The noise of the nobles is disturbing.
Victoria Wilder sat next to Crown Prince Wales, her frosty face expressionless. Her eyes swept across the nobles and nobles gathered in the long hall of the castle, with a trace of imperceptible disdain hidden in her eyes.
These wine bags and rice bags.
They wore gorgeous robes and talked loudly in this castle. Their blood was noble and their names were louder than the last. When they spoke here, their attitude seemed to be deciding the fate of the kingdom. However, their impassioned In the final analysis, his speech can be summed up in one word: interest.
A righteous and upright voice echoed in the long hall: "...the Carré family supports the rebuilding of the Kingdom's Highway. We are willing to provide a hundred strong laborers, and my nephew will personally lead the team..."< /p>
"What a big sacrifice! One hundred people!" Someone sneered loudly from the side, "I'm afraid there are more than a hundred people raising horses for you, right?"
"Stuck The Lei family's people and food are on the eastern front. We have given everything we can for this kingdom - but Earl of Gray Mountain, don't you even have five hundred mules?"
"I don't agree with rebuilding the Kingdom Road - although what the Duke Regent said is very reasonable, the Kingdom Road can bring great benefits in the long run, but now we are at war and rashly use a lot of manpower and materials to repair the road. If it affects What about the war situation? I think we only need to rebuild the east-west road so that we can transport troops to the front more easily..."
"I object!"
...
The noise of the nobles is really upsetting.
Welsh Morn sat at the top like a puppet. When the noise in the long hall was almost out of control, the nominal heir to the king finally couldn't help but speak. : "Gentlemen and ladies, let's put the debate aside - the Kingdom Avenue project can be discussed slowly. After all, it is winter. We can first discuss the town council and the business system..."
Welsh's voice finally calmed down the debate in the long hall, but the new motion he proposed soon brought about a new round of disputes - nobles of all sizes immediately praised the Duke Regent and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince praised their wisdom for their long-term vision, and then, one after another, strongly recommended the implementation of these new systems in other people's territories.
If Victoria Wilder and Franklin Baldwin were not sitting here, they might not just be arguing like this.
Such an argument was destined to be fruitless. The noise in the long hall once again reached its peak, and before Wales Morn had to speak again, Victoria Wild finally stood up.
"That's enough."
The Queen of the North said in a cold voice. As her words fell, the temperature of the entire castle instantly approached freezing point from the inside to the outside.
"I hope this cold air can calm you down." For a moment.After that, Victoria withdrew her huge magic power. As the temperature in the hall gradually recovered, her eyes swept over the silent nobles.
These are powerful aristocrats, large and small, who control half of the country’s extraordinary power, land, and wealth. They are short-sighted and selfish. When they join forces, they can only drag the kingdom back. However, Even as the Duke Regent, she could only warn these people.
“We are not here to quarrel,” Victoria continued after ten seconds of silence. “Town councils and commercial restructuring are the destined direction of development, but I understand that everyone One person's concerns - so all this will not be imposed on any of you. The pilot of the town council, selected from the northern territories and royal fiefs, and the commercial restructuring will be taken care of by the Duke of Franklin's Western Territory." p>
Badwin Franklin, who had a hint of bookish elegance, bowed forward slightly in response to Victoria's words.
The nobles and nobles in the long hall were silent for a moment, and then each one looked relieved - but they did not dare to be too obvious and exaggerated, so they could only try to be reserved. They smiled modestly, and used messy praises and tributes to cover up their true thoughts - their concealment skills were superb, and their flowing and humble movements and heartfelt praises all reflected their status as aristocrats. Qualified, but Victoria Wilder has seen through these masks since she was a girl.
Keeping a frozen face was the most polite thing she could show to these people.
She sat down, but Duke Baldwin Franklin stood up and continued: "All new policies will not be enforced, but there is one thing I want to explain in advance - please remember One of the virtues of nobles is to remember their oaths, so you should not forget your decision today. Those who oppose the construction of new factories in their territories today will have to pay 30% to the royal family unconditionally if they want to build factories in the future. The redemption money is to redeem the right to build a factory that you have given up today; if you refuse to let roads connect your territory today, any roads built by the Kingdom in the future will bypass you unless you redeem the road like you redeemed the right to build a factory; today in Anyone who refuses to sign a trade agreement here will not be allowed to establish new chambers of commerce or companies within ten years - unless you redeem your commercial restructuring rights."
The Duke of the West stated these conditions one by one with a calm face. His tone and expression soon made the nobles who had just begun to chuckle confused and uneasy.
They know what is being discussed here today - it is a lot of deviant and sensational things, weird rules from the south. The Duke Regent requires the nobles to give up some of their privileges and requires everyone to obey The management of the royal family, the establishment of new-style factories in their own territories, the establishment of town councils that could threaten the lord's rule, the construction of roads, the establishment of companies... these things were taken out one by one., all are complete threats and deprivations.
However, the Duke of the West called them "rights" and announced that every noble who raised objections today had given up these "rights". He even said that one day in the future, if someone wants to build a factory or start a company , After building roads, do we still have to spend money to redeem these "rights"?
This incredible, absurd and bizarre statement is really difficult to understand.
The people in the long hall were silent in confusion, and discussed in low voices in confusion. Some people seemed to react slightly, and some people seemed to be frightened by the attitude of the Duke of the West. , they carefully summoned their attendants, wrote down notes and handed them to the Duke, but more people just spread their hands and shook their heads——
Who wants this kind of "right"? The right to cut flesh from the body?
This noisy meeting ended, and the nobles dispersed. Apart from the attendants and guards, there were soon only two regent dukes and a nominal crown prince left in the huge long hall.
“This is the first time I have seen you angry,” Victoria looked at Duke Baldwin and said with a sigh, “You thought you would never lose your temper on such an occasion. "
"I am indeed angry, but I am also serious," Baldwin sat on the chair with a tired look on his face. "This can make some people confused, at least they will think more. For a moment, the other group of people... they can at least make some contribution to the kingdom's treasury one day."
Victoria frowned: "How many people are shaken?"
"No. "Only 10% of the people," Duke Baldwin recalled the number of people who handed over the note, shook his head, "most of them are nobles who are far away from the main road of the kingdom and whose territory itself is not rich, as well as landless royal nobles. People have no worries about wealth and privilege, but they are worried about losing the protection of the royal family. They expressed their willingness to learn more about our new deal in private."
"One percent..." Victoria snorted coldly. There was a deep sense of helplessness in the cold snort, "There are so many."
This Queen of the North will also encounter helpless things - this made Baldwin full of emotions.
"As we expected, there are many difficulties," he sighed and said to Victoria, "We have adjusted the areas involved in the changes as much as possible and removed those that have the greatest impact on the nobles on the ground. However, it still aroused such strong resistance. Counting the two meetings yesterday and the day before yesterday, and the three full days of discussion, only five articles were passed, and they were all insignificant..."
" I said at the beginning that no matter how you adjust, the result will be the same - there is no difference between taking one gold coin from those people's pockets and taking away a hundred gold coins, because they are not even willing to lose a copper plate," Victoria shook He nodded, "You want to build factories, build roads, and install officials on their land. This will disturb their roots."
Welsh Morn, who had never spoken, suddenly spoke: "At least We can start with the fiefdoms directly under the royal family -—And part of your territory. "
"Ours..." Baldwin showed a wry smile, "We personally understand the necessity of doing this, but the marquis, earls, and viscounts under our names may not think so... Even with our personal push, the difficulties of enacting change within the Principality remain enormous. "
Separate feudal territories, each into its own country.
Victoria Wilder suddenly thought of what Gawain said to herself when he evaluated the aristocratic system of the kingdom before he left the South. , thinking of the "new aristocracy" system in the south.
The earls and viscounts over there... don't have such great power.
She shook her head and dismissed some bad things. He threw the association aside and looked at Wales: "I'm surprised that you support these new policies so much. I didn't actually take the royal fiefdoms into consideration. "
"I know, this is what you feel for the Moen family..." Wales shook his head and suppressed the words "last respect" back to his heart, "I can see the consequences of these new policies. Meaning, I know they are good for this country. "
"In fact, those who objected, resisted, and refused to express their opinions at the meeting couldn't see it," Victoria cast her eyes towards the empty long hall and said slowly, "Even if they can't see it, The role of new factories, new chambers of commerce, and civilian schools can at least see the rise of Cecil... But they still have to oppose it, and they still have to refuse to take a stand. "
Badwin Franklin sighed: "It's not that they can't see the benefits of doing this to the kingdom, they are just unwilling to pay their own interests for it. Their idea is simple: why can't it be Others, why can't they build factories on other people's territory - yes, everyone is thinking this. "
"Think of something good," Victoria suddenly said softly after a moment of silence. "At least, the coronation of the new king has gained support. "
Badwin Franklin showed a slightly sarcastic smile: "Yes, compared to building a factory on their territory, it is really a small thing for them to support the king. "
After saying this, the Duke of the West, who was obviously in a bad mood, stood up. He looked at the exit of the long hall, and after a few seconds of silence, he slowly said: "Town Council The plan is very likely to fail. This reform is too radical. We can postpone it. The same goes for schools. But we must have new factories at all costs, otherwise we will always be strangled by the Cecil people. Throat. ”
Badwin Franklin left.
Victoria looked at the Duke of the West’s leaving figure and didn’t speak for a long time.
Welsh Morn’s voice Breaking the silence at the scene: "Duchess Wilder, did Duke Gawain Cecil really tell you that he was no longer interested in the throne of Anzu? "
Victoria nodded: "He did say that. "
"Oh..." Welsh Morn nodded calmly and thenThen he slowly stood up and said, "Then I'll leave first, please help yourself."
Victoria was finally the only one left in the long hall.
The Queen of the North looked at this empty place, looking at this place that was full of noise and disputes not long ago, standing there for a long time.
A faint sigh sounded in the long hall, and accompanied by flying snowflakes, her figure disappeared next to the throne.
The snowflakes condensed by the magical power fluttered away, and the last few crystal snowflakes fell on the portrait of Francis II hanging behind the throne, melted into water, and slowly dripped.