Viscount Tie Le has been feeling a bit irritable lately.
The Tie Le family’s crest is the Ironthorn. With a history of merely several decades, it is considered a newcomer among the nobility.
However, thanks to the rewards for following the Conqueror on military campaigns for half a life and achieving numerous feats of merit, Tie Le Fort’s father, originally a groom, became a legendary general. He was generously enfeoffed by the Conqueror, who granted him Tie Le Fort and a coastal territory, along with the high rank of viscount.
The old groom was deeply moved to tears, swearing that the entire family and their descendants would forever remain loyal to the Conqueror, shedding their last drop of blood for him.
However, after the new Viscount Tie Le Fort inherited the title, he discovered a glaring weakness in his domain.
It was just too poor!
Although the fief was larger than those of ordinary viscounts because of its coastal location, most of the land was saline-alkali soil unsuitable for farming, making it difficult to reap any harvest.
What about the fishermen in several small fishing villages?
They were too mobile. Other than forcibly collecting taxes when they sold their fish, it was even hard to gather the regular head tax, because their possessions were all on their boats. If pushed too hard, they would simply sail away, leaving Viscount Tie Le with nothing but helpless stares.
Of course, even so, he had no intention of giving up this domain and its rights.
To fight for this inheritance, he had already come to blows with his two half-brothers, and now they were practically enemies who glared at each other whenever they met.
All he wanted to do was one thing: collect taxes! Collect more taxes, and then invest them into the capital’s booming commerce!
The entire continent of Seer had enjoyed fifty years of peace, producing a prosperity unimaginable to its previous inhabitants.
Anyway, after visiting the capital once, Viscount Tie Le Fort was completely stunned by its prosperity, as well as its exorbitant land prices.
Even though he looked like a wealthy lord in the countryside, in the capital, he was nothing but a destitute pauper!
This contrast only intensified his ambition.
When would he be able to buy a mansion on the Kingdom’s Conqueror Avenue, where he could open his door every day and see the Blue Castle—the palace where the Emperor resided? That would almost be enough to bring honor to his ancestors!
Unfortunately, Viscount Tie Le knew he was still very far from achieving this dream.
“My lord!”
At this moment, the elderly butler, dressed in a tailcoat with his silver-white hair meticulously combed and a bow tie at his collar, quickly approached and elegantly bowed: “Bishop Meierke requests an audience!”
“Bishop Meierke?”
Viscount Tie Le muttered, “These damned priests—are they here to ask for another donation? Goodness, I was already heavily taxed during the New Year celebration. Are they still not letting me off the hook…”
“From my observation, Bishop seems not to be here for that reason.”
The butler answered solemnly.
“Fine, then show him to the parlor!”
Upon hearing that it wouldn’t involve his wallet, the viscount immediately replied cheerfully.
“Understood!”
The butler silently sighed and turned to leave.
Soon after, in the parlor, Viscount Tie Le Fort met Bishop Meierke.
He was a middle-aged man with a stern and solemn expression, his meticulously tailored ecclesiastical robe perfectly in place, with golden embroidery faintly visible on his undergarments.
“Bishop Meierke! I wonder what brings you to me today?”
The butler brought in two cups of black tea and tactfully withdrew. After some brief small talk, the viscount finally got to the point.
“We have discovered heretics in your territory!”
Bishop Meierke said solemnly.
“Heretics? That’s impossible! There are no followers of false gods or devil worshippers among my people!”
Viscount Tie Le immediately replied firmly, his eyes showing a hint of resistance and hostility toward the bishop: “Does this old relic even know what era we’re in?”
Since the Conqueror revised the religious doctrines, separating divine matters from worldly affairs, the Church’s influence on secular matters had been steadily declining, almost in a state of continuous deterioration.
This naturally caused much heartache among many old-fashioned clergymen, and their so-called hunts for heretics were a form of passive resistance.
However, even if heresy was confirmed, the Church had no authority to enforce laws, so they still had to seek permission from Viscount Tie Le堡, the local lord.
And the viscount had already assumed Bishop Meierke had come to extort money.
After all, for a lord, this matter was also a scandal that could damage his reputation, especially at a time when he had just inherited the title and had two half-brothers watching his every move.
“My people?”
Bishop Meierke was momentarily taken aback, then smiled: “My lord, I think you misunderstood. These heretics are not your people, but a group of devil worshippers who arrived on a giant ship from hell!”
“Devil worshippers?”
The viscount suspected they were just ordinary sea merchants who had been falsely accused for not giving the bishop enough tribute.
“Yes, devil worshippers!”
This time, Bishop Meierke answered decisively: “Because the color of their hair and irises is pure darkness—the color of the devil!”
“Alright then!”
The viscount shrugged.
Even in this rural area, he had some knowledge and naturally knew that the people of the kingdom were not all the same, with subtle differences.
For example, eye colors could be wine red, sky blue, or even silver white. The Storm Warriors of Storm Cape were famous for their blood-red eyes, said to be the result of their berserker bloodline.
However, in the entire kingdom, there had indeed never been any reports of people with both black hair and black irises.
Just imagining such a sight made the viscount shudder involuntarily.
“And… they have illegally entered your territory without paying customs duties!”
Bishop Meierke naturally knew what kind of person the viscount was and immediately seized on the key point: “Without your permission, they have been luring your people with gold and silver, conducting transactions without paying a single copper coin in taxes!”
“That’s right!”
Upon hearing the words “gold and silver,” the viscount’s breathing immediately quickened: “These sea merchants… no, heretics! Are they rich?”
“That’s certain!”
Bishop Meierke answered without hesitation: “They are sailing a very large ship, probably about three stories high!”
“A three-story-high ship? That would almost be the standard of an imperial warship!”
Viscount Tie Le recalled the awe he felt when he saw the warships in Emerald Harbor, and a sense of greed began to grow in his heart, spreading endlessly.
…
Meanwhile, the treasure ship currently being discussed by the viscount and the bishop was anchored outside a small fishing village.
Captain Zhang Fan was curiously observing everything about this new continent:
The low, dilapidated little fishing village.
The fishermen in tattered clothes, their faces weathered by the elements, and the nearly naked children running around in the mud…
“Sigh… truly a hard life. Even the poorest fishing households along our coastal regions live much better than them.”
After a long while, Zhang Fan sighed.
“Sir, the intelligence has been mostly gathered.”
At this point, one of his subordinates happily threw a handful of candy, finally managing to escape the circle of naked children and report the situation.
“This place is called the continent of Seer, ruled by a mighty king, the Immortal, the Blue Dragon, William Wallace.”
“The country practices a feudal system with six ranks of nobility: dukes, marquises, counts, viscounts, barons, and knights—all of them real holders of land…”
…
“A feudal system with mutual checks and balances?”
After relaying some intelligence, the sorcerer beside him smiled: “So they’re not afraid of the disaster of regional warlords becoming too powerful? Our Empire abolished real land grants eight hundred years ago, only granting salaries based on the income from fiefs… thus consolidating local power and avoiding the problem of the tail being too big to wag.”
“Different lands, different people!”
Zhang Fan was unconcerned: “I’ve heard that the western nations also practice this method. It seems this continent might still be part of our world…”
He still clung to the hope of returning home, naturally reluctant to drift endlessly in a foreign world.
After all, aside from those powerful immortals and magicians, very few people could travel between worlds.
Once stranded in another world, the hope of returning would indeed be slim.
Speaking of which, the sorcerer’s expression also turned puzzled: “Sir, I have some other findings.”
“In these past nights, while observing the constellations, I noticed many strange star patterns, but also some familiar ones—the Twenty-Eight Mansions and the zodiac constellations… Moreover, several low-ranking priests on the ship, especially the priestess of the Mazu goddess, could still sense the goddess’s power. All of this suggests that we are still in our original world, though there seem to be some changes…”
He rubbed his forehead, clearly troubled.
After all, concepts like cosmic evolution and world expansion were far too advanced for him to grasp.
Wanting to understand all this? He’d better go back and study for a hundred years first, and then upgrade to a Golden Immortal!
“Although this place is poor, there might still be some business opportunities… Let’s rest here for a few days, replenish food and fresh water, and then follow the coastline…”
As Zhang Fan spoke, a sly glint appeared in his eyes: “Perhaps we can even pay a visit to the Windglow Plains and see the Conqueror’s might in person!”
“Hmm? Sir, you mean…”
The sorcerer rolled his eyes, seemingly guessing something.
“Exactly!”
Zhang Fan smiled proudly: “In the past, those foreign barbarians once impersonated envoys, claiming to pay tribute, and gained great advantages from our Empire. Some even did this repeatedly, insatiably greedy. Today, we shall use their own methods against them. What do you think?”
In this era, those who dared to venture out to sea were actually no saints.
In fact, back in Wu Ming’s previous life, during the Age of Exploration in the West, the ships were initially almost gathering places for the dregs of various countries. For profit, there was nothing they wouldn’t dare to do.
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