Zhang Fan arrived at Helenbergh relatively late and only took on the task yesterday, so his task submission was scheduled for the last time.
At this moment, all eyes were on him, because this was the second S-level mission in the entire event.
The task is to collect the debt of Prince Reinhardt's fiefdom of Silin, totaling over 180,000 gold Reinhardt coins. Payment cannot be made in advance, and violence or threats are prohibited. You can accept equivalent goods instead of money.
Prince Reinhardt seemed to be in high spirits. The previous S-rank mission had helped him solve a thorny problem, which made him feel very good at the moment. This second S-rank mission was actually a joke he made on a whim. He had a total of more than a dozen fiefdoms in Ryan, and several in the capital planet. Xilin was undoubtedly the smallest and the worst-off fiefdom. Not only did it have no tax revenue, but it even had to subsidize money to maintain the existence of the fiefdom.
For Reinhardt, the existence of Sillin was more of a formality. After all, this was the capital planet, and having a small fiefdom next to the royal capital Adelaide was, in a sense, a symbol of royal power, something not everyone could possess.
Reinhardt had no hope of recovering the 180,000 gold coins debt, and Silin was just grateful he didn't have to pay out of his own pocket.
"Lieutenant Zhang from Ryan Military Academy?" Reinhardt smiled. "I have a special fondness for the students at this military academy."
Reinhardt was probably referring to Alice; he was unaware of the conflict between Alice and Zhang Fan at school.
"It is my honor to serve Prince Reinhard. Serving him is my lifelong wish." Zhang Fan gave a military salute, as he still had to say the polite words.
"Hahaha." Reinhardt was pleased with this. "If I'm not mistaken, Lieutenant Zhang received his mission yesterday?"
“Indeed.” Zhang Fan nodded.
"Hmm?" Reinhardt seemed very interested and gestured for Zhang Fan to continue.
The surrounding onlookers all quieted down and pricked up their ears.
"Xilin covers an area of more than 20 square kilometers and has a population of about 500. There are no exploitable mineral deposits within the Xilin Village area. The forest land belongs to the Wangdu Protective Forest and cannot be cut down. The villagers cultivate loess soil, and the crop yield is not high, so they cannot use grain as an equivalent to pay off their debts."
"With Xilin's meager output, to put it bluntly, even if the villagers didn't eat all year, the little grain they saved might not be enough for 180,000 gold coins."
“That’s right.” Reinhardt nodded, leaning forward, his curiosity piqued. “No money, no food, no way to pay upfront, how did Lieutenant Zhang handle this 180,000 debt?”
"It was burned," Zhang Fan replied.
"Burned?" Reinhardt was taken aback.
“Yes.” Zhang Fan nodded. “In front of the villagers of Xilin, I burned all the debt notes.”
"this……"
Reinhardt stood there speechless, and the people around him were in an uproar.
Burned? What does burning mean? Does burning it mean you don't have to pay back the money? That's not how you do things!
“The debt note was burned, but I brought back something from Xilin that is worth far more than 180,000 gold coins.” Zhang Fan presented a patched garment with both hands. “Please take a look, Your Highness.”
The butler took the clothes from Zhang Fan and presented them to Prince Reinhardt. Reinhardt unfolded the clothes in front of him and was stunned again.
Is this outfit worth 180,000 gold coins? It looks almost like what a beggar on the street would wear.
The people around also craned their necks, having the same question in their minds, but who would dare to use a beggar's clothes to humiliate Prince Reinhard? Perhaps fearing they were too naive, for a moment no one dared to question the value of the clothes.
But it's just a piece of clothing. Even in Adelaide's private bespoke luxury clothing stores, it would cost at most 20,000 to 30,000 gold coins. Clothes costing more than 100,000 gold coins are all adorned with diamonds or gemstones. But this piece of clothing is full of patches. I don't see any diamonds.
And there are way too many patches! It's not like clothes have been patched up, it's like clothes are pieced together from patches!
Reinhardt searched for a long time but couldn't find a logo on the clothes. He couldn't tell which big-name designer Reinhardt designed it, and the material of the clothes didn't look special either; in fact, it felt rather rough.
But seeing the other party's confident and self-assured demeanor, Reinhardt felt a little unsure and asked softly, "Lieutenant Zhang, who designed this outfit? Or is there any story behind it?"
“This is no ordinary piece of clothing.” Zhang Fan thought for a moment and replied, “If you have to put it that way, it was designed by hundreds of designers.”
Hundreds of designers?
The onlookers were all dumbfounded, their eyes wide open.
Is this building an airplane or a rocket? Does designing just one garment require hundreds of designers? Is it made of nanomaterials? Will wearing it transform me into Ultraman?
"Oh? I'd like to hear more." Reinhardt's curiosity grew.
"Before explaining the origin of this garment, I'd like to ask Your Highness a question, and anyone here may answer it," Zhang Fan countered. After receiving a nod of approval from Reinhardt, he continued, "Your Highness, what do you feel you lack most right now?"
"this……"
As the prince of the Duchy of Reinhard and the first in line to the throne, Reinhard felt that he lacked nothing and yet lacked everything. If asked what he lacked most, he really couldn't think of anything.
People around were talking amongst themselves, but no one dared to answer. This question could be big or small; one wrong answer could be a trap.
Seeing that no one spoke up, Zhang Fan answered himself.
Is it money?
"I'm afraid not. Your Highness is the first in line to the throne. All the land under heaven belongs to the king, and all the money in the world will belong to Your Highness in the future. How could you be short of money?"
Is it a person?
"Of course not. As far as we can see, 'all the wise men and women are gathered here, young and old alike,' how could there be a shortage of people?"
"What is Your Highness lacking?" Zhang Fan looked around, but no one answered. Everyone was listening intently, even Reinhardt was listening attentively.
"It is the will of the people."
“I think Your Highness has everything you need, but what you lack is the support of the people, so I brought back the support of the people.”
A commotion arose among those around him. Reinhard remained silent, lost in thought. As royalty, everyone knew the importance of "popular support," but could popular support be bought with money?
“This garment is no ordinary garment,” Zhang Fan said, pointing to the clothes in Reinhardt’s hand. “This garment has a special name, it’s called…”
"A patchwork garment!"
“I took it upon myself to forgive the debts of the villagers of Xilin in His Highness’s name.”
"His Highness is compassionate towards the people, and the villagers are deeply grateful. However, Xilin is poor and has no way to repay him, so each household cuts off a piece of their own cloth and sews this 'Hundred Families Garment' together."
"So, everyone, what do you all think..." Zhang Fan glanced around again, "Is this 'Hundred Families Garment,' which embodies the deep love and respect of the people of Xilin for Your Highness, worth 180,000 gold coins?"
The entire room fell silent.
Everyone present stared at each other, speechless with astonishment.
Damn, you've put on such a big hat, who would dare say it's not worth it?
"I have another video here." Zhang Fan clapped his hands, and a video began to play on the big screen, showing a group of people singing and dancing around a bonfire.
"This is a traditional ceremony in Xilin Village," Zhang Fan said, lying through his teeth. "The villagers dance around the flames, praying for His Highness's well-being."
"Everyone, how much do you think this patchwork garment is worth?" Zhang Fan asked with a smile.
Everyone present was stunned.
To say that anyone would measure this garment by its monetary value is to desecrate Prince Reinhardt.
"Hahaha," Reinhardt laughed heartily, "Good, good, good."
"It's totally worth it!"
"Someone come here! Frame this patchwork garment and hang it in the most conspicuous place!"
Reinhardt's words essentially defined the garment's value, and no one dared to question its worth anymore.
"Lieutenant Zhang, I desperately need someone like you here." Reinhardt stepped forward and shook hands with Zhang Fan, a very high honor. "I wonder if you would be willing to serve me?"
“That’s exactly what I wanted.” Zhang Fan took out a letter from his pocket and handed it to Reinhardt.
Reinhardt took the letter with some surprise, opened the envelope, took out the letter, and glanced at it.
"So it was the Marquis who recommended him. This assessment is unnecessary!" Reinhardt laughed, covering his forehead. "Someone, prepare a house for Lieutenant Zhang."
"We need the best spot!"
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