The first ray of sunlight in the morning shone on the tallest bell tower in Cecil City, gilding the city with the first ray of light from the giant sun. As the gears and levers turned, the mechanical clock driven by the magical core rang loudly.
Dong — Dong — Dong —
As the mechanical clock rang, Cecil City shed its laziness after a night's sleep. The whole city began to come alive under the sun.
Workers in work clothes walked out of the brick houses, passed through the Gear Square and Lever Street in the industrial zone, and flocked to the rune foundry, machine manufacturing, and other factory facilities to replace their colleagues who finished the night shift. Merchants opened their doors one by one, took down the wooden sign in front of the window, and knocked on the brass ring hanging under the eaves to announce the start of the day's business. Paperboys and postmen walked through the clean streets in the morning mist, delivering the latest issue of newspapers and letters to every household.
Breakfast vendors could be seen everywhere in the rapidly coming alive streets. They had already gone out before dawn and started the most important business of the day in the streets near their homes. The sound of hawking and greeting could be heard in the streets. These sounds, mixed with the chime of the mechanical clock, echoed throughout Cecil City. It was like a sigh of satisfaction and satisfaction in the morning of the newborn city.
In the dining hall of the liege's residence, Gwen was sitting in his own seat of honor, and Heti was sitting on his right. The 'Chief Butler of Cecil' cut the bread in front of her while talking about the recent situation in the fief. "… The news report about Louin City has been released through the magic network broadcast and newspapers. As per your instructions, in addition to reporting the cause and result of the incident, we also emphasized the unity of the people regardless of origin, identity, and region. It seems that the effect is very good. The people are excited, and 'we are Cecil' has become a popular saying."
Gwen nodded slightly. He was very satisfied with the work of Godwin Orlando and Heti.
The liberation of Louin City had an extraordinary meaning. It not only meant the total defeat of the Church of Holy Light in the south, but it also meant that the new order that he had worked hard to promote in the past two years had really affected the people at the bottom for the first time. It also meant that his other plan was proceeding smoothly.
It laid the foundation for the national consciousness and allowed the south to truly transform from an ordinary noble fief into a country.
In the operation of Louin City, tens of thousands of people from all over the south stood together for a common goal. They came from different social classes, regions, and families. They used to belong to different lords and never interacted with each other. They never paid attention to each other and never agreed with each other. However, for the common goal, these people gathered into a force. This goal was above their origin, occupation, place of residence, and even personal beliefs. The emergence of this phenomenon meant that these originally scattered people had the foundation to become 'Cecil citizens'.
On this basis, relying on continuous guidance and education, the Cecil people would sooner or later awaken as a community. They would have similar moral standards, similar living customs, and they would use the same language. They would celebrate the same festivals and commemorate the same heroes. They would proudly call their people 'our Cecil people' and take every inch of land here for granted and belonged to 'us'.
According to Gwen's experience, this sense of identity would lay the psychological foundation of the people's' territorial unity '. With the development of this trend, coupled with the ancestors of the Cecil family, they might even be able to embark on the path of' putting aside disputes when they are poor, and being successful since ancient times'.
Well, this might be a little too much.
But even if one did not consider the fact that Dadze had existed since ancient times, it would not be easy to awaken the consciousness of a nation and a nation. It would take many years. Although the people on the streets would proudly say the words' we, the Cecil people ', this was only a temporary craze. A short two to three years was not enough to establish a strong and lasting national belief. But as long as this craze took the first step, as long as Gawain did not make any huge mistakes while governing this land, as long as this land continued to develop as a whole, it would only be a matter of time before the' Cecil people 'became a whole. But as long as this craze took the first step, as long as Gawain did not make any huge mistakes while governing this land, and as long as this land continued to develop as a whole, it would only be a matter of time before the' Cecil people 'became a whole.
"In addition, there is news from the Rock Fortress in the north. The Whitsunday Plain has sent a messenger to deliver a letter from the royal family to Walter Perry," Heti continued. "It seems that they finally have time to pay attention to the situation in the south. The Grand Duke of the North, Victoria Wilde, wants to visit in person. This will be a 'private' visit. The letter is still on the way. The news came directly through the magic network. "
Gwen's hand holding the spoon paused slightly, and a strange smile appeared on his face. "A northern duke crossing half of the country to visit another border grand duke in person, and at the critical juncture of the kingdom's civil war … I'm afraid this can only be called a private visit."
"Do you agree?" Heti looked into Gwen's eyes. "Refusing the northern duke may provoke the royal family more, making them more vigilant and resistant to the south. But if you agree, the northern duke will enter the Rock Fortress."
"There's nothing to refuse," Gwen replied casually. "We're just using the Rock Fortress to block the troubles in the north. We're not going to completely seal off the south. The girl of the Wilde family has more or less inherited some of her ancestors' qualities. I'd be happy to talk to her."
Hearing the words "inherited some of her ancestors' qualities", Heti could not help but look at Rebecca, who was sitting on the other side of her. The girl had her head down and was struggling with a steak, waving her knife and fork as if she was facing the enemy who had killed her father. Seeing this, Heti could only sigh slightly and look away. "Okay, I'll ask the commander of Walde Fortress to reply to the messenger. But there's one more thing … I'm afraid it's more sensitive. "
"Hmm?"
Heti looked a little troubled. "The living saint of the Church of Holy Light in the north, Saintess Princess Veronica Moen … She also sent a letter, saying that she wants to visit the south. The time is almost the same as the visit of Duke Victoria Wilde …"
Amber, who was sitting on the opposite side of the table and studying how to spread the cream evenly, suddenly raised her head when she heard this. Her face was full of surprise. "She's here to cause trouble? Because we caused trouble in their place in Louen City? She's here so soon? "
If it was in the past, Heti would have been quite dissatisfied with Amber's sudden interruption and rude behavior when she was talking to her ancestors. She might have even shot a Frost Arrow at a wall behind the other party. However, after the incident in Louen City, Heti's view of this seemingly unreliable half-elf changed a little. She realized the half-elf's ability and role, so she began to answer the other party's question seriously. "It's impossible for the incident in Louen City to reach Saint Sunil so quickly. This is beyond the range of ordinary communication spells, and there are no high-level people in the Louen Church who can send the message back. Veronica Moen said in the letter that this is just a normal visit … "
"The detailed information may not be able to be sent back, but the headquarters of the Church of Holy Light might have some way to find out the general situation of the regional headquarters," Gwen said. "We have to try to think of the opponent as smart and capable as possible."
Heti asked for Gwen's opinion. "Then … are you going to reject that 'Holy Princess'?"
"There's no need to reject. If she wants to visit, then let her come," Gwen said nonchalantly. "I still have the magnanimity to do that."
"You're not afraid of her coming to cause trouble?" Amber blinked. "We really did cause trouble for them …"
"The split between the New Church of Holy Light and the old church is already an established fact. The incident in Louen City will eventually reach the headquarters of the church. The entire South Church has disappeared. How can we hide this matter? What's more, I didn't intend to keep it a secret from the beginning, "Gawain said as he gently knocked on the table." I'm more curious about how the North Church will react after knowing this fact. If they really organize a wave of sacred army to attack Firmrock Fortress, we can save a lot of food on the road. "
Gwen was just joking, but Heti shook her head seriously. "Then they probably don't have the luxury. According to the news from the north, the Church of Holy Light has publicly announced that they are participating in the civil war on the side of the royal army. The sacred army is now on the battlefield in the east of the Whitsunday Plain with the royal army, and fighting the eastern rebels in full swing."
Rebecca, who had been looking down at the food in front of her for a long time, finally caught a sentence or two of the conversation. The maiden looked up in surprise, her face was full of cute circles. "Eh? They haven't finished yet? Are the eastern army and the royal army still fighting? "
As soon as she said that, almost everyone at the table looked at her in shock. Gwen looked at Rebecca's rather easy to understand and was stunned for a dozen seconds before he asked Heti, "Is the child still asleep?"
Heti broke out in cold sweat. "… She's busy with the experiment and may not have paid much attention to the situation outside …"
It was only then that Rebecca realized that she might have misunderstood the situation. She shrunk her neck, but still couldn't help but say, "How long have we been fighting? If we had the time, we would've conquered the entire Southern Territory and driven the Church of Holy Light out …"
"You can't use our war to measure the civil war in Ansu …" Gwen looked at Rebecca helplessly. "But it can't be helped. You're still young and have not seen what a traditional noble war is like …"
The civil war in Ansu was still ongoing. The rebels and the royal army in the east of the Whitsunday Plain were in a long-term stalemate. Whether it was the chaos created by Prince Edmund using the Captical nobles or the changes caused by the involvement of the Church of Holy Light, neither could speed up the progress of the war. If there were no accidents, it was likely to continue, even for a few years — this was inevitable.
This was the 'normal' war in this era. It was cruel and bloody, but also slow and long. The low killing efficiency of cold weapons and the slow movement of the army meant that every battle would drag on for a long time. The gap between the battles was also very long. Two cold weapon armies with no decisive difference in strength would wear each other down bit by bit. It was possible for a war to drag on for many years.
Especially when this was an irreconcilable and unstoppable civil war, a civil war against the royal power. It could be said that as long as the food and population could support the war, the warring parties would inevitably be dragged into the vortex and fight until the strength of the country was exhausted — unless one of the warring parties was willing to take the initiative to give up the claim to the throne.
A 'quick war' like the Cecil family, where they directly took out the enemy's main force and fortress with a round of bombardment, almost did not exist in this era.
"Then it's settled," Gwen said. "The Duchess of the North and the 'Saintess Princess' of the Church of Holy Light … It's already halfway through the frost moon. When they arrive, it should be the misty moon. The winter in Cecil City will definitely leave a deep impression on them."
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