The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

In Black Iron City, Keith had just finished a day of performances and was preparing to leave backstage.

However, before going backstage, Keith glanced at the governor and his wife sitting at the front, and only after recalling that he had not made a single mistake that day did he feel at ease and go backstage.

When they first arrived in Black Iron City, some nobles thought that Keith had received their letter and had come to plot something big. However, these nobles later discovered that Keith had completely defected to the enemy, especially after the operas he performed with Greya, which infuriated them.

After those free opera performances, these nobles basically didn't dare to leave their doors. Although there were guards at the gates to prevent them from being vandalized, they were always pelted with trash.

Sean didn't care about this at all until the nobles obediently attended the ball hosted by Sean, at which point the situation eased slightly.

Finally, under Sean's coercion and enticement, the nobles of Black Iron City all agreed to the "Noble Reform Ordinance" and the "Land Distribution Act," and began to implement them.

These nobles originally thought they could take advantage of the chaos, since there are always ways to circumvent policies. But no one expected the reform efforts of the gray-collar workers to be so strong and their implementation so resolute. The old method of bribing officials even became completely ineffective.

Most importantly, many of the people who came to claim the land were once nobles, but now they had become gray-collar officials. These officials were extremely familiar with the methods of the nobles, and they were themselves corrupt officials. The nobles of Black Iron City were no match for these shrewd people. After a brief attempt to struggle, the nobles in the city quickly gave up.

However, the nobles of Black Iron City were primarily engaged in commerce. Even after their land was taken away, most of them could still maintain a semblance of dignity through their businesses. Compared to those nobles who truly relied on their territories for their livelihood, they were doing quite well.

Many intelligent nobles have begun to learn about the relevant knowledge of gray and white-collar workers, preparing to take the exams to enter the official system. These nobles have keenly realized that there is no place for the old nobles to survive in the gray and white-collar world; they must either adapt to the environment or die.

The current aristocracy still has an educational advantage, but this advantage will gradually diminish once basic education for white-collar workers becomes more widespread. While the advantage won't be completely eliminated, the earlier one takes the exam, the greater the advantage will be.

Especially after hearing that Black Iron City would be used as a springboard for development, the nobles of Black Iron City changed their previous attitude of outwardly complying but inwardly resisting and began to inquire with Sean about information related to taking the civil service exam.

After enduring so much hardship, these nobles are finally able to enjoy a little something.

Therefore, these nobles attached great importance to Linde's visit, and those nobles with disloyal intentions were actively purged by their own people.

However, after arriving in Black Iron City, Linde first visited the army, then inspected the city's situation, watched an opera, and finally met with the city's nobles at the evening ball.

"Brother-in-law!"

Sean was very excited. Lindell's decision to make Iron City the bridgehead for the Gray and White Collars to retake the North was itself an affirmation of Sean's work.

"You did very well."

Lind simply patted Sean on the shoulder, and Sean was incredibly excited.

"However, there is more important work to be done for you later, so you need to quickly choose a successor for Black Iron City."

Sean is capable, and given his special status, he is not suited to stay in this important position for long.

"Yes, I'm ready. Jim Evans is my deputy, and he's ready to take over my position at any time."

"That kid from the Evans family?"

Linde nodded. Jim's work ability was indeed quite good, and he could be considered a valuable asset. The higher Jim's status, the more at ease the old nobles who had submitted to him would feel.

This means that the governor not only has no intention of settling scores, but also that as long as you are capable and loyal, the governor will treat everyone equally regardless of their background.

Afterwards, Lind and Sean discussed in detail the future development plan for Black Iron City. Black Iron City was already building roads, and after the fall of the Pétain Line, they could finally continue building roads to Gray Collar.

This road was built with donations from the city's nobles. It was truly a voluntary donation, because after their land was confiscated, commerce became the lifeblood of these nobles. Therefore, they wanted the northern border to be connected as soon as possible, especially to the Grey and White Collar.

Midway through the ball, Lin Decai reluctantly received these "great philanthropists" of the city, and these nobles were all extremely humble.

After their brief encounter with Linde, the city's nobles found that although he didn't seem to like them, he was relatively easy to talk to and very rational. He didn't eat children alive at every meal, nor was he as horrific as the rumors suggested.

Even if these nobles wanted Linde to reveal some business-related information and the future plans for Black Iron City, Linde would answer some questions. As long as it didn't involve the military, most of the relevant information could be disclosed in advance to attract investment.

When Linde mentioned the possibility of separating the commercial functions of Black Iron City and building a new town nearby, the nobles wholeheartedly supported it; no one wanted to do business under the noses of the army.

However, this matter requires careful consideration and should be addressed gradually.

Although Linde's conversations weren't as pleasant as Sean's, he was more decisive and definite in many matters, clarifying the bottom line and defining responsibilities in ambiguous situations.

This made the nobles in the city extremely comfortable. Although these rules and regulations were very troublesome, the nobles also knew that if problems arose in the future, they would be very easy to deal with. Having laws to follow was more reassuring than relying entirely on the mood of those above for decisions.

Although Linde had always looked down on these city nobles, the way they looked at Linde was even more intense than the way the noble girls looked at Sean. Especially when Linde looked displeased but still sat down to talk about rights and responsibilities and business, they knew that this man was not like the rumored man who liked to eat people alive, and that he could also reason with you.

He could have just stolen it.

Meanwhile, Lena, surrounded by a group of noble ladies, didn't have it as easy as Lind did.

Lena, who didn't particularly like these kinds of occasions, felt somewhat awkward among a group of noble ladies, especially as they chatted about perfumes and cosmetics that Lena couldn't understand, as well as gossip and scandals among the nobility.

However, some clever noble ladies soon noticed that Lena was not interested in these topics and quickly steered the conversation elsewhere. After a little probing, these noble ladies discovered that Lena was more interested in the military and mechanical systems.

The military was definitely out of the question, so they could only talk about machinery and mechanisms. Although it ended up being a one-sided, rambling lecture on science and engineering, with the noble ladies only able to offer a few words of response, it was still better than the governor's wife being completely out of place with them.

Seeing that Lena's expression finally showed some excitement and happiness, some noble ladies secretly made up their minds that they would have to study this subject intensively when they got back. Everyone knew the special status of the governor's wife, and even if Lena just remembered their names, it would be a success for these noble ladies.

When the ball ended, Lind looked at the somewhat tired Lena and said, "I can handle these kinds of occasions. You didn't have to come along."

"How about that?"

Lena quickly regained her composure.

“We are all one. If I don’t participate, the military will be worried.”

"Ok."

Linde stroked Lena's hair and said, "Then just stay by my side next time. I'll protect you if anything happens."

"I have to adapt eventually."

Lena lay down on the bed and continued, "There will probably be many more occasions like this in the future, and I can't let you down."

"And I had a pretty good time today. I talked about mechanical principles all night long, haha. I don't know if those ladies understood, but judging from their expressions, it was about the same as when I listened to them talk about perfumes and such. They probably didn't understand much, but I told them that I would come back to the next ball to continue discussing mechanical principles with them."

"I guess more people will be able to understand it next time."

Lena laughed happily.

Linde couldn't help but facepalm after hearing this. It seemed that mechanical principles would become a compulsory course for these noble ladies in the future, and that the bride's mechanical principles grades would likely be the first consideration in future aristocratic marriages.