"Back then, when the High Elves were still the Elven Empire, the alliance between the Elves and the Dwarves was once so powerful."
In the winter night of Örengrád, Talleyrand, who was dressed as a noble, was walking with Laing. The Laing smiled at him. "At that time, the Elven Empire came to the Old World. The Malecis, who was still the Elven Empire's ambassador to the Dwarf Mountain Kingdom, arrived first with his army. They soon discovered that there were many places in the Old World that were suitable for colonization and reproduction."
"I know that." Laing nodded. In fact, until now, all the major cities in the Old World were basically built on the ruins of the Elven Empire's colonial cities.
Just like Rome in Laing's previous life, after the decline of Western Rome, the Ostrogothic Kingdom, the Visigothic Kingdom, the Frankish Kingdom, the Lombard Kingdom, the Kingdom of England, and a bunch of barbarians rose from the ruins of Rome and then claimed to be the orthodox Rome. Several major human countries were basically built on the ruins of the Elven Empire. If the Empire was a hybrid between the Elven Empire and the Dwarf Mountain Kingdom, then the Brittany was more like the illegitimate child of the Elven Empire.
Anyway, everyone was now Rome, and they could sing ceddindeden together.
Enter, enter!
"Since Your Majesty knows, then it's easy." Talleyrand chuckled. "At that time, the Elven Empire decided to colonize the Old World. They soon discovered that there was empty land everywhere. It was rich, but there was no owner. The Dwarves liked to live in the mountains and hills. In the plains and forests, except for a few scattered supply stations, large areas of unowned land were all empty.
"There was so much unowned land waiting to be developed. There was so much rich land and resources waiting to be owned. At that time, the Phoenix King of the Elven Empire, Beo Shannar, discussed in the palace for a period of time. In order to stimulate the enthusiasm and subjective initiative of all the Elves to the greatest extent, the Phoenix King announced the national policy of 'horse-riding enclosure'.
"Any Elven noble or Elven merchant, as long as they were qualified, could apply to the Phoenix King's palace to colonize the Old World. There was so much land in the Old World that any Elven Knight only needed to ride a horse around the territory he wanted to prove that he had the ability to defend it, and he could officially get the land contract signed by the Phoenix King's palace."
Laing vaguely understood.
Seeing the change in Laing's expression, Talleyrand continued with a smile. "The great Age of Exploration and the Golden Age had begun. Countless Elves with dreams left Ossouin and embarked on the journey to colonize all over the world. His Majesty Beo Shannar even personally visited all over the world. The farthest he went was to the Eternity Peak and met with the Supreme King Snorri Whitebeard. Your Majesty, do you know how glorious the Elven Empire was at that time? The wealth of the world was flocking to Ossouin. The exponential economic growth, the high birth rate, the massive increase in income, and the ultra-low unemployment rate. People at that time felt that Ossouin would usher in eternal prosperity. "
"Your Majesty, I'm not saying that horse-riding enclosure is completely applicable to Kislöw, but it's a great reference. At the same time, it's also an important means for us to rope in the country's backbone, those Poillé, and generals." Talleyrand struck while the iron was hot.
"I understand." Laing nodded slowly. Knight King understood what Talleyrand meant. "You're saying that we should encourage the local Poillé and generals in Kislöw to horse-race outside the city of Örengrád. As long as they can eliminate the remnants of the Chaos, they'll be given the land directly?"
"Why not?" Talleyrand stuck his head in front of Laing. The lame man leaned on his cane and nodded like a chicken pecking at rice. "Let them solve the problem themselves. The land belongs to whoever takes it down. How can they not work hard? This is the fastest way to achieve actual occupation of the no man's land and the newly conquered areas. "
"But won't this easily lead to the privatization of the army and serious land annexation?" Laing was still doubtful. Knight King was thinking about the pros and cons. "A large number of civilians will become tenants and serfs. At the same time, many of the army will gradually evolve into the private army of the generals. Isn't this a warlord?"
"Oh, my, His Majesty Laing, the Poillé are originally local warlords!" Talleyrand said "Put away your compassion, Your Majesty. These people are not your people at all. No matter how good you are to them, in their eyes, you're at most a good friend. But in essence, you're still an outsider! You must understand, what do we need? As long as these Poillé can temporarily stop the Chaos, so that the old world has enough time to react, it's already a great merit! You don't care about the land annexation and the privatization of the soldiers. It's none of our business. What we want is these Poillé to go up and die! Only when the land is theirs will these Poillé be willing to die to protect their country! "
Laing laughed.
Knight King laughed happily and helplessly. He was enlightened by Talleyrand's words.
Laing found that he was still limited by his inherent thinking.
For the Celestial Empire in his previous life, it seemed that centralization and unification had become absolute political correctness. People had an extreme desire and need for centralization of power. It would be best if the imperial court managed everything. It would be best if personnel, financial, and military power were all firmly grasped in the hands of the monarch. At the same time, it would be best to desperately expand the territory and establish a super Empire that spanned across Europe and Asia.
Was it possible?
It could be said that before productivity and communications could catch up, it would be difficult for a large feudal Empire to maintain centralization of power for a long time. Why? Because with the passage of time, it was only a matter of time before the central court had problems. It could be the political situation, the decline of prestige caused by the frequent changes of the throne could not convince the public. It could be the exhaustion of the central treasury caused by land annexation that led to the weakening of administrative capacity. It could also be a major military failure that led to the loss of the central army's ability to suppress peasant uprisings and foreign wars.
What could be done at such a time? If they did not want the Empire to be fragmented, the imperial court had to decentralize power and let the local areas solve their own problems. This might not be able to save the Empire's fate, but it could delay the decline and prolong the life of the Empire.
For example, in Laing's previous life, the Eastern Han Dynasty relied on decentralization to solve the Yellow Turban Rebellion. Another example was the Great Tang Dynasty that gradually turned to the Jiedushi system after the collapse of the Zhou Dynasty. They appointed the Jiedushi to control most of the local administrative, financial, and military power. Later on, for example, in the late Qing Dynasty, they chose to cooperate with the local Han officials to suppress rebellions.
Did they really think that the ancients were idiots? Did they not know that decentralization of power would lead to local warlords being unable to get rid of them?
They had no choice.
(To avoid the appearance of contrarians, I have to emphasize that this is looking at the problem from the perspective of the dynasty. The peasant uprisings naturally had their own justice and rationality.)
This was different from appointing officials. The huge military pressure would naturally cause the officials to have other thoughts. This land is not mine, so why should I govern it seriously? Why should I resist? Shouldn't I continue to be an official in the new dynasty? Even if I can't continue, can't I just run away and shift the blame?
The only thing I can rely on is the moral sense I learned from reading a little bit of books. It is undeniable that there are many officials with integrity, and they are also praiseworthy. However, they can't fundamentally solve the problem.
Not to mention that the military pressure in this world is so great. Laing knew very well that if he really relied on the Brittany army to fight a long war of peace and chaos thousands of miles away in a world of ice and snow, the finance and military of the Knight King's Kingdom would be exhausted. After all, Mrs. Kiesler was not as rich as Master Bayle of Ba Feng Mountain. She had money and food, and she only needed to be responsible for fighting the war!
"But, if that's the case, if Poillé and the generals are divided and drawn to Katarín's side … Talleyrand, you also said that to Kislöw, I, Laing, will always be an outsider." Knight King asked the last question, "Will Katarín come to rob us of the fruits of victory in the end?"
"Sigh …" Talleyrand smiled viciously. "Your Majesty, this is a very simple question. Everyone knows that the main force of Chaos has been wiped out. The next war is not so much about strategy and tactics as it is about money and support. As long as you and Countess Emilia work together and firmly hold these Poillé lords back in terms of logistics and supplies, even if they can gather 100,000, 200,000, or even 300,000 people, what is there to be afraid of? They are just a bunch of starving and frozen corpses in the wild. Katarín can draw them to her side? Does she have the money and food? Besides, the Poillé are self-sufficient. They can be anyone's dog. The powerful Brittany Knight King or the poor woman Tsar, who will the Poillé choose? "
"Good, good!" Laing couldn't help but slap his thigh. "Very good! Let's do it this way! "
"Let Mrs. Kiesler be the Duchess of Örengrád! And we Brittany will be the finance minister and logistics officer! "
"Also, Talleyrand, you don't have to continue being Nur's ambassador." Laing patted Talleyrand's shoulder and smiled. "Come back to my palace. I appoint you as my foreign affairs officer with an annual salary of 400 crowns!"
"Yes … Yes!" Cripple was so excited that he couldn't control himself. He knelt in front of Laing. The high elf was so excited that his whole body trembled.
It worked!
The plan worked!
… I've become the dividing line …
A week later, the Kislöw Army led by Rokossovsky and the Ugor Army led by Berliat arrived in Örengrád. At the same time, the Berchemund Army, Lauen Army, and Nur Empire Army arrived one after another. They began to clean up the remaining forces of Chaos in the outskirts of the city.
House of Frost, the main camp of the Northern Expedition.
Laing received Kislöw, who had become famous in the Old World because of Operation Bagration. He was handsome and tall, and the difference between him and the ordinary Mrs. Kiesler was that he wasn't as rough and fierce as the other Russians. Instead, he seemed more 'delicate' and reserved.
"Marshal Konstantin Konstantinovich Rokossovsky, how do you do?" Laing and Emilia sat on the left and right of the main seats. The Knight King said to Luo Shuai, who was a little restrained, "I heard that you're doing well in Kurona?"
Luo Shuai smiled a little awkwardly. The marshal had only stayed in Kurona for two weeks, and he immediately became intimate with a Brittany noblewoman, Eva Greene de Grasgol. It was said that the two had decided to get married.
Of course, what no one knew was that Eva Greene was a 'swallow' arranged by Berliat at the behest of Suria.
"He doesn't like gold? It doesn't matter. He likes women, and women like gems and gold. It's as simple as that. "
— Berliat Gulag's Orders
Laing and Rokossovsky exchanged a few words. Rokossovsky only made two requests. The first was to solve the issue of compensation for the disabled veterans, and the second was to ensure that Örengrád would not be annexed.
Laing agreed to Laing's request in principle, but made it clear that it was limited to the Örengrád Guards who participated in Operation Bagration and were under Laing's command. Rokossovsky also agreed to this.
"What about you? What about you? " After talking about the government affairs, Laing picked up the steaming hot coffee and smiled, "Konstantin, allow me to call you that. What about you? I remember you're still a prisoner on death row, right? "
"Me? I don't know, but no matter what, I'm Mrs. Kiesler. I won't betray my country. " Luo Shuai was also very embarrassed. He forced a smile and said, "Your Majesty, I'm happy that you're able to take care of the soldiers. If there's no other choice, please allow me to find a place in Kurona to live in seclusion for the rest of my life. This way, I won't cause any trouble between the two countries."
"It's a waste of your talent to spend the rest of your life." Laing smiled and said, "I would like to invite you to be the commander of the first cavalry regiment of the Royal Guards that I'm about to establish. Are you interested?"
"I …" Luo Shuai was stunned and hesitated.
At this moment, Talleyrand suddenly came in with his crutch. The high elf was panting and shivering from the cold. "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, he's here!"
"Who's here?" Laing looked up.
"Tsar's special envoy is here! He thanked us for our help and announced that he's going to take over Örengrád in the name of Tsar! "
"He's here!" Laing said calmly. He knew that Katarín would come to snatch the fruits of victory!
The show was about to begin!
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