The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

Everyone in the gray and white-collar class knows that the governor doesn't like to hold any aristocratic gatherings.

At least ever since those nobles were concentrated in the gray and white collars, the governor has never held any large gatherings or balls.

The dances I attended were mostly social events in other cities.

Although the governor did not restrict the nobles below from paying for their own balls, this has led to fewer and fewer balls among the gray and white-collar nobles. The inability to exploit the people on their land as before has resulted in insufficient financial resources, and the governor's dislike is also an important reason.

The only interaction these nobles had with Linde was probably through official documents. In other words, to get in touch with Linde, you needed to have a government job. So those who wanted to connect with the nobles and officials above them through social connections, just like before, had to work themselves to the bone.

But Linde recently hosted a ball for the gray and white-collar workers, which made many nobles uneasy again.

Although these nobles didn't know what a "Feast at Hongmen" was, they knew the principle that something unusual must be amiss.

Some well-informed nobles, through their wives' intelligence networks, learned some inside information. It was nothing more than rumors circulating in the North about a rift between the governor and his wife, as well as some slander against the governor's wife. Therefore, the governor wanted to personally host a ball to dispel these rumors.

Meanwhile, the battle report from Tongshan Territory also reached the Gray and White Territories. The general public no longer cared about the battle reports. At most, the nobles would be concerned about where the army had advanced to, whether it was about to attack one of their relatives, and would quickly write letters urging them to surrender.

However, this battle report from Copper Mountain Territory was discovered by some observant nobles. This was the first time that the army of Gray and White Territory had crossed enemy-occupied territory to attack a territory.

Based on recent rumors, these nobles realized that the rumors originated from Tongshan Territory. It was said that Tongshan Territory fabricated these rumors in order to marry a noble's daughter to them.

The nobles in the gray-white collar shook their heads and sighed. How could there be such a bold noble? The nobles outside might not understand how good the relationship between the governor and his wife was now, but these surrendered nobles in the gray-white collar knew how mushy the two of them were every day.

Those nobles who knew a little more would know that, regardless of whether the governor was now the patriarch of the Lars family, the capital the governor had used to start his business was all provided by the governor's wife. Although they didn't know what an angel investor was, these nobles still understood what this meant to the governor.

Among the surrendered nobles, there were quite a few with beautiful daughters, but absolutely none of them would have such thoughts. Even if they did mention it, they would only be politely rejected by the governor and ridiculed by their noble colleagues for overestimating their abilities.

As for the governor's wife's status, just look at those noblewomen who are cramming on mechanical principles; they're too busy currying favor to even think about slandering her.

It has even evolved to the point that every time the results of the major exams for the gray-collar and white-collar compulsory education schools are released, many nobles will rush to the list of successful candidates to find wives. No matter how poor or lowly a woman is, as long as she does well in physics, she can marry into a wealthy family overnight.

Of course, whether most noble families can be considered "powerful families" today is still debatable.

But this is enough to show how crazy these nobles are. Anyone with eyes can see how secure Lena's position is. They have even started to make long-term investment plans, to the point that they don't even spare men who are good at physics. After graduation, they directly bring them back to tutor them and cultivate their daughter from a young age.

This is Lena's status among the gray and white-collar workers. Even disregarding her identity as Miss Lars, Lena is still the only channel these nobles can communicate with Lind through, besides official documents.

All these nobles did was to have a few more words to say to Lena. In the gray-collar world, the real socialites don't compete on aristocratic etiquette, but on their physics scores, because that directly determines whether they can have a conversation with Lena.

At the first ball hosted by Linde, all the nobles and officials of the gray and white collars were present. These nobles were very low-key, and everyone knew who the protagonist of the night was.

Soon Linde brought Lena out. This ball was no different from the balls held by nobles on ordinary days. It was basically a place for nobles to communicate and exchange information.

The nobles, having a rare opportunity to communicate directly with Linde, were at a loss for words. After all, their usual official correspondence with Linde consisted of phrases like, "How are you, Governor?" or "The weather is nice today."

That's fine, but these nobles always liked to tell Lind some Martian news. After all, no matter how well-informed these nobles were, they were definitely not as well-informed as Lind. However, considering that they meant well, Lind didn't hold it against these nobles and his daily replies were still quite polite.

In the end, it was Linde who took the initiative to ask the surrendered old nobles if they had encountered any problems and how they were doing. The nobles all said that they were doing very well and that there was no need for the governor to worry.

That's for sure. As long as a family isn't completely useless, there will always be one or two descendants who can pass the civil service exam. At least the educational benefits for these nobles are still there, so they won't starve, but their status is definitely not what it used to be.

At first, these nobles were very dissatisfied with Linde only giving them a house and some other compensation, after all, it was the land where their ancestors had lived for generations. But as the housing prices in the gray and white-collar areas became more and more expensive, the nobles' complaints became less and less, and some were even glad that they had surrendered first and received a house.

Why do the nobles of the capital always look down on the nobles of the local border regions? Isn't it because the fiefdoms of the nobles of the capital are closer to the king? Especially when the royal power is strong, these nobles are the king's best supporters.

Although the nobles of the gray and white collars do not have fiefdoms, everyone has seen the changes in the gray and white collars. Now, the closer they are to the governor, the more they are equivalent to the former nobles of the capital.

Most of the white-collar elites have realized that they have seized an opportunity and caught the fast train of the times. Everyone will work at full speed, and unless there is a fool, no one will jump off the train.

Who wouldn't want to be among the first heroes of the New North?

Linde glanced at Lena on the wives' side. Because they had been notified in advance, almost the entire group of wives from the gray and white-collar workers came out to comfort Lena.

This was a rare opportunity, and some of the noblewomen even thanked those fools in Copper Mountain Territory. Opportunities to befriend Lena were few and far between, so these noblewomen used almost every trick in the book, and some even started to test a physics problem on the spot.

What was supposed to be a high-society gathering turned into an academic conference, but this atmosphere actually helped Lena relax. Seeing Lena smile like a crescent moon again, Linde finally felt relieved.

He turned to the nobles around him and asked, "Have you seen the battle report from Copper Mountain Territory?"

These noble officials nodded like chickens pecking at rice.

“Besides Tongshan Territory, there are some nobles who have just occupied some areas and are not very obedient. I don’t want you to have any connection with those nobles, lest you be implicated and purged later. Do you understand?”

The noble officials all promised that their relatives were absolutely not involved in these matters, and some had even cut off contact with them, leaving everything to Linde's discretion.

Linde had never carried out such a large-scale purge before, so you can imagine how angry he was this time. Moreover, these nobles now realized that they might become the founding fathers of the New North. They would not hesitate to sever ties or report the matter, let alone Linde order them to do it themselves.

Only a fool would jump out of the car at this time.