After resolving the dispute at the station, Isha’s journey continued. In An Zhu, the great nobles had already killed a batch of people while enforcing the new land law, and the remaining nobles quickly realized that the times had changed. They began to shift their focus, no longer caring about their family’s lands, but rather starting to nurture the next generation, and many became quiet.
The greater the noble, the more humble they became, while the smaller and middle nobles remained as arrogant as before.
Perhaps due to the apparent peace, those nobles with less information still entertained dreams of oppressing their neighbors as they did before, believing that even with a new emperor, it wouldn’t affect them.
In many areas of An Zhu less affected by the war, the rural nobles even became more severe, thinking that the new emperor was nothing special.
However, the so-called peace was not truly peaceful. Lind had only promised Alberto that he would not take action against the An Zhu royal family and its people, but to Lind, those nobles did not qualify as commoners. Many nobles who opposed the new land law and the new noble title inheritance law were hanged by Lind, with his swift actions seeming premeditated.
Lind controlled the situation, preventing any rebellion from local nobles from escalating, mainly due to the significant disparity in power. This is why the great nobles of An Zhu were all rendered silent; the emperor’s executioner still hovered over their heads. The era of noble wars had ended, and if they did not change their focus to nurturing the next generation, in two to three generations, their titles would be gone.
It would be the most foolish thing for a newly established emperor, who had just expelled the Solun Giant Dragon and the Demon Clan, to face a rebellion.
It should be understood that the current emperor was still young, much younger than that group of elder nobles, and it was not hard to see the old nobles fading away as they failed to adapt to the times.
However, due to the information gap and the fact that rural nobles were not a primary focus, or rather, since the railways and communication devices had not reached the towns, the empire could not spare the resources to manage these rural nobles for the time being, making them the most arrogant group.
These rural nobles were not as conspicuous as the great nobles; they believed they were located on the edge and that the emperor could not reach them. Therefore, while the great nobles kept quiet, these rural nobles became even more rampant than before.
When asked what basis these rural nobles had for their arrogance, it could be attributed to years of family integration and a complex web of interests, weaving a protective umbrella for these nobles. Many rural nobles spoke freely about their importance, constantly hypnotizing themselves and others, believing that even with a change of emperor, the emperor would still need to rely on them to govern the border regions.
Of course, those who learned about the change of emperor could be considered fairly well-informed. The Randolf Family, situated in a location that avoided the previous major battles, suffered little damage and thus had little knowledge of the newly formed empire, with many internally believing the An Zhu period was still ongoing.
Moreover, the Randolf Family was merely a representative among the many border nobles in An Zhu. The remaining situation for many other nobles was complicated; many of them, located in remote areas, faced no external pressure, lacked rich resources, and were beyond the central government’s control, allowing them to act lawlessly on their own lands.
Watching the farmers digging for food and the emaciated serfs, Isha couldn’t help but shake her head and sigh, simply glancing at the War God Church priest accompanying her.
The priest also understood the situation, as she had done this numerous times along the way. The priest immediately headed to the nearest church to demand the local nobles free the serfs and provide them with the most basic protection from the church.
In order to bring more people into factories, An Zhu had once followed Lind’s example to liberate the serfs, but the results were not very ideal, only liberating around the royal capital. For these rural areas, serfs were still the personal property of the local nobles, and even now, with the empire’s orders issued, these nobles regarded it as mere hearsay.
Isha had initially intended to resolve the child labor issue, but such scenes in rural areas were simply too common, so she essentially walked and stopped along the way, even taking a large detour, ultimately failing to reach the former royal capital of An Zhu, instead walking further towards the border.
Most villages in the surrounding area were like this. Using Lind’s previous words, most places here were “unaware of the Han, regardless of Wei and Jin.”
Most territories might only take the lord’s horse-drawn carriage out for supplies a few times a year, but in just a few years, changes could significantly alter the world.
“Where is the next village?”
After a brief restocking, Isha asked her attendant, “It’s the Hidden Mountain Territory, Lady Saintess. I suggest we prepare; there are no proper roads there, and the mountains make it difficult to traverse.”
The attendant spread out a map, and Isha realized she was getting close to the border of An Zhu.
Although the Hidden Mountain Territory is theoretically part of An Zhu, situated at the junction of the southeastern border of An Zhu and Cape, it had not been developed for a long time due to its mountainous terrain and lack of resources.
By the way, this place was close to where Margaret had Lind repair the railway, likely also due to the dragons exerting influence behind the scenes, leading to a continued weak control over this place in An Zhu. This territory had remained safe amid the war that swept across nearly the entire continent.
However, as the dragons began to emerge, the need for secrecy concerning their lair diminished, making it necessary to clearly define this ambiguous area. Unfortunately, although the Hidden Mountain Territory was close to the dragons’ old home, the many mountain ranges in between meant they had not benefitted from the dragon railroads. Rather, they presumably did not even know what a railroad was, nor were they aware that they were merely separated by a range of mountains from the dragons.
If the Randolf Family could be described as the typical rural tyrants, then the Hidden Mountain Territory was a standard secluded realm, or perhaps a forgotten place.
“I didn’t expect we were getting further away from the center of An Zhu.”
Isha smiled helplessly at the map.
“Lady Saintess, should we head straight back to the royal capital of An Zhu?”
The attendant asked.
Isha thought for a moment but decided to take a look first.
“Since we’ve come this far, let’s see what the true border is like. It would be good for our majesty to understand, wouldn’t it?”
With that determination, Isha decided to go and check out the Hidden Mountain Territory.
