Over the next few days, the punished families engaged in a frantic and desperate struggle to collect the fines.
Families selling off their assets frantically counted every valuable item in their homes. The treasury of Count Carlos's family was turned upside down, with ancient paintings and calligraphy, precious porcelain, and even ancient weapons that had once symbolized the family's glory being taken out in search of buyers.
Count Fehrman was even more anxious. He sold all the jewelry collected by his family for generations to wealthy businessmen in the royal capital at extremely low prices.
Families seeking loans ran far and wide, begging humbly. They shuttled between various chambers of commerce, making countless promises and staking the future of their territories. Some families, in their quest to secure the loans, even signed harsh contracts with staggeringly high interest rates, leaving them burdened with heavy debt for years to come.
In order to make a quick buck, some nobles directly extended their black hands to the wealthy merchants in their fiefdoms. They imprisoned the wealthy merchants on various trumped-up charges and forcibly seized their wealth.
Wealthy merchants were powerless to resist, watching their accumulated wealth being plundered, many losing everything. Other families used the mineral veins on their fiefdoms as bargaining chips to trade with powerful factions. While this gained them much-needed money, they also lost vital resources.
With this series of frantic operations, the fines of the viscounts and barons were quickly paid. On the earl's side, gold coins, armor, potions, and other supplies were also delivered on time, but the crucial knights were nowhere to be seen.
For a time, the entire northern aristocracy was watching secretly, and everyone was wondering whether the prince would be angry about this and what consequences those earls would face.
As the days passed, everyone's curiosity and tension grew. Finally, on the seventh day, the counts gradually handed in their three reorganized knight orders. These knights, dressed in brand new armor, lined up neatly in the square.
However, after handing over the Knights, the Earls all had dark faces, their eyes filled with resentment and anger. Without a word, they turned and hurried away, leaving everyone pointing and criticizing behind them. This farce caused by the punishment finally came to a temporary end.
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