The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

Although there were quite a few nobles like Dian who thought the gray-collar workers were there to fetch a bride, most nobles quickly realized something was amiss, since the gray-collar workers' army looked like they were there to fight.

White not only prepared for battle, but also used artillery to clear the way with great caution, treating Copper Mountain Territory almost as a formidable enemy.

Many of the Third Army soldiers were former knights of the Lars family, who had fought alongside White against Doug's army at Winterhold. This was one of the reasons why Dian believed Lena could rebel.

After hearing Colin recount how Copper Mountain Territory had slandered Lena, the knights leading the group were furious. Even the soldiers who had no connection with the Lars family were enraged to hear their mistress being insulted. Lena was not just a mistress; she also held a military rank.

The gray-collar workers didn't care about the principle of "a subject dies for his sovereign," but these soldiers knew who treated them well and who didn't. Driven by a simple desire for revenge, they were determined to raze Copper Mountain Territory to the ground.

There are quite a few soldiers and officers in the army who have been awarded medals by Lena.

After one or two towns were captured, Tongshan Territory immediately realized that the attackers were hostile. While organizing resistance, they shouted that they had already surrendered.

"Surrender? What surrender?"

White looked at the envoy sent from Copper Mountain Territory with suspicion.

"Didn't we send people to your governor to surrender? We even planned to marry a woman from the Ambrose family to your governor, didn't you know that?"

Tongshan Territory must have been driven to desperation, as the envoy they sent was a nobleman of considerable standing.

White didn't answer; instead, Colin, who was standing nearby, replied:

Are you sure that wasn't a provocation?

Colin picked at his earwax and put his feet up on the negotiating table.

"How could this be? It must be you, you members of the Lars family, who deceived your superiors and caused the Governor to misunderstand."

"Misunderstand?"

Colin pulled a few thin books out of his pocket.

"You wrote these, didn't you?"

The nobleman who came to negotiate immediately broke out in a cold sweat, because Colin had pulled out not only those thin books, but also the booksellers' testimonies.

"I didn't expect there to be so many people in the North who outwardly obey my brother-in-law but inwardly resent him. But now, thanks to you all, I've gained some unexpected benefits this time."

This incident not only affected Tongshan Territory, but also many other territories that had been conquered but not yet governed. Those nobles and wealthy merchants were secretly planning to conserve their strength and launch a major offensive at the crucial moment to reshuffle the situation and return it to its former state.

However, the decision made by Tongshan Territory this time was somewhat tempting. After all, the marriage of daughters was a path that these people had not considered before, so they chose to join. After all, it was just helping to print some things, which would be done secretly and no one could find out.

Moreover, these people had already printed the ballads that criticized the governor, and the magnanimous governor hadn't paid any attention to them, giving these nobles a false impression.

Like Lars before him, Linde was powerless to control the nobles under his command.

However, thanks to the powerful grassroots household registration and taxation system of the gray and white collars, Colin quickly identified these remnants through tax receipts. He then used this clue, along with Lucanus, to expose all these nobles.

The nobleman who came to negotiate tried to argue, but Colin kicked him out.

"roll!"

After the nobleman's envoy left, Colin summoned one of his attendants and asked, "Has the investigation been completed?"

"The investigation is complete, sir. This person's family genealogy has been fully recorded."

Colin nodded and said, "General White, let's continue fighting. Thank you for your help."

"Don't dare."

White bowed, flicked his cloak, and went to reorganize the army.

This negotiation almost extinguished all hope for the nobles of Copper Mountain Territory. These nobles still couldn't understand why Linde had been able to curse Linde himself for so long without any consequences, but became so enraged after just a few words directed at Lena.

Although the nobles were cursing that the Lars family was deceiving their superiors and covering up the news, any noble who knew a little about the gray and white collars knew that Lena was more of a figurehead in the army, and that Lind himself was the one who truly controlled the army.

This is why the nobles weren't initially worried that Lise would be no match for Lena, who had the backing of the army and the Lars family.

However, things didn't seem to go as the nobles expected. The nobles of Copper Mountain Territory unexpectedly found Lind's weakness, but this didn't seem to be a good thing.

Many weapons and equipment that the Gray and White Collar armies had never seen before when attacking other territories began to be used on Copper Mountain Territory. In just two days, the outer towns of Copper Mountain Territory were routed.

However, surrender was not the end, but the beginning of a nightmare. These nobles were dealt with not by the Gray Collar army, but by the men Colin brought.

Almost the entire family, except for the children who couldn't remember anything, was captured by Colin. Colin originally intended to kill them directly, but the bard presented Colin with the charges against these nobles before the execution.

Linde has always emphasized the importance of public execution, and even in the face of great anger, this procedure must be carried out.

Although Colin felt it was unnecessary, given his brother-in-law's current status, he could kill whomever he wanted.

Out of respect for his brother-in-law, Colin accepted the charges and proceeded with the trial of the nobles according to procedure.

In this era, it's impossible for any nobleman to have a clean past; the difference lies only in whether they are more human-like or completely perverted.

To avoid any mishaps, Colin personally read out the charges against these nobles on stage. The main charges were, of course, defaming and slandering his sister, but there were also many other despicable things these nobles had done.

Although the crowd below the stage could not understand what was being said about which nobleman had been slandered, they applauded and cheered when they heard about the other crimes committed by these noblemen. Especially when these noblemen were killed, it was as if their long-suppressed emotions erupted, and some even began to kneel down and worship Colin.

To be honest, when Colin received the charges against these nobles, he thought they were nothing special. Although these nobles were not very human, the biggest charge was that they had slandered his sister.

But when he saw the crowd kneeling before him, the usually spoiled Colin suddenly felt a chill and shame.

I haven't done much more than these anthropomorphized nobles in the past.

It was only then that Colin realized that the reason he was able to stand in this position and judge these nobles was probably because his brother-in-law didn't want to upset his sister.

Colin finally began to understand what Lind meant when he said he was an inspector of gray and white-collar workers, not someone's lackey.

My brother-in-law is trying to get me to change my old ideas and bad habits.

Because it involved so many people, the trial lasted a long time, to the point that Colin was somewhat numb to it all. The next step was to deal with the assets and lands of these nobles.

Since White had already taken over a town, these tasks had to be completed by Colin. Fortunately, Lind had already realized this situation and arranged some officials to assist Colin among his entourage.

Although Colin did not personally distribute the land, he quickly ascertained the assets of all the local serf tenants through his own frivolous methods.

But the ordinary people didn't know that Colin had not only killed those noble lords, but also allocated land to them, so they were all very respectful to Colin. Some of the freed serfs even knelt down and tried to kiss Colin's boots.

"No kneeling!"

Seeing these people kneeling before him, Colin felt both ashamed and angry, and he felt that he couldn't bear it. Colin was no longer the playboy he used to be, and he could no longer accept these people's worship with a clear conscience.

Upon hearing this, the serfs looked at Colin with some fear, unsure whether to stand up or continue kneeling.

The serfs and commoners took it as some new ceremony, and their eyes began to look at Colin with a hint of fear again.

After the land was divided among another family, the little girl in the woman's arms suddenly took out a beet leaf and said, "Brother, here you go."

The woman hurriedly grabbed the girl's hand, and was about to kneel down, but then seemed to remember Colin's earlier words not to kneel, and awkwardly bowed in place.

Colin took the leafy greens the little girl offered and began to chew them.

"Thank you."

This was the first time Colin had ever known that roadside vegetable leaves could be sweet.