It doesn't matter what the lord is.

After a moment, he put away the smile on his face and said seriously:

"Is it because of the 300,000 displaced disaster victims in Tianyue Mountain?"

I shook my head and replied:

"It's because of some poor innocent people."

I did not elaborate, and Tamros could not possibly understand. He thought I was still talking about the 300,000 victims, so he put his hands on the stone table and said to me:

"Brother Li De, you and Bai Huang are young after all, and I can understand that you like to fight for justice. But I don't know if you have ever heard of the saying that heaven and earth are not kind, and treat all things as straw dogs. What this saying means is that heaven and earth have no mercy, and in the eyes of heaven and earth, all things in the world are nothing more than straw dogs."

"Brother Lide may not understand it now, but if one day you sit firmly in the position of Lord of Yunyang, climb to the top of that high mountain, and look down, you will have the same idea. Let go of those feelings of compassion for the world and treat the people below as straw dogs. This is a qualified ruler... The world rules us, we rule the people below, and the people below rule other creatures. This is the law of society. For example, in the eyes of butchers, the lives of chickens, ducks, cows and sheep are nothing. In the eyes of farmers, rice in the fields is something that can be harvested at will. It's a bit heavy to say that they are plundering, but these lives are to serve us. Similarly, in our eyes, dozens, hundreds, hundreds of thousands, and millions of people should all be just numbers."

After saying this, Tamros looked at me with a relaxed expression.

He looked somewhat smug, and said with a smile:

"The reason why we are willing to pour resources into you is not only because the same benefits are more likely to impress you. More importantly... I can tell from your eyes and tone that you don't care as much about those 300,000 people as Bai Huang... Brother Lide, the four words 'Heaven and Earth are Not Benevolent' are exactly the principles that superiors like me follow."

I laughed for no reason, and as I laughed, I leaned forward and cursed:

"Heaven and earth are cruel... Are you qualified to talk about the cruelty of heaven and earth?!"

I stared into his eyes and felt my voice turn cold:

"When I learned this sentence, you didn't even know where you were playing in the mud! Heaven and earth are not benevolent, so you are not benevolent? Let me tell you, there is only one kind of person in this world who is worthy of saying this, and worthy of calmly discussing the lives and deaths of hundreds of thousands of people with others. That is the person who is above everything else and treats heaven and earth as straw dogs! You, let alone treating heaven and earth as dogs, you don't even have the courage to control the situation. You are nothing more than a dog of the masked prince. You can't even decide your own life, and you still shamelessly talk to me about the code of conduct of superiors. You are not a superior, and you will never be a superior! You are just a chess piece, a tool, a dog guarding the house."

After scolding, I felt much better.

I remembered the scene where Bai Huang dragged me to the brothel and asked about Yayu's whereabouts.

At that time, she stood at the door of the brothel waiting for a long time. Passersby in a hurry walked past her, making her back look thin and lonely.

She said that she often wondered whether the brothel girl who was her first love was well.

She also said that she often blamed herself and prayed that the girl could meet a good man.

I leaned back, put one hand on the back of my chair, crossed my legs, smiled cynically, and said to Tamros:

"In fact, in my opinion, what you said makes sense. You are very good at judging people, and the benefits you offer are very touching, so I have no reason to refuse. But, one of my favorite things to do is to say no to those who seem very confident! Then watch their smiles freeze on their faces and appreciate their ridiculous expressions, just like now."

That's right, there's no need for any reason. To help or not to help is just a matter of one thought.

As for why I chose to refuse...

I just simply don't like you.

49. Far from reaching the center of the storm

Tamros looked over blankly, as if he had never expected such an outcome.

He was still trying to use his common sense to figure out what I was thinking, so he smiled and said to me:

"Brother Lide, are you worried that we will sell you out? There is no need to worry about this. First, you and Bai Huang are involved in this plan. If we really cross the river and burn the bridge, we will definitely offend Lord Yunhai. I think no one in the world will do such an unwise thing. Second, we can sign an agreement with you privately. It is clearly written in black and white, and we can't deny it even if we want to. If you don't believe it, you can take a look."

As he spoke, he took out two agreements from his arms and placed them on the stone table.

I was too lazy to even look at it, so I said to him:

"I'm not kidding you. You are very confident that you can convince me, but I am destined to be the man you can't have."

Under the moon and flowers, I lifted my hair and turned around to leave.

But just as I turned around, I heard Tamros behind me slowly say:

"Brother Lide, if not for yourself, you should at least consider the little princess Lana who helped you block the arrow."

I stopped and turned to look at him.

Tamros poured himself a cup of cold tea, took a sip, and said:

"Tonight, His Majesty, the Queen, and Her Royal Highness the Princess went to rest in the garden. When Her Royal Highness Lana served His Majesty tea and walked over with the teacup, His Majesty saw the wound on her right index finger. His Majesty became suspicious and sent two maids to search Her Royal Highness the Princess. They found a handkerchief with blood writing in her pocket."

At this point, Tamros looked at me steadily and said with a smile:

"His Majesty loved Lana very much, and because of this, he felt betrayed. As his most beloved daughter, Lana's behavior this time really disappointed His Majesty. In front of everyone, His Majesty took a cane and whipped Lana's back again and again, leaving her skin torn and bleeding."

Tamros drank the tea in his cup, observed the expression on my face, and said:

"Your Majesty, this is not your fault. A girl who is clingy is annoying. No one likes their own child to help others deal with them. After the beating, His Majesty secretly imprisoned Princess Lana in a small dark room where no one could find her. He asked her to reflect on everything she had done. Have you ever been to a small dark room, Lid? Every day when you open your eyes and close them, it's all dark. You can't do anything. You can still get through the first few hours, but every minute and every second after that is torture. For a long time, there was no light and no one to talk to you. It was worse than death."

I asked:

"Can you save her?"

Tamros also stood up, picked up the agreement on the table, walked towards me, and said with a smile:

"Of course there is... Brother Lide and Miss Baihuang are both city lords, so it is not convenient for city lords to get involved in the internal affairs of the royal family. But we have various royal family members in our network, and we can ask them to plead for us. When His Majesty calms down, he will naturally let her go. How about it, Brother Lide, now you have seen my surprised expression, and you also know about Her Highness Lana's affairs, can you sign it?"

I took a look at the two agreements in his hand, and without hesitation, I raised my hand and slapped them to the ground.

"forget it."

I replied calmly:

"If Lana knew I signed something like this to save her, she probably wouldn't be very happy. She might even get mad at me, thinking she had chosen the wrong person."

I left the courtyard, and before I left, I said to Tamros who was standing there:

"We don't need outsiders to worry about Yunyang's affairs. Similarly, I will go to save Her Highness Lana myself, and there is no need for your false feelings."

As the night wind blew, I sighed deeply.

Lana is a young girl, but how come her brain is not very good?

It was just a public confession, but I foolishly took it seriously. She usually wrote to me all day long, and this time, she was under strict surveillance by my father and the people around her, but she still secretly left me a blood letter, reminding me to run away from the capital as soon as possible. She really hoped that I would be fine. This kind of natural emotion was revealed too much, and it was easy to make people feel guilty.

I shook my head and put those useless thoughts aside for the moment. Now was not the time to think about these things.

Walking back to the previous meeting room, before entering the door, I heard Bai Huang's angry voice coming from inside:

"Stop it, Bai Huang! Cooperation? I, Bai Huang, will never cooperate with people like you! The treasury is empty and we can't save everyone? Of course, I see you are all rich, so you can save tens of thousands more people if you pool your money. I, Bai Huang, am a city lord from outside, but I dare to mortgage all my belongings. I want to save as many people as possible! Do you dare? The empty treasury is just an excuse. The reason why the treasury is empty and why the world is so difficult is because of you blood-sucking fleas! What, you dare to do but not to take, you dare to take but not to give?!"

Abel replied:

"Miss Bai Huang, we don't have much money. It's just some salary..."

Bai Huang shouted:

"Enough! I think it's clear. Wu Mi is a hundred times better than you in this respect. He was able to go to Tianyue Mountain in person to share the hardships with the disaster victims. You probably haven't even seen what it's like there! I must be blind to cooperate with people like you. Goodbye!"

After saying that, she banged the door open, just in time to see me standing at the door, and said:

"Lid! You scared me. You're back. Did you change the medicine?"

I smiled and said:

"I always felt it wasn't clean enough, so I didn't change it."

Bai Huang muttered:

"That's right. Heji, Alayya, let's go back."

I asked:

"Would you like to chat for a while?"

Bai Huang sneered:

"What is there to talk about? If they were really willing to donate half of their property, I would still believe that they really wanted to save those 300,000 people, and I would seriously consider whether to cooperate with them. Now? One by one, they start to cry poor in front of me. I am not a fool. What's the use of a person just saying nice things? Only those who are willing to pay the price for what they say are qualified to be recognized by me, Bai Huang."

With Alayya's support, I followed Bai Huang and limped out of Tamros's mansion.

When I reached the door, I turned my head and watched the door slowly closing. At the end of my sight, I could see the masked prince staring at our backs. Next to him, Tamros came up and whispered something.

The prince nodded slowly with a chill in his eyes.

I frowned and suddenly had a bad feeling.

-------------------

I worked on the project all night yesterday, so I'm not in a very good shape today. I'll update it first and make up for it when I have time.

50. Two People at Ease

Imperial West City.

For Yuxi City, this year has definitely been a year of upheaval.

Who would have thought that at the end of last year, almost all the people were suffering from hunger and cold on the border between life and death, but this year most people can have enough food and warm clothes. As the New Year is approaching, the current Prime Minister of the Interior, He Yue, also issued the last decree of the year, implementing the welfare system that had been discussed for several times.

The welfare system will be gradually improved in the next few years. In the end, it is expected to provide a minimum guarantee for the maintenance of life for all people whose income level is below a certain level. Corresponding subsidies will also be provided in many industries such as medical care and education. Don't underestimate this subsidy. Although more than 60% of the people in Yuxi City have basically no worries about food and clothing, in their eyes, industries such as medical care and education are still high-end industries.

When they are sick, they dare not go to the doctor, but use some folk remedies to solve the problem by themselves. Many people die from this every year. As for education, most families don’t have the money to send their children to school. Most people spend their whole lives working in the fields.

In the City Lord's Mansion, there was a simple tea table with two people sitting beside it.

The one in red was He Yue, who had attracted most of the limelight this year, and on the other side was Fang Shisan, who had just arrived but whose status in the eyes of the people was rising day by day. It was not common for the top military and political leaders to sit together and drink tea.

Perhaps it’s because the Spring Festival is approaching and both of them are not so busy.

"It's rare to be so peaceful..."

He Yue held a teacup, blew away a tea leaf floating on the water, took a sip of tea, and sighed.

Fang Shisan naturally placed his hands on his legs, closed his eyes, smiled slightly and said:

"Yes."

He Yue put down the teacup, put one arm on the coffee table, and seemed to be in a good mood:

"This year has passed. I thought it would be more difficult, but I didn't expect to have a good New Year. Of course, if Li Neng could stop causing trouble, this year would be even more perfect. The soldiers in the barracks must not be very happy to have to fight a war when it's almost New Year."

Fang Shisan replied:

"Once you join the army, your duty is paramount. We expected that Li Neng would lead his troops to counterattack. After two battles, we have seized a lot of supplies, which will teach him a lesson. But next year..."

He Yue had just picked up the teacup, but when she heard this, she put it down again and asked:

"Will you be given an additional 100 people?"

Fang Shisan said seriously:

"Five hundred people."

River Moon Bargaining:

"Two hundred. We already gave you three hundred more men during the last discussion. You can't give in this time."

Fang Shisan also gave in only a little:

"At least four hundred."

He Yue raised his hand and argued with Fang Shisan:

"We can't afford to support so many people, otherwise a lot of land will be left idle. Four hundred people means four hundred fewer farmers and four hundred more mouths to feed. This means a loss of more than eight hundred people for me. You've worked on internal affairs before, so you should know this. Besides, quality is more important than quantity. The selection of the Yuxi City army is very strict now. If you just expand the army and recruit people with seriously insufficient abilities, it won't be a good thing for you."

Fang Shisan just replied:

"I don't need their abilities to be high, as long as they are willing to endure hardships and obey orders. Personal bravery doesn't play a big role in the army, unless you can stand on your own like Miss Alaya or Miss Fileta. If you are less than two levels, it doesn't make much difference in the army."

Fang Shisan continued:

"Next year we plan to capture Rivet City, and we will continue to advance eastward depending on the situation. Even if we don't move our troops, we have to start accumulating strength. I calculated that even with the training method of veterans training new recruits, it will take a long time for new recruits to grow up to be able to go to the battlefield, and it will take several major battles to grow into elite troops. We in Yuxi City started too late, and if we want to be before [that day] comes, we have to make plans early for some things."

He Yue frowned and said with a hint of displeasure:

"I'm making plans. But everything has to be done step by step."

Fang Shisan did not speak. After a while, he said quietly towards the direction in front of him:

"Now that the factory in the north has started operating, we should be able to employ an additional 400 people."

He Yue was choked, sat back in his seat, and said with a wry smile:

"You know this too?"

Fang Shisan smiled smugly and said:

"I didn't know that. But because of the attack on the city by Li Neng a few days ago, the Anbu temporarily obeyed my orders. In their report, they mentioned this incident unintentionally."

He Yue smiled bitterly and said:

"It's hard to be the head of a household. There's only so much money, and everyone is thinking about it. We need to expand the Anbu organization next year, recruit more members to the White Phoenix patrol team, and open a demon breeding farm somewhere else. Everything needs money. Now even you have to ask for help... Never mind. Next year, we had an expense to buy new clothes for Lid, buy a carriage, recruit maids, and for daily entertainment. I'll give you this money first."