The audience present watched Tom cry more and more sadly, and he seemed to be breaking out from crying. Without exception, they all felt a little sad for Tom.
Minister Rene, as the highest-ranking nobleman present and the only person present who had any previous friendship with Tom, took the initiative to help up the "chief knight of the royal family" - Sir Tom Smith, who was in tears and with runny nose.
"Knight Smith, please stop crying and take care of yourself."
"Minister René, my lord..."
"Get up."
Tom had just stood up with the help of Minister René, and his "sorrow" had been relieved a little.
After the two of them had walked a few steps, Tom broke away from Minister Rene's support, shook off Minister Rene, turned around and knelt down in front of the coffin again.
"It's my incompetence!"
"If I could have come here a few months earlier, why would your Majesty be like this?"
"Why is this so!"
Tom roared at the ground and beat his hands heavily on the ground.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
While pounding the ground, Tom secretly activated the "mechanism" prepared in advance on the armor.
Within a few hammer blows, the armor around Tom's arms fell apart. To outsiders, it looked like the armor had been smashed by Tom.
At the same time, "blood" flowed from the corners of Tom's mouth and both fists. He kicked his legs and passed out due to "excessive grief and anger".
"Knight Smith!"
Minister Rene was shocked. Tom passed out like this in front of him?
He quickly called to the attendants around him to carry Tom down to rest.
Tom was carried into the bedroom and lay on the bed. Loki sent away all the attendants around him.
Now, there were only Tom, John, Johnny, and Rocky in the bedroom, and a few close men were guarding the door.
"Bah, bah, bah!"
"Next time, add some sugar to the fake blood. The taste is too strong."
"Don't you insist on putting on such a show?"
After only four people were left, Tom stopped pretending and sat up directly, took a mouthful of boiled water and rinsed his mouth.
"You can't blame me, let alone now. A hundred years from now, when a new leader comes to power, even if they are not from the same lineage, they will still cry for the dead old leader. This is a human custom."
"The question is, didn't we conquer all of Northern Mexico? Do they belong to the same family?"
"My vision is wrong. We are a hero company, a company. How can we openly own territories? Those are the lands of His Majesty the Emperor. We are just helping His Majesty the Emperor expel those rebels who are not loyal to the Emperor!"
Loki was a little unhappy when he heard this. He didn't understand what an emperor was. He only knew that the land was taken down by the Hero Company. Why should it belong to the dead man lying in the coffin?
Not only Rocky, Johnny and John, who usually have a poker face in front of outsiders, also showed their displeasure directly on their faces even though they didn't say it explicitly.
Tom also noticed the dissatisfaction of the three of them. Tom planned to use his advice to Loki to explain to the three of them why he did what he did.
"Loki, don't be so excited. I'll sort it out for you."
"Tom, tell me."
"Who do the "security guards" on this earth listen to?"
"Listen to our hero company."
“Who owns the factories on this land?”
"It belongs to our hero company."
"Who owns the mines in this land?"
"It's still from our hero company."
"So, does it matter who owns this land?"
"this……"
The three of them are somewhat bound to the traditional "land thinking".
The three of them followed Tom's logic and realized that Tom was right. In addition to the fact that the land belongs to the Austrian Habsburg royal family in name, all the actual benefits belong to Hero Company.
“If you can, it’s okay to give this land to the Mexican people, so what’s the harm in giving it to them in name?”
"Our hero company is responsible for mining."
"Our hero company is responsible for building roads."
"Our hero company built the factory."
"Even if you dig out a golden antique from the Aztec period on the road, you have to hand it over to the Mexican Antiquities Bureau controlled by our hero company."
“Does it really matter who owns this land?”
"And we are not rulers. With a little guidance, these local people will spurn the rulers we control."
"Let a puppet government rule on the surface but rule without governing. Our hero company governs without governing."
"After all the minerals and other resources are drained, we can just slap our butts and leave. There is no need to consider the maintenance of these unprofitable lands."
"This way our hero company can sit back and relax."
Tom admonished the three of them, and at the same time began to take off his "performance clothes" - the tattered knight's armor.
"Loki, you have to remember that there is no point in owning land in name only."
"The most important thing is whether we can access the resources on this land."
"Owning land in name will only bind you like this armor."
July 3, 1867
In the past six months or so, Hero Company has occupied about five-sixths of the land in Mexico. The dividing line between the United Mexican States and the Second Mexican Empire is now:
The land in the north that is suitable for industrialization and agriculture and contains a large amount of minerals is firmly controlled by the hero company.
The United Mexican States can only struggle to engage in guerrilla warfare in the southern rainforest areas, trying to recreate the glory of Mexico from the miasma and wild beasts.
As for population, there were more than 8 million people in Mexico last year, but now there are only about 6.5 million left.
Of the entire population of the United Mexican States, 6 million are Indians.
The Second Mexican Empire only had a population of 500,000, and these 500,000 were employees of the Hero Company.
Strictly speaking, the Second Mexican Empire no longer had a population.
As for where were the seven million native Mexicans living in northern Mexico before that?
They have dreamed of serving God since they were young, and hero company only helps them realize their dreams.
Let them go to the rainforest area to continue serving God and become ascetics,
Leave the fertile land and minerals to Tom, who doesn't respect God very much.
Today is the day for peace talks between the Second Empire of Mexico and the United Mexican States and other parties.
The location of the peace talks was: San Luis Potosi, a city north of Mexico City that was once one of the largest cities in Mexico.
This is also the hinterland of the area currently occupied by the Second Mexican Empire, Tom's Knight Army.
There were seven representatives sitting around the peace table, representing seven different forces.
They are:
Representative of the Second Mexican Empire - Tom Smith.
Representative of the Second French Empire—Minister René.
Representative of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Representative of the Spanish colonial empire.
Representative of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
Representative of the Kingdom of Belgium.
Representative of the United Mexican States - President Benito.
Among the seven representatives, except for two "natives of the American colonies", the remaining five European nobles came for colonial interests.
The five of them also started a heated discussion in an attempt to resolve the dispute of interests peacefully.
After more than half an hour of "peaceful and friendly" chatting, various forces finally reached a consensus on the Mexican issue.