Before ascending to God, be a good lord

In the last two weeks of December, after a lapse of five months, Lant was once again notified by the Grand Council that the empire would determine his final title based on the territory and population he controlled.

The empire has confirmed the fact that Lant is the master of the Galloping Horse Plains. However, it is still undecided whether Lant's territory is a relatively independent kingdom, a direct autonomous territory of the empire, or a subsidiary principality of the empire or the Dragon Kingdom.

Regarding the names of the various administrative regions within the empire, such as kingdoms, principalities, autonomous territories, and direct territories, Lant was actually puzzled for a long time. Even he asked Albert and Ben Call, but he could not get a reasonable answer. , it seems that the administrative departments of the empire don’t care much about these titles.

Generally speaking, kingdoms and principalities are relatively independent. They submit less taxes to the empire, but receive few subsidies. During wars, the empire gives priority to policy support rather than directly sending troops. This can be understood as the relationship between the core areas of the empire and foreign races. buffer zone.

For example, the Galloping Horse Kingdom 300 years ago was a buffer zone between humans and orcs. At that time, the Galloping Horse Royal Family had higher decision-making autonomy in the west.

Of course, whether a kingdom is established does not only depend on geographical location, but also factors such as belief system, ethnic composition, strength, etc. For example, Kirislav and the dragon have very unique beliefs compared to the core area of ​​the empire, and they are also in a The border areas became independent kingdoms.

If the strength is insufficient and unable to defend itself when faced with the border, or it requires huge resources from the core areas of the empire, or the land area is too small and relies heavily on the economy and policies of the empire, it will become an autonomous territory, such as the relatively large number of free ports in the south. These bustling cities, like Albaidi, the commercial capital of Hindukar, had both nominal city councils and tyrants who actually controlled the cities.Several border territories within the Dragon Kingdom are more similar to autonomous territories, except that the lords have additional rights to develop borders.

As for the directly-governed territories, it is even clearer. The "property rights" of the city belong to the higher-level lords. The lords of the direct-governed territories are more like hereditary officials. For example, Lanyuan City, where the Lanyuan family is located, is a direct-governed area of ​​Longya City, the affiliated royal capital. Territory, although the Lanyuan family has been here for many years, they are only users and managers of the city, not the owners.

After the secret meeting at the Commerce Temple on the 24th, Jenny brought news about Mr. Jushu. There was news recently in the imperial capital. The nobles in the south are contacting the Department of Finance, hoping to finally determine the Galloping Horse Plains as a direct territory or autonomous territory of the empire. The reason is that the population of Benma Plain is less than 20000, which is simply not enough to support such a huge territory.

This population data is the remaining human population after excluding all the slaves from the Hindu Ker tribe, the slaves who were originally sold to the plains, the slaves bought from the south, and all the orcs, half-orcs, and barbarians. Most of these people are Populations that migrated from the Imperial Capital, Northwest Territory, and Dragon Tooth City on their own initiative.

"Mr. Big Tree said that the southern nobles want to prevent you from having too much say in the empire and interfering with their business in the Ocean God System, and the Finance Department hopes to use this matter to restrict your energy." Jenny said. Said, "Sir, the fundamental purpose of the Department of Finance should be to use Galloping Horse to found the country in exchange for their right to issue magic furnace coupons."

Hearing this, Lant felt quite sad in his heart, and couldn't help but sigh: "I used to think that the enemies of the empire were the barbarians. After unifying the Manchus, I thought the biggest enemy was the orcs; I stabilized the orcs again, and the mermaid tribe became a The empire's worries; hey, now I know..."

Before Lant could finish speaking, Jenny said first, "Your Highness, if you continue like this, you will become the greatest danger to the empire!"

"Hmm... That makes sense." Lant nodded, his confidant and his biggest problem were not too far away.

……

On the afternoon of December 12, the imperial capital, the Royal Palace.

Even though a representative office belonging to the Galloping Horse family had just been built in the old city of the imperial capital in the morning, Lant was still invited to a guest room in the palace. As his recent stay in the imperial capital, it was said to be closer to the Grand Council. .

The real reason is that within the palace, it is up to Lant who he wants to see or not to see.

For example, the first wave of people who came to see Rand were the Southern Kingdom representatives headed by Fiat Galloping Horse. These representatives strongly requested that Rand sell them containers with high pressure resistance and life magic patterns, or individual magic pattern boards.

"Your Highness the Duke, our workshop has signed a clear contract with Yeqi City. We have the first right to purchase some magic pattern containers!" Fiat said first. "Yes, Duke, without our production capacity, your magic pattern cabinet industry will not be able to make money smoothly, right?" A count from the Southern Seaport Alliance also said.

As soon as these nobles spoke, Lant knew that they must be vassals of the Poseidon clan.

Seeing the anxious expressions of these people, Lant sighed in his heart: Just a few months ago, the magic pattern boards provided by these suppliers greatly increased the output of magic pattern containers in the Yeqi City workshop. The hundreds of kilometers of river and land transportation from Qicheng to Iowa have become more convenient, and they have also attracted various neutral cities in Hindukel, leaving the Linmao and Jiaolang tribes sandwiched between the royal court and the neutral city-states.

However, now, Lin Mao and Jiao Lang have become important forces supporting the Sea Beast Clan and important allies of Lant, while the previous suppliers have become hostile forces.

Of course, Lant can use the various laws of the empire and his own business strength to force several suppliers. However, in a few months, the enemies he faces may change again, and today's opponents may be tomorrow's help.

"My lords, our workshop will never treat our friends badly," Lant said after watching a group of people finish speaking, "The Temple of Fortune placed a large order for us before, and I'm afraid it won't be completed until the end of the month."

"That means that your workshop, Duke, will be able to deliver the relevant goods in early January?" Fiat asked quickly after hearing this.

"I'm afraid that by the beginning of February, only a few magisters can process the magic pattern boards you are interested in. After the orders are completed at the beginning of the year, these magisters still have half a month of vacation, and they can only start production after resumption of work. .”

"This..." Fiat and a few people looked at each other, hesitating.

"My lords, aren't you buying these magic pattern cabinets just for raising seafood? You're not in a hurry, are you? It shouldn't matter if you wait for half a month, right?" Lant stared at several people with innocent eyes.

After all, the Empire was officially hostile to Poseidon, and it was impossible for anyone to blatantly say that they were hostile to Brejak, so Fiat and others used the excuse of raising seafood.

Fiat nodded to the others and then said: "Since the Duke is willing to sell it, we are not in a hurry."

"Then we will resign!" Several nobles rushed to leave. Only Fiat was a few steps late and remained in the conference room of the guest room.

"Duke Lant, as a coastal noble, I must remind you that the coastal areas of the empire have always been the richest areas. These areas have contributed a large amount of tax revenue to the empire. It is precisely because the ocean provides a large number of magic beasts and magic algae that the empire How can we still maintain such a large number of demon possessors?”

Fiat's intention was very clear, that is, it wanted to persuade Rant to stay away from Brejak's war and not to become an enemy of Poseidon.

"Lord Fiat," Lant said with a smile, "if the creatures in the ocean have no rivals, will your workshops that make a living from the sea and provide magic equipment for the ocean still be as comfortable as they are now?"

"You..." Fiat carefully thought about what Lant said, and it seemed that it was indeed what happened.

"What I am doing now is all for your glory and wealth! Once the ocean is completely ruled by a Leviathan, you all will be parasites living on the beach."