When Viscounts Andrew Leslie and Penny Gülen left, the feudal aristocracy that had lasted for seven hundred years in the Southland officially came to an end.

If the artillery fire of Gravel Ridge and Rock Fortress destroyed the very body of the aristocracy, then the thirty-three deeds that voluntarily accepted the reform and a joint declaration document bearing the signatures of all the nobles in the South destroyed the soul of the system.

Gawain held the "Joint Declaration of Restructuring" in his hand, which still seemed to bear the fragrance of ink, and on the signature page of the statement, thirty-three names, including Viscount Andrew and Lady Loppenny, seemed to represent the end of an era, he carefully imprinted each name in his mind, and then took a dipping pen from his desk and wrote the name of Gawain Cecil at the end of the document.

He knew that the old era was not really over - in the north of the Rock Fortress, beyond the mountain barriers in the south, Ansu was still an ancient kingdom that relied on the old aristocracy, and the darkness of ignorance still hung over everyone, and even in the south, within the Duchy of Cecil, the shadow and influence of the old era would still be entrenched for a long time, and it was still a long way to go to completely remove it.

But with the documents signed today, the cause will go even more smoothly.

"This part of the signed document is for publicity," Gawain pushed the document in front of him to Hetty across the desk, "in addition to printing and distributing the whole territory, find a stonemason to carve a monument and a tree in a conspicuous place in the city." Next, we must spare no effort to publicize the restructuring of the southern border, use newspapers in places with high literacy rates, and find ways to promote 'tavern public opinion' in places with low literacy rates, and everyone in southern borders should know the news before the end of the harvest month. ”

"In this way, it should be much easier for the secondary government offices to carry out their work," Hetty smiled, she was visibly happy, "There will be no more obstacles to recruiting scholars, and those businessmen who are hesitant to wait and see should have no worries." ”

"Even so, I'm sure there will be people who will resist the new rules," Gawain said, "but justice and law are on our side, and all resistance to the new rules can be punished severely, especially the exiled knights - give them a final deadline for surrender, beyond which they will be punished for treason, and this time, they can no longer use 'loyalty to the old master' as a shield, and our execution will be perfectly legal, and will be supported by all the people." ”

Understand the three views of the people of this era, understand the way of thinking of the people under the rule, and then advance their own careers in a way that conforms to the background of the times and the three views of the people, and gradually transform this era in the process, this is the governance route that Gawain chose after laying down the southern border - governing the world and fighting the world are different, the latter often only needs strong force, and the former ...... You have to use your brain.

The newly established printing factory was open day and night, and the brand-new large-scale industrial printing press was sent to the workshop of the printing house as soon as it came off the production line, and then in a mechanical roar at an astonishing speed to continuously turn a blank sheet of paper into newspapers and books carrying information, in the latest issue of Cecil Weekly, the historic scene of the southern nobles collectively signing the document as the beginning of the edition, occupied a full page share, the large black and white portrait is the first "photo" published since the birth of the newspaper, at the top of this black and white portrait, The largest bold font announces the significance of this scene:

"The Principality has made a treaty, and all the old lords of the South have sworn to uphold the laws of Cecil—let us cheer for the Great Order."

The new issue of the newspaper was taken off the press, sorted out in the hands of the printers, packed, and then sent to the distribution center, and then to Tanzania with the messenger convoy, to Kant, to Gülen, to Hossman, to every corner of the south.

In the main city of Cecil and a few satellite towns with a high literacy rate, newspapers are best advertised, but in places where literacy rates are not high, there are still people who can read the contents of the newspaper and tell everyone around them about it.

The morning sun shone on the old and dilapidated streets of Carroll, the heat of the sun dissipated the water that had gathered on the weedy leaves in the corners, and the horse-drawn carriage with Cecil's mark hung drove through the town's only stone road, and the bells hanging from the carriage sparkled a string of jingling bells to awaken the townspeople from their slumber.

The blacksmith went into the workshop and scolded the apprentice who was dozing off while tending to the furnace, the stonemason took his tools and prepared to go to the newly established government hall to ask about the work he could do, the women scolded and drove the sleeping children and their husbands out of the room, and began to clean up the stinking and dirty beds, while the men and half-grown children gnawed on dry food and went out into the street with their belongings to work in the fields or to "try their luck" in the town square.

A section of the wall that had been bombarded by the Cecil's cannons still lay desolate in the clearing south of the town, a team of yawning men clearing the broken stones and wood under the supervision of the foreman, and the occasional pass-by by the ruins would quickly sweep the remnants of the wall with awe and even fear, as if the earth-shattering explosion of that day still haunted them.

A group of Cecil soldiers walked through the street in a neat procession, and although they did not harass the roadside like the usual noble private soldiers, the civilians on the roadside still bowed their heads instinctively and in awe and backed aside - the Carolians had adapted to these soldiers, and since the outbreak of the war, a large number of Cecil had passed through the town, from here to the battlefields of the north, and from here to the south after a great victory; They established the government hall in the town, and turned the old lord's castle into barracks and offices, and then introduced new laws; They are "outsiders", but they have become the rulers of this town, and the people who live in this town...... Accepted it all with little feeling.

The "archon" said that water must be boiled before drinking, and for this reason serfs and tenant farmers were allowed to cut wood (in the past, such untouchables could only collect wood chips and dead branches, but were not allowed to cut down the lord's woods), so everyone boiled the water before drinking; The consul said that he could not urinate on the street, and after dozens of people were whipped on the street, everyone began to use the newly built toilets, and the consul asked everyone with skills to register at the government affairs hall, so everyone went to register, and they didn't have to pay anyway......

The Cecil people are very strange, and the new law is very strange, but at least they don't grab food, and they can live that day.

But not everyone is unfeeling.

The great merchant Cod sat in his house, the tea brought by the maid was already cold, but he still did not drink a sip, his mind was disturbed, and his eldest son sat in front of him.

"Father, the government department came again yesterday?"

"Yes," said the big merchant sullenly, "or let me sign the Commercial Covenant, and they want me to build a factory in the open lot south of town, and they want me to lobby the people over there......"

"You still haven't signed?" The eldest son frowned, "Father, that's the lord's man......"

"Well, of course I know that it is the lord's man, and I dare not offend," the big merchant sighed, "even if they let me take a third of it...... A quarter of the family wealth could be used to repair the walls and castles, but they let me go as long as I signed the covenant...... This is absolutely unacceptable. ”

Money is gone, you can make it again, and using money to meet the lord's requirements is something that every merchant must learn, especially in this commercially developed Carol Lord, a big merchant who has long relied on the lord's favor to make a fortune, Cod knows this very well, but in the face of the commercial convention that the Cecil people took out, this big businessman who is ready to exchange his family wealth for peace seems hesitant.

"Father, you'd better agree, it's no good to deal with the government department - although they seem to be very talkative now, but who knows how long their patience will last, if you don't sign, they might kick us all out......"

"Spending money is a business, and the business is over when it's over, but signing is a lifetime, and it's not so easy to sign," the big businessman sighed, the eldest son is not stupid in business, but his life experience is still too little, "Do you know how many businessmen are watching?" And who signed it? If most of the people don't sign it in the end, the person who signed it ...... What's the difference between being in business and being banished? ”

"The Cecil people have occupied this place, and the entire southern border will be Cecil's in the future, and sooner or later everyone will sign it."

“…… I know, of course I know," Codd smiled wryly, "sooner or later it will be signed, so I want to wait, I really don't want to be the first to sign, the Cecil people's weapons are powerful, but there are still ......"

Before the big merchant could finish his words, the door of the room was suddenly pushed open, and his second son ran into the room cheerfully waving a roll of paper: "Father! Father! Signed! Signed! ”

Ced could barely hear the word "sign" now, and the moment he heard it, he stood up and shouted, "Sign what!!" Who told you to sign it?! ”

"Sign? Yes! It's not me, it's not me! The young man glanced at the atmosphere in the room, at his stunned brother and at his father, who was full of anger, and then quickly reacted and waved the newspaper in his hand, "It's the nobles of the South, the nobles of the South have signed - you see, the front page of the newspaper today, there is even a picture!" ”

"What a painting, what a front-page headline...... the great merchant Cod stepped forward and snatched the newspaper from the second son's hand, he knew that this "newspaper" was invented by the Cecil, with the merchant's excellent intuition, he realized its significance at the first sight of this thing, and it contained timely information that was important to the merchant, so since the regular messenger carriage appeared in Carol's collar, he instructed the second son to buy a new newspaper as soon as possible, But he couldn't imagine that there was any information in the newspaper that would be so shocking that his usually cowardly and gentle little son would be so excited.

And after unfolding the newspaper, he understood.

He saw the black-and-white "painting", the lifelike "painting", which was clearly the result of some kind of magic, a real event, which had been recorded by the power of magic, and which the Cecil's "magic industry" had copied countless copies of and sent to all the places they ruled, including Carol in the north.

"The Duchy has signed a treaty, and all the old lords of the South have sworn an oath to uphold the laws ......of Cecil," muttered the great merchant Cod, and then suddenly realized the message of the newspaper.

"Signed...... Sign! "Quick, maid, bring me my coat, I'm going to the council room—damn it, Donnie's old thing lives right next to the council room, and I hope he doesn't have the habit of reading the newspaper in the morning...... I have to be the first! ”

The two sons were taken aback by their father's violent reaction, and looked at each other in astonishment and asked, "Father? ”

"There's no time, now is the time to take a stand," said Curd as he took the coat hastily handed over by the maid, and when he was halfway through it, he suddenly remembered something, and turned his head to stare into the eyes of the eldest son, "Parr, you go at once, go to the south, go to Willer—tell him that I bought his land!" ”