The King

  Chapter 353 No retreat

   "These cubs are too poor in appearance and have limited growth potential. You should wait!"

  After hearing Hudson's words, Redman, who was about to salivate, immediately realized his gaffe.

  As a knight, owning a monster mount is Redman's lifelong pursuit.

  Unfortunately, life is impermanent. The Warcraft mount he envied once upon a time is now within reach, and even has the capital to be picky.

  Leaving aside high-level monsters, those things can be encountered but not sought after. Even if it came to his door, Redman didn't think he could control it.

  However, as the earl's father, he can still look forward to having a good-looking mid-level monster as a mount.

  Of course, pickiness is limited to mountain areas. If it goes to the outside world, it is still hard to find a beast.

  With Redman's strength, it's okay to take the risk to challenge a low-level monster. Wanting to train a wild mid-level monster is purely a dream.

   There are so many gold warriors and silver warriors who die in the Warcraft Mountains every year. Even the Earth Knights and Sky Knights in the past, if they are unlucky, they can only feed the Warcraft, let alone him, a big knight who relies on resources.

"good!"

  In other times, finding a low-level monster as a mount can show off in the circle of relatives and friends for many years, but the situation is different now.

  From the investment of the major forces in the breeding base, it can be seen that it is only a matter of time before Warcraft becomes the standard equipment for knights.

   At that time, low-level monsters will not be enough to see, and if you want to get them, you must at least have mid-level monsters.

  Although Redman has been hanging around among the small nobles, it doesn't affect him to set himself a benchmark against the big nobles.

  After hesitating for a while, Redman asked with concern: "Hudson, just distribute the cubs like this, can they afford it?"

   Raising monsters is a costly job. Eating meat every meal is just a small problem, the key is that the ripening medicine is expensive!

  The cheapest magic beast ripening potion on the market costs dozens of gold coins, which is not enough for a month's dose. According to this breeding mode, if all the expenses are added together, it may cost thousands of gold coins a year.

  As for the cost of medicine, it is less than one-tenth of it. Usually, the refined medicine is diluted and sold.

  It seems to be giving everyone a chance, but it is actually a means to weaken the financial resources of the little nobles. If you really plunged in recklessly, your family would definitely be hurt.

  Obviously, this is another tacit understanding of the great nobles. Once the little nobles set foot on this road, all future financial resources will be invested in themselves.

  Especially for small nobles with a thriving population like the Koslow family, the cultivation of the family's children alone will exhaust all the financial resources of the territory and lose the possibility of continuing to develop the army.

   Guide the public opinion a little bit, turn this model into the mainstream, and the future little nobles will become a group of reckless men who only know how to charge forward.

   Leading troops to fight does not exist, and it is unknown whether the small lord has a private army, let alone exercise command ability.

  Future wars will become more and more irrelevant to ordinary people, and will eventually become battles between knights. The status of the great nobles remained the same, but the minor nobles changed from officers to soldiers.

   What's even more tragic is that many people can't do it if they want to be soldiers. When the mode of war changes in an all-round way, the monopoly will further intensify, and even if you have money, you will not be able to buy medicine.

  The raised threshold will become everyone's strongest moat, blocking all competitors from the door, and continuing to continue their own power and wealth.

   After seeing all this clearly, nothing can be changed. The emergence of this new ruling system is not promoted by a certain person or organization, but stems from the self-protection instinct of the ruling group.

   "Of course I can't afford it! With everyone's current salary, there are only a handful of monsters in the territory that can afford it.

  Even without the use of potions, not many people can afford the food expenses of the Warcraft cubs.

  But as long as they join the army and accept recruitment permanently, the cost of raising monsters will be paid by the territory for them. "

   In order to bind talents, Hudson also racked his brains. The temptation of the Warcraft mount is only one of them, and there will be more supporting means in the future.

  Deliberately limit the age, in addition to considering the development potential, the most important thing is because young people are easy to fool.

  Once I can't resist the temptation and accept Master Hudson's Warcraft cubs, unless there is an unfathomable chance to grow up to break the rules, otherwise I can only hang out with Master Hudson for the rest of my life.

  Actually, among those who currently exchanged for Warcraft cubs, only two of them contributed enough, and the rest were debts.

   It seems that the Warcraft cubs have been distributed to the subordinates, and the ownership has been transferred, but it is essentially the arming of the territory.

  Because the Warcraft cubs belong to individuals, everyone's care will only be more meticulous. After all, this is to go to the battlefield together. If you don't maximize the intimacy of the Warcraft mount, you are irresponsible for your own life.

   "Well, it's good that you have a care in your mind. I don't have any experience to provide you with these things. Maybe some big families will have records. You can read more books when you have nothing to do."

   Redman said disappointedly.

   Talents are middle-aged, far from the age of retirement. But because of his limited ability and vision, he had to retire early.

   are all forced by reality. With his status, as long as he comes out to do things, he is doomed to have a low status. If you continue to be active outside, it will be easy for people to take advantage of you.

   Just as he was about to speak to comfort him, the guards who rushed over interrupted the conversation between father and son.

   "Count, something is wrong!

  Just now, the magic circle of communication in Beida City was activated, and an urgent message came from the capital, Your Majesty... Your Majesty collapsed! "

  Hearing the news, Hudson was dumbfounded. Although he knew that Caesar III was in poor health, he was still able to come out to preside over the meeting when we met four months ago, but now he is gone all of a sudden.

   After regaining his senses, Hudson immediately realized that there was a big problem. He didn't think anyone would dare to make a joke of such a matter involving the safety of the kingdom.

  Thinking about it makes me drunk. The communication magic circles set up in various provinces have never been activated. The first time Hudson saw it used, it was actually to inform the king that it was gone.

  But I have to admit that this is the most efficient means of communication. From now on, it is estimated that almost all the major forces in the entire Aslant continent have received this news.

  Different from the previous death of Chris IX, the Principality of Moxi is at the moment of life and death, regardless of etiquette or etiquette.

  Now is a time of peace, and the dead Caesar III is still the most outstanding monarch in the kingdom, so it is necessary to do a good job.

  Looking at the movement, you can tell that not only they, the nobles of the kingdom, are going to the funeral, it is estimated that all countries in the mainland will send people to go there, and maybe there will be representatives of other races on the stage.

   "The order is passed on. From now on, any banquets are prohibited in the territory, and all wedding banquets of noble children will be postponed!"

   Hudson said seriously.

   Regardless of how the situation develops next, the rules still have to be followed. Jurisprudentially, Caesar III was his lord. As a younger brother, how can you celebrate the death of your boss?

  Deep in his heart, Hudson has already begun to secretly calculate the follow-up impact of the death of Caesar III.

  …

  In the Northland, after receiving the news of the death of Caesar III, the five dukes gathered together for the first time. Even the younger brothers who followed them also came over to join in the fun.

   Sadness does not exist. The boulder that was pressing on them was finally removed. Without Caesar III, the hero, to take the lead, there is a high probability that the suppression of them by all parties will slow down.

   "It's not too early to be happy. Although His Majesty went to meet the Lord of Dawn, our reputation in the noble circle is still very bad.

  Once a big move is made, they are likely to temporarily abandon the contradiction and clean us up first! "

  Duke Rodriguez's pouring of cold water directly extinguished everyone's enthusiasm.

  Different from other countries, the main conflict among the great nobles of the Alpha Kingdom is not that acute.

  According to previous struggles, if it is necessary to divide the camps, it will be the northern nobility and the southern nobility.

  The definition of "Southern Xinjiang nobles" is somewhat broad, and other nobles other than the northern nobles are included.

   There is no way, their ancestors are so awesome. In the process of rising, all the forces in the kingdom have been offended over and over again, and the difference is limited to the severity of the offense.

  In the past, everyone needed them to guard the gate. I don't care about them if there are some conflicts of interest. Now that I have lost the qualification to watch the gate, it is time to pay off the debt.

  In addition to this main line of conflict, there is now an additional group of emerging nobles, who are jointly hostile by the old nobles. But this is just the instinct of the vested interest groups to protect the food, far from the point of life and death.

   Together with the Dalton family and the Koslow family in the southeastern province, the two sides only played games within the scope of the rules, and did not tear their faces openly.

   At the very least let the Koslow family choose an enemy, and the number one is the feuding Locknard family, not the Dalton family, which has a conflict of interest.

  No one came out to spread hatred, and the "nobles of southern Xinjiang" would fall into internal strife because of their interests. If they're too active, that's another story.

   "Rodriguez, the matter is not that serious. Don't forget that the situation is different now. We are on the line with His Royal Highness, or the future Caesar IV.

   Without the leadership of the royal family, the gang of nobles in southern Xinjiang would be in disarray. What's more, after the new king succeeds to the throne, what he needs most is stability. Whoever provokes disputes first will be the enemy of the royal family.

  In the past, they mocked us for being ugly. Now it's their turn, and they probably won't be able to see where they are eating!

  I don't think that the nobles in southern Xinjiang are all modest and gentlemen. This kind of expansion opportunity, which has been rare for decades, is just given up in vain! "

   Duke Hero said mockingly.

   Right now, the five major families in the Northland have no room for expansion, and the original territory has long been wiped out by them. Even if it wasn't their own territory, it was their younger brother's territory.

   If you want to engage in mergers again, you can only extend your tentacles to the outside world. Either reach out to the central provinces of the kingdom, or target the newly recovered seven provinces of the kingdom.

   There is no doubt that neither of these is a good choice.

  The nobles in the central part of the kingdom are not easy to bully. If they dare to stretch out their hands, they will be cut off by them. Unless there is a large-scale civil war, there is no hope in sight.

  The Kingdom has newly recovered the seven major provinces. The nobles inside are indeed soft persimmons, but the forces behind these people are not.

  Besides them, all the big forces in the kingdom took a share of the pie.

  The only good news is that after losing the suppression of Caesar III, everyone can't bear the desire to expand. Except for the group of emerging nobles who were busy digesting the fruit and had no spare time to participate, all the old nobles were sharpening their swords.

   "The situation is indeed different, but there is one problem we must consider, that is, once the large-scale merger is fully started, it will be difficult to stop.

  There is only one Caesar III. Without the suppression of a powerful monarch, the strength of the local nobles will only expand.

   Their strength continues to grow, but we are standing still. In the future, the gap in strength between everyone will only become smaller and smaller.

  In fact, since the end of the war, we have been going downhill. Especially after losing the kingdom's financial subsidies, the days of our family are even more difficult.

  I don't know about your situation. Anyway, the Lochnard family had a serious financial deficit last year, and this situation will continue this year.

  In order to reduce expenses, we have to reduce military expenditures and greatly reduce the number of standing troops.

  If things go on like this, within ten years our military advantage will cease to exist; within twenty years, we will fall to the middle and lower reaches of the great aristocracy.

  The Locknard family is like this, I guess your family is not much better. Compared with the succession of kingship, what we need to solve is the financial problem. "

  Prince Torsten raised a more serious question, drawing everyone's attention back to himself.

   Now relying on their capital, they are still the only one among the nobles in the kingdom. But this advantage is constantly being consumed over time.

  Financial deficit is the biggest flaw of several of them now. I can't go on the road of militarism, and I can't support my family if I farm honestly.

   How to get money has become a serious problem right now. In the past, it was possible to make up for its own financial deficit by smuggling and capturing slaves to the orc empire.

   Now there is no need to hope. The orc empire has been forced to a poor land, and there is a human kingdom in the middle. Even if they want to resume their old business, there is no condition.

  Not only can conventional means fail to solve their financial problems, even if the "Criminal Law" of the Alpha Kingdom is broken, they still can't find a way to make a fortune.

   "Thorsten, don't fantasize. The northern border is not as rich as the south. Competing with them for financial resources is purely self-defeating.

  Our advantage is that we are under the threat of war all the year round, the people in the Northland have always been tough, and the army formed is more effective.

  But the kingdom has already started to engage in Warcraft Legion, and the future war mode is developing in a direction that we least want to see.

   If you don’t take advantage of the strength in your hands to do something now, even if you want to do it in the future, you won’t be able to do it!

   Families have their ups and downs, no wonder. But our situation is different. Our ancestors left us too many enemies. Once we fall into a period of decline, it will be our end.

  Instead of sitting still and watching the family be wiped out decades later, it is better to take a gamble, wait for the opportunity to overturn the chessboard, and start over again! "

   Duke Hero said viciously.

  That devouring gaze seemed to swallow the whole world. In an instant, the room became quiet, and everyone was lost in thought.

   "Hiro, the dominance is no longer in our hands. Although Caesar III has gone, he will definitely leave behind the royal family.

  It is not easy to overturn this chessboard, at least I can't find a suitable entry point. "

   Duke Rodriguez said worriedly.

   Obviously, he is also very dissatisfied with the current situation. I want to find an opportunity to break the current political situation and find a way out for my family.

   "Rodriguez, you are too cautious. If there is no opportunity, then find a way to create an opportunity!"

  During the speech, Duke Hiero hinted with his eyes that all the younger brothers who participated in the meeting left the venue one after another, leaving only the five Dukes to continue the discussion inside.

  (end of this chapter)