Chapter 1,217 Ambition
The magician's straightforward analysis made the noble young man who was thrown to the ground and the old magician think clearly about some things again. Did they ask the family for help? Of course there is, and indeed, as the black-robed magician said, they agreed to ambush where the carriage was about to pass. As long as they stabilize each other and walk into the ambush, stronger people will naturally take over the rest.
But in their desperation, they forgot that the target they wanted to ambush was a monster that could destroy the emperor's personal guards and an army of ten thousand people with one person! No matter how strong their family is, they are not enough to deal with such a person. Even if the emperor, the backer behind the family, is involved, it won't work. You don't need to think about it to know that the emperor will never seriously deal with his own son.
To be honest, many people believed that the reason why the emperor's personal guards were destroyed in the first place was because the emperor's restrictions prevented the personal guards from exerting their full strength, which was why the Fourteenth Prince achieved such amazing results. Otherwise, as one of the thirteen regular legions of the empire, one of the top three in strength, how could the legion responsible for guarding the safety of the palace be so fragile that it could be destroyed by one person.
What the facts are is not a question that needs to be delved into at present. Efren only hoped that his father would not make a wrong judgment because he wanted to save his last son.
Although on the surface he hoped that his father would make rational decisions, he also secretly hoped that he would make some irrational actions out of concern for family ties. But Efron understands better than anyone else that his father's choice will only be crueler than he imagined.
I'm afraid that when he heard the name of the Fourteenth Prince, he would become another abandoned son. And he himself is either preparing to have another son, or looking for an adoptive partner from a branch of the family. That old man is so smart.
But just when the people of Muhashebesi's family were regretting it, Azad seemed to remember something and said: "You may bet that there will be no one in the ambush place, or there will be a large army waiting. But I will say , the ambush site is not deserted, but it is not a large army. The number of the army is meaningless in front of us, isn't it. We know this, and the stubborn old man also knows this, so he will first step in before the old man has to come forward. Come to me. So hurry up, hurry up and get in the carriage. Don’t keep the stubborn old man waiting. Ah, it’s been a long time since we last saw each other. I really miss him. Just a little bit, just like the kind that makes you choke when you drink water. When there is a gap in your teeth, you will remember how good he is.”
Azad's excited look confused Lin and asked: "Who is the stubborn old man? Who is the old man? In your eyes, as long as the hair is gray, you will call others this old man or that old man." Yes. People have names for their own meaning."
While kicking Starina's ass and letting the tall girl squeeze into the narrow carriage, Azad answered someone: "The name is too hard to remember, I'm lazy. And the stubborn old man is the old man's secret." Guard, the two of them look alike, but no one knows about him. The stubborn old man is also my first swordsman teacher...well, that should be it. Anyway, he is the only one who taught me swordsmanship and is still alive. That's it. I am very sure."
It sounds like the emperor's stand-in. Not only is he extremely powerful, but he is also unknown to outsiders. At this time, everyone else present began to worry about whether they would be killed and silenced.
However, Lin was very concerned about the news. For a state machine, a conventional and reasonable organization can easily judge its trends and formulate response plans. With my current strength, I can at least escape if I can't afford to offend him, but I am afraid of that kind of unreasonable existence.
It just so happened that this was a mysterious place. With magic as an unreasonable thing, Lin didn't dare to bet that there weren't people who were qualified and unreasonable. Especially since Azad personally confirmed that that person was another fierce man who could survive from his hands. As both warriors, another person Lin knew who was evenly matched with Azad was the White Sword Master William Greco. He was also a strong man with a monster-level talent.
But the transvestite in the red phoenix robe began to count carefully after getting on the carriage. "If I remember correctly, the last time we met, I chopped off one of his arms. The time before that, I dug out one of his eyeballs. The time before that, I trampled on one of his legs. If it hadn't been for another old man with a bad mouth, If you come to rescue him, there won't be so many things later. Oh, and every time I destroy him, my old man will always save him at any cost. In short, he is a very difficult person to deal with. "
...Okay, maybe I'm worrying too much. It sounds like Azad is looking forward to another fight rather than looking forward to meeting. And he was still looking forward to sending that 'stubborn old man' to hell this time. There is also a big devil next to him, who guarantees a direct train from hell.
Even as Azad kept taking stock of his past achievements, he did not forget to remind the noble young man who was also sitting in the carriage and said: "Don't deliberately go around to other roads so that I can't meet anyone. If If I can't see people, the consequences will be serious, and someone will suffer. Guess who the sufferer will be."
"No detours! Your Highness, we promise not to take detours." Efren said with a forced smile.
Looking at the poor little guy, under Azad's pressure, it seemed as if he was about to wet his pants for the second time. In view of the vague smell of urine in the carriage, which was already bad enough, Lin didn't want to add a fresh one, so he could only change the subject and asked: "You said that there are people in your family Is the information about the location of the Gold Coin Goddess Temple true?"
"It's true, of course it's true, Your Excellency. I'm absolutely telling the truth. My family has a map of the location of all the temples of the gods in the Imperial City of Nineveh. There are also nobles and big businessmen. This is the name of my family for His Majesty the Emperor. The biggest reliance on tax collection.”
Okay, this is the first time today that I feel helpless. This kid was so frightened that he couldn't speak at all. These words were allowed to be said.
However, the old magician who was originally qualified to sit in the carriage was forced to sit in the driver's seat, so the young man was left unattended. Although Lin was not interested in this young man at the beginning, now he is very curious about the 'location map' Efren mentioned.
Although I can use my arcane eyes to detect terrain features, as long as I have time, it is easy to grasp the whole picture of Nineveh City. Even the secret passages and underground waterways - if there are any - are clearly understood and are not a big problem.
But even if he could use sonar-like technology to dig out all the secret passages in the city, Lin wouldn't be able to figure out which house belonged to whom. However, the information on this tax collector's family could just make up for this shortcoming, and Lin had to be curious about the content of the information.
However, it is natural for a family that collects taxes to find out the details of those nobles and wealthy merchants, but to find out the temple? Lin curiously asked: "Do you have the location of all the temples, including the gods they believe in?"
"Not only who is the god we believe in, but also who the priest or bishop is in charge of the temple, our family also knows it all." Evren said proudly.
"I just asked out of curiosity. With your family's background, it is your duty to find out the nobles and big businessmen. What is the temple for? Is it possible that your family is also responsible for espionage matters? Oh, if I ask this, you You don’t want to kill people and silence them.”
After a few dry laughs, Efren said: "No. His Majesty's intelligence work is handled by full-time people, and it is not something that a small person like me can know. My family has information about various temples because we have a vision that one day , you can collect taxes for the emperor to enter those temples."
"Wow~! This is really...a grand wish." Lin exclaimed.
Whether on Earth or in Mystery, it is customary for religious groups not to pay taxes. The original intention was to allow monks and Taoists not to worry about government taxes and taxes, so that they could concentrate on serving gods and Buddhas. How it later became a tool to win people's hearts and make money is not the focus here.
As for the temple in Lost Land, there really is a god there. It's not like the earth, where you can only scare people with words like "there are gods three feet above your head". The so-called gods, even if they only have weak divine power, are still above the pinnacle of mortals.
The power of the gods is another level of power. Just relying on their numbers cannot make up for the gap between them. This is why kings and emperors do not dare to easily challenge the gods. Even in the Age of the Old Gods thousands of years ago, the divine right of kings was the main axis of that period. So how can a king collect taxes from the gods who gave him power? What if his power is taken away?
Today's New God Age no longer pays attention to the divine right of kings. The king's legal authority comes from his noble bloodline and the support of equally noble people, that is, the nobles. In other words, this is a method to boast about class and divide people's hearts. But no one is investigating the origin of the noble bloodline.
All leaders today avoid basing their power on divine ‘recognition’. The two sides are like two worlds fused together, each operating with its own rules. Moreover, the two merged worlds are compromising each other, rather than destroying each other.
Reflected in the actual operation of forces, the forces on both sides will not enter the other party's territory without invitation. In other words, the temple to the noble lords is like a country within a country, not subordinate to each other. Under such circumstances, if the nobles wanted to collect taxes, they would certainly not be able to collect them from the temple.
Fortunately, the temple will not expand its power without limit. Basically, it will not leave the palace to serve them. This is the bottom line of the gods. The excess is the result of the struggle between their believers in the human world and the local forces.
If the nobles there were not discerning enough to break into the temple, they would offend a certain big boss in the sky. Even if someone is not mortal and directly destroys the country, there will still be various means to cause headaches to those nobles who have offended the gods.
However, Evren said that one of the wishes of the Muhashebesi family is to enter the temple to collect taxes. Of course, this cannot mean chasing ordinary people's tax arrears into temples, but rather collecting taxes and passing them on to the gods.
It must be said that this kind of ambition can only be expressed by the subjects of the empire, and ordinary small countries may not even dare to think about it.