Chapter 423 Conflicts will not disappear, but they can be transferred
In Fort Campbell, the Grand Duke's study, the air was so quiet that you could hear the slight sound of pages turning.
The young Justice Edward Campbell sat behind a huge oak table, with deep and steady eyes, meticulously staring at the crumpled newspaper in his hand.
His temperament has changed a lot compared to when he took the throne two years ago.
It is obvious that it is not just Thunder City that has grown over time, the enterprising reformer of the past has also transformed from an inexperienced wader into an experienced captain.
The small boat of the Principality of Campbell went upstream under his command and created an incredible miracle on the northeastern coast of the Whirlpool Sea!
Now the city-states along half of the Whirlpool Sea regard the Thunder City under his rule as a place of dreams, bringing countless goods and treasures to his principality!
However, things are not always so satisfactory.
Just like the news in the newspaper in his hand at this moment, it is a little bit of waves encountered by the small boat he is driving.
Standing in front of the oak table, a baron dressed in luxurious clothes cleared his throat and spoke in a tone like a hymn.
"Your Majesty, Edward Campbell, we all know that the prosperity of Thunder County today is precisely because of your wise reforms and the method of combining kindness and power. Now the citizens of the entire Thunder City are cheering for your wisdom. Your kindness and generosity are unknown to everyone..."
Edward turned over a page of the newspaper in his hand.
He knew very well that this period of flattery was just a foreshadowing, and people were always good at hiding their true purpose in the last sentence of a long speech.
As expected.
As he expected, the baron changed the topic after the compliment and tactfully raised the complaint that had been brewing in his heart for a long time.
…However, we all know that it takes persistent efforts to build a dam, but it only takes a moment to destroy it."
"Baron Richard, there is no need to be polite. With our relationship, you can tell me your troubles directly." Edward spoke softly, as if he were treating an old friend.
Although he said this to every supporter who stood beside him, no matter that person was important or dispensable.
Seeing that His Majesty the Grand Duke valued him so much, the Baron was delighted, and he quickly skipped the beating around the bush and went straight to the point.
"It has something to do with your sister! I dare not make irresponsible remarks about your family affairs, but... you really should restrain your sister a little bit. She is behaving like a child who just got a new toy and poked the fireplace in your house with the toy in her hand."
Come on.
It is indeed the case.
Edward sighed, looking troubled, and rubbed his sour brows.
「What did she do again?」
The baron continued without stopping.
"Bill No. 6! Or... Labor Law, that's what people outside call it! With all due respect, this is simply nonsense! There has never been such a precedent in the Principality of Campbell. Employers are not allowed to fire employees at will? In the name of the royal family, in jurisprudence To impose an additional "tithe" on top of the tax? This is neither legal nor reasonable! No matter what high-sounding excuse she used!" His voice became more and more excited, and the spittle even flew to the Grand Duke's desk.
It wasn't until he saw Archduke Edward frowning that the baron restrained himself, slowed down his tone, and apologized for his rudeness.
Edward has heard too many criticisms from Eileen, and even he himself is full of complaints.
He coughed slightly and got straight to the point.
“What is your demand?”
“Cancel Bill 6!” said the Baron without hesitation.
Edward pondered for a while, tapping his index finger lightly on the table, and expressed his concerns.
"She did something wrong, but she has announced it in the name of the royal family. I can't withdraw it immediately."
And -
This sounds like asking him to be a bad guy.
His Majesty's concerns were seen at a glance. The baron smiled and immediately offered advice.
“Your Majesty, this is easy to do! You can declare your support for Her Highness Irene’s resolution, but Plan 6 is of great importance after all, and the relevant details will continue to be discussed. The royal family must fully listen to the opinions of every citizen. After all, this is not only related to the factories in the new industrial zone, but also to the bakeries and bakeries in the city. In the market, it's not just my factory that has employees... Well, I mean our factory! In short, those small shopkeepers in Thunder City also have employees, and apprentices and child laborers are also considered employees!"
Edward glanced at the baron in surprise, with a hint of interested appreciation on his face.
This guy has a very good brain.
No wonder he was able to earn such a large amount of money in just two years.
Of course, he had already thought of this idea, he just needed someone with status to speak it out for him.
Looking at the Archduke who seemed to be "heartbeat", the Baron immediately struck while the iron was hot and continued.
"In this case, there is no need for you to take action at all. As long as you submit this bill to the city council, the mascots you raised will never produce results if they don't argue for five or six years! Those farmers will hate those weak citizens, and they will never be able to hate you."< br/>
"And this way you can also convince your sister that her Bill No. 6 is not to be passed, but to be passed slowly and cautiously!"
Edward finally showed a smile on his face, thought for a moment, and nodded after a moment.
"I think your idea is good and worth a try."
"It's my honor to serve you!"
Seeing that the Grand Duke really listened to his advice, the Baron bowed excitedly.
Saint Sis is up there!
Fortunately, their Majesty is a sensible person and did not accompany her incompetent sister.
She always talks about putting power in a cage, but she doesn’t even realize that she is the one who deserves to be put in a cage.
Today she can destroy the freedom of business in Thunder City with just one word, and tomorrow she will put a rope on the future of the entire principality!
Perhaps he was a little distracted. When he was talking, he saw that the Grand Duke was so talkative, so he couldn't help but say more.
"Your Majesty, please forgive me...Although the harmony in the royal family is what we ministers are happy to see, are you a little too arrogant towards Her Highness Irene? She seems not to consider your opinions too much."
The moment the words fell, the air in the study suddenly became quiet, as if you could clearly hear a pin dropping on the ground.
Noticing that Edward was looking at him with sharp eyes, the baron felt his hairs stand up and cold sweat climbed up his back.
Whether there is a problem or not, the Duke's family affairs are not something he can interfere at will.
He realized that he had overstepped a bit...
However, as a wise monarch, Edward Campbell did not make things difficult for him.
"Baron Richard, I heard your advice, I will talk to my sister about this matter."
The Baron breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly walked down the steps.
"Praise for your enlightenment, Your Majesty, please believe that I have no ill intentions... I am just doing it for our principality."
With that, he hurriedly left.
…
After the Baron left.
The staff member who stood silently beside him finally spoke and sighed softly.
"Your Majesty, these upstarts are really getting smaller and smaller. Sometimes kindness can win over wavering supporters, but occasionally you should also show your majesty appropriately."
"You can't blame them. After all, they have just become rich, and it will take time to adapt to the etiquette of upper class society."
Putting the newspaper in his hand aside, Edward continued expressionlessly.
"We need their power. Only by allowing the emerging strata to grow can we use them to check and balance our internal conservative forces."
Feudal kingdoms are not monolithic, and the same is naturally true for smaller principalities.
Although he is the nominal king of this country, his vassals do not look up to him and occasionally oppose him.
Just like now.
·Those big nobles who already owned a lot of land were extremely disgusted with the movements taking place in the principality.
From their point of view, those petty nobles were like hungry wild dogs that were encroaching on public lands, randomly modifying genealogies and traditional legal principles like graffiti, desperately trying to get through any loopholes they could, and then driving all the farmers on the land to the neighboring territories.
The farmers who were driven away by these guys either became refugees, or became bandits and bandits... which brought huge trouble to their territories.
·A population that exceeds the capacity of the territory is never a good thing for the nobles. They would like to have fewer of these people, maintain them at a just right number, and live a life that is neither rich nor poor.
This is the best thing to manage.
In addition, the great nobles also had huge differences with him on the grain import bill.
That was another of Edward's political agendas.
In order to avoid famine caused by the decline in food production, he vigorously developed industry and also promoted a bill to use industrial taxes to subsidize food imports.
This is a good thing. Cheap bread benefits the citizens of Thunder City.
However, for the three counties that relied on grain income, this bill undoubtedly destroyed their pocketbooks.
Of course, those conservative nobles will find a high-sounding reason. For example, the food produced by the Principality of Campbell is just enough for the Campbell people. Using industrial taxes to subsidize the import of agricultural products is tantamount to hanging the farmers who are protected by the castle.
Edward naturally sneered at this. He had never seen an earl take a look at the peasants in his territory. Now these guys were worried about them.
In fact, there are many reasons for this. In the final analysis, the wave of industrialization in the Kingdom of Lane has affected their pockets.
To be honest, Edward very much hoped that the great nobles would also participate in the wave of industrialization. However, the actual situation was far more complicated than imagined.
The Principality of Campbell only has one Thunder City, and there can only be one Thunder City.
All other lands follow the most traditional feudal etiquette, and all rights are distributed one level at a time, which cannot adapt to complex production relations.
This is why the same person can work as a worker in Thunder City, but when he returns to the Earldom of North Valley, he can only lie on a haystack and bask in the sun. This has nothing to do with laziness or intelligence.
Every time he thought of this, Edward felt irritated.
The rise of the Principality of Campbell is inseparable from the support of the emerging nobles and businessmen. However, Irene's behavior unknowingly stood in the camp of the conservative nobles.
Even though he knew that his sister had no usurpation ambitions, he could not resist her unrealistic kindness and she would become a tool in the hands of people with ulterior motives.
Rubbing his sore eyebrows again, Edward turned his gaze to the staff standing aside and said a little tiredly.
“What do you think of Bill 6?”
The staff thought for a moment and seemed to answer the question.
"Your Majesty, I don't want to comment on where this bill will take our principality, but I think there is something wrong with Her Highness Eileen. She seems to mistake the sword on her waist for a crown."
Edward laughed with his nose.
If it is you, you must know that Richard did not tell you the truth. The citizens of Thunder City cheered the name of the Campbell family, but the person they really praised was your sister, the one who truly inherited the light of praise——"
"That's enough! I know."
Looking at the suddenly angry Grand Duke, the staff member was stunned for a moment, and then lowered his head.
...Maybe it would be a good choice to let her get married, then she should return the sword to you according to the law."
Leaving the last words, the staff respectfully bowed their heads and left, gently closing the study door, leaving His Majesty sitting alone at his desk, thinking with a heavy face.
I am the only one left in the room.
Edward felt a little calmer, but the complexity in his eyes did not fade away.
To this day, he still doesn’t understand why his father did what he did before he died.
He is not afraid of sacrifice.
Dying for glory is the mission of the Campbell family passed down from generation to generation, and it is also the destiny of every Grand Duke.
If one day it is necessary for him to draw the legendary sword, he will not hesitate to fulfill his sacred duty and spend the rest of his life blooming like lightning, then passing the principality to his children just like his father once did.
If his father's sword had been given to him, all the problems he faced today would never have been so difficult!
It's not even just him -
It's also Eileen!
If she did not inherit the light of legend, she would not have to force herself to become stronger, nor would she have to bear those things that did not belong to her. She can live a carefree life like her peers, fall in love with the person she likes and start a family, and those flies with malicious intentions will not focus on her at all...
And by inheriting both the sword and the crown, she will build the Principality of Campbell into an extremely powerful country.
Hell will never threaten them again!
Edward's fists clenched unconsciously, and there was a hint of haze in his complicated eyes.
At this moment, hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside the study, followed by a knock on the door.
"Your Majesty! A letter from the Dusk Province! It is sent to you by the Governor of the Province!"
The sudden voice interrupted Edward's thoughts, and he immediately raised his head and said.
"Come in!"
The door opened quickly, and an attendant hurriedly walked to his desk, presenting a letter with a fire seal in his hands.
That is the coat of arms of Baron Elalic Valerius.
Although the gentleman's title is only a baron, the position of provincial governor gives him power and status that are not inferior to those of a general duke.
Edward is no stranger to Governor Elalic.
On the one hand, it was because his father had a good personal relationship with this person, and on the other hand, it was because the vast Twilight Province was the main "neighboring country" of the Campbell Principality, and the stability there directly affected the principality's geographical environment.
After dismissing the attendant, Edward calmly opened the letter and read along the letter's header.
【…Dear Archduke Campbell, it has been two years since we last met. How are you doing? I'm sorry for missing your banquet last time. You may have heard about our situation. The days in Dusk Forest are really getting worse...】
At the beginning of this letter, Elalic first expressed condolences to him who had just succeeded to the throne, and then stated the current bad situation of Dusk Province in sincere terms.
Intensifying famine, rebels rising up, and supply pressure from Brass Pass... In short, these are commonplace issues, and Edward has long known the situation there.
Although Elalic blamed all problems on Chaos, Edward scorned this.
The problem of Dusk Province is not that complicated at all. To put it bluntly, King Theoden sitting in the palace cannot manage so many direct territories.
So the old guy who wanted both had no choice but to hand over a large piece of land to a nameless governor to manage it for himself, and then collect some symbolic taxes to prove that he indeed ruled a large territory.
However, what is interesting is that not all of this vast land is owned by the king. There are still nobles of all sizes and their castles. As direct vassals of the king, they occasionally fight with each other over land disputes.
After all, the Kingdom of Lane is the hometown of knights. There are as many castles there as there are windmills. These nobles who support their troops and respect themselves do not even pay attention to the king, let alone submit to the control of a baron.
As for why not choose someone with a higher title to be the governor?
Of course it was because he was afraid that the governor would be exposed in front of him, so he incorporated the royal land into his title, or simply turned it into another "Twilight Principality".
In a sense, the chaos there was intentional by those in power.
If it is not chaotic, it belongs to others. Only if it is a little chaotic, the place belongs to you.
As for Elalic's misfortune, Edward read it completely from the perspective of a spectator, expressionless.
However, just when he was wondering if the other party was going to start borrowing money, the text that caught his eye made him stunned for a moment, and he almost suspected that he had read it wrong.
…Dear Your Majesty, Your Majesty of the Principality of Campbell, please allow me to call you this, because in my opinion you are a king who truly cares about his subjects. You have perfectly inherited the legacy of Grand Duke Aaron and managed the Principality of Campbell in an orderly manner.
More than that, your subjects have not failed you. They are hard-working, brave, loyal and kind-hearted, and have created enviable wealth and achievements under your governance.
In contrast, the nobles of Twilight Province are chilling. In the face of the crisis, those vassals who had sworn allegiance to the king and sworn to protect the country and the people, as if their original oaths did not exist, abandoned their sacred obligations one after another. They fled their territory and went to the royal capital, or to you, leaving their people in dire straits and enjoying themselves with the looted people's fat and anointing.
The few people who stayed were not aboveboard. They did not run away simply because they had too much stuff to take away. So they plundered everything they could, and huddled in the castle with their soldiers, allowing the flood outside the castle to surge and the people to fend for themselves.
I have reported the crisis here to the royal capital many times and begged your majesty to send knights for support. However, our majesty was deceived by traitors and all the letters fell into the sea with no news.
I am afraid that water far away cannot save fire near me, and the subjects of Dusk Province can no longer wait for the mercy of the royal capital. Therefore, I boldly make a ruthless request to you. I implore you to send your mighty army to help us destroy the rebels and restore order with the power of thunder!
As a reward for you, I am willing to trust you with the power of governor granted by the kingdom to the lands abandoned by the nobles!
Those people who are struggling have given up their feudal obligations and are not worthy of the territory given to them by His Majesty.
And you and I are both His Majesty's vassals, and we should share your Majesty's worries and solve problems in times of crisis.
Edward actually forgot to breathe for a moment, and the fingertips holding the letter could not help but tremble slightly.
Host...
The word sounded so beautiful that all the dark clouds that had accumulated in his chest were swept away.
Those nobles who fled with their tail between their legs in the face of the rebels were no different than a widow who inherited huge wealth but had no power to restrain herself.
They'd better not come back and claim ownership of the land!
There is no need to hint at that time. Those Campbell people who are hungry for land will naturally find ten thousand ways to make them disappear on the road, because they are not worthy of coming back at all!
As time went by, the hard-working and brave Campbell people naturally had legal rights over those lands!
King Theoden?
·A king who can’t even control a peasant uprising, does he deserve to call himself a king?
Just as Elalic had worried, Archduke Campbell’s respect for the Lion royal family dropped to freezing point in an instant.
He no longer takes the king seriously!
It is indeed not worth taking seriously.
"Saint Sith, above!"
Edward muttered silently, stood up from the oak table excitedly, and paced back and forth in the room excitedly.
What a God-sent opportunity!
On the one hand, he can take advantage of the righteousness of helping his neighbors, and the influence of the Principality of Campbell can legally penetrate into the royal territory directly under the jurisdiction of the royal family.
On the other hand, he can also divert the internal conflicts within the principality, allowing the newly promoted nobles who are eager to obtain more land, and take the peasants who lost their land due to the land enclosure movement, to go to the Dusk Province in the name of countering the rebellion to make contributions and expand the territory for the principality!
Although having more farmers is not a bad thing, the problem now is that there are too many of them, and the growth rate far exceeds the growth of jobs. So much so that the huge unemployed population has affected the security of Thunder City, and any big thing can make them angry.
This is the first time in Edward's life that he has heard that people gathered and booed him when he lost an arm.
In the past, adventurers would lose their heads every once in a while, but I never saw them being so troublesome.
·Bill 6 must not be passed, but this matter must be resolved!
In addition to these visible benefits, he also found an excellent place for Irene, the "trouble"!
He could justifiably send her to the next province, keeping her away from Thunder City, away from the merchants who were creating wealth for the principality, and venting her energy that had nowhere to vent in the war!
When Edward thought of this, he no longer hesitated. He immediately walked to the desk and rang the summons bell for the servant.
A moment later, a servant quickly ran into the study, looked at the Grand Duke and said respectfully.
"Your Majesty, what are your orders?"
"Pass my order, the Twilight Province is in danger. In the name of the royal family, I authorize my sister Eileen Campbell to mobilize 50,000 militiamen in Thunder County to go to the Twilight Province to quell the rebellion!"
After a pause, Edward continued energetically.
"In addition, notify the major newspapers in Thunder City and tell our citizens! There is a large area of land in the Twilight Province that is unmanaged. Anyone who can perform meritorious service in countering the rebellion, whether noble or commoner, will have the opportunity to obtain A piece of land of his own! "
"In the name of trusteeship!"
Although he has not seen tomorrow's newspaper, he can already imagine how crazy the Thunder City will be tomorrow!
(End of this chapter)