Codex of the Old Gods: I Have a World

Calderón Velazquez was impatient with the bumpy ride. Hearing this, his narrowed eyes straightened up and his majesty increased suddenly: "Murder? Doesn't that mean that what the crazy old man said is true? Then why didn't you say it just now?"

The head of the bodyguards had a serious expression. "Perfume mint is a herb. Who would use it in a stable? Horses don't like the smell. Although the stone just now blocked the bloodstains, they forgot to cover up the smell of blood. I guess there is blood under the stone. There are not many of us, and you are close. The people in the White House Tavern are too brave. I am worried that they will hurt you."

Calderón Velazquez suddenly felt frightened when he thought of the boy's calmness and serious nonsense.

If the bodyguard leader's guess was correct, then this group of bandits was truly so bold that they didn't even take him, the governor, seriously.

Suddenly, a nameless anger arose.

He thought again of the horse tied to the wooden post next to the stable. It looked so majestic.

If he remembered correctly, he had seen this horse at the hands of an American businessman and had long coveted it.

But the Americans are the clients in Mexico, and they want to take away the money they earn from them. When Diaz was in power and favored foreign-funded enterprises, he did not dare to offend these clients.

But if this horse falls into the hands of a bandit, haha...

As they were thinking, they arrived at Torik Manor.

Camilo Torric was surprised when he learned that Calderón Velázquez had arrived, and he quickly took people out to greet him.

The arrogant landlord in Quetshalan now turned into a qualified lackey, with a fawning face and respectfully greeted them outside the arch made of reeds and corn stalks. The only drawback was that the floats could not be used for the time being.

Although Calderón Velázquez thought Camilo Torique was a country bumpkin, he liked the grand ceremony.

He got out of the car with a smile on his face and said to Camilo Torick: "Old man, you did a good job."

The two parties obviously knew each other for a long time.

Camilo Torick, who usually had a gloomy face, showed a hint of pride when he was praised by the governor.

These landlords, like the gentry in the country, participated in local infrastructure and public security.

At this time, Urquidi Gomez came hurriedly after hearing the news, and almost lost one of his shoes.

Camilo Torick glared at him with disdain: "Be careful with your words later."

Urquidi Gomez chuckled.

Governor Calderón Velázquez glanced at Urquidi Gómez and roughly understood that this was Camilo Torric's estate escort.

This kind of thing is very common in Mexico. There are landlords in every village and town, and every landlord has some bodyguards in his family. The bodyguards collude with the rural cavalry patrols to help them plunder the land.

The Diaz government plundered a large amount of land from Mexican farmers, who were mainly Indians and mixed-race Indians. Both the public land of the Indian communes and the land that the farmers had cultivated for generations were seized without compensation by government officials, landowners and land speculators because they could not provide evidence that complied with legal procedures.

The annexation of land reached an alarming level. More than 3000 million acres of land in Lower California belonged to four people. One-fifth of the land in the country was concentrated in the hands of 4 people. Today, there are almost 1 million farmers without land. Most of the farmers who were driven out of their homes became serfs of the big estate owners. On average, a serf could only receive 5 to 17 cents a day from his master, which was very bleak.

Camilo Torick first prepared fine wine and delicious food for the governor, choosing the best and most expensive ones.

Then I took Calderón Velázquez to see a shepherd's play, which was performed only at Christmas.

Calderón Velazquez enjoys the feeling of being valued.

While watching the play, he said to Camilo Torick: "Old man, although you have done a good job, you know that in Quetzalan, there is a group of blatant criminals."

This surprised Camilo Torick.

Could the governor be talking about Urquidi Gomez and others?

Could it be that he is trying to deceive himself?

Or was it that he didn't give the governor enough pomp and circumstance?

Camilo Torric's suspicion was justified. After all, in Quetzalan, apart from Urquidi Gomez and his gang who looked like bandits, there were really no bandits.

Calderón Velazquez was also a smart man and he could tell from his expression that Camilo Torique had misunderstood.

He smiled faintly, his eyes almost squeezed out of his fat face: "Old man, I'm talking about the White House Tavern at the west entrance of the town. Did you know that there are bandits hiding in it?"

Camilo Torick certainly didn't know, nor did he think, that the stranger and the young boy Aguilera Ida could form a bandit gang.

However, he would not refute and pretended not to know, saying: "I don't know about that. Usually, Quetshalan lives and works in peace and contentment, and the faces of the townspeople are always filled with happy smiles. I have never heard of anyone being killed by bandits."

Calderón Velazquez thought of the townspeople he had seen along the way. How could they live and work in peace and contentment? They were all skinny, with numb faces, and many of them were covered in wounds.

You call this living and working in peace and contentment?

Look at those houses, they are shabby and the people are dressed in rags. Do you call this a place where people can live and work in peace and contentment?

But he also didn't expose it: "Yes, when we came here, we met a farmer who worked for you. He said there were bandits in the White House Tavern. My bodyguard also said that the people in the White House Tavern killed someone."

Camilo Torick's face showed appropriate anger: "With the governor here, they dare to do whatever they want. It's really unreasonable. Mr. Governor, what do you want me to do?"

Calderón Velazquez said: "Send someone to find the cavalry police, and you will cooperate with them to catch the bandits. By the way, I saw that the bandits seem to have a horse, maybe it was stolen. I like it very much, and I am willing to pay for it."

Camilo Torick understood the meaning of the music: "Country horses are not worth much. If the governor likes them, he can take them away for just one peso."

"Oh, I didn't expect that the horses in Quetzalan are so cheap. It's really surprising." Calderón Velazquez said happily.

Urquidi Gómez sent someone to notify the mounted police and to gather his own team.

Camilo Torick secretly calculated that the cost of entertaining the governor, the governor's pistol bodyguards, a group of mounted patrol police, the shepherd's show, the floats, and the travel expenses given by the governor before his departure would probably be 4000 pesos for the next two days, which was a staggering cost.

But it's all worth it.

After watching the pastoral drama for a while, Calderón Velazquez said, "By the way, we have constant friction with the neighboring state of Veracruz. This time, I plan to increase the number of rural cavalry patrols, otherwise the people of Veracruz will always come to provoke us."

Diaz is in power and has his own unique way of winning people's hearts.

For example, bribing newspapers and educational institutions to endorse and promote their works.

In addition, there are still various forces remaining on the Mexican political stage, such as the Juárez faction, the Lerdo faction, the Porfirio faction, and so on.

Diaz then tried to sow discord among them, causing them to be at odds with each other and often have conflicts.