Becoming a lord in another world starts with farming

In fact, Owen's guess was correct. That person was indeed one of the emperor's stand-ins, and there were actually similar stand-ins. They appeared randomly throughout the palace and the imperial capital, handling some unimportant but cumbersome affairs in the appearance and name of the emperor. , such as meeting or attending certain banquet ceremonies, etc.

But don't underestimate these emperor's substitutes because no one knows where the real emperor is or whether he will appear as a substitute.

You think he is the emperor's stand-in, but who can guarantee that he is not the emperor himself?

Even the Marquis of Pegasus, who was a close confidant of the emperor, sometimes could not be sure whether the person he was meeting was the emperor himself.

It's just that he is very smart and never tests whether the person in front of him is the emperor himself. He remains respectful at all times and executes orders without hesitation. This is why he is still the emperor's confidant today, unlike before. His companion disappeared without realizing it.

On the way back to Owen and his party, the stand-in had already reported the entire meeting to the emperor who was dealing with government affairs in detail, without adding any personal opinions, like a ruthless retelling machine.

The emperor didn't know whether he heard it or not, but he wrote a note and sent the substitute away.

In fact, the North is important to the emperor, but the nobles of the North are not. Therefore, it doesn't matter who comes. Even if there is an Owen of unknown origin mixed in, it will still not arouse the emperor's slightest interest.

Controlling such a large empire cost the emperor too much energy, and decades of rule have allowed him to see too much. It can be said that even if Owen directly rebels, he will still be ranked third in the order of matters that the emperor needs to deal with. number of digits.

It's not that he doesn't pay attention to it, but it's unnecessary. The entire empire has a population of hundreds of millions. Does the emperor need to care about a small lord with a population of only tens of thousands?

Perhaps this was the first and last time he heard this name, so the emperor didn't even need to remember it and just dealt with it casually.

Owen thought too highly of himself before. In front of the huge empire, he was just a little bug. No matter how happy he was, it would only attract the attention of his opponents who were also bugs. A real boss would not waste energy paying attention to such trivial matters, so None of his worries came to light and everything went smoothly.

After two days of repairs at the manor, Marquis Bergassus, who had received the emperor's permission, was going to take them to the Nobles' Assembly for registration. Only when they completed the registration in the Nobles' Assembly could they truly become a noble and be eligible to accept the emperor's canonization as a northern noble. Land lord.

A noble is a noble, a lord is a lord, a noble is not necessarily a lord, but a lord must be a noble.

At this time, the Marquis of Bergassus was actually very envious of Owen and the others deep down in his heart, because he had been busy for half his life before he had a viscounty, and these people started with a viscounty, and there was no upper limit. As long as they worked hard for a few years, they could become earls. It's just a matter of time.

But he was unwilling to let the Marquis of Bergassus trade with them. After all, this was the imperial capital. Even if there were as many viscounts as dogs and the earls walked all over the place and the marquis could only shake his head, it would not change the fact that this was the core of the entire empire. .

This time the ride was not a royal carriage, so Owen and the others were finally able to take a good look at the imperial capital.

Needless to say, the majesty of the imperial capital is undeniable. Millions of people gather here. It is impossible not to be spectacular. And because there are not many high-rise buildings, there is no situation where one community can accommodate tens of thousands of people. Therefore, it covers an area of Bigger, terrifyingly big, with as many as five city walls alone, which are traces of continuous expansion over thousands of years.

However, the city wall does not become more majestic as it is built further back. On the contrary, the city walls become smaller and smaller one by one, like terraces.

For example, the outermost city wall is only six meters high and four meters wide. It is not built with solid stones, but with fired city bricks. The interior is only filled with steamed soil, so its defense is not as strong as imagined. powerful.

But the city walls that go further inside are more terrifying, especially the three-ring city wall, which is more than ten meters high. There are caves for hiding soldiers, armaments warehouses, canteens, and hospitals inside. It is no exaggeration to say that it is a war fortress.

But the most powerful ones have to be the first-ring city wall that protects the palace and the second-ring city wall that protects the inner city, because these two city walls are integrated with the magic barrier and are not just as simple as physical defense.

After learning this, Owen's expression was a little strange, and he was about to start a song of the Five Rings, but he held it back in the end.

According to the division, the first ring of the palace is the core, followed by the second ring of the inner city, the third ring of the aristocratic area, the fourth ring of commercial area, the fifth ring of civilian areas, and beyond that is the sixth and seventh rings without city walls, which is a supply circle composed of towns. , mainly responsible for production and transportation in order to maintain the operation and vitality of the imperial capital.

Just like Owen's North City, it is impossible for all the people in the territory to be the population of the city. A considerable amount of settlement must be reserved outside the city to facilitate farming and production.

After all, with the size of Beicheng, it is impossible to sustain it for a long time just by transporting materials from place to place. The local area must also have a sufficient amount of planting and production capacity.

After passing through the first city gate and entering the five-ring city wall, Owen found that this place was not as good as his northern city, because both the buildings and the roads gave people a feeling of disrepair, and the uneven roads were occasionally covered with water and horseshoes. The wheels sputtered out, making pedestrians avoid it. From this alone, it can be seen that the imperial capital is not as good as imagined.

If the dilapidated construction roads only made Owen frown, then the civilians here were unpleasant.

It’s not that he is sloppily dressed or ugly, but his depressed and numb expression makes people feel breathless.

Owen didn't need to ask to know what kind of exploitation and pressure the common people in the imperial capital endured, and the occasional glimpse of the slums confirmed his thoughts.

If you don't work hard to learn, work and pay taxes, you will only be reduced to a hellish slum. This is the cruel reality that every person in the imperial capital will face from the day he is born.

The upper space is so big, even if only one person can inherit the title of a noble, the rest can only find other ways to make a living, such as doing business or being loyal to other nobles.

The business competition in the imperial capital is also fierce. It is natural for the big fish to eat the small fish, and countless people go bankrupt and end up in civilian areas.

Not to mention the civilians who are under the greatest pressure. An accident or illness may knock the entire family into hell and become consumables or the living dead in the slums.

Owen is keenly aware that the dark side of the imperial capital may be beyond his imagination, but he is unable to change anything.

Because class means exploitation, and exploitation means poverty, and poverty breeds suffering, and suffering brings disaster. It is like a noose around the neck. No one can escape, and no one can change, not even the emperor. .