No matter what name Richard used, it was impossible to hide the news that he had taken over Piaoxue City. The first person to get the news was the river valley adjacent to the Northland.
The wealth of the river valley is inversely proportional to its military power. The river valley, which is less than one-tenth the size of the Northland, has a population of more than six million, with hundreds of noble families, large and small. In this era, the population can be considered
Dense.
It's just that these more than a hundred nobles have already been commercialized. With their wealth and population, they act more like a combination of landlords and businessmen. Those who can pull out fifty soldiers are considered powerful nobles. Even among them
Some of the traditional castles were not even repaired, and they lived in more comfortable manor houses.
In other words, the eleven families in Burleigh City have a limited number of soldiers who can fight. Maybe you can get a few thousand out of them, but it doesn't seem to be the same in front of the Hunter family in the north. The main force of the army in the river valley is still Dane's.
It's no secret that Dane and Richard have been flirting with each other for a long time among the 20,000 troops in the valley.
Ever since the news came that Richard had annexed Piaoxue City, the nobles in Burai City had become a little uneasy. Richard did not hide the four giant dragons at all this time. As long as the entire kingdom is not deaf or blind,
Now everyone should know the power of Richard. Now the nobles in the river valley are afraid that Richard will fall out with the kingdom. They will be the first to suffer. Dane looks unreliable no matter how he looks at it, so he can only keep urging him to return the favor.
Kingdom Guards on the road.
That's right, before the 20,000 imperial troops that Ren decided to send to Zhenbeiguan to strengthen defense had not arrived yet, Richard had already wiped out the orcs who invaded the North. Now they rushed over to guard against Richard.
The power of breaking through the barrier and entering the river valley.
Jinlongdu also received news about the Northland. At this time, Ren even had a letter sent by Richard in his hand, and there was no emotion or anger on his face.
"Richard, this kid, really thinks that the kingdom can't do anything to him?"
"I'm afraid we have no solution for the time being."
Ren's tone was obviously unkind, and Saul was the only one who dared to speak so bluntly at this time.
"Yes, my son-in-law has strong wings and four giant dragons."
The place for discussion is not in the main hall, but in a small room in the palace. There are only the left prime minister, the right chancellor and Thor and other top officials of the kingdom. Most of the discussions in the main hall are just a formality, and the real decisions are made on major issues.
There is no room for a group of people to discuss things with different opinions. Only a few people reach a unified opinion and then symbolically allow more people to discuss it.
"Your Majesty, our most important thing right now is to deal with the orc crisis. We must entangle the orcs at the Longxing Pass, otherwise the Central Plains cannot be saved."
"I know that since there is that boy Richard in the Northland, the orcs should not be able to find a breakthrough. I have already transferred back the imperial army that went to Zhenbeiguan, so let him go in the Northland."
The nobles of Burai City still don't know that the Kingdom's Imperial Guards they were expecting have been transferred back before they arrived.
"Speaking of which, at this time, Richard can stabilize the Northland and block the orcs in the Northland, which can be regarded as reducing the pressure on the kingdom."
"Humph, then he is just doing it for his own benefit."
Although Ren was dissatisfied with Richard's actions, he was still quite rational in his behavior. He simply ignored the affairs in the north and concentrated all his strength on the coming orc crisis.
It was also Richard who figured out Renn's character and knew that Renn was a very rational king. No matter how excessive his behavior was now, Renn would not flip the table. If it were a king with a more impulsive personality, Richard might have broken the rules.
Also be careful.
"Then, do we want to reject the request in Richard's letter?"
Ren had previously circulated the letter to everyone, and the left prime minister also knew about Richard's request in the letter. Not only did he annex Piaoxue City, he also secretly arranged for a marquis heir. What was even more shameless was that Richard actually sent a letter,
Ask the kingdom to recognize his arrangement.
"I don't think you can start this kind of thing, just ignore it."
Although there is nothing that can be done against Richard in the Golden Dragon City, he does have the ability to make him sick. Although Richard can settle everything in the Northland with one word, the Charman family of the Golden Dragon Kingdom that has been here for hundreds of years is particularly powerful.
Now, the title of Dayi still belongs to Ren. If they don't recognize Lint's inheritance of the title, then Lint, the Marquis, will have such an unfair reputation. Although no one in the North dares to say anything, but
There's always a bit of orthodoxy missing.
"But the Hunter family just achieved a great victory over the orcs, and successfully killed the orcs' protecting warrior Geert. Now the heads are already on their way to the royal capital. This is the first time that humans have defeated the orcs in more than a hundred years.
The greatest result achieved…”
Although Saul didn't finish his words, his meaning was very clear. The Hunter family has made great contributions, and the current situation is not suitable for attacking. Saul is speaking for Richard, although Saul has the same attitude towards Richard's arbitrary behavior.
A little dissatisfied, but from a martial arts perspective, he admired Richard very much.
Thor reminded them, and several people on the scene fell into silence again. There were three legions of orcs plus a country-protecting warrior. At this special time, let alone a marquis, in fact, a duke might not be too much.
It's just that Richard's behavior was too bad. He overstepped his authority and assumed the power of the kingdom's center. If it were a viscount or something like that, they would have turned a blind eye. But the marquis is already the top noble of the kingdom. Why?
It's not up to Richard to make arrangements.
"Let the House of Lords recognize Lin Te's title first."
In the end, Ren spoke up and acknowledged the matter, which set the tone. Others no longer objected. In the face of the orc threat, the kingdom's top leaders were still very clear-headed. This was not the time for internal strife.
"Let's talk about Richard's reward next."
"This time Richard acted recklessly and annexed Piaoxue City without authorization. The kingdom's failure to pursue him is the greatest kindness to him."
"Yeah, at most it's a matter of equalizing the merits and demerits."
"The most reward is some property."
The people below all understand that in the face of Richard's contribution, the kingdom is actually quite embarrassed. Although there is still the title of duke above the marquis, in fact the marquis is already the ceiling of the nobility. Since the establishment of the kingdom, the kingdom has a total of
I have been granted the title of two dukes, one is the Duke of Ross, one of the three founding cavalry, and the other is Thor, the dragon knight of the country who is present now.
The Duke's position of the Ross family is due to historical reasons, and Sol's Duke's position can be regarded as an honorary title to a certain extent. He does not have an actual fief like the Ross family.
If the transfer of title is really based on merit, the only way is to give Richard the title of duke. A real duke with tens of millions of citizens and hundreds of thousands of armored men? The central government has an instinctive rejection of this kind of thing. The kingdom
One Duke of the West is enough, and Richard is not a law-abiding prefect. Now Thor didn't even speak to help, just waiting for Ren to make a decision.
Unexpectedly, after Ren thought for a moment, he made a decision that surprised everyone.
"Elevate Richard's title to Duke, add the title of Guardian of the North, and command all military forces in the North and the valley."
"this?"
Everyone thought that they had heard wrongly. Giving it to the Duke was already an exception, but it was consistent with Richard's achievements. However, they also couldn't understand the operation of packaging the river valley to Richard.
"Your Majesty, the river valley is the barrier between the Central Plains and the Northland. I'm afraid it would be inappropriate to hand it over to Richard."
After confirming that he was not hallucinating, some people quickly stood up to oppose this somewhat absurd decision.
"Yes, Zhenbeiguan is an important pass that divides the north and the south. If Richard takes the river valley, no one can check and balance it."
To put it more seriously, if Richard had any disloyal intentions, it would be much easier to go south from the valley to the Central Plains than from the north. What's more, the river valley is still a prosperous place.
Compared with the great plain in the center of the royal capital and the south, the wealth in the river valley is nothing, but it cannot be given to Richard in vain.
However, Sol seemed to have thought of something and frowned without speaking.
"The kingdom values military merit, and at times like this it should be rewarded more generously. No need to say more."
"this…"
"Let the House of Lords discuss the merits and send someone to prepare for the knighthood."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
That is to say, the authority of the King of the Golden Dragon Kingdom is strong enough. Although the following people still object in their hearts, after Ren has made the decision, they do not dare to continue to object. They can only follow Ren's wishes, and the only one among them who has the ability to oppose
Sol, however, remained silent. The remaining people thought that the uncle and nephew had reached some kind of tacit understanding, so they did not dare to say anything more.
"Okay, Uncle Thor will stay here for a while. The others can leave if they have nothing to do. We will announce the matter in the main hall tomorrow."
Hearing that Ren left Thor alone, the others resigned in a very sensible manner.
After everyone left the room, Ren asked:
"Uncle King Saul, do you think it is possible for Richard to send troops to participate in the Eastern Expedition plan?"
The Eastern Expedition Plan is a secret plan made by Thor and Renn. While the dragon is still there, they will launch a surprise attack from the east of Dragon's Breath Pass. The five dragon knights and the two million elites of the Dragon's Breath Pass Corps will all come out to attack.
The orcs were caught off guard and at least achieved a partial victory, delaying the orcs' attack.
Originally, the scope of knowledge of this plan was very small. Only Ren, Thor and one or two senior military officials involved knew about it. It was kept strictly confidential from everyone else. It was originally a military adventure, and they wanted to catch up with the dragon before it left.
When launching an attack before, it is natural to prevent the news from leaking and let the orcs take precautions in advance.
The concentration of money and food and the mobilization of troops are also based on the excuse of strengthening the defense of Longxingguan, which is justified when the orcs are threatening them step by step.
At the beginning, this plan did not involve Richard. Even though Richard showed sky-level power and had a giant dragon at that time, there were too many doubts about Richard. This kind of involvement
There are more than two million elites, and there is no risk to be taken in a major plan related to the fate of the country.
But now Renn is obviously willing to let Richard participate again. First, the power displayed by Richard is indeed significant. The four giant dragons, as well as the giant beasts and mysterious strong men that have appeared in the south, from the high end
In terms of strength, if you exclude Lord Qing in the palace, the high-end power that Richard controls is stronger than that of the entire kingdom.
Secondly, Richard not only wiped out the three armies of the orcs this time, but also killed Geert, one of the two great warriors of the orcs who protect the country. It is impossible to say that he is a spy, at least when it comes to targeting the orcs.
, Richard is trustworthy. If Richard brings the elites and dragons of the North to participate in the war, then the probability of success of this Eastern Expedition adventure plan should be much higher.
The key to the problem now is how to get Richard to send troops. Now Richard cannot be moved by Ren's order. There must be enough benefits to make Richard's heart move.
When Ren spoke, Thor was not surprised. When Ren so generously awarded the title and returned the territory of the river valley, Thor probably guessed what Ren was thinking.
Titles and titles are just lip service. For a kingdom that is now trying to defend itself against the orcs, sealing them off is just a matter of sealing them off. However, it is worth pondering if Renn directly brings the valley into Richard's sphere of influence.
Already.
Ruling out the possibility that Ren is a fool, he must have a motive. The river valley is the benefit that Ren can bring out, in exchange for Richard sending troops to participate in the Eastern Expedition.
As for the interests of the nobles in the river valley, that is not within the scope of Ren's consideration now. How much benefit they can compete with Richard depends on the capabilities of both parties.
"I'm not sure, but it's possible."
Richard's rise is so fast that Sol actually doesn't quite understand Richard. In the beginning, Richard was a responsible and capable young nobleman in Sol's eyes, but now he has become a feudal lord. To be honest, Richard
He was a little unsure whether this young man, who had behaved like a jester in front of him at first, would agree.
"It's okay. Uncle King Sol will go to the Northland this time and test it out with the order of the knight. If he agrees to send troops, what if the valley is given to him?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
…
south
Posey City
Pare is in a good mood these days. Since the last successful expedition to the sea clan's clam field, the sea clan has indeed become more honest. With the prestige of the victory, Pare has also completely convinced the nobles in Poxi City.
After the expedition, the original Thorny Waraya Hou Mansion also entered into a state of cooperation with Parley.
The trade volume is rising steadily, and the resources and power in his hands are also growing steadily over time. As long as there is enough time, he can use Percy City as the center to accumulate enough advantages in the south to prepare for the possible future throne.
Accumulate strength for the battle.
Unfortunately, as the orc crisis approaches, all the focus will shift to preventing orcs.
What he thinks about most when he is free now is that if the orcs take over the central plains, how will he resist in the south? Will he retreat into the swamp and join the trolls?
Thinking of this possibility, Pare got goosebumps all over his body and the wine glass in his hand became a little unsteady.
"Lord Parley, there is news from the North."
"Oh? Did Richard do something big again?"
When Parley heard the information from the North, he subconsciously thought of Richard.
"The Hunter family occupied Piaoxue City and supported Lint to become the new Marquis."
"It's hard to believe that he has tolerated the fat around his mouth for so long."
Parley was not surprised at all, but felt that Richard's movements were slower than he expected.
He did not have the consciousness as a contender for the throne of the Charman family, and he had no emotional fluctuations at all towards Richard's ambitious behavior.
It’s hard to say whether this kingdom belongs to the Charman family in the future or not. Richard is strong, which seems to be a good thing now. It’s better to take care of the immediate things first. Parley is very open-minded.
"Have the dwarves over at Stone Hill Plains responded? What is their attitude towards the alliance?"
"They accepted the wine you asked us to send, but they wanted to think about it."
"It means that these dwarves accepted gifts and did nothing. They are worse than me hiring Richard!"
Although Pare was annoyed, he still added another sentence to show his sincerity by continuing to keep in touch.
After all, there are millions of dwarves living in the Plains of Stone Hill. If these guys can be brought over, they will definitely be an important fighting force...
