Three Philosophical Questions for Travelers

That's why the Marquis was in such a hurry.

Laya thought for a while and said: "Since this is the case, the Sir should stabilize the situation in Bear Mountain! You are now the legal owner of Bear Mountain. As long as you appoint a vassal, then everything will be settled?"

At this moment, the demon monk suddenly said: "The king of Xiongshan should act according to the law. Chairman, what are you in a hurry for?"

"The law is dead. If everything follows the legal procedures, then many of your assets, Master Putin, will cease to exist."

"Nonsense! My assets are all legal, you can't slander me."

She ignored the guy, but continued to say to the Marquis: "My lord, I know that you are the last person who wants to fight."

Hearing this, the Marquis nodded silently, and said, "Yes, who would want to fight except a lunatic like Little Trident? I just want to guard the castle of my ancestors and be a merry lord! But I won't fight this battle No, someone forced me to fight."

"My lord, the owner of Bear Castle is not a rebel, but a hero who eliminated the traitor for you. Why do you want to start a war with him?"

The Marquis leaned on a large pillar with his face drooping, "Mani is my vassal, and the Chris family is loyal to me. Even if he is wrong in every way, he should not be killed in his own castle, let alone He should be exterminated." He said loudly, "If I don't avenge him and cover up the murderer, then I will lose my prestige among the vassals, and the whole Gulf will call Eston a coward! So I have to do something What, do you understand? Otherwise, I won’t be able to stop the vassals! At that time, I won’t just lose Bear Mountain——I don’t care who can be made an earl, anyway, everyone in Bear Mountain is the same! "

It doesn't matter who is the earl in that damn place at Bear Mountain?What does this mean?This sentence was deeply imprinted in Laya's mind, and she had a bad feeling.

"My lord, your mind has entered a misunderstanding."

"What mistake?"

"You need a reward, not a punishment - for this is not a rebellion, this is a victory of justice, this is a glorious feat of rebels and kings. Everyone knows that the "King of Wild Horses" killed the earl and robbed the castle The man who killed Count Mani was his own son Ravidya, and Ravidya pushed his own father off the city wall, and everyone watched. You positioned this as a rebellion from the beginning, which limited the our actions."

"But they sent troops to besiege the city—as long as they are people from Bear Mountain, they can't go against the Earl of Bear Mountain's wishes at any time and for any reason to send troops to besiege the city! This is a naked rebellion!" The Marquis finally roared out, "And, Laya, I think you should stop trying to excuse others, you are also involved in this matter? You should think about yourself! I have tried my best to protect you, but you insist on going to hell!"

Laya gave a salute, and then said firmly: "What I want is truth and justice. Lord Haiwen launched a just war and won it. He should get what he deserves—good and evil are rewarded, Marquis." grown ups."

At this time, the demon monk Putin also said: "This time, I think the chairman of the White Clothes Society is right. If massacring monsters is considered rebellion, then what else is not rebellion?"

"But they not only slaughtered the monsters, they surrounded Bear Castle! They defied the Earl's order and surrounded the castle when the Earl was still alive! Do you know what this is equivalent to? It is equivalent to stomping on the faces of all the nobles in the Bayland Underfoot! That man named Ambside must die! Not only must he die, but he must be executed publicly, so as to save the face of the nobles, understand? Two masters!"

The thinking of nobles is different from that of ordinary people, Laya frowned.What the nobles want is a solid ruling position, a political victory, and a victory of face. They don't care about truth, justice, and human life.

All nobles in the world are alike.She thought to herself, it seems that Xiongshan can't keep it, I have to contact Lord Haiwen as soon as possible and make future plans.

At this moment, a slender black shadow like a snake appeared in the corridor.Laya looked towards the shadow, and saw an oil lamp at the end of the corridor, and Awen Nemendus was standing in front of the oil lamp. The huge black shadow spread like a snake, covering the three people in the entire corridor. People are all covered.The man said, "My lord, can I share your worries?"

"Oh! You are here!" The Marquis said excitedly as if looking forward to a savior, "Come here quickly and give me some advice!"

Awen approached slowly, and the Marquis couldn't wait to meet him. He pulled up the handsome man's sleeves—Laya noticed that Awen's sleeves were slightly longer than his hands, and his fingers were always hidden in the sleeves—the Marquis was very excited. Talking about Xiongshan with him enthusiastically, it is obvious that he trusts this person very much.

"So, Awen, do you have a solution?" the Marquis asked anxiously.

Awen nodded with a smile, and said: "Oh, then I happen to have a strategy of two powers! I can not only save the face of the nobles, but also extinguish the flames of war—three, please listen to me."

Chapter 4: Haven's surprise, a

Chapter 4: Haven's surprise, a

"This is absolutely impossible!" Master Tang De'en slammed the table in the Yizheng Hall, blushing with anger, Hai Wen was really worried that the old man would die here if he couldn't get up.There were four people sitting in the council hall of the castle, Master Tang Deen, General Brian, Ramon and Haven himself.And this meeting lasted less than 10 minutes, and Haiwen and Tang Deen had a serious argument.

"We now occupy the position of justice. As long as we don't leave the castle and manage this place well, the nobles will have nothing to say! But if you use the army now, it will be a naked usurpation of power and rebellion, and no one can protect you. The old man said out of breath while propping up the long table in the conference room with both hands.Haiwen sat opposite him, calmly listening to the master's advice.

Haiwen nodded and said: "I am not using the garrison this time. My name is to organize police forces to catch criminals. All the garrison participating here are organized spontaneously, which is equivalent to a civil activity. According to the law It stipulates that non-governmental organizations are obliged to assist nobles in arresting fugitives. I have asked the former Judge Xiongshan to prepare arrest warrants and arrest warrants, and with these, my 'non-governmental organizations' can justifiably arrest these evil businessmen."

At this time, General Brian, who was sitting opposite him, smiled and said, "Is it still so troublesome? Didn't you dismiss all the original Xiongshan judges? Now you are the judge yourself?"

"It's not the same thing, General." Haven said calmly, "It was the judge who applied for his resignation, but I didn't dismiss him. After all, I don't have the power; as for me being a judge? Oh, I just Acting judge, the previous lord judge resigned, and before he left, he entrusted me to act as an acting judge. According to the law, this acting judge can do it for one month—I can only do it for one month, and everything is in compliance with the rules."

The general laughed a few times, and said, "It's all right in principle, but there will always be people who can't stand it if you do this. My lord, I advise you to keep quiet and wait for the Marquis to really issue a letter of appointment."

What if the appointment of the Marquis does not come down?Haven was not sure about this matter from the beginning.Although Laya went to Fengleibao to give him advice, but he couldn't put all his bets on Laya, he had to make two plans.

At first his plan was very pessimistic: if Raya failed, then he would continue to be a fugitive.And this time he was a serious criminal, a rebellious political prisoner.He had to leave the Gulflands, and at that time he probably had to go to Hesse and Delal for company.

But in the past half a month, he changed his mind.

Because he found that he had the strength to defend Bear Castle, he decided to hold his ground here. If the Marquis really wanted to attack with force, he wanted that guy to look good.

First of all, the terrain of Bear Castle is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and there is also a flexible heavy bed crossbow, which is enough to withstand the general siege troops; secondly, under the propaganda of Master Tang Deen, the hearts of Bear Mountain are all towards him, this is very important; Finally, and most importantly, he received a confidential letter from the little trident Earl Kahn yesterday.The secret letter implied to him that if Fengleibao launched an attack on Xiongshan, then Jinshabao would not sit idly by.Haiwen analyzed the secret letter, and he felt that Little Trident did this because he was at odds with Fengleibao. This was a confrontation between the old nobles and the new nobles, and Xiongshan was a weight in the balance of this war.He is maintaining the balance between Fenglei Castle and Jinsha Castle.

Moreover, Haiwen also believed that Fengleibao would not go to war for him—it was not worth it. Everyone knew that the Marquis of Fengleibao was a businessman, and a businessman valued profit. Why would he do such a loss-making business?impossible.

To sum up, he felt that he should arm Bear Castle first. He wanted to turn himself into the hardest bone, and anyone who gnawed on it would lose two teeth.He knew that there was a restrictive relationship between Fenglei Castle, Jinsha Castle, and White Bird City, and according to what Laya said, the Marquis is currently being overwhelmed by various things, and Haiwen felt that he didn't have the energy to start a "crusade against the rebels" .

The matter of Xiongshan will be resolved at the negotiating table.He thought to himself, and the stronger I am in Xiongshan, the heavier my bargaining chip will be.

Therefore, he decided to quickly eliminate the two major opposition forces in Bear Mountain: the Sarris family and the Sternier family.

These two families are his creditors, and they are also the toubob kings of Bear Mountain.One of them lends a lot of usury, operates brothels and casinos, and the other controls the slave trade and the two largest farms. It can be said that the primary, secondary and tertiary industries of Bear Mountain are all controlled by them. It is no wonder that Bear Castle has been crying poor.

Haiwen believes that these two families will definitely oppose him in the future, because Haiwen's policy will have a serious conflict with their interests-Haven will never allow someone to suck away people's wealth by usury, brothels and casinos, let alone The exploitation of labor slaves and serfs is allowed.In the future, he will continue to carry out land reform and strictly control projects such as brothels, casinos and loans.

Since sooner or later you will have to tear yourself apart with the two big families, it is better to do it as soon as possible.Get rid of the two big families earlier, and the other little devils will be obedient.

But apparently the people at the table disagreed with him.

"My lord, I don't recommend that you forcibly ban the two major families this time." Ramon held a parchment and Hai Wen said, "I checked the accounts, and the two major families have been paying for Bear Castle, the Garrison, And city operation donations, if you ban them, no one will give us money in the future. We are short of manpower now, and we can’t run the industry in a short time. It’s already May. If there is a big reshuffle now If not, then we will not be able to make up the gap this winter, and we will be in trouble at that time."

Haven said: "We can raid their homes and put the ill-gotten gains into the treasury. Then start the agricultural reform from the two big farms this fall, and the reform in Mustang Town can be done again. This time it will be better than last time." , because we all have experience."

Ramon nodded and said nothing, and Tang Deen asked him, "Do you have a reason?"

"They have committed so many crimes!" Haiwen picked up a stack of files and threw them on the table, with a "bang", "Now I'm asking them to settle the case, what's wrong?"

Tang Deen said: "If you are really an earl, you can, but what are you now? If you go to steal these people's homes now, you are a naked robber! Now the rich merchants and farmers are united. If you move One of them, then everyone will boycott you—the law does not punish the public, can you still slaughter everyone in Xiongshan? Haiwen, if you do this, you will stigmatize us. It's wasted, don't you understand? At that time, no one will regard you as king!"

Haiwen couldn't help but said loudly: "I copied the home of a profiteer and bully! The people will not betray me because of this, I am the king of the poor."

"But what you need is not mud legs, but..."

Having said that, someone knocked on the door outside the Yizheng Hall, and then the door opened, and a guard said loudly: "Master Haiwen, the messenger from Fenglei Castle is here!"

Haiwen rolled his eyes and said, "Please!"

Haven's Surprise, II

Haven's Surprise, II

Stormwind's messenger is a eunuch.This is the first time for Haiwen to see eunuchs in this world, it seems that only the Lord of Fengleibao likes to use such people.

It was a richly dressed man with long fingers and a thin voice.He opened the parchment at the door, and said in a loud voice like singing: "The vassals of the Kahn family, the Marquis of the King, the Marquis of the Gulf, the guardian of the bay and the bay of the port, the Satria family and the Du Lali The suzerain of the sub-family, the master of Fengleibao, the captain of the silver ship, the honorary president of the four major chambers of commerce, the master of the Iron Bank, the blessing of the sea god, the donor of the White Clothes Association, Eston Mondalia——” He He made a long note, "He has a decree for his subjects—the outcast, the king of wild horses, the murderer of monsters, the man of truth, the cold-blooded judge, the guardian of Bear Castle, Haven? Ambleside! "

When did I have such a long list of titles?Haiwen bowed his head full of doubts and saluted, and said: "I am Haiwen? The suzerain of the Lia family and the Duralia family, the master of Fengleibao, the captain of the Silver Ship, the honorary president of the four major chambers of commerce, the master of the Iron Bank, the blessing of the sea god, the donor of the White Club, Eston Mon Dalia's will!" He deliberately recited the title of marquis earlier, so he did not make a mistake.This is the red tape in the Eastern Gulf. This group of nobles attaches great importance to titles, reputations and other things, as if no one will know if they don't say it.

The eunuch nodded to him, and said: "Master Marquis' order is as follows: Haven Ambside, you have taken back Bear Castle from the spies of Vulcan Cult, and eliminated the three fierce demons—" Eh?How is it three heads?Hearing this, Haiwen was stunned, "—guarded the sacred land of the Gulfland Principality, and fulfilled the great duty of a citizen, hereby, I reward you as the guardian of Bear Mountain for a period of ten years, and you should continue to perform your sacred duty , secure internal affairs, and guard against foreign enemies. From today onwards, your first legal title must be the vassal of the Mondalia family; the second must be the guardian of Bear Mountain appointed by the Marquis. Have legal effect. Do not overstep."

Haven was stunned.

This was nothing like what he thought, and his best plan was to get things done at the negotiating table.According to the rules, they would quarrel at the negotiating table during the day, find a restaurant for a banquet at night;

Most of the nobles look forward and backward, and procrastinate in doing things. How can it be so happy to appoint vassals?Bear Mountain Guardian, this thing is equivalent to being a knight.The guardian's power status is equal to the original title, the only difference is that this position is limited, and of course it cannot be hereditary.

I haven't met the Marquis yet, so the matter is decided unilaterally?Don't you need me to bleed?He really couldn't figure it out.

The eunuch looked at him, and asked, "What's your answer, Ambside?"

"I accept the order of the Marquis." He took the parchment and the document with the red stamp in both hands.

The eunuch handed the parchment to Haiwen, and said, "The second will."

Sure enough, it wasn't over yet, and Haiwen's heart sank.

Then the eunuch read the long title again, and then said: "Haven Ambside, I order you to send the bodies of Chris and his son to Fengleibao immediately. The minister is invalid!"

what?

Now not only Haiwen was dumbfounded, but Tang Deen and the others behind him were also dumbfounded—what does the marquis mean?The old earl's body was buried long ago in a shroud. Is there any point in digging it up now?All Haiwen could think of was religious ceremonies, but neither the Sea God Sect nor the White Clothes Society involved grave-digging ceremonies.

He couldn't figure it out anyway.

This time, before Haiwen reached out to pick it up, the eunuch handed the parchment to Haiwen, and said, "I don't need to trouble you, I have brought the hearse and mourners, and you will bury the earl's bones." Tell me where it is, and we can transport it back by ourselves."

"okay."

Haiwen and Tang De'en exchanged glances, the master nodded slightly at him, and then Haiwen ordered Ramon to lead the eunuch.He sent the messenger all the way out of the castle, and then came back.

As soon as I returned to the council hall of the castle, the atmosphere in the room was not right.General Bryan entered the door in front of Hai Wen, congratulating him on the left and congratulating him on the right; while Master Tang Deen was smoking a cigarette, frowning, and the wrinkles on his face were squeezed together.

Haiwen didn't say anything, and returned to his seat - it was certainly a joy to be able to successfully become the guardian of Xiongshan Mountain, but after Haiwen calmed down a little, he felt a burst of worry.

It was the fear of the unknown, and after so many ups and downs, he knew he was in a cruel world full of intrigues.He has been here for two years, he has experienced betrayal and deceit, he has also deceived others; he has killed people with his mouth, and he has killed people with his hands; ;He has seen brothers turn against each other, and father and son kill each other... He doesn't believe that the pie falls from the sky, and that a huge gift must be accompanied by a huge price-what is the price?

He couldn't figure it out for a moment, so he simply stopped thinking about it.

Let's take one step at a time, he thought to himself, since I am the legal guardian of Bear Mountain, then I have to do something that "Guardian of Bear Mountain" should do now.

He said to Master Tang De'en: "Tang De'en, you said before that my name was not right, but now we are obviously right."

Tang De'en looked at Hai Wen thoughtfully, both of them looked solemn.The old man pondered for a while, and said: "I also don't know where the marquis is coming from. My lord, everything is up to you now. I will send someone to Fenglei Castle tomorrow to find out what happened."

"That's good." Haven nodded, and then said to Brian beside him, "General, can we order troops this time?"

Brian laughed immediately, and said, "Huh! Of course! Lord Haven, tell me, which one to copy first? Sarris or Stirney?"

Haiwen shook his head and said, "I won't copy either of these."

Brian asked, "Huh? No more copying? Then who copying?"

"I want to copy the home of the Baron Mustang." He ordered loudly: "Brian, the commander of the Bear Mountain Army, as the guardian of Bear Mountain, I order you to order [-] soldiers, then take the siege equipment, go straight to the Mustang Land, and set off immediately !"

"Yes!" The general immediately got up to salute, and the chair behind him fell to the ground with a "clang".

Chapter 5: Raya at the altar, a

Chapter 5: Raya at the altar, a

"This guy is really vicious." Half-orc Harrison murmured while stroking the severed horn on his head, "Digging up corpses? Insulting the dead? Isn't this Nemendus afraid of going to hell?"

He is not afraid, maybe he is from hell.Raya sat on a barrel in the underground wine cellar, holding a glass of water in her hand.She just told her cadres about Ah Wen.

Aaron followed Harrison's words and said: "Going to hell is a lie, only mud-legged people believe such nonsense." The veteran looked at the floor solemnly, with scars and wrinkles intertwined on his face, without distinguishing each other, "but if If he really succeeded, he would have helped the Marquis and us as well...but he didn’t help himself, Mrs. Laya, what do you think are the two strategies of power? What is Arwen’s motive? "

Laya said at this time: "He must have a plan, but we don't know his motives, which is the most annoying-ah, hasn't Eros come back yet?"

Harrison sneered and said, "Who knows? She's probably having a good time."

Raya ignored him.She lowered her head, her face was reflected in the reflection of the cup, and she felt that her face was a little older than before—I am already 27 years old, and my life span may have passed half, or even more than half.I have so much to do and so little time.

Then the face of Awen Nemendus and that terrible voice appeared before her eyes again:

"I have a plan of two powers." The handsome man said, "This method is also very simple, you just need to get me the body of the count, and then give me a few servants and guards, and I can settle this matter for you." You're done."

The Marquis asked him: "What are you going to do?"

"Haven Ambleside was classified as a rebel because he disobeyed the earl's order and attacked Bear Castle while the earl, a legal vassal, was still alive. Then it's very simple, we just let the earl die a few days earlier If the earl was already dead when Ambside attacked the city, then there would be no such thing as 'trampling on the legitimate rights of nobles'."

"But how do you let the count 'die a few days earlier'?"

"'Death' has many forms, my lord, you bring the corpse, and then set me an altar in the most conspicuous place in Windstorm Castle, and I can make the count's corpse speak; as for Bear Mountain, you don't have to Worried, give Ambside a title of Guardian of Bear Mountain, and then this matter will be settled. Afterwards, Bear Mountain will still be your Bear Mountain, and the tax should be paid, and everything will be business as usual."

So the Marquis agreed to Awen's request.The Marquis has never been a rash person, he always has to weigh the pros and cons, and think twice, but this time Laya didn't feel the Marquis' caution.He agreed to Arwen's request without hesitation, and even said that he followed Arwen's lead.

This man's voice seemed to have some magical power, making it impossible to refuse his request.The more Laya came into contact with this man named Awen, the more frightened she felt. This man was like a bottomless pit. All Laya's temptations to him ended in failure—it had been a week, but she knew that Awen Don't know anything other than being a businessman.

As a last resort, she sent Eros to spy on information—this courtesan might be able to pry some men's mouths.

At this moment, there was a loud noise outside.Harrison stood up and asked Laya, "My lord, it seems that the sacrifice presided over by Awen has already started. Let's go and have a look?"

Laya nodded and said, "Let's go and have a look."

The three left the secret wine cellar and came to the town street of Fengleibao.As early as seven days ago, Ah Wen posted a notice, notifying the people inside and outside Fenglei Castle that a grand sacrificial event was going to be held, the content was to celebrate the first slaughter of a fierce demon after a hundred years, and to ignite the fire of the fierce demon. Blood to comfort the ancestor warriors in the Gulflands.There are still some days before the autumn harvest, and people have time, so they all come to watch the sacrificial activities under Fenglei Castle.Many people also came from the villages and towns outside Fenglei City, 10 people flocked here, and the Fenglei Castle was built to be leaky, thieves were rampant in the city, there were fights every day, and prostitutes couldn't close their legs to receive customers.

Besides Awen, the host of this sacrifice is the high priest Grilas Vladimir Putin who can represent the Sea God Cult.Putin is the host appointed by the Marquis, at least this means that the Marquis is still sane, and he still intends to restrict Arwen.

Laya has always disliked religious sacrifices. As the chairperson of the Humanism faction of the White Clothes Society, she naturally would not participate in such activities.On the other hand, although this matter can increase her reputation, but this time she can't see the situation clearly, and she doesn't want to rush in.

Fengleibao was empty of thousands of people, and the street leading to the altar was extremely congested.Cars, horses and pedestrians blocked the space, and the air was filled with various odors. "Master Laya, follow me!" There was a lot of voices, and Harrison had to shout to ensure that Laya heard, "Let's squeeze to the front!"

After speaking, the half-orc opened the way ahead, and Aaron guarded Laya behind, and the two soldiers pushed the crowd away one after the other.There was a burst of cursing at their behavior, but Harrison let out a growl, and the people around them were immediately too frightened to make a sound.

They found a relatively forward position, just under the signboard of a tavern, there was a small open space, and they could just see the altar clearly.Laya saw that the altar was a simple high platform made of wood and stone, without the gorgeous style of Fenglei Castle at all.Awen stood on the stage wearing a wide robe with a hood, the hat almost covered his entire face, only a little golden hair was exposed; beside him was the demon monk Putin, who was wearing a sea blue robe, Wearing a coral crown, the boots under the feet are mostly made of fur seals. Although this outfit has no jewelry, it is priceless.The demon monk's eyes rolled like a pair of living creatures with souls. He seemed to be scanning the crowd and prying into everyone's heart.

Behind them were conch horns and animal skin war drums, and four strong sailors with shirtless upper bodies stood beside these instruments, waiting for the sacrifice to begin.