Excluding the Sunstrider royal family, which is essentially the largest noble in the kingdom, the four nobles with the hereditary title of Duke are the apex of all the nobles in Quel'Thalas.
Logically speaking, the four nobles will naturally safeguard the interests of the nobles, because these nobles are the basis for maintaining their influence.
But it's just like what Sharlayan mentioned to Kael'thas and the cabinet many times.
Today's Azeroth is undergoing major changes that have never happened in ten thousand years. The staid Quel'Thalas must keep up with the changes of the times, otherwise sooner or later it will be left far behind by other countries that strive for change.
As the earliest civilized country in the Eastern Kingdoms, the troll conventions are ignored, and Quel'Thalas has its own pride.
At the end of Anastria's reign, due to the long-term internal strife between the Sunstrider royal family and the Silver Moon Council, Quel'Thalas was surpassed by the rising star of Lordaeron in terms of overall national strength.
But even so, Quel'Thalas at that time still had unique advantageous industries, and the gap between it and Lordaeron was not too big.
As the young and energetic Kael'thas ascended the throne, Lordaeron, who had grown up to be powerful and popular, suffered many ups and downs in the following years, and the gap in national power between the two sides experienced a miraculous reversal.
The natural disasters destroyed the originally prosperous Eastern Plaguelands of East Weld, and the neighboring Plaguelands of East Tirisfal and West were also affected a lot.
After the Battle of Seamount, under the leadership of Queen Calia, Lordaeron, which had experienced many wars, finally entered a state of full cultivation.
Today, East Tirisfal, which was less severely affected, has basically restored its food production capacity, but the East Wilder region is still in a state of chaos.
The reorganized main force of the undead, under the leadership of the new Lich King, withdrew from Azeroth and settled in Draenor. Only the Stratholme region remained as the last retreat for the new undead organization "Free Will".
For Calia, it is natural that she dreams of regaining Stratholme.
Baron Rivendell had no intention of continuing to fight Lordaeron in peacetime. He voluntarily gave up most of the land except Stratholme City. Lordaeron took back a large area of East Weald including Darrow County without any bloodshed.
territory.
However, the existence of Stratholme, the city of the undead, has always been a pain in Calia's throat.
Recently, she is trying through diplomatic efforts to persuade Baron Rivendell to lead all the remaining undead to withdraw from Stratholme and return this last undead stronghold to the management of Lordaeron.
Obviously, Baron Rivendell cannot easily agree to this request, and the two sides will continue to fight for a long time in the future.
In the next few years, Lordaeron will focus mainly on rebuilding its national strength. It will not be easy to catch up with Quel'Thalas, which did not suffer much damage in the war.
However, this does not mean that Quel'Thalas can sit back and relax.
After Sharlayan's deliberate weakening, Lordaeron was no longer the primary competitor in Kael'thas' eyes.
This Sun King, who seems to have a gentle personality but is actually soft on the outside and strong on the inside, sets his pursuit target on the established power on the other side of the sea - the Republic of Dark Night.
Even though the blessing of eternal life was lost in the Battle of Sea and Mountain, the Dark Night Republic's foundation accumulated over tens of thousands of years is still extremely strong.
At least at this stage, there is still a long gap between Quel'Thalas and the Dark Night Republic.
With such a far-sighted king at the helm, the cabinet and the heads of the major legions will naturally not be short-sighted and only focus on the one-third of an acre of land in front of them.
If he wants to move forward at full speed, the aging Quel'Thalas must first remove the useless carrion attached to his body.
In Kael'thas' view, the founding nobles who were once the pillars of the kingdom have now become a stumbling block preventing Quel'Thalas from moving forward.
The leading figures of the four contemporary nobles are Solanlian, Calpurnia, Petra and Matis, who happen to have two political parties and two armies.
Kaelthas specially had a frank and secret conversation with the four nobles they represented.
The first thing that needs to be determined is that Kael'thas does not intend to kill all the nobles.
It's not that Kael'thas, who has a soft personality, can't be so cruel, but it's not necessary.
The founding aristocracy has been passed down for more than 7,000 years. Even with the low birth rate of the high elves, such a long time will inevitably cause them to spread out.
It is true that the direct descendants of these noble families have been completely corrupted and irredeemable, but this does not mean that the entire family needs to be completely eradicated.
Kael'thas made a promise to the four of Solanlian.
As long as suitable heirs can be selected from those corrupt old noble families, he can allow branch clan members of these families to inherit the family line and continue to serve Quel'Thalas.
This can be regarded as the last grace of the Sun Chaser family to the descendants of their old brothers who supported their eastward journey to found the country.
Is it easy to succeed a large sect with a small sect?
Of course it's difficult.
Take Solanlian's Morning Star family as an example. The total number of branches of the huge Morning Star family totals thousands of people.
Of course, it is impossible for such a large family to distribute resources equally to everyone.
Those who can receive key training and resources are usually only direct descendants of the family.
In order to prevent someone from the collateral line from threatening the status of the direct line, they would even deliberately suppress talented collateral descendants. This is not uncommon among large families.
What? The Deep Shadow Family?
The Deep Shadow family is a noble family that was awarded military merits in the Troll War. It was only the third generation when it was passed down to Sharlayan.
Due to their relatively shallow background, there are only two branches in the entire Deep Shadow family, Welles and Julian. There is no dispute at all, and the relationship between family members is very close.
It is for this reason that Kael'thas did not seek Sharlayan's opinion when planning this conspiracy, because he lacked sufficient knowledge of the struggle between the direct line and the subordinate branches of the great family.
From Kael'thas' point of view, he doesn't care whether the founding nobles who inherit the title are direct descendants or common branches. His only concern is whether the heirs of these nobles can continue to contribute to Quel'Thalas.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! The experienced Anasteria stopped Kael'thas in time when he was about to go off personally.
A very simple truth.
If you can support another branch of the family to seize power, the branches of the Sunstrider family will also be eager to stare at the throne where you sit.
After all, if you are in the first grade of junior high school and others are in the fifteenth grade, you will always have to pay it back if you go out to hang out.
Kael'thas, who did not think carefully enough, was frightened into a cold sweat by his father's analysis, and immediately gave up his intention to take action personally. He decided to let the four nobles who had already bowed to the royal family handle the inheritance issues within these nobles.
The Sun Chaser family was worried that their subordinates would find excuses to seize power because of this incident, and the heads of the four noble families also had this concern.
This time, Solanlian summoned the founding nobles to discuss important matters, mainly because she wanted to finally give these fat pigs to be slaughtered a chance.
Obviously, the fat pigs who are still spitting and making nonsense at this moment do not realize the crux of the problem.
"Why"
After several hints and guidance, Calpurnia finally gave up and returned to the taciturn Solanlian, Mattis and Petra and collapsed on the chair.
"I'm tired, let's destroy it."
…
"puff"
The day after this "secret" closed-door meeting ended, Sarlayan learned about the incident from Welles, and he couldn't hold back his laughter on the spot.
"So haven't I said it a long time ago that those old aristocrats who have been fattened up are beyond hope, and pure mud cannot hold up the wall."
"At this point, we can only give them an internal overhaul, otherwise those wastes who are obviously incompetent but have a lot of resources will sooner or later do even more ridiculous and stupid things."
Welles nodded dumbfounded, and then said with emotion: "Now the Shenying family is also a double noble family, and we must also take warning from this."
"That's true."
Sarlayan agreed and said: "So, I plan to set a family motto for my generation, and for the time being, those who do not work will not be allowed to eat."
"Want to inherit the title? OK, show your worth. The Shadow Family will not let incompetent descendants inherit the title. That will only harm everyone in the family."
Welles looked at his nephew with a strange expression: "...Are you talking about me? You are an immortal demigod. If you don't take the initiative to speak, who can take the title from you?"
"Ah this..."
A slightly embarrassed smile appeared on Sarlayan's face: "The truth is the same. Uncle, you don't want incompetent descendants to tarnish the family's reputation, right? So education should start from childhood."
"Okay, I'll listen to you."
Welles patted Sarlayan on the shoulder angrily: "After a while, I will send your little cousin to you for education. Don't use the lack of time to excuse him."
"Oh, by the way, there's one more thing."
In order to silence Sarlayan's refusal, Welles spoke of something serious before turning around and leaving.
"I heard that you went to Quel'Danas Island to meet Anveena Dennis before? The Sun King invited you to the palace for an interview, saying that he wanted to hear what your dazzling-eyed Grand Duke said about her."
Sarlayan looked at the motionless mobile phone on the table speechlessly: "...can't we contact you by mobile phone?"
Welles shrugged: "His Majesty said that some matters would be more reassuring for him to be discussed in person."