Realm of Power

534 The Secret of the Sky Sacrifice (1)

After February, the weather in Palavon began to warm up. For two or three days after the last heavy snowfall, the weather was always sunny and cold. During the day, the sun warmed the earth, and the thick ice and snow accumulated over the winter began to melt. But at night, it can also be cold enough to make people shiver. Especially in recent days, dark clouds have shrouded the sky, and gray mist has filled the earth, like a layer of light transparent ribbon, flowing slowly on the surface of the vegetation on the ground.

The wetness on the ground is still very serious. Due to the earthquake some time ago, almost all the underground sewers in Palaven collapsed. The streets are muddy and there is water in many places. From time to time, there are speeding carriages, rolling up and splashing. The water 1a spreads to both sides, sometimes splashing onto the feet of pedestrians 1i on the roadside, inevitably causing some low-pitched curses.

The cleaners braved the severe cold to clean up, but they could not completely eliminate it. The abnormal cold made the residents of Palaven a little nervous. Before the fall of the Ikadiva Empire, the winter seemed to be so cold. Could it be that Ruidian Do you want to make the same mistake again? This terrible idea flashed in many people's minds for a moment and then disappeared immediately. No one dared to imagine the terrible consequences.

The news that the Vecian army had won the Battle of Green shook the entire Kingdom of Redian like an irresistible force.

"60,000 infantry defeated 120,000 cavalry. What a bullshit record. Even 120,000 pigs would not have been defeated so quickly."

After receiving the details of the defeat, Prais, the military minister, almost smashed the table in front of his desk and scolded the Kugits in his own unique accent for three days.

No wonder he was so angry. After a series of bloody battles, he had just boosted the morale of the people. Who knew that in the blink of an eye, Vekiya appeared again. As a former opponent, everyone was fighting Kugits. But here, 60,000 Dongting cavalry held back hundreds of thousands of troops, while over there, they used a mere 60,000 to defeat 120,000 Kugit cavalry. This huge contrast is simply a mockery of the incompetence of Rui Erdian's army. ,

"I can't believe it. Could it be a false alarm?"

Stanhoff, the undersecretary of the Ministry of Military Affairs, said in a hoarse voice. After confirming the facts, he was also locked in a suffocating silence. Even King Haraus, who was in poor health recently, also sent The palace's internal affairs officer, John Eaglen, summoned the military minister, Plais, into the palace to explain the situation.

Recently, Plais has focused his work on the personnel transfer of the army. This decision was caused by the death of a local lord. This big noble was called the Duke of Bordu, who was the lord of the South and Lake. As a noble , My Majesty has the power to tax, and combines wealth and power. During the fifteen years before and after he became an important minister in the imperial court, he had been holding the position of Minister of State.

During this period, he made shocking use of his power to desperately search for wealth. Although he often suffered many dishonorable injustices, the law was already relatively lenient towards nobles' criminal behavior, and when it was really impossible to escape the guilt, , he also used his power and financial resources skillfully to escape the punishment he deserved.

Count Ruger, the then Ministry of Justice, sarcastically described it as "excellent thaumaturgy".

Even in the eyes of fellow nobles, his abuse of privileges has reached an unbridled level. As the pillar of the kingdom, if some rules of being a noble are not followed, the people's dissatisfaction with a certain important minister will easily become Evolved into distrust of the system.

The Duke's death was indeed great news to be thankful for for the Kingdom's finance and justice ministries. It can be said that it is an opportunity to publicly flog the corpse.

This can let the people know that even the great nobles are by no means exempt from the constraints of the law. In addition, there are countless "little bords" among the nobles. Therefore, it is necessary to use this to show the laws and regulations of the kingdom. The majesty of wartime laws. What's more, the public funds and bribes that the Duke of Boldo pocketed during his lifetime must have been a huge amount. If it can be nationalized, it will also be a breath of relief for the finance that is oppressed by military expenditures.

Although there have always been suggestions among successive financial bureaucrats to pay taxes to the nobility, doing so would inevitably change the current policy of governing the country, and may also lead to rebellion or court rebellion. But if it only targets Duke Boldo personally, the opposition from the nobles will naturally be much less.

Following this report, there is also a military reform that Plais has been brewing for a long time.

Due to excessive consumption some time ago and the influx of a large number of nobles from the north into the Palavon area, Plais has the possibility of abundant talents. Basically, he uses young officers from lower-level nobles or civilians to make front-line commanders The average age of the army has dropped significantly. Some of the young and vigorous officers have been dubbed the new leaders. The unique vitality and domineering spirit of young people have greatly improved the combat effectiveness of Ruidian's frontline combat troops.

But in the past few days, Plais always felt as if something was missing. Brave and tactically capable frontline commanders were gathered, but there was no mainstay figure who could be called a famous general.

These passionate young commanders may be excellent warriors, but they will not be qualified for more senior positions in a short period of time. They still need to experience the forging of blood and fire before they can serve as the backbone of Ruidian's army. These They are all valuable assets of Rui Erdian's army.

Plais did not have high expectations for those staff generals with noble backgrounds who had just joined the ranks and had graduated from Palavon Knights with academic excellence.

Because he knows very well that military ability cannot be cultivated by school education alone. The same is true for himself. There is no doubt that a natural soldier will become a scholar in the school, but conversely, the scholar in the school may not be a natural soldier.

But these young nobles don't think so. They have been trained as knights since childhood, have good education and background, and have strong family backgrounds. They have been in the privileged class since birth.

Some of them are the nephews of military generals, and some are core members of Kyoto's wealthy families. Now that the Ministry of Military Affairs has left them idle, these young nobles who consider themselves nobler than the common people are undoubtedly filled with grief and anger.

They are the privileged people of Palaven, and they are also the group of people who have the biggest opinions on the recent personnel transfer. For this reason, some wealthy ministers in Kyoto have sued the Minister of Military Affairs several times in front of King Haraus, saying that he was shaken in appointing civilians. The foundation of the kingdom, some nobles even called Plais "the traitor of the nobles"

Regarding the latest military reform proposed by Plais, the Minister of the Interior was the first to object initially.

Because of its full support for the Northern War, Prais's Ministry of Military Affairs was like a blood-sucking machine, constantly sucking in all the personnel and financial resources of Ruidian. Everything for victory was no longer just a matter of slogans.

If we want to talk about pressure, the biggest ones are the Ministry of Government and the Ministry of Finance. In order to collect the materials that can launch a new campaign, these two departments are working almost all night long, and these two departments are the most important for the Palavon nobles. At the gathering place, the Ministry of Military Affairs has now proposed this list of front-line commanders, but most of them are not their children. How can we make these busy nobles willing to

"Isn't this great?" Regarding this controversial list, King Haraus gave a rare expression of his attitude: "Whoever can regain the lost kingdom, reward him, and sell his favor will always be rewarded in the future. If the good thing fails, it will be the responsibility of Plais who elected them. Wouldn’t we have to re-order the new Minister of Military Affairs?”

"That said, it's indeed good." Seeing His Majesty the King's attitude, Minister of State Dilinard could only choose to compromise and pretend to be stupid. As Harraus said, if these newly nominated commanders can defeat the Kugits, The reward is necessary, but if it fails, Plais's position as military minister will not be guaranteed. This is definitely good news for the Kyoto nobles who have been coveting this position.

"Is this true?"

In the station of the First Knights, the eldest prince Alexax was packing up his war horses and preparing to go to the three northern counties. After hearing the news, his excited face was filled with a haze, and his First Knights were all It is composed of children of Kyoto nobles. This new appointment letter will undoubtedly have a great impact on the confidence of his subordinates.

"Yes, the adults of the Ministry of Military Affairs are really chilling: the knight guard who reported the news said angrily in front of him, "If those lowly guys can be superior to the nobles, then the order of this world will not be corrected. , do we still need our noble knight to salute a commoner? "

"Yes, if this is the case, who will respect us knights, and who will fight and die for the kingdom?" Another knight agreed. Behind him, more than a dozen knight commanders gathered around and asked the king. He complained, "Yeah, yeah, if I let these despicable mice crawl on my head, I might as well die wearing the eagle flag right now."

"Prince Alexax looked ugly. The news came too suddenly. Although he knew that Plais would make some big moves for the new strategy, he never expected it to be this.

"This is a rumor, it must be a rumor." Alexax tried to calm down his emotions, got on his horse, and waved to his subordinates who were gathered around him, "The knight is the backbone of this kingdom and the protector of all the Redians. , this has been deeply rooted in my soul since I was a child, because this is my beloved father, the great His Majesty the King told me personally, so don’t listen to these rumors. We should be very passionate and let the Kugits on the opposite side teach us the spears of the Ridian knights. Let the Ministry of Military Affairs take a good look at our knights. After saying this, Prince Alexax almost fled the military camp.

At four o'clock in the morning, Ai Chemoor was still standing in the darkness in the dead of night, looking out through the window. He could only see the faint lights in the yard, and the temporary sentry posts. In the cold season, The climate is still cold, and there is a faint smell of tuberose in the air.

The fat man stretched and stood up from the mountain of political reform plans in front of him. He picked up the hot towel on the plate next to him and wiped his face vigorously to make himself feel more excited. The upcoming tribal leader conference involves all parties. Due to the above arrangements, many tasks can only be done by a few senior officers due to the need for avoidance. Even so, the final work of the trial still needs to be done by the fat man.

The fat man then picked up the water glass on the table and took a long sip. In the cup was the bitter leaf which is a special product of Kugit. As you can tell from the name, it is not a refreshing thing. It is a bitter grass root that Kugit herdsmen use to refresh themselves. Therefore, it tasted very bitter, which made him wince involuntarily. Frowning, he put the cup back into the saucer.

In the warm room, the fat man chose to sit on an armchair, turning over a piece of worn leather in front of him. His eyes flashed with a polonium light. The fireplace in front of him suddenly made a crackling sound of burning wood. The red sparks are like orioles in the night, floating out from the blazing fire of the fireplace. The warm breath spreads from the center of the fireplace to the surroundings, dispelling the early cold.

This is Fatty's study in Aichemore. It turned out to be Rui Erdian's bedroom of a wealthy family in the city. Because Fatty liked the layout here, he kept it for his own living. The furnishings in the room seemed very simple, but if it was Those who know the industry will find that this place is simply a luxurious and surprising place.

The room is an ordinary round shape, just like most Aiqamoor people's houses. The whole room is not very big, but in order to survive the severe cold, a thick layer of crushed grass and soil is often applied on the roof. From a distance, it looks like yellow and orange, and it looks like gold under the sunlight. Therefore, Ai Chemore City is nicknamed the "Golden City" by some caravans running border trade.

There is a simple bench to the left of the fireplace. The walls, ceiling, and floor are all covered with magnificent animal skins. When you step on it, it is as soft as stepping on the most precious carpet.

Among them are the fluffy Atoras lion, the colorful Montessei antelope, the legendary and extremely rare sixteen-pronged stag antlers, and many species that even the fat man did not recognize.

The whole room is simply an exhibition hall of precious leathers. Except for some priceless varieties, most of them are obviously not products of this continent. It is not known how much energy and financial resources the owner of this house spent to bring these leathers to the market. These priceless things were purchased from merchants traveling to other continents.

Among them, what interests Fatty the most is a piece of reddish-brown leather hanging on the wall on the right side of the room. It is a map about one meter long. Yes, this is a map. Rui Erdian's army lives in behind. The Kugits of Dongting obviously didn't notice this worn piece of leather, otherwise they wouldn't be here long ago.

When the fat man saw this for the first time, he determined from the layout of the room that this worn leather was not simple. Among the other three precious leathers hanging on the walls, only this boxy one was inconspicuous. The leather is hung alone on one wall. It can be seen that the owner of the room likes this piece of leather very much.

The texture of the damaged leather can no longer be seen on its surface, but being able to dominate a wall among a room full of precious leathers is enough to prove that other priceless leathers are not qualified to be placed on the same wall as this piece of leather.

The fat man immediately asked someone to take off the leather. After careful identification, he confirmed from the upper and lower grid lines dyed with green grass on the leather that it was a map from a long time ago.

The era cannot be verified. The long years have almost smoothed the velvet fibers on the surface of the leather, giving it a smooth feel when held in the hand. With the sharp eyes of the fat man, only some vague residues can be seen on the leather surface.

A triangular mark on the left side of the map is obviously where Aichmore is now. A blue dark line extends downward from the mark of Aichmore, passes through the southern part of Wikiia, and finally extends to a corner that cannot be found in the lower corner of the map. After being confused for a while, the fat man was sure that this was a place after crossing the great swamp in the south.

Reminiscing that the ancestors of the Kugit people came from outside the Great Swamp in the south, Fatty was already certain that this map should have been handed down from the royal court of Kugit. It was probably the map that was taken from the Kugit during the great turmoil in the north 20 years ago. One of the many treasures lost by the King of Git, a mysterious map recording the passage between the Ikadiva continent and another continent.

"Creak"

The door of the study room was gently pushed open from the outside, and with the sound of crisp footsteps, a graceful figure walked into the room. Her beautiful and delicate figure added a gorgeous note to the morning of the first day.

The fat man knew who it was without raising his head, because except for Bertrand Bonnie, the Duke's personal guard and confidential secretary, no one could enter this house without attracting the attention of the outside guards.

Bertrand Bonnie was wearing a gold-embroidered, V-shaped dress with a belted waist, and her slender body was wearing long black leather knight riding boots. The white lace on the cuffs supported a completely different look from the past. The temperament, the delicate ponytail tied casually behind the head, gives people a sense of vitality and impulse, and the bright eyes are like deep green pools, making people feel intoxicated involuntarily.

She is extremely tall and is known as the 1a of the Ridian Knights. She is the dream lover of countless Ridian Knights. Her status as the Duke's daughter gives her a natural aristocratic temperament that people dare not look at. It's just that the bloated and heavy knight costumes in the past deeply concealed this characteristic. I don't know why, but he changed into a light costume. The fat man couldn't help but be stunned.

"This is the news that I just received." Bonnie put down the folder in her hand on the fat man's desk and said to the fat man who was reading attentively. "As you expected, Ruidian really took action against the three northern counties." , According to reports from our informants in Ruidian, at the meeting of the Ministry of Military Affairs just three days ago, the Great Prince Alexax personally ordered the arrest of 8 lords of the three northern counties who attended the meeting."

"Haha, it seems I can't help but take action."

Hearing Bonnie Berlant's words, the fat man who originally didn't want to stand up suddenly stood up excitedly, strode to the table, picked up the documents on it, glanced at it, looked at it for a while and suddenly chuckled at the corner of his mouth.

"It seems that this Prince Alexax is not a complete fool as the legend says! He actually knows how to play hard to get. He first adopts a pacification strategy to reduce the vigilance of the three county lords and then uses the name of the meeting to transfer these idiots out of the territory and catch them all. The time and place of the action are linked together. He is quite experienced."

"It's just a puppet in front. If he has such experienced means, he won't come forward now." For the fat man's praise, Berlant Bonnie had a gnashing expression. She has been brooding over her father's death for a long time. When reporting on this name, Berlant Bonnie always uses a contemptuous tone. f

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