Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 456 Removal and Confiscation

Just as Harvey had planned, today's talent selection game of "reckoning" and "judgment" went exceptionally smoothly.

Until near dusk, there was still a steady stream of royal nobles who were captured and detained from all over the inner city. Some of them were in disheveled clothes, some had bruised faces and noses, and were dragged roughly in front of Harvey by the Northern Army soldiers.

The person responsible for reading out the crimes had been replaced by Harvey's personal guards. Every time this loud-mouthed soldier read out the name of a noble, everyone present couldn't help but tremble, as if they heard a dragon from hell roaring in their ears.

Having just finished a great battle with the Church's Inquisition Corps in the morning, they arrived at the palace in the afternoon to begin the "public trial". Such a swift and decisive way of dealing with these once-powerful royal city dignitaries was a model of administrative efficiency in Spark City.

In fact, Harvey was indeed in a hurry - controlling the soul puppet from thousands of miles away was extremely energy-consuming. Most of the time, he chose to disconnect and let the puppet sleep directly in the flagship, handing the command of the army to Pierce.

Limited by the physical distance between Spark City and the Royal Capital, Harvey had limited energy to devote to this newly acquired city. He could not achieve the same thorough control he had over the Grizzlies, so there was no way for him to completely wipe out these annoying nobles. Apart from those who were too deeply connected with the Church and had committed serious crimes, those small nobles with clean backgrounds who had not colluded with the Church, and the ministers who had been obviously marginalized after the Church came to power, could become partners to help Harvey and the Executive Office, which had not yet established itself, maintain the basic operation and stability of the Royal Capital.

Of course, the garrison must be retained. On the one hand, it is necessary to deal with the conflict that will be triggered after the Royal Capital Knights sent to the border return to Jinhui City. On the other hand, it is necessary to prevent a new round of counterattacks that may be provoked by the Church. Among the lords who are still stationed on the border battlefield, many have identities and strengths that are worthy of the Church's support to re-ignite civil unrest in the principality.

……

As night fell, the Northern Army soldiers who had occupied the palace lit bonfires and illuminated magic stones, illuminating the area where the ruins of the council hall were located as bright as day.

After a long reading of the charges, most people were dragged away with limp hands and feet - the dungeon under the palace that had just been cleared by the soldiers came in handy.

There were originally fifty or sixty nobles, but less than ten were still able to stay on the scene. Among them, the one with the cleanest resume was Chief Knight Dickinson. He really did not disgrace his honor as Chief Knight. Except for the time when he was in charge of the Royal Capital Knights, he was secretly criticized for being too harsh in training his knights. Apart from that, he was very self-disciplined and never colluded with the church or the nobles.

To Harvey's surprise, Earl Hines of the Palace was actually one of the upright nobles. He had temporarily served as Prime Minister due to the death of the previous Prime Minister, and was removed from his position and ostracized because he opposed the church's persecution of spellcasters.

However, the "secret police" responsible for following him seemed to be trying their best. They even dug out some gossip, such as the earl himself had been married nine times and each time the woman he married was no older than 20 years old. This made Harvey laugh and cry.

The rest of the nobles who remained at the scene had not committed any unforgivable crimes, but the "secret police" still diligently listed their various ridiculous charges clearly. When the soldier in charge of reading out the charges read them out aloud, not only did Harvey have to try hard to hold back his laughter, but the Earl of the Palace himself was so ashamed that he wanted to hit his head on the ground.

"Alright!" Harvey waved his hand impatiently, "Let's stop here... There's no need to make some of these indecent deeds public today. You can all reflect on yourselves after you leave."

The nobles who remained on the scene all breathed a sigh of relief and said in unison, "Thank you, City Lord... Your Majesty, for your forgiveness!"

Harvey curled his lips, unconcerned with their blatant change of address. "As I said at the beginning, 'Survival of the Fittest.' Now that the inferior have been eliminated, you remaining winners... will naturally receive rewards."

Before anyone could salute and express their gratitude, Harvey interrupted them and spoke, "But you must understand that this is not a peaceful transfer of power. In a sense... you are all on the losing side. While you won't become my prisoners, you will still have to pay something to buy your freedom."

The Earl of the Palace nodded and said, "I am willing to accept the confiscation of my property, Your Majesty... As long as you allow me to retain my family's long-standing surname and title, I will be worthy of the contributions of my family's ancestors in establishing this country."

This only remaining royal member of the Saint Valen family seems to value family honor more than power and wealth.

Chief Knight Dickinson didn't care at all. He had spent all his wealth to reward the soldiers before the battle to defend the city began, in order to encourage them to bravely follow him and defend the capital.

Harvey nodded in appreciation, then added, "Aside from family property... all the lands of the feudal nobles will also be confiscated. From now on, aside from inheriting honorary titles, your nobility status will no longer confer any substantial privileges upon you."

Harvey didn't say anything final. After all, Jinhui City would also set up an administrative office in the future. To manage such a huge city, it was naturally impossible to rely entirely on foreign officials sent from Xinghuo City. There would definitely be a lot of vacant powerful positions, and they would also need to be filled by local nobles who knew how to judge the situation.

Those present either had no real power or had long been marginalized and oppressed... I was lucky to be able to keep my life and title after Harvey's army entered the city, and I really didn't dare to ask for more.

After all, this lord of the northern territory really dared to purge the nobles, and many powerful nobles of the fiefdom died at his hands. Earl Fagan of Grizzly Territory and Duke Ralph of Fengyuan City are two typical examples.

Of those who were dragged away and thrown into the dungeon by his soldiers today, more than half would surely be sent to the gallows in the near future. Just thinking about it made them feel grateful for having escaped death.

"Okay, that's all for today... You may leave the palace now. Over the next three days, I'll publicly execute those who have committed unforgivable crimes... If you're interested, come and see. I'll summon you again after I'm done." Harvey added with a smile, "But you all need to be mentally prepared. My approach to managing a city or a country is completely different from what you've seen before. If you want to work under me... the rule of survival of the fittest will always apply."

After the nobles retreated tremblingly, Harvey stood up and stretched, and was about to ask his guards to send him back to the flagship on the Ralph River, and disconnect the soul puppet again to enter hibernation.

Tommy walked up quickly and whispered in Harvey's ear, "Sir, outside the palace gate... two people claiming to be the former Grand Duke's court magic advisors have suddenly come to see you!"

Pierce's expression changed, and he said in a deep voice, "A spellcaster serving the nobles? They are dangerous to your safety, my Lord. We cannot let them get close to you!"

(End of this chapter)