dognovel Chapter 276 True and False Assassination
Chapter 276 True and False Assassination
On the first day of 1453, Mont-de-Marsan welcomed the first heavy snowfall of the year. The light snow covered the roofs of all sizes in Mont-de-Marsan. Citizens had to be careful when going out to avoid being hit on the head by the snow sliding down from the roofs.
However, unlike the past when citizens had to rush for food in the cold winter, John lowered the price of food, so all citizens prepared enough food for the winter. The food stored by the Andrew Chamber of Commerce had to be sold urgently because it was damp to avoid more losses. The price was even lower than the price set by John, which caused a lot of complaints from merchants who cooperated with the Andrew Chamber of Commerce.
Inside the embassy, John was looking at the report in his hand. This report was from John's controlled territories in the north, including the Forest Governorate, Franche-Comté, Niland, Chiusta, and several small islands.
What surprised John was that Windham had not yet sent a new governor to take up the post in the Forest Governor's Territory. According to John's general understanding of those nobles, it was likely that they felt that they had left them some messes in the Governor's Territory after they left. It was a good idea to have this idea, because John did so. When the new governor arrived at the Forest Governor's Territory, he would find that his decrees were issued from the inside of the Castle of Johnburg and ended at the door.
By the way, John also learned about what happened on the border of Niland. After reading the detailed records, John didn't understand why Ludwig did such a labor-intensive task. He could only attribute it to compensation for supporters and to find a reason to annex the territories of opposition nobles in order to achieve the goal of centralization.
"No matter what, it's better to be on guard." John thought so and approved the plan to expand the border fortress and the plan to establish a 10,000-man field army including infantry, cavalry and artillery in the territory of Nilan.
Looking at the gold coin value in the system that was about to be halved, John sighed. It seemed that he had to find an excuse to reap the Andrew Chamber of Commerce.
"Your Excellency, Kari wants to see you."
At this time, the guard outside the door came to report, and after getting John's permission, Cary walked in. Unlike the ragged beggar he saw John the first time, this time he was wearing a fur coat, his face was ruddy, and even his mustache was shiny.
"My Lord, I have a very urgent report about the man who Andrew said was trying to assassinate you in Mont-de-Marsan."
"Oh? Who is he going to kill?" John's eyes suddenly lit up when he heard this. If the evidence is conclusive, he can lead his troops to rush into the Andrew Chamber of Commerce, and then use the highest aristocratic court to sentence him for treason. In the end, he can let something happen to him in prison by accident, and then all the problems will be solved.
"I don't know. He said he would kill the people around you. He didn't dare to kill the nobles."
"how do you know?"
"My cousin is his mistress, and she told me that Andrew says everything every night when he's drunk."
"This is not easy to handle. Okay, here's your reward."
As John spoke, he threw a gold coin at Kari. Kari rubbed it with his clothes and quickly thanked John profusely until John, who was impatient, asked him to leave the room.
After pondering for a while, John called a guard and asked him to find Jacques who had just gone out to suppress the bandits.
"What do you want from me, sir?"
Looking at Jacques, whose face showed fatigue, John felt that he might have over-tasked him, but there was nothing he could do. Time was tight and the task was heavy. It didn't matter how much he did. The real consideration was making money.
"Jacques, there is one more thing I need you to do."
"I'm happy to help you. Do you need a war patrol?"
"No, no, no, you just come." John said this, glanced at Jacques, and then solemnly issued his task:
"I want you to experience an assassination attempt, see if you can do it."
"But... I'm sorry, I don't quite understand what you mean." Jacques was about to continue, but after hearing the second half of the sentence, he took his words back and could only continue to ask John.
"You don't have to worry too much. In a few days, I will ask you to give a speech in a large square in Mont-de-Marsan. During the speech, I will shoot an arrow in your direction with a crossbow. Of course, I am not going to kill you. The crossbow arrow may fall nearby. This way, I will have the opportunity to produce evidence that the Andrew Chamber of Commerce assassinated the officials of the Governor's Territory."
After listening to John's explanation, Jacques breathed a sigh of relief. The two discussed the specific details of the assassination and decided to give a speech on defending the Governorate of the Southwest and defending Mont-de-Marsan at the square corresponding to the south gate of the aristocratic district of Mont-de-Marsan three days later.
After Jacques left, John called a White Wolf Knight and told him:
"Set up the venue and ambush our people in the nearby rooms. If there are any suspicious people, arrest them directly. If they dare to fight back, kill them first and then search their belongings."
At this point, John suddenly thought of something, and continued to say to the White Wolf Knight:
"Prepare a carriage. I'm going to visit the noble district and buy some gifts for my wife and children."
Three days later, Jacques arrived as promised and stepped onto the podium prepared for him in front of thousands of people in the square.
Jacques first looked around, and after seeing the White Wolf Knight in charge of the outfield and several plainclothes team members in place in the crowd, he calmed down and began his speech.
"Dear citizens of Mont-de-Marsan, welcome to attend this speech despite your busy schedule. On behalf of the Southwest Governor John, I would like to express my gratitude to you all..."
In a room on the second floor of a hotel at one end of the square, John asked the White Wolf Knight in charge of this matter:
"Are you all ready?"
"The crossbowman responsible for shooting arrows in Jacques' direction is ready. Once you give the order, he will shoot arrows at the podium in front of Jacques. At the same time, there are more than a dozen crossbowmen in the hotels on both sides of the square, monitoring each other to see if there are assassins shooting on the balconies on the opposite side."
"Okay, then wait." John said and began to wait for Jacques' speech.
"The border area of the Southwest Governorate is in danger. The Lana army is likely to enter the hinterland in the spring and directly attack Mondemarsan. By then, not only will our property, but also our relatives, friends and even our own lives will be in danger."
"I hope that you can help your country when the war breaks out and make a contribution to the war. With your help, we can win this war."
Seeing that the atmosphere had reached this point, Jacques was inspired and immediately shouted:
"Long live Mitlan! Long live the soldiers and civilians led by the Southwest Governor!"
Due to the previous sufficient supply of food and resources, a large number of citizens in the city have met their material needs. In addition, they have lived here for decades and have feelings for this land, so most of the citizens also agree to defend their own land and followed Jacques's shouting.
"Okay, let the crossbowmen take action." John ordered.
Within a minute, the crossbowman who had taken aim immediately pulled the trigger towards the podium in front of Jacques. The crossbow arrow shot out quickly and hit the center of the podium accurately.
"There are assassins!"
As someone in the crowd shouted, the scene suddenly became chaotic. Looking at the arrow, Jacques breathed a sigh of relief. It was finally over.
However, when he turned his head to the right to see when the guards would come to protect him, he suddenly felt an unknown danger from the back of his head. Out of his alertness when he was a soldier, he quickly stopped. Just as he squatted, an arrow flew past his left face and fell into the crowd, from which screams were immediately heard.
In the audience, several soldiers rushed forward and immediately protected Jacques under them. The weight of the man and his armor made Jacques unable to breathe.
"Ahem... I'm fine, I'm not hurt at all." As soon as Jacques finished speaking, a sergeant smeared a red liquid on Jacques' face, and immediately a bloody smell filled Jacques' nostrils.
"You are..." Before Jacques finished speaking, the sergeant next to him whispered:
"You can stand up and shout a few times to inspire the audience."
Jacques immediately understood the meaning. He used the torture trick to arouse people's anger, so as to direct public opinion to Jacques' side, and then successfully put the blame on the Andrew Chamber of Commerce. By then, he would have no way to defend himself.
At the same time as the action was taking place at the podium, results also came out at the hotel. Two White Wolf Knights escorted a middle-aged man to John's room.
"Sir, this is what we caught. He was lying in the bedroom. We found a crossbow and several arrows in his bag."
John nodded, then looked at the middle-aged man and asked:
"Let me ask you, who sent you? Think carefully before you speak. You should know who I am. If you dare to lie, you will die before your employer and your body will not be intact."
The middle-aged man immediately told everything he knew after John's threat:
"Sir, I was hired by the president Andrew. He gave me 100 gold coins to kill Jacques. I was planning to wait until the end before aiming and shooting with a crossbow, but your men rushed in immediately."
"That's not right. Who fired the second shot?"
Just as John was wondering, there was a knock on the door. After opening the door, two more White Wolf Knights came in, escorting a man.
"Sir, we have captured an assassin. He shot an arrow in the direction of Jacques with a crossbow..."
On the podium, while Jacques was being held down by several soldiers and waiting for the next order, a voice came from outside the crowd:
"Master John said that the assassin has been arrested and Captain Jacques can continue."
As the voice came out, the sergeant on the stage immediately made way for Jacques, whose half face was stained with blood. With the help of the sergeant, Jacques stood up and looked at the audience below the podium.
"Look, Master Jacques is bleeding!"
When everyone saw how injured Jacques was, he raised his arm and shouted:
"Fellow countrymen, do not surrender to the invaders. Unite and drive them out!"
Seeing Captain Jacques's face bleeding but still unafraid after facing the assassination, the citizens in the audience were also moved and shouted Jacques and slogans to defend the territory in unison.
Seeing that the emotions had been successfully aroused, Jacques entered the carriage with the help of the sergeant and headed towards the embassy amid waves of noise.