Chapter 1283: Chapter 1282: The End of an Era
The Secretariat rarely quieted down, and the young Count looked at the sparse nobility with a mocking expression on his face.
"They’re not united at all..." he turned to Lynch, "I heard they’re busy dealing with some things, they’re more spineless than we imagined!"
"I thought they would band together and storm the Imperial Palace..."
Whether the nobles admit it or not, without the intervention of the great nobles, their actions lack some strength, including their opposition to the Imperial Family.
The great nobles seldom intervene directly, though they’ve provided considerable support, the actual tangible results seem limited.
With the day to abolish privileges drawing nearer, during this time, the nobles have been primarily occupied with handling their own issues rather than uniting to discuss how to make a strong comeback.
The most distinctive privileges of the nobility include the redemption system and the scapegoat system...
The redemption system often occurred in the Middle Ages, where nobles would frequently be captured during battles, but they weren’t worried, as the redemption system meant that even hostile nobles couldn’t kill those who surrendered.
They had to host them well with good food and drink until the other party’s family sent over ransom gold coins and then sent them back.
Nobles who died on the battlefield were, after all, a minority. Some believe this system contributed to the hot temper of medieval nobles, as even minor issues could lead to war. For them, defeat was merely a matter of paying some gold coins.
But they got to vent their anger, which was most important to them.
The scapegoat system emerged in more modern times.
When nobles still had fiefs, they were the most powerful in their territories, setting laws so they wouldn’t be punished themselves.
But with social and Imperial development, the privileges of nobles began to retract for the first time, and they had to start obeying laws, although noble codices, not the Imperial codes.
To ensure the nobles honestly relinquished those privileges, the Imperial Family added a privilege for the nobles, the scapegoat system.
If they committed a crime—originally law creators, now executors.
Then nobles had the right to have someone else bear their punishment. Some view this as a new-age redemption system, but regardless, it existed bizarrely.
When noble courts deemed nobles violated the noble codices and needed to receive punishments like flogging that caused injury, including beheading, they could have someone else serve the punishment.
In contrast, imprisonment, servitude, exile couldn’t be scapegoated.
Sounds absurd: simply put, if the judgment results in bloodshed, scapegoating is allowed.
Political punishments without bloodshed cannot be scapegoated.
Because nobles had these two ridiculous privileges before and after, they lacked a concept of crime or simply didn’t care whether they committed a crime.
And now, they are making arrangements for their past possible crimes before the privileges are abolished...
This is why the young Count mocks them, as they always think of themselves first.
Lynch agreed with the young Count’s assessment, "People are selfish, and in special times, they will always act in their own best interest. I mentioned this behavior to you before..."
For the nobles, what the future holds is unclear to anyone. But if everything indeed ends, and they don’t resolve past matters now, they might face misfortune soon.
Gafura doesn’t have any issue with new laws over old cases.
Lynch paused, "I’ll be returning to the Federation in a few days; you should return to Amelia as soon as possible..."
"So urgent?" the young Count was stunned, somewhat reluctant.
Being with Lynch, he always learned a great deal, things he couldn’t learn without Lynch there.
For instance, Lynch’s teachings about "selfish human behavior," no one else before had explained things so simply and penetratingly to him.
His title was the highest among his peers, so at times, even if he erred or underperformed, others wouldn’t criticize him, let alone advise him.
Only Lynch did so, prompting the young Count to try to persuade him, "Won’t you return with us?"
Lynch shook his head, "No, I have many matters in the Federation. Perhaps you don’t know, but my mother is being taken to court by a prosecutor..."
The young Count was shocked. In his eyes, Lynch was almost like the Lord; the thought of his mother being sued was unimaginable.
Seeing his shocked expression, Lynch waved with a smile, "It’s a minor issue, but I need to return..."
The young Count knew he couldn’t make Lynch stay, so he sighed, "Alright, I hope you smoothly resolve these issues."
"Next... what do you think will happen with the situation here?"
Lynch smiled slightly, "Who knows?"
The day quickly passed, and that night, countless people were sleepless.
This included the Emperor, the Prime Minister, the great nobles, and... the fleet commander at the front line.
After dawn tomorrow, the fate of the Gafura Empire will head in a direction known to no one...
At seven in the morning, just as the day was breaking, Major Lynch was already up and starting his work.
There were many more police officers on the square outside the Imperial Palace today. As he approached, two officers came forward to frisk him.
Undoubtedly, he had nothing illegal on him apart from about a dozen coins and two heavily worn keys.
But even so, the police still didn’t let Major Lynch in right away and instead called the person in charge of the square to confirm that Major Lynch had been working here for a while before allowing him to enter.
"Why are there so many people today?" he asked quietly, seemingly because he didn’t want to speak loudly in the cold.
What kind of logic is this?
But the supervisor didn’t seem to care; his response was in a way an expression of frustration.
"Who knows? You know what time I got up today?"
"What time?"
"Five o’clock!" the supervisor shouted loudly. The weather seemed nice today; there had been another snowfall yesterday afternoon, lasting until midnight, so today should be a sunny day.
His words naturally carried far, and some police officers glanced at him before looking away.
"Five o’clock..." the supervisor sighed, "It’s the earliest I’ve ever woken up in my life."
"Listen, I’m feeling a bit off right now. Just go clean up the new snow in your area, and do whatever you like, as long as you don’t cause trouble for me, understand?"
Major Lynch nodded and went to the supply room under the supervisor’s watch to collect snow-clearing tools and began clearing the snow.
An hour later, the square was thoroughly cleaned, and as a cleaner, he finally got to rest a bit.
Since Gafura is a country that values power, capitalist exploitation and oppression are not severe here, so when a cleaner wants to rest, he can just go ahead and rest.
Major Lynch chose a café by the Imperial Palace Square to rest. A cup of hot coffee on a cold morning, paired with a cheese-filled roll, was the perfect breakfast.
Besides good coffee and delicious rolls, this place also had a rooftop.
In fact, it could be called the second floor, accessible through the restroom’s ventilation shaft. The structure was a triangular gabled roof with a window facing the square.
Usually, many cleaners would rest here, so having one more or less person wouldn’t be noticeable.
Everyone was dressed alike, which provided great concealment.
Major Lynch wasn’t worried about his assassination or leaving; his only concern was whether the submarine would turn up.
But regardless of whether it showed up, the task had to be done.
He casually talked nonsense, pretending to blend into the crowd, enjoyed his coffee and roll, agreed with a few colleagues to go fishing over the weekend, and then entered the café.
He went into one of the restroom cubicles and easily climbed into the second-floor loft through the exhaust window.
He found the weapon in a corner container. The place hadn’t been visited for a long time; dust near the entrance remained unchanged, with no footprints.
He took out the waterproof oilcloth-wrapped package, checked the firearm to ensure there were no issues, and began making final preparations for shooting.
At ten in the morning, a large number of nobles had already gathered on the square outside the Imperial Palace, constantly shouting things towards the palace.
Just then, the crowd suddenly quieted down; the Emperor appeared.
Major Lynch was surprised that there weren’t many Imperial Palace Guards around the Emperor today, giving him some space.
The Emperor stood on the wall, speaking downwards, and the crowd erupted in cheers, while the nobles started to get excited.
Some nobles began shoving and rushing towards the Imperial Palace; the Emperor stood unmoved, watching the nobles coldly.
Indeed, he would be the last Emperor under the Gafura monarchy but also the first Emperor under the new system.
Though he lost some power, with many noble privileges abolished, the Imperial Family instead became the biggest beneficiaries.
Because the Imperial Family still held privileges!
Perhaps he and future Emperors couldn’t directly hold the Empire’s power, but they could influence the country in other ways!
They could even influence the Prime Minister and ministers, as well as the Cabinet.
"We’re all cannon fodder of the era, but I, as this cannon fodder, am clearly different from you all!"
The Emperor whispered to himself, looking at the nobles rushing towards the Imperial Palace.
He noticed that the first nobles to rush were quietly retreating to the middle and rear of the crowd, while those initially inactive were now at the forefront, driven by emotions.
"We are all victims of the era!"
He sighed lightly, and suddenly a gunshot rang in his ears, causing time inside and outside the Imperial Palace to seemingly freeze in that moment!
