Beifa thought for a moment and felt that once this news was made public, those who wanted to cause trouble would most likely give up. Because once Dick became the Lord of Laguge, he would be the real owner of this land, and being against the Governor and being against the Lord were not the same thing.
The former can disguise their actions as "clearing the court" in the name of defending their lord.
The latter is a complete "rebellion" and should be beheaded without mercy!
So Befa asked Tia to do some research and thought that they could use this information gap to set a trap to lure out the evil, so as to "cleanse" these evildoers with justification.
109. Good news, Dick is no longer the governor
Outside the town wall of Lagoge, there is a riverside settlement that is similar to a slum. It is called the "River Basin" by the locals. There are usually some cheap taverns, gambling houses hidden in dilapidated wooden houses, and prostitutes soliciting customers in the shadows of the alleys. It is a gathering place for all kinds of local people.
Over the past year, Dick has been cracking down on all kinds of evil forces, clearing out bandits and bullies who are wreaking havoc in the village, but he has left this place alone because he deliberately kept it as a "trash can".
The continuous attacks caused the snakes, rats, insects and ants to flee in all directions to avoid capture. Some of them left Laguge and went to other territories, and the rest basically hid here.
After nightfall, the river valley became lively and the Goudan Tavern was soon filled with people. Scantily clad, busty waitresses shuttled through the narrow aisles and frequently had physical contact with the rude patrons around them. This was the secret to the Goudan Tavern's good business.
At this time, in a corner of the tavern hall, several guests who were obviously dressed slightly better than the other drinkers sat together, guzzling low-quality beer diluted with water while complaining as usual.
These people were all low-level clerks working for the Governor's Office, and they were all veterans from the time of the former Governor David. In the early days of Dick's tenure, due to a shortage of available staff, he selectively retained a group of old clerks with less serious problems.
At first, these retained employees were indeed grateful to Dick, and they were honest and hardworking for a while. But after a while, some people saw that the iron fist from above had not hit their heads, and they could not help but become stubborn again.
During David's time, the Governor's Office was in a state of chaos from top to bottom, with the monthly salary of the lower-level clerks being so low that it was not enough for a normal life. After all, in David's view, I have given you power, so how dare you ask me for money? Use your brains!
Dick was different. After taking office, he immediately improved the treatment of his subordinates, but at the same time he strictly required them to perform their duties conscientiously in their positions.
If you dare to reach out to me on the economic level, I will chop it off on the physical level!
However, as the saying goes, "old habits die hard." Although Dick increased the salary of civil servants by 150% compared to David's time (it was too low during David's time), and also established incentive bonus mechanisms such as attendance awards and model awards, it is still not as good as the unscrupulous black income in the past. Moreover, many people accepted black money not only for greed, but also for the pleasure of bullying the weak.
These were acts of dereliction of duty that Dick could not tolerate, so he struck back without hesitation!
After a group of monkeys who stood out were killed, the remaining monkeys did become much more obedient, but some of them truly repented, while others refused to change their ways and did not think there was anything wrong with them. Instead, they resented Dick.
But they were afraid of Dick's iron fist and dared not resist openly. They could only hide their resentment carefully and look forward to the day when they could counterattack.
These people would usually come to the river valley to drink, gamble and visit prostitutes together. In this moral valley, they would reminisce about their "glorious days" and complain about Dick to vent their dissatisfaction.
"This life is simply unbearable. I have served four governors, and none of them was as cruel to his subordinates as that little bastard. What's even worse is that he lets those bitches he raised become officials, riding on our heads and bullying us. Which man can tolerate this!"
"That's right! I'm in the city guard. Today, that bratty little brat named Tia came to give me a lecture, saying that she wanted to reorganize the guard and set up a disciplined police force. This is just nonsense!"
"Oh! Just keep enduring it. He is the son of the Duke! But I think he won't be able to keep doing this for many more days. He went back to the capital last month. If the Duke knew that he had made Laguge such a mess, he might replace him."
"I really miss Lord David. If he were still alive, we wouldn't have to suffer this."
Several people were complaining one after another. If you only listened to what they said, it seemed as if Laguge had lost its order and people were divided. It was a completely dire situation where people were living in misery.
At this time, a big man with a rough face entered the tavern and sat down at their table. When the other people saw him, they immediately put on a respectful and flattering expression and toasted him without hesitation.
"Brother Nero, you are here!"
"Well, I met some old friends and talked to them about some things."
The big man called Nero pretended to be calm, took a sip of wine, and then spoke in a low voice.
"Everyone, do you want to go back to the good old days?"
"Yes! I think about it even in my dreams!"
"Brother Nero, have you found a way out?"
Seeing that the eyes of several people present had lit up, Nero continued with a sinister smile.
"There's no need to find a way out. We'll stay here in Laguge and not go anywhere. Everyone, you may not know this yet! Dick, that little bastard, is no longer the governor."
"H-He was taken down? Really?"
"It's absolutely true. And there's more news coming from the imperial capital. Even the lord has been replaced. He has been given the title of Earl. From now on, this place will no longer belong to Earl Best."
Hearing the "good news" brought by Nero, several people showed an expression of disbelief. Nero did not waste any words, but took out a piece of magic communication paper.
Nero said that this message was delivered a week ago. Because magical communications are affected by the moon, more information can be transmitted during a full moon and less during a new moon. Therefore, this message only has a few sentences, but the amount of information is not small.
All the governor's duties were abolished, the fiefdoms were changed, and the new earl was about to arrive.
"You don't know, as soon as the news reached the Governor's Mansion, it was seized by those whores, and then secretly transferred the treasury of the Governor's Mansion. There are carriages going in and out of the back door of the castle every night. Does this scene look familiar to you? Isn't it just like when Lord David left office?"
"Then shouldn't we just wait for the new lord?"
"Idiot! This is an opportunity, do you understand? Those women belong to that little bastard Dick, why did they hide the news? And why did they secretly transfer the money? Because the money in the Governor's Mansion treasury is public funds, the Governor has no right to embezzle it. As long as we can stop those women and wait for the new lord to come, it will be a great achievement! Who knows, we can even become knights by then!"
"But can we do it with just a few of us? The two female knights in the private army are said to be high-level warriors, so beating us would be as easy as chopping melons and vegetables."
"Don't worry about this. We are not the only ones who want to make achievements. I, your eldest brother, have already contacted reliable allies. When the time comes, we will act together and the opportunity to rise to prominence will be right in front of us. What do you think? You can't do it!"
Under Nero's instigation, several people looked at each other, and finally made up their minds when they saw the small bag of gold coins deliberately shown by the eldest brother.
Nero then told everyone that they had very limited time to act. The most elite cavalry of the private army followed the two female knights to the south, and Knight John was leading the main infantry force to train in the western mountains. Therefore, the castle’s garrison was very weak at the moment. All the factors in their favor came together, and it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Nero had gone to meet some "old friends" before in order to form a conspiracy. They planned to take action in the second half of tonight and attack by surprise.
In order to encourage these people to fight with him, Nero also revealed to them that he had discussed with other organizers that when they rushed into the castle, none of Dick's cronies would be allowed to see tomorrow's sunrise, but before sunrise, everyone could vent their anger in the way they liked.
In addition, those who have worked hard and made great contributions can also take a little from the treasury of the Governor's Office.
Anyway, they will say that they were transferred afterwards, and the dead will not speak to defend themselves.
Nero then gave a few more instructions and asked everyone to go home and make preparations, and to gather in the back alley of the city guard station in the second half of the night when it was dark and windy.
A few guys who were incited were dazzled by the bright future that Nero painted for them. They went home to equip themselves with their hidden weapons, and then when they thought the time was about up, they went out to the gathering place. When they arrived there, they found that Nero was not bragging. He had gathered at least a hundred or eighty people, including retained guards like them and local bullies who had been in cahoots with them.
Although these people all exude the aura of a mob, they still have some aura due to their numbers. After banding together, they have some confidence in this action.
In fact, in the original plan of Nero and other organizers, they also wanted to organize a riot in the labor camp, which involved several thousand people, including many fierce bandits who had once gathered in the mountains.
But precisely because there were too many people, a few people were worried that the situation would get out of control and end up in a bad way, so they gave up this dangerous idea.
Seeing that most people had arrived, Nero said a few words to boost morale to the other organizers, and then led the team towards the castle.
Along the way, the dark streets were very quiet. The group walked in the dark on the widened main road without lighting torches, but they did not even encounter a patrolling guard, which seemed to perfectly confirm the inference that the city was poorly defended.
Soon, this group of rabble rushed to the castle gate and saw that the drawbridge was not retracted and the gate was completely open. Nero was overjoyed and secretly praised himself for not wasting the money he spent to bribe the guards.
Upon seeing this, everyone immediately quickened their pace and ran across the suspension bridge into the city, fearing that they would miss out on the good stuff if they were a step slower than others.
After all of them passed through the doorway, the suspension bridge behind them slowly rose.
Nero, who was rushing in the front, naturally did not notice the noise behind him, because after the mob he organized broke into the city gate, they could no longer hold back. They lit the torches they had prepared long ago, drew their knives and started shouting and quarreling.
Many thugs have never received real military training, and some bad habits acquired in street fights make them feel that they are not brave enough unless they shout a few times!
However, at this moment, a fire suddenly lit up on the originally dark city wall, and then a large number of soldiers holding crossbows stood up from behind the battlements and aimed at the mob below from above.
When Nero saw this, he felt his brain buzzing and immediately broke out in a sweat.
Damn, they fell into the trap!
110. A Short Separation Is Better Than a New Reunion
"These are the summary reports of the work in the territory while you were away. Please take a look."
"Thank you for your hard work during this period, Befa."
"At your service, my lord."
Inside the office of the former Governor's Mansion, Dick, who had just returned to Laguge, was looking through the work summary report submitted by Befa. It was a summary of various affairs in the territory over the past month, with rigorous data and clear trend charts.
And in the list of important events, the "rebellion" a few days ago is prominently listed.
The scale of this vicious incident was not small. The number of people directly involved in the rebellion and those implicated totaled more than 400. The rebels even broke into the castle at one point, causing "very serious" damage, smashing six windows and burning the stables in the parade grounds. Fortunately, there were no casualties among the defenders because the rebels surrendered very smoothly after they discovered that they had been ambushed and surrounded.
Throughout the operation, Tia's intelligence organization "Forget-me-not" played a vital role. It was able to keep everything under control in the true sense, master the rebel movements throughout the entire process, and the arrest operation after the incident was also extremely swift.
The rebellion took place at twelve o'clock in the evening, and the masterminds were caught before dawn.
Of course! If we dig deeper into the cause of the whole incident, we will find that many key messages obtained by the rebels were actually leaked intentionally by Tia, including the magic communication that contained not a single falsehood.
Cancel all the governor's duties...Dick is indeed no longer a governor, he has become a lord.
The fief was exchanged...Laguge was indeed transferred to Dick.
The new Earl was about to arrive…and Dick was indeed on his way back.
These are all true, but they can easily lead people to misunderstand the facts.
As for the carriage that sneaked out of the back door of the castle in the middle of the night, it was not loaded with gold, silver, and jewelry, but boxes of corn and stones, which were sent directly to the new port in the north.
Influenced by these messages, the rebel organizers believed in the "truth" they had deduced, so they decided to take the risk and secretly connect with each other.
Tia was indeed suspected of stinging the police, but who asked the rebels to take the bait?
Dick looked at the list of rebels. Most of them were old officials from David's time. Because they had few stains, they were retained in the early days when there was a shortage of manpower.
Dick gave them a chance to reform, but unfortunately they didn't know how to cherish it.
But it is better this way now. They jumped out to seek death on their own initiative. They asked for a hammer and got it. As the lord, Dick could hang all the rebels and no one would say anything to him.
What’s funny is that until this moment, the rebels imprisoned in jail still don’t know that Dick is the “new lord” they have been waiting for, so some are crying out for injustice and some are clamoring.
Dick dealt with these people according to old practice, executing the organizers and sending the followers to labor camps.
This rebellion that took place late at night was nothing more than a farce for most people in Lagoge to laugh at after dinner. Dick had a very high reputation among ordinary people, so when the Governor's Palace was renamed the Earl's Palace and a notice was issued announcing that Dick was officially canonized as the Earl of Lagoge, most people thought it was a good thing that everyone had hoped for.
Some people even took the initiative to petition to erect a bronze statue of Dick in the town square, but Dick politely declined.
When Dick returned to Lagug, it was already the end of October. Although the abnormal climate in the area had changed and returned to normal after the God of Winter fell asleep, it still snowed when winter came.
Fortunately, the weather was good this year and there was no banditry, so the locals could farm steadily. Relying on corn and the newly built water conservancy facilities, they achieved an unprecedented bumper harvest. Every household had enough food to get through the winter, and the official warehouse of the Earl's Palace was filled with mountains of corn.
With food in hand and no worries in mind, Dick felt at ease!
"Master, look, it's snowing outside."
Seeing snowflakes falling outside the window at some point, Befa walked to the window to admire the snow. Then she turned her head and saw Dick staring at her intently, and a blush rose on her fair face.
As a perfect maid who devotes her whole body and soul to her master, the love from her master is the best reward for all her efforts, even if this love is not exclusive to her.
"What's the matter, Master?"
"Befa, I'm a little hungry."
"Then I'll do it for you right away..."
Before Befa could finish his words, the chain around his neck suddenly floated up and tried to fly towards Dick.
Seeing this, Befa looked at the smiling Dick and immediately understood what he was hungry for. So Befa followed the chain's gentle pull and came to Dick, bending down, and the chain naturally fell into Dick's hands.
The chain on Belfa's neck was regarded by her as a symbol of loyalty, and only the owner she recognized could touch it. Dick gently pulled the chain, then leaned forward and kissed Belfa's red lips.
"I haven't seen you for more than a month. Do you miss me?"
"I'm going crazy thinking about it all the time."
While responding to Dick's kiss, Belfa expressed her true feelings, kneeling in front of Dick with her curvy body, pressing her huge breasts against her crotch. From Dick's perspective, there was a large area of tempting white and a bottomless trench. The milky white snow looked fuller after being slightly squeezed, making Dick hate that his hands were too small to fully grasp this greatness.
Although Befa is always heroic and assertive in many things when he is working, he is more keen on serving Dick when he is intimate with him.
Soon, in the office where people were working seriously, the sound of indecent sucking could be heard, accompanied by Dick's comfortable moans.
However, just as the master and servant were enjoying the atmosphere of a reunion, there was an untimely knock on the office door.
When Befa heard the sound, she hurriedly wanted to stop serving, but Dick reached out and held her head down, then gestured under the desk. Befa understood Dick's meaning in a second, and her eyes were slightly annoyed, but she still followed her master's bad taste and moved her position.
Dick, on the other hand, sat upright, posing in the classic "Commander Ikari" pose, and spoke in a tone that pretended to be calm.
"Come in."
As soon as Dick finished speaking, he saw four people coming in one after another.
They are Tia who is in charge of the intelligence agency, Ruby Tong who is in charge of the Farmers' Association, Ding'an who is in charge of the Chamber of Commerce, and Natasha who is in charge of medical care.
These four people are responsible for one aspect respectively, and they can be said to be the four most reliable internal affairs talents under Dick.
Dick called all four of them to discuss the reorganization of the territorial government. He planned to upgrade his entire administrative team this winter, and many things that were not possible or could not be done before can now be officially put on the agenda.
