Gilbert coughed and quickly returned to his normal state:
"So, as usual, as a minor prince, you will have a full-time teaching team to ensure that you gain and make progress in grammar, etiquette and other courses and more..."
"One or two attendants..."
"Several personal guards..."
Thales took a sip of tea to regain his mood:
"Sounds familiar."
Gilbert nodded and seemed to be feeling a little emotional:
"Of course, six years ago, when things were urgent and everything was simple, we were unable to equip you with the best and most appropriate personnel."
"Later, the development of the situation broke our plan. During your days in the north, it was difficult for us to send you the manpower you accepted for Exter. I am deeply sorry for this..."
Gilbert's words were filled with deep regret.
"Not really."
Thales shook his head and raised his lips unconsciously:
"As a teacher, Putilai has been missing for several years and is not forgiving, but he is indeed knowledgeable and thoughtful. He helped me along the way and taught me a lot."
It’s hard to imagine that sinister little old man smoking a pipe in the corner, choking you on a word from time to time, and always jumping out when you least expect it...
He and the dignified, polite, considerate and steady Gilbert were actually old friends.
He was also a classmate who was taught by a tutor.
"As for the attendant, Huaiya has been loyal, hard-working, and conscientious in the past six years. He is a rare attendant to the prince."
Thales keenly noticed that Gilbert's expression dimmed again when he mentioned Wyatt.
The prince couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
When I met Huai Ya six years ago, I thought he was a bit rigid and serious, but now...
Thales glanced covertly at the expressionless Star Lake Guards around him.
He sighed slightly in his heart.
Some things are just about being blessed with blessings.
"Then there are guards, yes, Ada..."
Thales suddenly felt a headache:
"Well...as the prince's bodyguard, she..."
He sighed and said awkwardly:
"Very... lively?"
As the prince narrated, Gilbert seemed to be lost in memories, his eyes moving slightly.
"Let's talk about it again," Thales came back to his senses and said with a smile:
"In the last year, didn't you invite the old crow for me?"
At the mention of this nickname, Gilbert's expression lit up and he smiled broadly.
"And I hope Mr. Hickser can be of help to you."
"Huh, of course he does," Thales shrugged, thinking of that special teacher, the stubborn, disabled veteran in the Shield Zone, and even more of their bond with his mysterious mother:
"And the help he gave me..."
"You can't imagine."
There was silence in the living room for a while, with neither of them speaking, during which the servants, accompanied by the royal guards, brought tea and snacks.
"I promise you, Your Highness."
Gilbert looked at Thales again and spoke in a gentle tone:
"Now that you have returned to Yongxing City and been promoted to Duke, you deserve a noble and effective education."
"I and the knowledgeable people appointed by His Majesty will do our best for your study, starting from setting the schedule and planning your daily life..."
Daily life...
When Thales heard this, he couldn't help scratching his head:
"In fact, I have been accustomed to self-study in the past six years. You know, there is a large library in the Palace of Heroes..."
But Gilbert shook his finger as if he was well prepared:
"There are two different things between being forced to study behind closed doors due to limited conditions, and being self-isolated when you have resources but don't use them."
"Furthermore," Gilbert changed the subject, serious and serious:
"If you knew anything about learning, my lord, you would know."
"In addition to effortless rote memorization, knowledge accumulation,"
"Nothing is self-taught."
Thales looked at him blankly.
Gilbert raised his fingers and said earnestly:
"You need someone to guide, someone to discuss, someone to ask, someone to supervise, someone to stimulate, someone to encourage, someone to help, someone to respond to your learning results. These are all things that cold books cannot give you..."
"Okay, okay, I understand," Thales interrupted with a headache, and raised his hand as if he was giving up on himself:
"Study, courses, etc., okay, come on, come on."
Forget it.
Besides, it’s just class.
Except for ghosts and river crabs, I, Thales, have never been afraid of anything in my life!
Gilbert smiled and nodded.
"Very good, so I want to discuss it with you today and sort out your future study schedule..."
The cunning fox of the stars raised his glasses again, picked up a pen in his right hand, and wrote something on the paper in his lap.
Thales, who struggled to live a free life, looked at him with boredom.
"So, grammar, etiquette, history, military..."
Gilbert narrowed his eyes and raised his head:
"Of these four, what did you learn at Exeter?"
Thales raised his head and thought about it.
The days in the Palace of Heroes, in Selma's study...well...
Grammar, etiquette, history, military.
"They don't classify it that way..."
"But let's skip grammar and etiquette first," Thales said with a headache:
"First, there's history."
Thales tapped his fingers and recalled:
"In the past six years, they have had many history teachers, ranging from scholars and nobles to priests and priests of the temple church. Even the Earl of Lisban will teach in person when he has free time."
"Charles Lisban, I remember that Lord 'Dragon Eye'," Gilbert's eyes focused:
"During the fortress peace talks eighteen years ago, he was a difficult opponent."
Thinking of Regent Lisban's eyes that seemed to be able to see through his thoughts, Thales nodded with lingering fear.
"The history lessons taught to the people of the North, especially to the nobles, are not so much history as they are...traditional lessons."
Gilbert's eyes moved:
"Tradition?"
Thales nodded:
"Starting from the ancient northern kingdoms, the "Alliance of Beasts" established by the late Lord Tamu, to the "Last Line of Humanity" formed by the Iron-Blooded King, the Knights Temple was completed, and the kings jointly launched the campaign to chase away the saints..."
"Then the kings are in war, the Pegasus is born, the blood is awarded, and the empire is conquered..."
"And the rebellion of the king against the emperor, the independence of the Northland, the duel between the six kings, and the eastward migration of the mountain elves..."
"In modern times, when the empire collapsed, the orcs in the 'Moonless Winter' moved south, the final line of defense was restored, and the Thirty-Eight Watchtowers regained their light..."
Thales finished counting one after another, and Gilbert also rustled on the paper to write down something.
The Duke sighed:
"It's almost as if the entire ancient empire was founded by the invincible knights of the North, and then was overthrown by them, and finally relied on them to defend the human world..."
There was helplessness in Thales' tone.
"However, until Nekaru reverses the cold wind and the ten knights stand together to establish Exeter, you will find out if you listen too much..."
The Duke's eyes gradually became serious:
"It is not so much that they remember history, but rather that they remember the unique traditions of the north: survival, iron blood, co-governance, duels, wars, and glory."
Gilbert thought for a while and then said:
"Or it may be their legal principles and orthodoxy."
Thales narrowed his eyes and nodded.
Or to sum it up in one sentence:
Eat, sleep, and fight orcs.
The last item can be replaced with "Empire" or "Star" at any time.
Well, maybe one day it will be replaced by "Tales".
Duke Xinghu brushed away unnecessary thoughts and returned to the topic.
"Then, there's the etiquette class in the North."
"Yes, you heard it right. Northland nobles also have etiquette classes, how to meet, greet, greet, get along, court... and of course, how to duel."
Thales sighed:
"Tiansha's Northern Etiquette...the higher the status of the noble, the more so."
"Etiquette..." Gilbert thought, chewing on the word:
"No matter what aspect, people who don't like the empire, the more they despise it, the more they look to the great empire of the past - such as etiquette."
Thales thought of some past events and sneered:
"Believe it or not, in a certain version of the story, the dueling tradition in the North originated from a pair of brothers in ancient times: legend has it that they fell in love with the same woman."
Like lions, fighting for the damn...
Group mating rights.
Thales curled his lips.
In fact, in his first year in Longxiao City, the ignorant Thales attracted friendly and eager duel applications from various Exeter nobles.
Fortunately, his status was high enough (the prince), fortunately his backing was strong enough (the Grand Duchess), and fortunately he was thick-skinned enough. Thales survived the first year safely and vowed not to talk to Thelma in public.
Walking together ("Obviously she came to hold my hand first!" - In the dead of night, nine-year-old Thales complained aggrievedly to the pillow).
"In addition, they will also explain religion and beliefs in etiquette classes."
Thales recalled:
"From the worship of ancestors in ancient times, to the faith in the mountains in recent times, to the Holy Sun Church in modern times, to today's bright moon and setting sun, to the throne and the dragon after the end of the war - Northland rituals and beliefs are inseparable."
Gilbert jotted down a few notes, nodded and said:
"I'm afraid this cannot be separated from the influence of the empire's legacy."
"Hundreds of years ago, when the Church of the Holy Sun was the state religion of the empire, almost all the secretaries and bachelors of the imperial nobles came from church schools. Almost every noble family had its own priest, and the belief in the Holy Sun was compulsory.
Lessons are second only to loyalty to the throne. In fact, religious etiquette and knightly etiquette have considerable similarities."
Thales shrugged, not sure whether he agreed or felt helpless.
"Besides history and etiquette, there is the rule class."
"As the name suggests, it teaches a lord's heir how to govern the territory. Of course, only noble families above earl will have such lessons."
Thales thought back with a headache:
"Including financial accounting, farming, business affairs, human relationships, etiquette, aristocratic marriage relationships, and so on...it's so many and complicated."
Gilbert was thoughtful.
"But you know what's the funniest thing?"
Thales exhaled, half mockingly and half contemptuous:
"Normally, women are not qualified to listen to this class. They are only prepared for male heirs."
Of course, in the past hundreds of years, there has never been a female heir who can put himself on the stage in Exeter.
That's why he was lucky enough to accompany someone in class - ironically, Thales was able to inspire the teacher's guidance in this class better than his female classmate.
"But in fact, the content in the Northland Rules Course, whether it is measuring income and expenditures and managing household affairs, figuring out favors, planning banquets, or arranging marriages according to etiquette, especially the parts related to numbers and marriage, are all prepared by the hostess after the marriage.
Those who are in charge - this is especially true among certain nobles who only know how to drink and hunt, but are not very clever in arithmetic."
Thales tilted his head and thought for a moment, thinking of Nicolai:
"In fact, there are quite a few men like this in the North."
"So, among the many classes that the Grand Duchess and I had, the inexplicable rule class was the one that was least controversial among the nobles of Longxiao City - because she was a girl anyway, and she had to learn these lessons when she got married, and I
I’m a man, so it’s useless for me to learn these things.”
The prince said contemptuously.
Gilbert smiled at him.
"In the chaotic era of Kings, wives and daughters were just the link between families and city-states, and had no status at all."
"Only since the Empire, have intellectual women had their own stage: a good girl can become a good wife to her future husband, sharing the responsibilities on the shoulders of the male master, instead of being a beauty who is dull in the portrait."
"It can be seen that the improvement of the status of noble ladies depends on the maturity of external conditions and the environment: only when the wars are no longer, the grain warehouses are full, production is restored, and the rule is stable, the horses are useless, the weapons are ownerless, the physical work is less, and the mind is
When there are too many things to do, women's physical disadvantages will be reduced, and their intelligence will have room to play its role."
Gilbert said one more sentence, seemingly meaningfully:
"If the world does not reach that day, then it will be in vain for you to fight for the injustice of your Longxiao City classmates."
However, Thales became interested:
"So, if the external conditions never mature, such as underdeveloped production, economic backwardness, instability, and frequent wars; if the world never reaches that day, for example, the way people work still relies on physical strength and strength... then women will
Should I live like this forever as a vassal?"
Gilbert raised his glasses:
"It's a pity, but this is an obvious objective fact and there is nothing we can do about it."
Thales stared at him and suddenly smiled.
"What is and what should be."
Gilbert was stunned:
"What?"
"You gave me a 'is' answer, Gilbert," the young Duke sighed:
"To answer my 'ought' question."
"This is not right."
Gilbert was startled at first, then suddenly realized.
"It seems that our grammar class can improve a little bit," the Foreign Secretary smiled gently:
"Especially the logic part."
Thales smiled in agreement.
"But before solving this eternal problem, let's get back to the topic," Gilbert wisely stopped dwelling on this topic:
"So, besides history, etiquette, and rule?"
Thales blew hard, but failed to blow the whistle.
But this did not detract from his mixed feelings about his next answer: