Lux's Farewell

Chapter 677 [0668] Demacia... Empire?
The disintegration of Noxus is undoubtedly good news for Lux and Forsbarrow.

Because this means that the Xiongdu side of Demacia, people's attention has been diverted to the west.

Recently, Jarvan IV has successively summoned envoys from the Black Forest Federation, the Kingdom of Iron Spikes, the Second Silver Republic, the Kingdom of Rocklund, and the Overwatch Alliance. The welcome banquet in Xiongdu has been held for more than a month.

Although the theme of the banquet is welcome, for these messengers, every banquet is actually a torment.

You know, Demacia's banquets often require dancing, so in almost every banquet, when the music starts, the envoy will be invited to dance the falcon step.

Then, after the third four beats, the Emissary's partner will let go, turning the double falcon step into a two-person solo falcon step, gliding off the dance floor without a trace.

During this process, the lights will shine on the messenger, and those who participate in the "welcome banquet" will surround the messenger, and then watch the messenger dance the rest of the solo falcon step like watching a monkey show.

The insult was obvious.

This is not because the Demacians are not generous, but because the two sides do have enmity, and it is a bloody enmity in the true sense.

Now that the Noxus Empire is disintegrating, although in order to further compress the Noxus Kingdom that occupies the Immortal Fortress, the Demacians want to make peace with these divided Noxus, but this does not prevent them from using their own forms to Disgusting these messengers.

Under such circumstances, the envoys from all over the world can only swallow their anger.

After all... this battle between the two heroes eventually led to the collapse of the Noxus Empire. I wonder if these envoys, when they were surrounded by the nobles of Demacia and forced to dance the falcon steps, did they remember the former glory of the empire? Rong years.

However, considering that these envoys all represent the vested interests after the disintegration of the Noxus Empire, maybe this kind of swallowing is not a shame for them?

........................

In recent days, Jarvan IV can be said to be full of pride and ambition.

In the mouths of many nobles, Jarvan IV is already a great king who can surpass Sentu and rival Oren.

Although Jarvan IV has always refuted this statement in person, deep down in his heart, he still feels proud of it.

This is not unrealistic flattery, but justified praise.

Demacia and Noxus were originally a pair of twins after the collapse of the Noxian Empire. After the Rune Wars, Valoran has always been in the posture of two heroes fighting for hegemony, and it has always been Noxus attacking, Dema West Asia Shou.

Although the Demacians have always looked down on the "barbaric Noxus" and always think that they are "just a little better than the barbarians in the Freljord in the north", but in fact, if there is any country that is The only enemy of Demacia is Noxus.

And now, the Noxian Empire is gone.

Even though Noxus, led by Darius, still claims to be an empire, that's just a shelf. Their current territory is not even comparable to when Noxus was first established, and they still have to face Surrounded and hostile on all sides.

Although the Demacians were not able to directly witness this exciting moment on the spot, the most direct cause of the disintegration of the Noxus Empire was the Battle of Tobyssia!

Even after the disintegration of the Noxus Empire, the envoys of the various organizations that splintered all came to Xiongdu to dance and entertain people in front of the nobles of Demacia. Is there anything more refreshing and exciting than this?

This is the complete victory of Demacia!

Under such a situation, the people of Demacia are excited, and even the economic situation has improved due to the sudden consumption tide.

As the lord of the kingdom, as the commander in chief of the Tobyssia campaign, and as the key figure in beating Swain in the final battle, what reason does Jarvan IV not have to be proud of?
In the aristocratic council in the capital of Demacia, there has even been a proposal to "invite Jarvan IV to succeed the emperor, take over the crown belonging to the Noxie Empire, and elevate the Kingdom of Demacia to an empire".

Demacia defeated the Noxus Empire, and the Kingdom of Demacia will be called the Demacia Empire, right?

Regarding this proposal, Jarvan IV reprimanded him very "severely", but it was only a reprimand.

Considering that the person who made this suggestion was the most trusted "mad dog" Zwei of Jarvan IV, perhaps this is just His Majesty's reserve.

Look at Demacia now!
We have silks and teas from Ionia, gems and spices from Shurima, hexes from Vazuan, seafood from Bilgewater, and even oceangoing The sea, exquisite jewelry from Kamavia, how glorious and great is this?
The Kingdom of Demacia defeated the Noxus Empire and collected treasures from all over the world. Such a kingdom is enough to inherit Noxus Zhengshuo.

His Majesty Jarvan IV truly made the nobles bathe in glory and made Demacia great again. Such a feat is enough to ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor.

Finally, a trend called "imperialization" gradually began to rise in Xiongdu.

Among the promoters of this trend, there are patriots who truly believe that Demacia and Jarvan IV need to go further, nobles who hope that their status will rise, and speculators who hope to take the opportunity to enter the political fast lane. There are even people with ulterior motives lurking underwater.

Located at the center of this huge vortex, although Jarvan IV was refusing, the strength and attitude of the refusal were somewhat vague.

He would oppose the proposals made by the noble council, but he would not deal with those who made the proposals; he would refute the claim of the kingdom's promotion, but he never explained the reasons clearly.

All of the above, in the eyes of those old foxes, can only be described as "wanting to welcome but refusing".

But in fact, facing this kind of spontaneous support, Jarvan IV... was really moved.

The enemies on the outside have been defeated, and the opponents on the inside are now submissive one by one. With such a dominance, anyone who has the experience of King Jarvan IV, stands in the position of King Jarvan IV, and faces the situation of King Jarvan IV, will know heartbeat.

Of course, the heartbeat is the heartbeat, at least Jarvan IV has not lost his mind.

Regarding the issue of proclaiming the emperor, after thinking about it himself and finding no problems, he finally found Tarek, Barrett, Galen, and Lanfu to discuss.

These four people were Jarvan IV's most trusted right-hand men, and Jarvan IV hoped to seek their opinions on such an important matter.

Facing the question of Jarvan IV "whether he wants to ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor", the attitudes of the four are very interesting.

Galen was the first to agree. He was very straightforward. He just thought that Jarvan IV was worthy and Demacia was worthy. There were no other bells and whistles.

Then, the second one to speak was Tariq. Unlike Galen, he had some doubts about proclaiming himself emperor.

"Perhaps, Shurima people will be a little sensitive to the title of emperor."

Tariq said it very euphemistically, implying that our trade has an important process of changing hands on the north shore of Shurima, and Shurima people have always cared about the name of emperor very much, which is a bit uncomfortable.

"Noxus is also an empire. When it was powerful before, Uzeris even flew the flag of Noxus!" Regarding Tarek's statement, Lan Fu immediately retorted, "Northern Shurima They have always been capricious and mercenary, and the opinions of these people do not need to be considered at all!"

Tariq glanced at Lanf, and didn't continue talking - he always felt that things were a bit subtle, but as Lanf said, many city-states in Northern Shurima had also taken refuge in the Noxus, maybe they Don't care about the emperor's name?

Regarding what Tarek and Lanf said, Jarvan IV was noncommittal, but nodded slightly, indicating that he understood, and then looked at Barrett, who had remained silent all along.

Facing Jarvan IV's inquiring eyes, Barrett chose to speak from a different angle after thinking for a while.

"If Demacia becomes an empire, will the fiefdoms be upgraded to kingdoms, duchies, or the fiefdom lords will become governors?"

This is an interesting rhetorical question.

Hearing Barrett's words, Jarvan IV couldn't help raising his eyebrows.

Just like the title of the question, the territory under the empire can be a bunch of kingdoms and principalities, just like the former Valoran-Noxi Empire, and even the many principalities and city-states of Valoran in the east of Demacia, that is, Valoran -Remnants of the Noxi Empire.

Similarly, the territory under the empire can also be like the Shurima Empire, which does not exist in the form of a fief, but is delegated to a certain governor to manage. Now the northern Shurima cities such as Uzeris, Kalamanda, and Nashi The city lord of Latin America is also the official title of the Governor of the Harbor.

Barrett didn't give a positive answer, or even a suggestive answer, but asked this question very objectively and on the premise that the kingdom was upgraded to an empire.

This rhetorical question can be understood as that he agrees with the promotion and begins to think about the next step; it can also be understood as that he does not agree with the promotion and believes that the follow-up will bring turmoil to Demacia.

Very slippery.

But very instructive.

After hearing this rhetorical question, Jarvan IV really realized a lot of problems - those nobles who clamored for their own ascension to the throne, probably had the idea of ​​promoting their own territory as a duke kingdom?

Once their territory is promoted, their status will be no different from those of the Valoran Principality in terms of jurisprudence. At that time, Jarvan IV will either give them the same power as the Valoran Principality, or take action against the Valoran Principality and let them in the country. Drink soup during this process.

If you announce the division of administrative regions and set up governors, those nobles who keep saying "make Demacia greater" will soon turn their heads and sing the opposite, right?

Jarvan IV fell silent.

The other four also remained silent.

In the private conference room, a needle can be heard.

Then, just when Jarvan IV was hesitating, he suddenly remembered when he climbed the peak, when he was about to reach the top of Mount Targon.

At that time, the entire Runeterra was under his feet. Although the vast Shurima continent could not be seen clearly, it had a panoramic view of heroism.

When Jarvan IV reached the peak, he was exhausted and his mind was empty, but now that he thought about it, an indescribable longing swelled in his heart.

That's right, I, Jarvan IV, have indeed surpassed my father and fulfilled his father's long-cherished wish.

But compared to His Majesty Oren, am I really superior?

If we look even further, how about comparing it with the legendary emperors of Shurima?

I have a long life, I have a long future, and I have more goals to go beyond!

And if I don't ascend the throne and proclaim myself emperor, how can I use the means?

Everything now is just the beginning!

Even the Noxus Empire can't stop me, I just ascended the throne and proclaimed myself emperor, so what should I worry about?
Thinking of this, Jarvan IV couldn't help but finally curled the corners of his mouth. He strode out of the conference room, stood on the terrace of Dawn Castle, watched the sunset, and laughed heartily.

Seeing this, the four people who hurriedly followed quickly understood after a moment of astonishment.

Galen laughed out loud, while Barrett and Ranfau smiled. Only Tariq looked at the gradually spreading twilight and always felt that something was wrong.

But...it doesn't matter anymore.

Jarvan IV had already made up his mind.

........................

"What?!" In Fossbarrow, after receiving the news from the intelligence team, Lacus couldn't believe her eyes, "Jarvan IV is going to proclaim himself emperor?!"

"Proclaim the emperor?" Kalya, who has become more and more fish-eating lately, also rarely responded immediately, "Is he crazy?"

"Does he think that the current situation in Demacia is very good?" Ino was called, and the two of them repeatedly confirmed that the key was fine. Lux finally put down the information, her face full of puzzlement , "Except for White Cliff City, the economy of many places in the south is about to collapse. At this time, Jarvan IV suddenly wants to proclaim himself emperor... Is there something wrong with him?"

The reason why Lacus thinks this way is very good. According to the information provided by the previous intelligence team, due to the influx of a large amount of gold, the price of Demacia has risen quite seriously in recent years. death, but the standard of living is declining in great strides.

Coupled with the fact that the recruitment of private troops has stopped in most places, the voices of dissatisfaction among the people are already very loud.

Even if Noxus collapsed and everyone was very excited, this did not change the objective economic difficulties.

Moreover, according to the current situation, after the disintegration of the Noxus Empire, many dividends have been eaten by those newly established separatist organizations. Due to the geographical isolation, Demacia is essentially just letting out a sigh of relief and winning face. .

Victory without real benefits...is it really a victory?
According to the way of empathy, in Lux's view, what Demacia has to do now is to take advantage of the Noxus separatist organization's concerns about the Noxus Kingdom, cut some flesh from them, and forcefully Extend Demacia's standards and norms to the entire Valoran continent.

Considering that doing so requires re-examining the issue of magic, Jarvan IV can also take advantage of the disintegration of Noxus to make the Demacian style the only one in the eyes of the Valorans. That's right, in this way, the Principality of Valoran can be annexed little by little, and even let them accept the forbidden magic.

proclaim oneself emperor?

Is now the time to proclaim yourself emperor?

In a trance, the image of the modest and serious Jarvan IV in Lacus' memory finally gradually blurred.

At the next moment, Lux shuddered violently—he didn’t treat the problem realistically, his eyes were blinded by victory and ambition, and he was wise and short-sighted and independent, but it was only a moment?
　Carya's Little Classroom Falcon Step Dance:
　　An ancient form of dance, its birth is said to be related to the graceful dancing posture of the vastaya people, and it is said to imitate the noble eagle king of Shurima. It can be danced alone or in duet, but most people can only dance in duet. And if the posture of the pas de deux insists on dancing alone, it is somewhat ridiculous.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)