Lords go left, Emperors go right

Sir Bruno raised his hand, signaling the surrounding followers to stay away, and then gave Aosta a detailed introduction to the situation in the Christopher area. It turned out that Lord Aosta's ruling methods were still quite insidious. He deliberately widened the gap between the rich and the poor, creating class conflicts while not forgetting to create racial conflicts.

Under the rule of Austin, towns were given priority in development and became wealthy first. The villages around the towns were all reduced to workers who "transfused blood" to the towns and were always exploited. The sixth prince Austin himself represented the interests of the large landowner class, represented by large landowners like Sir Bruno. They enjoyed various political and economic privileges in the Christopher area and owned countless fertile fields and properties.

A large number of tenant farmers worked day and night for big landlords like Sir Bruno in exchange for meager food. After each work, the remaining crops of the farmers could only barely meet the problem of food and clothing, and there was no extra food.

Most of the tenant farmers did not resist the tyranny, but were completely enslaved by the "boiling frog in warm water" policy implemented by Austin. Economically, these tenant farmers would not starve to death. Whenever the harvest was poor, or there were droughts and floods, the city lord would arrange for people to give them alms. The big landlords would send their servants to set up big pots and let the victims come to receive relief porridge and the like.

Lord Ostus would occasionally arrange for his men to bake bread and send it to the tenants as an extra food subsidy. Most farmers and peasant women were bribed by such small favors, and did not realize that even after droughts and floods, the rent would not be reduced, but would only be increased later.

The big cakes sent by the Sixth Prince Austin were purely to keep these tenant farmers half-dead so that they could continue to exploit them. The premise of fleecing the sheep was to ensure that the sheep did not starve to death. The average tenant rent in the Christopher area was over 70%, which was absolutely over-heavy. The tenant farmers had to hand over half of their harvest to the lord, Prince Austin, and the remaining half had to be handed over to the local city lord. Three-quarters of the remaining half was left to the local city lord. In the end, the farmers themselves only had a meager quarter of their food rations.

If Ostu didn't distribute bread, many tenant farmers would starve to death. However, most of the peasant class was ignorant and would not blame the persecution on the rule of Lord Ostu. The policy of cheap bread with low-quality ingredients deceived many peasants and made them think that the lord was good to them.

Osdu has been controlling public opinion in the Christopher area, creating an illusion that "hard work on the land can change your destiny and lead a prosperous life." This false propaganda measure, like a lie, successfully deceived most farmers.

Among the town residents, except for the overseas landowners like Bruno, the other town residents are indeed the natives of the Christopher area. However, these natives mainly come from the Arnold tribe, one of the two original clan tribes in the Christopher area, and most of the farmers come from the other tribe called Bessimo.

The Arnolds and the Behemoths were originally close brother tribes that shared weal and woe. The relationship between the two sides was very close. The members of the two local primitive tribal clans had been together for many years, supporting each other. All this changed after the arrival of Osdu.

Under the deliberate adjustment of Prince Osto, at the beginning, he formulated policies to deliberately favor the Arnolds, making them wealthy and becoming town residents. After the Arnolds quickly became wealthy, they abandoned their former brothers and turned to collusion with overseas forces, becoming accomplices in oppressing the Behemoths.

The population of the two tribes was originally equal. Under the policy of "locals against locals", racial conflicts were infinitely magnified, directly suppressing class conflicts. The Behemos were constantly oppressed, and racial conflicts between them and the Arnolds intensified.

The sixth prince, Lord Osdu, acted as a mediator and intervened from time to time to escalate the conflict. If the sharp racial contradictions continued to exist, the local primitive residents, members of the two primitive tribal clans, would not be able to unite to resist the overseas invaders who oppressed them.

"I didn't expect that my sixth brother would have such a good method. Sir Bruno, didn't the Behemoth people resist?"

"Your Highness Aosta, resistance is an isolated incident. As the lord, Your Highness Aosta has publicly promised that as long as the farmers work hard and pay taxes for fifteen years, they will be able to obtain the status of town residents and live a prosperous life from then on."

"Sir Bruno, does anyone believe this?"

"Your Highness Aosta, it's true. Most fools are working hard for this goal. In fact, after such high-intensity labor, those who can live for more than fifteen years... you know, the majority of people don't live long."

"Your Highness Aosta, even if some of the Behemoths are qualified to enter the city, they will be isolated by the Arnolds when they arrive in the town. By then, we won't need to do anything ourselves."

"Mr. Bruno, that makes sense, but if the gap between the rich and the poor is too big, the Bessimo people will not remain silent. Besides, supporting the Arnold people will require a lot of financial investment."

"Your Highness Aosta, we didn't actually spend much. Most of the Arnold people only live a slightly more decent life than the Behemoth people. We mainly support the clan leaders and elders among the Arnold people. Those are the ones who are truly wealthy. Happiness and satisfaction are things that come from comparison."

According to Sir Bruno, the Arnolds, who seemed to be wealthy, were only living a glamorous life on the surface. In fact, these townspeople had always paid half of their taxes to Lord Osdu, and half of their income had to be handed over.

After comparing the plight of the Behemoths, the town residents instantly felt good and balanced, and felt that they had become superior people. Among them, the people who really obtained a lot of property, as well as political and economic privileges were the patriarchs and elders of the Arnold tribe. They obtained a lot of land and transitioned to the landlord class.

In order to maintain their own privileges, status, and power, the clan leaders and elders are constantly praising the rulers and the benevolent rule of the Sixth Prince Osdu, brainwashing and mentally paralyzing the tribal clan members who once served under them.

Those who were smart and saw the problem were unable to make their voices heard. They were all captured by the secret forces under Lord Osdu and imprisoned in dark prisons for a long time. Many of them never appeared in the world again. This whitewashed peaceful and prosperous era has been maintained until now, and no one can wake up the local people.

As the ruling class, the lords of the Osto Prince and the city lord Bruno, the big landowners, completely manipulated the people and reaped the benefits secretly. Christopher region can become rich, and the lord of the Osto Prince has made a lot of wealth, which is related to the collection of commercial taxes. Commercial taxes are the main source of financial income for the lords, and rent is the second source of income.

The Christopher region is rich in crude salt and black iron ore. These industries are all controlled by the lord. All salt wells and iron mines are completely controlled by the trusted subordinates of the lord, Prince Osdu. Osdu himself does not come forward, and the mining rights of these salt wells and iron mines are contracted to merchants.

Merchants need to pay 60% business tax, and after the goods are shipped overseas, they have to pay another 60% export tariff. After a round of double exploitation, the sixth prince Osto made a lot of money.

Although the commercial tax was high, many merchants still came here. Salt workers and miners were almost all hired from tenant farmers who had gone bankrupt. The labor cost was extremely low, and they didn't even need to pay much salary, as long as they were provided with food. Using cheap food to exchange for a large amount of cheap labor was enough to save a lot of costs for the unscrupulous merchants, and the profits they made were still quite large.

The politics promoted by Aosta is to emphasize agriculture over commerce. Merchants have a low political status and are of humble status, just slightly better than the exploited tenants and workers. They are often exploited by the local city lords and charged with additional business taxes. This is the tradition of the human race in the Western Continent and a common practice in the feudal era. Prince Aosta, who treats agriculture and commerce equally, is a rare exception. Most of the powerful people in the Western Continent look down on merchants. No matter how rich they are, they are just fat sheep in their eyes.

These unscrupulous and black-hearted merchants are also bullies who only care about the weak and fear the strong. After being bullied and exploited by the city lord, they transfer their resentment to the workers. It is common for them to vent their resentment on the workers and reduce their food. No matter how bad the workers are, they will not starve to death, and they will hang on for half their lives. If it really doesn't work out, they can still wait for the big pie to be handed down by the exploiters.

After listening to this, Osta fell into silence for a short time. As a ruler in the feudal era, the Sixth Prince Osdu's actions were considered qualified, at least more realistic than the policies of benevolent government, common prosperity, and equality for all proposed by the eldest prince Osder. However, Osta did not want to refer to these policies, which were not applicable to his territory, Bloomfield. Moreover, the territory that Osta wanted to build in the future would not be like the neighboring Christopher area, which artificially created ethnic conflicts.

"Sir Bruno, what do you know about Culliver Prison? The more details the better. I need this information."

"Your Highness Aosta, you...you are trying to get this information in order to..."

"Sir Bruno, you and your family are wise people. Sometimes, it's not good to know too much."

"Your Highness Osta, I was confused just now. Although I don't know too many things about Culliver Prison, you can go and see it yourself. It just so happens that Your Highness Osta is holding a talent show during this period. When the time comes... I just happen to have a way to help you."

"The selection, the concubine of the sixth prince, those fiancées are not in the empire, so it's not a big deal to come here..."

"Your Highness Osta, in fact, recently, Your Highness Osdu..."

Although Lord Bruno did not know the specific situation of Colliver Prison, he had other important information in his hands. Every once in a while, Lord Osdu would hold a talent show to balance the racial conflicts in the territory under his rule. This event was mainly divided into two parts: one was to recruit maids in the Lord's mansion, and the other was to recruit knowledgeable people.

Recruiting talents to the lord's mansion and giving them official positions is ostensibly recruiting from the public. Of course, because the final selection power is in the hands of Osto, it is easy for all kinds of shady dealings to continue. Osto feels that the talent show is the most important thing for gentlemen, and the activity of selecting talents is just a side effect.

The talent show was held just to cater to the political lie of the lord, the sixth prince Osdu, who proposed "selecting talents regardless of their background". Only those chosen by Osdu could pass the selection, and the number of candidates had already been determined. Many Bessimo people who were deceived and wanted to change their fate embarked on this road of no return, like moths to a flame, and ended up in a tragic way.

When the lord Prince Osto held the talent show, the main attention of the Christopher region would be focused on other places in the capital city of Heslet, and the attention to the Culliver Prison would be greatly reduced. If a gentleman prince wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to do something, this was the best time to act. As for what Osto wanted to do, Sir Bruno was a smart man and would not ask too much, nor would he inquire or inform Prince Osto.

Bruno's calculations were that the members of the royal family of the Obelisk Empire and the princes must not be offended. This was the best way to deal with it. With the start of the talent show, the alertness and vigilance around the entire Heslet City would be at the highest level.

It would be difficult to sneak in at this time. Archduke Bruno happened to have a way to help Aosta enter the city smoothly. Someone around him happened to be going to Heslet City to participate in the talent show, so he could bring a gentleman prince into the city.

"Your Highness Osta, the city of Heslet has been under heavy security recently. If you want to sneak into the city, my son and daughter are going to participate in an event, so you can go with them to Heslet."

"Sir Bruno, aren't you curious about what I'm doing in Culliver Prison? What if..."

"Your Highness Osta, my family and I are only loyal to the royal family of the Obelisk Empire. We support and help any member of the royal family. Whatever plans you have for the future are your private affairs, and we have no intention of asking."

"Sir Bruno, you are a man of understanding. This answer is enough. I will not treat you unfairly in the future."

Chapter 100: A Capital City Where Prosperity and Darkness Coexist

The largest town in the Christopher region is the city of Heslet, which is also the political center of the region. As the capital of the territory, Lord Osdu has put a lot of effort into the construction of this town. The sixth prince of the Obelisk Empire is at the forefront of the nine princes in terms of his ability to manage the territory. If it weren't for his tyrannical personality, the probability of him becoming a tyrant after he succeeded to the throne would be too high. Osdu himself is also a qualified successor to the throne.

Osta set out from Zangwell, the second town in the Christopher region, and boarded the exclusive carriage provided by the city lord Sir Bruno to sneak into the city of Heslet in disguise. The entourage this time included Chris, Sophia and Yulia, the three exclusive combat maids accompanying Osta, as well as the eldest son Brut and eldest daughter Brianna of the city lord Sir Bruno's family.

The siblings Brut and Brianna had learned about the true identity of Prince Osta from their father in advance. They were very respectful to Osta and others along the way. Originally according to the plan, the identity of the Osta team members was the entourage following the eldest master and the eldest lady, that is, ordinary servants or servants.

Since Brut and Brianna knew Osta's true identity, they didn't dare to act according to the original script. This gave Osta a false impression that the siblings were the servants and followers, and he was the owner of the carriage. Bruno's family was a staunch supporter of the Obelix Empire's royal family. They knew about the princes in the empire and had invested in each of them. It was in the family's interests and needs to get closer to Osta.

Master Brut is about 170cm tall, a typical tall, rich and handsome man, with a strong sense of déjà vu. He has short blue hair and a pair of blue eyes, and looks like a shrewd businessman with a sharp look. This young master is dressed very low-key, just like an ordinary businessman's cloth, unlike his father Bruno who wears luxurious clothes.

Brute was well aware of the principle of not showing off wealth. The young master's combat profession was a junior warrior, and he had some self-protection ability. The order in the Central Continent had not yet been established, and it was in a state of disorder and chaos. Merchants who went out, those simple professional merchants, could hardly move without hiring bodyguards and guards, and were at risk of being robbed at any time.

Brut's current combat skills as a warrior can probably deal with ordinary robbers and bandits, and he has a certain counterattack ability. Of course, it is limited to one-on-one, at most one-on-three. If there are too many robbers or bandits, Brut will not be able to resist. At that time, he can only run away, abandon the carriage, and sacrifice his wealth to save his life.

This time, even the appearance of the carriage was similar to that of a civilian carriage, just to avoid attracting attention. Recently, the roads in the Christopher area are not safe, compared to the locust plague in the neighboring Bridges area. There are many robbers and bandits in the Christopher area, and the gap between the rich and the poor in towns and villages is too large. Many bankrupt Bessimo people who can't survive have embarked on the path of becoming robbers and bandits.

Although the lord, Prince Osto, implemented a policy of supporting the "big cake", he deliberately handed over the grassroots officials of the territory to the Arnolds. The conflict between the two major races was already very acute, and many of the big cakes that were delegated were embezzled by the officials of the Arnolds, resulting in an increase in bandits and robbers.

Osdu was interested in watching the fight between the two major ethnic groups from behind the scenes, so that he could continue to act as a mediator, reap the benefits, and maximize his own interests. Therefore, the Sixth Prince has not sent troops to suppress the bandits so far, and has left the bandits and robbers alone, leaving each place to find ways to solve the problem on its own, which has further increased the hatred between the Arnolds and the Behemoths, and large-scale armed conflicts often broke out between the two sides.

"Your Highness Aosta, there are many bandits and robbers on the official road. But don't worry, my father has arranged people in advance before setting off to smooth out the relationship along the way. The nearby bandits and mountain bandit groups will not come to trouble us."

"Brute, there's something I don't understand. With your family background, you shouldn't need to participate in the talent selection event held by Osdu. You can just ask your father to recommend you to my sixth son."

"Your Highness Osta, this matter has nothing to do with family recommendation. His Highness Osta requires us, the successors of the city lord's family, to send people to participate in every selection event. Anyone who does not send an heir to participate in the event will be immediately deprived of power and status."

"I see, Brute, I think I know what Lao Liu is thinking. Brianna, are you going to participate in the talent show?"

"Your Highness Osta, I... I don't want to participate in that talent show. But my father asked me to do so, and I can't disobey his orders. To be honest, Your Highness Osta... Brother, what are you doing..."

"Ahem, sister, father is doing this for your own good, so stop complaining. Besides, family disgrace should not be made public, or His Highness Aosta will laugh at us."

In the carriage, Miss Brianna's tone was somewhat complaining. She was wearing a black coat, a lady-style dress. Brianna was 168cm tall, with golden wavy hair that fell to her waist, a pair of light-colored emerald-colored contact lenses, and a hot and voluptuous figure, although she was wearing a black coat. However, according to the observation of a certain gentleman prince, the lady's front should not be underestimated. The height of the peak is definitely around E size, with obvious ravines.

Maybe because she takes good care of herself and has been spoiled for a long time, Brianna has a fair complexion. When the two are close to each other, Osta can smell the special fragrance coming from her body. It is a mixture of some expensive natural perfume and body odor. Brianna's appearance is excellent. With careful dressing, she has increased her appearance by a lot, and her appearance is above the average level of human beauties.

Brianna's profession is an alchemist, and she carries a lot of alchemy-related items with her. This blonde, emerald-eyed young lady has average magic talent, and combat training is too hard. For a wealthy young lady who has no financial problems, alchemy is a good choice.

Brianna's alchemists are quick-learning alchemists, also known as combat alchemists, who usually appear in the military. Unlike traditional alchemists, quick-learning combat alchemists do not study alchemy-related formulas on their own, but simply rely on the correct alchemy formulas purchased from traditional alchemists at high prices to quickly equip themselves, and then they can become combat units on the battlefield.

As long as you are willing to spend money to buy the relevant alchemical materials, there is no professional threshold for combat alchemists. It is determined purely by personal and family financial resources. To put it bluntly, it is a krypton gold warrior. Brianna has a gentle personality, does not put on airs like a young lady, and has a soft voice. She is an ideal conversation partner. Osta chatted with her along the way, and the atmosphere was relaxed and pleasant. If Brianna's brother Brut was not present, the gentleman prince would have restrained himself in front of the other brother. Otherwise, he might have expanded the content of the conversation to a more ambiguous direction.

Brianna came to participate in the talent show because of Sir Bruno's request. It was difficult to disobey my father's order. The various city lords in the Christopher area basically arranged for their direct family members to participate in every event. If they were not present, it would be absolutely impossible.

The lord, Prince Osdu, secretly controlled the future heirs of each city lord by this method, arranging an idle position for the eldest son to stay in Heslet City as an official, and arranging a position as a senior maid for the eldest daughter to stay in the city lord's mansion, which was actually a disguised control of important hostages.

The sons and daughters of the city lords all worked under Lord Osdu, so they naturally did not dare to have any disloyalty, and any attempt to rebel was non-existent. The sixth prince Osdu did not care how the mobs in the territory made trouble. As long as he controlled the city lords, no matter how much trouble others made, it would not cause any waves. The Arnold people and the Bessimo people fought each other, and no one realized that the sixth prince Osdu was the mastermind behind all this. The two sides were busy with internal friction and could not form a united front. The hope of reconciliation was slim.

Brianna's expression at this time seemed to be hesitant to speak, as if she wanted to say something about the Sixth Prince Osdu, but she was interrupted by her brother Brut, and finally had to give up. Brut was afraid that his sister would talk too much, and that she would make mistakes if she spoke too much.

There is no formal alliance between Osta and Brut's family, so it is inappropriate to say bad things about other princes in front of him. It might be spread, unless the relationship between the two sides is an alliance, then there is no need to worry too much. The relationship between Osta and other princes is currently average, and there is no special hostility towards any brother. Outsiders are not sure about this relationship, so naturally they dare not speak casually.

"Stop! Everyone in the carriage should get off for inspection."

"Wait a moment, everyone. We are one family. There is no need to be so nervous."

"So they are from Lord Bruno's family... Lord Brute, I'm sorry for being disrespectful just now. Who are the other people in the carriage..."

"Those are my sister and I's followers. What's the problem?"

"No problem, I'm just asking casually, Lord Brute, don't take it too seriously."

"By the way, when did your inspection work become so strict? I remember when I arrived at Heslet not long ago, your inspection work was not as strict as it is now."

"Mr. Brute, this is a long story. It's all because of the neighboring Bridges area. At the beginning of this month..."

After the carriage arrived at Heslet City, Osta secretly opened a small part of the curtain and got a general idea of ​​the scene outside through the carriage window. The entire town of Heslet City was very large, and its total area was at least twice as large as the second largest city Zangwill that they had visited before.

The Sixth Prince Osdu had a monopoly over the salt wells and black iron mines in his territory, Christopher, and collected various taxes and rents. He was not short of money and had made a lot of money. It was not difficult for him to build a fine town. Especially the salt wells, which were the first wealth code for Osdu to make a fortune. There were basically no salt well resources in the surrounding territories and other neighbors' territories. Salt, a necessity of life, was supplied by Christopher. Just like the exclusive sales, it was the only one in the world. The price was set by Osdu, and he could raise the price at will.

The Bloomfield area of ​​Osta's territory also imported a large amount of salt from the Christopher area of ​​Osdu's territory, all of which were purchased with real gold and silver. The previously signed alliance stipulated the maximum purchase price of salt, so Osdu was much more restrained. For the orders from his third brother Osta, he did not dare to raise the export price of salt at will. Other customers did not have this treatment, and Osdu always found reasons to fleece them, and the purchase price of salt kept rising.

Osta secretly commissioned the "mechanical angel" Salia and others to speed up the research on sea salt refining technology. Once the purification capacity is improved, they can get rid of the dependence on Osdu for salt. The gentleman prince is very far-sighted and does not want the economic lifeline of his territory to be controlled by others. Economic independence is a must.

The outer wall of Heslet City is about three meters high. The entire town adopts a concentric circle layout, with the city wall as the dividing line, divided into three major areas: outer city, middle city and inner city. The outermost wall is three meters, the middle wall is five meters, and the inner wall is eight meters. From the inside to the outside, it can be defended from a high position, without worrying about the outer wall being captured by the invading enemy, and there will be no subsequent defense depth and countermeasures. The outer city is a general civilian area, the middle city is a relatively wealthy area, and the inner city is the core area, which belongs to the royal family and the nobles. The class division of urban residents is very obvious. You can know the other party's status by looking at which city they live in.

The carriage encountered a little trouble when entering the gate of the outer wall of Heslet. The guards here strengthened the inspection of residents entering and leaving the wall. They originally wanted to search the entire carriage and check all the people in the carriage. However, after seeing that it was Sir Bruno's son Brut and daughter Brianna, the guards let them go and did not continue the inspection. Otherwise, Osta's identity would not be hidden, and his true identity might be exposed in advance.

Other people who entered and left the town were not so lucky. They were searched by the guards one by one, regardless of gender, age or status. Not everyone had this privilege. Fortunately, there were many female guards among the guards, so the body search was not too chaotic. There was still a difference between men and women. The reason for the intensified inspection was not to prevent bandits and robbers, but to prevent infected people from entering the city.

Although the border defense has been strengthened, there are still many refugees from the severely insect-infested areas, such as the Bridges area, who enter the country illegally through various means and flee to the Christopher area. The guards are on guard against such people. The Sixth Prince Osdu doesn't really know nothing. He knows a little about the Bridges area and is on guard.

The inspection method for entering the city is similar to a physical examination. The guards are very familiar with the physical characteristics of the local Arnolds and Behemos. If they come from outside, they can easily be identified by removing their outer equipment and taking a few glances at their bodies. There is no effective way to detect whether the refugees are carrying insect eggs, so we can only use a relatively rough one-size-fits-all approach.

If they find that the newcomers are outsiders, they will be expelled and not given the opportunity to enter the city. The policy of Osdu is to ensure the safety of towns. The mayors of various towns have received special notices and adopted similar policies. As for villages, they have been abandoned and are not considered. There is a huge gap between the rich and the poor in Christopher villages. All villages are in a state of poverty. Even if refugees enter the village, they will not live long. As long as they are not allowed to enter the city, it is inevitable that they will fend for themselves outside.

"Your Highness Aosta, we will go to the Lord's Mansion to participate in the event later. Please feel free to do as you please. We will remember what my father told us in advance."

"Brut, please take us to the outside of the lord's mansion first. I want to see what activities Lao Liu is organizing, and then..."

“It’s all right, Your Highness Aosta, they should be here in a moment.

"Your Highness Osta, I still have to participate in the selection activities. I also want to go to the City Lord's Mansion, so I can go with you. Sister, did you remember what I just said to you?"

"Brother, I remember this. I am not a child anymore. I will not say anything more this time. I will concentrate on leading His Highness Aosta."

"That's good, sister. This matter concerns the interests of the family. I hope you can understand it in the future."

After passing through the outer city gate, the carriage had no obstructions along the way, and quickly passed through the gates of the middle and inner city walls through a special passage, and successfully entered the inner city area. There was not much difference between the rich and the poor in the city of Heslet, but this city division gave people the illusion that there was a very obvious gap between the rich and the poor.

The outer city area is the civilian area. The residents are ordinary Arnold people. They look clean and tidy, but they don't have much spare money. The shops along the street sell a wide variety of goods. You can hear the bargaining between the residents and the vendors.

The middle city is a wealthy area. The residents here are mainly businessmen from overseas who come to Christopher to do business, as well as the tribal chiefs and elders of the original Arnold people. The gap between these tribal leaders and the general clan members of the tribe has widened, and they have become a localized aristocracy. The outer city is a standardized house with restrictions on building layout and area, and it cannot be expanded at will.

It is different in the Midtown area, where each person owns a luxury villa and looks extremely wealthy. The shops opened in the Midtown area are all boutiques and high-end stores that sell high-end luxury goods. They sell all luxury goods and provide services to the rich and the aristocracy.

Further inside the inner city, the residents here are overseas nobles, basically members of the faction that supports Prince Osdu, and come from the Obelisk Empire. As a privileged class, these overseas nobles are not numerous, but each of them owns more than one private manor, which is much larger than the private villas of the wealthy businessmen in the central city.

In addition to these nobles, the inner city also has a large number of servants who serve them. These special welfare benefits are incomparable to the rich in the middle city. The lord, Prince Osto, has implemented a strict class system in the city of Heslet, emphasizing the interests of the privileged class everywhere.

No matter how rich the rich people in the central city are, the size of their villas and the number of servants are strictly limited and cannot exceed the standard. Otherwise, they will be deprived of their property and status, expelled to the outer city as civilians, or even directly expelled from the city of Heslet, demoted to civilians, and their status will plummet, from heaven to hell.

The total urban population of Heslet City is about 600,000. There are about 420,000 civilians in the outer city, about 160,000 rich people and local nobles in the middle city, and only a few thousand overseas nobles in the inner city. The remaining 20,000 or so are special attendants and service personnel who provide various special services to these thousands of privileged people.

In the area around the city, at the nearest location, three military fortresses were built, occupying the vertices of the triangle, protecting the city of Heslet in the middle of the triangle. Each fortress had more than 100,000 troops stationed, and a total of more than 300,000 troops were stationed. Most of the military forces under Lord Osdu were here.

The guard work of each city was delegated by Os to the troops formed by the local city lords themselves, and maintained by private armed forces. The lords did not provide any subsidies to the city lords below. The lord's mansion firmly controlled the salt wells and black iron mines, and controlled the economic lifeline of the territory. He was not worried that these city lords would rebel after giving them military power.

The ethnic conflicts that were deliberately planted before, the Arnolds and the Behemos hated each other, and it was impossible for them to unite to fight against Osdu. Even if there were a few sober people who realized this, there was nothing they could do to change anything. The hatred between the two sides was not so easy to resolve. Only a small number of people discovered the truth, which could not affect the development and changes of the overall situation.

"Sir Brute, the selection has already begun. Please follow me."

"Excuse me, His Highness Osdu hasn't arrived yet?"

"His Highness Osdu has some matters to deal with in the lord's mansion. It seems to be related to this talent show. Once he is done, he should be back as soon as possible."

"Understood. I'll let my little sister report to the lord's mansion first."

"Mr. Brute, these people are..."

"They are my entourage. I have some personal matters to attend to, so I need to delegate them to act with my sister."

After the carriage entered the inner city, Osta and the others temporarily parted ways, and several housekeepers in charge of reception came to greet the visitors. Master Brut left with one of the housekeepers to participate in the talent selection event, while Miss Brianna went to the lord's mansion with other housekeepers.

Osta and three ladies, disguised as the young lady's attendants, followed Brianna. The final destination of his infiltration operation, Culliver Prison, was next to the Lord's Mansion. He could take advantage of the passage on the way to the Lord's Mansion and find an opportunity to sneak into Culliver Prison.

The talent selection examination held by Osdu is quite innovative for the residents of the alien world. It is very similar to the imperial examinations and martial arts examinations held by the ancient Eastern countries on Earth in ancient times. For the talents who come to participate in the selection, the literati take a written test, and the content of the test paper is mostly political commentary, elaborating on their views on local development and governing policies. If they pass, a number of outstanding people will be admitted as officials according to their scores.

The martial arts exam was a direct martial arts competition, which seemed much simpler than the literary exam. Although it seemed to be a fair competition on the surface, the selection process was always done behind the scenes. The young masters of the city lords' families could easily pass the exam no matter how bad their written exam scores were, even if they handed in a blank paper or wrote something randomly, because the quotas had already been decided. They could still be admitted even if they didn't even write their names during the exam.

The remaining places were controlled by the local nobles, the chiefs of the Arnold people, and the confidants of the elders. As long as these people did not forget to write their names, they basically all got official positions in the end. From the beginning, this selection activity was a pre-rehearsed play, and outsiders basically had no chance of being elected. The promise that everyone could participate was just a need for political propaganda. Without background and backing, participants were basically just runners-up. Apart from participating, they had no chance of getting promoted.