Chapter 322: Indemnity, land cessation and lifting of the ban
Archduke Vernon Baroka snorted, his dark brown eyes widening: "What do you mean by pleading guilty?"
"What else can it mean..."
It was Futaba who answered him. The girl leaned lazily on the back of the chair and said slowly: "What the Grand Duke of Marshall is willing to bear is naturally 'because of his carelessness. And being infiltrated into the territory by slave traders, 'neglecting to manage the territory', and 'foolishly being used as a knife by those despicable villains without knowing it' are serious crimes with extremely bad consequences. Am I right? ? "
Futaba deliberately added emphasis to the words 'extremely bad influence' and 'big sin', then looked at Buffy Marshall with an unusually gentle look, and said with a smile: "I'm right. What, Your Excellency?”
"I couldn't have said it better myself, madam."
The latter nodded with a wry smile and touched the tip of his nose awkwardly like a civilian: "Of course you understand my crime, just like What you just said is that it was my negligence that led to the infiltration of Mercury City by those who deserved death. It not only brought nightmares to my own people, but also caused unreasonable disasters to the Fire Claw Territory. , on behalf of the Marshall family, I would like to express my most sincere apology and gratitude to the Archduke of Fire Claw, whom you represent. If it weren’t for you, I really don’t know how long I would have been deceived like a fool.”
[Of course I understand your crime? Ha, I see...]
Futaba smiled calmly, knowing that the other party still had something to say.
"Of course, anyone can say such beautiful words, so I don't expect to be forgiven and understood so easily." As expected, the Grand Duke of Marshall had something to say. He first nodded to Emperor Clairvaux, Then he solemnly and solemnly said to Futaba: "The Marshall family will compensate the Fire Claw Territory 1.5 million gold coins within half a year. It is the Marshall Family, not the Marshall Territory. I use my surname to guarantee that these assets are all owned by the Marshall Family. The private wealth accumulated over the past hundred years does not involve any taxes or offerings to the people. At the same time, I am willing to cede Dieyan City and the surrounding twenty miles of territory to the Fire Claw Territory, and to express my gratitude to those who slaughtered innocent people. The escaped Beneclaw issued a reward of 100,000 gold coins. In addition, the Marshall Territory will support the Fire Claw Territory with a total of 1,500 craftsmen free of charge to help you carry out related construction in the territory. This is only the first batch. , if the Grand Duke of Fire Claw is willing, the Marshall Council will support the Fire Claw Territory in establishing a more efficient trade system in the next three years and exempt the Fire Claw Territory from all trade tariffs.”
Snap...
The black amber ball that Duke Scorpius Hussein had been playing with fell to the table. The notorious profiteer lord had a big mouth and looked stunned like a stranded saltwater. fish.
No one understands better than him what the promise just made by the Grand Duke of Marshall means. First of all, one and a half million gold coins is a huge sum of money even for the nine Violet families with a long history and strong family fortunes. Scorpius, who has frequent business dealings with the Marshall family, feels that this money is equivalent to at least one-third of the former's total wealth. If it were placed on the Archduke of Baroka, who looked like a silly bear, it would probably be the entire wealth!
Secondly, there is the decision to cede Dieyan City and a small area around it to the Fire Claw Territory. You must know that although it is a relatively desolate and barren land for the Marshall family, due to geographical reasons, it has The Fire Claw Territory, which has obtained the ownership of that piece of land, can at least open up three separate roads. The profits of the Violet Territory, Dantis Territory and Crystal Wolf Territory's trade routes are naturally self-evident, and as far as Scorpius knows, this land also contains a small half of the mined silver-rich veins, even if it only sends a few If hundreds of miners work there for a year and a half, they will still be able to produce tens of thousands of gold coins. The Fire Claw Territory, which lacks high-quality weapons, is of great benefit, but these are not the point...
The real point is the meaning of the words 'ceding land'. The ceding person is a lord rather than a landlord. , for all the princes present, it can be said to be a super sensitive topic that cannot even be discussed. After all, This is equivalent to directly using a knife to cut out the flesh from other people's bodies. Everyone knows the seriousness of the territorial issue, and these nine territories in the Violet Empire can basically be equated to the corresponding lord's territory, so no matter how remote the wilderness is The importance of the countryside at this level cannot be simply measured in terms of money.
But Buffy Marshall actually gave away a piece of territory belonging to the Marshall Territory directly, without even waiting for the matter to be completely settled. Is this person crazy! ?
Duke Hussein said he could not understand.
Compared with this, it is no longer important for those at the back to issue bounties on so and so and support the Fire Claw Territory, which is relatively backward in the trade field, to do economic construction. Of course, this unimportance is only relative. Others Not to mention, just the fact that Marshall exempted Fire Claw from tariffs for three years is enough for the latter to make a lot of money.
Not only Hussein, but also the other Grand Dukes present were in an uproar. Even Emperor Clerval could not hide the shock on his face and looked at the calm Buffy in surprise. Marshall.
Only one person can remain calm...
[Sure enough, it is a hush money, a hush money that the Fire Claw leader cannot refuse. If a guy like LeVine, who really cares about the interests of the Fire Claws, were sitting here, he would have been completely knocked unconscious by now. Ha, it’s really The beautiful gecko had its tail docked. She first admitted it to me, an absolute insider, with a pun. The crime, this is tantamount to telling me that there will never be a slave-catching group in the Fire Claw Territory in the future, and then they will bring in a lot of profits, and finally sell off the subordinate who knows whether he is dead or has escaped... that is In order to shut up the Fire Claw Leader, the biggest troublemaker, what a great move and courage. 】
Futaba smiled playfully, and then winked at the Grand Duke of Marshall: "Since your apology is so 'weighty', no matter how barbaric and closed our Fire Claw Territory is, we will still be embarrassed to refuse this gift." Ah."
Marshall looked happy: "Then..."
"Then let's talk about business."
Futaba interrupted him with a smile, and after looking around, he spread his hands and said: "Obviously, His Majesty just The report of the investigation team that was read out was somewhat inconsistent with the information I provided. Although the evidence left by Captain Ned Some of the contents in the evidence have indeed been confirmed, but they have not played any substantive role. Oh, Grand Duke Hussein, please don’t rush to speak. I know you want to say that most of the contents in this evidence have been criticized by us. Claw collar...or smart, beautiful, cute, kind, well-educated, gentle, and well-behaved, like your own mother who knows everything about astronomy and everything below. Ms. Futaba, who is geographically innocent and lively but has a slightly bad personality, has been tampered with for one reason or another, but even if this is indeed possible, there are indeed many things worth paying attention to in this report ~ I think you might as well start with Let’s discuss this. What do you think?”
"Miss Futaba, what do you mean..."
Marshall's face became a little gloomy, but this gloominess was understandable to everyone present. After all, he no longer had any 'conclusive' evidence. He made such a gesture while pointing it at himself, but Futaba still had no intention of stopping there.
"It's just the literal meaning. I don't mean to offend." The girl smiled sweetly and shrugged innocently: "We accept your kindness heartily and with both hands. Anyway, we are willing to accept it anywhere, but this does not mean that We in the Fire Claw Territory will become 'safe' after accepting your kindness, right? In any case, it is urgent to analyze the current situation and bring those villains to justice, otherwise it will not only be us, but also the Persecuted by slave-catching gangs... Well, I mean, if this matter has nothing to do with you, can the Marshallese citizens and the Grand Duke, who are also suffering from the slave-catching gangs, have a good sleep at home?"
Buffy Marshall was silent? for a moment, then slowly Slowly sitting back on the chair, he nodded and said: "You are right. If this matter is not handled properly, it will really make people sleepless at night. What do you think?"
"Ahem, that... …”
Archduke Fernand, who was squatting on the chair, coughed slightly, and then said in a high-pitched voice unique to a dwarf: "Hasn't the investigation team already reached a conclusion? Two slave-catching dens were found in Mercury City... But with Marshall It has nothing to do with the family, the trading partners of those despicable people are in the dark forest bordering the southern border of the empire." Futaba nodded: "That's really good, you should be applauded here~"
Of course no one applauded, because everyone knew that there was no difference between saying this and not saying it.
Archduke Fernando stood blankly on the chair for a while, and then sat back with a look of horror on his face. He didn’t know why he was so frightened...
"Mercury Core .”
Dark Elf Archduke Simon, who was meticulous in all aspects, glanced at the former indifferently, shook his head and said: "What the investigation team gave us back is only the results of the investigation, not the conclusion. We cannot make hasty decisions."
" That's right." Emmeline, the youngest crystal wolf lord, immediately nodded in agreement and knocked on the table with a frown: "One of the things that makes me feel violated the most is that Mercury City, as the trade and administrative center of the Marshall Territory, can actually It’s too strange no matter how you think about it, to have a slave-catching group hanging around there for several years.”
The seemingly rugged Grand Duke of Baroka cracked his knuckles. Added: "Not only that, but the two dens and three transfer stations found by the investigation team in Mercury City don't have any evidence of any connection with the Marshall family. Don't you think it's a little strange?"
The white-haired Grand Duke Dantès nodded thoughtfully: "You mean, it's too clean..."
"I think it's normal." Husse, who has a clearer position The Grand Duke curled his lips and shrugged: "Wouldn't it seem strange to leave a bunch of clues?"
Archduke Baroka held his chin and said in a deep voice: "Those dens were discovered in Mercury City. This in itself is a clue that no one can erase."
"Let me tell the truth, Buffy. Uncle. "
Emmeline leaned forward slightly and stared at the Archduke of Marshall without blinking: "Without the help of internal personnel, let alone Mercury City, which is the core of the Marshall territory, even It is impossible for a larger ordinary city in our Crystal Wolf County to have a slave-catching group spread out into two dens and three transfer stations!” They all have legitimate identities as cover, and those slaves cannot be sent in and out quietly under normal circumstances." Archduke Simon also frowned and glanced at Archduke Marshall who was sitting next to him and nodded: " I have been to your Mercury City before, and I am very aware of the intensity of interrogation there. Buffy, you know what I mean..."
"Of course I understand what you mean, old man, and I have never intended to ignore it. There’s something strange about this incident.”
The latter let out a long sigh, covered his forehead with some dejection and took a deep breath. After a while, he looked around at everyone and said slowly: "I understand what each of you means, whether it's Vernon, Emmeline, or Futaba." Miss, if something happens to me, Scorpius will break at least two high-quality business chains. I am very aware of your suspicions and concerns. I never intended to reveal this matter lightly, so, my dear Majesty..."
Emperor Clairvaux, who had been silent most of the time, turned to look at him: "Huh? "
"I want to write a handwritten letter to my internal affairs manager, using some of the names in Miss Futaba's evidence as a reference, and ask him to do so in a short time. We will conduct a thorough investigation of the entire Mercury City and temporarily deprive all the military and political personnel in the city who are closely related to Beneclaw and Bockberg, the former deputy leader of the Knights of Buffy's Sword, of all rights." Marshall tightened his grip. With both hands, he said loudly: "Until the truth comes out."
Clever nodded slightly: "Of course, you can The confinement order has ended, Buffy."
Futaba raised her eyebrows, but didn't say anything. After all, it is not possible to put an archduke and all his guards under house arrest for a long time. It makes so much sense, not to mention that the investigation team has not found any evidence to convict the Marshall family, so it is naturally impossible to continue to imprison him.
The Grand Duke of Marshall was not surprised at all by this result, and just continued: "In addition, I would like to ask all the lords here, including Miss Futaba, to send people or personally go to Mercury City to supervise the progress of the investigation. As long as the slightest clue is found, the Marshall family We will fully cooperate with the slave-catching group In order to express my sincerity, I am willing to hand over the command of the Buffy Sword Knights and the Ice Curtain Mage Group and let them be driven by you."
As soon as these words came out, even the one who had been aggressive before. The two Grand Dukes, Emmeline Crystal Wolf and Vernon Baroka, nodded subconsciously.
This handling can indeed be said to be impeccable under the current circumstances, and there is no room left to continue to make things difficult. After all, no matter what, the Marshall family was not directly judged in the previous investigation. For being guilty, as for Futaba, no matter how much she wanted to beat the Marshall family to death with a stick, it would be impossible.
So the girl just smiled faintly...
"A very beautiful decision, I have no objection at all, but...should we focus our energy first on the possibility now? What about the dark forest where a large number of criminals gather? ”
Chapter 319: The End
(End of this chapter)