The first ray of sunlight in the early morning shines on the tallest clock tower in Cecil City, coating the city with the first ray of light from the giant sun, accompanied by the operation of gears and levers, driven by the core of magic energy The mechanical clock played a loud chime——
Dang-dang-dang——
In the sound of the mechanical clock, Cecil City faded away from a peaceful night's sleep. The whole city began to quickly come alive in the sunshine.
Workers in work clothes walked out of the brick houses, passed the Gear Square and Lever Street in the industrial area, and walked in groups towards the Rune Foundry, Machinery Manufacturing Institute and other factory facilities. , to replace colleagues who finished the night shift; merchants opened their store doors one by one, took off the wooden signs in front of the windows, and knocked on the copper rings hanging under the eaves to announce the start of the day's business; newsboys and postmen faced the early morning The mist passes through the swept streets, delivering the latest issues of newspapers and letters to every household.
In the streets and alleys that are quickly becoming lively, you can still see busy breakfast vendors everywhere - they have gone out before dawn and started the most important part of the day at the street corner near their home. The sounds of business, hawking and people greeting can be heard everywhere in the blocks. These sounds are mixed with the chiming of the mechanical clock and echo throughout Cecil City - just like the sound of contentment in this new city in the early morning. A pleasant sigh.
In the dining room of the Lord's Mansion, Gawain was sitting in his own seat, and Hetty was sitting on his right. The "Cecil Butler" was cutting the bread in front of him while speaking. The recent situation in the territory: "...News reports about Lu'an City have been released through Magic Network Radio and newspapers. According to your instructions, in addition to reporting the cause, process and results of the incident, we also emphasized that people everywhere, regardless of their origin, Regardless of identity or region, the situation of unity seems to be very effective so far, and people are in high spirits. 'We Cecil people' has become a widely circulated saying."
Gao Wen nodded slightly. He shook his head, feeling very satisfied with the work of Godwin Orlando and Hetty.
The liberation of Lu'an City is of extraordinary significance. It not only means the complete retreat of the Holy Light Church's power in the southern border, but also means that the new order he has worked hard to promote in the past two years has truly affected the people for the first time. The lowest level of the people, and it also means that his other plan is going smoothly:
To lay the foundation for national consciousness, so that the Southern Territory can truly transform from an ordinary aristocratic territory into a country.
During the operation in Luan City, thousands of people from all over the southern border stood together for a common goal. They came from different social classes, different regions and families. They were once People who belong to different lords and have not interacted with each other since old age and death, never pay attention to each other, and never identify with each other. However, for the common goal, these people unite into a force - this goal is to override their origins and careers. , place of residence and even personal beliefs, and the emergence of this phenomenon means that these principlesThe scattered people now have the foundation to become "Cecil citizens".
On this basis, relying on continuous guidance and education, sooner or later the Cecil people will awaken as a community. They will have similar moral standards, similar life customs, and they will use common Words and similar languages will celebrate common festivals and commemorate common heroes. They will proudly call their ethnic group "we Cecil people" and will regard every inch of land here as natural and belonging. "Our" territory.
According to Gawain's experience, this sense of identity will lay the psychological foundation of the people's "territorial unity". If it develops along the way, coupled with the pioneering ancestors of the Cecil family, maybe it can still To embark on the path of "if you are poor, put aside disputes, and if you are rich, you have been since ancient times"...
Okay, this may be a bit too much.
However, even if we do not consider "Daze since ancient times", it is not easy to realize the awakening of national and national consciousness. It will take many years, although now people on the streets will say with excitement and pride " "We Cecil people" are words, but this is at best a temporary upsurge due to the current situation. Just two or three years are not enough to establish a solid and lasting national belief. But as long as this upsurge takes a step forward, The first step is that as long as Gawain does not make big mistakes in the process of governing this land, and as long as this land continues to develop as a whole, it will only be a matter of time before the "Cecilians" become a whole.
"In addition, news came from Northern Rock Fortress, and Holy Spirit Plains sent a messenger to deliver a letter from the royal family to the commander of Wald Perici Fortress," Hetty continued, "They seem to have finally made it. I am free to pay attention to the situation in the south - the Grand Duke of the North, Victoria Wilder, wants to visit in person. This will be a 'private' visit. This letter is still on the way, and the news came directly through the magic network communication. ."
Gawain's hand holding the spoon paused slightly, and a strange smile appeared on his face: "A northern duke traveled halfway across the country to visit another border prince in person, and he was still in the kingdom. At this critical moment of the civil war... I'm afraid this can only be called a private matter."
"Do you agree?" Hetty looked into Gawain's eyes, "Rejecting the Duke of the North may irritate the royal family even more. , making them more wary and resistant to the south, but if they agree...the Duke of the North will enter the Rock Fortress."
"There is nothing to refuse," Gawain replied casually, "We just use it. The Rock Fortress only blocks troubles in the north, but it doesn’t mean to completely block off the south. The girl from the Wilder family has inherited some of the qualities of her ancestors, and I’m happy to talk to her.”
Listen. When she came to the words "inherited some qualities of her ancestors", Hetty couldn't help but glance at Rebecca sitting on the other side of her - this girl was lowering her head and struggling with a piece of steak, waving a knife and fork. As if facing the enemy who killed her father, Hetty could only sigh inconspicuously and looked back: "Okay.Yes, I will let the commander of Walder Fortress reply to the messenger. But there is one more thing... I'm afraid this matter is more sensitive. "
"Huh? "
Hetty showed a look of embarrassment: "The living saint of the Holy Light Church in the North, the Holy Princess Veronica Moen... She also sent a letter and wanted to visit the South. Time The time is almost the same as the visit of Duke Victoria Wilder..."
Amber, who was sitting across the table studying how to spread the cream evenly, immediately raised his head when he heard this, with a face full of surprise: "Come on To ruin things? Because we destroyed their place in Luan City? Came to your door so quickly? "
If it were in the past, Hetty would have been quite dissatisfied with Amber's behavior of suddenly interrupting when she was talking to her ancestors and using rude words. She might have rubbed an ice cream on the spot. The arrow hit a certain wall behind the opponent, but since the incident in Luan City, Hetty had some changes in this seemingly unreliable half-elf - she realized the ability and role of this half-elf, Then he began to answer the other party's question seriously: "It is impossible for things in Lu'an City to be transmitted to Saint Sunil so quickly. This exceeds the limit distance of ordinary communication spells, and there is no high-level powerhouse in Lu'an Church who can transmit the information back. Veronica Moen stated in the letter that this was just a normal visit..."
"The detailed information may not be sent back, but the headquarters of the Holy Light Church may have some way to detect the area. The general situation of the headquarters," Gao Wen said, "We must try to make our opponents smarter and more capable. "
Hetty asked Gawain's opinion: "Then...are you going to reject that 'saint princess'? "
"No need to refuse, if she wants to come to visit, then come," Gawain said nonchalantly, "I still have the courage to do so. ”
“Aren’t you afraid that she will come and cause trouble? " Amber blinked, "We really ruined their situation..."
"The split between the Holy Light Protestant Church and the old sect is an established fact, and what happened in Lu'an City will eventually reach the church. When we go to the headquarters, the entire southern church has disappeared. Is it possible that we can still hide this? What's more, I didn't want to hide it from the beginning," Gawain said, tapping the table lightly, "I'm more curious about how the Northern Church will react after knowing this fact...if they really organize a group of people. It would be great if the Bo Holy Army came to attack the Rock Fortress, and we could save a lot of food and fodder on the road. "
Gawain was just joking, but Hetty shook his head seriously: "Then they probably don't have this margin - according to the news from the north, the Holy Light Church has publicly announced that it will stand on The Wang ** camp participated in this civil war, and the Crusaders are now following the King ** on the battlefield in the eastern part of the Holy Spirit Plain, and are fighting fiercely with the eastern rebels. "
Rebecca, who had lowered her head and battled wits with the food in front of her for a long time, finally caught a sentence or two of the conversation. The girl raised her head in surprise, with a cute face: "Huh? They haven't finished fighting yet? eastAre the army and the royal army still fighting? "
As soon as she said this, everyone at the table looked at her almost in shock. Gawain was stunned for more than ten seconds when he looked at Rebecca's quite easy-to-understand innocent expression. Then he asked Hetty next to him: "Is this child not awake yet? "
Hetty was sweating coldly: "...She was busy with the experimental project, and she might not have paid much attention to the situation outside..."
It was only then that Rebecca realized that she might It was a mistake. She shrank her neck, but she still couldn't help but said: "How long have we been fighting for... In this time, we have defeated the entire southern border, and also driven out the Holy Light Church. ..."
"You can't use our war form to measure Anzu's civil war..." Gawain glanced at Rebecca helplessly, "But there's nothing we can do about it, you're still young, and you can't I have seen what a traditional noble war is like..."
The civil war in Ansu is still continuing. The rebels and the royal family are continuing a long-term tug of war and stalemate in the eastern part of the Holy Spirit Plain. Whether it is Ed Neither the chaos caused by Prince Meng's use of the royal capital's nobles nor the changes in the situation caused by the entry of the Holy Light Church can speed up the progress of this war. If there are no accidents, it is likely to continue, even until several years later - this It is inevitable.
The "normal" wars of this era are like this. They are cruel and bloody, but also slow and long. The low killing efficiency of cold weapons and the slow speed of action of the army make every battle difficult. After being dragged out for a long time, the gap between battles also became very long. The two cold-weapon armies with no decisive difference in force were wearing down each other bit by bit. A battle could last for many years.
Especially this is an irreconcilable and unstoppable civil war, a civil war against the royal power. It can be said that as long as food and population can support it, the warring parties will inevitably be dragged into the whirlpool and fight until Until the strength of this country is exhausted - unless one of the warring parties is willing to voluntarily give up its claim to the throne.
Like the Cecil family, they directly bring the magic cannon to the battlefield and destroy the entire enemy's main force in one bombing. "Quick war" with the fortress is almost non-existent in this era.
"Then the matter is settled," Gawain said, "The Duke of the North and the Holy Light Church. Princess... Now the frost moon has passed more than half, and when they come here it should be the fog moon - the winter in Cecil City will definitely impress them. ”