That being said, Sean still follows the rules.

As a member of the rotten class, Sean decides to go with the flow.

For example, he asked Mafrabo to repaint his carriage to make his family's coat of arms stand out. It was a mountain-shaped emblem, plus a pair of swords, and Viscount Connery could be called Viscount of Rocky Mountain.

Another example is the addition of two maids and two male servants to the rose garden to maintain the necessary dignity. If it weren't for Sean to stop it, Cleveland would have had a few more moves.

For example, barbers and tailors who serve Sean alone, and even musicians and dancers are specially invited to improve Sean's artistic accomplishment.

Cleveland also hired a ten-man bodyguard at a high salary, led by Clark Nelson, a sturdy former sailor.

Nelson, a distant relative of Cleveland, had a leg to be trusted, was honest and resolute, and was not very talkative, he had formal training in the Navy and had experienced many skirmishes against pirates, and chose to retire because his upright personality could not be promoted to officer. He has good marksmanship and better fighting ability, making him a good choice for the Connally family's head of security.

Sean was happy with the Nelson, especially after he didn't fall behind in his marksmanship test with him.

In this way, the rose garden is more popular, although Sean doesn't like so many people dangling in front of him, shushing the cold and asking for warmth, but this is the so-called aristocratic life.

Sean didn't wait for an invitation to the prom, but he waited for another official appearance in public.

The Genoa patrol captured a group of rebels who were said to have incited the peasants to revolt against taxes and hatched a plot to kill the tax collectors, and the patrol found muskets, gunpowder and daggers at the secret location where they were meeting.

These men were sentenced by the District Court to be hanged, and today is the day on which the hangings are carried out in public. The venue was in the square in front of the Doge's Palace, and Sean was invited to watch the whole process from the terrace of the Doge's Palace building.

Sean's arrival caught everyone's attention.

The Governor hadn't arrived yet, but the mayor of Poitou, Victor Stanley, had arrived, and Sean had met once during the succession to the title, a guy who seemed energetic and social:

"Viscount Connelly, allow me to introduce you to the guest who has come today. ”

"There is labor. Sean nodded.

In any case, people always have circles, not in this circle, but in that circle, whether you resist or accept in your heart.

It was a place where all the nobles and high-class people of Poitou gathered, and Sean only knew Shakli, the priest of the Sawyer Chapel, who nodded at Sean.

Among them, Viscount Lincoln, Sean took a special look at him, and the old Viscount had mortgaged the rose garden to Viscount Lincoln. When Sean inherited the title and offered to redeem the rose garden, Viscount Lincoln readily agreed.

Unlike what Sean had imagined, Viscount Lincoln was very young, about twenty-four or five years old, handsome and personable, especially those eyes gave people a warm and frank feeling.

"Thank you, Your Excellency, for keeping me from being homeless. Sean said.

"No, no, when I read your name in the newspapers, I knew that the Connery family was not what it used to be. Standing before me was not only a viscount, but also a member of the Royal Society of Science and a hero of the Empire. Lincoln said enthusiastically, "My name is Bieber-Lincoln, and you can call me Bieber." ”

"Okay, Bieber, you can call me Sean too. Sean replied.

Sean stretched out his right hand, Lincoln was slightly stunned, and awkwardly stretched out his right hand and shook it with Sean. It is a pair of artist's hands, fair and slender.

This etiquette, which is not common in Europa, has attracted the attention of others, and one of them is the most presumptuous.

This is a representative of the Robinson family, Percy Robinson, who was a cousin of the late Earl Robinson. Because the Countess was a woman of the same generation, it was inconvenient for her to attend today's occasion, so she was represented by Percy Robinson.

"The Europa should follow the etiquette of the Europa, especially for the nobility. How could the etiquette of those squint-eyed Xia people appear here in a grand manner?"

"May I ask Your Excellency?" asked Sean knowingly.

"Percy Robinson!"

"Aristocrats, officials, judges?" said Sean, "what qualifications do you have to appear here?" and ask a question of a nobleman?"

The aristocracy implements the primogeniture system, and the second and youngest sons in the family are generally commoners, but they will have a much higher starting point and more opportunities than ordinary commoners.

This Percy-Robinson was only a cousin of the late Earl Robinson, and he could not inherit the title if the Earl had a son.

Sean's words made full use of his natural vantage point, leaving the Robinson family member speechless and his face ugly.

"Your Excellency the Governor has arrived!"

With a shout, Alexei Byrne, the governor of Genoa, came to the terrace, a middle-aged man with a serious and elegant face, with a mustache and meticulous trimming.

Governors were feudal officials who were sent by the imperial court, but they were generally of commoner origin, and were promoted from young men who were once considered talented and self-motivated or ambitious.

Within a province, the officials of the city and town are generally appointed directly by the governor, and as the head of the province, the governor also controls a security force of no more than one regiment, the patrol regiment, so the governor's power is considerable.

Compared to the north, the governors of the southern provinces were much weaker. In Genoa, for example, the Estates-General, composed of nobles, clergy, and city bourgeoisie, still controlled a considerable part of the power, most importantly the right to collect taxes, and they always complained about the greed of the court and bargained with the court over the collection of taxes.

Governor Alexei Byrne had only recently arrived as governor of Genoa, and he was in desperate need of political success, but at the same time he had to be careful to get on good terms with the local landlords.

The best thing for the court was to pay more taxes, and in the face of a succession of natural disasters in Genoa, His Excellency the Doge felt that he had to be careful. So he spoke very kindly to the upper-class people who appeared today.

Countess Robinson was not present in person, the other earl was a member of the noble council, living in the Holy City, and the three highest-ranking viscounts in the provincial city were Shaun, Lincoln, and another old nobleman surnamed Brandon.

These three men were the objects of Governor Byrne's attention, which made Percy Robinson look very ugly.

Mayor Stanley took the initiative to stir up the topic: "I heard that the Chancellor of the Exchequer has been replaced, and Mr. York-Neval, a scholar, has taken the post of Chancellor of the Exchequer. Mr. Nehwal was the Governor of Gyeonggi Province and was instrumental in finance. ”

"Yes, he's good at making money. Brandon sneered mercilessly.

"At least he was for the court, and during his tenure as governor he contributed up to fifty million in taxes to the court every year. "He is said to be a strong supporter of the 1/20 tax." ”

"But Gyeonggi Province is also known to be wealthy, and the factories alone are like money machines. Viscount Lincoln said, pointing to the growing concentration of people in the square outside the building, "Look at these people, which of them are not burdened with heavier and heavier taxes, so they are very easily incited." I remind you, Mr. Mayor, that the people of Poittu have done their best, and for thousands of years we have always been 'provincials' in our south, whether commoners or nobles. ”

Viscount Lincoln's words were a bit tough, and the truth was the voice of the vast majority of people, no matter what class he belonged to.

Under this system, subjects tend to be subservient in general, the commoners are powerless to resist, the privileged class will pay some price in more or less compromise, and the court tends to be autocratic, but when the court encounters even the slightest criticism, it will panic, almost to the point of rumor.

So they are ready to hang a few rebels.

On this occasion today, inviting representatives of high society to come and watch may also have a certain sense of intimidation. But this intimidation will never be spoken.

Mayor Stanley laughed dryly, as if trying to dissolve the awkward atmosphere, and asked Sean:

"Viscount Connery, what do you think about the 1/20 tax?"

Sean shrugged: "No opinion, I'm poor, that's well known." If the mayor wants to tax me 1/20th, I will pay you 100 gold louis a year. ”

Sean's words made others laugh, everyone knew that the Connery family was poor, and the old viscount once owed a lot of debts and became a laughing stock in the upper circles.

Stanley didn't take Sean's teasing to heart, and smiled slightly:

"But I have heard that as soon as you inherited the title, you bought back the property of Rocky Hill from the Robinson family. ”

"Mr. Mayor, mind you, it's half. Percy Robinson finally chimed in.

"Sorry, it's half. Mayor Stanley hurriedly said, "In this way, the Viscount's economic situation is not so bad, and you are still so young, it is really enviable." ”

"Mr. Mayor, I think that the issues related to taxation and improving the fiscal situation are like cutting a cake, and if you cut more, others will have less. Instead of this, it is better to find a way to make the cake bigger, so that everyone will get a bigger share. Sean said.

The Governor, who had been silent, finally spoke:

"Yes, the Viscount is right. I just don't know what the viscount can teach me?"

"Haha, what's this......" Sean said, but at this time, a loud commotion in the square interrupted Sean's words, and it turned out that five rebels were escorted by the patrol police.

These five rebels were ragged, and they were afraid that they had been tortured a lot in the prison, but they all looked at death as if they were at home, held their heads high, and stood on the torture platform like giants looking down on all beings.

When the presiding officer read out their crimes in public, some people in the crowd wept in low voices, some moved forward in a commotion, some hid in the crowd and shouted injustice, and the patrolmen who maintained order had to form several human walls, and there were also secret agents in civilian clothes who rushed into the crowd to arrest the speaker, causing great confusion.

The Governor waved his hand expressionlessly, and no one could tell the uneasiness in his heart from his calm face.

And the celebrities on the terrace also have different looks, but more of them are like the spectators below, numb and gloating.

On the orders of the governor, the executioners put one of the rebels under the gallows and put the noose around the man's neck.

Suddenly the man seemed to come to life, and cried out in a loud voice:

"Long live the true gods!"