Dark Mountains.
After seeing what Gawain pointed out, everyone could not help but be stunned.
The first one who couldn't help but break the silence was the Grand Duke of the West, Baldwin Franklin. His eyes widened: "Are you...sure?"
"Why not?" "Gawain smiled, "Isn't this place still owned?"
"That's not..." Francis II shook his head, "The entire Dark Mountain area and the places further south? They are all ownerless, and indeed meet the requirements of the development law, but that place is not only very close to the Typhon Empire, but also directly connected to the Gondor Wasteland to the south. In fact..."
The Dark Mountains are An Part of the southern border of Su, its eastern section extends all the way to the Typhon Empire, and its western section stretches along the Ansu border for hundreds of kilometers, and then bends at a small angle to the south and merges into the Gondor Wasteland. in the corrupted earth. Theoretically, even the strip plain on the south side of the Dark Mountains is Anzu's territory, but in fact the place the kingdom can control can only reach the north side of the mountains - and the control is also quite limited.
The most important reason is the existence of Gondor Wasteland.
That land is still shrouded in chaotic elemental power and magic energy to this day. The surging power of corruption has made the land almost barren of grass and full of toxins that are fatal to humans.
Although its scope is no longer spreading, the toxic dust storms that are blown by the wind from time to time and the occasional wandering monsters on the edge of the wasteland are life-threatening threats.
In history, after the situation in the Kingdom of Anzu stabilized, they tried to carry out counterattack expansion of the southern territory several times - they even had plans to retake the homeland of Gondor, but in the end all efforts failed. . The purification of the wasteland was extremely difficult and full of repetitions, and the income was completely out of proportion to the effort. The pioneering strongholds that were barely established in the early days were often destroyed by toxic dust storms and monsters before they could produce any output. Therefore, in the end, the Anzu royal family withdrew. All the pioneering teams were defeated and stopped on the north side of the Dark Mountains.
Then, due to the increasing prosperity of the northern region of the kingdom and the establishment of diplomatic relations with the Violet Kingdom, the center of gravity of the kingdom further shifted to the north. Coupled with the "Brumpy Moon Civil War" a hundred years ago, the southern border of Sisi The Er family collapsed overnight, and the situation in the south further deteriorated and regressed. Today, the entire Dark Mountain Range and most of the surrounding areas are no different from wasteland.
The wasteland smell blowing across the mountains even corrupted the plains north of the mountains.
But Gawain just smiled slightly at this: "I faced worse situations than that back then. When it comes to political struggles and intrigues, I may not be as good as you juniors, but when it comes to fighting against the sinister giant, Of course, you are definitely not as good as me.”
Whether it’s true or not, let’s talk about it first.jpg.
Since Gawain himself is so confident, others at the scene will certainly not continue to worry about him - for the king and other noblesAs far as they were concerned, whether Gawain Cecil could gain a firm foothold in the south was not their concern at all. What they cared about most was just when this hot potato could leave the royal capital. Since Gawain took the initiative to choose a place where no one would touch him, what else could he say?
Hurry up and send your ancestors off to the capital!
If it weren’t for the fact that some details had to be negotiated, Francis II would have almost prepared all the carriages for the Gawain family...
After finalizing the most important thing After discussing the issue of the right to develop, Gawain took advantage of the situation to get Francis II to admit several other "trivial matters."
First of all, Gawain Cecil's dukedom must survive, but only as his personal honor for the time being, and cannot be inherited by any heir, except when Gawain dies again (correctly) Cecil The family has indeed opened up a large amount of land in the south, or has made other achievements. At that time, the titles that their heirs deserve will be determined based on their land and achievements.
This is actually a nondescript plan. It is the product of the conflict between Gawain Cecil's status as a duke and the bad incident a hundred years ago. No one dares to deprive the founding Duke of his title, but There is no way for a viscount family to directly become a duke, so we have to make this compromise. Frankly speaking, this is completely inconsistent with any law since the founding of Anzu - but what logic do you follow to a person who jumped out of a coffin?
My ancestors didn’t even explain physics to you, but they still tried to reason with you! ?
The so-called "temporarily uninheritable", a discerning person will know at a glance that this is just to delay time and give an explanation to the existing aristocratic system.
In addition, the Anzu royal family will also fully recognize the complete autonomy of the Cecil family in the newly developed lands - just as the founding kings recognized the autonomy of any developed territory.
Coupled with some scattered agreements, Gawain finally got the result he wanted.
A country within a country that is not disturbed by others.
In fact, these contents have been decided for a long time. When Prince Edmund visited in advance, Gawain had already established a line with the king, and now it was just a formality in the oak hall.
No one at the scene raised objections to these contents - anyway, the Cecil family is going to open up a barren land, and no matter how much territory they carve out, it will not affect the vested interests of any current family. , since there is no conflict in interests, the nominal conflict can be easily resolved.
Francis II signed a new development document on the spot, announcing that in accordance with ancient laws, the Cecil family would have the right to develop all land between the Dark Mountains as the center and any surrounding kingdom fiefdoms, and It was announced that the necessary support would be provided for this pioneering activity-including a team of one hundred people composed of various craftsmen and mage apprentices, as well as the food and cloth needed for the first year of pioneering the territory.
Among them, craftsmen and apprentices will work in the pioneering territory for three years. After three years, they can voluntarily chooseYou can go or stay, but if anyone stays, the Cecil family needs to "purchase" them from the royal family at the price of thirty gold shields per person.
This support is not much, but Gawain is already very satisfied. For the currently impoverished Cecil family, this can relieve an urgent need.
The gold, silver and mineral ingots in the mountain treasure house cannot be directly turned into food, nor can they be turned into skilled craftsmen. In this era of peace and prosperity, the word "pioneering" has become a distant history. No one is willing to leave their stable homeland and go to a place close to the wasteland of Gondor to open up wasteland. Those one hundred craftsmen and apprentices will be the most precious wealth.
This can also be said to be the goodwill expressed by Francis II to Gawain on behalf of the Ansu royal family - to thank the founding prince for recognizing his bloodline.
The deal is over, everyone is satisfied, and after a deal that satisfies both parties, a banquet is essential.
The oak hall was re-closed, and a banquet was held in the banquet hall on the second floor of the castle. Wine and delicacies were served on the table. The king and his most trusted nobles wanted to celebrate a legendary hero here. After returning, many nobles whose names could not be named appeared all of a sudden, and the banquet hall was filled with excitement.
Those newly emerged nobles who are not qualified to enter the Oak Hall, but are qualified to know the results of the meeting as soon as possible, have been waiting in the lounges of Silver Castle for a full half day. , it was not until the attendants ran into the banquet hall and rang the copper bells for the celebration that they appeared with smiles on their faces.
This is the first time for Rebecca to participate in such an occasion - this down-and-out lord lady has never been to such a magnificent place since she was a child, and because the entire aristocratic circle has a deep disdain for the Cecil family Because of the rejection, she has never attended a few decent banquets since she was a child. The grandest banquet in her memory was when she came of age at the age of sixteen. Her father held a lively celebration for her in the castle, but it was nothing more than a long table filled with food.
It is completely different from the banquet in Silver Castle.
The entire hall is filled with long tables, all of which are filled with delicious food and wine. In the center of the hall is a place for gentlemen and ladies to dance, and there is also a gorgeously dressed band on one side of the hall. Music is played on the stage, and the mages release magic at the four corners of the hall, constantly creating various wonderful dazzling lights and falling snowflakes in mid-air - letting precious mages create the illusion of such a heated atmosphere, this is It seemed incredible to Rebecca.
His Majesty the King... is so rich.
At first, Rebecca tried hard to look mature and steady with a straight face, but soon, the girl’s nature overcame her forced steadiness, and she grabbed her high Wen's hand asked about this and that, while Gawain, with a smile on his face, told her nonsense based on his own memory and the imagination of the traveler.
Rebecca’s bumpkin-like behavior could not hide from those nobles who had already kept their eyes open.But they did not show any disdain for this little lord from the countryside - maybe they felt a little bit in their hearts, but Gawain Cecil always stood beside Rebecca. This "parent" who never left her made everyone feel uncomfortable. If you don't restrain your contempt, you should at least keep smiling towards Rebecca on the surface.
After that, several young people came over to invite Rebecca to dance together - probably they felt that the Cecil family now had an ancestor of the town clan, and they would have a closer relationship. potential value, but these people were all blocked by Gawain.
Just kidding, with Rebecca’s brain like a door being pinched and her stubborn personality, she can’t get along in the Southern Territory, and it’s not easy to deal with these monkey-savvy guys in the Royal Capital. Just sold the whole family?
"Excessive protection will not allow children to grow up," a gentle male voice came from the side, "Rebecca Viscount has grown up, you should let her get more exposure to the social circles of the upper class."
Gawain turned around and saw the Grand Duke of the West, Baldwin Franklin, standing behind him, and standing with Baldwin was the Grand Duke of the North, Victoria Wilder.
"I died young and didn't have much experience in disciplining children." Gawain shrugged and said nonchalantly.
Berdewin: "..."
Victoria: "..."
"And I feel that even if I don't stop Rebecca, she won't." No time to pay attention to others."
As Gawain spoke, he pointed to his great-granddaughter on the N+1 floor - the viscountess was currently lying down at a long table nearby eating a lot of food. Well...
"It's really...so spontaneous." Duke Baldwin said dryly.
Gawain smiled and looked at Victoria Wilder, who was standing next to her with an indifferent expression and said nothing: "Rather than educating future generations, I have some questions to ask this girl of the Wilder family. ."