Realm of Power

gulf of aden

The splendid Aden Kingdom Hall is brightly lit. Not only here, but also in the entire Aden Kingdom, the curfew has been lifted tonight.

"Xinjing in Central and Bibia has been captured by our army, and the occupation of the 17 provinces in the southern coastal areas of Central and Bibia has also been completed. This is a crucial step to ensure that our army no longer has to suffer from hunger because of the incompetence of the navy. "Hungry, except for the power of some local princes, there is no obstacle in front of the great Aden army."

"In half a year, I believe that China and Bia will completely become the territory of our Kingdom of Aden!"

"All in all, the victory of the expedition is obvious to all. The wealth we obtained from the Central Biya region in half a year is more than what we obtained from the Obaro region in the west in 20 years." In the main hall, an excited army general said to When the eager-looking nobles of Aden introduced the situation in Zhongbia, they showed an extremely optimistic attitude towards the war situation in Zhongbia. The return of the region was like a hero and was warmly welcomed by the entire Kingdom of Aden. Compared with the Obaro region trembling under the oppression of the empire, the Kingdom of Aden, which occupied the Gulf of Aden, resolutely implemented the strategy of abandoning the west and put all its strength After they all devoted themselves to the fight for the territory in the east, the expedition to China and Biya, which weighed on the entire national destiny, finally received rich rewards.

At present, the Kingdom of Aden has invested 80% of its navy and 60% of its army in the Central Biya region, with a total force of more than 250,000. However, the empire that is also expanding its power in the Central Biya region has a total force of only ten Wan, in the eyes of the Aden generals, the Kingdom of Aden has absolute superiority in the Central Biya region. However, due to their respective strategic goals, the armies of the Empire and the Kingdom of Aden did not have large-scale collisions, but small-scale frictions occurred. Continuously upgrade,

"Your Majesty has arrived"

A chamberlain wearing a golden silk-carved tuxedo, white tights and black soft-soled round-toe shoes appeared at the door of the hall, head held high, and loudly announced like a proud rooster. The Aden nobles in the meeting hall immediately stopped talking and chatting, stood up from their chairs, and looked respectfully at the door, followed by a burst of powerful footsteps in the corridor.

A tall and capable middle-aged man, wearing a simple special royal uniform, appeared at the door of the meeting hall. He was King Fatris of Aden, the hero of the kingdom. He was over forty years old, with a square and broad face, full of He had long blond hair and looked like a lion. His long, slightly narrow eyes were half-closed. With just one sweep of his dazzling eyes, the nobles closest to the door were left speechless and did not even dare to speak out.

At this moment, the hero of Aden looked around the silent meeting hall, and the sunlight swept across everyone's face. After maintaining the silence and solemnity for a short while, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and he nodded slightly to everyone, He strode through the aisles that separated the crowd and headed for the seats at the front of the meeting hall.

"Long live His Majesty Fatris!" "Long live the Empire of Aden"

Fanatic cheers came one after another. Compared with the previous king of Aden, Fatris's civil and military skills were not outstanding, but he was always able to grasp the overall situation at critical moments. In the melee in the Obaro area, he took advantage of the Kingdom of Aden's situation. An important location in the center of the East-West Continent Corridor, monopolizing the business of the East-West Continent Trade, and thus internal national strength, were booming. Faced with the sudden rise of the empire and sweeping across northern Obarro, he decisively gave up the outlet to the inland sea and made a major strategic decision to focus the kingdom on the east. Finally, he achieved the conquest of Central Asia. It also shows the extraordinary strategic vision of the Lord of Aden.

For the generals of Aden, His Majesty Fatlis is their military god, and this meeting held in the King's Hall of Aden is definitely not a simple celebration of the victory in the Battle of Central Biya, but the Kingdom of Aden's hegemony over the entire region. claims that the Kingdom of Aden will soon be promoted to the Empire of Aden. The Kingdom of Aden is currently centered on the Gulf of Aden. The total area is more than 2,000 miles. If you include the thousands of miles of desert sandbanks to the west, it is more than 3,000 miles. The population is 60 million, which is far more than the original Congo Empire and the Istan Empire. The territory has now conquered more than half of southern China in one fell swoop. The land has once again increased by more than a thousand miles, with a population of 15 million.

It’s just that the laurels of the kingdom can no longer bear such a huge territory and population. It is inevitable that the Kingdom of Aden will become the Empire of Aden.

Fatris sat down on the high-backed and wide-sided velvet carved chair in the hall, with a teasing smile on his lips. He leaned his body sideways, leaned his right forearm on the armrest, and played with a very moist and transparent ball in his hand. The coat of arms is inlaid with gold and jade, and the nobles of Aden are descending on the left. He sat down and looked expectantly at the Lord of Aden. Sitting in the other row on the right were the monarchs of the thirty-seven vassal forces under the Kingdom of Aden. Compared with the extremely high-spirited expressions of the nobles of Aden, these vassals The faces of the monarchs are not very good.

They have heard the news. At this meeting, someone will propose that His Majesty Fatris should be promoted to the emperor of Aden. If this is the case, the Kingdom of Aden will become an empire, and being a vassal of the empire means that they will lose more. For example, now they are only responsible for paying tribute to the Kingdom of Aden, and occasionally receive orders to send troops to fight. However, if the Kingdom of Aden becomes an empire, it will have the power to dispatch regional governors to these vassal forces, and pay The amount of tribute will also increase

In the unbearable silence, everyone noticed that something was wrong

"These poor guys"

Some people looked at each other, and some people looked at each other with their eyes, nose and nose. The atmosphere became increasingly dull and strange. And more people turned their attention to the monarchs of these vassal forces who were already obviously restless, and many people laughed secretly. It is said that the heart is higher than the sky and the destiny is thinner than paper. They are both monarchs. The status of the suzerain and the vassal is very different, and the power of the kingdom over the vassal and the power of the empire over the vassal are also hugely different, just like the lying Nordic Barrow Generally speaking, the empire's imperial troops are directly stationed in the vassal areas, and can even directly carry out military intervention in the vassal areas.

Just like the Battle of the Sun Fortress that shocked the entire Obaro just now, the Kingdom of Rilla and the Kingdom of Biang, both participating in the war, were both vassals of the empire. Hundreds of thousands of people were killed and their blood flowed into rivers. It is said that the corpses were piled as high as the Sun Fortress. In the end, just because the empire casually awarded the Sun Fortress to the Kingdom of Rilla, the Bion Kingdom, which had killed hundreds of thousands of people in the battle, could only swallow its anger and surrender the Sun Fortress.

If His Majesty Fatris is really promoted to emperor, then the Kingdom of Aden will have more than 30 powerful governor seats. This will be a great stimulus to the entire aristocracy of the Kingdom of Aden, but for For the vassal monarchs, their power will be greatly restricted, and it is even possible that the Kingdom of Aden will gradually annex them as time goes on.

Everyone knew that His Majesty Fatris was waiting for them to speak first. According to the procedure, there are only two ways to be promoted to emperor. One is to seize a certain imperial crown through force. For example, the Falcon Emperor annexed the Gallic Empire in the north, and later annexed the Congo Empire. In the Civil War, He also captured the Istan Empire, and the titles of emperors of the three empires were added to one person. Even if other Obarro countries have been calling him barbaric, they still have to recognize the other party's emperor status.

However, if a regional kingdom like the Kingdom of Aden wants to be promoted to an empire, it is obviously impossible to take the route of annexation by force, because three of the four emperors of Obaro fell on the head of the Falcon Emperor, leaving only one Ai The title of Emperor Luo, as for snatching an emperor's crown from the hands of the Falcon Empire, is even more of a joke.

Therefore, if the Kingdom of Aden wants to be promoted to an empire, there is only one other way, and that is to have the vassal monarchs in its territory jointly request

There was silence in the meeting hall, and the nobles of Aden were waiting quietly.

"Your Majesty Fatris," the strong and rough-looking vassal lord Suhola stood up with difficulty. Next to him, the thin-bodied and gloomy-faced monarch of the Load Oasis, Latuo, Wei also stood up slowly. The two of them bowed to Fatris and bowed their heads.

"As a vassal of the Kingdom of Aden, we are grateful to His Majesty Fatlis for his generosity in providing us with shelter over the years."

"We express our sincere admiration for the current invincibility of the Kingdom of Aden. In view of the current incomparable strength of the Kingdom of Aden, we take the liberty to request His Majesty Fatris to be promoted to the throne of Emperor of Aden. We will remember this honor. We, and our The descendants will look up to the powerful Aden Empire from generation to generation, but if they are motivated, they will not hesitate even to the death!"

In the kingdom hall, the voices of the two vassal monarchs were loud and clear. Fatris smiled slightly and waited quietly for the two of them to finish what they said. A beam of light flashed over the other vassal monarchs who did not respond. The cold light is getting colder and colder, is it really shameless! Don’t I just ask you to spend more money to come out to this big oasis? If it weren’t for the support of the Gulf of Aden, how could you be so carefree and happy in the desert? After more than ten seconds, Fatris said lightly, "I understand the enthusiasm of the two of you. I will consider the promotion of the emperor!"

Everyone present had their eyebrows raised. They had been wallowing in power and intrigue all year round. Seeing that His Majesty Fatris had no intention of declining, everyone spoke one after another.

"With the strength of our Kingdom of Aden, we should have been promoted to the empire long ago."

"Now the entire Obaro is trembling under the ravages of the Falcon Empire. It is time for our Aden Empire to save Obaro."

"Long live His Majesty Emperor Fatris!"

"Long live the emperor!" The Aden nobles raised their wine glasses one after another, their faces red with enthusiasm, and they laughed heartily and lively.

At this moment, everyone seemed to have completely forgotten that out of the more than thirty vassal monarchs in the Kingdom of Aden, only two monarchs stood up. The other vassal monarchs all looked pale, and there was even an older man whose body was shaking slightly. Trembling, the people of Aden have gone too far. This is violating the local regulations. Was it the agreement signed at the beginning? Because they were afraid of the expansion of the Falcon Empire, they had abandoned all the oasis lords in the desert areas and abandoned the eastern entrance of the inland sea. These oases had been supported by trade across the sand sea. Lost its biggest source of wealth and now can only rely on some smuggling to survive

Now that the Kingdom of Aden is going to be promoted to an empire, the already heavy tribute will inevitably increase significantly. These oases have little output, and trade taxes account for 80% of their income. This time they come to participate The celebration meeting itself also hopes that the people of Aden can give them some help to temporarily overcome the current difficulties. Who knows that if they have to have no help and increase the tribute, wouldn't it cost their lives!

And from the noise, they could also see that the Aden people did not have the slightest intention to care about them. In fact, the moment the Kingdom of Aden made the decision to abandon the direction of Oubaluo and fully expand its eastward strategy, they, who had been ignored by the Aden people in the past, The treatment received by the vassal monarchs, who are eager to be called the Lords of the Oasis, has plummeted, and the Falcon Empire is in China. The opening of trade routes in the Asian region is also a heavy blow to these large oases that used to be able to eat alone. Because of the war between Aden and the empire, the east-west trade route that originally relied mainly on crossing the desert is being entered across the wilderness in the north-central part of the empire. The trade lines in the Central and Asian regions were replaced, and 80% of the Central and Asian goods were diverted to the wilderness controlled by the empire.

It is true that the Aden people have made huge gains in Central and Bibia, but there is no benefit at all in the oasis.

Even the wealthy Gulf of Aden cannot afford the expedition of hundreds of thousands of troops. A war of conquest launched by the whole country. It is credible to say that the Kingdom of Aden is now strong on the outside and empty on the inside. There were rumors before, In order to collect military expenses, the royal family even paid attention to the funds allocated to the Red Dragon Palace, which caused the Red Dragon Palace The Dragon Palace was extremely dissatisfied. It is said that His Majesty Fatris finally went to the Red Dragon Palace to explain the matter. Everyone did not believe this at first, but now it seems that it may not be true. The Kingdom of Aden needs huge funds to maintain its relationship with the Red Dragon Palace. The most direct way to conquer the East is to increase the tribute of each vassal.

Raising the tribute without authorization will inevitably arouse strong opposition from the vassal forces, but it will be different if the Kingdom of Aden is promoted to the empire. The decline of commerce has already made these large oases miserable. Now that the Kingdom of Aden is promoted to the empire, it will be even worse for them. , but if they were asked not to allow the Kingdom of Aden to advance to the empire, I'm afraid they wouldn't But let them unite to ask the Kingdom of Aden to be promoted to the empire. I believe that tomorrow the Kingdom of Aden will issue a list of governors of various vassal regions. These governors will arrive before them and then take all the powers they can supervise. In the past, there was no doubt that this so-called celebration banquet was also a slaughter banquet for them.

"The original agreement was not written like this. This is treachery." A vassal monarch stood up from his seat angrily. The people of Aden were already shameless, so what else did he want?