As the regent of the kingdom appointed by the Knight King, Lauren had been very unhappy during this period of time.
During this period of time, what were the plans of the northern nobles led by Lauren? Obviously, as mentioned earlier, they were planning to launch an Obien Expedition. Lauren wanted to change his awkward position, the northern nobles wanted to gain more benefits and improve their status, the serfs and freedmen wanted to change their fate, and everyone wanted to fight Obien.
According to the intelligence, Obien Island had rich magic veins and all kinds of gold and silver treasures, even including many fascinating relics of ancient saints. Now, except for a few tribes of truth sayers in the south and the Empire's new territory, Newland, the rest of the area was basically occupied by the northern barbarian tribe, Vanaheimlin. This barbarian tribe was powerful and rich in marauder spearmen and marauder hunters. Its tribal chief was called Lev Gulbranson, a powerful legendary peak chaos champion. He had more than 12,000 barbarian marauders and hundreds of chaos warriors under his command, as well as countless corrupted truth sayers and chaos beasts.
Therefore, Lauren knew very well that Obien could fight, but before that, he had to reorganize the army of the northern nobles.
In other words, to fight Obien, Lauren had to first solve the problem of the decay of the army. The northern nobles and knights were not like the southern nobles and knights who had completed the reorganization and strengthening of the army with Laing. The soldiers were semi-professional and equipped with a large number of firearms, and they had established the Old Guard, one of the strongest armies in the old world.
What Lauren had now was the remaining few hundred elites who had followed Laing to complete the Eight Peaks Mountain Expedition. Lauren had reorganized them into an independent army and named it the Connet Royal Highland Garrison Regiment.
However, it required money to form such an elite army that was completely out of production! Laing was rich and could afford to raise elites like the Old Guard. François was rich and could form the Unicorn Guard. Even Berchemund and Bodrick had money. The Red Dragon Guard and the Mannen Guard had also been formed.
However, the army of the northern nobles, led by Ron, was still being reorganized and trained. They needed to be collectively equipped with guns and cannons, so they needed a lot of financial support and food supplies.
This led to the third problem that needed to be solved, which was the taxation of money and grain.
Even though Laing was the regent of the kingdom, it was impossible for him to command the court built by Laing. After Queen Suria, who was previously in charge of property, followed Laing to Ossouin, the remaining people in charge of finance were the two deputy finance ministers appointed by Laing, Geffen from the Empire and Steve from the Brittany. These two were bureaucrats appointed by Laing, and they only listened to his orders. If they wanted to approve funds, they would only approve the projects that were allowed before Laing left, and some of the established matters that Laing had previously formulated.
Was the expedition to Obien a predetermined matter? Obviously not, and it was something that the king clearly opposed. Ron could not even think of getting a single copper coin from the treasury for military expenses.
Therefore, it extended to the fourth problem, which was the problem of Brittany's political system. As everyone knew, Brittany had a two-headed political system, which was the Holy Grail system represented by the Witch of the Lake, Morgiana, and the secular feudal system represented by Laing. If the northern nobles, led by Ron, wanted to get military funds, they had to at least deal with one of them, or try to persuade Morgiana to fight a war of knighthood, or find a way to get the bureaucracy left behind by Laing to assist in the expedition to Obien.
Who could Ron deal with?
Therefore, during this period of time, the regent of the kingdom was tossed back and forth like a rubber ball. The framework left behind by Laing made him very uncomfortable. He could do a lot of things within the framework, but once he went beyond the framework, everything would be rejected. This regent was indeed a little boring.
However, the opportunity was rare. Recently, Ron keenly noticed that the barbarian army in the Chaotic Wasteland in the north and the barbarian army in Noska had greatly reduced their plundering of the old world. It seemed that they were shrinking their forces. Obviously, the barbarians in the north could not suddenly become "kind", so there was only one possibility, which was that the barbarians were preparing for a big move.
This was a good opportunity. Ron put the document aside. After thinking for a long time, he told the attendant, "Did she say what it was about?"
"Lady Aurora said that she had recently obtained some information from Nord, Auster, and Kislöw. She wanted to exchange it with the regent about the movements of the barbarians in the north," the attendant said respectfully.
"Oh?!" Ron was suddenly interested. Originally, the regent was still considering whether to meet this mature and beautiful Sanctuary witch, but when he heard the news from Aurora, he felt that it was necessary to meet her.
Otherwise, the regent of the kingdom originally did not intend to meet Aurora. As everyone knew, the MI7 established by Aurora was only responsible to Laing. She was Laing's personal advisor and courtier, and was not under the jurisdiction of the existing Brittany system.
There were faint rumors in the kingdom that Aurora was actually the exclusive property of the Knight King Laing, just like her daughter Teresa. This status was envied and feared by many. When some people tried to verify it, Aurora often smiled and refused to talk about this topic, which made many people believe this idea. Therefore, Aurora was often able to do whatever she wanted in the kingdom. If it was not for the Lake Goddess witch Morgiana constantly monitoring and beating her, this Sanctuary witch would definitely participate in various court social activities to seek benefits for herself.
Ron did not want to see her in order to avoid suspicion, but now he had to see her. "Bring her in."
A minute later, Aurora appeared. Today, the Sanctuary witch was wearing a black silk classical dress and a white fox fur coat, showing off her proud figure. The shiny black dress and the white fox fur coat were clearly separated, and a row of metal buttons of different sizes were more fashionable. Her slender legs wrapped in skin-colored stockings lay quietly under the skirt, and a pair of black matte high heels were together. Aurora bowed to Ron, her face serious. "Hello, good afternoon, Your Excellency Regent, I'm sorry to disturb you. You must be very busy, right?"
"Fortunately, I'm surprised that you found me." Ron motioned for Aurora to sit down, and the regent of the kingdom went straight to the point. "I heard that you have information to share with me?"
Aurora's mature and beautiful face showed some helplessness.
Recently, the Sanctuary witches' life had not been very good.
Since Laing left, Aurora's life had become very difficult.
In the Garland Council, she and Teresa were completely suppressed by Veronica. Apparently, Veronica was the speaker appointed by Laing, and her status was higher than Aurora's. The two sides had never been on the same side. When Laing was here, Veronica restrained herself a little, but as soon as Laing left, Veronica threw Aurora and Teresa aside and began to rebuild the Sorceress Assembly. Apparently, the important positions in the Sorceress Assembly were arranged by Veronica's own people. Teresa was fine, but Aurora was very dissatisfied with the current situation, but there was nothing she could do. Veronica had participated in the Eight Peaks Expedition and had a special position in the eyes of the knights and nobles.
Recently, the intelligence network that Aurora had painstakingly established in the Empire and Kislöw had reported to the Sanctuary witches something that caught her attention.
It seemed that there was a powerful being of Chaos who was integrating all the barbarian tribes and Chaos tribes in Noska and the northern wastelands. The barbarians were shrinking their forces on a large scale and had completely stopped plundering the south.
Aurora instinctively realized that things might be different. Once such a situation occurred in the northern barbarians, there was only one possibility, and that was that a Chaos Champion, a Chaos God, or even a Chaos God Champion or an even more terrifying existence had received the oracle of the Evil God and began to integrate their forces.
However, after receiving this news, Aurora found a problem.
Laing and Suria were not here, and they were too far away to contact. Who could she report to?
She first went to Veronica, but Veronica said that this matter was not under her control and that she had found the wrong person.
Then, Aurora went to Laing's appointed palace butler, Katzenberg, and head maid, Sylvia, but they also said that this was not their responsibility.
This wouldn't work, and that wouldn't work either. In the end, Aurora could only bite the bullet and look for Mogianna.
Morgiana was already very prejudiced against Aurora, but she still listened to Aurora's description and asked three questions coldly.
First, you said that there might be a powerful being of Chaos integrating the entire barbarian army in Noska and the northern wastelands. Who is this person?
Second, can you predict the approximate time of the barbarians' invasion?
Last but not least, have you investigated the specific distribution of the barbarians' forces along the coast of Noska and the border of Kislöw?
Aurora could not answer any of these three questions. Morgiana was so angry that she laughed. The Lake Goddess said that this was the result of Laing's large amount of funds in a year? If you do this, you will have to apologize to the entire Knight Kingdom!
After that, Morgiana said that she still had a lot of things to deal with and had no time to deal with Aurora. She said that she would come back when Laing came back or when she could get relatively accurate information.
However, Aurora also felt wronged. The Sanctuary Witch could not say anything. The intelligence network that she had originally designed and laid out was almost completely destroyed in the destruction of Garland. It was not easy to get this first-hand information now. She had to rely on the connections that she had painstakingly built in Kislöw and Nord to get this information.
So, after thinking about it, she simply came to Lauren to see if she could exchange some valuable information with him.
Lauren had detailed information and intelligence about Obion Island, and indeed pointed out that the barbarians in the north had recently contracted and stopped looting on a large scale, and that Obion Island's defense was empty.
Aurora clearly pointed out that according to the intelligence, there should be a powerful being of Chaos integrating all the barbarian forces. According to Nord and Kislöw's information, the barbarians were shrinking their forces and preparing to concentrate their forces. Perhaps they would go south in a few days.
"I see. I understand what you mean, Lady Aurora." After listening to Aurora's information, Lauren's eyes lit up. The Regent of the Kingdom thought to himself, I was just thinking about how to find a suitable opportunity to attack Obion. As a result, Aurora sent a good reason. Now, wouldn't I have an excuse to attack Obion?
The Regent of the Kingdom deliberated for a moment and tried to express his gratitude in polite but distanced words. "Lady Aurora, thank you very much for the information you brought. This is beneficial to our next meeting and the direction of the Kingdom. On behalf of His Majesty Laing, I thank you."
"Don't thank me." Aurora heard the hidden meaning in Lauren's words. The Sanctuary Witch sighed and forced a smile. "We are each taking what we need and exchanging valuable information to strengthen communication."
"Yes." Lauren also nodded politely. The Regent of the Kingdom said very cautiously, "Special times, special treatment, special handling, but Lady Aurora, don't you have a way to contact His Majesty Laing?"
"Originally, there was, but my contact method will fail if the distance is too far." Aurora said helplessly, "Now, the only one who can contact Laing … His Majesty is Her Highness Morgiana, but she is not willing to help."
"Well, I will go and explain this to Her Highness Morgiana." Lauren thought for a moment and added, "Also, collect as much information as possible about the northern barbarians. When His Majesty Laing comes back, you can report directly to him."
"I will." Aurora was even more helpless. The Sanctuary Witch knew that she had really become Laing's private property now. Everyone was eager to draw a clear line with her, but she had already hit a wall with Ostmark. It was not difficult for her to accept it now, but she was a little unwilling. "If there is nothing else, I will leave first, Regent."
"Please, I also have to prepare to participate in the Duke's meeting." Lauren did not say anything to persuade her to stay. The Regent also had his own things to do.
After Aurora left, Lauren tidied up his attire, got up, and walked towards the palace's conference hall.
Five minutes later, the attendant pushed open the ten-meter-high dome door of the conference hall.
At this time, all the Dukes of Brittany and the Lake Goddess Witch Morgiana were already seated. Each Duke had an attendant beside him, and most of them were their juniors. For example, François had brought Sir Jerrold, and Bodrick had brought his son Fedmond.
As usual, Duke Carcassonne, Hugh Bard, did not come. He was the only Duke absent.
"You are late, Lauren." The Lake Goddess Witch Morgiana said coldly. She sat on the bench next to the throne, and her tone did not sound pleasant. "Let's get started as soon as possible."
Lauren first said "Yes" to Morgiana, then went to his seat and sat down. The position of the Regent of the Kingdom was not far from the left in front of the throne, and it was faintly opposite to the Lake Goddess Witch. "His Majesty Laing left a few orders before he went to Ossouin. Today, everyone is gathered to discuss how to continue to carry out the King's orders, what problems have been found, how to solve them, and how to report to His Majesty Laing when he comes back."
The Dukes had different expressions, but they all nodded seriously.
"In general, there are a few things like this." Lauren stood up, took out a thick stack of parchments, and motioned for the courtiers to give them to each Duke.
Adehard, Duke of Lyonasser, frowned. He had just taken the parchment from the courtier, and the first sentence on the parchment gave him a headache. Lyonasser had always been a complicated place. It was true that Leon was able to control the situation because he had prestige and power, but if it was him … Your Majesty, you want me to die?!
The parchments said, "Further reduce the titles, change, and eliminate the incompetent knights and nobles."
Berchemund, Duke of Bastogne, also took the parchments. He frowned and looked at the first line. He nodded in his heart, thinking that the incompetent nobles and knights indeed needed to be dealt with properly. As a direct descendant of Arthur, he could not stand it anymore. However, when he saw the second line, Berchemund also showed a troubled expression.
"Further abolish exorbitant taxes, unify tariffs, and encourage trade and population circulation."
François, Duke of Winford, was very good at maintaining his composure. When he saw the third line, he could not help but smile. His son-in-law was indeed very thoughtful.
"Establish a permanent warehouse and strategic grain reserve, and appropriately subsidize the grain price."
This was also what François wanted to do, but he had not mentioned it yet. He had wanted to wait for Laing to come back and discuss it.
When they saw the next line, all the Dukes frowned.
"Every Duchy must build at least five permanent military fortresses along the border of their kingdom at their own expense."
"Everyone, if you have any opinions or suggestions about the national policy left by His Majesty, you can raise them at the meeting." Seeing that Morgiana did not speak and that the Lake Goddess Witch was daydreaming, Lauren had to say it himself. "His Majesty said that you can raise any questions you have, and we can discuss them. However, if you don't say anything in front of him and talk about it behind his back, it'll be nonsense to discuss national policy."
After that, Lauren gave the Dukes some time to digest the information. The Dukes immediately discussed it with their relatives or courtiers.
Five minutes later.
"Objection!"
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