Heroes of Might and Magic: Knight Chapter 343: Reaction and decision-making

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 strength. The area of ​​the river valley is less than one-tenth of the Northland and has a population of more than six million. There are hundreds of noble families, large and small. In this era, the population is It's already 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. Some of them even did not repair traditional castles and 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 they can get a few thousand out of them, but they don't seem to have any in front of the Hunter family in the north. The main force of the army in the river valley is still It is no secret that Dane has been flirting with Richard for a long time among Dane's 20,000-strong Valley Legion.

After the news came that Richard had annexed Piaoxue City, the nobles in Burai City were a little uneasy. The four giant dragons, Richard did not hide at all this time, the entire kingdom as long as they were not Deaf and blind people, everyone should know the power of Richard now. Now the nobles in the 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, he can only keep going. The urging of the Kingdom's Imperial Guards was still on the way.

Yes, 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 that they rushed over, they became Be prepared for Richard's force to break through the barrier and enter the river valley.

The Jinlongdu side also received news about the Northland. At this time, Renn even held the letter sent by Richard, 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 hard 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, right chancellor, Thor and other top officials of the kingdom. Most of the discussions in the main hall are just a formality. Really important matters cannot be discussed by a group of people. After a few people reach a unified opinion, they can be symbolically discussed by more people.

"Your Majesty, the most important thing for us right now is to deal with the orc crisis. We must entangle the orcs at the Longxing Pass, otherwise the Central Plains will not be saved."

"I know, anyway, there is that boy Richard in the Northland, and 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 looking forward to 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 overturn the table. If it were a king with a more impulsive personality, Richard would be breaking the rules. You may need to be more careful when doing so.

"Then, do we want to reject Richard's request in this letter?"

Ren had circulated the letter before, and the left prime minister also knew about Richard's request in the letter. Not only did he annex Piaoxue City, but he also secretly arranged for a marquis heir. What was even more shameless was that Richard came. A letter asking 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 to Richard in the Golden Dragon City, he has the ability to make him sick. Although Richard can settle everything in the Northland with one word, Charman, who has been in the Golden Dragon Kingdom for hundreds of years, The family is particularly powerful, and the name of righteousness still lies with Ren. If they don't agree with 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 so. What, but always a little less orthodox.

“But the Hunter family had just achieved a great victory over the orcs and successfully killed the orcs’ protecting warrior Geert, and now their heads are already on their way to the royal capital. This has been more than a hundred years. The greatest victory achieved by humans against orcs..."

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 is against Richard. He was also a little dissatisfied with acting arbitrarily, but from a martial artist's point of view, he admired Richard very much.

After Thor reminded him, several people on the scene fell into silence again. Three legions of orcs plus a warrior protecting the country. At this special time, let alone a marquis, in fact it would probably be a duke. It’s not excessive, 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. No matter what, it's not Richard's place to make arrangements.

"Let the House of Lords recognize Linte's title first."

In the end, it was Ren who acknowledged the matter and finally 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."

"This time Richard acted recklessly and annexed Piaoxue City without authorization. It is the greatest kindness to him that the kingdom does not pursue him."

"Yes, at most the merits and demerits are equal to each other."

"Reward at most some property."

The following people all understand that in the face of Richard's achievements, the kingdom is actually quite embarrassed. Although there is still the title of duke above the marquis, in fact the marquis has become the ceiling of the nobility. Since the establishment of the kingdom, The kingdom has only granted two dukes in total. One is the Duke of Ross, one of the three founding knights, and the other is Thor, the dragon knight who is present here.

The Duke's position of the Ross family is due to historical reasons, and Saul'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 center had an instinctive rejection of this kind of thing. It was enough for the kingdom to have a Duke of the West. Besides, Richard was 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 they had heard wrong. Giving it to the Duke was already an exception, but it was worthy of Richard's credit. 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 river valley to the Central Plains than from the north, not to mention that the river valley is still a prosperous place. , although the wealth in the river valley is nothing compared to the central plain of the royal capital and the south, it cannot be given to Richard in vain.

On the other hand, 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 merit and send people 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 objected in their hearts, after Ren made the decision, they did not dare to continue to object. They could only follow Ren's wishes, and the only thing in this Thor, who had the ability to object, remained silent. The rest of the people thought that the uncle and nephew had reached some kind of tacit understanding, so they didn't 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 very wisely.

After everyone left the room, Ren asked:

"Uncle 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 gather together. Come out, catch the orcs off guard, at least achieve a partial victory, and delay the orcs' attack.

Originally, the scope of knowledge about 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 others. It was originally a military adventure. When the dragon launches an attack before leaving, it is natural to prevent the news from leaking and to allow the orcs to 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 makes sense 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 plan involves more than two million elites and is related to the fate of the country. No risk can be taken.

But now Renn is obviously willing to let Richard participate again. Firstly, the power shown by Richard is indeed significant. There are four giant dragons, as well as the giant beasts and mysterious strong men that have appeared in the south. , in terms of high-end power, 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 orc warriors who protect the country. It is impossible to say that he was a spy, at least he was targeting the orcs. In this matter, Richard is trustworthy. If Richard had brought the elites and dragons from the North to join the battle, then the probability of success of this Eastern Expedition's adventure plan would have been 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.

Thor was not surprised by Ren's words. 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 words but not real. For a kingdom that is now trying to defend itself against the orcs, sealing them off is all it takes. However, Renne directly added the river valley into Richard's sphere of influence. It’s worth pondering.

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 valley, that is not within the scope of Ren's consideration now. How much interests 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, he was a little unsure whether this young man who acted 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 every family in Posy City. The nobles, even the original thorn-headed Walaya Houfu, have entered into a state of cooperation with Parley since the expedition.

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 accumulate enough advantages in the south with Posey City as the center to prepare for future possibilities. Charge up for the coming battle for the throne.

Unfortunately, as the orc crisis approaches, the focus of all this 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, so 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 Stone Hill Plains. If these guys can be brought over, they will definitely be an important fighting force...

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