After asking Zax to convey the news of his awakening and his intention to form a new army to the veterans, Zheng Ming rushed to the largest library in the royal capital.

The reason why Zheng Ming came here non-stop after separating from Zax was to meet someone.

When he saw the mountain-like fat figure in the library, he couldn't help but smile on his face. The son of a minor nobleman who followed Arthur and Zheng Ming in the earliest days; A fat man called Bernard. Now he has become a scholar and has the qualifications to enter and leave the pre-royal council.

"I'll see you as soon as I get here. Are those books that interesting? ”

Zheng Ming's Celtic language, most of the legends and history were taught by Bernard, and the friendship between the two can be imagined.

It was obvious that Bernard had discovered Zheng Ming's identity from his voice and intonation alone, and he turned his head in surprise when he heard this.

"I heard you woke up. I'd like to take the time to see you. I didn't expect you to take the initiative to come here to find me. Is there something going on? ”

"Can't you come to catch up with old friends if you're fine?"

Hearing Zheng Ming's obviously weak voice, Bernard smiled and touched the beard on his chin, and just looked at him directly.

Under Bernard's silent smile, Zheng Ming was quickly defeated, and he pulled up the wooden chair on the side and sat down.

"I heard that some people jointly banned the pension system of the Guards Cavalry Regiment during my coma?"

"yes. They said that only the Guards Cavalry Regiment had such a system, which would cause discontent in the rest of the regiments. Moreover, the amount of wealth consumed is too much, and in the chaos of today's war, it is really overwhelming the treasury. ”

"Fart, the pension is nothing compared to the value of our lands. The wealth distributed to the warriors and the bereaved families was more valuable than the money that flowed into the waistbands of those people. ”

Speaking of this, Zheng Ming's eyes rolled and he made a request to Bernard with confidence.

"You draw up a list for me. Don't leave any of those joint nobles behind, and it's best to mark which ones are replaceable wastes and which ones can't. I came to talk to them personally. ”

Bernard heard the meaning of Zheng Ming's words and looked Zheng Ming up and down. After noticing his determined eyes, he thought for a moment before he spoke, "Do you know what you're doing?" Violence and killing will not solve the problem. These will leave hidden dangers. ”

"Of course I do. But I have no title, no fief, and no military power. All I have is my own strength, and I have the privilege of doing it at will. I can only deter them with this. Didn't you find out? Things haven't gotten better since I became incompatible, and they still hate me the same. The difference is only that they forget about fear and become more arrogant. Giving in won't stop those idiots, but will lead them to reach out and provoke my nerves. ”

Seeing Bernard's face embarrassed and looking at him silently, Zheng Ming continued: "Bernard, how am I doing to you? ”

"Good. If you hadn't accepted me as despised by my family, I wouldn't have climbed to the position of a university scholar today. ”

"Good. As a good friend, I have never asked you. I'm begging you this time, okay? If you don't help me, I'll have to go to the door one by one. That would only cause more waves. And if you have anyone who doesn't like it, you can write it down together, and you don't have to worry about the rest of it, I can deal with it myself. ”

Seeing his old friend talk about this, Bernard sighed helplessly.

"I hope you don't get too pushy. I don't have any enemies I need your help to kill. I'll try to be as objective as I can to write the list. Hope you're doing it well. ”

Bernard, who noticed that he was struggling to write, stopped the quill in his hand, and Zheng Ming snatched the list.

"This is my old friend. Thank you. There will be a chance to treat you to dinner later. ”

Bernard looked at Zheng Ming, who patted him on the shoulder and said thank you, and walked away, wiped the sweat on his forehead, revealing a wry smile.

……

Zheng Ming, who held the list in hand that night, launched an operation. Quietly, the owners of several mansions in the royal capital left only a pool of blood and then disappeared without a trace.

On the wall was written in blood a large word "Ming". In the eyes of those who can't understand it, this Chinese character is more like a symbol, a symbol that represents death. And this symbol appeared in the royal capital more than ten years ago.

Most of the men and servants did not know what this meant, and the few nobles who knew it were all at risk. They sent the strongest and best soldiers, hired the most famous mercenaries, and some even hired mages. And the purpose is just to bring yourself a little sense of security, and to be able to block that person for yourself when the crisis comes.

At this time, in a very large and magnificent mansion, a well-dressed middle-aged man was hurrying forward surrounded by a large group of guards.

As a member of the Jinbei family, one of the nine great families, he has the same earl title as the head of the family. As the Minister of Finance, he has a pivotal position in both the royal capital and the family domain.

With the support of his half-brother as the head of the family, and the connections he made in the royal capital, he has always felt that he can be calm and solve everything no matter what the situation. Until that madman, who was powerful but unrestrained, began to kill almost like crazy.

"Damn. How many died in one night? It seems that the power of the royal capital is about to be purged again. ”

On the one hand, they were heartbroken for the death of a few nobles who had been raised, but on the other hand, they couldn't suppress their heart palpitations.

Am I the target he wants to kill? If he wants to kill me, can I stop it?

These questions kept coming to his mind, causing him to panic and make him fearful.

"Your Excellency. It's all checked and everything is fine. ”

After waiting for a long time at the door of the bedroom, the Chancellor of the Exchequer finally received good news from his subordinates. He breathed a sigh of relief and stepped inside.

"Keep me at the door. No one is allowed to put it in. Not even Madame is here! Do you understand? ”

"Understood."

"Anyone, I'm talking about anyone. I heard it all clearly. ”

After a few more words of explanation, the Chancellor of the Exchequer walked into the room with some peace of mind and closed the door.

As he entered the room, he first glanced around nervously. The beautiful sculptures and furnishings that I love on a daily basis can be a bit of an eyesore at this time. Especially the famous painting hanging on the wall made him almost scream when he was nervous.

"Whew~ It seems that I'm too careful."

Glancing at the lifelike portrait and making sure that the house was in order, the Chancellor of the Exchequer breathed a sigh of relief. Only then did he feel a wave of exhaustion hit him.

He walked in the direction of the large soft bed and slowly pulled up the curtains on the bed.

As the curtain opened little by little, the snow-white quilt inside came into view. There is not the slightest abnormality.

"Whew~."

After another long exhale, the Chancellor of the Exchequer finally let down all his guard. He threw himself down into the soft bed.

"Hah~."

After a long sigh of relief, the Chancellor of the Exchequer took off his shoes. He didn't care about changing his clothes and slumped on the big bed.

"What does it smell like? Where is the rust? ”

The rusty smell made his brow furrow furrow again. He sniffed frequently, looking for the direction from which the smell was coming from.

"Chancellor of the Exchequer, the second son of the Golden Cup family, Fawkes, known as the Old Fox, I have come to talk to you. If I hadn't screamed loudly, it would have cost you your life. ”

Just as he leaned under the bed to find the source of the smell; When a square wooden box was placed, an unfamiliar voice from behind him made him tremble.

Thanks to his experience over the years and his own personality, he has maintained basic rationality and has not screamed. He slowly propped himself up and looked up.

As his field of vision moved up, a pair of pitch-black shoes came into view, followed by pitch-black pants, and pitch-black inner armor and a long-hemmed trench coat on them. Then there are slightly raised corners of the mouth and deep eyes that seem to be smiling but not smiling.

Looking at the young and handsome appearance in front of him, Fox gave up his arms and rolled off the big bed.

"Yo Yo Yo, is the Chancellor of the Exchequer going to lie on the ground and beg for mercy?"

Noticing the bent legs of the other man as he approached, Fawkes looked up. I just saw Zheng Ming's eyes like looking down at an ant.

"You, you...... How did you get in here? ”

"You don't have to worry about that. I heard that you took the lead in co-sponsoring the proposal to abolish the pension system for the Guards Cavalry? ”

"Yes...... Yes and what? Now there are chaotic battles everywhere, and although there is still a surplus in the treasury, the rate of depletion is also worrying. Banning it can save a lot of money to recruit strong men and buy weapons. Besides, why is it that only the Guards Cavalry Regiment enjoys a generous pension? The other legions are not dead? If all the corps were counted according to this standard, it would not be long before the treasury was emptied. ”

Zheng Ming glanced at the Fox in front of him in surprise. The other party's stammer, which was originally caused by fear and nervousness, became more and more fluent as the words spoken, and turned into full confidence and righteousness.

"The Guards Cavalry Regiment enjoys a more generous pension because of their superior combat prowess and courage. For a long time, as long as the Guards Cavalry Regiment was on the battlefield, they were the first to take the lead and charge at the forefront. Corresponding to discipline and combat power is a more onerous training on weekdays. There is also an even higher mortality rate. ”

"Snort~ That's before. Now they just don't have to step out of the royal capital. On what basis is it privileged? ”

"I don't care about other legions, and I don't know much about the current Guards Legion. But what about the soldiers who fought bravely and died on the battlefield? I promised them that I would fulfill their wishes. And most of their wishes are for their families to be safe and prosperous! ”

Fox looked at Zheng Ming with a serious face with a strange look in his eyes, and couldn't help but sneer.

"What does your promise matter to me? What is the matter with the Kingdom? Don't forget, you don't have a title, you don't have a title, and the leader of the Guards isn't you. Soldiers believe in your commitment and are inspired, and it is good that you can be born and die, and we can award you a medal. But why should we pay for your promise? ”

"And what about the enemies they killed? What about the military merits obtained? That's enough to get a lot of money, right? ”

"Huh? You are only surrounded and suppressed. Where did the exploits come from? Of course, the merit of war went to the nobles who guarded the borders and went deep into the lost territories to occupy the cities. ”

The other party's words made Zheng Ming furious, and he grabbed Fawkes by the collar and almost roared.

"Do you know what's going on? If it weren't for the Dorn's desire to set a trap, the cities on the Tulip Frontier would have been able to defend so easily? If it weren't for the fact that I had wandered around with the Guards cavalry, I had attracted most of the troops. Trapped in the city, can they wait for Arthur's reinforcements? You must know that most of the high-end combat forces and even the leaders of the other side at that time were chasing our guards cavalry. ”

"What's the use of you telling me this? What do you say to the generals who have been promoted because of their military exploits? Say to the king's right hand, Lord Lancelot? Speaking of which, the greatest credit for that battle fell on his head. ”

Under Fox's spitting roar, Zheng Ming put down the other party's collar in a daze. Fox straightened his slightly wrinkled shirt, looked at the depressed Zheng Ming, and pursed the corners of his mouth.

"I just know how to take out anger on us civilian officials with low force. Do you have the ability to kill His Excellency Gawain, who occupies the cavalry of the Guards? Do you have the ability to kill the king's right hand Lancelot? Phew, coward. ”

The other party's words made Zheng Ming wake up. He finally realized that his long-term behavior of not wanting power and not forming a party for personal gain turned out to be a huge mistake.

"I was wrong. I'm just too lazy to deal with other people, and I don't want to hold authority and be responsible for my subordinates. But without authority, what shall I fight for those who believe in me and follow me? Do you rely on my strength to fight one by one? What's the use of killing you all? Their relatives will still have no clothes to wear, nothing to eat, no place to live! ”

Seeing the man in front of him constantly let out nervous self-talk, Fox recalled the horror of the other party. The hot-blooded brain poured out all the grievances through ridicule, and then he felt the growing fear.

Noticing that Zheng Ming's eyes suddenly locked on him, Fawkes trembled and asked nervously.

"You, you...... You want...... What are you going to do? ”

"As the person who claims to be the richest Jinbei family, he is also the finance minister of the royal capital. How much do you say your life is worth? ”

"What...... What the? ”

"You just said that the treasury is empty. But I see that your mansion still has clothes, you should be rich, right? I am gathering the old units of the Guards Cavalry Regiment with the intention of forming a new corps. The Jinbei family, which has always been rich and has the most merchants, but because of the lack of army generals and strong men, it can only be relegated to the lowest position of the nine major families. Haven't you ever thought that one day you would have a powerful army and be promoted to the top of the Nine Great Families in one fell swoop? ”

"What do you mean?"

That's what the words mean. You should know that the Guards Cavalry Regiment, which was famous for its combat power before, was brought out by me. Now I want to form a new legion, and I can be your strongest ally, and even send excellent generals to you to train soldiers. And you only need to spend a fraction of your wealth to buy weapons and armor for our legions and ensure the livelihood of their families. It's also a good opportunity to buy hearts and minds. I think if I send my generals to your Jinbei family, he will be more than willing to take his whole family to the prosperous Jinbei family's territory. ”

Zheng Ming's proposal made Fox quite moved. Considering that the reason why Zheng Ming was boycotted by most of the local lords and noble families was because the other party was unwilling to step into the circle, acted recklessly, and was unwilling to follow the rules. Now the other party's move is obviously to take the initiative to enter this circle to seek cooperation.

After pondering for a while, Fawkes raised his head.

"If you are interested in cooperating, we are very welcome to Jinbeijia. However, the old king has left a will, and there is no need to give you military power ....... ”

"You don't have to worry about that. Naturally, I'll figure it out. Even if you don't succeed in the end, you can still gain the friendship of Shadow of the Throne. A strong man, or a strong man who can influence the king's decision. All you need is a few gold coins. Guaranteed to make a profit, not a loss, isn't it? ”

Fox and Zheng Ming, who had a smile on their faces, looked at each other quietly for a while, and then showed the same smile.

(End of chapter)