After the messenger of the supreme king left, everyone in the king's tent began to express their opinions.
Obviously, the enlightened nobles represented by François, the traditional nobles represented by Kalad, the church represented by Al- Frey, the Old Guard represented by Bertrand, the newly promoted nobles represented by the commander of the Old Guard, Bertrand, and even Veronica, the Sanctum Witch, who took a short break and reluctantly came out for a meeting, were not interested in stationing an army in the Wretched Land. However, since the Supreme Dwarf King and Bellegar were willing to pay for the military expenses and supplies, everyone was inclined to give it a try. After all, the dwarves had a lot of money, but they did not have a population. Since these dwarves were willing to pay for the Brittany's army, everything was negotiable.
After a short discussion, most of the people left, leaving only Laing, François, Kalad, Veronica, and a few others. Veronica immediately signaled Kathlyn to serve tea. Garland sat on a comfortable and soft chair and said to her apprentice, "Kathlyn, do you still have coffee beans?"
"Yes, Mentor, I still have a lot left." Although Catherine had been promoted to a legendary witch, she still had to rely on her teacher. At least for now, her realm was not stable, and she lacked strength and financial resources. She did not have the capital to be independent. Moreover, Veronica treated her apprentice well. The relationship between the teacher and apprentice was good, and there was no conflict of interest.
"Then make me a cup of hazelnut vanilla almond Garland dessert, caramel sauce, mocha sauce, and Starbucks cream frappuccino." Veronica's face was flushed. She leaned lazily on the chair and waved her hand to ask Kathlyn to arrange it.
"Okay." Kathlyn and Kalad looked at each other. Kalad opened his mouth, and Count Garland immediately felt Laing's teasing eyes. He could only blush. When he was about to say something, Kathlyn immediately winked at Kalad, bowed respectfully, and went to make the hazelnut vanilla almond Garland dessert, caramel sauce, mocha sauce, and Starbucks cream frappuccino for Veronica.
François and Kalad were not surprised by Veronica's character. From a certain point of view, the knights and nobles led by Kalad on the expedition to Eight Peaks Mountain even approved of Veronica. Veronica was only one step away from Queen Suria.
Leon knew very well why this happened. This was the side effect of the great expedition. Because Veronica had contributed a lot to this great expedition and always had a strong sense of presence, even the knights had changed their opinions of her, especially the knights and nobles of the northern faction. Veronica's position in the army was highly recognized by the knights and nobles of the northern faction.
The Knight King could sense that something was about to happen in his own backyard. Of course, Leon wouldn't be able to personally interfere in such matters. How far things would go would depend on the follow-up. Veronica and Olica had already used their own performances to conquer the knights and nobles, establishing their own prestige.
When they returned, Ryan could take the opportunity to entrust Veronica with important tasks.
"Laing, how many people do you plan to keep?" François was actually not very interested in the so-called garrison in Eight Peaks Mountain. Duke Winford cared more about when to withdraw the troops back home and share the huge wealth of the dwarves.
"Let's keep Durant and his Brittany Independent Regiment first." Laing said in a deep voice. Knight King was also a little annoyed by the Dwarves' generous offer. "Now, it seems that we have to keep some people here. Blackhearted Leipu left behind more than 3,000 swords in the Britzka Duchy. Let's just let Durant move all the people here to Eight Peaks Mountain. This place is better than the bordering prince's territory where Green Skins, Orcs, Chaos Cultists, and various bandits, robbers, and murderers run rampant."
"Okay." François nodded slowly.
Was the bordering prince's territory a good place?
Don't be ridiculous. The bordering prince's territory was a place where all sorts of monsters roamed. All sorts of bandits, robbers, and murderers who were exiled by the Empire, Brittany, and the Southern Kingdoms gathered there. Various Chaos Cultists ran rampant there, and they were constantly harassed by the Green Skins and Orcs. Besides that, the bordering prince's territory had never stopped fighting.
The one who brought disaster to the bordering prince's territory was naturally Tarim Khan. Even now, a few years had passed, and the Chaos Cultists were still hiding in the forests and mountains. They would occasionally come out to harm the residents here.
Even so, the bordering prince's territory was still much less intense than the Empire's. Due to the sparse population and frequent harassment from various factions, the bordering prince's territory was destined to be unable to become a powerful kingdom. It shouldn't be too difficult for the Independent Regiment to move to Eight Peaks Mountain. After all, Eight Peaks Mountain was actually very easy to defend. They only had to guard the Titan's Gate and the Leyline Network. The eight perilous peaks piercing through the sky were enough to stop all enemies.
"It's a given that Durant and the Independent Regiment will stay here." François nodded, but Duke Winford frowned and said, "According to the Dwarves' request, they don't only want us to station our troops at Eight Peaks Mountain. The Dwarves also want to borrow the strength of the Humans to build a new defense system."
"Hmm." Clayon nodded slowly. "That's right. I hope so too. Since we've recovered the Eight Peaks Mountain, we can rely on the Eight Peaks Mountain and the Sea Gate Pass to build a mature defense system to ensure that when there's a large-scale invasion from the Evil Lands, we can delay the Green Skins and allow the Empire and the Dwarves to be prepared."
"But … we don't have to do that." François was still full of doubts. His father-in-law stroked his beard and said, "Laing, are we going to station our troops at the Evil Lands? The environment here is too harsh. Our troops will only be gradually exhausted by the harsh climate and severe military pressure. Besides, it won't benefit the Brittany much if we station our troops here, right? "
"…" Laing did not say anything. Knight King thought of something and was still hesitating.
"Your Majesty, our expedition has already consumed a lot of national power. Although the harvest is very rich, the new knights need time to get their own spurs, the new serf infantry also needs time to train, and your Old Guard also needs time to replenish," Kaladin said. "If we station a large number of troops at the Evil Lands, not only will we not be able to handle it, but even the nobles in the country will have a lot of opinions."
"How about recruiting some new troops? We can recruit troops in the country and leave a small number of veterans to lead a large number of new troops. We will rotate them every three to five years. " Laing thought for a while and finally said his plan, "Stationing troops at the edge of the Evil Lands is of great significance to the defense against the green skin tide. We can pull in the Empire, especially Marius, the Grand Duke of Avie and the Kurfürst of Tuscany. I think he will be very willing to send troops to help us. Through this method, we can extend our sphere of influence into the territories of the Princes at the border. We can dump our goods here and get a lot of raw materials and cheap labor here."
"The territories of the Princes at the border?" François nodded after hearing it. His father-in-law thought for a while and suddenly laughed, "Laing, are you going to tell me that you want to annex the territories of the Princes at the border and expand your territory here? I want to remind you that the bigger the country, the better! "
"Hahahaha! I know, I know. "Laing couldn't help but laugh after hearing François' half-joking warning.
Indeed, the bigger the country, the better. Because there was a limit to a country's ability to conquer and control.
Before he ascended the throne, Laing had wondered why the Empire adopted the Kurfürst system instead of a centralized system. Why did the Empire have to be divided into many provinces and let the Kurfürst be autonomous? Why didn't the military nobles under the Empire manage it?
When Laing became the King, he understood that it wasn't impossible, but it couldn't be done.
After the country expanded, the court of the Empire had to face three prominent problems.
First, the border was long and there were enemies on all sides. Moreover, many forces were impossible to negotiate with (Chaos, Dark Elves, Green Skin, Orcs), causing the external military pressure to be huge. This caused the Empire to have to station a large number of troops at the border to defend against possible invasions. This made it easy to form the military town system (the border count system).
Second, the country was too big for this world. With the way information was communicated, it was impossible for the Empire to remotely command from afar. The Kingdom of Nords was more than 1,500 kilometers away from the Empire's capital, Brunswick. The Kingdom of Kislöw was more than 2,000 kilometers away from the Empire's capital, Brunswick. Laing had personally seen the messenger sent from the Nords' capital, Coldwinter, even if it was 600 kilometers away, it would take seven days to reach Brunswick. In seven days, Nords would be annihilated if the capital allowed the order to attack. The consumption of magic power for long-distance communication was extremely shocking.
Under such circumstances, the Emperor had to allow the local areas to form and command their own army, allowing the Kurfürst to have independent military power to deal with various emergencies, protect their own territory, facilitate the unification of military orders, and maintain the combat power of the army. After a long time, the Kurfürst would of course go their own way and no longer listen to the Emperor's orders.
Third, the financial problem. This was even simpler. For example, in Laing's previous life, the First Emperor of the Celestial Empire attacked the Xiongnu. One hundred and sixty kilograms of grain were sent from the center, and only one kilogram was delivered to the frontline. The loss of transportation was as high as 99%. Similarly, if the Empire's court didn't allow the Kurfürst to have their own financial independence, tax their own taxes and raise their own army, then not to mention the frontline against Chaos in the north, even the Black Fire Pass where the Ivy Hill was resisting the Green Skin, the loss of one year of grain would bankrupt the Empire's finances.
Bro, the local taxes had to be collected from the local area to the center, and then from the center to the local area. Even if there was no corruption and any supply lines, the loss was still very shocking. Did you think it was like Alipay? King Nord pressed a button, and on the desk of Emperor Franz Karl in the capital, there was a sound, "Ding ~ Five thousand gold marks received from the Empire."
That was why the Empire allowed Kislöw to be independent despite having the ability to conquer it, and why the Grand Duke of Nord dared to call himself the King of Nord, and why the Empire could only turn a blind eye to it.
When a country exceeded a certain threshold, the bigger it was, the weaker it would be. The bigger it was, the more powerless it would be. Enemies were everywhere at the borders, waiting for an opportunity to strike, and the Empire's defenders could only watch helplessly as destruction occurred. With limited financial resources and insufficient military forces, the Empire did not have the energy nor the ability to defend against external enemies.
That was why Laing was speechless when he recalled how many people in his previous life were clamoring to drink horses in the Danube River and conquer Madagascar with iron hooves. When the Empire was first born, it gave people a positive, optimistic, and enterprising feeling. However, it did not mean that it would always be like this. Conquering was difficult, and ruling such a huge Empire was even more difficult. The Mongol Empire drank horses in the Danube River for only a few years, and it immediately split into the Four Great Khanates and the Yuan Dynasty?
In that case, if the Emperor wanted to centralize power, control the military, control the financial power, and be able to do remote control, would it be possible?
Yes, there was a dynasty in the Celestial Empire that managed to do it. All the elites of the military were gathered in the center, leaving only the old, weak, sick, and disabled for the local areas. All the taxes collected from the local areas were only left with the basic maintenance fees. The Emperor did remote control all day long, and the generals were only responsible for following orders.
That dynasty was known as the Great Gift.
Even if it was the Great Gift, the Empire would not be able to imitate it. The logic was simple. A great man once said that to resist external aggression, one must first pacify the internal affairs.
Because even the Empire was filled with danger. There were Chaos Cultists, Orcs, Green Skin Tribes, and the occasional Specter and Chaos Devils. If the Empire took away the local elites, leaving only the security and militia system, how would the local areas deal with these enemies that could destroy a civilization?
This was the difference between Laing and Karl-franz. Laing did it. After many years of war in the Brittany (in addition to the constant patrolling by Angran and the four Imperial Guards, this was very important!), the internal affairs of the Brittany had been resolved. Since the King had the ability to ensure the internal peace of the Kingdom, the Dukes naturally trusted him and were willing to respond to his conscription.
Karl Franz, on the other hand, couldn't do it. Not to mention the security of the entire Imperium, he couldn't even guarantee the security of his Brunswick Territory or the Bloody Pine Forest that was only dozens of kilometers away from Brunswick. Under such circumstances, Card Emperor had already tried his best. The Kurfürsten listened to him but didn't listen to him. Occasionally, they would come to the capital for a meeting, which was already giving Card Emperor enough face.
After thinking about it in his head, Laing thought that he had something to learn from. If the Great Gift was not enough, didn't they still have Dameng?
"My plan is like this. We can station troops in the Armory Fortress and the Eight Peaks Mountain. We can set up a military camp system and let the garrison cultivate their own land. Then, we can support them with supplies. The soldiers will be rotated every three to five years. As for the fortress, we can ask the dwarves to help us build it. I think the Supreme King or Bellegar will definitely not object." Laing explained his plan. "The main composition of the garrison is a small number of veterans and a large number of new soldiers. The number of people should not be too high. Two to three thousand people will form a guard. Let the Empire send troops to participate. We will also recruit soldiers from the Empire and the border princes. After all, the dwarves will provide the money and equipment."
"At the same time, we will find a place with mountains and water before the Eight Peaks Mountain and let the dwarves help us build a new fortress. This way, we can build a new defense line and cordon in the Wretched North. Their goal is not to eliminate or resist the possible invasion of the Green Skins, but to delay the attack of the Green Skins as much as possible. At the same time, they will report the news to the dwarves and the Empire so that they can prepare for defense."
"These three guards will be called the 'Three Guards of the Wretched North'!"
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