The Hall of Heroes was quiet for a few seconds, everyone was thinking about the meaning of this sentence.

Lumba didn't speak, but he looked at Thales with uncontrollable shock.

cost.

Could it be that this boy...

No, how could he know, how could he understand...

Things that even these princes, who have been immersed in power all their lives, cannot see...

Grand Duke Heisha's hand tightened unconsciously again.

"What on earth are you talking about?" Trudida gritted her teeth, her eyes darting back and forth between Lombard and Lecco: "What change, what price?"

Thales lowered his head and looked at the j dagger lying quietly on the ground after his hand was thrown away.

His eyes drifted into the distance.

An autographed letter from his teacher, Gilbert Castle, suddenly appeared in his mind.

[Exeter's political system... is completely different... King Nunn, in addition to his status as king... is also the Grand Duke of Longxiao City... Exeter's interests are in line with Walton's interests.

It's totally different for him...]

I see.

You are not just talking about King Nun, but also every grand duke family.

The interests of the Kingdom of Exeter are completely different from the interests of the Grand Dukes themselves.

Thank you, Gilbert.

I understand.

Thales' eyes were as bright as a torch, and he scanned the family emblems on the Grand Dukes one by one, and said calmly:

"Lecco of the Silver Chain..."

"Ronnie of the Knight Code..."

"Olesio of Shaguhui..."

"Trudida of the Shining Blade..."

As he called his names one by one, the princes turned their heads and looked solemnly at this foreign prince.

I don't know since when, their habit of looking down on this boy has completely disappeared.

"The reason why you are willing to join forces with Lumba, even to cover up his sins," Thales said softly, "is to decisively solve the unformed threat before the stars become stronger and protect your future."

The prince sighed and immediately became serious: "But please believe me, before Exeter, who is of similar size, and the Kingdom of Stars are completely separated, and the grudges are finally settled..."

The archdukes looked at Thales intently.

Only Lumba was staring at the sword in his hand, his attention seemed to be completely attracted by the sword.

"The family that your Excellencies cherish, the bloodline that you are proud of, the lofty and noble status, the territory that you have painstakingly guarded, the stable and long-standing rule..." There was a wave of emotion in Thales's eyes, which then turned into a firm flame.

.

Just listen to what he said without a doubt: "Everything you are enjoying and taking for granted will be completely annihilated and will no longer exist."

At that moment, all the princes' breathing stopped and their eyes widened.

It was like hearing the most ridiculous news.

Thales's voice continued: "From the moment you accept Lumba, your respective families... there is no such thing as a future."

With a soft sound, another brazier in the hall went out.

A thick chill came out of nowhere.

Thelma behind her was so cold that she hugged her body tightly.

Olesio opened his mouth in surprise and exchanged glances with Trudida. Leco sighed slowly, as if he already knew something.

Lumba closed his eyes.

An unspeakable emotion came from his chest.

"Be clear, kid." Archduke Ronnie stretched out his hand and touched the scar on his neck that was scratched by Croash. The wound that had been poured with strong liquor still had pain, and he said solemnly: "What does it mean to cease to exist?

"

A family bloodline that has been passed down for hundreds or even thousands of years, a vast territory that can compete with a country...

how come……

Thales exhaled a breath and watched it form white mist in front of him.

"Once you follow Lomba south, the oath of co-governance will be in name only. Before war and interests, your balance of power will inevitably be unbalanced. It will be too easy to bring about conflict between you." Thales gritted his teeth and said: "When you think you are suppressing

The moment when he grasped the stars and began to fight for each other, it was the time for him to quietly start to change. It is not just as simple as building an Exter's star army."

He suddenly felt dizzy.

It's that familiar feeling.

"I don't know how much Lumba told you about Xian Jun," the prince rubbed his hands, put them in front of his chin and breathed in the hot air: "But..."

"Efficient management, refined power, increased taxes, and standardized systems." Thales' dizziness became more and more serious. He had to stretch out his right hand, press his forehead, and close his eyes at the same time: "These are all useful

At a price."

The moment he closed his eyes, he seemed to have left the Hall of Heroes.

In front of me is a row of familiar white tables and chairs, with seven or eight laptops placed in front of them. Their respective owners are sitting quietly.

He cleared his throat, lowered his head, and held the neatly typed report in his hand.

[So, in his view, as a transitional stage from old feudal rule to absolutist rule, a hierarchical state was formed at this time...]

Wu Feiren's voice sounded slowly, gentle and calm.

[A city is an autonomous political whole, an aggregation of powerless people united according to their wishes. As a new political force, they have entered the lord-vassal (lr-assal) model, making the typical feudal relationship no longer

A pure dualistic power framework. In other words, the rise of cities supported rulers against feudal princes...]

The next second, Thales opened his eyes and returned to Longxiao City in Errol's world, returning to the dim hall illuminated by the brazier.

"Whether it is professional officials, qualification assessment or state meetings, it all means..."

"First of all, the low-level nobles and civilians in the cities and suburbs," Thales covered his forehead and said tremblingly: "The best of them... will use money, craftsmanship, knowledge and desire for the future to ascend to the new level.

The steps of the nobility...the king will rejoice at their arrival, wield their power at his fingertips, and direct the finger at his domineering vassals."

Trudida lowered her head thoughtfully.

The light and shadow in the hall changed again, and Thales was sitting in the bright classroom again, moving the mouse and talking non-stop.

[The city group will form a new political organization with the class meeting as an example. The monarch intends to collect taxes, and they intend to supervise the use of this tax, thereby restraining the power of the feudal nobles in finance...]

Thales endured the dizziness of switching between the two scenes, and continued painfully:

"Take the State Council of the Stars as an example. These new arenas for civilians to participate in politics will cover handicrafts, commerce, the military, new nobles and other groups. It will become the home court of the king, greatly weakening the influence of both the Grand Duke of a place and the Earl of a city.

Power and prestige, whether it is imposing tax laws or declaring war, the king will have the greatest convenience."

Hearing this, Archduke Olesiu couldn't help but cast a glance at Lombard.

[European universities are the earliest nutrients: Germanic monarchs hired these college students as officials in order to shape their bureaucracies. Prussian iliary_bureauray and iil_bureauray were the most efficient, but they were not to serve the people, but only to serve the country.

It is also the power to serve...]

"More and more new officials will enter the king's field of vision. Their qualifications will replace the blood of the nobles. They will fight against generality with prudence, cover their origins with professionalism, and gradually take over the authority within the country," Thales gasped, experiencing a piece of

A strange feeling as a fragment of memory enters my brain, and I think of the former star tax collector named Urad: "So the old nobles, including your relatives, will no longer be reused. Their taxation and judicial privileges will gradually be deprived, and even you

We have to admit that they are no longer qualified."

Grand Duke Lecco sat motionless and listened quietly.

[What the citizens demand is to establish governing conditions and a legal environment to ensure the city's industrial, commercial and economic development and a peaceful governing order. However, these are things that the feudal system based on the manor economy and small market cannot satisfy.

, this requires rulers to expand their power and centralize power to ensure the interests of the so-called "bourgeois"...]

"Similarly, the king will allocate funds from the increasingly abundant treasury to support and expand the standing army, and maintain domestic order and border security on his own." Thales shook slightly, and Thelma quickly supported him: "He will no longer

Rely on the levied troops in your territory, no longer rely on self-sufficient supplies in your manors and fields, and no longer look at the faces of the grand dukes."

Ronnie suddenly thought of Broken Dragon Fortress. He frowned deeply and looked at Thales with a strange look in his eyes.

[With the development of time, the feudal aristocrats in hierarchical countries could no longer maintain their lives, lost their military significance, could neither maintain political influence, nor lost their ruling power. Under this situation, they must move closer to the rulers. According to the later

The conditions for workers to perform their duties also mean that the rise of cities brought a devastating impact to the feudal system...]

Finally, those strange fragments calmed down in his mind and stopped making trouble.

Thales gasped slightly and patted Thelma's hand.

At that moment, he suddenly found that Rumba was looking at him with a look that was a mixture of surprise, doubt, pain, hatred, relief and other strange emotions.

"Have you felt it? Once this change progresses over time, whether you are the Grand Dukes of one of the separatist parties or the traditional earls of each city, from taxation to the army, from justice to talents, from privileges to status," in the Grand Duke
To be continued...