The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

Just as Jim was pondering the deeper meaning behind Lind's modifications, he heard Lucanus finally call out his name.

Surprisingly, the stories Lucanos reported about Jim were mostly about his kindness and good deeds. After all, Jim didn't have much influence in the Evans family, and he spent his days working alongside the lower-level merchants. He was also quite charitable, which made Jim stand out from the rest of the abstract figures.

Lind recognized the name and, after searching through the crowd, said to Jim, "Raise your head."

Jim looked up and met Lind's gaze.

Do you still think I'm the true embodiment of aristocratic style?

Perhaps because he had just decided the life and death of too many people, Lin De's voice now carried a faint hint of murderous intent.

Jim was not intimidated and replied, "Of course. Acting according to the law is precisely why the Lars family was so powerful in the first place. I also believe that nobles should not have any so-called immunity."

Lind nodded: "I will send someone to manage the Evans family's territory later, and you will be his deputy."

Upon hearing this, Jim's mother was immediately overjoyed, but Jim simply bowed proudly, indicating that he understood.

The other nobles breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this. As expected, the Grey-White Collar had annexed so much territory in one fell swoop, and even with the help of Lars's people, they still desperately needed talented people to manage it.

Furthermore, Jim was the youngest son of Wesker, the mastermind behind the war, yet Lind was prepared to use him without any hesitation, without fabricating any more charges to take Jim down to meet his father and brothers. This shows that Lind was truly acting in accordance with the law and only punishing the nobles personally, without harming their families.

Thinking of this, many nobles secretly glanced at the most honest or least favored juniors in their families.

But after bowing, Jim continued, "My lord, do you mean that I will inherit my father's title in the future?"

Linde shook his head: "No, your titles will remain unchanged for the time being, but from now on, nobles will not have the power to manage their fiefs. All fiefs will be governed by officials I appoint."

Fearing that the nobles might not understand, Linde continued, "As long as you behave, I will not, and am too lazy to, strip you of your so-called glory. But from now on, all titles will only be honorary titles and will no longer have any power. If you want power, you must pass the exam to become one of my officials."

Upon hearing this, a nobleman immediately stood up to object: "My lord, without us, who will help you manage those fiefdoms? Forgive my bluntness, but the officials you dispatched through examinations are far less knowledgeable about the territories than we noble families. Therefore, I suggest that you allow us nobles to continue managing our respective territories, or continue to grant fiefdoms. We nobles will become your strongest support."

Linde did not answer directly, but asked, "What is your title?"

The nobleman proudly replied, "I am a viscount, just like you."

"Then you're not anymore."

Most of the nobles in the North were theoretically vassals of Lars, and Lind, as the patriarch, did theoretically have that power, but no one expected that Lind would so ruthlessly strip them of their titles.

Ignoring the nobleman's subsequent wailing, Linde continued, "Don't think I don't know what you're thinking, but I regret to inform you that even if some of you pass the exam, you will have to start from the bottom and will not be assigned to your original territories."

“Jim is only considering the special nature of the Evans family. He needs someone who understands this huge family to assist my officials. Once Jim becomes a full-fledged official, he will also leave the Evans family's territory. Do you understand?”

All the nobles remained silent, some even planning to flee to the other side to seek refuge with Doug Lars. Although Linde said he would give these nobles face, in their eyes, Linde's decision to give up his fiefdom was like rubbing their past glory into the ground and kneading it to try and shape it into his own.

However, many nobles were excited, especially those who were frustrated in their own families.

Many intelligent people, upon closer examination, would understand that although Linde had given up on further granting fiefdoms, in today's educational environment, the nobility who had received education from a young age would still have a greater advantage in the so-called examinations.

In other words, although Linde has now provided ordinary people with a path to advancement, the local area can still only be governed by these nobles. Moreover, nobles who originally had no chance of rising to power can now pass exams, effectively eliminating their predecessors in line for the throne.

Separating noble titles from power means that no matter how high your status was before, it was just an empty shell. Only through constant competition can you gain power. In fact, if you are ambitious enough, you can gain power that exceeds your family's title. At that point, will the title still matter?

Jim, in particular, was not only not opposed to being transferred away from the Evans family's territory, but was even very excited.

By the time all the nobles had been accounted for, it was nearly dusk. Stepping out of the reception hall, Jim felt an instant sense of boundless freedom, as if the time had finally come to realize his ambitions.

Just as Jim was pondering his future plans, he saw that the most sinful nobles were still being tried on the important high platform in the territory.

Jim, somewhat curious, approached. After all, although there were many nobles, they should have been killed long ago.

As Jim got closer, he discovered that these nobles were being led to the guillotine, where the executioner would read aloud the nobles' crimes committed during their lifetimes and explain the relevant regulations.

This reminded Jim of when he went to Gray Collar to talk to Lind about reviving the potion business; back then, the bandits in Gray Collar were executed in the same way.

Because the crimes of these nobles were so numerous that the execution was delayed for a very long time.

At this moment, a civilian saw Jim watching and immediately went up to greet him.

"Young Master Jim, I knew you were alright. When those officials came, we all tried our best to speak well of you, telling you all the ways you've helped us. Did the new lord give you a hard time?"

Seeing how enthusiastic the people around him were, Jim was a little overwhelmed and could only nod repeatedly.

“Young Master Jim, I saw that those noble lords were all killed, and the people around them kept saying why they were killed. If we encounter similar situations again, can we ask those people to kill the noble lords who bullied us?”

Upon hearing this, Jim finally understood why Linde did this. Even if ordinary people didn't know the specifics of the laws, they should at least have a basic understanding so that if they encountered similar situations in the future, they would at least dare to file a complaint with the authorities.

At this moment, Linde slumped wearily in his chair. The nobles below had basically finished their trials and returned home. The purge of the largest territory under their control was complete, and other regions could simply follow the same procedure.

The most important thing now is to restore production. There are countless examples in history of winning battles but losing them because they could not restore production, which led to a lack of follow-up and inability to defend their territory.

Therefore, for the next period of time, Linde plans to first adopt a planned production approach to control the situation, and must restore productivity as quickly as possible.

The matter of the Lantern Dream hadn't been dealt with yet. Most of the relevant information came from Lucanus, but Linde didn't fully trust Lucanus yet, and he had to have other people investigate the information he provided.

Looking out the window at the blood-red sunset, Lin De, who had been a judge for a day, clearly felt the alienation that power had on people. Just like when he saw Lena's two younger brothers, his first thought was to kill them in order to consolidate his own power.

Although it was just a tiny thought, it still made Linde feel a little scared. When he first came to this world, Linde felt a little out of place, but now he was becoming more and more like a local. Linde was afraid that he would become cold and arrogant because of power, and become a willful and inhuman tyrant.

At that moment, Lena, carrying a roasted duck, stepped through the somewhat messy hall and came to Lind.

"You've worked hard, brother. I went out of my way to scour Evans's inventory and had the chef add plenty of spices for you."

Linde subconsciously got up and took it, and squatted on the high platform with Lena. The two people with the highest status in the Lars family enjoyed their dinner without any manners. If there was any progress, it was that there were more servants silently handing over sauces around them.

Seeing that Lena was wolfing down her food, Lind, as usual, began to talk about the situations that had occurred that day, how they were handled, and his plans for the future.

Lena kept agreeing, occasionally mentioning to Lind the weapons and equipment she had recently designed.

As they were chatting, Lind suddenly laughed.

Lena quickly wiped the grease from her mouth and asked in confusion, "Brother, what are you laughing at?"

Linde waved his hand: "It's nothing."

Seeing the relieved look on Lena's face, Lind suddenly understood the meaning of "home is where the heart is."

As long as Lena is still around, I doubt I'll become that kind of tyrant.