Over the years, they hadn't gained much benefit, but had suffered a lot. These words from Gaius caused strong emotional fluctuations in a large number of citizens.
The security officers and city defense soldiers responsible for maintaining order around them felt a thump in their hearts and had a bad premonition.
Looking at the black mass of citizens in the square, they couldn't help swallowing, their mouths dry with tension:
If so many people were stirred up by Gaius and rushed to the Senate, the Administrative Hall, and other places, showing serious violent tendencies, should they stop them or not, should they open fire or not?
Although they had orders from above not to be soft-hearted, and they had tried their best to persuade their families, relatives, and friends not to participate in this citizen assembly, the Initial City was definitely not small, it was the largest city in the Ashlands. But it couldn't be considered too big either. After deducting foreign wanderers, the huge slave population, and those involved in the army and reclamation corps stationed in other settlements and subordinate city-states, the number of citizens was only a few hundred thousand. Many people could be related to each other indirectly.
Shooting at acquaintances would make anyone hesitate and be soft-hearted.
Besides, was Gaius lying?
No, in the eyes of these citizen security officers and city defense soldiers, every word of this general struck a chord in their hearts. It was the reality they usually saw and heard.
Gaius did not follow everyone's thoughts and take the opportunity to talk about how the good situation of the "Initial City" was being slowly eroded and destroyed. Instead, he said:
"Many of you probably no longer have your own land."
This sentence was like a spark falling into a pot of oil, instantly igniting the atmosphere.
People were shouting loudly in different parts of the square:
"We want land!"
"We want land!"
Gaius stretched out his left hand and pressed down, signaling everyone to be quiet and listen to him:
"There are many reasons why you lost your land:
"Some of you encountered extreme weather, and grain production was greatly reduced, so you had to borrow from certain people and certain institutions. As interest accumulated day by day, and similar things happened again and again, you were forced to sell your possessions to repay, and eventually you handed over your land;
"Some of you had a bumper harvest, but those who occupied a lot of land deliberately started a price war, so that you could only fill your own stomachs, and suffered losses in other aspects. You still had to pay the full amount of taxes, and year after year, you still ended up borrowing;
"Some of you had family members who were seriously ill; some of you encountered bandits; some of you had problems because you guaranteed someone else; some of you encountered sudden disasters... In short, you were forced to borrow and fell into a vicious cycle.
"And what did the Senate, what did the people in charge of the Administrative Hall say?
"They said that this was either your own fault, your own problem, or normal competition, or an unfortunate situation that deserves sympathy but cannot be helped from a legal point of view."
Listening to Gaius's speech, many people recalled their own experiences or those of their parents.
Everyone could relate to one of these things, either themselves or their families.
Under the repeated propaganda from the upper echelons, they did believe that it was mainly their own fault, so they were even more aggrieved and angry, and could only hope that the "Initial City" would continue to expand outwards, so that they could use the fire in their hearts to exchange for new land.
At this moment, Gaius deliberately paused for a few seconds before saying:
"No, they are lying!"
He amplified his voice, and with the help of the microphone, it vibrated everyone's ears and stirred up their hearts.
Gaius looked around and said:
"Indeed, some people ruined their families because of their own alcoholism, laziness, or indulgence, and had to sell their land, but this is only a minority.
"Most citizens will be forced to sell their land if grain production is reduced, and they will slowly embark on the road of selling land even if there is a bumper harvest, it just means they can last a few more years.
"Under such a reality, no matter what you do, your land will eventually be concentrated in the hands of certain people.
"Does it seem a bit incomprehensible why? I'll tell you why!
"When you encounter extreme weather and grain production is reduced, and you need relief, where are the Senate and the Administrative Hall?
"When there is a bumper harvest of grain and prices fall, and official purchases are needed to maintain stability, where are the Senate and the Administrative Hall?
"When those unreasonable interest rates accumulate again and again, becoming exaggerated enough, where are the Senate and the Administrative Hall?
"When you only need a helping hand once to get through the difficulties and enter a virtuous cycle, where are the Senate and the Administrative Hall?
"Some of them are busy buying cheap land, busy lending money to you through agents, busy arranging for people to accuse you in newspapers, on the radio, and on television, saying that you don't know how to manage, are unwilling to learn, and are not good at farming!"
During Gaius's short pause, Hope Square was completely silent, so quiet that the security officer Wahl and other descendants of nobles suspected that a huge vortex was brewing.
At this moment, they felt as if flames were emerging from the eyes of the security officers and city defense soldiers around them.
Gaius, who had always been serious and expressionless, let his face be stained with excitement:
"They are busy attending banquets, each time able to use up a cow and multiple sheep, busy counting aurei, buying exquisite clothes and accessories, busy worshiping evil gods, indulging their desires, and intertwining naked!
"They are busy colluding with cults, colluding with our number one enemy, conspiring internally and externally, to consolidate their power!
"Everything in the 'Initial City' was exchanged for with our heads and blood by all citizens. The power of the Senate was given to them by us through the Citizens' Assembly. Is this how they treat us?
"We are the masters of the 'Initial City'. We need powerful representatives to remove those parasites and supervise their every move!"
Gaius shouted hoarsely, causing a fanatical light to shine in the eyes of every citizen present.
Just as Wahl thought the powder keg was about to explode, Gaius changed the subject:
"I think you have all heard that Senator Varo colluded with the 'Salvation Army' and the 'Anti-Intellectualism Church' to harm the 'Initial City', but was protected by some people in the Senate, and has not been convicted for a long time."
As soon as Gaius finished speaking, deafening shouts rang out in the square:
"Severely punish Varo! Severely punish Varo!"
Uh... Wahl was a little surprised to hear that.
He didn't expect that the target his father-in-law was ultimately pointing to was just Varo, who was about to be stripped of his senatorial status, rather than the Chief Executive and Commander-in-Chief Beuris, or those upper-class people in the Senate who were either conservative or neutral and unwilling to radically change the status quo.
This is also good, this is also good... At least the conflict can be controlled to a certain extent and will not bring about major turmoil... Wahl breathed a slight sigh of relief.
But he didn't dare to be too relieved, because this was just the current situation. If those people in the Senate were unwilling to compromise, things would naturally become intense, affect the entire city, and could no longer be cleaned up.
...
Somewhere in the Red Giant Wolf District, near the Golden Apple District.
Shang Jianyao put on his sunglasses, took a few quick steps, and bent down to take something out of a crack in the wall of a building.
It was the pass that Focas had someone put there.
After placing the pass below the windshield, Bai Chen drove the car into the Golden Apple District.
Soon, they encountered the first temporary checkpoint.
The city defense soldiers confirmed the authenticity of the pass and let them pass without doing any search.
"Phew..." Long Yuehong in the back row slowly exhaled.
"Don't talk!" Shang Jianyao reminded him with a "cautious" expression.
"I didn't want to say anything," Long Yuehong couldn't help but retort.
Giuseppe, the "Garibaldi" among the two, looked left and right, not understanding why they were arguing about this.
At this time, Jiang Baimian glanced at the rearview mirror and said hesitantly:
"Giuseppe, after meeting that person, our subsequent actions are likely to unfold in a storm. Do you want to find a place to get off the bus and take temporary refuge in advance, and then rejoin us to leave the city after everything has calmed down?"
Not to mention comparing him with Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao, even if Long Yuehong was brought over, Giuseppe was no match for him and was not suitable for participating in actions that emphasized individual abilities.
Giuseppe thought for a while and said:
"Just drop me off when you enter Emperor Street.
"I have a friend who is a guard captain nearby and can take me in for a while until the turmoil ends."
If there was no turmoil, the "Old Task Force" would not have any follow-up actions.
"Okay." After Jiang Baimian nodded, she looked ahead and did not speak for a long time, not knowing what she was thinking.
This made Long Yuehong a little uneasy and couldn't help but ask:
"Team Leader, what are you thinking about?"
Jiang Baimian withdrew her gaze and nodded slightly:
"I'm taking advantage of the last peaceful moments to review the changes in the situation in Initial City and predict possible developments."
"I see..." Long Yuehong breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Before he could finish his words, Jiang Baimian added:
"The more I think about it, the more I feel that we have some blind spots, very important blind spots..."
"Indeed, we all think we have ignored something." Shang Jianyao raised his hand and touched his chin.
This... Long Yuehong's body tightened again.
Bai Chen, who was driving, said tentatively:
"The attitude of that Chief Executive and Commander-in-Chief?
"The attitude of those above the 'Mind Corridor' level Awakened in Initial City?"
"These are all factors that must be put into the model for analysis from the beginning..." Jiang Baimian shook her head. "I have thought about these aspects many times when determining the plan, but I have never found the blind spot. Well, I plan to quickly review my past experiences to see if I can find inspiration."
Speaking of this, she took the opportunity to teach her team members:
"When you get into a dead end thinking about a problem, you can try to jump out and analyze your own accumulation of knowledge and experience, and draw inferences from other things."
"Yes, yes." Long Yuehong said that he had learned something.
The jeep moved forward slowly, the inside was quiet, and everyone was thinking seriously or deducing the subsequent changes in Initial City.
Nearly ten minutes passed, Jiang Baimian suddenly sat up straight and blurted out:
"I remembered our experience in Redstone Collection.
"Wei and I were watched by the Year Star 'You Gu'."
While Long Yuehong and Bai Chen were a little confused, Shang Jianyao clenched his right fist and hit his left palm:
"Right, what we ignored was the Year Star!"
Jiang Baimian hummed and said in a low voice:
"Even the changes in the situation in such a small place as Redstone Collection were watched by the Year Star. How can we ignore the attitude of the Year Stars towards the internal strife of the largest force in the Ashlands, 'Initial City'?"
...
Somewhere in the Golden Apple District.
The Chief Executive and Commander-in-Chief of "Initial City," Beuris, walked alone into a secret room with thick curtains and an extremely dark environment.