The Animal Trading Market located south of Black Flame City has become increasingly bustling in the past two days. Compared to the previous situation where only the pet market was lively, the horse trading area has recently become even more lively. Many people in Black Flame City have begun to consider purchasing carriages. The power of the Norman Empire's hierarchical system is beginning to show and is affecting everyone's lives on all levels.
In this very animal market, a rumor has recently been circulating that the horse trading area will be separated from the market, and someone is planning to invest in building a larger, more upscale horse trading venue to cater to the future needs of a segment of Black Flame City.
In the Norman Empire, apart from the military and public transportation, only the Scholar Clan class could ride in private cars in public places. Many wealthy people and merchants in Black Flame City could only be considered commoners, and once the military rule of Black Flame City ended, their cars could only be kept at home for their own amusement.
While some people were frowning and sighing, the owners of several horse farms in Black Flame City and the farmers in the surrounding farms who raised more horses were all beaming with joy.
Black Flame City has several horse farms, and business at these farms has been booming these past few days. Farmers who know how to raise horses, drive carriages, and care for horses have become highly sought after. This means that many people who previously could only work in the fields will have the opportunity to work in the city in the future. Wealthy commoners who can only afford a carriage now need to hire at least two people—a driver and a groom—to own one. They also need to buy at least two strong enough horses, order a new carriage that meets the Empire's requirements, build a stable at home, and spend money daily on horse feed.
This is far more complicated than driving a car, so many people who need to change modes of transportation have some complaints. But even if they do have complaints, they can only keep them to themselves and dare not express any dissatisfaction. That's how the empire's system works. Not to mention a few small merchants in Black Flame City, no merchant in the entire empire dares to oppose it. Even in Black Flame City, there are people who are unhappy about this change, but there are many more who are happy, and the latter far outnumber the former.
Want to ride in a carriage? Simple, first make enough contributions to the empire. Become Scholar Clan. For a merchant to become Scholar Clan the Norman Empire's gentry—even the lowest rank of the Scholar Clan —Scholar Clan the minimum requirement is a tax payment or donation of 1600 gold coins.
The Norman Empire's Scholar Clan class was divided into seven ranks—the lowest being the Wutong Leaf Scholar Clan, followed by the Oak Leaf Scholar Clan, then the Maple Leaf Scholar Clan, and finally the Pine Leaf Scholar Clan. The next three higher Scholar Clan were the Lilac Scholar Clan, the Rose Scholar Clan, and the Rose Scholar Clan. Each Scholar Clan class had different rights in various aspects.
The leaf-like markings on Zhang Tie's officer's ID card indicate that Zhang Tie currently occupies the "leaf-like Scholar Clan" rank in the Norman Empire's hierarchical order. This is the treatment for officers starting as second lieutenants in the Norman army. In the Norman Empire, soldiers who risk their lives for the country always receive more respect than those who merely contribute a few gold coins.
A merchant who becomes a member of the lowest-ranking Wutong Leaf Scholar Clan through legal tax payments or donations would face several times the amount of taxes and donations required to advance to the next rank. This would involve several other, even more stringent requirements, such as having no criminal record, serving as a moral exemplar with no significant blemishes, being actively involved in public welfare, and being generous in helping others. After meeting these strictly quantifiable requirements, they would also need the signatures of at least 300 imperial civilians and pass the review of the Imperial Order Review Committee to become a Wutongye Scholar Clan.
The Oak Leaf Scholar Clan held more power than the Wutong Leaf Scholar Clan.
The lowest-ranking officials in the empire were selected from the Oak Leaf Scholar Clan or direct descendants of families formed by the Oak Leaf Scholar Clan. Ordinary commoners and Wutong Leaf Scholar Clan were not qualified to become officials in the empire.
The Norman Empire Norman Empire's hierarchical system was a strict yet powerful foundation for state rule. Through centuries of practice, this foundation became even stronger and more solid.
The book introducing this hierarchical system is < The Chapter of Order >—a legally binding text published by the Norman Empire's Imperial Order Review Committee, outlining the foundations of the Norman Empire's rule. This book has been the most discussed topic in Black Flame City these past few days, and it's also the best-selling book in bookstores.
While Zhang Tie was setting up his stall, several other vendors next to him were chatting incessantly about this topic. The hottest topics in Black Flame City recently were the < Chapter of Order > and the increasingly fierce friction and war between the Empire and the Sun God Dynasty in the Karur region.
It was from their discussions that Zhang Tie learned that the seven Lineage of the Black Flame City Coal and Steel Union, because of their cooperation with the Empire in the "peaceful liberation" of Black Flame City, would all have their Lineage granted the title of Imperial Rose Scholar Clan. As for himself, because he had cultivated the Iron-Blood Dark Force, he was conscripted into the army by Colonel Leibniz according to the Empire's rules, and was fortunate enough to become one of only eight Scholar Clan during the military rule of Black Flame City. Although he was only a low-ranking, leaf-like Scholar Clan, he was still Scholar Clan.
In front of Zhang Tie's carpet were several small bamboo cages, each containing a Golden Unicorn Beetle. Zhang Tie Zhang Tie had bought these from several children who had caught Golden Unicorn Beetle that morning. He had more than thirty Golden Unicorn Beetle Golden Unicorn Beetle, which cost Zhang Tie twelve silver coins.
The Golden Unicorn Beetle is a very cute-looking beetle. The male has a large horn on its head and looks quite endearing. Zhang Tie had caught one of these beetles from a tree twice when he was a child to play with. This beetle isn't particularly rare, but catching it isn't easy; it takes some effort. The eleven or twelve-year-old children living on the farms outside Black Flame City were quite happy about this way of earning extra money.
Zhang Tie set up his stall under the shade of a tree, watching the rhinoceros beetles crawling around in the cage in front of him, while waiting for that bastard Samira to arrive.
At this moment, Zhang Tie looked to be in his early twenties, dressed in ordinary, slightly worn Prospector's attire, wearing a sun hat, and leaning lazily against a banyan tree with a blade of grass in his mouth. Anyone who looked at him could tell that he was one of those down-on-his-luck young Prospector who hadn't fared very well.
It was almost noon when Samira arrived, accompanied by two Samira men who looked like bodyguards.
Samira wandered around the market, having only collected a little over thirty Golden Unicorn Beetle. This amount was far from enough to complete today's task. Samira was slightly anxious. He had always embezzled some of the money from buying these creatures. As long as he could complete the task, Master Abian wouldn't mind giving him such a small reward, but if he failed, he didn't dare face Master Abian's wrath. He absolutely couldn't let Master Abian think he was useless and start to dislike him. That was Samira's biggest fear.
Just as Samira was getting a little anxious, he saw Zhang Tie disguised as a young man in his twenties and the Golden Unicorn Beetle strung together in bamboo cages at Zhang Tie's feet. Samira breathed a sigh of relief.
When he arrived in front of Zhang Tie, he didn't even ask Zhang Tie a question. He simply had a burly man next to him pick up the cages containing rhinoceros beetles that Zhang Tie was lying on the ground, then emptied the beetles from them and put them into a larger, uniform cage that he was holding.
"What are you doing?" Zhang Tie asked gruffly, his face full of anger, after spitting out the grass stem.
"I want all those Golden Unicorn Beetle of yours!" Samira glanced at Zhang Tie's attire, a disdainful expression flashing across her face.
"You're going to take things without asking the price?" Zhang Tie retorted.
"Ha!" Samira chuckled, looking at Zhang Tie with the same eyes one would give a country bumpkin. "Is this your first time here? Do you know who I am?"
"I don't care who you are, if you want my things, you have to pay!"
"Of course, I will definitely pay!" Samira said, taking out a few silver coins from her pocket, tossing them to Zhang Tie, and turning to leave, followed by the two burly men beside her.
Samira had only taken a few steps when Zhang Tie came running after her. "You only gave me eight silver coins, that's not enough. These Golden Unicorn Beetle cost at least sixteen silver coins..."
Samira turned around with the two burly men.
"Kid, don't push your luck. I'm the only one buying your Golden Unicorn Beetle in the entire Black Flame City. This is just a child's toy. Giving you eight silver coins is already being generous!" Samira's face immediately turned cold.
Zhang Tie tossed eight silver coins to Samira, "Here are your silver coins. Give me back my rhinoceros beetles. There were 23 in total. I'm not selling them!"
Samira didn't take the silver coin Zhang Tie threw to her. Instead, she gave a look to a burly man next to her. When Zhang Tie reached out to grab the cage in Samira's hand, the burly man rudely pushed Zhang Tie back a few steps and made him fall to the ground.
"Kid, if you don't tell the truth, I'll get rough with you. Take the silver coins on the ground and get lost!" Samira cursed at Zhang Tie, then turned and left. The two burly men beside him brandished their fists at Zhang Tie in a show of defiance.
Seeing the argument, many people gathered around.
"Kid, forget it. That man works for Master Abian. You can't afford to mess with him. Take those silver coins and get out of here!" a kind person advised.
Zhang Tie sat on the ground for a few seconds, as if he had suffered a great injustice, then let out a loud shout, jumped up, and chased after Samira. Halfway there, he had already pulled out a gleaming dagger from his pocket, startling everyone around him. They hadn't expected Zhang Tie to have such a fierce temper.
Everything that followed happened too fast.
Samira had barely stopped Zhang Tie when he turned around to see Zhang Tie charging at him with a dagger. The Zhang Tie pierced his heart instantly, the blade disappearing into his flesh. Then Zhang Tie snatched the cage containing the Golden Unicorn Beetle from his hand and ran away without stopping...
It wasn't until Zhang Tie had run more than ten meters that the two muscular men following Samira realized what had happened. They glanced at Samira, who had instantly collapsed to the ground, and then chased after Zhang Tie.
Zhang Tie ran towards the mountains south of Black Flame City. Zhang Tie was so fast that the two burly men gritted their teeth and chased after him with all their might, but they hadn't even run fifty meters before they saw Zhang Tie's figure getting further and further away, until he disappeared into the woods and could no longer be seen...
The last two burly men searched the woods for a while but found nothing. Dejected, they returned to the spot where Samira had been stabbed. By the time they came back, Samira was beyond dead.
Just as the two of them went to chase Zhang Tie, the onlookers realized that someone had died and scattered immediately, without anyone even glancing at Samira lying on the ground.
Everyone thought Samira deserved it, and when they saw the two burly men who had followed Samira return looking dejected, many people in the market even cheered.
"That bastard Samira should have died long ago!"
"Exactly, that young Hua Clan ran too fast, and his temper was too fiery..."
"I've heard that the Hua Clan of the Norman Empire are not to be trifled with?"
"Of course, this will teach some bastards a lesson!"
Of all the people, only one local bully in the market turned pale when he saw Samira lying on the ground. From the discussions of the people around him, he already knew that the person who killed Samira was the young Hua Clan who had spent a few silver coins that morning to inquire about Samira's whereabouts. However, at this moment, even if he were beaten to death, he would never admit that anyone had inquired about Samira's whereabouts from him.
This was a vendetta caused by unfair trade practices, that's how it was, that's exactly how it was! He had never even seen what that Hua Clan looked like, absolutely never! It's such a pity that something like this happened in the market! The man said to himself twice.
At the market, sheriffs quickly arrived to investigate the scene and record Samira's cause of death and the course of events. The murder was a major case; the sheriffs spent over an hour investigating before finally allowing the two muscular men to remove Samira's body. To the sheriffs, the murderer was just a Hua Clan Prospector in his twenties. They didn't know his name, where he came from, where he lived, or what companions or friends he had. With the cacophony of voices from the surrounding witnesses, even his appearance became increasingly bizarre. Moreover, he had fled after the murder; who knew if he would return to Black Flame City? For such cases, whoever was interested could handle it; they didn't have the time to search for such a person in the wilderness. At most, they would ask their colleagues in Black Flame City Black Flame City keep an eye out for any Hua Clan Prospector in their twenties who matched these characteristics.
Shortly after Samira's body was moved back to the luxurious manor castle beside Greenery Lake in Black Flame City, Master Abian, who held a high reputation in Black Flame City, learned of Samira's death...