“Y-Your Majesty, I... don't quite understand.” Marquis Weike wiped the sweat from his brow. “Elimination... what does that mean?”
“The gallows, mine labor, confiscation of property, expulsion from the country,” the prince said casually, “The rules of the game comply with the royal laws and are very fair.”
“No, I have served your father, you cannot—"
“I am your King now, so of course I can,” he interrupted, “Don't panic, if you pass all ten questions, you can still get promoted and rewarded. There must be winners and losers to make it interesting, right?”
“I... cannot accept this,” Sir Pairo shook his head, “This is too frivolous! Those punishments you mentioned must be adjudicated by the Tribunal. Your Majesty, I feel a bit unwell, please allow me to take my leave.”
He turned around, wanting to leave the hall, but found that the gate had been closed, and two soldiers stood expressionlessly at the exit, not yielding at all.
“I'm not asking for your opinion, Mr. Pairo,” Roland spread his hands, “If you insist on leaving, there will be one more way to eliminate you,” he made a shooting gesture, “To be shot dead.”
The nobles widened their eyes and involuntarily took two steps back, while the soldiers on both sides raised their guns, vigilantly watching their movements.
“So now, the game begins.” Roland stood up and clapped his hands, “The first question, did you participate in forcibly recruiting refugees from various places and forcing them to attack the Western Territory? Let's start with you, Mr. Prime Minister.”
“……” Marquis Weike was silent for a moment, “I did follow Tiffeco's orders to recruit refugees from the Eastern Territory and the Southern Territory, but I am not aware of the second half of what you said.”
Roland felt a gentle pinch on his right shoulder.
“Unfortunately, I told you, you only have one chance,” he waved his hand, “Take him down, there's a prison under this hall.”
“Your Majesty, I'm telling the truth—"
“However, you and I both know that even this sentence is a lie,” Roland ignored the Prime Minister's appeal, watched him being dragged out of the hall, and then slowly said, “If you were a little smarter, you wouldn't choose to lie, it wouldn't do you any good—I can tell lies.”
Everyone stood there dumbfounded, and no one dared to speak for a while.
“If no one answers voluntarily, then I'll call the roll,” he looked at the Minister of Justice casually, “Mr. Pairo, what about you?”
……
As Roland thought, this was a trial.
He had to quickly resolve the nobles here like cutting a knot with a sharp knife before he had the energy to deal with the affairs south of the Fallen Dragon Ridge. He himself couldn't stay here for too long, and in the end, talents cultivated by the City Hall would have to manage the affairs here—and the resistance to taking over the city came from the local nobles and the Black Street gang.
Limited by the limited input of power, he couldn't do as thorough a combing as he did for Longsong Stronghold, so he still needed some cooperation with the traditional forces. The purpose of this trial was to quickly eliminate those nobles who had colluded too deeply with Tiffeco and were guilty of serious crimes, leaving clean background petty nobles as partners to maintain the basic operation of the city. As for the Black Street, it could be handed over to Tasa to coordinate order.
After all, the purpose of his decision to launch the Spring Offensive was to worry that Tiffeco would conscript people on a large scale and waste them on meaningless attrition warfare. If he withdraws after overthrowing Tiffeco, the city will definitely fall into chaos in a short period of time, then he is no different from the pseudo-king.
After a year of head-down development, Roland's power at hand is different from what it was at the beginning, so although he doesn't plan to fully develop King's City as a key city, he doesn't need to hand it over to others to act on his behalf like Longsong Stronghold.
Whether it's the noble class or the church, he has the qualifications to take the stage and overturn the table.
“The last question, which of you has oppressed or pòhài the people? Witches are also included.”
After nine questions, there are now less than ten of the more than fifty nobles in the hall. This elimination rate is not surprising, because those who can
Serving in the City Hall, Tiffeco himself has screened them once in advance. Those who felt that he was not in the right position and that there were doubts about the cause of death of Wimbledon III were kicked out of the palace by him, and Roland was surprised that seven people had not participated in the conspiracies he planned and had no involvement with the church.
“Your Majesty, I am wrong,” a noble knelt down, sweating profusely, “I once ordered my subordinates to beat a commoner, and he rubbed the mud on his feet on my pants, and I couldn't help it for a while... but it was just a beating, and he wasn't killed.”
“I... I secretly occupied the daughter of a shop owner, but she seduced me first!”
“The housekeeper took advantage of my hunting trip and slept with my wife. I didn't go through the Tribunal's verdict, but directly cut off his thing... but Your Majesty, the housekeeper shouldn't be included, right?”
The remaining nobles' various answers made Roland exert all his strength to barely hold back his laughter. In normal times, these things would not be considered crimes at all, or even mistakes. But now, they were obviously flustered, fearing that hiding these questions would also be regarded as lying by themselves, so that everything was poured out.
After the other party finished speaking, Roland cleared his throat, “Nothing else?”
“No,” the nobles affirmed.
When a gentle pinch came from his left shoulder, he nodded, “Congratulations, everyone, you have passed the game.”
This sentence obviously relieved the people who answered quickly.
“I said at the beginning that it is interesting to have rewards and punishments... Don't worry, my promises are always valid, especially when so many positions are vacated in the City Hall. But before that, I'm a little concerned,” Roland looked at the two people standing at the end of the crowd—they didn't say anything more except answering "No". In other words, these two people believed that they had not violated any laws, and Nightingale also confirmed their judgment, “What are your names and what positions do you hold in the City Hall?”
“Alva Taibo, Your Majesty,” one person replied, “I am responsible for matters related to constellations.”
“Blanche Orlando,” the other was a woman, “Serving as a protocol officer.”
So that's the case, it's probably difficult to do something bad in this position... These two can also be regarded as the only clear stream among the nobles in the City Hall. Roland sat back on the throne, "You can leave the palace first, and I will notify you when I have rectified the family order." He paused, "You will soon see that my method of management is different from my father's and Tiffeco's. Don't forget the reason why you can pass the game... keep it up, this kind of game will not be only once."
After the nobles retreated timidly, Roland also left the hall and walked towards the basement with Nightingale.
It's time to meet his "dear brother", he thought. (。)