[Chapter 317: Using the Emperor to Command the Princes]
Although many nobles and officials died in the capital of Tilan, in fact, the important officials of the Kingdom of Tilan were not completely wiped out. Most of them were stranded in Baiyan City because of the war with the Holy Kingdom of Gaunt.
Abelson did not forget this matter, so he specifically mentioned it to David during the meal.
In addition, he was also worried about the situation in Baiyan City.
The capital of Tilan became a ruin, and all the people in the city died. After the news reached Baiyan City, Abelson was not sure how the ministers and nobles would react.
But no matter how you look at it, Baiyan City seems to be undefendable. Even if Earl Sutton-Stewart is still loyal to the Kingdom of Tilan and can still control the Tilan Knights, the Guards Knights, and the Infantry Regiment at hand, this kind of thing will cause a devastating blow to the morale of the army.
Now Abelson no longer worries about whether the border can be defended or whether the southern territory will be occupied by the Holy Kingdom of Gaunt. He doesn’t even care about those ministers and nobles. The only thing he worries about is his daughter, and also about Earl Sutton-Stewart.
“It’s not a difficult task. I’ll let Gareth take a team of winter knights to White Rock City to check the situation. If the situation is critical, bring them to Winter City.”
So Gareth took a temporary mission and took a small team of winter knights to the south.
Seeing that David sent people to protect his daughter, Abelson mentioned another thing: “How do you plan to arrange the knights and soldiers who came to Winter City together?”
“Except for the Tilan Knights and the Guards Knights, I have ordered Gareth and Floyd to reorganize the other soldiers. Those who perform well will become soldiers of Winter City.”
David answered very directly. Now that Abelson has clearly expressed his attitude, David is not going to be polite with him: “As for the Tilan Knights and the Guards Knights…”
Abelson understood what David meant. The other party came to ask him, which was enough to respect him, so he expressed his position very happily: “Let’s reorganize together!”
He saw the current situation very clearly. He was only a nominal king. Power and the army were of no use to him now. It was the best choice to give them all to David.
“In this case, why not keep the number of the Tilan Knights and reorganize all the Guards Knights into the Tilan Knights?” Abelson was so happy that David felt a little embarrassed.
The entire population of the capital of Tiran was packed up and accepted, and the king was also brought back, and even the ace knights and guards of the other party were incorporated.
Unconsciously, I seemed to have done something similar to a certain prime minister. Could he do a lot of things in the name of the Kingdom of Tiran in the future?
The development of things was really similar to what David thought.
Abelson directly took out the appointment letter written in advance and appointed David-Glamorgan as the Grand Duke of Winter, and his territory included the entire northern plains.
The territory of the Grand Duke of Winter David-Glamorgan was a completely independent principality, but it was only nominally part of the Kingdom of Tiran.
As Abelson personally handed the appointment letter to David, the Grand Duke of Winter officially took office, and then an announcement would be issued to spread the news to the entire Kingdom of Tiran.
At the same time, another order and announcement were issued: the capital of Tiran was severely damaged by the conspiracy attack of the Temple, and His Majesty the King had to go to the northern Winter City for “temporary residence”, and Winter City was the temporary capital of the Kingdom of Tiran.
Because of the conspiracy of the Temple, His Majesty the King was ill and could not handle the political affairs and military affairs. The Grand Duke of Winter David-Glamorgan was fully authorized to represent His Majesty the King in handling all military affairs of the Kingdom of Tiran.
After a few orders and announcements, David had become the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Tiran, except that he was not crowned as king.
David also accepted this series of appointments from Abelson in a straightforward manner. In the time it took to have a meal, his identity had changed drastically, and even he was a little confused. It was not
until he returned to his office in Castle Glamorgan that he gradually understood.
Abelson understood that the Kingdom of Tiran could not be resurrected, and it was impossible for him to take power in Winter City and lead the army of Winter City to return to the old site of the capital and rebuild a new city.
More importantly, he knew that his own army could not beat the Winter Knights at all, and even the knights of the Tiran Knights and the Guards Knights would not fight for him again.
They had been killed by the Winter Knights once, and knew that they were no match.
Moreover, these nearly 100,000 people were resurrected by David, and their impression of David was much better than that of him as a king.
If these people were given a choice, they would definitely choose David instead of themselves.
In this case, it would be better to arrange everything that can be arranged while their false reputation is still useful. Abelson even stopped urging David and Sophia to get married early. He did not think that a special person like David could be bound by a marriage. So it was no
longer important whether to marry his daughter. Even if David wanted the position of king immediately today, Abelson could immediately write the abdication document.
In fact, it is almost the same now. Winter City has become the Duchy of Winter. It has obtained absolute independence in legal terms and will be recognized by all forces on the continent. The Duchy of
Winter can be changed to the Kingdom of Winter at any time in the future, depending on when David wants to wear the crown.
He can live quietly in Winter City for retirement. For Sophia’s sake, David should not treat him badly. Maybe he will have the opportunity to see the day when the Holy Kingdom of Gaunt and the Temple are completely destroyed by Winter City.
“So, you are the Duke of Winter now?”
Listening to David finish his story, Laura was still looking at the appointment documents.
Although they were all appointments and announcements issued in the name of King Dilan, the specific sending and posting had to be done by the people of Winter City themselves.
So although David was promoted to Grand Duke and Winter City became the Duchy of Winter, there was always a strange smell in this matter.
“It feels like you coerced the king and forced the king to make the appointment.”
“…” David wanted to say that he had a similar feeling, but he couldn’t admit it. He waved his hand to say, “You think too much!”
“Anyway, congratulations!” Laura put the appointment letter in her hand back on David’s desk: “You are one step closer to your goal, and it is a critical step.”
Laura originally thought that it would take David several years to get to this point. Even so, it is not an easy thing to take this step in the end. It may be accompanied by continuous wars to succeed.
Unexpectedly, by mistake, the most important step was taken so easily.
Duchy! It was David’s idea to turn the Duchy into a kingdom. In this situation, the Kingdom of Dilan could not come to attack David’s Winter City again.
However, Laura felt that it would be better to let Winter City maintain the status of a principality for a period of time.
Because using the Winter Principality as a transition can well receive the “legacy” of the Kingdom of Tilan, which is much more reliable than directly declaring to establish a country.
After all, the signboard of the Kingdom of Tilan has been established for hundreds of years, and the people living on this land recognize it. When the entire Kingdom of Tilan falls into a state of war, the people of Tilan will habitually flee to other territories of the Kingdom of Tilan instead of running directly abroad.
In this case, the Winter Principality, which is still affiliated with the Kingdom of Tilan, can receive more people. After receiving the population from all over the Kingdom of Tilan, it can expand the territory of the Winter Principality to other regions under the banner of taking back the land that originally belonged to them for the people.
Not only is it irrefutable in legal terms, this expansion can also gain the absolute support of its own people. When that time comes, it will be a matter of course to change the name to a kingdom.
“Right.” Laura wanted to leave and do her own thing, because she knew David would have a lot of things to deal with next. As a result, she suddenly remembered before leaving: “Is your ability going to be improved again?”
“I think so!” He
was promoted directly from earl to grand duke, and his territory was changed from Winter City to Winter Principality. His golden finger would definitely be upgraded. He didn’t know what changes would appear this time.
“I will observe and test it later.”
Putting aside other things, the output of crystal ore and the energy it contains may usher in another round of enhancement. Even if there are no other changes, this alone is enough to satisfy David.
Watching Laura leave, David wanted to ask Eva to deal with the announcement, but he didn’t expect Edwin Van Cleef to come to him. He must have something important to do, so David had to put the announcement aside.
“What’s wrong?”
“About the confession of the Raines missionary.”
“So soon?”
After returning to Winter City, David ordered the intelligence department to arrest the Raines missionary and screen the people who had contact with the Raines missionary to find out the spies sent by the Temple.
The arrest went smoothly. David didn’t need to worry too much about such things. He just had to wait quietly for the results of the interrogation.
Unexpectedly, it ended on the second day? He thought that the missionary from the Temple could at least last ten days or half a month!
Speaking of this, Edwin Van Cleef also behaved very strangely: “The missionary from the Temple may… probably… have abandoned his original beliefs.”
“What do you mean?”
“This missionary Raines seems to be ready to believe in the Holy Light.”
“…”
“So after we arrested him, we didn’t use any punishment at all. Basically, he would answer all the questions we asked.”
Listening to Edwin Van Cleef’s report, David didn’t know how to evaluate this missionary. He could only ask carefully: “Is it possible? He deliberately behaved like this in order to really get into Winter City?”
“This possibility cannot be ruled out.”
(End of this chapter)