The castle study in the fortress is much larger than the town office. Tall bookcases occupy the left and right walls. The edges of the cabinets are inlaid with gilded metal edging, and they are filled with various books. Along the way, you can see everything from epics to historical travelogues. In order to facilitate access to the books on the top floor, there is also a wooden escalator next to the bookcase.
Probably for safety reasons, the only window in the study is only half a person's height, and an iron railing is installed outside. When the light enters the house from the outdoors, a narrow beam of light can be clearly seen falling on the old plush carpet, giving it a somewhat isolated feeling.
If it was Anna, he would definitely like this place, Roland couldn't help but think, but for him, the small town office with floor-to-ceiling windows and always brightly lit rooms is more in line with his heart. Even though it is small, it is full of comfort.
As for Nightingale, you could tell how much she disliked it from the way she often dozed off by the fireplace.
At this moment there was a knock on the door.
"Come in," Roland put the "Secret History of the Western Regions" in his hand back into the cabinet.
"Your Highness," Peiro Hermon walked into the study and put a stack of white papers on the table, "The statistics you asked me to do have been completed."
Roland went back to the desk and carefully looked at the statistics list of nobles he handed over. "This is all the nobles left in the Western Region, right?"
"Yes," Peyro explained briefly, "I divided them into two categories, guilty and innocent, and then sorted them by family name. There were sixty-four guilty nobles who refused to take part in the rebellion, or had nothing to do with it. There were one hundred and thirty-seven people who didn't know it, and most of the latter were free knights, knights, and minor nobles."
Roland opened the homepage of the list, and the first person listed was Roman Candy, Earl of Maple Leaf. Listening to Iron Axe's report, this great nobleman hid in a wine barrel in the basement after the mansion was breached. When the soldiers of the First Army found him, his pants were wet. He was also the highest nobleman captured in this unification battle. of rebels.
The next entire page is devoted to the nobles of the Maple Leaf family, such as the two sons, other relatives, and the knights of the seal.
Roland quickly turned to the end, and then folded the statistics table with satisfaction, "Good job."
In general, the six major families in the Western Region have become the historical lions, Lion, Maple Leaf, Ben Wolf, and Wild Rose. It is impossible for the four families to turn over again. Although Honeysuckle and Elk have survived, they are no longer in the sense of the past. A fief aristocrat, all the power in the Western Territory will belong to him alone.
"Your Highness..." Peiro hesitated for a moment before saying, "The guilt and innocence verdicts on the list were provided to me by Mr. Iron Axe. Could there be... a misjudgment?"
Roland couldn't help chuckling twice, "He is very good at interrogation, and he did not use torture to extract confessions, so I think the final verdict can still be trusted."
In fact, this was just a pretense. After all the captured nobles were imprisoned in the dungeon, Nightingale was responsible for identifying them. Just ask a few simple questions to find out whether the other party was involved in the rebellion. This was also the reason why Roland dared to take heavy measures to clean up the nobles. With the assistance of Nightingale, he could truly spare a bad person and not wrong a good person. Neither play the trick of Zhulian, nor pretend to be enlightened, and let the perpetrators go.
"Then... what are you going to do with these guilty nobles?"
"What's the matter," Roland raised his head and glanced at Peiro, "There are still your friends here?"
"No, Your Highness," the latter shook his head, "I just thought that if you executed them all, it might be detrimental to your future rule."
"You asked for blood debt to be repaid a week ago," the prince raised his brows with interest, "Do you want to let them go now?"
"I really want all of these people to go to hell, but even if I strangle them one by one with my own hands, nothing can be recovered... On the contrary, it may arouse the disgust of other nobles against Honeysuckle. And if the reputation of mass execution of nobles spreads, other There may also be a wave against your rule in the city."
Hearing these words, Roland was a little surprised. This kind of thinking is indeed the way of thinking of mature politicians. Putting aside personal emotions, it is more about measuring interests... It seems that this change did not make him more disgusted with fighting, but made him more. become mature.
"It's okay to tell you in advance," he stood up and walked to the small window, "I will announce the ins and outs of this matter to everyone, and then publicly sentence all the conspirators in the square, including nobles, guards, squires and servants. Soldiers... The culprit, the direct initiator of the rebellion, and the villains with the blood of the people on their hands, will be sentenced to hanging, while the accomplices will be deprived of their titles and assigned to the North Slope Mine for labor reform."
"According to this method, there are only five or six nobles hanged. Earl Elk and Viscount Benlang have died on the spot on the battlefield, and the remaining people are equivalent to saving a life with their titles. After the news spread, I don't think anyone would think this sentence is too harsh. After all, betrayal of the royal family is a felony in itself."
Pei Luo breathed a sigh of relief, "Your Highness is merciful."
When the eldest son of the honeysuckle family left, Roland felt an unprecedented sense of fulfillment.
This action has completely cleared away the obstacles for him to integrate the western border. In the future, whether it is to formulate laws or promulgate policies, it will be unimpeded in this vast land.
More importantly, after he has gained the support of a large number of people and nobles and eliminated the opponents, the rest are naturally potential supporters.
Especially after the aristocrats lost their enfeoffment power and territorial legal rights, if they wanted to live a comfortable life, they must closely follow their own policies and spare no effort to promote it. Since the nobles have far more resources than the commoners, it is not difficult to obtain benefits from them as long as they use their brains a little.
And once they tasted the sweetness, they would never want to go back to the bitter days they used to have. After all, these little nobles have not enjoyed the benefits brought to them by the territory. If the operation is not good, they will have to pay money. Soon they will realize that just by playing chess according to the rules, they can easily live a life they never imagined before.
There is no doubt that the city building plan has taken a big step forward.
Roland wiped off the condensed water vapor on the window, and looked at the city shrouded in snow through the blurred window. Since he has to stay here for a while, he will often come to Changge Fortress to handle government affairs in the future. It's good to transform this study into an office dedicated to the prince.
Like... Start with the floor-to-ceiling windows. (.)