of Qinghui."

Westhead touched the little girl's head and picked her up:

"I will bring your family back, as well as all the Qinghui people who are enslaved outside. Since you call me Master, this is what I should do for you!"

"Yes! Thank you, sir!"

The little girl's eyes were filled with tears. She nodded vigorously and threw herself on Westhead's shoulder.

"Click——"

Yuerda was very tactful in finding a location and used her camera to capture this heartwarming and touching scene. I guess tomorrow she will be able to publicize how Lord Qinghui loves his people like his own children.

On this point, Yulda and Westhead are so in tune with each other that their tacit understanding is outrageous.

Westhead has always been vigorous and resolute in his work, never procrastinating. He was just thinking about how to establish a great and glorious image in the minds of the Qinghui people when this commission came to him.

There was no need to hesitate. The preliminary construction of the base would take some time anyway, so he could just go and get it done.

So Westhead went to the nearest imperial frontier city, Baiyan City, the next day.

The so-called pioneering territory is actually the territory that has not been officially incorporated into the national territory.

Do you think it counts as imperial territory?

As calculated.

Commoners who have made contributions to the empire, or branches of noble families, can explore and develop border areas after receiving a development order.

When their development progress is sufficient to root the God's "prosperity" law in the border lands, the pioneering territory will officially become the national territory of the empire.

The pioneering lords will also be transformed into inherited nobles with formal empire establishment, enjoying the empire's protection and the prosperity and wealth of their families.

Taking the airship, Lord Qinghui soon arrived at Baiyan City. Of course, a visit from a [Branch of Prosperity] would be agreed.

Although it is a frontier territory, the city does not appear to be barbaric and rough. Instead, it is quite exquisite and grand. The city layout is beautiful and reasonable. At first glance, it is no different from the core provinces of the empire.

This is not surprising. The difference between many frontier territories and the main city of the empire lies in whether they are incorporated into the territory of the empire. Baiyan City is obviously very ambitious and was built according to the scale of the main city.

"This city is pretty good. I saw it from the sky just now and it has workshops and agricultural areas."

Westhead got off the airship and took a car to the city lord's mansion, looking at the scenery outside the car window and commented.

In the eyes of a certain "Branch of Prosperity" who knows the future, the territories near Qinghui Territory will sooner or later be his sphere of influence. Westhead already thinks so now!

The white-haired girl sitting opposite Lord Qinghui said calmly:

"White Rock City is a pioneering territory established more than 30 years ago. The founder was a branch of the Golden Iris family in the imperial capital. He passed away a few years ago, and now his youngest son Oris has taken over his position as city lord."

Yuerda knew that Westhead knew nothing about the genealogy of the nobility, and then added: "The Golden Iris family can be considered as a noble family in the imperial capital. They do not have blessed blood or special inheritance. They rely purely on extensive marriages and superb political tactics to consolidate their position. Therefore, the population is quite prosperous, and the family's side branches are often sent to various parts of the empire."

"Before that, Baiyan City absorbed a large number of refugees from Qinghui Territory and semi-coerced the Qinghui people to sign slave contracts, which greatly enriched the city's population. The district you just saw was built by exploiting the labor force of the Qinghui people."

Westhead laughed and said, "They want to eat our flesh and blood to upgrade to a formal province, ctmd."

"These are the nobles of the empire. They are too timid to dare to cross the line, but if there is a slight opportunity, they will do whatever it takes to climb to a higher position. They are just like carrion-eating beasts!"

In the past two years, Yuerda had had enough of the imperial capital's nobles' fawning on the powerful, so she naturally hated the family and had no good impression of the Golden Iris family's side branch in Baiyan City.

The car stopped in front of the manor of the city lord's mansion. Westhead and Yulda got out of the car and entered the mansion under the guidance of the servants. They passed through the colorful garden and came to the reception room of the mansion.

As soon as you enter the room, you can see a young man in gorgeous aristocratic robes sitting in the main seat, with a smile on his handsome and tender face. Behind him stands a bowing maid, or you could say a guard.

"Good day, Lord Qinghui."

The young man stood up gracefully with his cane and saluted: "I am Oris Golden Iris, the lord of White Rock City. It is a great honor to welcome the visit of the Branch of Prosperity to my humble abode."

Although he is a very young and energetic boy, he is quite calm in dealing with people:
"Lord Qinghui, please take a seat. Malin, serve the tea."

After Westhead sat down, he said politely:
"It's true that heroes emerge young. I heard that Baiyan City has been developing very rapidly recently. I believe it will be upgraded to an official province of the empire soon. By then, the Golden Iris Family will have another prominent branch on the border."

Oris smiled and said, "It's all thanks to my father's legacy and your care. If it weren't for the help of Qinghui Territory, it would take some time for Baiyan City to be upgraded."

Care and help. Who are you being sarcastic about? !

Westhead didn't expect that the handsome young man in front of him would actually mock him secretly as soon as he opened his mouth.

Lord Qinghui leaned back tactically, lowered his eyes slightly and said:
"It seems that Lord Baiyan knows why I'm here. Then let's save the red tape. Two years ago, a group of refugees from Qinghui became slave laborers in Baiyan City. I just hope that Lord Baiyan can release all the slave laborers from Qinghui City because I am the head of Qinghui and have compassion for my people."

Oris obviously knew that Westhead would make such a request. He widened his eyes slightly and pretended to be surprised:
"I never thought that Lord Qinghui, as the Branch of Prosperity, would actually make such an unreasonable request. These Qinghui people have signed a contract in black and white to become slaves serving Baiyan City. In other words, they are already my property."

"It is really humorous for Lord Qinghui to directly ask me to give up such a large fortune."

Okay, okay, is that right?
Westhead said coldly:
".It's hard to believe that someone would sign a contract to sell themselves for a piece of bread and a glass of water, right?"

"But objectively speaking, even a meal can be considered saving a life. I will pay a ransom of one thousand silver leaves per slave, which is enough for you to buy the same number of slaves."

Westhead took a few deep breaths and was in a good mood. He felt that there was no need to get angry about things that could be settled with money.

Just accept the rip-off and settle the score in the future.

Oris shook his head and said:
"Unfortunately, slave laborers are far inferior to the talents of Lord Qinghui. They can serve as technicians, soldiers, accountants and engineers for Baiyan City. These technical professions cannot be filled by crude barbarian slaves, so please forgive me for not being able to agree to Lord Qinghui's kindness."

Upon hearing this, Westhead took a look at the handsome young noble in front of him and suddenly realized that the other party was not just trying to extort money from him, but had no intention of letting him go from the beginning.

Damn it, these border people are even more outrageous than the nobles in the imperial capital.

Westhead said seriously:
"Oris, I am talking to you calmly now. I must take the Qinghui people with me. The wisest decision for you is to try your best to gain my friendship. You will be grateful to me for it in the future."

"I'm sorry, I don't quite understand."

Oris gave a perfunctory smile: "I only know that what I did was in accordance with the law. I have not done anything illegal. Even if I report it to the God Ancestor, I have a clear conscience."

Lord Qinghui sneered and slapped the jade coffee table to pieces:

"As a senior, I would like to advise you, young people, don't be too impetuous!"

"If you don't have a lot of temper, you can still be called a young man!"

(End of this chapter)