In the afternoon, against the scorching sun in the sky, the little fat man with all the flesh ran into Garland's palace sweating profusely.
Every time he came here before, he had a frowning look on his face, and it was obvious at a glance that he came to complain to Garlan because the Commerce and Trade Office had not improved.
But today, he changed the bitter melon face from before, and did not have the slack look before, the chubby face was radiant.
As soon as he entered the palace with a cheerful face, he trotted towards Garlan.
The soft flesh all over his body swayed up and down as he ran, and it looked like a round ball rolled over.
Although the sun was hot, in the courtyard inside the palace, the fountain sprinkled water, which dissipated the heat of the afternoon for a few minutes.
Surrounded by tall olive trees, the dense canopy casts large shadows in the courtyard.
In a white stone pavilion shrouded in the shade of trees, the young king sat in it, his long golden hair was spread out on the white stone platform, and the juice with ice cubes was placed next to it, and the coldness that came out The mist seemed to wrap around the ends of the blond hair hanging down.
The huge golden-brown male lion was lying in front of Garlan, with his huge head resting on Garlan's knees, with a languid look, squinting and dozing, comfortably letting Garlan Hair yourself.
Even if Tarr ran over, it just glanced at him casually and didn't bother to pay attention to him.
Tarr didn't care either, and leaned over happily, beaming.
"Your Majesty, do you think I've been acting like I've been pretending these days?"
These days, he pretended to be helpless and anxious, and he cocked his head and ran to Garlan.
Those people ridiculed him openly and secretly, and he just lowered his head and said nothing, as if he was speechless.
On the surface, he looked aggrieved, but he was actually happy.
Let your villains be proud of themselves for a while, and let you be proud first.
When the time comes, you guys don't even have a place to cry—
Little Fatty thought so sinisterly in his heart, waiting patiently for those guys to be slapped in the face.
Those big businessmen who do things have no idea at all. From the time they secretly manipulated, they have been targeted.
Their every move is actually under the eyes of others.
They thought their private actions had already been exposed.
What they did, one by one, one by one, Gallan knew clearly.
Tarmin's identity on the surface is the new director of the Commerce and Trade Department.
However, he has another secret position that only a few people know about.
Head of the Intelligence Department.
After Garlan ascended the throne, he immediately started to rebuild the destroyed legions, and everyone's attention was naturally attracted by the rebuilding of the legions.
However, only a few people such as Shemuer and Kaihos knew that at the same time, Gallan secretly established such a division.
Intelligence Division.
It is specially used to detect and collect various information and intelligence secretly.
Tarr, who is good at collecting and organizing information, is in charge of its work.
In more than a year, its power may still be weak in other regions, but in the royal city supported by Gallan, it has already extended to all aspects of the royal city.
The actions of those big businessmen have always been under its monitoring.
Tarr, who was thought by everyone to be finished sooner or later, silently watched from behind the group of big businessmen who thought they were in control of the situation and could overwhelm the king, jumping up and down, just like watching a monkey show.
"Speaking of which, Your Majesty, since you asked them to warn them and imply that they should be more peaceful, why did you only select some of those guys?"
Tal sat cross-legged next to Garlan, and asked while happily drinking the ice-cold juice that Garlan gave him.
"Wouldn't it be better to warn all of them once? Maybe there will be more people who will be honest."
Garland hummed.
"Indeed, they actually do the same thing."
In fact, these big businessmen took advantage of the lack of a standardized and unified business law and regulations, relying on the power of their backers to monopolize the business of the king's city, in order to make huge profits.
Although this behavior is very unfair, their behavior does not violate the law.
In the final analysis, it is the problem of imperfect regulations on commerce and trade.
Therefore, Gallan only planned to warn them at first, ask them to withdraw voluntarily, make them a small fortune, and punish them a little.
However…
Gently stroking Nega's thick mane, the bottom of Gallan's golden eyes turned a little colder.
"Some people pay attention to their proportions and do not do too much. I can give them a chance."
While stroking Nega's mane, Gallan reached out and picked up a piece of cooked meat in the basin next to it, and brought it to Nega's mouth.
Seeing Nega obediently biting the piece of meat in his hand, Gallan continued.
"However, some people behaved more than I could tolerate."
He said in a light tone.
The coldness hidden in the depths was unconsciously pressing down on people's hearts.
Garlan wants to clear the business pattern in the royal city, but he doesn't plan to kill them all because of this.
It doesn't matter if it's just the big businessmen who collude with the powerful to monopolize the financial road to make money. As long as he honestly retreats, he will let it go.
However, some guys are not satisfied with such huge benefits, but become more and more greedy.
Over the years, they have relied on the powerful and powerful behind them to bully others, buy and sell by force, harass and drive away their counterparts by bad means, monopolize trade routes, and even ignore human life. , and finally forced people to be cornered and committed suicide.
The young king raised his head and looked into the distance, his eyes sharp as a sword.
The silverfish in this royal city should be cleaned up.
…
…
The news of the arrest of those big businessmen quickly spread throughout the royal city, and of course it also alarmed their backers.
You must try to fish out your own dog's legs.
Otherwise, who will help them make money in the future, and who will honor their large sums of money
Naturally, at the court meeting the next day, someone couldn't wait to bring up this matter.
"Those guys are agitating the people behind their backs, and they really should be punished a little to set an example."
Exactly why those big businessmen were arrested is well known to the powerful ministers.
"But, Your Majesty, they did misbehave, but they didn't break the law."
"They didn't carry any charges, you just arrest them directly. This kind of behavior is really inappropriate."
"Your Majesty, you are praised by the people in the name of justice, and now you have arrested those innocent businessmen. If this matter spreads out, I am afraid..."
One person takes the lead, and the others follow.
Many people said.
Those guys really deserve it to make you angry, Wang.
They didn't directly propose to release them, but just changed the conversation and persuaded Garlan euphemistically.
You are a wise king, a king who is known for his impartiality. To arrest these businessmen who only made you angry but have no definite charges will do great damage to your reputation.
You can just punish them a little to get angry and calm down. For the sake of your own reputation, let them out as soon as possible.
Sitting on the cold malachite throne, the young king leaned slightly, resting his chin in one hand and looking at the ministers who persuaded him below.
That look was light, indescribably calm.
After a while, his eyes fell on the minister who stood up first, who was still persuading him righteously.
"Tal."
Garland spoke suddenly.
Tarr, who had long been forgotten by everyone, trotted out shaking his body.
Garlan glanced at him, raised his hand, and pointed to the minister he was looking at just now.
Tarr nodded understandingly, then turned around and looked at the minister.
"Els."
Tar said the man's name.
"Last night, you dined with a man and took a thousand Aaron gold as a bribe from that man."
With a swish, the minister named Els's face suddenly turned pale, and the upright and resolute appearance just now disappeared completely, and panic appeared in his eyes.
"No... not..."
He resisted forcefully.
"This is a false accusation, Your Majesty, he is falsely accusing me! I never did that!"
On the throne, Garlan smiled.
He ignored Els, who was desperately defending, and just raised his hand and pointed at another person again.
Tarr stared at the man, thought for a few seconds, and then spoke.
"Gada, at noon three days ago, someone came to visit with a female family member and presented 800 Aaron gold coins, which were placed in the food box in the name of presenting delicious food. In addition, the woman's family member gave his wife a set worth 300 coins. Malachite ornament of Aaron's gold coin."
The expression of the executive named Garda who worked in the Finance Department also changed instantly.
Compared with the minister who supported him, he obviously had to know a lot about current affairs.
After his eyes flashed a few times, he didn't argue for himself, he knelt down with a thud, and knelt down on his knees, his forehead pressed tightly to the ground.
The sudden change in the courtroom caught all the ministers by surprise and looked at the scene in surprise.
Just when they were still in shock, the young king on the throne looked calm, and still stretched out his hand, seemingly casually ordering a few more people.
Every time he ordered one, Tal looked at the man and opened his mouth to tell when, where, and how much the man accepted the bribe.
One person after another was pointed out by Garland.
The positions are from low to high, and at the end, there are even ministers at the level of director.
And the amount of bribes from Tarr's mouth also increased from less to more, and finally reached 5,000 Aaron gold coins.
One Aaron Gold Coin is the cost of living for a commoner family of four for one year.
It can be seen that the five thousand Aaron gold coins is a huge sum of money.
And from this, we can see how rich the big businessmen who can easily spend such a huge sum of money to bribe officials are already rich—
At the beginning, there were one or two people who held on to their luck and resisted and refused to admit it.
However, Tarr snorted coldly, and then unceremoniously told the ministers who said that he was framing them, in addition to accepting bribes, all the other bad deeds of criminals.
This time, those who denied it immediately had several more charges than the others, and the others didn't dare to act rashly.
At this moment, all the noble ministers stared at the young king on the throne.
Looking at his hand, he pointed it so lightly.
Seeing them tremble with fear, they were afraid to point at them.
When Garlan finally let go, half of the ministers who tried to persuade him to release the big businessmen in the name of Garlan's reputation knelt on the ground.
After all, not everyone was bribed, and some ministers did give advice from their hearts.
At this moment, there are a dozen people kneeling below.
Their official positions ranged from large to small, from officials to nobles. At this moment, they all looked different, some were pale and sweaty, some pursed their lips, and some looked dignified.
The rest of the nobles and ministers also had different expressions.
Someone secretly glanced at Garlan on the throne, his eyes flickering, and his eyes showed a bit of tension.
There were also a group of ministers headed by Minister Zuo who stood upright, frowning at the group of kneeling colleagues, showing either disapproval or sighing eyes.
Garlan sat on the throne with one hand on the armrest of the throne.
He looked down at the crowd.
Condescending.
There was no anger on his face, and he looked at the group of kneeling ministers indifferently, looking very calm.
However, it is this kind of calm that gives people an invisible sense of oppression, which makes everyone below feel awe-inspiring.
Golden eyes, like the scorching sun in the sky, seem to be able to see through everything.
All the darkness in this world is invisible under the sun.
[Under the golden pupils of Shamash, the God of Judgment, no one can hide their crimes.]
At this moment, looking at the young king on the throne, the well-known words of the Aaron Landis people could not help but emerge from the bottom of everyone's heart.
Suddenly, an inexplicable sense of fear rose in their hearts, causing them to lower their heads subconsciously under the gaze of the other party.
Don't dare to look at him again.
Glancing over the people below, Garlan spoke again.
He said: "Ximuer, you are responsible for the trial of these people's crimes."
The high priest Shamash under the seat bowed slightly and saluted the young king on the throne.
"Follow your will."
Xie Muer replied with a solemn expression.
Then, with a wave of the golden priest's scepter, he strode forward.
Dozens of priests of Shamash walked out from the side of the chamber quickly, and they stretched out their hands, like catching chickens, to pick up the ministers and drag them outside without hesitation.
The priests of Shamash, the god of judgment, advocate justice, strictly observe justice, and hate any behavior that violates the rule of law.
They are ruthless and never show any sympathy to sinners.
Seeing that they were about to be dragged away by the priests of Shamash, someone was anxious, struggling and begging Garlan loudly for mercy.
He shouted and begged King Garland to be merciful and forgive him this time.
Some people took the lead, and the others also came to their senses, and they all followed and cried out for mercy.
Immediately, there was a lot of noise and chaos on the court. Zuo Sixiang reprimanded several times with an angry look on his face, but those people still begged Wang and shouted.
At this moment, Xie Muer had walked to the minister who took the lead in shouting.
Then, he raised the golden scepter in his hand expressionlessly.
Swipe down.
bang.
The man was knocked unconscious by the high priest's scepter on the spot, and fell softly on the priest who was carrying him.
The court that had been shouting just now suddenly fell silent.
Looking at the heavy scepter in the hand of the high priest, for a while, everyone was silent.
In this eerie silence, everyone watched quietly and silently as the priests of Shamash dragged out those who dared not shout anymore.
In the quiet chamber, Garlan got up.
He turned to leave, and the sky blue cloak flew up as he turned.
The long blond hair covered his side cheeks, making it difficult to see.
Just like the action when he got up from the throne and left more than ten days ago.
Generally no two.
Only this time, no one would think that Garlan got up and left because of avoidance.
Everyone bowed and respectfully sent the young king away.
If before today, they only admired and respected the young king who saved Aaron Landis.
So from now on, they have been afraid of it.
Just like the fear of the Lion King before.
However, in this world, there will always be some people who can't see the situation clearly, or whose mind is not clear. They are reluctant to let go of things that they occupy but do not belong to them. It wants to try again.
Just as Garlan got up and left, a brown-skinned noble stepped forward and said loudly to Garlan's back.
"Your Majesty, although I don't know what crimes those merchants committed, but you arrest them together, the business of the king city is uncontrolled and the order is chaotic, which will make the king city chaos..."
Garland didn't turn his head, nor did his footsteps stop.
The azure cloak fluttered behind him.
Heimos, who was leaving with him, turned back and glanced at the nobleman.
At that glance, it was as if the most terrifying thing in the world was overwhelming and swallowing it whole.
The nobleman who wanted to catch up took a breath and froze in place.
Heimos turned his head and quickly chased after Gallan, who had already left.
…
"Does that count as fulfilling your request to 'intimidate those guys'?"
Sitting next to Garlan, Heimos asked.
Garlan thought for a while, then nodded.
The corners of Heimos' lips curved.
"Then, can I ask for a reward?"
"what do you want?"
"Since it's a reward, of course it's up to you to decide."
Garland thought for a moment.
He turned his head and raised his face, looking at Heimos sitting beside him.
Then, he raised his hand, stretched it out, and patted Heimos's head lightly.
"good?"
The boy tilted his head and said tentatively while stroking Heimos' hair.
Then, the hand that touched his head was bitten by Heimos, who laughed angrily and had itchy teeth.