"The snow is getting heavier and heavier." Lian Zixin looked out the window, and at a glance, the outside turned into a world covered in silver.
Dong Xie looked at the window at this time, always a little worried. After all, anything happening now would not be surprising.
"Let me boil some more hot water." Kuang Wenxuan stood up, "First fill up all the hot water bottles."
"Let me help you, Wenxuan." Gao Yiyu also stood up.
"Wait." Mu Ziyi said immediately: "You stay here. From now on, anyone who is separated from us must say the code again. So, try to act as a group."
After hearing what Mu Ziyi said, everyone could only sit down.
"The sound coming from outside the black wall, I speculate... is probably related to the entrance to hell."
Hearing Mu Ziyi's words, everyone's expressions became solemn.
The entrance to hell is the Sword of Damocles that has been hanging over every resident's head. No one knows when this sword will fall.
Dong Xie looked at the black square drawn by Mu Ziyi again, and said: "Then, we now have two choices. Go deep into the core area inside the black wall, find a high-level mask, and obtain further information, or... just like this
Leave the black wall and follow the Black Corpse team to find the golden mask outside the wall."
The only golden mask, once found, will become the undoubted king within the black wall!
As for going deep into the core area, the most important thing is to find a way to obtain a higher-level mask.
Yes, the gray mask is indeed the lowest mask. However, wealth can be found in danger. In fact, the intermediary had introduced them to the business of forging mask colors before. And the beggar told Dong Xie that even if the security was relatively good,
In the rich area of the city, there are also people who take desperate risks and hunt down rich people wearing high-end masks!
"Generally, low-level masks must obey high-level ones. Although there are specific restrictions on the command authority of different colors, people who disobey will become face-splitting ones, but... there are actually many countermeasures. For example, wearing a mask with fake colors,
Kill the high-level maskers and take their masks."
"Another common situation is the mask kidnapper. Originally, the mask will break after the owner dies, but many rich people have multiple spare masks. As long as the last wearer of the mask does not die, the mask will not break."
"The so-called mask kidnappers usually choose to kidnap the children of high-level maskers. They usually commit crimes in groups, so they have higher requirements for the number of masks. Even if the child has a high-level mask, he only needs to stun the child at first, and then cover his mouth to let the child
They were unable to speak, and even cut off their tongues to make them unable to speak. Anyway, all the masks have hollow mouths, so it is not difficult to cut off the tongues. Then they asked for a mask of a specified color as a ransom."
"Actually... so cruel?"
"Under normal circumstances, the rate of rejection will be very high. This kind of kidnapping crime remains high every year. Although it is expressly prohibited by law to seize a mask that is two levels higher than your own, as long as you take away a high-level mask, you can gain money and power at your fingertips.
This type of people actually make up a high proportion of high-level maskers, and they will spend money to support the elected members of Congress who help them to change the law for them. In fact, in the past, it was illegal to seize masks under any circumstances."
In fact, in the circle of the rich, this kind of thing has been in a semi-tacit state. In the final analysis, it is a contest between old money and new money. The person who takes the mask becomes new money, and they and old money are also
It is those people with high-level ancestral masks who support the silver-faced councilors and act in their interests.
After all, this is an open secret that even beggars know. With just one vote, you can switch from a low-level pariah to a nouveau riche.
"However," Gao Yiyu still felt incredible: "If the one who takes the mask is an ordinary gray mask, even if he wears a blue mask, can he easily gain money and power?"
"Generally, there are two situations." Dong Xie explained: "The first situation is to kill the rich man and seize his mask, then completely impersonate him. Of course, this requires long-term collection of the other party's information and the help of an insider.
When this kind of situation first occurred, the King of the Golden Mask who still existed at that time established a strict code to punish it. There was even a strict household registration system at that time to distinguish people with the same mask, but now the household registration system has been completely abolished. "
"This is natural." Mu Ziyi added: "In the early days, there were only old money. As vested interests, they were also the real ruling class. It was impossible to allow the people below to change their masks and blend into their class."
"But... as times change, things are different. The people who seize masks are becoming more and more clever and cunning, and more and more of them are slipping through the net, and they are mixed into the high-level mask class, at least among the middle class, the proportion is
Higher and higher."
"Moreover, no one can have wealth forever. If a rich man declines and goes bankrupt, his mask will be used as an asset to pay off debts and fall into the hands of other people. Except for gold and silver masks, other masks can be changed through fertility.
Reproduction increases. New money class continues to accumulate.”
"Sounds magical..."
Mother Ziyi shook her head and said: "It's not magical at all. In the past, Spain, Britain, and even the United States today relied on foreign colonial expansion after the geographical discovery, and then used the industrial revolution to wash away their banditry history and become
He became the founder of modern civilization. Who still remembers that the United States was first established by a group of Puritans who were exiled to the British colonies? They still shout about human rights, democracy and freedom every day, while the bones of Indians, black slaves and Chinese laborers on their land are
Completely forgotten. What happened to this wall is nothing in comparison."
Again.
Those who steal the hook will be punished, and those who steal the country will be punished by the princes.
Dong Xie continued: "When there are more people like this, they hope that the law will gradually recognize the legality of their actions to seize masks, but they do not want anyone to take away their masks again, so the act of seizing masks within the first level is legal."
The law of compromise was enacted.”
"Is this what the beggar told you?"
"I analyzed it myself. It's not difficult to imagine." Dong Xie didn't want to say more on this topic, and then started to get down to the topic: "And the second situation... is also something I'm considering. The higher the level of the mask, the better.
The more privileges you have. Even those who were previously impoverished can no longer worry about running out of money as long as they wear a high-end mask. If you have read O. Henry's Millions of Pounds, you will definitely feel the same way about this."
"If you wear a black mask, you have the right to hire laborers, apply for a business license, and become self-employed. If you wear a red mask, you can use the mask as collateral for a low-interest loan, gain the power to hire others to mine minerals, and obtain all mining proceeds.
, and even have the power to purchase land. And if you own a blue mask... you can gain high political power and be automatically regarded as a public servant. The government inside the wall will provide subsidies to all people with blue masks, and they can directly work in government agencies
At the same time, when people in red masks need to cooperate with the government, they need the approval of blue-masked civil servants. Therefore, even if you are not a bureaucrat with a high-level position, as long as you get a good job, there are many opportunities to make money.
"
"Can you become a civil servant by wearing a blue mask?" Kuang Wenxuan sniffed: "It's so difficult to take the civil servant exam in our country! Here, you can become an official if you are born with a blue mask? Isn't this government a child's play?"
"This is normal based on the class level based on the color of the mask. And you can only become a civil servant. How high you can climb depends on the officialdom. And the beggar told me one thing in the end..."
"In order to alleviate the current economic pressure, the government decided to implement the official buying system. In other words... as long as you have enough money, you can buy a blue mask!"
"Selling an official position openly?" Kuang Wenxuan took a breath of air, "Really or not? Even if it is sold, it cannot be done openly, right?"
Mu Ziyi said: "Have you seen "Towards a Republic"? On the eve of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894, the Beiyang Navy was in deficit, and something like this happened."
"But can we afford it?"
"So this is just one of my current considerations. But if we buy the blue mask and find someone to wear it, we can mobilize others to go outside the black wall to find the entrance to hell and clues to the golden mask for us!"
