Chapter 185 — The Benevolent Demon King's Theory
Blade of Dawn · Page 3 of 4
"Patrick invited me to become lord of the Kant domain. I was certain to refuse. But soon everyone will know that Duke Cecil will become the protector of every person in the Kant domain," Gao Yang leaned back against the carriage and shifted into a more comfortable position. "The knights and stewards in the castle will still receive their wages—wages paid out by Duke Cecil. The servants in the castle who have nowhere else to go will still have a way out—a way out provided by Duke Cecil. The common folk of the Kant domain will still receive their winter charcoal, and when they go to the town square to collect these things, the proclamations posted on the square's notice boards will bear the signature of Gao Yang Cecil. And yet even after all of this has happened, I will still not be the lord of the Kant domain."
Amber said nothing, only staring blankly as Gao Yang went on.
"After that, I will build a road from the north bank of the Whitewater River to the Kant domain. It will be part of the new Cecil domain's 'North Bank Development Plan.' Before any royal decree is issued, the Kant domain and the Cecil domain will in fact be connected. After that, I will provide work opportunities to the people of the Kant domain and permit them to trade and migrate freely between the two lands of Cecil and Kant. Every Kant man willing to serve the Cecil family will receive the same fair treatment as Cecil domain folk—though in exchange, they will have to learn Cecil's laws in the process, so as to avoid infringing on Cecil's interests. After that, I will lay a magic net across the Kant domain, recruit renowned scholars and craftsmen to build and renovate the town's outdated facilities, and strive to extend the Cecil domain's night school system here as well. Every Kant man will come to realize that their lives will not worsen with the old lord's death, but will instead grow ever better under Duke Cecil's protection. And every southern noble will clearly see that Gao Yang Cecil never coveted the Kant domain's sovereignty—he was only helping his neighbor with utter selflessness..."
Amber's eyes went wide, and it was a good while before she finally managed to squeeze out a sentence: "And then... if the king really does send a new lord to take over the Kant domain, then you..."
"After I've done all this, do you think there's still room for a new lord to survive?" Gao Yang said with a smile. "Francis II isn't stupid. Of course, if he insists on sending someone over, I have no objection. This is the borderland—you should know as well as I do how weak the crown's control is out here. A royalist noble here could at best serve Francis II as a rather useless informant. But he could serve very well as a steward of the Cecil family, managing for me... the Kant District."
Amber listened, dazed and blinking, and only half a minute later did she voice what was in her heart: "You nobles really do have blacker hearts than anyone..."
"No, my heart isn't black at all. Everything I do is open and aboveboard. I have plotted against no one and harmed no one, nor will I strip any innocent person of their property. Think carefully—in this whole process, have I harmed anyone's interests? Will anyone be left poor because of my help? Will anyone go hungry or cold because of all this? Quite the opposite: everyone benefits. Even that 'new lord,' whether or not he ever appears, I can guarantee will live better days in a rapidly developing Kant domain than ever before—far beyond the 'frontier noble's life' he could have imagined."
Amber thought it over carefully and found that it really was just as Gao Yang said. Yet this only left her more confused and conflicted: "Then what are you going to all this trouble for? When ordinary people rack their brains and scheme like this, isn't it always to cheat and harm others? How is this..."