Witch Wind

Chapter 166: Just Justice (Part )

Among the hundred countries in the Far West, England is the strongest empire in the world. Its navy ranks first in the world and its army ranks first. Among the hundred countries in the Far West, twenty-two countries are vassal states, and half of them are related by marriage to the current Queen.

According to statistics from heraldry experts in various countries in the Western Continent, among the current leaders of the 100 countries in the Far West, more than half of the monarchs, either their mothers, their queens, or the wives of one of their princes who has the greatest hope of inheriting the throne, are from the British royal family.

In addition to its homeland, England had countless colonies, and the heads of more than 300 native kings had built a glorious throne. Infinite resources, infinite manpower, and endless wealth were all at England's disposal.

With this, England's overseas colonial governors had a total of over 100 million colonial troops and controlled tens of thousands of armored warships.

In such a vast and majestic country, there is only one empress, three royal princes, five royal dukes, and the rest of the marquises and earls with royal blood have been a fixed number since ancient times, and the total number is no more than twenty-seven.

Outside the royal family, there are no princely titles. In such a large kingdom, there are no more than seven dukes and fifteen marquises who are not of royal origin.

Xing Tianli was the sixteenth marquis outside the British royal family.

With such a huge empire and such a small title, one can imagine the value of the marquisate of Xing Tianli... Especially, the Queen's decree allowed him to provide his own private army and purchase all kinds of most advanced warships from the Navy Department without restrictions.

In a word, if Xing Tianli had enough money, he would soon be able to have a powerful navy that could confront the other powers in the Far West, or even annihilate them.

Of course, Xing Tianli alone is enough to annihilate the navy of any country. This is enough to show how huge the stakes the Kingdom of England has placed on the title of Marquis of Black Cloud.

Jin San was scared.

He was completely frightened.

Faced with the ruling document presented by Fisherman, he was too lazy to consider some of the harsh clauses that were extremely unfavorable to Xing Tianqingshu, Zhang and others. He simply signed his name and stamped it with his personal seal.

His personal staff was holding his official seal of the governor, and coincidentally, the governor's seal of Jiangdong Province was also stamped on it.

Peter Joe, Greenman and others, together with the consuls general of many vassal states of the two countries, also stepped forward and took turns signing and stamping the ruling document as a testimony and guarantee.

In the future, if someone wants to overturn the legitimacy of this document, then Yingjishi, Saint Norman, and the countries behind the consuls general will be "outraged by allies" and will directly attack the Dayu Dynasty. The scene at that time will surely be lively.

Xing Tianli looked at Jin Santan, whose forehead was covered with cold sweat, and sighed softly.

Using the power of the foreigners to threaten the corrupt officials of the Dayu Dynasty is not an upright thing to do, but rather a despicable act.

However, Xing Tianli did not want to cause a river of bloodshed in the Dayu Dynasty.

He thought to himself, in his previous life, he was just a homeboy and a liberal arts student. He could not beat these professional bureaucrats of the Great Yu Dynasty by playing officialdom. What else could he do? This was the only way.

Perhaps, several years later, in the folk tales of the Dayu Dynasty and from the mouths of storytellers in major teahouses and restaurants, there will be a story about a "number one traitor" who "colluded with foreign barbarians" and "devastated the foundation of the country" circulating?
Tsk!
"I can't expect to be remembered for generations. But there are signs that I will be infamous for eternity." Xing Tianli was thinking that when he had free time, he would write a series of scripts in advance, pay a large sum of money to hire some storytellers, and tell their stories in detail.

Thus, the 'number one traitor who colluded with the foreign barbarians to shake the foundation of the country' became the 'little hero who survived nine deaths and endured humiliation, rose up strongly under the brutal bullying of the foreign barbarians, avenged his mother and took back the family property'.

This is a good idea!

Xing Tianli, who had worked as a storyteller for some time and made a lot of money, was seriously considering this plan.

"Then, I will send this document to Fentian City as soon as possible, and ask the Empress Dowager, the Old Saint Mother, the military officials, the clan officials' office, and the Taichang Temple to discuss it as soon as possible."

Xing Tianli coughed lightly, then he casually took out a scroll made of brocade and with a jade axis from his sleeve and handed it to Jin Santan.

Jin Santan and a group of Dayu Dynasty officials behind him all had their faces suddenly changed.

The scroll that Xing Tianli took out was of extremely high specifications. The axis was made of beautiful jade, two inches and four points thick, and three feet and six inches long. The brocade was made of colorful jacquard satin on the outside and blue-gold silk on the inside. After pasting layer by layer, the rolled scroll was as thick as an ordinary person's calf.

The sleeves of the Confucian scholar's robe that Xing Tianli was wearing were wide, but not wide enough to accommodate such a thick scroll.

Where did he pull out such a thick scroll?
What's so mysterious about him?
A monster?

Ghosts and gods calling?
Many officials who usually believed in ghosts and gods took two steps back cautiously, fearing that they would be contaminated by the unexplainable evil spirit from Xing Tianli.

"What is this?" Jin Santan smiled brightly and intimately at Xing Tianli.

No matter that Xing Tianli sued Xing Tianqingshu and Zhang in the International Court of Justice, or that Fisherman issued a subpoena ordering Jin Santan to appear, it was ridiculous and absurd, and it made Jin Santan angry. Now Xing Tianli's identity was different.

The Marquis of Ingish!

Jin Santan now only wants to have a good relationship with Xing Tianli. If possible, Jin Santan can send his own battalion to capture Xing Tianqingshu, the traitorous bastard, and put Zhang, the vicious and vicious woman, directly into the pig cage.

"This is a letter of guilt from Emperor Ying Zhe of Dongyun, Prince Ying E of Dongyun, and the heads of the two ruling families, Beihe Cangming and Nanshan Hualuo. Please surrender." Xing Tianli gently stroked the surrender letter, which cost nearly ten thousand taels of silver, and said calmly: "They admit their guilt and surrender for starting a war without authorization, attacking our Black Borneo expeditionary force, and illegally occupying Black Borneo."

"I am a citizen of the Great Jade Dynasty." Xing Tianli said to Jin Santan very seriously, "Before, the Governor-General also heard that I conquered Black Borneo and the southern islands of Dongyun. Now these two territories are under my control."

"I am a legitimate citizen of the Dayu Dynasty, and I will soon legally inherit the title of Earl of Pingbo."

"So, I can be considered as the Earl of Pingbo, and I have made great contributions to the country by expanding its territory!"

"Is this merit enough to be awarded the title of Marquis?"

Xing Tianli smiled brilliantly: "Please ask the Governor-General to send this surrender letter to Fentian City at an express speed of 800 miles. Haha, by the way, tell the Queen Mother that the people of Dongyun have been defeated. They have admitted defeat and they have submitted. Their emperor and crown prince, their two great rulers, have all been captured alive."

"This contribution is beyond compare." Xing Tianli said unceremoniously, "Since ancient times, many emperors and generals have attacked Dongyun one after another, but in the end they failed to accomplish their mission. No matter how mysterious it is, in short, the first person to bite off a piece of meat from Dongyun is me, Xing Tianli."

"This achievement is unprecedented in ancient and modern times." Xing Tianli looked at Jin Santan seriously.

Peter Joe and Greenman on the side said in unison: "Such merits should be rewarded accordingly. A mere marquisate is not enough to reward them. They should be rewarded as dukes. We will also write a letter to the old queen mother of your country, explaining in detail the causes and consequences of this matter."

Jin Santan's face trembled violently.

Okay, you have made contributions, you have made contributions...but from ancient times to the present, has there ever been a minister who has done this?
'Hey, old lady Queen, I have made great contributions, you should make me a marquis, or even better, a duke. If you don't meet my conditions, do you see those red-haired, green-eyed foreigners around me? I will close the door and let the dogs out... No, I will take them to beat you up!'

domineering!

Extremely domineering!

Such domineering people have been rare throughout history; among the few such people, which one of them has a good death?

"Well, take it?" Xing Tianli used the beautiful jade cloud head of the scroll to hit Jin Santan's belly hard. Jin Santan felt pain and suddenly hugged the heavy surrender certificate with both hands.

Xing Tianli frowned and looked at Jin Santan, who had a dark face, and asked curiously: "Governor, you don't seem very happy? Hmm? Could it be that there is a hero in the country who washes away the national humiliation of ten years, strikes hard at the national enemy, and captures the enemy chief alive? Such a great event, you feel unhappy?"

"You, are you colluding with the Dongyun people?"

"No, no, no, it's impossible. I am dedicated to the public and loyal to my country. How could I possibly get involved with the people of Dongyun!" Jin Santan held the heavy surrender letter tightly in his arms. He felt that the whole body of the surrender letter was burning hot, just like the legendary torture of burning people with red-hot irons. He was sweating all over and wished he could throw himself into the river.

Xing Tianli's actions were really just "blackmailing" the old empress dowager. The old empress dowager who had been ruling the country from behind the scenes for decades was really narrow-minded... Even if Xing Tianli was the culprit, as the culprit who sent this bad news, Jin Santan's future prospects were worrying.

He, he, he, why is he so unlucky?

Before Jin Santan could recover from the heavy blow brought by Xing Tianli, a group of bailiffs from the International Court of Justice came back one after another, followed by groups of patriarchs of wealthy merchants who were confused and had no idea what was going on.

Xing Tianli smiled.

"Well, Governor, here are some cases related to some stubborn people under your jurisdiction. I would like to ask you and the gentlemen behind you to be witnesses and do justice for me."

Xing Tianli sighed and said quietly, "I don't ask for much, just justice."

Jin Santan and a group of officials were all stunned.

They recognized the people summoned by the bailiffs and officers of the International Court. They were all the leading figures in Jiangdong Province, the top figures in the business community and the gentry and wealthy families.

To be precise, most of the people here are prominent figures in Nanxun Town.

Big landowners, big mine owners, big tea owners, big silk owners...they are all such people.

There are also some wealthy merchants whose shops are spread all over the south of the Yangtze River, and whose caravans travel all over the world. Their financial resources have reached an incredible level. All the officials present are their guests of honor, and some even have hidden shares in their industries.

"Your Excellency the Marquis, what are you doing?" Jin Santan felt a little scalp-tingling.

Xing Tianli sighed, waved his sleeves, and a heavy three-foot square box made of fine sandalwood fell to the ground with a thump.

Jin Santan and others widened their eyes at the same time - what the hell, how did you stuff such a big box into your sleeves?

Xing Tianli was too lazy to hide it.

His cultivation level has skyrocketed, his strength and power have increased by leaps and bounds, and he is surrounded by many halos layer by layer. Why does he still have to hide it?
With the waving of his sleeves, wooden boxes of this size kept falling down.

"Bang, bang, bang." Wooden boxes appeared out of nowhere, like muffled thunder, continuously hitting the hearts of Jin Santan, many officials, and the heads of many wealthy business families. Many of them had weaker spirits, and when they saw Xing Tianli's methods, their bodies shook and they couldn't help but sit down on the ground.

"Here are some mortgage deeds."

Xing Tianli sighed, "Inside these are contracts where some of the leading figures of the Great Jade Dynasty used their own real estate as collateral to purchase a large amount of rare goods from Princess Maso of the Dark Whisper Forest."

"Afterwards, Princess Maso was in urgent need of money, so she transferred these contracts to me and borrowed a large sum of silver from me." Xing Tianli sighed, "It was an astronomical amount of silver. The coalition forces of the southern islands under my command, together with the indigenous army of nearly 10 million, swept across the western islands of Dongyun. We almost squeezed the land by the skin of our teeth to get so much silver."

"Alas, for this silver, the western islands of Dongyun were almost destroyed. Haha, dukes, marquises, earls and other noble Dongyun nobles, how many of them also had their heads chopped off?"

With a sneer, Xing Tianli looked at the heads of the wealthy merchants whose faces suddenly turned pale: "That silver, tsk, it's not easy to come by. Millions, tens of millions of brave and skilled warriors fought for months to accumulate this little silver."

"Princess Maso has robbed the money. Now my subordinates are living on bread and butter, so I need money."

"So, I'm here to collect my debt." Xing Tianli kicked open the lid of a box, revealing the neatly arranged mortgage contract inside. He said in a deep voice, "Everyone, you were the one who signed the contract with His Highness Maso in person at Feiyun Port a few months ago. Now, time has passed. Where is your money?"

"If you don't have the money, then I will have to take over your mortgaged properties."

"Here, we have the fair and just judges of the International Court of Justice, the fair and just Governor-General of the Governor's Office, and the fair and just consuls-general of the International Concessions. We cannot deny our debts." Xing Tianli smiled brilliantly: "My men are waiting on the ocean at the mouth of the Yangtze River."

"One million fully armed soldiers and two hundred thousand accountants recruited from the Dongyun Islands." Xing Tianli's eyes flashed fiercely as he stared at these pale-faced guys without any mercy in his heart.

These guys, perhaps their ancestors, worked hard to accumulate their huge fortune bit by bit.

But when these guys joined the Xing Tian Qing Shu organization's Ji Le Xiang business in pursuit of huge profits, Xing Tian Li felt justified in doing anything to them.

"The contracts are all here. Pay the money back, or I will take away the pledged assets." Xing Tianli said calmly, "It's a very fair thing. What I want today is just justice."

Jin Santan handed the scroll of surrender in his hand to the official behind him. He walked up to Xing Tianli and opened a contract. He quickly flipped through two pages and took a deep breath.

He looked at the crowd in horror, and saw a fat man who was already lying on the ground, unable to move. He had a fat belly and weighed at least 300 kilograms. "Old Qian, how could you, how could you, mortgage the property of your Qian clan's ancestral temple and the 100,000 acres of irrigated farmland inherited from your ancestors?"

Jin Santan stared with his eyes wide open, staring at the mortgage amount above. His pupils dilated slightly, he felt dizzy and almost fell to the ground.

The 100,000 acres of temple sacrificial fields of the Qian Clan Ancestral Temple are the top-quality fertile fields in Jieshi County. There are three springs underground. The 100,000 acres of fertile fields are nourished by underground mineral water. The same grain seeds have a different flavor. The grain from the 3,000 acres of land closest to the springs is especially fragrant and sticky. For hundreds of years, it has been a tribute sent directly to the Forbidden Palace!

As for the 100,000 mu of fertile land, the outside world estimates that it would be difficult to ask for the price without 10 million taels of silver.

But in fact, as the population of Jiangnan grows day by day, the total number of fertile fields remains unchanged, and the market price of first-class irrigated fields has reached thirty taels of silver per mu. This is just an "ordinary" irrigated field, which is nourished by natural springs and can be included in the category of tribute. It is also connected, flat and wide, without any divisions in the middle. Ten million taels? Do you dare to ask?
But what did Jin Santan see in this contract?
Old Qian, the old patriarch who had given Jin Santan top-quality "skinny horses" time and again, was possessed by evil spirits? He mortgaged such 100,000 acres of fertile land at a discount of 300,000 taels?

Jin Santan seemed to realize something, and he opened the next contract tremblingly.

Okay, okay.

The Qian family, as the name suggests, has a core business related to "money". They have several large copper mines in the western part of Jiangdong Province. The ore from the mines is of excellent quality and extremely high purity. 70% of the copper ingots mined are directly supplied to the Baoquan Bureau, which is the top material for the official minting of copper coins in the Dayu Dynasty.

Of the remaining 30% of copper ingots, 20% were directly supplied to the Ministry of War, which was used as materials for casting various weapons and armor.

There are also 10% copper ingots. Because of the accompanying precious metals such as gold and silver, they naturally have strange patterns. The copper wares cast from them are gorgeous and dazzling, like giant clams and gems. They are also high-quality utensils that go directly to the Imperial Household Department for the enjoyment of royal relatives and nobles.

These copper mountains have been excavated for hundreds of years, but only the shallow surface layer has been mined. Even the most skilled craftsmen and geomancers cannot figure out how huge the reserves of these copper mountains are.

But according to estimates, there will be no problem in excavating for hundreds of years.

And these copper mountains bring the Qian family more than 10 million taels of direct income every year? Of course, there are many dignitaries who have taken up too many shares. The Qian family has to take out more than half to honor the monsters and demons from all sides, which is also an incredible wealth.

Several copper mountains like this, haha, the crazy Lao Qian actually mortgaged them at an estimated value of one million taels?

One million taels!

Jin Santan's heart was pounding. He even wanted to pay some small change himself and directly take down these copper mountains.

This is an inheritance worthy of being passed down from generation to generation and becoming a clan’s sacred treasure!
Xing Tianli noticed the change in Jin Santan's expression, and he sighed quietly, "Time has passed, my lords. The deadline for them to redeem these properties has passed."

"According to the law, these properties are already my private property." Xing Tianli said calmly, "I only ask for justice. I don't want money. I just want these properties."

Dozens of family heads jumped out of the crowd, screaming at the top of their lungs.

"We have something to say, something to say."

"Sir, we have raised funds. We have raised enough money. We want to redeem these deeds. However, due to the war in Dongyun, we were unable to find His Highness Maso!"

(End of this chapter)