For the residents of Suero, the arrival of the Chinese was definitely a difficult time. On the day the city was captured, Wang Jiyuan declared a citywide curfew. The nobles and merchants spent a night of fear hiding in their homes.
They did not wait for killing, looting, or house searches, but the city was not peaceful and fighting took place all night. Those who tried to escape in the chaos or those who tried to rob suffered the fate they deserved.
In addition, dozens of fires and smoking areas in the city were also put out by the Chinese army.
The next morning, Ivo from the Golden Jasmine Trading Company came out of the Bacchus's house in his manager's clothes. After the city was captured yesterday, he returned to the inner city through the Golden Jasmine Trading Company and reported the situation outside to the head of the Bacchus family, Baron Carvalho, and also brought the attitude of the Chinese.
Baron Carvalho stayed up all night discussing with Ivo and several other confidants until dawn, and finally came up with a preliminary charter.
Ivo was walking on the road, and saw the butlers or deacons of each household who were trying to get information go out one after another. Seeing these people shrinking, looking around, and whispering to each other, and thinking of what the baron said last night, Ivo sneered in his heart.
At this time, a middle-aged man came over from the opposite road. He was Ulian, the manager of the nearby big merchant Victorino. Ivo had known him for more than ten years, and the two of them were quite close. Ulian had long heard that the Bacchus family was closely involved with the Chinese Tower. However, Baron Carvalho was also a capable man. Before, when the Marquis of Baldini was against the Chinese Tower, he insisted on staying in the city and did not leave, and the Marquis did not do anything to him. This was not a skill that ordinary people could have.
Wu Lian guessed that Ivo must know a lot of information about the Tower of China, so he started to chat with him. When he heard that Ivo was going to the City Lord's Mansion, he suggested going with him. Ivo agreed, so the two of them walked to the City Lord's Mansion together.
When they walked onto the main road, they saw soldiers in green uniforms holding long pole-like weapons. Some of them were guarding intersections and buildings, while others were patrolling in small groups. When they saw these people trying to get information, most of them just looked at them and didn't interfere too much. However, when Wu Lian saw these soldiers looking at him, his feet trembled and he almost sprained his ankle.
Ivo helped him up and said, "These soldiers of the Tower of China are very strict in their rules. You don't have to be afraid of them as you would be afraid of horse thieves."
"They look very different from the Marquis's soldiers," Wu Lian said.
"Adults?" Ivo reminded.
"Yes, it's the traitor Baldini." Ulian quickly changed his words.
Ivo snorted and laughed, and continued walking forward. The two saw many bodies lying on the roadside. Some were covered with white cloth, while others were loaded onto ox carts by soldiers in green clothes. It seemed that they were being transported somewhere for burial.
Wu Lian sighed and said, "There was a lot of noise last night. I wonder what these people did wrong."
"What else could happen? Anyone who dies at this time is blind." Ivo said. He glanced at a body lying on the ground beside him. It seemed that he was holding something golden in his hand. It was obvious that he had stolen something and was shot from behind.
After walking a few steps, there was a man lying on the ground with his back to the sky, still holding a sword in his hand, and covered with a shield with three or four holes on it, which obviously did not block the bullets from the air rifle. Not far away, there was a middle-aged man in more luxurious clothes lying on the ground, with black blood around his abdomen. At first glance, they were a master and servant who wanted to escape at night.
Ullen sighed.
Ivo added, "It's what you deserve!"
The two men walked to the main road of the inner city, and saw a team of several hundred city guards walking in a long line. They had no weapons or armor, but they were not tied up either. Most of them looked calm, and walked out of the city under the supervision of a dozen green-clad soldiers.
Wu Lian cursed in a low voice: "These guys have eaten up so much of our food and wages, but they can't even last a day. They might as well feed the dogs with the money."
Ivo asked, "Do you hope that they will fight to the death, and finally turn the Chinese upside down and turn the entire Suero into ruins?"
"this… "
"And did you see yesterday's bombardment? Try getting closer, and you'll know whether it's easy to get the food and money. I heard that this number of people died on the west wall alone yesterday." Ivo held up four fingers.
"Four hundred?" Wu Lian asked in surprise.
"No more, no less! All of them died without a complete body."
"Oh, just pretend I didn't say anything."
When they passed the street in front of the east gate, they ran into another group of soldiers who were leading a group of nobles, merchants and servants into the city. Most of these nobles and merchants looked tired and frustrated.
"Aren't these Barons Favres and Portinas? And most of the people who escaped before are in the team. It seems that they have set up an ambush outside the city a long time ago. It doesn't matter whether we leave or not." Wu Lian said.
Ivo was also a little surprised when he saw this scene, and said, "It seems that the entire Suero has been caught in their net this time."
"I don't know how these people from China Tower are going to close the net."
"When we get to the City Lord's Mansion, we'll naturally have the answer."
When the two walked to the entrance of the City Lord's Mansion, they found that many people had gathered there. Wulian saw a large notice posted on the outer wall of the Lord's Mansion, which attracted many people to watch. However, Ivo noticed that there was a wooden sign posted at the entrance of the City Lord's Mansion, with a line of words written in magic and common language: Suero City Provisional Government.
Ivo and Ulian squeezed into the crowd and saw that the notice was also written in magic code and common language.
Suero City Provisional Government's announcement on interviewing the owners of each household:
In order to restore the order of Suero City and restore the economy of Suero City, the interim government of Suero City will interview the heads of the families in the inner city in the near future. The heads of the families listed in the list are requested not to leave Suero and wait for the interim government's notification at home. At that time, the guards will be responsible for sending invitations to their homes.
The list of participants is as follows:
…
Ivo and Ulian both saw their own family head on the list. People around them were also talking about it.
Someone said, "I'm afraid it won't be easy to open now. I don't know what we will be asked to spit out."
Another person replied, "Nonsense. Not taking our heads when the city was captured was already a favor. If you don't prepare money to buy your life in advance, wouldn't that be stupid? You won't even know how you died then."
"It sounds like a nice invitation, but it's probably a robbery or kidnapping, right?"
The man said, "Inviting your family master to attend the meeting shows that we respect your family. Don't be ungrateful. If he doesn't go, he will be courting death, and you can't blame anyone else."
Wulian and Ivo left the crowd, and Wulian said, "I wonder what this is going to be. Ivo, we have a long history, and I know you know a lot of things. If you know anything, can you tell me the truth? I owe you that."
Ivo said, "Since you said so, I will teach you one thing. We should do what the Chinese say. We should not only do it well, but also do it quickly! It would be a good thing if your master could really listen to this."