Dr2618-2-11,am7:30
Thousands of rays of morning light penetrated the clouds and gradually illuminated the scenery on the ground.
At the end of winter and the beginning of spring, everything was wet. Melted snow seeped into the soil, and the hazy drizzle accompanied the cold monsoon. There was nothing like the spring scene described by the poet.
Even if you wear thick cotton clothes, you will still feel the biting cold.
Looking out, long black plastic bags are densely placed on the flat ground hundreds of meters long. It is not difficult to tell from the outline of the human body that it is filled with corpses.
Rows, columns, thousands.
"Shot, salute!"
"Send off to Paoze!"
Chen Xing led the senior generals of the expeditionary force and watched the trucks draped in black cloth and white flowers leave.
The bodies will be transported in batches to the crematorium in the city for cremation. Soon after, the urns and relics will be transported back to Monitor Lizard City, where they will be arranged by the Red Dragon Principality’s military department and sent to different places around the world.
Those with family members will be sent back to their families, while those without family members will be sent to the national cemetery.
Since the mercenaries come from all over the world, from Paradise Island in the south to the Great Wilderness in the north, the Andes Mountains in the west and the Kunlun Mountains in the east. The distances are very long, over mountains and ridges, and across deep oceans, so the cost of protecting the souls is astonishingly high.
The job of guarding the souls is not as simple and crude as delivering a courier. It just needs to be delivered. It also requires a sense of ceremony to express the highest respect for those who sacrificed their lives for the country. The whole process needs to be escorted by a team of twelve people, and they are regular troops. The military appearance and etiquette must be in place, and they cannot be local garrison teams with uneven quality.
Naturally, this extra cost cannot be borne by the Red Dragon Principality, and the expeditionary force can only find a way to solve it.
Strictly speaking, the expeditionary force is not the army of the Red Dragon Principality, but the Northern Alliance. But the current Northern Alliance is only a prototype, without a complete bureaucracy, and can only rely on the government agencies of the Red Dragon Principality.
Therefore, it is reasonable that the Red Dragon Principality is not responsible for the expenses.
But it was impossible for Chen Xing to ask Aaliya for money. He knew this was an unrealistic idea many years ago, so he could only find a way on his own.
Fortunately, Aaliyah gave him enough power. The Silver Claw Principality in front of him was like a piece of fat, it just depended on how much oil and water he could squeeze out.
Why "extract oil" instead of directly plundering?
Because according to the rules set by the Human Survival Committee, the winning side can only plunder the direct blood relatives of the losing side's royal family. To put it simply, the only one Chen Xing could rob was Wei Haitang's family, and it was illegal to rob anyone else.
Within the satellite signal coverage area, even a screw has its clear ownership. The mastermind recorded it clearly. This screw belongs to Zhang San and the screw cap belongs to Li Si.
However, the monitoring system is tolerant to those in higher positions. This system is called the "flexible space of social credit". The higher the status, the greater the flexible space.
In short, the superiors are allowed to break the law, but not too much. For example, if Chen Xing kills one or two people every month, the system mechanism will not be triggered, but if the number of killings is too large in a short period of time, the system's punishment mechanism will be triggered.
Once social credibility drops to freezing point, even high-ranking nobles will be deprived of their black watches, and the Human Survival Committee will even send special staff to punish them.
Although the upper limit of system punishment is below the king level, the supreme power has the restrictions of the king's declaration and cannot do whatever he wants, but the flexibility will be larger.
Chen Xing could kill a few dissatisfied local nobles and plunder their property, thereby threatening all local nobles to pay protection fees, but if they collectively resisted to the end, he would not be able to plunder as he pleased.
In addition, he can also use the rules of the bureaucracy system to give the other party little shoes to wear, which is commonly known as the official level crushes people to death.
Therefore, if you want to squeeze out the water and oil from these silver-clawed nobles, you still need a certain amount of skill and time.
In fact, the money in the Silver Claw treasury and the valuables in the Silver Castle alone are enough to pay the pension of the expeditionary force, and Chen Xing will not have to worry about money for a long time.
But in fact, these properties do not entirely belong to Wei Haitang's family.
The property controlled by the royal family is also divided into public property and private property.
The money in the Silver Claw treasury belongs to the Silver Claw Principality. Wei Haitang can decide the use, but the ownership is not his.
In the same way, the valuables in Silver Castle do not entirely belong to Wei Haitang's family, but to the entire Wei royal family.
According to convention, Chen Xing can only plunder 20% of it, and the rest must be left to the legal heirs.
The reason is simple. If the victor robs everything and the successors get an empty shell without the funds to maintain the country's operations, the people will fall into chaos, and eventually the economy will collapse and the people will have no way of living. This is not what the Human Survival Committee wants to see.
After attending the farewell ceremony,
Chen Xing returned to Baiyin Castle.
He asked Jian Yue Canglian to open a bottle of Kraken red wine, and while taking a bath in the palace bathhouse, he enjoyed the wine and the shoulder rub from the head maid.
In the past few days, he has been busy raising funds and solving pension problems. He was so busy that he didn't even have time to sleep.
Now that things have finally come to an end, I can take a break.
After taking a shower and before sleeping on the velvet bed, Wu Hai and Zhu Zexi came over.
Although Chen Xing was very sleepy, he still summoned the two of them.
Seeing him yawning, Wu Hai and Zhu Zexi immediately made a long story short. What the two of them meant was that they hoped that Chen Xing could hold a palace reception and invite all the nobles in the city to attend. The purpose was to give the "closer faction" a chance to show their respect and also give the "wavering faction" a relatively gentle step down.
Moreover, the "die loyalists" can be identified through their attendance at the dance, and then dealt with intensively to kill the chickens and scare the monkeys.
Chen Xing thought the idea was good and agreed. The time should be sooner rather than later, and it will be set at 7:30 tonight. The palace steward, Little Trollope, will take care of it.
Wu Hai and Zhu Zexi knew that Chen Xing was tired and left immediately after receiving the reply.
But as soon as the two of them left, the messenger came in from the outside.
"Sir, the fifth princess of Black Feather, Dongfang Xuanran, would like to see you."
Chen Xing couldn't help but frown. This Dongfang Xuanran was really annoying. During this period, he came to see her every day, but he refused with various reasons.
Dongfang Xuanran did not leave with her father that day, but stayed in the army.
The other party came to him for three reasons, either to talk about his son's inheritance of the Silver Claw throne, or because he was worried that he had sold out everything in Silver Castle, or to plead for someone.
To put it bluntly, the other party is here to cut off his financial path.
Therefore, he will not see the other party until the money-making is over.
Chen Xing turned to look at Jian Yue Canglian, "Go out and tell her that I'm busy with military affairs recently and can't get away, and ask her to come back in a few days."
Dongfang Xuanran has a higher status and cannot let the messengers reply. He must find someone with weight.
He thought for a while and then added, "Don't worry, I will keep my promise. I will arrange her son's enthronement ceremony before leaving the Silver Eagle Territory."
Jian Yue Canglian went out for a while and then came back and reported to Chen Xinghui, "She said it was not about the succession to the throne, she just wanted to see you."
Chen Xing suddenly became impatient, "Tell her that I haven't slept for a few days, and we'll talk about it later if there's anything else!"
After Jian Yue Canglian went out to talk this time, Dongfang Xuanran didn't insist anymore and went back.
"Master, I see her expression is a little painful. I wonder if she is feeling unwell?" Jian Yue Canglian said.
"Take Nancy over and show her." Chen Xing ordered. Although he annoyed the other party, after all, she was a royal princess and had a distinguished status, so she could not be neglected.
Chen Xing fell asleep before Jian Yue Canglian came back. He was really tired these days. The battle of wits and courage with the local nobles consumed a lot of his energy.
When he was woken up, it was almost half past seven in the evening. Although he wanted to continue sleeping, as the host of the reception, he had to attend.
Sleepy-eyed and yawning, he put on his cocktail dress surrounded by a few improvised maids.
When he came out of the small door behind the throne and stood on the high platform of the castle hall, he immediately became the focus of the audience.
The band played the horse racing march for the master's appearance, and the powerful businessmen and ladies all paid attention to him, saluted him, and applauded to welcome him.
"Thank you all for coming to tonight's cocktail party. Have a good time."
Chen Xing just woke up and his head was still a little stiff, so he said a standard line of the master, and then hid on the balcony to take a nap.
Although there were many young and beautiful aristocratic ladies present, looking at him with eyes full of admiration and excitement, and it was probably just a matter of nodding and waving to get started, he was still awake and really couldn't get interested.
For a person who is sleep deprived, even if there are delicacies from the mountains and seas in front of him, he will not have any appetite.
The only thing he wants to do now is to have a good sleep. As for the reception of those nobles, it is up to Xiang Caidi, plus Lin Shiyuan, Prad, Lu Shanhai, Wu Hai, and Zhu Zexi to solve the problem.
He was leaning on a comfortable wicker chair, with his feet propped on a small round table, and he closed his eyes and took a nap.
At this time, the night is dark, dotted with stars, and the fragrance of flowers and plants is in the air, creating a leisurely and comfortable scene.
This is a landscaped balcony facing the back garden of Baiyin Castle. Separated by the floor-to-ceiling glass wrapped with copper flowers, there are two worlds, one is the lively cocktail party, and the other is the quiet corner.
Looking down from the balcony, you can still see people walking and communicating in the garden in groups of three or three.
guests.
It's a good place to take a break from the hustle and bustle and take a nap alone.
Quietly, a floor-to-ceiling window was pushed open, and a figure moved in.
The other party's movements were a little slow and his steps were shaky, like a patient who had just undergone surgery. He was half a beat slower than ordinary people, but he was a little sneaky. After coming in, he looked outside a few times, as if he was worried about being seen.
"Good evening, Your Highness Princess."
Jian Yue Canglian, who was standing next to Chen Xing, greeted him in order to remind his master who was taking a nap.
Chen Xing opened his eyes, but before he could see the person clearly, he smelled a strong milk fragrance.
He calmed down and finally saw the other person clearly.
The visitor is wearing a beige ball gown, with slim curves, a slender waist that can be held, tall breasts, and plump breasts, full of the charm of a young woman. She is none other than the fifth princess of Black Feather, Dongfang Xuanran.
At this moment, she frowned slightly, with a painful look on her face. She took very small steps. Every time she landed, she would shake slightly. It seemed that every step was very difficult, as if there was some hidden injury in her body. Every step she took would affect the wound and cause pain. .
"Hoo, ho..."
She was breathing heavily, and there was a sound of bellows in her chest, and she seemed to be out of breath.
"ah!"
Suddenly, his steps softened, he staggered, and he suddenly let out a cry of pain. Just as he was about to fall down, Jian Yue Canglian flashed forward and stepped forward to support him.
"Are you okay?"
Jian Yue Canglian asked.
From her perspective, Dongfang Xuanran's forehead was covered with beads of sweat, as if she had a bad cold.
She frowned and pressed her temple with one hand, as if she had a splitting headache. After a while, she shook her head vigorously and stood firm again.
"Thank you."
Dongfang Xuanran cast a grateful look at Jian Yue Canglian, then faced Chen Xing, bowed slightly and performed a court curtsey.
"The slave family has met my uncle."
The voice was soft, "concubine" became "servant", and it sounded very comfortable.
Without waiting for Chen Xing to answer, she added, "My uncle has been hiding from the slave family these days. Is he afraid that the slave family will eat my uncle?"
She seemed to be holding back some pain and forced a smile.
"What's wrong with you? Didn't I ask Nancy to visit you?" Chen Xing asked. It stands to reason that even if it is a cold, it will be better after just one treatment.
"My family, my family is not sick." Dongfang Xuanran said, shaking her head.
"Then what's wrong with you?" Chen Xing asked. Although he was a little impatient, if something happened to Dongfang Xuanran on his territory, it would be difficult for him to explain to Dongfang Xuanyuan.
A layer of mist appeared in Dongfang Xuanran's eyes, and she suddenly took two steps forward and knelt down in front of Chen Xing, "Uncle, help me, we are working so hard..."
There was a cry in her voice, holding Chen Xing's hand with both hands, and a pleading look on her face.
"What's wrong with you?" Chen Xing asked.
"Uncle, you must help the slave family, otherwise the slave family will be dead..."
"Just tell me if you have something to say!" Chen Xing was really impatient and raised his voice a bit.
Dongfang Xuanran still didn't answer, but this time she turned around and said to Yue Canglian, "Sister Canglian, I have a few words that I want to talk to my uncle alone. Can I trouble my sister to stay outside to avoid intrusion?"
Jian Yue Cang Lian looked at Chen Xing inquiringly. Chen Xing nodded, then saw Yue Canglian opened the floor-to-ceiling window and walked out of the balcony.
"Can you say it now?" Chen Xing said, his tone unconsciously becoming colder. I have to say that this woman is a bit troublesome, and what he fears most now is trouble.
"Uncle, do you think the slave family is so annoying to your uncle?" Dongfang Xuanran returned to her weak look and was about to cry.
The tearful look was indeed a bit pitiful. Chen Xing was a man after all, and his tone softened, "If you have anything to say, please tell me. I will definitely help if I can."
"Uncle, my family, my family is so prosperous..."
"It's been, it's been many days. The slave family is almost, almost dying..."
His hand was grabbed by Dongfang Xuanran and placed on his chest. It feels hard, like a stone.
"The slave family begs uncle. Uncle must help the slave family, otherwise the slave family will be hurt to death..."
"My uncle is such a good person, he will definitely not leave you alone, right?"
"Uncle, please..."
The beauty speaks softly and pleads, and sometimes it is really hard to ignore her.
So Chen Xing, like most people, chose to help others...
