The city has been in chaos for only a few days since the new city lord took office, and many forces who have paid attention to Wren have begun to gradually give up their attention to him, and a stupid doomsday gold aristocrat is obviously more in line with the needs of a part of the ruling class, who focuses more on the enemies inside the imperial capital, rather than consuming resources to pay attention to a fool who can't even look at the carriage. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Of course, there are also a small number of people who still maintain a posture of paying attention to Wren, but this kind of attention is like encountering those junk information in the middle seam when reading the newspaper, if you don't read it deliberately, most of the time you will forget that the middle seam actually has content.

At this time in Ortlenburg, Wren did not know that the first encounter he had entered the chaotic capital made many dignitaries breathe a sigh of relief. At this time, he crossed his legs, sat in the city lord's mansion, and sighed with a manor title deed in the Golden Ring District of the imperial capital. In his lower position, the chubby tax officer Richard kept wiping the oil and sweat from his face, partly hot, partly frightened.

If it was just a forgery of a title deed in a remote rural area, the nobles of the imperial capital would not have made a big fuss about it at all, because the countryside was too far away, and there were not many benefits involved, so it was not worth the trouble. But forging a title deed covering a little more than one hectare in the Golden Ring District of the imperial capital will really cost people's lives. Touching the cheese on the table of the nobles and leaving a black handprint is equivalent to weaving a noose around his neck, which is no different from death.

If it weren't for the fact that the guy named Blair had a sword on his neck, Richard swore by his deceased old grandmother that he would never have helped this young and inexplicable nobleman make such a forgery.

"Well done, if I hadn't known that this title deed was fake, maybe even I wouldn't have been able to tell the truth from the fake. Wren flicked the title deed with satisfaction, and the paper of the title deed was processed by a special magic process, and the process was extremely complicated and difficult to forge. This kind of paper is only available to the state organs of the Empire, such as the annual tax report, which is used to prevent layers of deception. However, in the case of Ortlenburg, a lot of paper can be saved every year, and the tax of dozens of gold coins can be listed without even a piece of paper.

Richard, who was forced to do a bad thing, could only smile wryly and nodded, "It's my honor to help you, my lord." ”

Wren put down the title deed and praised him sincerely: "You are a talented Richard, I don't know why you can sit in this position for nine consecutive years without collecting taxes, but you are a talent." A person with value is a good person, and you can't play the best role in the position of tax officer, so you might as well help me. Although I am only a down-and-out nobleman, I am still a nobleman, and I can give you things that you cannot obtain in a hundred years as a tax collector. ”

Richard's little eyes narrowed into a slit with a smile, and the habit he had developed over the years did not make him agree immediately, but asked, "What if I refuse your kindness?"

Wren laughed, "In my knowledge, there are two kinds of people in this world, the first is my friends, regardless of whether they are high or low, we will help and support each other. The second is my enemies, and I will send them to the God of Light as much as I can, whether they have provoked me or not. Wren spread his hands and looked directly at Richard with a settled attitude, "Now you are free to choose." ”

Richard exclaimed without embarrassment, "Of course I am your friend, honorable lord, please accept my request and let me help you!"

This is a human spirit, and it is as effective as a hundred samurai. Wren stood up, his hand resting on the thin sword at his waist, the gems glittering, and the psychedelic luster formed halos one after another. Richard moved his fat body, rolled down to Rossi's head, and fell to his knees with difficulty, lowering his head. Wren choked and pulled out his thin sword and placed it flat on Richard's shoulder, "Be loyal!"

Richard secretly gritted his teeth, the situation is weaker than people, he really can't help it. This nobleman named Wren doesn't seem to be quite the same as other nobles, and he hasn't noticed much about the differences, at least he is as treacherous as a ghost, and his methods are certain. Loyalty to this kind of person will either soar in the future, or accompany him to meet the God of Light, which is not quite the same as Richard's code of conduct in the world. But deep down in his heart, there seems to be a kind of power that is about to move.

There is a desire that is breaking through the ground!

"I, Richard, now offer unparalleled loyalty to the Golden Thorn of Thorn, which is as great as you. In my lifetime, your will will will be my goal, and your sword will be my enemy, and I swear in the name of my ancient divine ancestors that I will always be loyal to the great as you!"

The corners of Wren's mouth curled, "I accept your allegiance. ”

Allegiance is a very formal, very ritual thing, but it is undeniable that in this world full of fraud, the allegiance ceremony is still sacred, undeceptive and inviolable. Even the most capricious people, once sworn allegiance, are very difficult to betray. This kind of something that transcends values, sacred, and holy.

After the ceremony, Wren asked Richard to sit down, if Richard would have pushed it before, but now he sat on the chair with his ass and his attitude was much more casual. In a way, Richard is now Wren's family, a trustworthy family.

This kind of absurd thing can only happen in this world.

"Tell me why you can still sit in this position after nine years of not completing the tax collection task, I wonder how you managed to do it. ”

After allegiance, Richard had nothing to hide, and he slowly told Wren the answer he asked.

The situation in Ortlenburg is also well known to the Bell Province, which is a very tangled place, and from the perspective of the imperial territory, Ortlenburg once belonged to the Bell Province. During the conquest with the Byron Empire, it was carved out of the province of Bell and became an independent city. As a result, Ortlenburg's responsibility was directly escalated from the province of Bell to the central power of the imperial capital.

In other words, the petty officials here are actually "Beijing officials" and are directly appointed by the central government. If this is an economic zone like Alexandria, the central government will definitely keep an eye on it, and nothing will be missed. But this is the capital of chaos, the city of evil, and the gathering place of scum. Successive tax collectors were dismissed for failing to collect taxes, and the central government had lower and lower expectations for the place, eventually abandoning the place.

The reason why Richard has not been kicked out for nine years is because he is very smart, compared to those tax collectors who have their heads cut off not long after taking office, and tax collectors who can't collect a single gold coin, he is still capable, at least he can see a little gold every year. This was enough to save face for those officials, and at the same time to ensure that Ortlenburg was still "under control", or Ortlenburg of the Orlando Empire.

That's enough!

The officials here don't need to do anything here, as long as they stay alive.

As for why Richard would go along with the oath of allegiance, the same question arises. He had been working for nine years, he was thirty-three years old, and he didn't know how long he could do it, but he knew that if he didn't find a way out, he would be chained here for the rest of his life. Not just him, but his wife, his children, his grandchildren, and all his descendants. They will gradually become mediocre, removed from the privileged class, and reduced to ordinary people.

Perhaps his descendants will die in the conflicts and contradictions of the market, and even become criminals, which is something that a tax collector cannot bear. But if he wants to jump out of this pool of stagnant water, he doesn't have the ability. The big men of the imperial capital are content with the status quo, and as long as the sovereignty issue does not fluctuate, the rest is not important. A tax officer who can live and persevere, and who highlights the issue of sovereignty, is more appropriate than one who always dies for no apparent reason.

At least they didn't need to show His Majesty the Emperor every year that another tax collector had died in Ortlenburg.

Wren also guessed part of it, and Richard's account only proved his guess on the side, and he was not surprised. He pondered for a moment and said, "You can continue to do the duties of the tax collector as before." My goal is to take complete control of Ortrenburg, and you will be of great use when the time comes, and if nothing else, I will leave you with the first city lord, and of course you must have the ability to do it. I never keep someone's value constant because of their identity and status, and only by showing greater value can they be reused. ”

"Don't leak out this title deed thing, the consequences are not something you can bear. Shut your mouth until the situation is clear. Wren waved his hand, "You can go back!"

After watching Richard leave, Rosie fell into deep thought again, and choosing Richard was also a decision he made after careful consideration. He needed to find an object of cooperation in the inherent privileged class, so that he could seek power over the whole of Ortlenburg.

The captain of the guard is supposed to be the first choice, and through Wren's observation, the seemingly old-fashioned captain of the guard is actually not reliable. If he was really as rigid and inflexible as he appeared, he would have died long ago. In a city full of crime, the harmony between the guards and the evil forces in the streets is more than what it seems. It may not be appropriate to use the same language, not to say that the term insults the garrison, but that it overestimates them.

The city defense army is not a good choice either, it is not that Rennes does not look down on the city defense army of Ortlenburg, but the city defense army here does not look down on him. Just like the garrison, the Imperial soldiers, who are the sharpest spears in the Empire, actually watched the city derail step by step until it became what it is today, which can only be said to be the result of their indulgence. The garrison and the city defense force are all consciously or unconsciously maintaining the status quo. Why is this so? Actually, there is no other answer than profit.

They can also be said to be the representatives of the forces in the city, the only difference from those gangs is that they have an official identity, they have the same interests, a chaotic city, obviously more in their interests than an orderly city. Think about it, who will give them an offering in an orderly city, and only when the city is in chaos will they get what they want—privileges, and gold.

The clerk is not a good partner to work with, because he has a way out, as long as the written report is done well, the higher authorities will not care whether you are really doing your job or not, and you can be promoted as soon as the time comes. Rather than mingling with a decaying aristocrat he had more options.

So Richard is the one Wren needs.