Under legal circumstances, when a noble's pedigree was removed from the royal family, the royal family had the right to take back the property of this noble pedigree and enfeoff others. The subordinate vassals who had previously been loyal to this noble had to swear allegiance to the new lord under normal circumstances. However, this was not mandatory. It was a "moral" and "customary" requirement. The king had no right to interfere with the vassals. Therefore, whether the followers of the old lord would swear allegiance to the new lord often depended on the new lord's means. In fact, whether the vassals of the former lord could swear allegiance to him was an important measure of whether a noble had enough strength and prestige. At least, this was the case in Ansu.
Gwen? Cecil's prestige among the Knight community was unquestionable. His legendary personal strength and the current development prospects of the new Cecil Hill were enough to convince the old Knight of Kant Hill to swear allegiance. However, there was still one last test in front of them.
That was whether they were willing to give up their old land privileges and submit to the new order of Cecil Hill.
The Knight of Kant Hill was no stranger to Cecil's order. Although the traditional nobles were a somewhat slow group, the Cecil family had de facto ruled Kant Hill for half a year. Even the slowest person would notice the changes that had seeped in. And those who were slightly more attentive would go in depth to inquire about the "legal basis" behind these changes. After all, they had already guessed that the Cecil family would become the new lord of Kant sooner or later. No one would not be concerned about what they would face in the future.
After learning about the current system of Cecil Hill, the Knight of Kant was already nervous. But no matter how nervous they were, they still had to face what had to be faced. The king's enfeoffment had become a fact, and the Knight Philip, who had always been in charge of Kant's affairs, had brought the order of the lord's summons.
The Knight of Kant responded to the summons nervously. On the seventh day of the Month of Recovery, Walter Cain, the Knight of Kant Hill, led by Walter Cain, the Knight of Kant Hill. Kant led the "old Knight", led by Perry (formerly Viscount Kant's chief Knight), arrived at Duke Cecil's mansion.
Everyone knew why they were gathered here today, so they put on clean, shiny armor and even put on robes over their armor. These mighty Knight were a little uneasy as they gathered in the hall of the mansion, whispering to each other from time to time.
The main content of their discussion was the intolerable "new order" in Cecil's territory, and how to fight for the rightful privileges that they should keep from the new lord.
"I heard that everything in Cecil's domain revolves around the 'government office,' including the collection of taxes and the lottery," a young Knight said to his companion beside him. "The land only belongs to the nobles in name, but in fact, the people who own the land don't have much power at all … They even have to listen to the government office's arrangements."
Another Knight looked even more worried. "They may take back all the fiefdoms. Knight Philip said that he didn't have any fiefdoms."
"It is said that the fiefdoms will become 'territories.' In the future, we can only get an annuity according to the size of the territory. Other than that, we have no power. Even if the people in the village want to work in the city or go hunting, they only need to report to the government office. They don't need the lord's permission …"
A tall and thin Knight frowned. "We don't even have the power to restrain the civilians from running around. How are we going to maintain the order of the land? As time goes by, those bumpkins won't even bow to us! "
The Knight were worried. Someone whispered, "We should express our attitude. Duke Cecil is a great man, but his government order is simply nonsense. If he leaves the order of the land to a group of busy clerks in the government office, sooner or later, it will be a mess!"
The others nodded in agreement. More than half of them focused their eyes on the old Knight sitting in the center. "Mr. Walter, what do you think?"
The old Knight was silent for a long time. He frowned and shook his head slightly. "… It depends on the situation. Let's take it one step at a time."
This answer was obviously not reassuring, so the Knight gradually began to discuss again. They kept whispering.
All of this stopped when the particularly tall and strong man with a dignified face wearing a noble's trench coat walked into the hall.
Their whispered discussion immediately stopped, and everyone involuntarily averted their gazes.
Walking into the hall, Gwen glanced at the Knight of Kant in front of him. There were not many of them. The number of Extraordinary people who were loyal to a viscount was small, and there were even fewer people who were conferred titles. There were only a dozen of these "standard Knights" who had the title of Knight and real estate. Judging from the Extraordinary aura they exuded, only one of them was at the middle level. That was the gray-haired man standing in the middle of the Knight. Colonel Perry.
Gwen and Walter had met Perry before. After the nightmare incident in Castle Kant ended, this middle-aged Knight was one of the first people to arrive at the main hall of the castle to stabilize the order. In Gwen's impression, Walter was a person who was loyal to the lord but did not show much of his abilities. However, he had been loyal to the Kant family for the longest time and had the strength of a middle Knight. Therefore, he had the highest prestige and right to speak among the Knight of Kant.
While Gwen was observing these Knights, the Knight led by Walter also stood up and bowed. The sound of metal rubbing against metal on their armor rang out. This time, Gwen calmly accepted everyone's greetings. He waited until everyone had bowed before he said, "Ladies and gentlemen, you are very punctual."
There were not only men among the Knight, but there were also three women. In this world where extraordinary power existed, as long as a woman awakened the relevant power, she would have the same power as a man.
This was also one of the few "fairness" in this world full of injustice.
"We salute you, the great pioneer, the Knight of Knights, the founder of Ansu, the sword and shield of the kingdom …" Walter threw out a series of titles as soon as he opened his mouth. Obviously, he had memorized this set of words many times before he came. "It is our honor to be able to step into your castle. We are very happy that you can become the new protector and ruler of Kant Hill. That land will be safe and prosperous because of your existence."
After Walter finished his routine speech, Gawain raised his hand and went straight to the point. "I'm not a person who likes to talk nonsense, so let's get straight to the point. We all know why I've gathered all of you here today.
"I have become the legal ruler of Kant Hill. According to the usual practice, you should swear allegiance to me. I believe that your punctual arrival shows your attitude toward this matter. But before that, I should explain the new 'rules' that you have to adapt to after pledging allegiance to Cecil."
Such a straightforward way of speaking was not like the ordinary nobles of this era. After ordinary nobles opened their mouths, they would not get to the point without a few melodious arias. But Gwen? Obviously, Cecil was not like this.
The Knight looked at each other for a moment, and then the atmosphere became tense.
However, Gawain didn't seem to notice this. He waved his hand, and a few attendants walked out from the side, handing papers filled with words to each of the knights.
"I'm used to making everything into articles. It's more reassuring to have an agreement in black and white." Gwen smiled. "You can take a look at it carefully."
When Walter? When Perry saw the articles printed on the paper, he felt a mixture of emotions that he had not expected but at the same time, conflicted feelings welled up in him.
The abolition of fiefs, the conversion of fiefs into territories, the abolition of tax revenue, the replacement of annuities by the Government Office, the abolition of governance, and the replacement of management by the Government Office or a subordinate unit. Knight could join the Government Office, but he had to undergo the same assessment as the civilian clerks, and the position of "official" could not be inherited.
On a piece of paper, almost all the privileges based on the land were erased.
This was only for the Knight, who was only equivalent to a "half lord," and a Knight with limited privileges. If a viscount or even an earl were to be incorporated into the Cecil family, how much aristocratic power would he lose?
The old Knight noticed that the people around him had quieted down. He did not need to look up to know that several pairs of eyes were focused on him. But what could he say?
What could he say to a duke?
But he had to speak, at least he could not remain silent. So after thinking hard for more than ten seconds, Knight Walter looked up and said, "Your Grace, please allow me —"
"Don't worry," Gwen interrupted Walter with a smile. "These things on the paper are just to let you know what Cecil's' order 'is. But swearing allegiance is a very serious matter, and it's not enough to know some legal provisions. I invite you to visit my city and let you know this land from all aspects. So that you can better judge whether the Cecil family is worthy of loyalty, right?"
The knights looked at each other in dismay. Some of them had a thoughtful look on their faces, while Walter Perry quickly nodded and agreed, "You're right."
The new lord might want to show off the economic and military strength of his territory to increase the weight of loyalty. Everyone knew this, and it was the most common way for a new lord to attract followers.
So, since Gwen wanted to go through this "traditional process," the Kant Knight did not mind cooperating. But cooperation was cooperation, and they still had to fight for the power that they should fight for.
Everyone had their own plans, and they followed Gwen out of the Lord's Mansion to tour the city that was still a little unfamiliar to them.
The neat and orderly urban area, the wide and flat streets paved with unknown materials, the bustling commercial streets, and the neatly dressed civilians everywhere. Walter rode on his horse and looked at everything in front of him silently, but he was a little absent-minded.
These were indeed the signs of prosperity. Was it Gwen? Cecil's governance and wealth were strong proof. To be fair, a place that was built less than a year ago could develop to this extent, even beyond the concept of "rapid development." It was almost incomprehensible. However, the Kant Knight's attention did not seem to be on this at the moment.
Gwen kept a smile on his face, silently observing the reaction of the old Knight, but he did not say anything. Instead, he signaled the team to speed up and walk toward the exit in the northeast of the city.
A female Knight noticed the team speeding up and could not help but ask curiously, "Your Grace, where are we going?"
Gwen said casually, "I see that you don't have much interest in the commercial streets and residential areas in the territory, so why don't we go and see what you might be interested in first?"
"What we might be interested in?" The female Knight was even more curious. "You mean …"
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
