There is a classic saying in the different world where the barrage netizens live, "Don't let your family's ugliness be publicized". There is also a similar folk proverb in Azeroth.
At the beginning, Calia generously admitted that Lordaeron had been biased in its actions against the alliance's allies in the past, which somewhat surprised the representatives present.
But at the same time, this unabashed frankness also initially demonstrated the determination and sincerity of Lordaeron under Calia's leadership in wanting to reshape the Alliance.
The leader of Dalaran, Ronin, has a relatively upright character. While other representatives were still exchanging glances to discuss countermeasures, he was the first to stand up and ask a pointed question.
"Queen Calia, I do feel sincerity from your attitude and words."
"But please forgive me."
Luo Ning looked at the gentle Calia with bright eyes: "Lordaeron has been pursuing authoritarian rule since hundreds of years ago, but your national policy will really have an impact on the countries in the Eastern Continent from Lordaeron.
Counting begins from the period when national power took off."
"Now that Lordaeron is in a period of decline, it is understandable to put down one's strength to rebuild the alliance."
"But how do you ensure that Lordaeron will not repeat the mistakes of the late King Terenas when it rises again?"
After several generations of forbearance and development, when the throne of Lordaeron passed into the hands of Terenas Menethil, the Kingdom of Lordaeron, which had accumulated enough foundation, finally began to show its strength to the outside world.
In the early days of Terenas's rule, Lordaeron had already begun to show an aggressive attitude. However, at that time, Lordaeron was not yet able to overwhelm its neighboring countries in terms of national strength. Compared to the middle and late stages of Terenas' rule, it was relatively moderate.
Rather restrained.
The opportunity that led to the change in the situation was the First Orc War that destroyed the Kingdom of Stormwind.
Before the Dark Portal opened and the orcs invaded Azeroth, the Kingdom of Stormwind and Lordaeron were far apart from each other in the south and north, and their national powers were almost equal to each other.
Under the protection of the guardians of Karazhan and Tirisfal, the Kingdom of Stormwind, which lives alone in the southern part of the continent, is still slightly stronger.
When the Kingdom of Stormwind tried its best to resist the attack of a large number of elite orcs on its own, the then king Llane Wrynn repeatedly asked for help from the northern kingdoms, but never received a positive response.
On the one hand, this is because the northern countries far away from Tiangao Emperor failed to correctly realize the strength of the orcs. On the other hand, it is also because Deathwing lurking in Alterac is secretly doing something secretly, deliberately downplaying the orc invasion in front of the top leaders of various countries.
threaten.
Of course, it is inevitable that Terenas, who is happy to see the decline of the Kingdom of Stormwind's national power, is behind it.
But Terenas did not expect that the orcs would actually destroy the Kingdom of Storm, one of the most powerful among all human countries, with such amazing fighting power.
It wasn't until Anduin Lothar, the last descendant of Emperor Thoradin, fled to Lordaeron with the young Prince Varian and the people of the Kingdom of Stormwind that Terenas realized that he had made the big mistake of breeding tigers.
Perhaps it was out of guilt for his own poor decision-making, or perhaps he believed that the once-destroyed Kingdom of Stormwind could no longer pose a threat to Lordaeron's leadership position.
During the time when Varian was in exile in Lordaeron, Terenas very carefully taught him many ways to be a king, which to a certain extent filled Varian's lack of education after King Llane was assassinated by Garona.
It is precisely for this reason that after Varian returned to Elwynn Forest to regain his kingdom, he has always been grateful to Terenas and has never openly opposed any of his decisions. Even if he disliked his actions, he only pretended to do so.
Deaf and dumb.
It wasn't until Terenas was bedridden that he could no longer govern, and Varian officially began to fight for the dominance of the alliance. This period happened to be the time when the fight between Calia and Arthas was most intense.
Although Luo Ning's questioning was a bit sharp, it hit the nail on the head and revealed the biggest doubts in many representatives' minds.
Long before the convening of this national congress, Caliya made corresponding preparations for questions that may be raised by various countries.
Facing Luo Ning's doubts, Calia smiled without changing her expression and said: "Even if I make an empty promise here, some representatives who are prejudiced against Lordaeron will not easily believe it."
"In this case, how about letting Lordaeron prove it with actual actions?"
"It is a pity that leaders from various countries were not able to participate in today's conference. Rebuilding the alliance cannot be accomplished overnight. We need to work together and prepare for this in advance."
"You might as well convey Lordaeron's attitude back first, and in the last few months before the Dark Portal opens again, how about observing Lordaeron's performance and determination?"
As Calia said, since Lordaeron has a history of deceiving allies before, it is difficult for the representatives of various countries who are already wary to believe what they say without evidence.
From Calia's point of view, she still hopes to truly convene the leaders of various countries to come to Lordaeron and sit down for a serious discussion.
This time's congress was mainly to convey Lordaeron's intention to rebuild the Alliance to various countries, answer some questions raised by representatives on this matter, and deal with some issues that would help ease the relationship between the two parties.
After Ronin sat back down, Prince Liam, the representative of the Kingdom of Gilneas, stood up and asked a question.
"Queen Calia, after observing your governing style over the past two years, I would like to believe in your promise from a personal standpoint, but..."
Liam shrugged helplessly: "You also know our king's stubborn temper. He insists that Lordaeron took advantage of the post-war distribution of the Second Orc War, and he has always been resentful about this.
.”
Representatives from the Kingdom of Stromgard also took the opportunity to raise the same question.
Due to the fact that Garin Trollbane, who came to power after killing his father, had been living in debauchery for a long time and had no intention of taking care of the country's affairs, Stromgard's national power plummeted after Thoras's death.
Of course, this phenomenon is not just a problem for Garin alone. The re-emergence of the Deadwood Troll and the alien Stonefist Ogre are also major causes.
Although the Regency Council tried hard to govern after overthrowing Galin's rule, the situation in Stromgard was indeed difficult to recover from.
The ongoing external military pressure has made the already poor financial situation of Stromgard even worse.
But they can't cut back on defense spending, otherwise the deadwood trolls and stonefist ogres, who have been eyeing it, will be able to invade Stromgarde again in a matter of minutes.
This vicious cycle has made the people of Stromgard miserable. Over the years, refugees whose homes have been destroyed by trolls and ogres have crossed Thoradin's Wall to settle in the Hillsbrad Foothills.
The loss of population further aggravated the decline of Stromgard. The Regency Council tried many methods but could not reverse the current situation and could only barely maintain it.
The impoverished Stromgard is looking for some extra money to alleviate the declining situation at home. Now that Lordaeron is interested in easing relations with the countries that have had conflicts in the past, they will of course want to take this opportunity to make a deal.
Anyway, there's that old stubborn guy from Gilneas standing in front of us.
Calia can understand the appeals of Gilneas and Stromgarde. After all, Lordaeron did not behave properly in the spoils division conference that year.
Terenas, who was eager to unify the Seven Kingdoms, swallowed the entire Alterac in one gulp, leaving no soup for other countries, and also launched an orc shelter plan that consumed the financial reserves of each country.
It's weird to be disgusted.
Moreover, this unreasonable mouthful also left endless hidden dangers for Lordaeron.
Until the Battle of Alterac began, Lordaeron was not able to fully control the territory that originally belonged to the Kingdom of Alterac, and bandits were always rampant in the snowy mountains.
The Syndicate, which is causing trouble everywhere, and the Ravenholdt Manor, which has been campaigning for the restoration of the country, are secretly causing trouble. The mayor of Steinblade's battle damage rate has hit new highs year after year.
After many attempts to rectify it failed, Terenas, whose ambition gradually declined as he grew older, simply died.
This is also the reason why Calia’s initial push for peace talks won the support of many Lordaeron officials.
The annual management costs invested in Alterac have put a lot of financial pressure on Lordaeron. The most troublesome thing is that it cannot make ends meet.
All the income from Hillsbrad goes into the Orc Asylum and Alterac Snow Mountain, and some further subsidies are needed from the central government of Lordaeron.
This loss-making business has been going on for several years. Of course, there will be dignitaries who can settle the accounts and come forward to give their opinions.
Those who oppose the peace talks mainly care about the face of Lordaeron, and they are forced to spit out the land they eat, which will damage the image and influence of Lordaeron's big brother.
After getting rid of the burden of Alterac, Lordaeron readjusted its resource allocation under the leadership of Calia.
After two years of relief, the orc shelter, which consumed a huge amount of money, received less and less funding, and its defense force became weaker and weaker.
With the high-level officials of Lordaeron turning a blind eye, many shelters were successively breached by guerrillas led by Orgrim and Hellscream, which in turn reduced the financial pressure on Lordaeron.
Facing the questions from Stromgard and Gilneas, Calia responded mildly without changing her attitude: "Didn't we already reach an agreement on the issue of uneven distribution after the war two years ago during the negotiations at the end of the war?
Consensus?”
"Please forgive me, Lordaeron has already paid a sufficient price for the Alterac incident, and we have no obligation to pay any more compensation to your country."
Liam had already expected Calia's answer. If his father hadn't told him to find some trouble for Lordaeron before setting off, he wouldn't have even wanted to mention it.
Gilneas, who was relatively wealthy, didn't care about compensation, but Stromgard was anxious.
Before the member of the Regency Council could speak again, Calia raised her hand and interrupted him: "Congressman Lansema, please don't rush."
"Although Lordaeron will not directly provide compensation in any form, we are willing to reopen bilateral trade with Gilneas and Stromgarde, which should be able to alleviate the problems faced by Stromgarde to a certain extent.