industrial lord

Chapter 531: I have time for cats and dogs but no time for people

The office building of the Noble Court is quite luxurious, and each office is equipped with air conditioners imported from the Duchy of Wessen.

Renault is no stranger to air conditioners. His boss when he was working wanted to buy one and gave him a lot of ideas.

Today he came to Sir Javel's office again and saw the assistant judge standing on a chair, taking apart the air conditioner cover and studying the magic circle inside.

Renault forced a smile and asked the assistant judge: "Sir Javel, can we go to court now?"

Sir Javel replied perfunctorily: "Not yet, still waiting in line."

"You know we are very busy. We have countless cases to hear every day. Please be patient."

Renault looked at Javel expressionlessly as he was studying the magic circle in the air conditioner. Just as he was about to ask how many cases were ahead, a court clerk walked in with documents.

"Sir Javert," the clerk reported on work, "the trial of Baroness Daleb and Baroness Bianchi has been advanced to 3 o'clock this afternoon."

Yavel immediately wailed: "God of Light, isn't it scheduled for next month?!"

The clerk said: "Baroness Daleb is in a hurry."

Javert reluctantly got down from his chair and said to Renault as he took the documents: "You see, this is the work of the court. There are always unexpected events that disrupt your plans."

Renault had no choice but to leave.

He asked the clerk in the corridor what kind of case was so urgent?
The clerk shrugged and said, "Baroness Bianchi's three-headed dog frightened Baroness Daleb's two-tailed cat."

Renault was stunned when he heard this.

When he returned to the tavern, Guillaume and the others were also stunned when they learned about it.

"It's been a month!" A student pounded his desk angrily. "They have been delaying for a month in various ways. They would rather sue cats and dogs than even look at us. Are we worse than cats and dogs?!"

Another student said solemnly, "I think they want to delay it until we graduate and leave Paris."

Everyone thought what they said made sense, and now this case is being led by a group of more than a dozen people.

If we delay until summer when only one-third of the people are left after graduation, everyone will be forced to leave and look for jobs to make a living, and the remaining people will find it difficult to sustain, and in the end nothing will happen.

Because Guillaume got back a large sum of money and solved the problem that was bothering everyone, he is now becoming the supreme leader among the students.

He gritted his teeth, made up his mind, and whispered to the others: "Do you remember the last words that Duke Lugang said when we blocked the road that day?"

Everyone nodded.

Some people asked worriedly: "Do we really want to do that?"

Guillaume said firmly: "It is necessary!"

"Does everyone remember the salt tax riot in the Principality of Yaquidang?"

The salt tax in the Kingdom of Gaul was not low. It was a royal tax and it was a mandatory requirement for everyone to buy at least a certain amount of salt every ten days, regardless of whether they could finish it or not. Buying less was illegal.

The Principality of Aquitaine in the southwest of the kingdom had cheap salt because it was close to the sea, but the people there were still required to buy the expensive official salt in full. This eventually led to a riot in the entire principality, which gradually expanded.

It took Louis the Elder several years to quell the riot. Finally, he negotiated with the local nobles to use a quarter of the salt production as salt tax in kind, and he did not care how they collected the salt tax internally.

The salt tax in the areas that participated in the riots is now very low, while the neighboring areas that did not participate in the riots continue to have high salt taxes.

Guillaume said to everyone: "If we want to get back what we have lost, we must resist."

The next day, Sir Javert went to Count Ferret's office to report on the cases of the two baronesses yesterday afternoon.

In this type of case, both parties are trying to save face, and the lawyers are arguing with each other. The actual verdict depends on private operations.

Javert handed over to Ferret the prices privately quoted by the plaintiff and defendant's lawyers. The plaintiff Baroness Daleb's price was higher than that of Baroness Bianchi.

The judge gets most of these benefits, and the assistant judges can get commissions, and there are even extra parts, otherwise the conditions will not be brought to the judge's table. Ferret has his own considerations. The hunting dog at home is old, and Baroness Bianchi's family produces good hunting dogs, so he plans to use this opportunity to ask for a new hunting dog.

After reporting his work, Yavel left Ferret's office. On the way back to his office, he felt that his memory was a little full. He had just drunk a lot of tea and needed to release some energy.

There are public toilets on every floor of the office building of the Noble Court. Last year, a batch of ceramic flush toilets were imported from the Principality of Wessen. Partitions were made and exhaust fans were installed according to the public toilets there. They are much more comfortable than the previous row of hollow wooden benches.

However, Javel found that today the bathroom on this floor was full of people cursing and their eyes were blazing when they saw him.

A judge pointed at him and yelled, "Javert, look at the stupid things you have done. Believe it or not, I will shit in your office!"

Javel was confused and annoyed at being scolded for no reason, but the other family was powerful, so he had to endure it.

He could hold his anger, but not his bladder. Amid the shouting and cursing, he squeezed into the public restroom and found that all the cubicles were occupied.

An old judge banged on the door and yelled, "I order you to come out!"

A young voice inside: Answer: "His Majesty has decreed that people who are using the toilet have the privilege of refusing any request to leave - including the king's request."

The old judge turned around and asked, "Is there really such a law?"

Everyone here is a professional, and someone immediately said, "That's right. This law is 233 years old, and I cited it in a lawsuit last year."

Everyone present was speechless. The king at that time was notoriously absurd among the nobles. He issued many ridiculous decrees, such as prohibiting the use of pigs to block rain on the head and prohibiting the use of mice to pull carriages.

The old judge asked again: "What are the consequences of violating it?"

The old man can't hold it in any longer. He doesn't mind breaking the law if the cost is low.

The man who answered just now hesitated for a moment and then replied: "The landed nobles will have their territories reduced by 20%, the court nobles will be demoted by two ranks, and the common people will be fined an amount of silver equal to their weight."

Many people present recalled that it was a time when conflicts between the royal family and the nobility intensified, and the power of the royal family began to prevail.

Behind the seemingly absurd law, the royal family is trying every possible means to weaken the power of the nobility.

The old judge asked the person in the cubicle, "What do you want in exchange for coming out?"

"I'll give you twenty livres. Is that enough?"

The trousers he was wearing were worth forty livres. If he peed on them, they would be ruined, and the loss of face would be immeasurable in gold coins.

Twenty livres were just the benefits he received today, so he just regarded it as a loss on the road.

The young man in the cubicle replied, "I want to go out too, but I'm only halfway there."

"I can't help it. Judge Javert said our case hasn't been heard yet. I'm so anxious that I can't speak."

Under the murderous gazes all around, Javert almost peed in his pants.

For other people, who wins or loses the case has nothing to do with them, but not being able to go to the toilet has something to do with them.

Javel was speechless. He couldn't just say that it was his superiors who asked him to delay.

In addition to helping his superiors to make extra money by making connections, the assistant judge also has to take the blame. If he sells out Ferret at this time, he will never be able to stay in the Kingdom of Gaul again.

Javert was no fool to become an assistant judge. He came up with a solution under urgent circumstances: "Let's go to the restaurant across the street. There is a toilet there!"

"Are you a fool?!" someone yelled, "That's the property of His Majesty Louis. If you go there and don't spend two livres but just go to the toilet, what will His Majesty think?"

Javert couldn't refute it. The restaurant was extremely expensive, with a minimum charge of two livres. It was not worth spending so much money just to use the toilet.

He was at a loss for a moment and cursed the person who came up with this idea in his heart.

But there was no point in cursing in one's heart, as the current problem had to be solved. I didn't know who started it, but everyone hurried to the back garden.

(End of this chapter)