The war on the Tefero steppe did not end as quickly as the Imperial Cabinet had imagined, but tended to shift to a protracted war, and the newly formulated Battle of Sharptown did not go as smoothly as Emperor Laubert expected, and the two banner regiments of the orc tribe held back the pace of the Provisional Twelfth Combined Legion of the Empire on the high ground southwest of Sharp.

Just as the war in the north of the empire was heating up, and the eleventh legion of the Kru Command marched towards the Twak Territory with the blessing of Peidi himself, a bloody incident occurred in the economic, cultural, and political center of the Central Empire, Suk City, which shook the entire upper echelons of the Empire.

On October 5,

Because of the tension of the war in the Tephilo steppe, the war tax levied by the emperor on the empire was once again raised, especially for some monopoly industries, such as luxury goods, spices and other products, the trade tax was as high as 60%.

At the same time, under the resolution of the Cabinet, the personal income tax of middle-class families in the empire was also raised, and under the intervention of Emperor Laubert, the personal tax of 50 percent originally planned by the cabinet was directly raised to 65 percent.

The next day, October 6,

When the Imperial Treasury announced various tax measures, the so-called imperial elites in all the villages and towns within a radius of two hundred miles, centered on the imperial capital Suke City, broke out into strong dissatisfaction.

In the afternoon of the same day, representatives of various industries in the imperial capital surrounded the building of the Ministry of Finance.

In the evening, Baron Parocto, the deputy head of the logistics department of the military department, asked for news of military spending in the Ministry of Finance, and I don't know who leaked it ...

So, when Baron Parocto walked out of the Treasury building, he was beaten to death by a group of angry businessmen!

Subsequently, the private soldiers and guards of the noble merchants clashed with the guards who arrived ...

Amid the unique sound of the magic whistle of the guard, which was as piercing as tearing through the sky, the nobles' private soldiers actually drew their swords and pointed their swords at the officers who were about to arrest them.

Half an hour later,

The father of Baron Parocto, the deputy commander of the logistics department of the military department, who was killed, and Viscount Tefit, the deputy commander of the Imperial Capital City Defense Army, arrived when he heard the news, and when the adjutant put a bloody corpse in front of him, Viscount Tefit, who was over half a hundred years old, roared angrily, and then squeezed out a sentence from between his teeth: "I want everyone here to go to hell!"

"This is the imperial capital, my lord. The adjutant couldn't help but remind his superiors.

"If His Majesty the Emperor blames him, I will take all the responsibility. Viscount Tefit said coldly, "But now, I'm going to make these people pay. ”

None of the officers and soldiers of the city defense army were stupid, so in the end, only Viscount Tefit's cronies and retinue did not intervene to stop this bloody conflict.

Half an hour later,

When Prince Sinda of Lion Castle arrived with his guards, there was already a river of blood under the Treasury building, and almost all the noble merchants and their private guards who participated in the attack on Baron Parocto had been slaughtered!

The guards of the security department suffered heavy losses, Zemut, the former sheriff of the northern district of the city who was temporarily the chief of the guard, was seriously injured and unconscious, and Viscount Tefit was wounded in the abdomen by a sharp blade with a deep bone, and was lying on the steps of the Ministry of Finance building to be treated by his paladins.

Prince Sinda looked at the corpses all over the ground, and his young face was suddenly covered with frost...

Everything that caught the eye on the scene was much more serious than the young prince imagined.

Never before in the history of Prince Sindar had there been such a bloody conflict in Sukh City, in other words, it was the worst bloodshed in the imperial capital since the establishment of the Empire, and it took place in the Treasury building not far from the Lion Castle.

This is undoubtedly a challenge to the authority of the imperial family and the existing order of the empire!

"These nobles attacked the guards, and Chief Zemt's life is now in danger. A senior agent from the guard department preemptively explained, "The nobles are openly attacking the Imperial military officials, and then arresting and attacking the guards. ”

"How's Zemut?" Prince Sinda's heart jumped, Zemut was a pawn that his father had spent more than a decade planting in the guards, and now he had problems just controlling the guards, which made the young prince think about it.

"It can be life-threatening at any time. The senior agent looked at the burly body that had fallen to the ground, being healed by a paladin.

"Your Highness," the deputy commander of the City Defense Army, Viscount Tefit, stood up and saluted the prince from the pain of the wound in his abdomen, "The group of merchants killed my son, and that was my only son..."

Prince Sinda interrupted coldly, "So you're going to take the soldiers of your city defense battalion to kill indiscriminately under the Ministry of Finance building?"

"No, I did all this alone, it has nothing to do with the city defense battalion, they are just helping me heal, you can take me to the military court or the guard. Viscount Tefit pushed away his lieutenant and fell to his knees, blood dripping from his abdomen on the solid steps.

"Your Highness!" said Earl Stu Gara, Chancellor of the Exchequer and member of the Cabinet, and his two bodyguards walked briskly out of the main entrance of the Treasury building.

Count Stu first walked up to Viscount Tefit and ordered to the left and right, "Take Viscount to treat the wound first." Then, as fast as he could, he came to Prince Sinda's side, grabbed the reins of the prince's mount, and whispered, "The emperor needs the assistance of the city guards..."

The implication of his words was that Viscount Tefit could not be moved now, and before the prince could retort, Count Stu continued: "The best thing you should do now is to give an order to the city defense army in the name of Lion Castle, so that all its main forces are stationed in the city to strengthen the patrols of the various neighborhoods, and at the same time, you need to go to the court yourself and ask them to send the guards of the guard office to assist the city defense army. ”

Prince Sinda's anger was replaced by an unknown chill, and after thinking for a few seconds, he ordered Sir Neto, the deputy commander of the Guard, beside him: "Do as Count Stu says, before dawn I need to see all the city guards stationed in the inner city of the imperial capital." ”

The prince directly ignored the matter of going to the court to ask for the assistance of the guards of the security department, he looked at the several senior agents of the security department present, and said, "You should resume the functions of the four major security offices in the imperial capital as soon as possible, instead of staying in the office all day to rest." ”

With that, the prince dismounted, and was escorted by the Guards into the Treasury building with Count Stu.

...

In a small conference room on the second floor of the Ministry of Finance Building, Count Stu activated the soundproofing magic and said: "This is a premeditated plan, Your Highness, I think you should write a letter to Your Majesty personally." ”

"Premeditated?" the young prince was stunned.

"It's all happening so fast... Don't you think that the death of Paroctore, and the appearance of his father, Viscount Tefit, is it as if someone was deliberately arranged?" Count Stu's voice was dull and terrifying, "Someone wants to stir up conflict between merchants and nobles. ”

"Who could it be?" Prince Sinda asked subconsciously, he obviously had no experience in dealing with this kind of thing, and his mind suddenly became a little confused after hearing Count Stu's words.

"Your Highness, you should learn to approach problems with a cool head. Count Stu was a little unhappy with Prince Sinda's reaction, "You need to clear your mind... Think about what's been going on inside the empire lately. ”

The prince frowned and asked, "The war in the Tefalo steppe?"

Count Stu nodded in agreement, "It turns out that the 'Radiant Force' plays an extremely important role in this war, in fact, the two things you said are one thing... Therefore, I have reason to suspect that this was done by the remnants of the 'Radiant Power'. ”

"What do these people want to do?" said the prince, who was substituted by Count Stu.

"They want to change the world. Count Stu shrugged, "A bunch of whimsical lunatics... A group of highly intelligent madmen is quite terrifying, so we must clear the remnants of the Imperial Capital's 'Radiant Power' as quickly as possible. ”

"Is that what you're suggesting?" Prince Sinda looked at the Imperial Chancellor of the Exchequer thoughtfully, "So, what is the power they rely on?"

"The upper echelons of the Empire!" Count Stu said in a low voice.

But Prince Sinda heard this, and he smiled at once, and then said coldly, "Do you think I'm a fool?

"You are the wise king, Your Highness. Count Stu bowed, "The empire is in decline, and the root of the decline is caused by the contradiction between the new nobility and the upper nobility of the empire, and only by completely resolving this contradiction can the empire regain its former glory." ”

Prince Sinda turned and walked to the door, called his guards, then turned to Count Stu and said, "I will bring your words to my father, maybe he will make the right decision." ”

"His Majesty the Emperor is wise, but he has been blinded by the nobles around him. Count Tuss's humble smile looked a little strange in the candlelight, "We should help Your Majesty clear the darkness before his eyes." ”

"What do you mean, the Prime Minister, or all the Cabinet?" Prince Sinda unconsciously distanced himself from Earl Stu, "Who are you accusing of?"

"Your Highness, can't you imagine that you are a wise mind and a broad mind?" Count Stu bowed, "the minds of the traditional nobility have long been corrupted, and the empire needs fresh blood to nourish it..."

"Are the new blood you are talking about those noble merchants?" Prince Sinda interrupted the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in fact, in the young prince's heart, he had the same thoughts as Count Stu, he felt that the empire was being kidnapped by some traditional big family, but this did not mean that he would deny everything that the upper nobles of the empire had done, and even kill them with his own hands.

"We should consider everything that is good for the Empire..."

Prince Sinda immediately said coldly: "The most beneficial thing for the empire now is to win this war, and the key to winning this war is the problem of logistics and supply, if the merchants of the empire care about this issue, then let them fully support this war." ”

With that, Prince Sindar left the conference room with his guards without looking back.

Count Stu looked at the figure of the prince leaving and sighed lonely, he was a little excited just now, these words, he had told Emperor Laubert before, but only Emperor Laubert smiled coldly.

The Earl of Stuth, who was gradually showing his old age, slumped in a black leather chair after the prince left, his cheeks in his hands, and in recent months he had been sandwiched between the emperor and the merchants, trying to maintain a delicate balance.

But the emperor's continuous tax policy made him gradually lose his credibility in front of the merchants, he was very tired, at this moment, his vague eyes showed a look of confusion, and the faces of Prince Sinda and Emperor Laubert quickly flashed in his mind...

After a few minutes, he stood up suddenly, the confusion in his eyes gone.