Free Web NovelChapter 1127: Chapter 1064: Choosing Another Sovereign
"... Our Longbow City, or rather, Longbow Castle has persisted for a millennium, abandoned three times and rebuilt three times ..."
"Among other towns on Dawn Island, only our Longbow Castle has survived from the era of the El Empire ..."
"We endured the Gothic rebellion, the counterattack of the Norn Tribe, and even the dark age of warlord conflicts ..."
"Not because our city is stronger than others, but because we are never rigid, never stubborn, but welcome change, embrace change ..."
In the circular meeting room of the Knight Hall in Longbow Castle, a middle-aged man with a fake lace collar around his neck was slapping the table with his large palm.
In front of him, representatives from various strata of Longbow Castle sat in seats made crowded by the addition of new members.
The representatives wore vertical striped, puff-shouldered bodices and fabric clogs with curled toes.
Sunlight filtered through stained glass windows, casting patterns on their uncertain faces; some applauded the speaker, while others watched coldly.
"In the face of such changes, the Holy Sect and Holy Alliance are the best choices!"
"Waiting for the Falan, what is left to us are corrupt bishops, no different from the past."
"As for negotiations, you all have heard the article just read by Bradak written by His Majesty Gallar, the usurper Omes will never make peace with us!"
"There is news from Changge City, my informant has connected with them, and they are already recruiting an army."
"I will say one thing, it’s the son of the usurper, the famous general Puzilio, who rose in the Thousand River Valley War and Windmill Land War, leading the charge - negotiations are impossible ..."
"Now Longbow Castle has reached the brink of its fourth existential crisis, shouldn’t we rise to resist?"
The mosaicked stained glass depicted the scenes of Longbow Castle’s three destructions and three rebuildings.
Is the fourth time starting now?
But any cultured citizen knows, the three destructions and rebuildings never erased the fortresses of the city’s oligarchic families.
Bradak looked at the passionately speaking representative of the forty-five-member guild, Shabor, and couldn’t help but sigh: "Shabor is still so enthusiastic."
"An orator, with a taste of the Falan." Beside him, Torah leaned on the oak railing.
"You can’t just call someone an orator because they get a bit too theatrical." Bradak glanced at his childhood friend, "I talk the same way."
Despite the Leia Kingdom claiming to inherit the culture of the El Empire as former Imperial Guards,
the truth is that, compared to the orator culture of the Falan, the Leia people favor the warrior or knight culture more.
Torah sneered: "I hate him, a hypocrite like Durdafer or Banifus."
Since the end of the Thousand River Valley War and the rise of the Holy Alliance, this war has become a perennial topic in towns.
Even before the Holy Alliance completed writing the "History of the Thousand River Valley War," they had already published the "Legend of the Heroes of the Thousand River Valley."
Durdafer and Banifus became representatives of hypocrisy, corruption, greed, and lustful bishops.
"At least he’s currently on our side, and he represents the Blacksmith Guild, an influential guild controlling one of the guard districts.
Even in the forty-five-member guild, it’s an important presence."
Currently, the power structure of Longbow Castle is divided into two layers.
The first layer consists of the local traditional merchant oligarchs forming the sixteen-member council, and the second layer is the forty-five-member guild of emerging merchants and artisans.
Of course, previously there were also the bishop and noble church and City Hall.
Currently, the bishops have been exiled, and the former noble mayor has been put under house arrest.
Generally speaking, the true power lies within the sixteen-member council that controls eight guard districts.
Compared to the forty-five-member guild, which can enter through election and recommendation, the sixteen-member council can only propagate through bloodlines and surnames.
Either your parents are members of the sixteen-member council, or your spouse or his or her parents are members of the sixteen-member council.
As for the forty-five-member guild, it can only hold meetings independently with the approval of the sixteen-member council.
Though reaching this result, the members of the forty-five-member guild are already quite satisfied.
After all, previously, they didn’t even qualify to sit at the table, let alone have the power to hold meetings.
Meeting, is a very important power.
Everyone knows that a blame distribution meeting will definitely place the blame on those absent, and a power distribution meeting similarly won’t give power to those who didn’t attend.
Otherwise, throughout history, why do people always end up being schemed against, caught, or overthrown during meetings?
Because it’s a scene almost impossible to avoid.
Torah, annoyed, looked at Shabor spewing words: "I hate councils, they’re filled with liars and thieves, constantly bickering and unable to accomplish anything."
"Pa, pa, pa!" A member in the sixteen-member council sitting at the head table tapped the table with a small wooden mallet.
"Representative Shabor, Representative Shabor, please sit down! You’ve significantly overrun your time!"
Shabor continued speaking endlessly, but was interrupted several times by the sixteen-member council, and only then left the podium discontentedly. freewebnøvel.coɱ
A member of the sixteen-member council leading the meeting looked at the colleagues beside him: "What do you all think? The envoy of the Holy Alliance and the officer corps will arrive soon, what should our attitude be?"
"I think we should make it widely known..."
"If our city wants to survive, we must keep the Holy Alliance out, otherwise, there will be no room for negotiation."
"I thought the Saint’s Grandson was a hero but turns out he’s just a coward."
"After all this, it seems we still have to fight ourselves!"
As Torra said, once it entered the debate and voting segment, the sixteen-member council still couldn’t pass any resolution.
Noisy shouting, endless debates, and even brawls wasted all the time.
After expelling the bishop and placing the noble mayor under house arrest, Longbow Castle’s administrative efficiency has dropped rather than improved.
The noise continued all afternoon.
In the angry shouting of Chabo cursing the ineptness and idleness of the sixteen-member council, the day-long meeting ended on a sour note.
Looking at the Imperial Calendar on the wall, Torra glanced at Bradak, whose face looked grim: "Where is the envoy of the Holy Alliance?"
"About three or four days away. Damn it, hopefully, we can reach a conclusion by the day after tomorrow."
......
Walking out of the Knight Hall, the citizen representatives from the other forty-five guilds around all patted Chabo on the shoulder or waved goodbye.
Chabo clasped their arms, affectionately hugging them before getting on the carriage under the reverent eyes of the people.
He is Longbow Castle’s rising political star; no one expected an iron merchant to interfere in the City Council like this.
It was entirely due to him raising the banner of the Holy Sect aggressively, drawing a large number of commoners to his side.
Sitting in the carriage, Chabo still couldn’t shake off the excitement in his heart.
He sat upright in the carriage compartment, already imagining the scenes when he takes power in the future.
Thank the Saint’s Grandson for allowing a new merchant like him to grab a piece from the closed sixteen-member council.
Returning to his little house, Chabo said something to the old servant at the door, then pushed the door open and went in.
The house was pitch black, nothing could be seen, even the curtains were drawn.
Chabo frowned: "Green Silk, Green Silk, light the lamp, we have money now, no need to save."
"Hiss—"
A faint sound of a tinder striker was heard, and a dim yellow glow lit up in the middle of the room, illuminating the faces of a circle of men in black clothes.
Chabo turned around to run but was immediately blocked.
"Why run? It’s me!"
Hearing the familiar voice, Chabo finally breathed a sigh of relief and complained: "Do we have to do it this way? I thought it was the sixteen-member council coming to assassinate me."
"The situation is urgent, had to notify you in advance." The large-built man in black spoke with a soft voice, "Get ready, launch the plan the night after tomorrow."
"The night after tomorrow, so soon?"
"We can’t delay any longer, the Shadowless Men have investigated, among those coming are the witch of the Holy Alliance and monk-level clergy, haven’t determined exactly who yet."
"Is it necessary to be so tense..."
"Be careful, those senior monks from the Holy Alliance are the best at beguiling people, your little trick won’t hold up in front of them."
"My family has been in Longbow Castle for decades..."
Before Chabo could finish, he was interrupted by the leading man in black.
"We will sleep at your place tonight, and once your wife and children reach a safe location tomorrow, we can act at night.
We will prepare for two cases, first go to assassinate the envoy of the Holy Alliance, then you will stage a coup and seize power."
"Alright." At this moment, Chabo had no other choice but to nod.
As a city, Longbow Castle has already lost the possibility of negotiation.
But the people of Longbow Castle, especially the new merchants like Chabo, still have room to negotiate.
Simple political principles, once Longbow Castle is taken, the King cannot fully employ locals nor completely impose outsiders.
So they will definitely need a group of local loyalists to contend with.
It’s not Chabo being ruthless, but the Holy Alliance being unkind, and fate being so.
If the Holy Alliance could decisively send a regiment over, why would I, Chabo, bother with this?
The Holy Alliance lacks the courage, so don’t blame me, Chabo, for finding another worthy lord.
