The noise of the nobles was disturbing.
Victoria? Wilde sat beside Crown Prince Wales, her cold face expressionless. Her eyes swept across the nobles gathered in the long hall of the castle, a trace of imperceptible disdain hidden in her eyes.
These good-for-nothings.
They wore gorgeous robes and talked loudly in the castle. They were of noble blood, and their names were louder than the other. When they spoke here, their attitude was as if they were deciding the fate of the kingdom. However, their impassioned speech could be summed up in one word: interest.
A righteous voice echoed in the long hall, "… The Carré Family supports the rebuilding of the Kingdom Avenue. We are willing to provide 100 able-bodied men, and my nephew will personally lead the team …"
"What a great sacrifice! 100 men! "Someone sneered loudly," I'm afraid there are more than 100 men who are raising horses for you, right? "
"The people and food of the Carré Family are at the eastern frontline. We have offered everything we can for the kingdom. Count Graymountain, you don't even have 500 mules?"
"I don't agree with the rebuilding of the Kingdom Avenue. Although what the Duke Regent said is very reasonable, and the Kingdom Avenue can bring great benefits in the long run, we are now at war. What if a large number of men and materials are used to repair the road rashly, what if it affects the war situation? I think we only need to rebuild the road in the east and west direction, so that it is convenient to transport troops to the frontline … "
"I object!"
…
The noise of the nobles was really disturbing.
Wales? Moen sat at the head of the table like a puppet. When the noise in the long hall was about to get out of control, the nominal successor of the king finally could not help but speak, "Ladies and gentlemen, let's put the argument aside. The Kingdom Avenue project can be discussed slowly. After all, it is winter now. We can discuss the town council and the commercial system first …"
Prince Wales's voice finally calmed down the debate in the long hall, but the new proposal he proposed quickly brought a new round of debate. The nobles, big and small, praised the Duke Regent and His Royal Highness for their long-term vision and intelligent plans. Then, one after another, they strongly suggested to implement these new systems in other people's territories.
If it was not Victoria? Wilde and Franklin? With Bai Dewen sitting here, they probably wouldn't just be arguing like this.
This kind of argument was destined to be fruitless. The noise in the long hall once again reached its peak. Wales? Moen had no choice but to speak again. Wilder finally stood up.
"Enough."
The Queen of the North said in a cold voice. As her words fell, the temperature of the entire castle instantly dropped to the freezing point from the inside out.
"I hope the cold air can calm everyone down." After a while, Victoria retracted her massive mana. As the temperature in the hall gradually recovered, she glanced at the nobles who were silent out of fear.
They were all nobles with real power of various sizes, wielding half of the country's Extraordinary powers, land, and wealth. They were short-sighted, selfish, and would only be a burden to the Kingdom if they banded together — and yet, as the Duke Regent, she could only warn them.
"We didn't come here to quarrel," Victoria continued after ten seconds of silence. "The town council and the commercial restructuring are destined to develop, but I understand everyone's concerns — so all of this will not be forced on any of you. The pilot of the town council will be chosen from the northern territories and the royal family's fiefs. The commercial restructuring will be carried out by Duke Franklin's Duchy of the Western Region. "
Bai Dewen, who had a scholarly and elegant temperament? Franklin bowed slightly in response to Victoria's words.
The nobles in the long hall were silent for a moment before they heaved a sigh of relief. However, they did not dare to show it too obviously and exaggeratedly. They could only try to make a reserved and humble smile and use a mess of praises and salutes to hide their true thoughts. Their concealment skills were superb. The flowing modesty and heartfelt praises all reflected their qualifications as nobles. However, Victoria Mandela did not dare to be too obvious and exaggerated. She could only try her best to make a reserved and humble smile and use a mess of praises and salutes to hide their true thoughts. Their concealment skills were superb. Wilde had seen through these masks since she was a young girl.
Maintaining an ice-cold expression was the greatest courtesy she could show to these people.
She sat down, and Bai Dewen beside her sat down. Duke Franklin stood up and said, "None of the new policies will be enforced, but there is one thing I want to say in advance — please remember, one of the virtues of nobles is to always remember their oaths, so don't forget your decision today. Today, those who oppose the construction of new factories in your fiefs, if you want to build a factory in the future, you must unconditionally pay the royal family a ransom of 30%. This is to redeem the right to build a factory today. Today, those who refuse to let roads connect to your fiefs, in the future, any road built by the Kingdom will bypass you, unless you redeem the right to build a factory. Today, those who refuse to sign a trade agreement will not be allowed to establish a new chamber of commerce or company for the next ten years — unless you redeem the right to reform your business. "
With a calm face, the Duke of the Western Region stated these conditions one by one, but his tone and expression made the nobles who had just begun to secretly rejoice very quickly confused and uneasy.
They knew what was being discussed here today — it was a lot of unorthodox and sensational things, and it was a strange rule from the Southern Region. The Duke Regent asked the nobles to give up some of their privileges and asked everyone to submit to the management of the royal family, to open new factories in their fiefs, to set up town councils that could threaten the rule of the lord, to build roads, to set up companies … These things were taken out one by one, and they were all completely threatening and depriving.
However, the Duke of the Western Region called them "rights" and announced that every noble who raised an objection today had given up these "rights". He even said that in the future, if someone wanted to build a factory, start a company, or build a road, they would have to pay money to redeem these "rights".
This bizarre and absurd statement was really hard to understand.
The people in the long hall were confused and silent, and then they discussed in low voices. Some people seemed to have a little reaction, and some people seemed to be frightened by the attitude of the Duke of the Western Region. They cautiously called their attendants, wrote a note and handed it to the Duke, but more people just spread out their hands and shook their heads.
Who would want this "right"? The right to cut flesh from the body?
The noisy meeting was over, and the nobles dispersed. In the large long hall, except for the attendants and guards, soon there were only the two Duke Regents and the nominal Crown Prince left.
"This is the first time I've seen you angry," Victoria looked at Duke Bodwin and said with a slight sigh. "You thought you would never lose your temper in this kind of situation."
"I'm indeed angry, but I'm also serious," Bodwin said, sitting in a chair with a tired face. "This can make some people confused, at least they will think more about it, and the other people … they can at least contribute to the kingdom's treasury one day."
Victoria frowned. "How many people wavered?"
"Less than ten percent," Duke Bodwin recalled the number of people who handed the note and shook his head. "Most of them are nobles who are far away from the kingdom's main road and whose territories are not rich. There are also nobles who have no land. These people have no concerns about wealth and privileges, but they are worried about losing the protection of the royal family. They expressed their willingness to learn more about our new policy in private."
"Ten percent …" Victoria snorted, but there was a strong sense of helplessness in her cold snort. "That's a lot."
The Queen of the North also encountered a helpless situation, which made Bodwin sigh with emotion.
"As we expected, there are many difficulties," he sighed and said to Victoria. "We have adjusted the areas involved in the reform as much as possible and removed those items that have the greatest impact on the actual nobles, but it still caused such strong resistance. Including the two meetings yesterday and the day before yesterday, after three days of discussion, only five articles were passed, and they are all irrelevant …"
"I said at the beginning, no matter how we adjust, the result will be the same. There is no difference between taking one gold coin and a hundred gold coins from those people's pockets, because they are not willing to lose even a copper coin," Victoria shook her head. "You want to build factories, build roads, and set up officials on their land. This is touching their foundation."
Wales, who had never spoken? Moen suddenly said, "At least we can start with the fief directly under the royal family, and some of your territories."
"Our …" Bodwin showed a wry smile. "We personally understand the necessity of doing so, but the marquises, earls, and viscounts under our name may not think so … Even if we personally promote it, the difficulty of implementing the reform within the duchy is still great."
Separate territories, each forming a country.
Victoria? Wilde suddenly remembered that before he left the Southern Territory, Gwen had said this sentence to him when he evaluated the kingdom's aristocratic system. He thought of the "new aristocratic" system in the Southern Territory.
The earls and viscounts over there … did not have such great power.
She shook her head, threw some bad thoughts aside, and looked at Wales. "I'm surprised that you can support these new policies so much. I didn't actually take the fief directly under the royal family into consideration."
"I know, this is your …" Wales shook his head and suppressed the words "the last bit of respect" back to the bottom of his heart. "I can see the significance of these new policies, and I know they are good for the country."
"In fact, those who opposed, resisted, and refused to express their views at the meeting can see it too," Victoria looked at the empty long hall and said slowly. "Even if they can't see the role of the new factories, new chambers of commerce, and civilian schools, they can at least see the rise of Cecil … But they still want to oppose and refuse to express their views."
Bai Dewen? Franklin sighed. "It's not that they can't see the benefits to the kingdom, they just don't want to give up their own interests for it. Their thinking is very simple: why can't it be someone else? Why can't they build the factory on someone else's territory? Yes, everyone is thinking so."
"Think of something good," Victoria suddenly said softly after a moment of silence. "At least, the coronation of the new king has gained support."
Bai Dewen? Franklin showed a slightly sarcastic smile. "Yes, compared to building a factory on their territory, it's really a small matter to let them support the king."
After saying this, the Duke of the Western Region, who was obviously in a bad mood, stood up and looked at the exit of the long hall. After a few seconds of silence, he slowly said, "The plan of the town council is likely to fail. This reform is too radical. We can postpone it, and so can the school. But the new factory must be built, at all costs. Otherwise, we will always be strangled by Cecil."
Bai Dewen? Franklin left.
Victoria looked at the back of the Duke of the Western Region and did not speak for a long time.
Wales? Moen's voice broke the silence at the scene. "Duchess Wilde, on that day, Gawain? Did Duke Cecil really express to you that he has no interest in the Ansu throne? "
Victoria nodded. "He did say so."
"Oh …" Wales? Moen nodded calmly and then slowly stood up. "Then I'll leave first. Please help yourself."
Victoria was finally the only one left in the long hall.
The Queen of the North looked at the empty place, looked at the place that was full of noise and disputes not long ago, and stood there for a long time.
A faintly discernible sigh sounded in the long hall. Accompanied by the fluttering snowflakes, her figure disappeared beside the throne.
The snowflakes condensed by magic drifted away. The last few crystal snowflakes fell on the portrait of Francis II hanging behind the throne, melted, and slowly dripped down.
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