King's City! After a year and a half, he was back!
Barov looked at the cyan stone wall that was gradually becoming clearer, his heart filled with excitement.
In fact, from the moment he had received the order, his mood had not calmed down. His Royal Highness the 4th Prince had defeated Timothy as expected, and had done it so cleanly and efficiently. The result had once again proved that no one could resist the army of the Lord of the Western Region.
Of course, it was no longer appropriate to still call Roland the Lord of the Western Region.
He was now the only son of Wimbledon III, the inheritor of his bloodline, and the legal heir of the royal family.
The obstacles to his ascension had been swept away.
It was foreseeable that Roland would soon be crowned king.
And he would also become the Prime Minister whose power was second only to the king... This joy made Barov immersed in boundless reverie — when those "old friends" who missed him saw that he had climbed to a position that they did not even dare to imagine, what kind of expression would they show? Shock, jealousy, envy, even if they gnashed their teeth, forced a smile, and desperately tried to please him? These scenes made him physically and mentally happy just thinking about it. It would be even better if his former mentor, the Minister of Finance, Lauren Moore, could see this scene.
...
The cement boat slowly docked at the suburban pier. Barov walked down the trestle, and together with Kyle Sichi and the others, they passed through the familiar streets and entered the inner city palace under the escort of the soldiers of the First Army.
The two-tower palace was still as majestic as he remembered. In the past, he could only look at it from his small room in the City hall, but now he could walk into the palace aboveboard.
He went straight to the study of the tower and saw Roland Wimbledon again.
Barov knelt down on one knee with excitement and said, "Your Majesty, the Kingdom of Graycastle is yours!"
"In fact, not yet. The Eastern Region and the Northern Region are still the territories of Timothy's remaining forces." Roland smiled and said, "Get up quickly, we still have many important things to discuss."
His expression was as usual, and his tone was calm and approachable, as if he was completely unaffected by the upcoming title of king. Barov's attitude became even more respectful. He slowly stood up, placed his hand on his chest, and replied, "Yes, Your Majesty."
"The most important task at the moment is to maintain the operation of the King's City. I've already explained this in the letter." Roland poured a cup of hot tea and handed it to him. "Do you have a preliminary plan?"
Barov hurriedly took the teacup. "It's not difficult to maintain the current order. You can let me handle the minor nobles. They will understand the pros and cons. Besides, I've brought ten of my most outstanding disciples from the Border Area. Some of them are proficient in business, and some are good at taxation. Even if I'm not here, they'll keep an eye on the City Hall, and those nobles won't be able to steal anything. " He paused for a moment and then added, "But you have to let the First Army stay behind cooperate with them in the supervision work. Without the guarantee of force, the supervision will not be able to play the role of warning."
Roland looked a little surprised. "Don't you want to stay in the capital?"
"Of course not, Your Majesty," Barov replied without hesitation. "The government affairs of Neverwinter are much more complicated and important. I can't leave for too long. If you handle these trivial matters yourself, it'll be too tiring. Please let me continue to manage the Neverwinter City Hall for you. It's more suitable for me to serve you. "
He was very clear that since His Majesty had decided that Neverwinter would be the new capital of Graycastle, it would surpass this city sooner or later. Now that Graycastle's population and development potential had surpassed King's City, and with the launch of the new batch of recruitment plans, Neverwinter would undoubtedly surpass any big city in the Four Kingdoms. Although he could experience the wailing of those "old friends" in King's City, he would get tired of hearing it too often. Moreover, these wailing would not bring him power. Instead, it would gradually pull him away from the center of power. Barov was well aware that only by appearing in front of His Majesty often could he leave a deep impression on him.
Roland stared at him with great interest for a while until Barov lowered his head guiltily. Roland then agreed. "That's all. But the premise is that King's City won't fall into chaos because of the change of officials in the City Hall. You should know that I need everyone in this city. "
…
His Majesty then asked Barov about the mining and farming situation in the Longsong Area, especially about the latter, including whether the serfs were responsible for the division of fields and the promotion rules had been properly announced. Fortunately, Barov was very clear about Roland's preferences. He had learned about them from Pérot in advance, so he answered smoothly and His Majesty could not help but nod.
The afternoon passed quickly. After asking the last question, Roland patted Barov on the shoulder with satisfaction. "You've done a good job. Now I can rest assured while leading the army to fight outside. Let's have dinner first. Tomorrow, we'll talk about the development plan of the Longsong Area. "
"Yes..." Barov hesitated. He found that the coronation was the only thing that Roland did not ask about. "Your Majesty, when are you going to ascend the throne and announce it to the world?"
"I don't plan to do that at the moment," Roland replied casually.
"What?" The Director of the City Hall could not believe his ears. "It's better to carry out this kind of thing as soon as possible! It can bring you great prestige and unite the people in your territory. It won't do you any harm! Why do you... "
"Because of time," Roland interrupted him. He got up and walked to the window, looking at the magnificent city in the dusk. "I've asked the ceremonial officer. A complete coronation ceremony will take several months to prepare. In addition to casting the golden crown and gemstone scepter, we also have to send invitations to the church and the other three kingdoms. We can't start until their messengers arrive. Even if we exclude the Holy City of Hermes, the Kingdom of Everwinter, and the Kingdom of Wolfheart, it will still take more than a month to contact the Kingdom of Dawn, which will seriously hinder the second half of the spring offensive. "
"You can simplify the process..."
"That way, the prestige will be greatly reduced, or even negatively affected." He shrugged. "Even Timothy followed the process, so I can't be more anxious than him. But the ambassador to the Kingdom of Dawn will set off soon. I'll ask him to bring the news with him. It won't be too late to think about it when I get a definite answer. "
*****
After Barov left, Roland let out a sigh of relief.
There was another reason he did not explain to Barov, which was that he was deeply influenced by the idea of "accumulating grain before becoming king". Now he only occupied the Western Region, which was less than one-third of what Timothy had when he was king. It was better to restrain himself before the church officially attacked the Kingdom of Dawn. It would be troublesome if Hermes targeted him first. Although he was not afraid of openly falling out with the church, he did not want to make others hate him.
Then he summoned Kyle Sichi to his study.
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