Chapter 511

It is precisely because of vested interests that, even though things have come to this, the viscount can still be shameless.

"Recruiting officer, the equipment and all… I grit my teeth, barely manage to cobble together, but these thousand troops… I truly have none!"

The recruiting officer remained unmoved, and simply asked back.

"Really have none?"

The viscount immediately confirmed.

"Really, I have none!"

The recruiting officer said nothing, but exhaled and walked two steps around the "military formation".

He shook his head and whispered.

"Damn it, even if it's for Ma Run's recruitment, it can't be at this level…"

The viscount was still impatiently fuming, didn't catch what he said, and hurried two steps forward.

"Sir, what did you just say?"

"Nothing."

It seemed he had made up his mind; the recruiting officer stopped, turned around.

"Viscount, your handling makes it very difficult for me."

"Sir… make an exception, please."

The viscount had to raise the honorific another level, then quietly slipped a purse over.

The recruiting officer glanced down, did not take it, and pushed it back.

The viscount gritted his teeth, pulled out two gold coins and placed them on top.

"Please reconsider?"

The recruiting officer, seeing this, furrowed his brow and simply stepped back.

"Viscount, this is not about money!"

"You! You refuse the toast but take the punishment, right?"

Having failed to bribe him, the angry viscount decided to threaten.

"Let me tell you, I know Duke Li Guang! Do you know Duke Li Guang?"

He shouted loudly from his own side, gritting his teeth.

"Since you don't know, let me tell you, my sister is his concubine! I count as his brother‑in‑law; don't push me too far, you better watch out…"

Unfortunately, while Duke Li Guang's name might scare many, it certainly doesn't include the man before him.

"Ha, even if you push me, what will you say?"

The recruiting officer snorted coldly, stopped the back‑and‑forth, and produced an ID.

"Let me tell you, I am a Pioneer; I don't mingle with your noble circles, so titles like duke or marquis mean nothing to me, your threats are meaningless!"

The viscount's mind instantly crashed.

"What, you are a… Pioneer?"

Although the recruiting officer is an extension of the king's authority, naturally enjoying royal protection, wherever he goes—duke or prince—he must be shown proper respect.

Yet this job destined to offend has never been easy, so in the recruiting officer's ranks, besides the king and two ministers' absolute confidants, the larger portion actually consists of "professional recruiters" hired from the Pioneers.

For the Sun King, hiring them in large numbers has four advantages.

The first is that after half a year of play, the players no longer care what these damned nobles think, even hoping these vermin die; the strike will inevitably be ruthless, even lethal!

The second benefit is that Pioneers are completely disinterested; they only see the king's bounty and system reward quests, and never fear offending the kingdom's tangled noble interests.

The third is that, for various reasons, those who obtain this position are usually high‑ranking officials; their rich experience makes them truly professional, and the nobles' petty tricks… cannot escape their eyes!

The fourth is that they are simply too good at "cutting sausages"; even the self‑proclaimed genius nobles' aides make numerous blunders, creating regional tension, yet the areas they oversee remain completely incident‑free.

So the feudal‑reduction plan not only failed to produce troublemakers, but turned into a huge profit, letting the Sun King collect half a year's taxes in one go, which delighted the old system greatly.

Thus, after milking the Eastern nobles, he simply raised the quota for the Northern nobles, and split the extra revenue three‑to‑seven: he kept seven parts, and gave three parts to the Pioneers.

It may sound a bit scant, but this is the fattest region of the vast kingdom; even a small leak yields overwhelming wealth.

Now everyone is even more eager to cut down the nobles, for this is not shearing wool but slaughtering a year‑old pig!

And after the Northern nobles, with mournful faces, cut off their own flesh, to honor the recruiting officers' achievements, the Sun King simply granted each of them the title of "Kingdom Knight" and an honor medal.

The rank is low; however flattering the name, it is a nominal title without land or salary, yet its significance is considerable.

One should know that before this, although some players did obtain knight titles, the only true duke‑knight was the one conferred by Duke Jueqiao.

Beyond the Southern region, or even just a bit north, its value drops significantly.

Now, what they receive is the highest‑value Kingdom Knight among all knight titles; this counts as the king formally accepting these odd Pioneers, and hence nobles can no longer deny their presence and influence in the kingdom.

Thus, in the win‑win for the Sun King and the recruiting officers, the Eastern and Northern realms were filled with wailing nobles forced to cut flesh, scrambling in chaos; even customary banquets were left unheld for fear the king would find a pretext to impose another levy.

Yet amid the chaos, a noble domain remained tranquil, and after receiving refugees from nearby lands, it showed a rare growth, a red dot among the green.

Indeed, this is the Black Water Domain owned by Princess Aili Nuo, located in the kingdom's southeastern coastal area, a land that sounds like a hotbed for mercenaries.

The composition of the Black Water Domain is actually quite complex, because this irregularly shaped noble land is essentially a "mixed platter".

In detail, until thirty years ago there was no Black Water Domain here; it was four noble holdings: one count and three marquises.

But that count, for some reason, went mad, got involved with the Evil God Church, and was caught red‑handed by the Holy Light Church.

At that time, the Radiant Light was in the "Era of the Two Saints", with Emperor Anton VI at the peak of civil governance, and Queen Mei Li Er Wang Hou at the 80th level in martial prowess.

Moreover, the Holy Light Church still wielded strong nationwide authority, never allowing a cockroach‑like evil god to frolic on its lands.

So this foolish count was promptly taken as a typical case; had the ministers not pleaded, his whole family's heads would have been scattered like beans.

Nevertheless, the count's title was completely stripped by the king, his family reduced to commoners, and the lands seized into royal domain for future allocation.

As for the other three marquises, their descendants proved incompetent; after the old lord's death, their fortunes ended, and they naturally reverted to commoner status.

Thus, because the misfortunes of these four families collided, the Sun King was able to find in the Eastern realm a parcel fitting a princess‑level specification and grant it to Aili Nuo.

Although this 'East' is indeed a bit too far south, and what good land could a baron's family have? Thus it is mostly rugged, broken mountainous land and hard-to-develop swamps; only the count's parcel still has some profit.

Moreover, as everyone knows, once you've hit rock bottom, any direction you go is naturally upward, so after taking office, Eleanor merely implemented a few benevolent policies and thus secured the top position.

There's no way around it; although the king had previously appointed magistrates for these four fiefs, kingdom law stipulates that their salaries depend only on the size of the region, not on personal performance.

Thus, as long as the local populace doesn't rebel, the magistrates naturally slack off, being pure practitioners of doing nothing; Eleanor can outdo them with just a slight move.

Moreover, because Eleanor is a newly appointed vassal, by convention she is exempt from three years of taxes and corvée labor, so no matter how tumultuous the surrounding regions become, it has nothing to do with the fledgling Blackwater Territory, and everyone farms with vigor.

But the most important factor, after all, is Eleanor's background.

Twenty years is neither short nor long—enough for new faces to appear on the kingdom's stage, yet not so long that the old Ironclads from back then have all died off.

Thus, upon hearing that the Sun King had kept his promise and the orphaned daughter of Lord Changge had actually become a princess, this bunch of old-timers erupted, flocking from all over the world to lend a hand.

Of course, they didn't come merely to pretend weakness and wail loudly on the surface while secretly conscripting the populace and buying weapons en masse.

Then, with the help of their own son, they slaughtered the surrounding noble domains and distributed brainwashing packets to the world's people, proclaiming themselves civilized.

They truly came to build, to develop, and to carry out the will of their former Ironclad Legion.

Although twenty years have passed, many of those people are no longer what they once were.

Either they are destitute, unable to afford even a congratulatory letter.

Or they have changed hearts, reeking of corruption, drowned in this great dye vat.

Some have even turned to dry bones in graves, with no trace of where their mounds lie.

But even if only one in ten remains, they can still form a fairly reliable professional team capable of handling any affair in this small fief with a hundred neglected matters awaiting development.

Moreover, those coming to help are not only the old Ironclads, but also a large batch of Pioneers.

There's no way around it; the story of the Ironclad Army is truly too lamentable.

For the people of the White Eagle and the Europa Alliance, this is the tragic tale of a hero who struggled valiantly but was ultimately crushed by reality.

The empathy born from this goes beyond simple fundraising; it is enough to make some true saints come and work for free.

For the Huaxia people, this is a lament of heroes and their people, evoking many historical parallels.

Under such sentiment, they will voluntarily come to assist the hero's descendants in continuing this kindness, which is naturally a matter of course.

But many more players, still holding a person's due sympathy and reverence, choose to come here and contribute their strength to the Blackwater Territory.

With people, resources, and land, Eleanor's undertaking has ushered in an unprecedented period of growth.

Furthermore, Ji Ming could pass through others' territories unnoticed, but this is Eleanor's new home—friends have all come, so he can't very well not go in and sit awhile.

As a result, when he arrived at the main city of the Blackwater Territory, he discovered that there were far more acquaintances than he had imagined.

"Damn, Officer Brother, what are you doing here?"

Just as he stepped inside, he saw Cang Lang directing people to move goods and unload cargo.

Cang Lang turned his head, focused his gaze, and a smile immediately appeared on his face.

"Hey! As expected, you've come too."

Then he brought Ji Ming to a newly opened tea house nearby and introduced him to the colleagues stationed at this intelligence outpost.

Although Ji Ming had been busy with other matters during this period, he had continually directed his subordinates to send information to the External Affairs Bureau on his behalf.

Thus, in the eyes of these External Affairs Bureau members, Ji Ming may not be comparable to James Bond, but he certainly possesses the caliber of a legendary intelligence officer.

Consequently, upon meeting, they were warmly enthusiastic, all hoping this junior in the intelligence field could give them a couple of pointers to improve their business capabilities.

Ji Ming: "I don't know anything about intelligence; I just have them randomly gather something valuable and mix it in with the worthless stuff to turn in."

But he certainly couldn't say that, nor dare to spout nonsense, so he just blathered some idle talk to get by.

Fortunately, Cang Lang had finished his current tasks and took him to the External Affairs Bureau's true stronghold in the Blackwater Territory.

"Huh?"

Ji Ming was dumbfounded upon hearing that: "Turtle, this tea house isn't your real base? How deep must the real one be hidden?"

Then Cang Lang led him all the way out of the city.

……Could it be that the External Affairs Bureau has established a secret fortress in the nearby valley?

Then he realized their direction was not the rugged western mountains but the northern great plain.

……Could it be that Officer Brother is still thinking about the time I brought him on a surprise raid at the southern insect congress, deciding to dig an underground labyrinth here?

But the answer is none of those; when he was brought to the newly established settlement and saw the sign on the tallest building.

"Uh, when did we become so grand and proper?"

The sign bore a very striking line of large characters that would never be hung so high in the real world—Blackwater Armory.

"You say that like we're thieves; we're constructing legally, okay."

Saying this, Cang Lang sent Ji Ming a screenshot; upon opening it, Ji Ming found it was a contract.

The contract's content is simple.

As an external investor, the YangYueExternalAffairsBureau wishes to set up a factory in the Blackwater Territory; to do so it must complete the three-phase project outlined in the plan and invest a certain amount of gold coins.

And as the lord of the Blackwater Territory, Eleanor must protect all legitimate rights of the YangYueExternalAffairsBureau within the territory and, when necessary, provide needed assistance and support.

Thus, the External Affairs Bureau's construction of a player settlement centered on the armory here is reasonable and lawful; even the local laborers hired for the construction were employed only after the lord's nod.

Moreover, according to Cang Lang's account, those who have signed similar contracts with Princess Eleanor are far from limited to Huaxia.

White Eagle, Europa Alliance, Rus… as long as a Pioneer Force can undertake the project and make large-scale investments, they basically each hold a copy of such documents.

"Ah… this is otherworldly-style investment promotion?"