However, this fact also ignited a glimmer of hope in the old king's heart. If he could grasp this power, restoring the glory of the Elven Empire would not be an unreachable dream. Thus, he asked, "Your Majesty Ridan, you said that you can't grasp this … hmm, teleportation spell. Then how do you use it? "
This was supposed to be a military secret, but Ridan the Third did not think of hiding it. He said frankly, "Every squadron will have a messenger who carries a teleportation staff made from the World Tree's body. However, the activation of the spell, the choice of destination, and the consumption of authority all come from the World Tree's main body. The staff bearer is more like a flag bearer, gathering the troops with the flag. "
"There's no way to control the destination of the teleportation?" The old Elven King asked in disappointment.
"Perhaps the staff bearer can try to make a suggestion to the World Tree, but it's unknown if that person will accept it. After all, this is an army level teleportation, and the consumption is considerable. The World Tree will not listen to the orders of the elves, even if it's a king like you or me. "
The more honest the young Elven King's words were, the more disappointed the old Elven King was. In the end, this power that all rulers and military commanders dreamed of was in the hands of plants. Disappointment was not enough to describe his current feelings.
Was the decision of the World Tree easy to make? Looking at history, most elves had to go through a specially selected priest to communicate with the World Tree. Sometimes, generations of priests could not obtain an edict from the giant tree that was regarded as the Mother of Life, and it was not unusual for that to happen. After all, this group of plants that were almost eternal did not care much about the changes in the mortal world.
Since he could not get the benefits he wanted no matter how he looked at it, Andre Prier, the Elven King, regained his dignity as the ruler of a kingdom. He did not care that he was already under the sword of others and said, "Your Majesty Ridan, if you can't offer a good enough price, it will be difficult for me to convince my people that freeing the World Tree and letting the kingdom lose its protection is something acceptable. If it's just because you have control of the palace and raise the butcher's knife to our necks, this is not a good reason. You are also a leader of the Elven Kingdom, and you should understand that our crown is not given by the heavens or gods. We only have the power with the support of the people. "
What Andre Pryor was talking about was the uniqueness of the Elven Kingdom's government. Although it seemed like a monarchy, in fact, within the kingdom, the Great Druids and the Elven Elders also had a considerable amount of authority. Even if a national policy was decided by the king without the consent of these people, it might not be implemented within the kingdom. The elves were very good at playing with their resistance to Random Fate.
Therefore, in all seriousness, the system of the Elven Kingdom was closer to that of a republic. It was just that the position of 'Speaker' was addressed as' King ', and it was inherited by blood. Under such a system, all national policies needed to be justified in the name of righteousness and convince all the people so that the elves were willing to abide by them.
Using coercion to force the king to nod his head did not mean that the entire kingdom would submit. If the goal of the high officials of the Alliance was to maintain the stability of the kingdom and restore the consciousness of the World Tree, they would definitely need their support. Under this premise, the exchange of benefits would be more advantageous than the threat of weapons.
That was the meaning behind Andre Pryor's words. Moreover, there was also a hidden threat. For a king, even if he temporarily agreed, there were not many ways to hinder the World Tree in the future. As long as one or two moves worked, the World Tree would have to run for their lives.
Although Ridan the Third was not as experienced as the king in front of him and could not understand the deeper meaning, it did not mean that he was insensitive and could not even understand the surface meaning. However, he could still respond with a bitter smile and said, "Your Majesty Andre, do you know that this attack has four stages?"
Although he had heard the other party mention which stage it was before, the old Elven king did not care much. When the young king in front of him mentioned it again, Andre Pryor only said, "I'd like to hear more." However, he still had the idea of listening for now.
Ridan the Third could still hear the perfunctory meaning in his words. However, if he did not say this matter, it seemed that it would lead to terrible results. Therefore, to this experienced king in front of him, the young man still said, "Regarding the liberation of the World Tree, the plan against the Amelan Kingdom is divided into four stages. The first stage is for Mage Cuipwood to directly negotiate with your country and settle the relevant matters. This stage is too idealistic. Basically, no one thinks that the matter can be solved so easily. — — "
Andre Pryor nodded his head as well. It was unreasonable for him to give up control of the World Tree with just a few words. In fact, the Mage also understood that this action was just a formality to rationalize the following actions.
"— — The second stage is to send in troops and control the palace. We hope to achieve our goal by using limited use of force. The lowest degree of damage is allowed. In the process, we mainly focus on self-preservation. Overall, we do not want to end up in a situation where only one side can survive. "
Hearing this, Andre Pryor could not help but frown. If the situation in front of him was only the second stage, then what would the next stage be like?
"The third stage of the plan is to eliminate the enemies and support the friendly people. After controlling the upper echelons of the kingdom, if the other party still refuses to cooperate, take their lives. However, under the principle of not wasting manpower on other countries, we will not send any manpower to enter the kingdom. Besides, if an outsider wants to control a country, they will have to spend ten times, a hundred times more energy and manpower. This is obviously not the focus of our goal. Then, the best way to control the kingdom is to choose a friendly person who is willing to accept our conditions from the families of the killed princes and ministers, and support them to succeed the vacant position. In this way, we can achieve the goal of liberating the World Tree. At the same time, we can also turn the kingdom's external conflicts into internal conflicts. By consuming the kingdom's internal strength, we can reduce the difficulty of maintaining the stability of the World Tree. "
Hearing the third stage of the plan, Andre Pryor had to admit that it was indeed feasible. If the second phase of the plan didn't work out well, the invaded country could play hide-and-seek with the invaders. For the kingdom, if the whole country was united against the external enemies, it would be easy to integrate all the people.
But in the third stage, the kingdom's power would change from external to internal traitors. And because it was an internal conflict, it was inevitable that there would be neutral parties who did not want to offend either side, or wanted to please both sides. At that time, if they wanted to fight against the invaders, they would have to pay a higher price.
However, Andre Pryor also realized that the prerequisite for the success of this stage of the plan was that there would be betrayals. He was expressionless, but there was disdain in his voice. "Your Majesty Ridan, you are also the ruler of a country. How can your subjects betray you so easily? Not to mention betraying the World Tree that belongs to our country. The mere mention of such a plan is a humiliation to our country. '
"Yes, Your Majesty Andre, I had the same idea at first. But the reason given by Mr. Tripwood made me think about the possibility of the completion of this stage of the plan. "
"Oh, what did that Mage say?"
"For those who are at the bottom of the line of succession and may never have a chance to get close to these thrones in their entire lives, asking them to exchange something that doesn't belong to them in the first place for the chance to sit on that throne, is there really not a single elf who would agree to this? What if it were those elves who had ambitions in the first place? That Mage also said something that left a deep impression on me: It's not that men won't betray, it's just that the price isn't enough; it's not that women won't cheat, it's just that the temptation isn't enough. Your Majesty Andre, can you guarantee that there is no one among your subjects with such thoughts? "
As if infected by the young king's bitter smile, Andre Pryor couldn't help but think about this matter with a bitter expression. His control over the kingdom wasn't to the extent that it couldn't penetrate every nook and cranny. Therefore, there were bound to be people with ambitions, and whether they would easily bite this seemingly sweet but actually poisonous bait was not something he could control.
Suddenly, Andre Pryor thought of something. There were four stages to this plan. If the third stage was already played to this extent, then the fourth stage wouldn't be …
"The fourth stage of the plan is that if no one can be found to fill the vacant position of the ruling class of the kingdom, and if the people are not afraid of the threat of force and resist resolutely, the World Tree Majesties will choose to …" Ridan the Third couldn't help but have a hint of sympathy in his eyes. "… slaughter the country."
It was indeed this. The old king seemed to want to vent the depression in his chest and let out a long sigh.
In fact, from the words of the magician, Andre Pryor could feel the indifference of the magician's attitude towards life. Because from the very beginning, the magician had treated everyone as chess pieces, the kind that could be abandoned at any time.
Of course, the old elven king also knew how to play chess. In fact, he was quite good at it. When he noticed the attitude of the magician, he wanted to use the opportunity of rejecting the magician to find time to find the time to warn the magician that not everyone was qualified to be a chess player.
He didn't expect the magician to flip the table and ruin his good game of chess. Furthermore, as far as he could see, there were chess pieces in the magician's hands all around him, and he had no chess pieces to play.
What was the bottom line of the magician's determination? To negotiate with the magician with the intention of slaughtering an entire country, no matter who the opponent was, the magician would have been at a disadvantage from the beginning.
As for whether the magician had the ability to do so, Andre Pryor didn't even want to ask such a question. Twenty-one World Trees and half an elite army wearing the Elven Sacred Robes. There were still many factors to consider if such a force wanted to dominate an area, but if they wanted to destroy an area, it would be a piece of cake for them.
This negotiation was indeed as the magician said. The Amelan Kingdom didn't have the capital to sit at the negotiating table from the beginning. They could only listen to the orders of the magician. But at the beginning, he had the opportunity to negotiate. At least the magician had been patient and wasted ten days. But such an opportunity had been missed because of his various misjudgments.
He looked at the letter of credence on the table that had still not been opened. Even if he didn't see the 21 holy seals that belonged to the World Trees, the outcome didn't seem to have changed. Andre Pryor heaved another long sigh.
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