NovelChina Chapter 711 - Visiting the in-laws: Port City of Hurley (Part 1)
Chapter 711 - Visiting the in-laws: Port City of Hurley (Part 1)
After almost a week in Papierey, it was finally time to move on to the next region for the audit and the in-law visit. Since I could not teleport Helios out in the open, I opted to hire a carriage that will bring me to the next region as usual. As to why there will only be one person alighting the carriage by the time we reach the destination, they just have to wonder on their own and it is not my obligation to explain.Once me and Helios are about half an hour away from the borders of the Ancient City of Kalina, I quickly teleported back with Helios to the palace in Hoffen City. I also gave a heads up to Xenos to get ready since I am already on a carriage on my way to the Port City of Hurley and I expect to arrive within today. Afterwards, I teleported back inside the carriage before the coachman notices that nobody is inside.
It took almost a whole day before I reached the borders of Lumeleira Region where the Port City of Hurley is located together with other smaller towns, both coastal and inland. Since most of the borders of the territory are next to the ocean and technically at the ends of a huge land area, it took some time for me to reach the area.
We passed by a few small forests along the way where I made sure to make quick stops to harvest valuable things on the way. The nearer we were to the coastline, the more dry the ground looked and the less plants I saw. It was most likely because of the high salinity in the ground water being absorbed till then by the soil.
As for the duke’s residence, they made sure that it was built near enough to the port area where the economy is the busiest and liveliest but also not too near that it would endanger the life of the duchess and her family in case there is a storm or high waves. It was at least a few miles away from the coast line, easily accessible to the main roads and different modes of transportation.
As I reached the central area of the Lumeleira Region, the first place I needed to visit was of course the duchy that governs this place. I made my courtesy visit and explained what I came in that place for. I went to the office and did what is expected of me faithfully as an auditor from the capital.
As expected, there was the usual cases of bribing, corruption, power tripping, unfair labor practices, evasion of taxes and fraud in a place which such a lively economy. As how I have been doing it so far, I did a total sweep of everything just like in the last two duchies. I came so unexpectedly that the current officials did not even have time to hide their tracks or destroy evidences of their wrong doings.
Though I checked and covered every single person in position and all the transactions that involved government transactions and fees, of course, my primary goal is to uncover shady dealings under the Hurley Countdom that is currently being led by Countess Alexandria Hurley, Xenos’ mother. Well, I can say that the first shady thing I noticed is how she put her relatives in official positions (a ton of them). There were also people that were hired that does not seem to have anything to do with the Hurleys but were actually proxies and puppets. It was quite exciting finding all the paper trail and money trail for this one.
As I studied the map of the Port City of Hurley and all the place of business inside of it, I noticed that it was technically divided into 5 parts. Two parts are of course under the current duke and duchess and their own people. One part was owned by the Hurley countdom. One part was under the Gale barony while the last part was divided between different people both holding lower official positions and those that are of merchant origins. The problem comes from the last part since the Hurley countdom was using proxies and puppets then made it appear that they were owned by commoners or merchants.
After I found out about this, I immediately discussed it with the duke and duchess together with all the evidence I have found on the said issue. The duke and duchess were shocked about how much the Hurleys have taken under control covertly over the years. As for the reason I discussed it with the duchy first before starting on filing cases and passing judgements, it is because I want someone in power to put pressure on the Hurleys without me having to do anything.
When I visited the duchy for the first time, I noticed that the duke and duchess were not as neutral or passive as the two other duchies I have visited. There is a certain glint of greed in their eyes. It was a greed for money, additional benefits and of course, power. People who cling to power are naturally untrusting to others. They hate instability so they will definitely snuff out any signs of possible betrayal (specifically moles), families trying to compete with their interests and lastly, anything that damages their reputation that will result to the loss of public trust.
I am not saying that the duchy was squeaky clean. I am just saying that they are trying to keep their greed at a minimum. They still give what is just to the public and to the crown. They are kind to their constituents and their trustworthy companions but they are ruthless to those that try to make their reign unstable or those that try to encroach on what isn’t theirs.
This may also be the reason why the Hurley family can only work on adding more to their power and wealth covertly. Now that the duchy knew about the proxies and the puppets (care of yours truly), there is a great show that is about to start. I believe my clean up in this region would be fun and exciting.