If the Citizens' Assembly at Cape Fortress were to vote on an issue, it used a very simple device, not fancy or complicated, it was a hollow silver chest, a spell that was said to have been added by the most superior mage to keep it from being deceived by skill and magic, it looked like an upright fish in appearance, its tail fin was separated as support, and its mouth was high in the air, the body of the fish was about three feet high, and the mouth of the fish was large enough for a fat adult man to stuff his entire fist into- Everyone who has the right to vote here gets two small balls, one for red coral and one for black pearl, both of which are as small as little fingers, and you can't see them at all when you pinch them in your hand.

Those who want Harvey to remain consuls are to throw a red coral bead into it, and those who support the old goat of Alex have to throw a black pearl bead into it. From bringing the wooden box containing it, to opening it, taking it out, turning it upside down, shaking it so that everyone could see and hear that it was indeed empty inside, and then a blind man placed it on a pedestal with his own hands, and the councillors threw small balls into it according to their wealth, their qualifications, and their temperament, so that no one knew what they had hidden in their hands, and that they did not see the decisions they had made and hurt and isolate them. Mage Alva put his hands in his sleeves, he was the last to throw in the ball, not that he didn't qualify for the top ten, but it had become less important now that his friends had made his choice.

After everyone had dropped the balls, a man who could not speak brought a huge silver platter, and then turned the silver box upside down again, and fifty-one balls rolled in it, and fell into the plate with a clang, almost without counting, as long as there were eyes, the black balls greatly exceeded the red balls, and most of the councillors gathered around the silver platters showed happy looks, some of them showed hesitation, and Aubrey and the people around him showed disgusted eyes, but Alex didn't care about such a painless little thing, he had already got the result he wanted。

He straightened up triumphantly, "Thirty-two to nineteen, obviously," he forced a look at Aubrey and Harvey, but licked his lips weakly when he saw Alva, "Now I'm the Archon of Cape Beach," he looked around, "Who has objections?"

Nobody, this result was more serious than Aubrey and the others had expected, and those whom he had personally met and persuaded lowered their eyes when the old man looked at him, he had been in the spice trade for nearly fifty years, and he had gone through many changes and disasters, but today was the one that made him feel the most weak and weak. But it doesn't matter, it's not that there haven't been hypocritical and vicious consuls in Cape Fort, even if Alex, even if Alex has deceived so many people with that seemingly beautiful and luxurious appearance, they are not powerless to fight back- Aubrey knew why Alex had to marry his eldest granddaughter, partly to humiliate and torture him, but more importantly because he only had two granddaughters, and in Pills, women had the right to inherit, and the leader of the Spice Guild had no doubt that as soon as their marriage was concluded, he would die the next day, so that Alex would be able to control his caravans and trade routes without hesitation—after all, those kings, lords, The lord and even the temples and sanctuaries may not consider fur to be a necessity, but spices are different, after all, many of them are used as medicines, and with his caravans, the herbs can spread faster and more widely.

Aubrey set his sights on one of the merchants who was supporting him, who was not very young, but whose wife had left for the Mourning Wasteland a few months earlier, and who had no children—if there was really no way, Aubrey could give his eldest granddaughter to this man...... He also supported Harvey in the sugar business, and was still justified in his conduct and means—what Aubrey didn't notice was that when he turned away, the merchant and the old goat winked secretly.

Poor Aubrey, Alex said in his heart, you are old, too old, too stubborn, you have not been able to figure it out, the development of things has completely departed from what you can understand, if Aubrey is willing to give his eldest granddaughter to Alex, maybe she can be considered blessed, but if he insists on fighting Alex to the end, then his most beloved eldest granddaughter may be reduced to an even more unbearable state.

Alex's head was spinning rapidly, and his ears were buzzing, like a spinning wheel hidden in his ear canal, so he was a little upset when he was awakened by a noise: "What are you doing?" he said, glaring at the people gathered at the gate, "Why don't you leave yet, and tell the people of Cape Fortress that their consul has changed," he straightened his chest:" The benevolent Alex will be a good consul ever, and I will bring them a flowing stream of gold and silver, more and more fine goods, and an abundance of seafood, beef, and cheese......"

"Lord Alex," one of the councillors turned his head in a panic, not realizing that he had interrupted Alex, but before Alex roared in rage, his words were tied around the fur merchant's neck like a noose: "We can't get out......"

"Who's playing a prank?" Alex pushed his chair away, "Soldier, open the door." He ordered, but to his great horror the soldier remained motionless, and as soon as he raised his hand, he grabbed the soldier's spear, ready to give the soldier who dared to ignore the archon's orders a heavy slap, but he stopped all movement in the next moment—except for the soldier's cold eyes, and his face, which Alex remembered he had often seen outside Harvey's study.

Cape Fortress has its own army, but before he became the consul of Cape Beach, Harvey was the leader of a mercenary group, and these people did not leave after he became the consul of Cape Beach, but became his guard, the consul's money is quite considerable, and these people are only about a hundred people, giving them a rich and peaceful life without using the inner treasury of Cape Fort, and Harvey has never levied new blood into this guard, so many people think that the reason why Harvey established this guard is just because he doesn't want his former partners to become outcasts or thieves, but nowThese men silently replaced the soldiers in the council chamber overnight and became the former consul's most powerful killer weapon.

Yes, they were all weathered and didn't seem to match the chainmail and weapons on their bodies, but they weren't the young men who had never seen blood and death before, and they were absolutely loyal to Harvey.

"What do you want!" Alex cried out in a sinister voice, "do you want to break the law of Cape Fortress and make us change the result ......of the vote?"

Harvey still sat in his chair, his head slightly bowed, looking very tired and bored, but he still had to do the rest of the matter: "There is no vote," he said, "there are no councillors, no consuls." ”

"What are you talking about, Harvey?" to people's surprise, it was not Alex who questioned Harvey this time, but Aubrey. "What do you mean there are no votes, no councils, no consuls?"

Harvey was silent for a moment: "The fortress will become a principality," he said, "and it will no longer be a free city." ”

"Huh, Duchy?" Alex shook his head in disbelief: "Who's going to be the Grand Duke, you?"

"Yes, me. Harvey said, looking up, hard and slowly, as if a crown of thorns had been placed on his head: "I will be the first Grand Duke of the Duchy." ”

"You can't do that!" cried out Aubrey blankly, he even felt that he was still at home, in his bed, with his wife lying beside him, and everything that had happened before was a long nightmare, how could he hear Harvey say such a thing? Harvey was a native of Beeland like him, and their surname had been passed down for hundreds of years, almost since it was a small port and a few merchants, and it was a free city, with no lord, no archduke, no king. It was not without a desire to take the city after it had become one of the brightest jewels of the Brass Coast, but it was all managed to defuse or fight back by the people of Cape Fort, and even Harvey had been involved in a great battle related to it, but now what was he talking about? He was going to ban the Parliament, the Consuls...... Will Cape Fortress become a principality, and Harvey will be the Grand Duke?

What a ridiculous thing to do - didn't the desire of the people of Billy Fortress for decades be the freedom of the city? They succeeded, and the people of Pillland did not have to endure exorbitant taxes, nor have they had to endure the whimsical laws and actions of their lords, nor did they have to worry about the thieves' guilds or the followers of evil gods, because they did not have a master.

"Do you want to be our master?" It was amazing that the two enemies, who were still fighting each other, uttered the same voice, as if their minds were connected: "You can't succeed! Alex shouted.

Harvey did not speak, but smiled, a smile that silenced most of the councillors—they were all merchants, who were neither familiar nor concerned with the army, and who often quarreled with Harvey over the cost of the army's equipment and food, and it was Harvey who, over the years, had taken out the money and pensions of the soldiers and knights from these stingy fingers, coin by coin, and stayed with the rude young men, and drank with them, and sang, and chatted, or did some ...... He knew everyone in the army as well as his own sons, and called them by name, for which Alex had laughed at him - how familiar could he be? The army of the Beacon Fortress belongs only to the Beacon Fortress, whoever is the Archon has the power to command them, even if they don't like him anymore, they have to obey their orders, he even thought about letting the soldiers closest to Harvey capture the former Archon, at that time Harvey's expression must have been very interesting, but he didn't expect that all this must be based on the fact that the people of Pillland are still a free city.

Some merchants regret that Harvey had two sons, both of whom served in the army, but they were just ordinary knights, but in a terrible war, they both died, seeing this, even if Harvey repeatedly persuaded them, they were no longer willing to let their sons become soldiers or knights, merchants are different from lords, although the eldest son will inherit most of the family's estate, but the second son can also take the money given by his father to do his own business, or become the eldest son's assistant, or help him run errands, it is better than losing his life on the battlefield。 For a long time, not only were the guards around Harvey his cronies, but even the army was full of soldiers he recruited from outcasts, mercenaries, and adventurers.

These are the best of their generation, not only with their prowess, but also with their brains, and it is almost impossible to simply wave a bag full of gold coins and expect them to defect.

"And you, my child?" Aubrey said bitterly that the soldiers in the council chamber had taken off their helmets, and in addition to Harvey's guards, there were some people they were familiar with, that is, a small number of former Piercing people in the army, who walked up to Aubrey and forced him to return to his seat and sit down on the son of an old friend, who originally did not mind this young man becoming his eldest grandson-in-law, but he was a soldier and insisted on refusing to retire, which made Aubrey remove him from the ranks of candidates without hesitation.

"Do you know what you're doing?" Aubrey whispered, "You're ruining yourself, ruining Harvey, ruining Fort Cape!"

"I know what I'm doing. The son of Harvey's old friend replied calmly, he had a lot to say to Uncle Aubrey, but not now, and he wouldn't want to listen, if it weren't for the Archon Harvey and Master Alva who showed him the evidence and poison, maybe he would have rejected Harvey's proposal, and chose to slowly persuade and change the minds of Uncle Aubrey and many others, but it turned out that they had no time, maybe tomorrow, maybe next month, next year, the Bulliesland would have been reduced to a second White Tower, in this case, they would rather take this beautiful city into their hands first, even if it would be blamed and scolded by countless people, they must protect itPerhaps the filth of dictatorship will temporarily obscure its brilliance, but it doesn't matter, it is better than crushing it in greed and conspiracy.

"Let me go," cried Alex, "do you think that the people of Cape Fortress are fools who can be manipulated at your will? they will drag you down from your throne, Harvey, and you will be stripped of all your clothes, doused with asphalt and ostrich feathers, and walk through every street of the city—and you will regret it, and these stupid soldiers around you—they will all be hanged! like the pirates, hung in rows on the outer walls......"

The merchants around him were also clamoring, they were not too afraid, even if Harvey had all the armies in his hands, they had boxes of gold coins to recruit as many soldiers as they could, and they had so many men, and without them, the chamber of commerce in Cape Dike would cease to function.

Harvey waved his hand, and the soldier who had wanted to escort Alex and the others back to their seats stopped, took a few steps back, and just when Alex thought he was scared and was racking his brains to think of words that would show his bravery, Harvey nodded, "Then so be it, the suspect should stand and stand for trial." ”

Aubrey paused slightly, and looked at Alex and the others suspiciously.

"What crime?" asked one of Aubrey's businessmen.

"Treason. Harvey said, and without him giving an order, the soldiers who had been prepared came up with a box of papers and treasures and placed them in front of everyone, "And Grenada, Alex, do you need to say something?"

Alex stared at the things that felt familiar to him, how could it be, they were all in the dimensional pouches of those warlocks, his face flushed, his fat body twitched terribly, and then as if to calm his heart, his wide palm rested on his chest, but no, he just crushed a magic amulet that could teleport him to his home, and then he would see what to do - he heard a small click, and the jewel fragment of the amulet pierced into the palm of his hand, but ...... Nothing happened.

There was nothing, the light of magic, the sights, the faces of the men, he saw the mage Alva, and suddenly he screamed in realization, and turned to run away, when the soldiers immediately pounced on him like wolves catching fat sheep, and bound him.

There was chaos in the council chamber, and in addition to Alex, several people around him had been brought out of Aubrey by the soldiers, including the merchant who had only recently become a widower.

"Stop, Harvey!" Aubrey waved his hands in horror to his feet, but was immediately crushed down.

"I guarantee everyone that I have solid evidence of what they did. Harvey said.

"And then?"

"The first offender will be hanged, their property confiscated, and their children will be exiled. ”

Aubrey's eyes widened, and he really felt that he was having a nightmare, otherwise how could such a ridiculous thing have happened?

"Maybe. Harvey said he stared at the door of the chamber, where less than a third of the councillors might have walked out today, and nearly half of the city would be weeping and wailing, but he had already decided his way to go, whether it was paved with flowers or lava, he would go on steadfastly.

By the time all had finished (including the bodies that had been laid out outside the chamber with the incriminating evidence), night had long since fallen, and even the stars were sparse today, like the council of Cape Beach, Harvey thought.

"Who!" the soldier suddenly shouted, and the knight beside Harvey immediately raised his crossbow.

A beggar? No, a beggar doesn't have such eyes, so clear and bright.

"Are you here to ask for help?" said Harvey wearily, "or are you here to condemn me?" The man was so thin, with thin-haired hair and an ordinary appearance, and his body was surrounded only by a gray sackcloth, which was tattered and his skin was full of criss-crossing scars, and he stretched out his hand, and the wound on his hand was like a baby's mouth open and bleeding, and in his hand he was clutching an onion head, that is, the bulb of an onion.

Harvey leaned down from his horse, took the onion, and the man was gone. (To be continued.) )