Chapter 1039 Scare Yourself
"... not dead yet."
Old Argan repeated Sherlock's conclusion: "So that's it..."
He exhaled slowly, clenching his fists and then gradually loosening them. It was as if he had finally let go of some worries and doubts, and as if he had expected this... or had some regrets.
——Obviously, this was not the answer the old duke expected, or the one he feared.
"If I'm not wrong," Sherlock looked at Argan, speaking sharply and mercilessly, "The answer you want... should be to find the organization to which the person behind the scenes belongs.
"Whether it's the conspiracy of the Hawkeye organization, or the manipulation behind the scenes by a certain grand duke other than you... I think it might be more in line with your needs to directly report a person's name. "
Hearing this, Aiwass was stunned for a moment, raised his head and looked at the old duke.
He was the first to understand the hidden meaning in Sherlock's words.
The old duke "invited" Sherlock to come here, I'm afraid... it's not as simple as wanting to get an answer.
--Or in other words, his needs are not just "knowing the truth", and the motivation that drives him to do such a dangerous thing is definitely not curiosity.
"...What do you mean, father?"
Anne keenly sensed that the atmosphere suddenly changed, and she raised her head in confusion.
Yasen opened his mouth, but closed it again tactfully.
As a son-in-law, he decided to give his father-in-law some face. After all, there are big shots here that his "expensive father" can't afford to offend, and it's not his turn to say this.
And Aiwass opened his mouth and whispered: "It's very simple. If there is a person behind this matter, and this person behind the scenes has gained enough benefits from it... then after Sherlock sees through the truth and pulls this person out... are we sure that the 'third treason' itself is a conspiracy?
"People were used by the mastermind, which led to the end of the Iris Dynasty. After the monarch left Iris, people's lives did not get much better.
"Although the nobles' fiefs were taken back to the country, they were bought back by the nobles and wealthy businessmen; although they no longer had private soldiers, they had "long-term mercenaries" from security companies; although the inherited noble titles no longer existed, the status of parliamentarians was still passed down from generation to generation.
"The Iris people no longer have nobles, but the power of the original mayor and mayor has been expanded; even when people see the three grand dukes, they still have to salute them respectfully."
"-Perhaps the only difference is that the rich always had to be humble to the nobles in the past, but now they are doing much better than the old nobles."
Evans sighed and began to tell Anne the essence of the matter from the beginning.
What Iris experienced in the "Third Rebellion" was essentially no different from what Lloyd's did in Avalon last year.
This is actually a necessary path. In the past, high-end technology was basically monopolized by alchemists and mages, and the role that ordinary people could play was basically farming, animal husbandry, fishing, forestry and hunting, and all of these required the permission of the lord.
But with the development of industrialization, the value generated by factories gradually began to exceed the former. Therefore, the status of workers gradually surpassed that of farmers, herdsmen, fishermen, and hunters... and factory owners who controlled machines gradually began to conflict with nobles who controlled land - after all, there were only so many people, and if there were more on this side, there would be less on the other side. But up to this point, the nobles basically had a much greater advantage than factory owners.
Until after a certain critical point... suddenly there were more things that money could buy, so the nature suddenly changed.
Although the nobles would suppress factory owners, they basically did not dare to eliminate them directly, because they also wanted to use cheaper and more reliable industrial products, and not only import those obsolete alchemical products that were not so advanced but very expensive from foreign countries at high prices, and buy some second-hand garbage at the price of buying gold; but on the other hand, factory owners could unscrupulously and even impatiently manipulate and even eliminate all nobles.
Looking back, how did the knight class of Avalon get controlled by Lloyd's, a merchant union with no real power and no strength? They could get the current benefits without any risk if they just united and controlled these merchants with violence.
The reason is simple, because these knights are wary and opposed to each other, and the benefits brought by the merchants are not enough to feed everyone.
Just like the Knights of the Round Table will argue in the Round Table Hall, discuss each motion, and decide whether it can be passed based on their own position. And these knights can't reach the same conclusion on everything, so they always have opposition and hostility with each other. And because of these oppositions, the knights actually don't know how many people have been manipulated, so they dare not express their intention of "not wanting to cooperate".
Of course, they can easily control these merchants with violence-only five arbitrators are needed to directly kill Lloyd's without injury.
But the question is what happens after that? How do they distribute it?
If the merchants' tribute is divided equally, then everyone will not be full; but if it is only provided to a small number of people, who can be sure that they will not be excluded from the group? If the five of them take it all for themselves, will the other knights unite to kill them?
Everyone had been poor before, and no one wanted to go back to the hard days of the past. Now if the sponsorship is cut off, no one can live well. Obviously, there is another way to make everyone well-fed - that is to reduce the number of "high-level" who share the benefits to a small enough number.
Therefore, the powerful knights were controlled by the weak merchants. In fact, the problem was not with the merchants, but with the knights themselves. These corrupted knights were not afraid of merchants, but other knights - their equally corrupted colleagues.
The problem faced by the nobles of Iris was the same.
The first and second rebellions were completely unsuccessful. Because in this world where extraordinary power monopolizes knowledge, it is even difficult for extraordinary people to be born among pure and poor civilians.
They can't get the secret book to start the inheritance by themselves, nor can they learn the complete theoretical system from a special teaching institution. Even if they become extraordinary people by chance, they don't have the money to start the promotion ceremony - they may not even know what the promotion ceremony requires.
In this case, the rebellion from the civilians cannot succeed. No matter how powerful it is, the extraordinary can easily suppress it.
"——But the situation of the third rebellion is different, because their monarch has passed away."
"...I understand!"
When Aiwass said this, Anne opened her eyes wide and blurted out: "Because they are afraid!"
"That's right."
Sherlock nodded, calmly and leisurely picked up the black tea: "It is because the nobles don't know who is the mastermind behind this incident... who can bypass the sentries of the Hawkeye Organization and the three archdukes, bypass the guards to kill the palace, kill through the imperial guards, capture all the royal family members, and kill a considerable number of the third Level 4 supernatural beings were beheaded and executed. "
As he spoke, he pinched his throat and made a disgusting sound: "'Who on earth could do this? ' 'Even His Majesty the King was killed, how could we resist? ' 'This is not a rebellion initiated by civilians, but a coup initiated by a big shot for dictatorship! ' 'If we stand in front of them, I'm afraid we will be eliminated as well! '"
"--So, they were scared. "
Speaking of this, Sherlock couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth slightly, revealing a sarcastic sneer.
Because this matter is really interesting-at least for him, an Avalonian, it is really fun. This is also the reason why he is more and more addicted to the investigation.
Although he was half-tied and half-deceived, he was very interested in investigating the case. Not only because of his curiosity, but also because this case is really chewy and particularly delicious.
If it weren't for the fact that this matter was not convenient to tell outsiders, he would definitely find a reporter to make it public.
"...You mean," Anne said in disbelief, "Actually, these nobles...were frightened to death by themselves?"
"That's right."
Sherlock gave his own investigation conclusion: "From the very beginning, there was no 'behind-the-scenes pusher'. The nobles surrendered quickly and accepted the confiscation of their property. And the rapid surrender of other nobles made those nobles who had not surrendered even more afraid.
"Just like when soldiers on the battlefield are defeated by fear, the number of knights trampled to death by their comrades and lost in the chaos is far greater than the number of people who are actually killed. And except for the very few who engaged in the battle, the others actually didn't know what happened. They were just swept away and couldn't move forward even if they wanted to.
"——This is a dramatic rout."
"...But," Anne still found it incomprehensible, "Isn't there even one person who stood up? During the Third Rebellion, it wasn't just the property of those nobles that was taken away, right? So many people were hanged, kidnapped, and some were kidnapped and sold to Parthia as slaves...It's impossible that they would rather accept this fate and still dare not take action, right?"
Even in a group of pigs, there will always be an exceptionally brave pig.
Among so many people, is there not even one person who dares to resist?
"...Of course not."
Sherlock's eyes were deep, and the sarcastic smile on his face was restrained a little, looking at old Argand.
His words were cautious and peaceful, and meaningful: "I think this is why the Grand Duke asked me to investigate this matter."
"——It's us."
Argand said: "The people who executed those rebels came from our three families.
"The prototype of the Hawkeye Organization, the 'Stonemason Brotherhood', has a close relationship with those people, and they have also mixed into the ranks of the Third Rebellion...So it can't be said that there are no extraordinary people among them.
"The Duke of Harcourt, the Minister of War and Government, ordered the army not to move out. He said that this was an order from His Majesty - the Iris army could not target the Iris people. Therefore, even if they killed His Majesty, they did not send the army to quell the rebellion.
"And I am responsible for making those nobles that His Majesty hate take the opportunity to get into trouble. Anne, what you said before... those nobles who were hanged, kidnapped, and sold... If you investigate carefully, you will find that they were all nobles who had committed serious mistakes but were covered up because of power, or they were guys who ignored the monarch's orders and acted recklessly. "
The old man's tone was calm, slow, and leisurely, but full of ruthless and decisive murderous intent: "This itself was not instructed by His Majesty... but when I realized that the entire royal family was killed without any movement... most likely there was a traitor among us.
"In this case, what I have to do is to send all the damned people to die - at least on the long table of the new government, I will not leave them with plates and knives and forks.
"——I don't know who the traitor is, but I can at least prevent the most damned and undeserving people from enjoying any power. In this way, even if they participate in the rebellion, they will not get any benefits from it.
"And I...is actually not very good at political struggles. I don't know if they have formed some kind of interest alliance secretly. Anyway, no one invited us to join. But it's fitting that our family is quite popular. . So many people are willing to help... maybe it’s because everyone dislikes those people.”
"You mean..."
Anne's eyes widened.
"That's right, Annie," the old man said calmly, stroking a huge ring on his hand, "The people who did what you said...are the people in our family.
"Royal power is not just a sword, it is also an umbrella. And what it covers is not only its own people...but more importantly, these nobles in the center of the umbrella. When the umbrella falls , they are the ones who bear the brunt.”
"I noticed something very subtle."
Aiwass smiled relaxedly when he heard this.
He pointed out the detail: "Those nobles who disobey the king's orders are often the most unpopular. They are the guys who deliberately cause poverty and famine in order to cause trouble for the Swan King."
Although this seems to be a coincidence, it is subtly reasonable.
——A person who dares to resist even the king's order must have so much courage! If even the king dares to bully someone, won’t he bully the people below?
"Yes," the old Duke nodded, "This is exactly retribution."
"That……"
Yassen couldn't help but be curious, and asked: "What did Duke Beaufort do again?"
Although the three Grand Dukes are all considered to be a state within a state, their specific powers, responsibilities and classifications are somewhat different.
Duke Harcourt is also known as "The Wolf Lord", he is a pure soldier; while the Duke of Vendôme is called the "Bing Xin Gong", the Vendôme family has a great influence on the literary and art world-this means that he is basically The high-end extraordinary person who indirectly controls the entire path of beauty has a controlling stake in troupes and theaters across the country.
The Irises theater troupe that went to Avalon to perform received investment from the Vendôme family.
As for the Duke of Beaufort, he controls the financial power.
"The formation of the 'Citizens' Assembly' was proposed by the Duke of Beaufort."
The old Duke said slowly: "He organized the new government of Iris... He said that 'No matter how bad order is, it is better than chaos', he urgently demanded an end to this rebellion. In fact, what I doubt most is that he."
"Now it can be proven that everyone is innocent...Isn't this good?"
Anne was puzzled.
"It's very simple..."
Aiwass then opened his mouth and expressed the inner thoughts of the old Duke: "Because what my grandfather was thinking about was actually a war. A 'war to cleanse everything' to solve all the backlogged problems of Iris. That's why he was fighting desperately. Looking for a 'culprit'.
"—If I am right, he wants to overthrow the Burgesses.
"Launching Iris' Fifteenth Rebellion."