Infrastructure Throne

evening.The mansion of Viscount Boya.

The afterglow of the setting sun was a pale crimson, hitting the pale faces of the nobles obliquely from the windows.

There is a long table in the hall, the candle shadows on the table are bright, the steak on the dinner plate has been cooled, and no one has the appetite to touch a fork.

The fact that Earl Yan En was thrown into prison by Shen Qingze caused panic among the nobles in the whole city.

Viscount Boya convened the nobles in the city who were friendly to the Earl to discuss the matter together.The power they bring together is undoubtedly enormous.

In just one night, they gathered hundreds of people who worked for them, and encouraged the entire market merchants to go on strike, paralyzing the trading market in Yuanliu City, forcing more neutral people to join their camp, making a big noise, and giving The City Lord's Mansion exerted pressure.

However, they never expected that such two major trump cards would be completely destroyed by Shen Qingze's understatement!

The nobles are simply unbelievable. It would be impossible for anyone in the position of officiant to achieve this level!

They were puzzled, what kind of magic did Shen Qingze cast?The miners who were still shouting at the iron factory the day before yesterday can turn around and work for him today.

Where did he conjure up piles of potatoes, which seemed to be endlessly sold to the market.

They didn't even understand that Earl Yan En obviously led more than [-] fully armed knights to besiege the iron factory, but how could he collapse at the first touch when he met Shen Qingze face to face?

Is it because the knights are too weak, or is Shen Qingze too strong?If it was the latter, it would be too strong!

While everyone was whispering, new bad news came one after another——

After the two plots failed one after another, Viscount Boya sent someone to pretend to be a poor man, go to the grocery store opened by Shen Qingze to rob potatoes, trying to spend money to buy all the cheap potatoes, jumping in the queue, looting, making trouble, and doing everything he can pole.

Who knows, Shen Qingze even expected this little trick.

The steward of the grocery store sent a few guys, one to weigh, one to collect the money, and another to register customers, and each person had a daily limit for purchases.

In addition, there is a group of idle workers who take on the important task of maintaining order. Anyone who dares to jump in the queue or make trouble will be punched indiscriminately. No matter who comes to buy, they all have to queue up.

When the people sent by the nobles saw the queue from the east to the west, their eyes went dark.

The plan to loot the potatoes failed again!

Sitting around the long table, the nobles, big and small, fell into confusion and silence at the same time.

It seemed that ever since they chose to fight against Shen Qingze, they were breaking the record of failure every time.

When all the means of the nobles were useless, the only thing left was to unite their own private soldiers, buy some officers of the guards, and join forces from inside and outside to attack the city lord's mansion.

However, this thought only swirled in my mind once, and was immediately thrown out of my mind.

Not to mention whether the guards can be successfully bribed, just with Shen Qingze's mysterious and powerful strength, Earl Yan En's armored knight has no power to resist in front of him, and it would be too much for him to do it by himself.

Secret pressure is not enough, and forceful attack is not enough. Could it be that... the only way is to surrender?

Someone tried to make a sound: "How about... Let's take a step back and send someone to negotiate with Priest Shen tomorrow morning? To test his bottom line. At most, let's endure this and treat it as if he blackmailed you. The money is gone."

As soon as this remark was made, the dining table was quiet, everyone looked at me and I looked at you, no one was ashamed to be the first to respond, as if they were afraid of the other party and couldn't wait to bow their heads and admit defeat.

In the end, all eyes were on Viscount Boya, his face was like a stone in a latrine, smelly and hard.

Thinking of being bullied by Shen Qingze and forcibly "spending money to eliminate the disaster", Viscount Boya felt very angry.

Talking about negotiating, what is the difference between this and begging for mercy?

But what can he do?Even Earl Yan En was thrown into prison.

Viscount Boya sat down on the chair and nodded wearily.

※※※

The second day of the strike.

The city lord's mansion, the meeting hall.

A huge floral iron candle lamp on the ceiling made everyone's faces flicker.

A piece of dark red flannelette was spread on the long black wooden table, with tassels hanging from both ends of the long table, Shen Qingze was sitting at one end, and the chair at the other end was empty, no one dared to sit facing him.

Negotiations have been bogged down in stalemate and quagmire from the very beginning.

A cup of hot tea was served in front of everyone, but the tea was not half full. It was not that the chief priest was stingy, but that he had no intention of haggling with these people at all.

Shen Qingze leaned on the back of the chair with his legs crossed, his hands resting on his thighs casually, his eyes were straight, he didn't look at anyone, and his attitude seemed particularly tough and indifferent: "The life and death of Yan En and Berg will be decided by the Lord City Master when he comes back." Make a decision. I'll just say a little bit."

"From tonight onwards, the income from the mine will completely belong to Yuanliu City, and it will no longer be a cash cow for you to suck blood."

Without waiting for the nobles to stir up trouble, Shen Qingze continued to state calmly: "In addition, there is food tax. The previous arrears must be paid in full. In the future, no arrears are allowed, not a penny less."

After a short period of sluggishness, the pent-up anger of the nobles finally broke out!

They originally thought that showing weakness to Shen Qingze was enough to save face, and at most they would extort a sum of money and food that was not painful, and the matter would be considered a nuisance.

He never expected that Shen Qingze would not only block all their financial opportunities, but also make them lose their fortunes!

Isn't this driving people to death?

"Master Priest, are you going too far?"

"It's all right to hand over the mine. As a nobleman and after meritorious service, I have the privilege of tax exemption!"

"If everyone is like the poor, losing their wealth, decency and privileges, who will defend Yuanliu City desperately for the title?!"

"These conditions are too harsh, we can never agree!"

Seeing the righteous indignation of several people, Shen Qingze thought to himself, at least he didn't ask to hand over the land ownership.

Huo Di, Viscount Boya got up, raised his eyebrows, and asked coldly: "Master, are you planning to completely offend the nobles in the city?"

Shen Qingze fiddled with the candlelight on the table, with deep black eyes, and a deep voice: "The game between the two sides is all about power, force and resources."

"No matter what, I am stronger than you. You can't compete with me at all. I didn't offend you, but you offended me."

There was a moment of silence in the chamber.

The muscles on the faces of the nobles twitched, and their faces turned blue and white alternately. They didn't know whether to be angry at Shen Qingze's arrogance, or feel sad for their own situation.

Viscount Boya opened and closed his mouth, he was stunned for a while, his face slowly flushed red: "Don't be too arrogant! We are willing to pay a sum of money, but the priest doesn't have to kill everyone, right?"

Shen Qingze stared into his eyes: "It's not that I want to kill them all, but that there are some people who stand in the way of this city's progress. If you want to move forward, you must run over them without hesitation!"

"It's not who I want to target, but all stumbling blocks, I will crush them all!"

When saying these words, Shen Qingze's tone was calm, as if he treated everything in the world equally like a natural disaster.

The dim light of the candle flames danced in his eyes, and his eyes were full of pity that no one could understand, as if he had seen the other side of history across a long time.

Both merciful and extraordinarily cruel.

In an instant, everyone in the room seemed to be strangled by an invisible hand, robbed of their breath, their ears buzzing and their faces full of disbelief.

The nobles stood up one after another, so frightened and angry that they were speechless.

On Shen Qingze's right side, Fan Mizhou pinched the teacup with his fingers tighter and tighter. He stared blankly at the other side's side face with mixed feelings in his heart.

Back then, he had concluded that it was impossible for Shen Qingze to fight against the colluding nobles in the city, so he tried earnestly to persuade him to be careful and not to poke a hornet's nest.

Thinking about it now, the naivety may be himself, and those old-school nobles who are immersed in the glory of the past and can't see the situation clearly.

The sky in Yuanliu City has already changed!

Viscount Boya slapped the table violently, and smiled angrily: "Shen Qingze, do you really think that I will just let you flatten and round you without any resistance? Aren't you afraid that we will be caught in the net?"

"It's a big deal, we'll fight with you to the end! The warehouse of the City Lord's Mansion has no food left. I don't believe that you can support a whole winter just by selling potatoes!"

"It won't be long before the people who can't buy food will turn the city lord's mansion upside down!"

"At that time, you will come back and beg us to open a warehouse to release food!"

The confident smile returned to Viscount Boya's face. He slowly sat back in the chair, raised his chin, and stared at Shen Qingze's face contemptuously, trying to find a little bit of panic from his face.

But he was doomed to be disappointed.

Shen Qingze not only didn't even move his brows, but there was a little pity in his eyes.

Viscount Boya was baffled by the other party's eyes.

Suddenly, someone among the nobles exclaimed: "Look quickly, there are a lot of goods brought in... like food!"

Viscount Boya was startled, and immediately turned his neck to look out of the window. In front of the gate of the city lord's mansion, there was a group of carriages parked at some point, with almost no end in sight.

The attendants were relaying unloading. Large wooden crates full of grain were being transported to the warehouse. Someone accidentally dropped a corner of the crate on the way, and the golden rice was scattered all over the place.

Viscount Boya was dumbfounded, and kept muttering: "How is it possible... where did so much food come from?!"

Just at this time, a long laugh came from outside the door, causing everyone to turn their heads at the same time and look towards the door——

I saw Yan Zui, who was wearing a black and gold military uniform, slowly walking into the hall. As he walked, the dark golden girdle on his waist rustled rhythmically, just like his steady steps, step by step, directly stepping on the hearts of everyone.

The cloak was tied on the elbows, and the back of his head was like satin black hair, hanging straight in a bunch. His eyebrows and eyes seemed to be soaked in the chill of rain and snow, and he looked dusty.

"Everyone, I haven't seen you for a long time, do you miss my city lord?"

Yan Zui walked to Shen Qingze's side, lowered his head, and smiled at him lightly, his face was as radiant as yesterday.

His long hair slid down his back, and Shen Qingze grabbed it with one hand, and the soft touch spread to his fingertips. He raised his eyes to look at Yan Zui's eyes: "Welcome home, Lord City Master."