[Interrogation Record]

first

Time: 13th, March, 560

Starting at 8:01

Ends at 9:30

Inquirer: John Thomas, Lieutenant Colonel, Commander, Sixth Battalion, Seventh Regiment

Recorder: Sickingen Müller, Captain, Captain of the Gendarmerie, Solingen Cantonal Garrison Headquarters

Person being questioned: Alfonso de Paiva

[The inquiry content is recorded as follows]

Q: Tell me your name.

Answer: Alfonso de Paiva.

Question: Family situation?

Answer: Mother, two sisters, and one brother.

Question: Not married?

Answer: No.

Q: The name you use in Solingen is Alfonso de Paiva?

Answer: No, my identity in Solingen is the fur trader Kapfen.

Question: What is your real identity?

Answer: Royal Commission for Safety, Commissioner II, Director of the Canton of Solingen

Q: What are your responsibilities?

Answer: (A moment of silence) The intelligence collection of Steel Castle and Solingen State, as well as the intelligence of the six autonomous prefectures, will also be compiled and screened by me, and then sent to Nordmonta.

…

They are all poured from the same mold, and the interview process of the Monta Carabinieri is no different from that of the Veneta Carabinieri.

Moreover, Lieutenant Colonel Thomas must have been determined to handle the case without leakage, so he asked a lot of necessary but not critical information at the beginning of the formal interrogation.

Winters glanced at the unimportant content and pulled the scroll directly to the end.

…

Q: Tell us about the fire on the night of March 10.

Answer: (Silence).

Question: Why don't you speak?

Answer: I don’t know where to start.

Q: Start from the earliest place you can think of. For example, when did you learn about the arson plan? And who told you?

Answer: I didn't know the plan from beginning to end. The messenger only told me what to do, not why.

Question: Messenger?

Answer: Your Majesty... Henry III's most trusted executor. I don't know his name, I only know that he is the messenger.

Question: When did you first meet the emissary?

Answer: A month ago.

Question: Who brought him here?

Answer: No one, he found me by himself.

Question: Then how do you know he is the messenger?

Answer: He carries a token, can read code words, and knows my identity.

Question: What token?

Answer: An iron ring and a key.

Question: Key?

Answer: When the commissioners of the Royal Commission of Security receive their appointment, they are given a steel lock. Each lock corresponds to a key. The key represents the absolute power of the emperor. When the man came to me, he brought my key with him.

…

"Key? Ring."

Winters' mind raced, and he immediately thought of the simple steel ring and the small bunch of keys found in the secret room.

Except for the liquid fire, iron bombs and gunpowder, everything stored in the secret room - including the bags of ballast - was taken away by Winters as trophies and was not given to the Monta Army.

To be precise, Winters never mentioned the cards, keys, and rings to any uninformed person in order to avoid leaking information.

Lieutenant Colonel Thomas, who heard about the "key" for the first time, carefully asked a lot about the key: what material it is made of, what style it is, what size it is, etc.

Winters blinked, turned over this part, and continued to look for the key information.

…

Question: Tell us about the riots. Who were those assassins?

Answer: I don’t know.

Question: Don’t know?

Answer: I don’t know. The Security Committee is not an assassin. It only collects passive information. The mobilization of the garrison, the price fluctuation of flour, the character and tendencies of city councilors and state legislators... I usually inquire about these things.

Q: What happened to those assassins?

Answer: If the emperor wants to get rid of someone who is an eyesore, or if he thinks it is necessary to use force, he will send those swordsmen. As for who those swordsmen are? We don't ask, and they won't tell.

Question: Tell me how you incited the riot.

Answer: (sarcastic smile) If there is no firewood and straw, what is the use of flint and fire sickle?

Question: I'm asking you a question.

Answer: Last year was cold and rainy, and the crops failed. The price of wheat remained high after autumn, and even rose to one gulden per bag after winter. The prices of barley and oats also increased. People had to add more flour.

acorns, lentils, and peas. Even so, the bread that wages can buy is still getting less and less. Also, do you know how many workshops are still in arrears with the wages of their helpers? Do you know...

Q: (Knocking on the table) Answer the questions that are asked of you, but do not answer the questions that are not asked of you.

Answer: (Gasps) The mule workers swallowed their anger because they still held on to the hope that the trade ban would be lifted and their employers would sell their stockpiles and pay off their wages. So as soon as the news came back from the Horn Fort, disappointment was immediately replaced by anger.

.A cry of "Take back what we deserve" and a brave person taking the lead are enough to channel their anger into action.

Answer: You see, the riot is there, it will happen sooner or later, I just speed up the process. And you are so arrogant that you are blind to the anger of the silent ones. Do you know where the mule workers meet regularly? Do you know?

Are there many associations among the mule workers? Do you know who the most prestigious person among the mule workers is? You don't know, because you regard them as mules.

Question: (questioning coldly) So you know everything?

Answer: (Spread your hands).

…

Winters sighed.

Regarding the resettlement of disaster victims, the military and administrative departments of Solingen State have so far failed to come up with a proper plan.

After the fire, rents and bread prices in Steel Castle skyrocketed, causing even many residents who were not affected by the disaster to complain.

Citizens who can afford the rent or have relatives who can join them can still stay in the city for the time being. But those poor people who have nothing to begin with have no way to go to heaven and no way to go to earth.

If Colonel Bern hadn't temporarily recruited a large number of young and middle-aged men to fight the fire and provide food and accommodation, a second round of riots would have broken out in Steel Castle by now.

Servetus's large-scale reconstruction plan looks good to Winters, and can even be said to be the only hope for Steel Castle.

Clearing the ruins and rebuilding the houses required a lot of labor, and Servetus's ambitious plan even included dredging rivers, repairing roads, and expanding the city.

Through some honest and reliable partners, Winters immediately obtained a complete copy of the draft submitted by Servetus to the Executive Committee - the emperor's hand fell, but the steel castle still did not escape being penetrated like a sieve

Same fate.

Unfortunately, no matter how good a mason is, he cannot make bricks without wheat straw.

Although Servetus's plan was good, no one was willing to pay for it. Even if there was a way to "use city assets as collateral for debt", the chance of success was very slim.

Because what Servetus needed was not a small amount of money, but a huge amount of funds, so huge that even the gold Winters brought could only temporarily quench his thirst.

Debts must be repaid after all, and if you borrow money using city assets as security, you have to rely on property owners with citizen rights to pay for it.

And "turning the city from a good asset into a debt hole" is exactly what the "Steel Castle citizens" don't want to see.

According to information received by Winters, the executive members of the city council prefer the "evacuation" option.

That is to say, the unemployed and homeless people in the prefecture are sent to other autonomous prefectures to reduce the food and housing burden of Steel Fort, and then slowly raise funds for reconstruction.

As for what happens next for the evacuees? The executive committee members tacitly did not discuss the topic.
To be continued...