Alien Knights

Early the next morning, as soon as Todd woke up from a deep sleep, Huggins knocked on the door urgently and brought him bad news.

Just in the early hours of this morning, a riot caused by immigrants outside the city broke out.

The cause of the matter is not complicated.

A few months ago, a fleeing businessman from Silver Ring City, in order to escape the war, brought his only family—his young and beautiful daughter—to settle outside Muxi City. In the "Immigration Area", they met a young and handsome owner of a weaving and dyeing workshop. After the two families got acquainted with each other, the two marriageable young people made a marriage contract.

Soon after, however, the merchant met a spice shop owner in the city. The latter is a widower, over sixty and widowed in middle age. During a visit, he took a fancy to the merchant's daughter and hoped to marry her.

It turned out that the businessman explained his daughter's marriage contract and declined the widower's request. But the spice shop owner coveted his daughter's beauty, and put forward the conditions of "guarantee" and "housing", which made the businessman waver and hesitant.

Speaking of this, I have to talk about the "settlement threshold" of Muxi City.

Considering the infiltration of spies and the management of the city, Todd put forward two conditions for the identification of the residents of Muxi City at the beginning - "guarantee" and "housing". 1. Any outsider who wants to become a resident of Muxi City must find a resident in the city as a guarantee, and provide detailed life history and past experiences for filing and review; 2. Residents of Muxi City must have independent real estate in the city, that is, have a fixed residence, and the real estate must be purchased by the resident himself or by a direct relative.

Only after the above two conditions are met at the same time, the outsider is eligible to become an official resident of Muxi Town and enjoy civil rights such as tax exemption, education, and appeals.

For a businessman, leaving the dirty pit of the "Immigration Area" and officially becoming a member of the "Land of Miracles - Twilight City" is a dream he always wants to realize. Whether to regret the marriage or keep the promise has become a difficult choice before him.

After some ideological struggle, the businessman finally chose the former. Accepting the gift from the old shopkeeper and signing the second marriage contract, he was blinded by profit and planned to take his daughter and secretly move into Muxi City in the dead of night.

Everything was going well, but there was only one thing he forgot.

After his daughter learned of her father's decision, she ran out of the house in the dark, found her fiancé, and stated the whole story.

The angry young man called his brothers and sisters of the same clan, stopped the businessman who was moving, and asked for an explanation.

Just when there was a lot of trouble in the "immigration area", the old widower, who hadn't seen a beauty for a long time, couldn't sit still. He walked out of the city with his family and apprentices, and happened to meet all of the above.

When the rivals in love meet, they are extremely jealous, disagree with each other, and fight violently.

The fight continued until the intervention of the Muxi City Security Team.

Facing the disagreements of the residents and immigrants, the security team, who had no sympathy for the latter, made a punishment that clearly favored the widower. They demanded that the merchant's daughter immediately execute the second marriage contract. This behavior completely ignited the fuse of the "powder barrel".

What started as a clash between a few people and the security forces turned into chaos that spread quickly. The long-term backlog of anger and depression deep in the hearts of immigrants swept the entire "immigration area" like a volcanic eruption. Hundreds of people, shouting about injustice and oppression, took up the weapons at hand, defeated the security team, attacked Muxi City, and even occupied some buildings on the outer ring of the city.

When the news of the riot spread to the Muxi Knights' camp, Cumberland made a decisive decision before asking the king for instructions. On the one hand, to avoid suspicion, he invited Alfonso and Brother Joe as the overseers.

By the time Huggins reported the incident to Todd, five hours had passed since the riot broke out.

"Casualties?" After waving away the maid, Todd took off his robe and put it on himself, his voice was low and terrifying.

Huggins stood at the door of the bedroom, looking down at the report in his hand: "Two people were seriously injured in the regular army of the Knights; thirteen people were killed and seven were seriously injured in the Muxi security team; six people were killed and twenty-two people were seriously injured in the city residents; more than fifteen shops and residences were burned and smashed, and nearly six thousand silver moons were lost."

Todd buttoned the last button and looked up at Hudgens. "What about the casualties in the 'immigration zone'?"

The latter was a little surprised by this question, and lowered his head: "The exact number has not been counted, but according to the visual inspection of the "Successor of the Investigation Department", it is estimated that more than 190 people died."

Todd took the ceremonial dagger from the table, hung it on his waist, and walked past Huggins, without any emotion in his voice: "Let the monks do their best to rescue the wounded, notify the holy library to prepare food and cold products, and ensure that the loss will not increase. In addition, notify all the officials of the kingdom, hand over the affairs in hand, and hold a meeting in the conference hall in two hours."

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At 9:30 in the morning, the Grand Council Hall of the Knights Headquarters.

Todd sat on a high throne, resting his right cheek, with a dignified expression.

At the long table below him, the senior officials of Muxi City, who were officially appointed by the king, sat on chairs, no one spoke, and the quiet air could only hear the sound of firewood burning in the brazier.

After a while, Todd broke the silence: "Have the materials rescued by the Holy Treasury been distributed?"

Queen Mary stood up and looked up at the seat of honor. The seriousness on Todd's face that she had never seen before made her briefly absent-minded: "The victims have been counted and the suppliers have been contacted. The catechumens and believers are now distributing food and blankets."

Todd nodded, and turned his attention to Cumberland: "How are the rioters doing now?"

The old knight stood up and saluted the king: "There are about 870 people who participated in the riot. In front of the crossbow and shield wall, these mobs are as well-behaved as rabbits. The sergeants are confirming the identity of the dead and counting their crimes."

Todd asked again: "The source of this riot, the businessman's family, the young owner, and the old widower, have you found them?"

Cumberland nodded and said: "Please rest assured, Your Majesty, they are the main persons responsible for this incident and have been imprisoned by the army."

Todd leaned back, leaned on the back of the throne chair, and exhaled: "This riot has sounded the alarm for Muxi Kingdom. Our enemies not only come from outside, but also the handling of internal conflicts is equally important."

Rachel was a little surprised to hear that the king called the conflict between immigrants and residents "internal conflicts", but after thinking about it carefully, she understood the deep meaning of this statement.

Todd patted the armrest of the throne with his hand, looked at the officials of the kingdom, and said slowly: "How should this riot be handled? How to prevent similar incidents? Tell me, I want to hear your opinions."

The people at the long table looked at each other, and everyone confirmed each other's expressions and movements. For a long time, no one spoke.

Just when Todd was about to say something more, a person he didn't expect stood up.

Queen Mary bowed and saluted, and under everyone's gaze, she said, "Your Majesty, in my opinion, when the Muxi Kingdom was established, there was one thing that should be perfected first."

Todd nodded for her to continue.

Queen Mary took out a thin book from her arms and gently held it in her hand: "Your Majesty, the book I am holding is the law of Muxi City, with a total of 178 clauses and a total of more than 3,000 words."

After putting the books on the table, Mary took out nine books as thick as bricks from the bag under her feet, and put them in front of her: "These are the secular laws of the Papal Kingdom, including 15 categories, 5,944 clauses, and a total of 179,375 characters."

Todd looked at the two contrasting legal documents on the table, thinking.

Queen Mary, who has the power of "Super Memory", pointed to the book in front of her and said eloquently: "The cause of this riot was the ruling on double marriage contracts. If the security team could refer to Taylor's "Civil Law", Article 126, "The sacred marriage of the believers of the Heavenly Father is inviolable, and the validity of the marriage contract is determined according to the order of the believers' contract", then this riot would not have happened. Into the fire..."

Todd leaned forward, and while listening to the analysis of this beautiful woman, he couldn't help nodding and asked: "So in your opinion, what should be done?"

Queen Mary folded her hands on her lower abdomen, looked down, and said quietly: "Your Majesty, I suggest. First, expand and formulate Muxi's laws to ensure that the laws of the kingdom can bring order and tranquility to our people; second, set up courts and recruit scholars so that professionals are responsible for the enforcement and judgment of daily affairs."

Todd looked at Mary and tried to ask, "Where are the candidates? Do you have any recommendations?"

"Knight Dion was born in a family of law scholars. He and his classmates can undertake the work of enacting laws; as for the establishment of courts, we can openly recruit and invite those capable scholars to work for Muxi City..."

Before Queen Mary finished speaking, a voice interrupted her.

"I object!"

Todd followed the sound, and another unexpected figure came into his sight.

Rachel's face was solemn, her brows were knit together, and her eyes looking at Mary were as cold as ice.

Cumberland raised his eyebrows, first looked at the two women sitting on both sides of the long table, then quickly glanced at the puzzled king, and finally closed his eyes and sighed.

The factional disputes in the Muxi Kingdom gradually turned from underground to on the surface.