Don’t raise unruly people in extreme cold weather

Chapter 539: Center and Local Areas (Part )
Perfect's attitude was very strange, even to the point of being incomprehensible.

For the Empire, it was not unknown that Perfector held powerful military force, nor was it an unacceptable act of treason.

She is the Lord of the North, the legitimate guardian of the North and the earl of pioneering appointed by the Queen herself. In theory, as long as she can afford it, let alone sixty knights, even if Perfectcot recruits another sixty knights, it will be her business.

The imperial center has no reason to intervene, either from a legal or other perspective.

This is not a centralized unified dynasty. It is common for local lords to have strong military forces. If the central government cannot suppress the locals, then they can just wait for "they can replace them".

Of course, with the advent of the industrial age, the power of local lords was gradually returned to the central government, and the local lords were no longer powerful. To a certain extent, it can be said that it was a transition from feudalism to centralization.

Contrary to what some people may think, feudalism has never meant great unification.

The word feudal should be broken down into two parts. "Feng" means to divide and "jian" means to build. The so-called feudalism is the basis of the feudal system. The monarch divides the land and the vassals build on the land. This is feudalism.

The existence of a unified dynasty actually subverted the foundation of the feudal system.

Originally, the Victoria Empire was also going to move from feudalism to unification, but the emergence of Perfectoct not only brought back the era of knights, but also reversed the course of history and became a vassal noble in the industrial age.

This also leads to a natural and irreconcilable contradiction between Perfectoct and the imperial center in a sense.

This has nothing to do with the relationship and friendship between her and Princess Anne, nor does it have anything to do with the fact that she became the Lord of the North in order to save the empire. This is just a natural contradiction between a centralized unified empire and a local separatist lord with strong military power and extraordinary strength.

Perhaps Perfect herself does not care about this, and she has no intention of establishing her own regime, but the power of the North is already established, and she is unwilling to be a subordinate, and because of her own natural position and interests, the entire North will develop in this direction.

This has nothing to do with whether they are loyal to the Empire, or whether they want to undermine Perfect, but simply because this is the development direction that best suits the interests of the North.

This is true in the North, and naturally so in the Empire.

No matter what the Imperial Center thinks, even though Perfectot himself is a member of the Imperial Center, he cannot reconcile the natural contradictions between the Imperial Center and the North.

There had been no problem before, but both sides just didn't think about it, and facing the doomsday crisis, neither the Imperial Center nor the North itself had the extra energy and leisure to think about these things.

In addition, due to the long distance between the North and the mainland of the Empire, even if there is any conflict between the two sides, there will be no conflict across the ocean.

However, with the relocation of the imperial center to the north, the empire has shifted its focus from its previous tense response to the end of the world to straightening out the priorities of the relationship between the imperial center and the north.

Don't think of this as a struggle for power, but rather an issue of dominance that is bound to be faced after the center of the empire moves to the north.

Also, don't think that the North should listen to the Imperial Center. As a fiefdom of Perfectok, the North should listen to Perfectok, and Perfectok should listen to the Queen. This is the standard relationship between vassal and monarch under the feudal system.

As for the Imperial Center? Sorry, they have neither jurisdiction nor supervision over the North.

Although the Empire reformed the traditional feudal aristocracy system after entering the industrial age, the noble fiefdoms were still sacred and inviolable, and this was written into the Empire Constitution. And having said so much, the key to the Empire's central government not being able to interfere in the North was the absolute military protection brought by the two fully equipped Steam Knights and the more than 200 self-disciplined Steam Knights in Perfecto's hands.

Just as in feudal times, nobles could guarantee their own interests by having more knights, the more knights Perfecto had, the less likely it was that the imperial center would be able to interfere in the North.

In fact, the imperial center really doesn't want to get involved in this matter.

On the one hand, the relationship between the North and the imperial center is still relatively harmonious, and there is no need for conflict between the two sides.

Moreover, the imperial center has moved to the northern border. When you are in someone else's territory, you have to obey their wishes. The imperial center is not so arrogant that it does not even understand this.

On the other hand, considering the current military strength of the North, even if the Imperial Center really wants to intervene, it has to consider whether it really has the strength to do so.

Although Perfecto only has two knightly orders and one guard division, the two regiments of steam knights are enough to destroy an old world country.

This is not an exaggeration. There are already too many cases to prove the power of Steam Knights. For the current empire, they really cannot afford the destruction brought about by an all-out war between at least five orders of Steam Knights.

The reason why there are five knightly orders is that the White Bear and Iron Fire knightly orders under Perfectok are both fully staffed, and Perfectok, the inventor of the steam knight, provides them with weapons and equipment, so their combat effectiveness can be imagined.

If the Empire wants to achieve complete suppression and gain an advantage in combat power, it is definitely not enough to send out only two knightly orders.

It would take at least three fully-strength knight orders equipped with steam knight armor to defeat the two knight orders in Perfectcot's hands, and this does not take into account the result of the more than two hundred autonomous knights.

If these autonomous knights are also counted, the empire will have to dispatch at least three more knightly orders.

A total of six knights equipped with steam knight armor went to fight against the Northern Steam Knights, who were equivalent to four and a half knights...

The mere thought of the financial expenditure that would be incurred by mobilizing such a level of military force was enough to make the nobles and officials at the center of the empire give up this unrealistic idea.

Although the Steam Knights are only a knightly order of a hundred people, the logistical maintenance costs of the steam knight armor they are equipped with are no less than that of an infantry regiment.

The logistical supply pressure brought about by a military operation at the level of six infantry regiments is still a small matter for the empire, but it can also be considered a considerable expense.

Three years ago, when the Empire was at its peak, the Empire could afford to mobilize six infantry regiments, let alone six Guards divisions or even six army groups.

The industrialized production brought about by the large-scale use of steam engines really gave the empire tremendous confidence. It was literally possible to kill people with money.

However, after three years of massive financial expenditure to build the imperial center in the north, the treasury has been drained.

(End of this chapter)