Duke Darnell also attended a banquet last night.

The banquet was organized by the Quds Financial Association, with each guest having a personal net worth of at least three million, with the First Bank of Al-Quds, the Al-Quds Bank and the Al-Quds Guaranty Bank being the top three banks in the Empire.

The Darnell family is one of the top three shareholders in all three banks, so the Darnell family is not only wealthy, but also the voice of the city's financial capital.

The Darnell family lived in Gesar City, Gyeonggi Province, but the last Duke began to get involved in the financial industry, and the family's first pot of gold in finance came from the war loan of the founding emperor Carlos I, and since then it has become the first wealthy family in the empire.

The family may not be as powerful administratively as the Hermanns, nor as powerful as the Franks in the military, but the family was the largest creditor of the state, and even Carlos II had to try to deepen the relationship through marriage.

On the occasion of the convening of the Council of Dignitaries, in addition to meeting with Carlos II and finalizing the marriage with the royal family, the Duke met with the financial predators of the Holy City to unify their understanding and respond to the changes in the situation.

They did not want the country to be truly bankrupt, nor did they want the country to pay its debts, and as long as it was profitable, they were willing to lend the emperor a suicide dagger.

However, on the way back to the family estate on the outskirts of the Holy City, the Duke was attacked by a roadside bomb, and two tin buckets filled with explosives were buried in his way.

The powerful energy directly tore his carriage to shreds, and the Duke died on the spot.

This was a shocking event, never before in the history of the Fifth Reich, and it was far more serious than the burning of the Cathedral of the Holy City ten times.

Colonel Frank immediately sent all his men out and took into prison all those who had been in contact with the Duke that night, involving three hundred.

This is not a small movement, especially since not many of the people who were invited to tea by the secret police were ordinary people, either bankers, bank shareholders or senior employees.

When Carlos II learned of the assassination of Duke Darnell, he was furious and immediately ordered the Guards to enter the city and impose martial law.

In fact, overnight, a radius of a hundred kilometers of the Holy City was tightly controlled by 200,000 well-armed guards.

In comparison, the arrest of someone in the Tulip Club is a trivial matter. But to Frank's chagrin, two iconic figures, Toby Salamane and Anthony Fuchs, escaped—as the city-wide manhunt that led to the murder of Duke Darnell alerted them and escaped.

However, an unexpected bonus is that Frank places the charges for the Duke's murder on the heads of these two men, so that he can be more eloquent in the face of the roaring emperor.

Fair and reasonable!

As a result, the secret police arrested nearly 500 people close to the liberals in the afternoon of the next day, including Carmen Gable, who had been to the Tulip Club in the past three years.

However, the emperor was still not satisfied, he pointed to the list and angrily rebuked: "Joseph, there seems to be one person missing from this list!"

Frank chuckled in his heart and said, "The minister is frightened, I don't know who Your Majesty is referring to?"

"I heard that the Count of Rocky Hill also went to this club yesterday?" said Carlos II.

"That's true!" Frank admitted.

"Then ......," said Carlos II, standing behind the table with his hands propped up on the table, "I need a reasonable explanation." ”

"In fact, there is nothing too out of the ordinary in what Earl Connery said last evening, and it is only his first visit, and given his past service to the country, I have reason to believe that he is a man loyal to His Majesty. Frank Road.

"Dynamite! Only a new type of explosive can produce that much power, and only a new fuse that goes with it can make the explosion so smooth!" Carlos said, "I heard that this kind of item is also related to the Count of Rocky Mountain?"

"Your Majesty, the patent for this new explosive does belong to the University of Poitou, whose rector is none other than the Earl of Rocky Mountain. But the University of Poitou itself does not produce explosives, which are produced at a joint venture between the university and Bess Machinery called Poitou Chemie. The new explosives are now widely used in the military and in the mines, and the production of them is in accordance with national decrees, and the company has the relevant licenses. Frank Road.

"Joseph, you know, Duke Darnell is a very important nobleman in the Empire, and his death is a great loss to the Empire, especially in the current situation. "The murder of a duke in the Holy City is a grave provocation to the order of the Empire and a great insult to me. You know, my daughter's marriage contract to the duke's youngest son has just been settled, and your father is one of the witnesses!"

"Your Majesty, what do you mean?" Frank was a little unsure of what the Emperor meant.

"Take the Earl of Rocky Hill into custody for the time being. Carlos II said.

"Your Majesty!" Frank was taken aback, "he is the Earl you have just been crowned!"

"Yes, but he's a good scapegoat, the earl is not low, and he's a southern nobleman who doesn't have much to do with the Holy City, which is much more useful than the liberals you arrested, at least we can reduce the anger of the consortium, right?

Don't worry, I won't do anything to this new earl, but I will just wronged him for a while, and I still have a sense of proportion. When the limelight has passed, you release him on the grounds that there is insufficient evidence. "The most important thing at the moment is to stabilize order, reassure people, and overcome the current difficulties." If this month's meeting of dignitaries does not reach a satisfactory outcome for me, my army will collapse in April. ”

Not allowing Frank to argue, Carlos II waved his hand and ordered the expulsion.

Frank exited the Emperor's study, but a subtle sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth.

In the Holy City, Frank dares to say that no one knows Sean better than himself. In his opinion, the unfortunate duke did not contribute much to the well-being of the country and its people, except that he was very good at making money from his power.

However, the more he paid attention to Sean, the more Frank felt the value of this man, a young man who was a self-made man and a typical example of personal struggle.

It is precisely because of this that Frank included Shaun in the list of officers of honor when he knew that he had no military position, and in fact only Sean was a special case, which is why Frank was unable to really introduce Sean to this group for the time being.

Now the Emperor is bent on making Sean a scapegoat, apparently in order to quickly quell the adverse effects of the Duke Darnell affair.

Perhaps in the eyes of the emperor, the southerners were insignificant.

"I'm sorry, Sean!"