Chapter 307 Undercurrent
This year's war was because the Kingdom of Grant had fewer troops on the north bank of the Kea River, which led to loopholes in the strategic posture. The orcs penetrated the defense line, which made the Northern Army dare not act rashly and fell into strategic passivity.
To complete the tasks assigned by King Roger, Lord Harland needed to build two castles at the northern foot of the Eagle Mountains. The battle line was moved northward for nearly 200 kilometers and more than 6,000 troops were stationed.
It is not easy for Harland to add 6,000 soldiers, build two new forts more than 100 kilometers away, and strengthen the garrison on the north bank of the Kea River.
Over the course of a year, at least 100,000 gold coins will be invested. But Richard knew in his heart that the greater his ability, the more he should bear responsibility.
After Richard was promoted to Duke, the entire Grant Kingdom's upper echelons were watching his next move.
If he does not perform well in the next war, public sentiment may be aroused and many people will write letters to pursue him. After all, there are many nobles who are jealous of Richard, and the Harland family has offended many nobles because of emancipating serfs and spreading knowledge.
If he wants to gain a firm foothold, Richard's performance must be hard to fault.
Generally speaking, the canonization of a duke is a very important matter for a kingdom. It often requires a grand celebration and complicated ceremony. All the distinguished nobles in Nolan should participate in the grand ceremony of the canonization of the duke.
But the situation is tense now, and Richard needs to be in command in the Losa Basin, so the ceremony was not held. Besides, when he reaches a position like Richard's, he should also be on guard against outsiders.
If something goes wrong on the way to Nolan, it will interrupt the momentum of development in Haaland's territory. This is not because Richard is afraid of death, but because he is responsible for himself and the territory.
Because of the rapid development of the Harland territory, Richard was promoted to Duke in his thirties, and King Roger was actually a little afraid of him.
According to the bard, Richard's life must be a legendary life and will be recited for thousands of years. According to Richard's current development speed, he will definitely be a big shot in the Dawn Plane in the future.
After all, a man started from scratch and actually established a ducal family in his early thirties. Richard's performance has surpassed that of Grant, Venus and other founding owners.
It's just that Roger is different from King Charles. He is not far from a legend. He is also a man of great talent and strategy. He thinks he can control powerful men like Richard and Duke Jonathan.
In addition, King Roger was not too old and could suppress his inner suspicion without becoming confused.
In recent years, King Roger has also considered issues in favor of the Grant Kingdom and has not set up obstacles to the development of the Harland Territory. If a serious internal fight breaks out between the royal family and the Harland family, it will only force Richard to move closer to the Jonathan family.
If the internal friction between the two sides is serious, it will only benefit the orcs.
Although the current Harland family is developing very well, it is still not among the top five in the Grant Kingdom in terms of strength. The two major families, Jonathan and York, put far more pressure on the royal family than the Harland family.
Moreover, in King Roger's mind, after relying on the Duchy of Harland to stabilize the situation in northern Xinjiang, he can mobilize the northern imperial army to attack the Kingdom of Delon southward and expand into the wealthy south. When the time comes, smoothly transferring the Grizzly Legion to the south will not only reduce the Harland family's influence in northern Xinjiang, but will also be a good check and balance for Richard.
King Roger's ability is far superior to that of his predecessor, Charles.
After he took over as king, the Grant royal family swallowed up four provincial territories and expanded a main army. In less than ten years, he saved 1.2 million gold coins and obtained several advanced technologies from Richard. It can be said that he is the master of the renaissance of the Grant royal family.
Envoy Allen only brought the canonization documents and a gold seal.
Also coming to Northern Xinjiang with Special Envoy Allen was Wilson, the eldest son of King Roger.
Wilson is already twenty-six years old and already a fifth-level knight. He is the eldest son of King Roger and was clearly established as the crown prince last year.
Wilson's talent followed his father's footsteps, and he became a mid-level professional at a young age, serving as a senior officer in the Royal Guards.
According to the practice of prince training, after being promoted to the Silver Knight, the crown prince will also enter the northern frontline and fight the orcs himself.
The reason why King Roger sent Wales to Harland this time was actually to allow him to contact Richard and make some preparations in advance, so as not to be unprepared and unable to control more difficult figures such as Richard when he takes over as king in the future.
In recent years, Wilson has entered northern Xinjiang several times and met with Dukes Fox and Edward respectively, as well as Macmillan, who stayed in the Dukedom of Jonathan.
This time when dealing with Richard, Wales has already come into contact with all the top officials in Northern Xinjiang.
In an extraordinary world like the Dawn Plane, the lives of noble children are not easy. To live a life without worries about food and clothing, you must take responsibility.
Especially in the Grant Kingdom, wars were frequent and full of bloodshed. Every noble child had to go to the battlefield, and the royal family children were no exception. Many people came to northern Xinjiang to fight the orcs.
Duke Roger is one of the best. He has been stationed in Northern Xinjiang for more than ten years and participated in four orc invasions. When he was young, he participated in many battles and personally charged into battle. This experience is a very key factor in why he is comfortable on the throne.
Children from aristocratic families will be tested for magic aptitude when they are ten years old. If they are tested for magic aptitude, they will be given priority to become mages. If they don't have magical talent and start practicing breathing techniques and awakening their knight bloodline when they are fifteen or sixteen, they will spend more than half of their youth in the military, which is not only boring but also cruel.
At the same time, they need to receive a rigorous education and need to learn many courses such as writing, law, political rules, history, geography, literature, aristocratic etiquette, etc.
Knight training is an essential subject.
The direct members of the royal family all have very good bloodlines. As long as their qualifications are not too bad and sufficient resources are provided, they can often enter the fourth level before the age of thirty and have good skills.
Richard was already considered a person with outstanding talents, and he still had killing experience to cheat. He only advanced to the sixth level warrior before he was thirty years old, and Prince Wilson's advancement speed was only a little slower than Richard.
Ordinary nobles outside can be called geniuses if they can become a third-level knight at this age. But compared to Wilson, the speed of cultivation is far from enough.
A person with extraordinary talent like Jennings can barely keep up with Wilson's advancement speed. However, he does not have the bloodline of an awakened knight, and his combat power is far from the match of the royal bloodline.
The gap in bloodline and resources is an important factor in the combat effectiveness of the big nobles to suppress the small nobles.
A warrior's peak period is about forty years. If he cannot advance to legend, the physical fitness of warriors and knights will slowly decline after the age of sixty. After the age of ninety, it will be basically difficult to fight fiercely.
It can be said that there is a time limit for a person's peak period, and the road to becoming a strong man also requires speed. One step is slow and one step is slow. The members of the royal family rely on their advantages in blood and resources to suppress internal and external opponents.
In a cruel environment like the Dawn Plane, even members of the royal family need serious involution to stand out.
This time when he came to Haaland, Wilson did not reveal his identity. Instead, he quietly hid in the dark, used exquisite makeup techniques, and acted as an attaché of Special Envoy Allen.
Richard rarely goes to Nolan and does not know the details of Prince Wilson.
Although Haaland's intelligence department is not weak, it has invested less power in Nolan and has not penetrated the royal family to avoid unclear explanations of problems.
The impression Prince Wilson gave him was just that he looked impressive.
After handing over the Duke's gold seal and the knighthood document, Wilson followed Allen's envoy back to the post house.
Allen sat on the chair, took a sip of the elf black tea, and said with a bit of seriousness on his face: "I met Duke Richard today. What was the impression he gave you?" "The impression Duke Harland
gave me Not bad, better than the two Dukes Edward and Fox. The Duke seemed very decisive and had a certain view of the overall situation. He agreed to the royal capital's request without bargaining." "Dear Wilson,
this is just the surface of the situation, right? How much information do you know about Earl Rand?"
Envoy Allen is Wilson's uncle, and the relationship between the two has always been relaxed and casual. Moreover, Wilson is performing a secret mission this time, and his identity cannot be exposed casually. Therefore, Allen did not directly call Wilson a prince, but treated him as if he were a younger relative in the family.
"I heard that Duke Harland is a magical Duke with good qualifications. He is a rare person with both magic and martial arts. The Duke is also very talented in invention and creation. This person's thoughts are somewhat deviant, and the policy of the territory seems to be to liberate the serfs. . I know that many nobles in Nolan do not like him, but his father attaches great importance to him. He is second only to Duke Jonathan and is a heavyweight in the kingdom." Envoy Allen
nodded: "Yes, Duke Harland is liberating the serfs . We all know that the countries in the southwest of the mainland liberated their serfs three hundred years ago. After the liberation of the serfs, these magical kingdoms developed very rapidly. Without the serfs, countless nobles lost their noble status, and the political power was gradually controlled by magic. Duke
Harland was not only liberating the serfs, but also spreading extraordinary knowledge to the serfs. Breathing methods and meditation methods were spread on a large scale. Relying on this policy, a large number of qualified personnel were trained in a short period of time. His Although this kind of policy has great benefits for development in a short period of time, it also makes many people worried." "
Since some people in the royal capital are very worried about him, why not take measures to restrict the development of the Harland family?"
"Duke Richard is actually very conservative, like an old tortoise, always keeping his head down. After we received the information about this territory, the Harland family has become full-fledged, leaving people with nowhere to say anything. Besides, the royal
capital He only provided him with a name. The development of the Harland family to its current level mainly relies on their own hard work. The
most important thing is that His Majesty the Kingdom believes that allowing this family to grow and develop will have a great impact on the stability of the northern border of the Grant Kingdom. Benefits. The kingdom suppressed different opinions and provided protection for Duke Richard to a certain extent."
Wilson thought for a long time and said: "Maybe there was an oversight in the king's strategy."
Allen sighed: "Maybe you have to wait until you become the king to correct this mistake. I have no personal conflicts with Duke Richard, but this person puts a lot of pressure on me. He is an ambitious and very capable person. A strong person seems to be born with a traitor in his head and will not be loyal to any noble person.
In just a dozen years, Duke Richard has developed his territory to its current level and has become a flag in northern Xinjiang. Let us It's not easy to start. If one day Wilson becomes the master, you must be on guard against him. The threat that Richard poses to me has already surpassed that of Duke Jonathan. You know, my
sixth sense is naturally very sharp. It's best to use the help of the orcs to weaken the Harland family."
In the inn, Special Envoy Allen didn't know. After they left, the conversation between the two had been figured out by the intelligence department led by Harland.
Harland leads a large amount of research funds every year, which can certainly be converted into a lot of results.
Through the knowledge left behind by Shao Gongyuan, Richard mastered the magical principles of sound wave recognition, sound analysis and data processing knowledge. Then he wrote this knowledge into a paper and gave it to the Harland Mage Association for research.
Members of the Harland Wizards Association, under the auspices of Butler, successfully produced sound storage crystals using special magic materials.
This kind of thing is the most advanced eavesdropping device. When placed in the Dawn Plane, it is a complete dimensionality reduction attack. Allen and Wilson had no precautions, and their conversation was eavesdropped by the Haaland Intelligence Department.
In fact, in addition to sound storage crystals, there are other eavesdropping methods in Harland territory.
For example, if you find someone who is proficient in lip reading and let him use a telescope to monitor the target, you can also roughly understand the content of the conversation. The second is to use special talents, such as people with extraordinary hearing, to hide near the target and be able to hear the conversation clearly.
Special Envoy Allen and Prince Wilson, although they were very careful, were far from the opponents of Haaland's intelligence department in the intelligence competition.
There are many strange people in Harland's intelligence department. Whether they are talents who are proficient in lip reading or extraordinary hearing talents, they all serve the intelligence department.
In order to avoid alerting the enemy, Noel sent someone to use a sound storage crystal and then sent the information to Richard.
The conversation of Allen's envoy was eavesdropped, and Prince Wilson's identity was revealed.
Listening to the malice towards Leader Harland in the two voices, Richard sighed and said: "Don't worry about this matter now, we just need to know it in our hearts. King Roger is still in charge now, and it seems that he will not directly suppress us. . But it will be difficult for us to borrow the strength of the legion directly under the royal family in the future. When fighting in the future, it is estimated that it will be difficult to wait for the rescue of the central legion. Whether
a territory can develop well depends on its own efforts after all, and we are very concerned about the external environment. It's difficult to change, you just have to know it in your mind."
George frowned and said hesitantly: "Maybe we can use marriage to integrate the blood of other great nobles to solve this problem." Richard objected: "We're
here At the critical moment of real swordsmanship, the relationship of marriage is of little use. Looking through history books, how many fathers, sons, and brothers turned against each other in order to compete for power?
We were targeted by the nobles of the royal capital, first because we were shot in the head. Bird, the rapid development has aroused the jealousy of many people. The second is that our speed of development makes them afraid, afraid that we will attack them when we become successful. Unless
we are willing to tie our arms, give up the Serf Emancipation Act, and follow the trend like other nobles . But the reason why the Harland territory has developed so fast is precisely because we have implemented a special system.
In fact, even the Grant family is spreading extraordinary knowledge outwards, vigorously supporting the freedmen class, and reducing serfs."
(End of chapter) )