Blood Dragon

Chapter 150 Eight determination

The time is midnight.

Essien looked at the flames burning in the distant city, and the flames had formed a pillar of fire that soared into the sky, which could be clearly seen even from a distance here.They all knew why there was such a flame in the city, and what consequences the flame would lead to.

"The burning effect was better than expected," Essien said.Several people around him, including Cleo, all agreed.Even they really didn't expect such an effect.From this point of view, the important material warehouse in Fornoros City may be burnt down and there will be nothing left.

But that's exactly what they hoped for.Seeing such a scene, no matter how picky the little queen is, she will be satisfied.Nor will anyone question the failure of their plan.

After Essien finished his first step, he returned to the city wall again to meet his accomplices.When the fire in the city started, all the participants in this conspiracy, including Essien himself, successfully left the city wall and arrived at the camp of the king's army.The whole process was quiet and smooth, so they can enjoy their achievements here.

Now, everyone in the makeshift gang of four gets what they want.In particular, the warden was perfect in one step.He has been promised that he will be named a knight, and will be rewarded with a house in the noble area of ​​Falcon City and a bounty.This is also his ideal - now he can retire immediately, relying on the bounty and the knight's salary, and live a stable and peaceful second half of his life with his family.

The pillar of fire began to slowly weaken.But this is not because the fire is extinguished, but because the fuel that supports it is about to be burned.There is a distance between the military material warehouse and other buildings, so the fire is destined not to spread.

"The general situation has been decided," Essien said, "Everyone go to rest, and tomorrow morning we will have an audience with Her Majesty the Queen."

……

"Essien, I didn't expect you to make such a request!" Cleo angrily followed Essien into the tent. "Are you crazy?"

"Dear Cleo, do you really think so?" Essien was not angry at all, but asked back. "I always thought you knew me well. There are two kinds of gamblers in the world. The one who bets all his money on a game and trusts everything to fate, gods, or something unreliable. The other When Zhong put all his money on the game, he was sure that he was sure enough to win. Which one do you think I am?"

"You mean...you think it's a safe bet? It's not dangerous at all?"

"Damn! Of course it's dangerous!" Essien replied. "If it's not dangerous, then where is my turn... me and you?"

"Thank you, don't involve me in such a dangerous matter!"

"I didn't mean to get you involved, Cleo, but without your help, I'm afraid I can't do it." Essien said.

"I don't know how to be a soldier!" Cleo replied. "And even if I understand, I don't think it's okay to take [-] soldiers to attack the territory of those big nobles. Essien, you have to understand that this time you are not going to catch fugitives, but... to start a war! "

"Cleo, let me ask you a question, what is your current title?"

"The Viscount, of course, is gone now. What's the matter?"

"Within the Seven Kingdoms... There are three types of nobles according to their income." Essien looked at Cleo and said word by word. "One is hereditary nobles, who have fiefs and titles that can be hereditary... The second is non-hereditary, but they also have their own territories. Even if they are only nominal territories, they can still get corresponding income. And the third The second type, that is, those who only have the title of nobility. They can also get a salary, but it is very small, and it does not match the title at all. Without the shares of the chamber of commerce, no land, no minerals, they simply cannot have the income that matches the title... In fact, the biggest advantage of their titles is that they sound more pleasing to the ear, so they are also called 'empty nobles'... Cleo, tell me, even if you work slowly in the civil service system all your life, how much do you have? Chance to get a real title, even if it is not hereditary?"

Cleo's expression became ugly.Essien is right. The third type of nobles, the so-called "short nobles", are mostly descendants of the first two types of nobles, or in other words, the type like Cleo: the non-princes who came from a real noble family. eldest son.According to the principle of primogeniture, they were born unable to inherit the rulership of the fief.But out of respect for their parents and elders, these people will be crowned with a title once they come of age.But on the one hand, this title cannot be left to the descendants, on the other hand, the income is limited or even not at all (so the royal family is not stingy with an empty title).Originally, there was a fourth type, the type of noble titles bought with money, but all countries have agreed to exclude such nobles.

Cleo is a typical example of such a person.The future of this kind of honorary nobleman is to take advantage of his education, either to enter the civil service system or the army, or to become a retainer of a great lord (or simply his own family) in order to get an income from a position, so that he can live decent life.If they can make contributions one day, or get the appreciation of the monarch, they will have the opportunity to enter the first or second group of nobles.

The second is actually not that difficult.Because if you can serve a monarch faithfully for decades and gain enough trust, it is not surprising that you will be given a "real" title and have a corresponding salary when you are old.This is also a disguised pension, a gift from a monarch to his aging subordinates.

But if a man can do this while he is young, rather than when he is old and retired, he is, generally speaking, considered to be very promising.

Of course, there is also the first type... hereditary fiefs, titles, and titles, which will be passed on forever to future generations.

Even for someone like Cleo who was born in a noble family, this is an unattainable dream.To get this kind of status, you need not only fight for father, but also fight for character.Some people are born to enjoy these, while others can only watch from afar with envy forever.

This is also very normal, the third type of noble king can be canonized at any time, because it does not require him to pay too much.The second type of nobility means a financial burden.As for the first type, it means giving a piece of land to others forever, and it cannot be taken back without a legitimate reason.Since then, in this land, the king's ruling power has been isolated-according to tradition, the lord has the ruling power on his own land, and he has the final say on his territory.The laws of the King can only be respected at face value, and only at face value.In fact, except for a few taxes and military service obligations, a lord was a local emperor in his own territory.

If there is a situation like Gruney's weak king, then the lord can even choose to support himself - just like Byron's situation.

In ancient times, when magic communication was not so developed, this kind of canonization was much more common.Because of the distance, it is difficult for the king to directly control the distant border land, and he cannot get the specific situation in the first place, let alone respond.Therefore, it became a common choice to entrust a distant territory to a certain nobleman in that era.But in modern times, magical communication has become so common that the king can always grasp the specific situation of the distant territory.Therefore, this kind of canonization, this kind of fiefdom, became a kind of thing that weakened the king's own dominance.In this day and age, such situations are rare and extremely prudent.

"Listen, Cleo, think about it, what we have been waiting for! What we have been pursuing is this opportunity!" Essien said. "And we... have no other possibility!"

He looked at Cleo and said firmly. "The little queen can forgive us, or not hold us accountable for past crimes! But remember, she will never forget that night, the two of us with a team of things trying to arrest her! You think, in such a grievance Under the circumstances, do we have any other future?!"

Cleo let out a long breath.

"Or, just eat and die like this. I will be a middle-level military officer, and you will be a middle-level civil servant. We will live like this for the rest of our lives! Until one day a battle or a disease sends us to the kingdom of the gods. Even if this kind of thing does not happen, we have to bury our past ideals and ambitions, and bury all the expectations and dreams we once had! Or, we will risk our lives to gamble! If you win, you will have everything, your children and grandchildren Future generations will enjoy wealth forever, and our name has become a legend from now on! Losing... 18 years later, we will be a hero again!"

What he said was crude, but it had a noticeable effect on Cleo.

"And this time, my gamble is not to entrust the future to those illusory lucks. You know we have a chance! We only have 500 people... But as long as you help, there will be more than 500 people!"

Cleo suddenly realized what Essien meant.

"Do you want to..." he asked softly. "Other armies?"

"Yes, you were a financial officer before." Essien replied. "I remember that one of your jobs is... to pay the army, right?"

Cleo walked to a chair and sat down slumped. "Essien, you are really crazy," he said. "That's just a job relationship, and my personal relationship is not that extensive."

"But you must have a way, right?"

"All I can say is try and try." Cleo looked distraught. "Essien, you know that there are many people in the world... In fact, there are too many types of people. For example, our Earl Ash Rufat, he is the type... with a firm will and an unshakable type. This type As long as he has made up his mind, all persuasion will be in vain."

"But fortunately, there are not many such people, right? Except in the book, I only know him of this type in reality."

"A lot of people are hard to convince. Apart from skills, it takes time. Essien, you know our actions this time... the warden, the captain, it's just accidental. Most people don't have that easy Persuasion. Time, time, and we don't have much time!"

"But you have to think about it the other way around. The current overall situation is very beneficial to us."

"I really don't know...how I would do such a dangerous thing." Cleo sighed.

"At least it's not more dangerous than taking part in the coup," Essien said. "Do you still remember the magic of Ashrufat? If that time, the two of us were a little closer... maybe we would have gotten to know each other right away. Just like that poor Falixis."

"I knew Ashulfat could do magic, so I wouldn't go." Cleo replied. "By the way, you have to consider one more question, a very important question. Those big nobles... who don't have a lot of interpersonal relationships? They may not be able to do anything to the Queen, but they may be able... to do something to you behind your back. tripper."