Kleis City, this important town on the Western Plains, is located in the middle of the Royal Capital Circle and the Longxiguan Defense Line. It is stuck at the intersection of several official roads and is an important transportation hub on the Great Plains. , even if its prosperity is not as prosperous as Golden Dragon City, it is still far above Piaoxue City in the north.
Going west from Clay City, if you ride a fast horse, you can reach the royal capital in only three or four days. Traditionally, it is one of the cities with stronger control in the kingdom.
It’s just that there were originally two legions stationed in Clay City, a first-class legion of nearly 50,000 people. Shortly after the Battle of Longxiguan began, all of them were sent to Longxiguan for support, and now they remain in Clay City. The army only has a weak front-line garrison. Although the 20,000-person garrison has undergone a short period of training and added a few soldiers, it is a little more presentable than before, but it is only a little stronger. With the main army Despite the transfer, the Kingdom’s control over Chrysler City has still declined slightly.
After all, the Golden Dragon Kingdom is not a completely centralized kingdom. Nobles can raise private soldiers. In addition to the armed forces directly under the central government, there are also many private soldiers of nobles in various places. In big cities like Clays City, There are at least dozens of noble families around, and these nobles have a great influence on all aspects of the city.
Of course, because Clays City is within the radiation range of Golden Dragon City, it is traditionally an area with strong royal power. Even without the army and dragon knights, the kingdom still has strong control over the city. The administrative team and most of the nobles are still aligned with the kingdom.
The kingdom’s orders can be effectively implemented most of the time. If the order harms the interests of the nobles, it can be implemented at a discount on the surface. It is just that the kingdom is responsible for rectifying the garrison and the defense of each city. Prince Ward was obviously not content with his orders being carried out at a discount.
A luxurious manor in Clay City is surrounded by fully armed guards. They are all wearing dark blue heavy armor. The armor has no extra decoration and looks extremely simple. Compared with the private houses of various nobles, The bright armor and gaudy decorations on the soldiers’ bodies were a lot drab.
But those who are interested can see that the cost of these armors is definitely much higher than that of ordinary soldiers’ armor. The dark blue armor is made of the unique green iron ore in the dwarf veins, coupled with the dwarf’s forging technology, in The defense strength can be directly increased by half without increasing the weight.
Only a few elites are willing to wear the equipment. Even under Richard, only officers and a small number of elites can wear it. And because the price is too high, Richard is still trying to find ways to replace it with self-produced armor.
Of course, these guards are not soldiers in Kress City. The city’s garrison cannot afford these dark green armors. They are soldiers brought by the eldest prince. To rectify the local armed forces, he has to rely on himself. It is definitely unrealistic to work alone. You must have a familiar team to quickly grasp the place.
To this end, the eldest prince not only brought thousands of personal troops, but also a large number of middle and low-level officers who could be used. In a short period of time, he sorted out the garrison and set up a stand.
In the past, many people, including Richard, felt that although the eldest prince had good abilities, he had a shortcoming, that is, he was impatient and almost blatantly cultivated cronies and armed forces. Although Ren did not say anything, everyone still felt for the eldest prince. I am sweating my behavior.
But in the current situation, the eldest prince’s familiarity with the army has become his greatest advantage. With an order from Ren, all the garrison regiments on the Great Plains were nominally under the eldest prince’s command.
Whether it is for public reasons or selfish reasons, the eldest prince must do his best to handle this matter. It seems that the results are not bad so far. In several cities and more than ten garrison regiments, the prince has re-established his presence, replenished his troops, and restored a certain degree of combat capability.
In the process of reorganizing the garrison, he relied on his royal status and his good team to eradicate some interest groups, causing the original rentiers to remain silent for a while, and no one dared to speak openly anymore. Come out to cause trouble for him.
The eldest prince Ward was sitting on the throne in a military uniform, with a neat beard, a resolute face and recent iron-blooded methods, which made the nobles in Clay City feel a little more in awe, facing There are a few nobles with evil intentions who are not afraid of people who really dare to kill people. They usually dominate and dominate in Clay City, but now they keep their posture low when facing the eldest prince.
But the eldest prince’s first words immediately froze the scene.
“The garrison in Clais City is seriously short of vacancies. With the four flag regiments in surrounding towns, the vacancy reaches more than 20,000. I am afraid that everyone sitting here will benefit from it.”
Some things are basically open secrets. Originally, the garrison army was actually the private reserve of local officials and nobles. The reason why the combat power of the first-class army was maintained was because the city of Clais was not far from the king, so they did not dare to take advantage of it. It’s just too ugly.
But it would be a bit embarrassing for the eldest prince to reveal such an open secret. Everyone didn’t know what the eldest prince would do next after he revealed such a thing. Anyway, the nobles of Clay City could not be exposed. They were all wiped out. Richard was so domineering in the Northland and the River Valley, but he was just fighting one faction after another.
“His Royal Highness the Prince…”
The nobles present looked at each other in confusion, and finally there was an unlucky guy who wanted to stand up and make a quibble at everyone’s suggestion. He couldn’t just acquiesce.
But before he could finally come up with the excuse, the eldest prince waved his hand to stop them, took out a stack of paper and said:
“These are the lists of garrison corps from various places. How many vacancies are there? You know very well who has received the food and military pay.”
The person who was about to speak was stopped by a word. He stopped speaking and just lowered his head, not daring to trouble the eldest prince again.
The eldest prince did not care about the reactions of the nobles and officials below, and took out a stack of paper and said:
“The number of military fields occupied by various companies and a lot of farmland occupied beyond the scope of the territory have been verified, but there are only a few.”
“If these are to be pursued, it will take the heads of all of you to deal with it.”
Speaking of this, the eldest prince glanced at everyone again and paused slightly.
“However, this time I will give you a chance to atone for your sins. There are still thousands of soldiers missing in the garrison. Each family must provide me with qualified soldiers within three days!”
The eldest prince deliberately said the word “qualified” very seriously, which was emphasized again.
There are at least thirty nobles in Clay City and nearby towns. It is not difficult to recruit several thousand soldiers, and the number of people per family will not exceed two hundred. The key is to have qualified soldiers, so it is not that difficult. It’s simple. At least they can’t just grab some farmers on the territory and send the eldest prince away. In the past, they might have dared to do this, but with the eldest prince’s aggressive look now, none of them dare to be the leader. At least they can’t. You have to use your own private soldiers or even the children of the clan as the backbone, and then mix in some young and strong people with equipment to get through.
“The second is to make up for the land tax that should be paid in the past three years, not a penny less!”
The eldest prince has organized an army and expanded it. It is impossible to feed the army simply by relying on the food from the kingdom. To train strictly, the soldiers must be well-fed, and tens of thousands of young and strong bellies must be filled, isn’t it? It was a small amount, and the eldest prince knew that after several rounds of preparations for the war, the common people had almost exhausted what they could afford, and they had to get some food from the noble families.
“This…”
Paying three years of land tax at one time is not a small amount, and it is not a one-time deal. If you pay it back this time, it means admitting the existence of these invaded and hidden fields, and you will have to pay it every year in the future. Pay it, although these nobles can’t afford it, but who would be willing to spit out most of the benefits.
If someone else, even a high-ranking official from the royal capital, wanted to inspect the land and ask them to return it and pay taxes, then the nobles present would definitely make a fuss. After all, the nobles of the Golden Dragon Kingdom were even more powerful than the gentry and landlord class in ancient China. They also need to have more combat effectiveness. Every family has more or less knights and some armored soldiers. If they really cause trouble, they will just end up in mud.
But this time, the person above had a strong background. He was one of the most promising heirs of the Charman family. What was even worse was that he still had the strength. When they hesitated, a circle of soldiers around them stared at them. , as if if they dare not cooperate, they will not be able to get out of this door.
After the eldest prince finished speaking, he sat above him and squinted his eyes and said no more. However, this put tremendous pressure on the nobles below. After standing for a while, someone finally stood up.
“The Labelli family is willing to send three knights and two hundred soldiers to make up for the vacancies in the garrison for the eldest prince, and make up for the owed food within three days.”
Seeing someone compromising, the surrounding nobles became more and more shaken. It would be okay if everyone remained frozen. After all, the law does not punish everyone, but if someone started to compromise, wouldn’t it mean that those who are still here to hold on are the ones who are in charge? bird?
“Okay!”
“The LaBery family, right? If they achieve military merit, it is not impossible for the LaBery family’s title to be raised to a higher level. By then, those hidden fields will really become the fields of the LaBery family.”
The LaBery family nodded to the eldest prince and stood aside again, seeming to feel a lot more relaxed.
After that, several people stood up one after another and expressed their willingness to cooperate with the eldest prince’s order. In this kind of matter, some people mainly compromised, and it was difficult for the remaining people to hold on. After a while, the nobles below all Each promised the number of knights and troops they would send, and they would make up for what they owed.
After everyone promised to make up some numbers, the eldest prince asked everyone to leave. After all the pained nobles present left, the color of the eldest prince’s face changed, and his originally calm face was filled with anger.
“I really want to learn from that brother-in-law and completely bury these greedy guys in the loess.”
In the eyes of the nobles, they have made huge concessions, but in the eyes of the eldest prince, these people are poaching the corners of the Charman family. Now it is so difficult for them to spit out anything. They are all a group of deserving people. Those who kill.
“If we hadn’t arranged for the LaBery family to take the lead in advance, I’m afraid I wouldn’t have been able to get even this price so happily!”
Get some benefits in advance and win over one or two nobles to cooperate with your actions. This little trick seems very simple, but the effect is indeed good.
“Your Highness is wise.”
“Alas!”
“I don’t trust these people. Freeman, go and supervise them. The personnel and food must be in place within three days. They must not be allowed to delay.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
The adjutant who had been following the eldest prince also remained silent at this time. The people under the eldest prince were basically professional soldiers, many of whom were from the Royal Knights Academy in the royal capital. Most of these people were from civilians, and they were used to As a noble who oversees Chrysler City, Ward is quite relieved.
Here Freeman had just gone out, and before the eldest prince could rest for a while, a soldier carrying a message came in, which cheered up the eldest prince.
“Your Highness, Lord Richard is here to visit and is now outside the manor.”
“So fast?”
“Get ready, follow me out to meet Lord Richard!”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
The eldest prince, who was originally worried, now had a warm smile. With the help of the waiter, he straightened up his image a little and then personally greeted him outside the manor.
No one thought there was a problem with the eldest prince’s behavior. Although the blood of the Charman family was noble, Richard’s current strength and status had already jumped out of the kingdom, and everyone was no longer on the same level. .
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