At that moment, Count Durin and Count Larotte were seated on the first floor of the Salute of the Holy Grail, tasting the famous red wine Latour from Vanford.
The two counts were already in their fifties and sixties. They weren't Grail knights, but they had participated in the Grail Expedition and were both legendaries. They were the best representatives of the old Muxillon nobles in the south of Lyonnasai.
After a complicated negotiation, the new Duke of Lyonnasai agreed to cede the old Muxillon territory in exchange for ten thousand crowns to aid in suppressing the rebellion and food supply. Now that the agreement was finalized, the two Muxillon nobles couldn't wait to come to Gene to meet the true duke, Laing -Macado, to discuss the matter of the merger.
After Leon obtained the most orthodox legal claim over Muxilon, these old Muxilon nobles naturally believed that they should be under Leon's rule. Similarly, the current predicament that Lyonasser was facing was known throughout the old world. These old Muxilon nobles had finally managed to preserve some of their strength, so they naturally didn't want to get involved in this mess. It was normal for them to come.
However, they ran into a snag when they arrived at the duke's castle. Duke Laing said that he would meet them at night, but the meeting was changed to the next day.
So what if it was changed? More importantly, it was a maidservant who came to pass on the order. She wasn't one of Laing's attendants, nor was she one of his courtiers. She was just an insignificant maidservant in his castle!
The contempt in his words was very obvious. The two counts could only leave with their tails between their legs and head to an inn in the city. They felt uncomfortable staying in their rooms, so they decided to sit down in the famous tavern's Salute of the Holy Grail. They drank a glass of wine and discussed their current predicament while they were at it.
Count Dulin's facial features were sharp and chiseled. He was a Knight who had been through hundreds of battles. In his 60 years of life, he had experienced many battles, including the battle where Red Eye Egil invaded Lyonasser. In that battle, Count Dulin lost more than half of his men. This was the reason why he never responded to Duke Lyonasser's summons. No matter how Duke Aldrede wrote to him, he refused to send troops again.
In comparison, Count Larotte was more 'elegant'. He was in his fifties and had wavy brown hair. He wore perfume, had small eyes, a big nose, and lace cuffs. But it would be a mistake to treat him as a weak noble. His luxurious knight's sword had been used to fight Egil and quell the rebellion of the serfs. It had even killed an Orc Beastman and a green-skinned Orc.
Unlike the Empire, none of the Brittany nobles had never been on the battlefield.
"Why do you think the Duke doesn't want to see us?" Count Dulin said in a depressed tone, "We came here with great sincerity, but we didn't even see the Duke. We didn't even see the Duke's butler, Mr. Katzenberg, or the head maid, Ms. Sylvia!"
When Laing wasn't around, Sylvia and Carson Berg were in charge of the territory. If anyone wanted to see Duchess Suria, they had to look for the two of them. This was a rule in the territory.
"Is Duke Laing in the Castle?" Count Larotte was puzzled.
"According to our information, he's definitely there." Count Durin nodded.
"There's no doubt that the new Duke wants to teach us a lesson by telling us that he has something urgent to attend to." Count Larotte tasted his snacks helplessly and said, "You know, Durin, we're on the wrong side."
Speaking of this, even the battle-hardened Count Durin could only sigh.
Who told them to believe that Matthew Bard was the real Duke of Musillon, which led to these old Musillon nobles choosing to follow him on a whim when Matthew Bard went north? Also, Matthew Bard was indeed the illegitimate son of the Kingdom's Regent, Laun.
However, both Count Durin and Count Larotte knew that even if Matthew Bard didn't exist, they would still be at odds with Lyonassai. There were already many conflicts between the two sides, and after Red Eye Egil's invasion, the Lyonassai nobles in the north chose to reduce their losses by plundering and occupying their manors. It wasn't strange for these old Musillon nobles to make such a choice after being ostracized.
However, this wasn't the reason why they chose to side with Matthew Bard. Even though Count Durin and Count Larotte immediately betrayed the Kingdom of Musillon after seeing the light of the Undestructible Lake, their betrayal was still unforgivable. This made them feel inferior and guilty when facing Laing.
"What do we do now? Meet tomorrow? "Count Durin felt a headache. He could only whisper," I still feel that something is wrong. "
"The problem is that Duke Laing is surrounded by those Vanford nobles!" Count Larotte also whispered unhappily, "I'm worried …"
"Count Dulin, Count Rarotte!" A cold and serious female voice interrupted their whispers. The two counts shivered and looked up, "Lady Sylvia?!"
Why is the head maid here?!
"Laing is upstairs. He invited you to talk upstairs." Silvia's expression was not very good. She said with a cold tone and a straight face, which made the two counts very uneasy. What Du Lin and Larotte did not know was that the reason why the head maid was unhappy was because the two of them had agreed on a date, but they were interrupted halfway. That kind of strange feeling had disappeared.
Soon, Durin and Larotte sat opposite Laing. The head maid wanted to stand beside Laing to serve him, but Laing directly reached out and pulled her to sit beside him. "Bonsoir! Welcome to Gien, the two of you from Lyonnaise. "
"Greetings, my Duke!" The two counts saluted at the same time to show their respect. They didn't expect Laing to meet them in a bar. "We didn't expect to see you here."
"Something happened last night, and I needed some time to deal with it. I felt that it wasn't good to keep you waiting, so I delayed it until tomorrow. Please forgive me for not being a good host."
"No, no, no! Sir Laing is busy. We came here abruptly. " Durin hurriedly said. He didn't know what Laing meant, so he simply emphasized, "Sir Laing, as the rightful successor of Saint Landuin, is our lord. We came here to pledge our loyalty to you."
"Loyalty? We'll talk about loyalty after Adahad completes the cession contract with us. " Laing didn't comment on the sincerity of the two old Muxilon nobles. The Duke's face was expressionless. "Let us talk about our intentions first. This must be the real reason you came here, right?"
Durin and Larotte looked at each other, and Count Larotte spoke first. "We old Muxilon nobles want to know, Sir Laing, what are your expectations for us? How do you plan to rule this territory? "
"Very simple. I have three requests." Laing nodded and said calmly, "You can choose to accept or not, but you will have to bear the consequences."
"Please speak."
"First, in my territory, the tariffs must be uniform. Then, I have a list. If the taxes exceed this list, they must be abolished immediately. Also, I want all of you to change the tithes to fixed taxes. I will send people to check the fixed taxes. Can you do that?" Laing stretched out his first finger.
"Yes!" This didn't surprise the two counts. They already knew about Laing's reforms. Naturally, they chose to support and agree. Although this would cause them to lose some immediate benefits, they had no power to resist. On the contrary, they were eager to see their territories change like Laing's.
"Second, regarding the issue of vassals, my request is that the nobles under my command are not allowed to wage war against each other. If necessary, they can go to the duchy court. Every year, the vassals must contribute a small percentage of their income to the duchy's treasury. If there is treason or blasphemy, I can take back all their titles and fiefs without compensation. If there is any other crime, it will be handed over to the court and Her Highness Morgiana of the Lake Goddess for discussion. Those with the most serious crimes will also be stripped of their titles." Laing stretched out his second finger.
Sylvia looked at Laing in surprise.
What was Laing doing? He was challenging the unwritten rule that the nobles would always be the nobles!
This time, the two counts hesitated. They opened their mouths, but didn't know what to say.
"It's fine. There's no hurry for you to make a decision." Laing knew that this was a great challenge to the interests of the current nobles. This was almost shaking the foundation of the entire Brittany noble system!
But as he said, he already had the ability and status. He was the Knight of the Holy Grail, the champion of the Lake Goddess! He came with the great prestige of saving the country and restoring Mu Xilon. Now was the best time to set this new rule!
(Author's Note: If Zhao Guangyi could achieve complete victory in the Battle of Gaoliang River and Yongxi's Northern Expedition and recover Yanyun, he could also rely on his incomparable prestige to turn around and deal with the already overinflated group of civil officials and scholar-officials. Unfortunately, he did not.
If he didn't do it now, when would he do it?
The two counts' faces were very ugly. If they were already prepared for the first rule, then the second one was really unacceptable!
The knights were used to being nobles. Under the feudal system, no matter how hard a serf worked, he would never become a knight. And no matter how far a knight fell, he would still be a noble! Even though there were indeed some knights in history who were stripped of their titles due to major mistakes, in the thousand years of history, there were no more than ten knights in the kingdom who held a knight's assembly for this reason! In reality, a knight's title was almost unshakable and could not be stripped away. A knight could be executed, but he would still be a noble even after death!
Count Durin and Count Larotte immediately said that they needed to discuss this.
Laing leaned back in his chair after he finished speaking. He calmly waited for the nobles of Mu Xilon to answer. He could give them some time to think. If one day wasn't enough, then two days. If one month wasn't enough, then two months. But if it took too long, then Duke Mu Xilon could only apologize. There were many who wanted to be a count, and he didn't lack two legendary knights under his command.
"My Duke, I only have one question." At this time, Count Durin gritted his teeth and asked, "Do you only target us nobles of Mu Xilon, or do you treat all the knights and nobles of the future Knight King equally?"
"Everyone is treated equally." Laing's voice was very cold.
"Then … our answer is yes!" Unexpectedly, the nobles of Mu Xilon immediately made a decision. "Duke, please tell us the third point!"
"Third, the issue of the vassals' military strength. As my vassals, once I have a request, all vassals can only leave behind a small number of troops to defend the city and a small number of mobile troops. The rest of the troops must gather with me and listen to my orders. Then, I have the authority to appoint a military commander. If I appoint a military commander, then even if his rank is lower or equal to yours, you will still have to listen to his orders. Can you do that?" Laing was a little surprised that the two counts agreed so quickly. The Duke tried his best to keep his expression and voice calm.
"Yes." The two counts could accept the first point, so they wouldn't have any objections to the second point.
"Very good." Laing nodded. This was the first step of the reform. "Good. You can go back and tell all the local nobles that if they can accept the three points, I will accept their loyalty. If they can't accept it, then it's simple. They can go to Lyonnesse and continue to be knights and nobles, but the land they cede will belong to Mu Xilon. They will have to find their own land."
Before he finished speaking, Laing sneered and said, "If some of the nobles are not loyal to me and are not willing to go to Lyonnesse, then it will be interesting. Brittany only has these duchies. If they don't want to be either Lyonnesse or Mu Xilon, then they might as well not be Brittany!"
"What do the two of you think of my suggestion?" The Duke's blue eyes stared at Muxilon's noble representatives. Even though Ryan's face still looked young, his gaze was as sharp as a blade, causing the two knights who had been through more than a hundred battles to shiver.
"Some … some of the nobles just don't understand. They still think that this is a chance to expand their autonomy. We will definitely, definitely persuade them to pledge their loyalty to the Duke." Count Rarotte swallowed his saliva and quickly said, "Only a small portion of the people are stubborn. Us old Mu Xilon people are of course willing to follow the Duke."
"They only want power and don't want to take responsibility. If they want freedom, then I will give it to them." Laing nodded. "I have always respected the wishes of individuals. Alright, it's time for you to make your requests."
"We need the Duke's support to quell the rebellion in our territory." Count Dulin immediately said, "In addition, we also need food. We hope that the Duke can send troops to help us control the rebellious areas as soon as possible."
"Of course. I will send a group of old guards to lead two serf infantry regiments and a group of dwarven cannoneers to support you." Laing agreed. "When the rebellion is over, you will work together to support Lyonarcy!"
"Yes!"
After discussing the details for a while, the two counts got up and left with a heavy heart. They would return to their own territories and pass on Laing's will.
After the two counts left, Laing withdrew from his dignified Duke state. He noticed that his head maid was still looking at him with fear. He smiled. "What's wrong? Sylvie? Are you scared? "
"No … I'm just a little scared." The head maid's expression was not very good. She whispered, "You don't look like the lady's husband."
"Of course it's different at home." Laing smiled and leaned back in his chair. "Alright, let's continue the date!"
"Eh? Continue? "The head maid's face turned red again." Shouldn't we go back? "
"No, let's continue." Laing nodded and smiled wickedly. "There's a show in town tonight!"
"A famous clown artist, Percy Walter, will be performing his performance art in the town. Let's go and have a look!"
"Remember to shout for protection!"
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