vstars Chapter 617 Rapid Development
Chapter 617 Rapid Development
"Breaking News! The Mitlan Arms Officer was beheaded for embezzling public funds, and 100,000 gold coins were confiscated from his home!"
The newsboy's shouting pierced through the noise of the Helmingen tavern and startled the sparrows perched on the eaves.
A stack of newspapers with wet ink was placed on the greasy wooden table. The edges of the papers were still curled and frayed, and they had the unique pungent smell of ink.
"Give me a newspaper!"
"I'll have one too!"
Inside the tavern, a dozen or so patrons gathered around. A yellowed newspaper lay spread out on the sturdy oak table, its front-page headline printed in bold type:
"Thunder in Midland: The ordnance officer was executed for embezzling 100,000 gold coins, and the king cracked down on corruption with an iron fist!"
"Huo, King Mitlan is really angry this time!"
A bearded drinker sitting by the window put down his glass.
"Just last month, they fired three tax collectors, and today they fired the ordnance officer. Are they going to start cleaning out corrupt officials?"
He grinned, showing a missing front tooth, and the foam of wine was on his chin.
"My cousin is a soldier at the gate of Windham. He says the tax collector often collects 20% more for 'tolls' than the required tax. I'm afraid we're going to be in trouble this time."
"I've heard that too."
In the corner, a tall, thin man in a leather hat took a sip of beer, and the foam stuck to his upturned mustache.
"A bunch of Midland officials have arrived from the Forest Territory. They hang out at the docks every day and have even visited our steel mill. They might even want to build a factory in Midland."
"It seems that the old King of Midland is going to learn from us Helderland."
A waitress wearing a red headscarf at the next table interrupted as she stood on tiptoe to wipe the glasses on the wine rack.
"This is also good. Building so many factories can at least provide jobs and help local people live a better life."
"Difficult, difficult, difficult."
At this time, the middle-aged man wearing tortoise-shell glasses pushed the frames of his glasses and spoke slowly.
He was wearing a gray gown that had been washed to a pale color. The cuffs were frayed, but it was starched straight. At this moment, he was picking the meat strands between his teeth with his fingernails, attracting the attention of the guests at several tables around him.
"Uncle Gordon, you've lived in Midland for over twenty years and even served as an official in Wyndam. Tell us about that."
The bearded drunkard moved closer, and the smell of alcohol mixed with the smell of barbecue wafted over.
"You are well-informed. Can the King of Midlan learn to be like our Majesty?"
Uncle Gordon pushed up his glasses, and his eyes narrowed into slits behind the lenses.
He slowly picked up the newspaper and pointed at the editorial:
"Look, the newspapers wrote beautifully about 'saving the country and the people,' but in reality, they only saved King Mitrane himself."
"How to say?"
The red-turbaned waitress put down the rag and leaned over curiously.
"Compare him to our Majesty John."
Uncle Gordon turned to the second page of the newspaper and pointed to a paragraph of small print.
"Our Majesty was able to distribute land to the peasants, exempting them from all taxes other than those required. He also allowed children from common families to enter college and even grant them nobility for military merit. Have you ever seen the old king of Midland do these things?"
"Even if he did, it was only in his own territory."
The tall and thin man in the fur hat added.
"There are over a thousand noble territories in Midland, large and small, and every lord is like a local tyrant. Once the old king's orders leave Wendam and the royal territory, they are either changed beyond recognition by the nobles or simply thrown into the toilet like waste paper."
He pointed to the illustration in the newspaper showing the ordnance officer being led to his execution.
"Look, this armorer embezzled 100,000 gold coins, but what about the high-ranking officials behind him? I heard that some of them have more money in their homes than the Mitlan treasury. Can the King of Mitlan do anything about it?"
The tavern was silent for a few seconds, with only the crackling of the log fire in the fireplace.
“So, the biggest problem facing Midland right now is the inability to centralize power.”
Uncle Gordon pushed up his glasses, and the lenses reflected the light from the fire.
"Local nobles controlled taxation, justice, and even the military, making it impossible for the king to send a decent tax collector. Those with real talent and patriotism were either excluded by the nobles because of their commoner status, or had to work servilely for them in order to get a job that barely provided them with a living."
He sighed and tapped the newspaper with his fingertips.
"Look at this armorer! If he hadn't been so greedy and put all the king's military funds into his own pocket, would he have been guillotined? Those petty corrupt officials are still living comfortably under the protection of their own patrons!"
"Oh, Uncle Gordon, don't talk so depressingly."
The bearded drunk patted him on the shoulder.
"The good life we have in Helderland is the result of gradual development. Perhaps the king will appoint some capable officials this time and bring about changes in Midland."
"change?"
Uncle Gordon sneered.
"How can change be so easy? Before Helderland was founded, the Yoda army invaded massively. Even His Majesty John was trapped in Kusha and lacked food and clothing. If it weren't for everyone's bloody battles, Helderland might not exist now!"
He lifted his glass and took a sip of his rye.
"Everyone, don't worry about it. Why think so much about what to do abroad?"
The waitress with a red headscarf smiled and tried to smooth things over, holding a plate of freshly grilled onion rings.
"Life in Helderland is getting better and better. No matter whether it's windy or rainy in Midland, let's drink a toast to His Majesty and wish us meat every meal!"
"indeed!"
"cheers!"
The sound of clinking glasses suddenly rang out in the pub.
……
"My... the Westernization Movement!"
John leaned back in his oak office chair, holding a secret report that had just arrived from Midland.
The old king didn't know what he heard, and began to send people to make special efforts in various fields of Midland. Not only did he send people to buy artillery and learn technology, he even learned to publish a newspaper.
John flipped through it a few times and saw nothing but phrases like "Your Majesty leads us to victory" and "Win fifty times in fifty days."
However, John also has a countermeasure. Now that Helderland has entered the steam age, he can teach some of the previous medieval technologies other than military technologies. Of course, the fees will be higher. For the purchased artillery, only the commercial version below 16 pounds will be sold. As for joint ventures and the like, they will be directly handed over to the Helderland Chamber of Commerce to connect, allowing Midland to hire relevant professionals with high salaries. As for them not coming back after being tempted by the high salaries, he wants to reopen it.
John moved his mind, and a soft blue light flashed by. The translucent light curtain suspended in front of his eyes slowly unfolded, and a golden number flashed at the top: [Divine Grace: 1024].
"I finally saved up over a thousand."
He stared at the options of the "Magic Technology Tree" on the light screen, thought about it, and finally his finger lightly hovered over "Light Magic".
The number of divine grace plummeted to single digits in an instant. A white light flashed, and John's vision suddenly fell into a thick darkness.
It felt like being pushed into a bottomless pool of ink. It was so quiet that I could even hear my own heartbeat clearly.
"Where did this come from?"
He subconsciously wanted to call Hans, but found that his throat seemed to be stuffed with cotton and he couldn't make a sound.
John groped in the darkness, but what his fingertips touched was not the familiar wood grain of the desk, but a sticky substance that looked like liquid stars.
At this moment, I was "floating" in a dark sea, if the surging black liquid could be called a "sea".
John now felt that he was the same as when he was unconscious in Kusha, except that this time he didn't have that evil heart.
Suddenly, a soft glimmer of light floated in from afar, getting closer and brighter.
John squinted his eyes and finally saw that it was a ball of light suspended in the darkness. It was about the size of an apple, with faint golden lines flowing on its surface, like flowing lava.
What's even more amazing is that the light spots floating around are continuously converging towards the light ball, as if being pulled by some force, merging into it one by one.
"This is……"
John subconsciously reached out to touch it, but before his fingertips touched the ball of light, the thing suddenly made a "buzz" sound and burst into a dazzling golden light!
John's pupils suddenly contracted, and only a dazzling white remained in front of his eyes.
He felt as if his body was thrown into the sun, every inch of his skin was burning, and yet it also felt as if it was gently wrapped by countless warm hands.
The white light lasted only three seconds, but it felt like three full years.
When John regained his vision, he was standing in his office. The desk, the green tweed tablecloth, the map of Helderland on the wall, and even the noise from the square outside the window were all exactly the same. The only difference was that he clearly felt that something in his body seemed to have "come alive".
"This is……"
He looked down at his palms, and his fingertips moved slightly. As soon as the idea emerged, tiny strands of light emerged from his palms, like a group of naughty fireflies, floating lightly in the air.
The light was pale gold, not very hot, but it had a strange warmth, like a quilt that had been exposed to the sun in winter.
"Light magic... really worked?"
John's eyes widened and he tried to concentrate again. The light in his palm immediately gathered into a soft ball of light, illuminating the entire desk.
He reached out and fiddled with the ball of light. It seemed to be alive, swaying gently according to his thoughts. Even when he deliberately thought of "brightening", the brightness of the ball of light immediately increased three times.
"Hahahaha!"
John couldn't help laughing out loud, and his laughter echoed in the office, waking up Coal Ball who was sleeping in the duck coop nearby.