Unknown Intrusion

Chapter 69 The Duties of a Mayor
Even if the rules were broken, the Cai family's power was not insignificant. If Su Yu hadn't reminded him to be aware of it in advance, it would have been too late by the time he realized it.

If the matter is already settled, even if an appeal is filed in parliament, strictly speaking, most of the losses will not be recovered.

Song Shuying broke out in a cold sweat!
Su Yu waited until Song Shuying finished reading before saying, "Sir, I have a request."

"Please say."

Su Yu bowed deeply with a sincere and solemn expression: "After I go to sea, I hope the Song family can protect my mother."

"That's it? I agree!"

Even if Su Yu hadn't brought it up, Song Shuying would have done it anyway; and since Su Yu did bring it up, Song Shuying immediately agreed.

"Don't worry, the Song family will never let anything happen to your mother. I, Song Shuying, swear on the honor of the Song family."

For a family with a title, reputation is sometimes more important than their own lives.

Protecting an ordinary woman is not a difficult task.

The Song family wouldn't need to pay a heavy price for this. In fact, Song Shuying thought it was nothing at all, and it was incomparable to the intelligence provided by Su Yu.

Thinking of the information she had just received and the astonishing talent she had displayed, what else could Song Shuying say?

Just then, he suddenly paused, as if he had suddenly heard something.

"Please wait a moment," Song Shuying said to Su Yu.

"Qiong Yao, go to my lounge and entertain Su Yu."

After giving her daughter these instructions, Song Shuying left.

Thinking back to the slight fluctuation of power he had just sensed, Su Yu's eyes flickered. What had happened?

The lounge was magnificent. After sitting for a while, tea and snacks were served, and Song Qiongyao introduced one of the snacks to Su Yu.

"Taste this."

Under Song Qiongyao's watchful gaze, Su Yu picked up a piece and put it in his mouth.

It melts in your mouth, and the flavor is not very sweet, just a light sweetness, with a faint fragrance of roses.

Judging from the taste of this cake, it seems that no roses were added?

"Rose?" Su Yu asked Song Qiongyao, "Is there rose in the ingredients of this dessert?"

Song Qiongyao shook her head.

"That means... there are roses in the auxiliary materials."

Song Qiongyao nodded and said, "I noticed you seem to really like roses. I wonder what you think of them?"

"It's delicious," Su Yu answered honestly.

However, more than eating it, he was curious about how the dessert was made.

Qiaoqiao should like it, right?

Thinking this, he slowly ate another small piece.

This dessert is indeed delicious. He can try using roses as an ingredient later.

However, Su Yu was a little confused, so he asked, "How many years has the Duke been mayor?"

It's understandable that her high school classmates don't care much about this. Song Qiongyao replied, "This is the second year. Actually, there are less than two more years until I finish my compulsory education."

"Obligation?" Su Yu leaned back slightly on the sofa, searching his memory for information.

In the year 1189 of the Ying Kingdom calendar, Sir Li Wen became the first mayor of the capital city of Blue Moon and the entire Ying Kingdom.

In the year 1215 of the Ying Kingdom calendar, the king officially issued a charter to confirm this, authorizing the citizens of Blue Moon City to elect a mayor each year, thus beginning the history of the mayoral system in the Ying Kingdom.

From 1300 onwards, major cities, especially autonomous cities directly ruled by the king, generally established a mayoral system, with mayors selected through a combination of citizen elections and royal appointment. Elected mayors were required to meet with the king or his representative and swear an oath of allegiance to the royal authority.

Blackshire is no exception.

These are things that were briefly discussed in middle school history classes, but the concept of "duty" was a blind spot for Su Yu. In his mind, the mayor was an official, a lucrative position, so how could the word "duty" be used to describe him?

“It’s an obligation, just like military service—Dad works very hard as mayor.”

"Furthermore, once you become mayor, you can't directly manage the family business, otherwise you'll face impeachment by the county council!"

"It's so hard, and there's no pay!" Song Qiongyao seemed a little resentful: "If I quit, I'll be fined!"

Seeing that he didn't understand, she seemed to have learned her aristocratic manners quite well, and explained a little...

It turns out that in the year 1346, Blue Moon City stipulated that if a citizen was elected mayor but refused to perform his duties, he would not only have to pay a fine of 100 gold siren, but would also be sentenced to one year in prison. He could pay an additional 1000 gold siren to offset the imprisonment.

This was not just a piece of paper. In 1368, after Mr. Zhang Xiande was elected mayor of Blue Moon City, he refused to take office, which led to a re-election. Therefore, in the presence of several municipal officials, he paid a total of 1100 gold serpents in fines to the then mayor at the city hall.

Now, with economic development, fines have increased threefold!
Su Yu was stunned.

At this moment, Song Shuying, who had left, returned. After hearing the topic, she smiled and said, "It used to be like this. Indeed, quite a few people wanted to shirk their duties as mayor."

"However, although I cannot engage in business and do not even receive a salary, in fact, handling administrative matters is a platform for expanding my knowledge, network, and even exchanging benefits!"

Song Shuying took a sip of tea and started chatting with Su Yu.

"Like titles of nobility, there used to be many merchants who, even if they had accumulated land, were unwilling to accept the titles of gentleman or knight, because they believed that this would create additional obligations to the king and the kingdom."

Su Yu couldn't help but laugh and said, "Sir, then they don't read books, do they?"

Accepting the titles of gentleman and knight certainly increases one's obligations to the king and the kingdom, but it also grants access to high society!

"Yes, they don't read books, so many merchants, even if they become very wealthy for a time, will decline and die within two or three generations."

"Therefore, people should read books!"

As Song Shuying spoke, she glanced at the time and said, "The city hall is in office hours, so I won't keep you any longer. My home isn't far away, and the Song family has a library. Although it doesn't have many books, there are some. If you'd like, Su Yu, you can stay overnight and read some books in the library."

Read a book!

This is actually a great reward.

In this world, all books are extremely precious, and even Su Yu himself doesn't own many.

The Song family truly lives up to its reputation as a baronial family, possessing its own library. And for a baron to refer to it as a library, its scale must be considerable, containing a vast collection of books.

The books that are collected are probably even more exquisite.

The other party actually allowed him to go to the Song family's library to read books?

This is a treatment that even close friends and relatives might not receive.

Although he didn't know why Song Shuying suddenly had this idea, and it seemed like a spur-of-the-moment decision, Su Yu certainly wouldn't turn down such a good opportunity.

Being able to read books in the Song family library is something that even Su Yu, who has a "golden finger" (a special ability to gain advantages), would be eager to do.

Su Yu immediately replied, "I would be delighted to be able to read books in your esteemed library."

Song Qiongyao, who was standing to the side, was stunned by her father's extravagant gesture.

In this world, books are extremely precious, especially those concerning the science of power (mysticism) and sociology (social laws), which are virtually unavailable on the market.

Even if you want to spend money to buy them, without connections, the number of books you can buy is very limited.

The books used in school are all abridged, designed to teach students general knowledge, technical skills, and service-related skills.

You could say they're all about service!
The more sociological or physical the book, the more difficult it is to obtain.

(End of this chapter)