The Sun King's Evidence

PS: Thank you to the "Retained Veterans Brigade" for becoming another ally of this book! Throw flowers!

That night, under the summer night sky, Ryan and Alfred sat on the balcony of the castle and enjoyed a sumptuous dinner.

Time has passed, and the identities of the two people are now different. What Ryan entertained Alfred was the most standard Brittanian feast. The entire banquet procedure was strictly supervised to ensure that Ryan, as the host, would not be rude.

The first course was a frozen antipasto, which consisted of caviar, salmon salad and foie gras.

The second course was soup, Brittany onion soup.

The third course was a hot starter, with Mousilon's signature cheese-baked escargots serving its purpose well.

After the first three dishes were served, Ryan was able to talk to Alfred, but Duke Mousilon tasted the baked snails skillfully with a knife and fork. He looked at his childhood playmate, smiled, and said nothing.

On the contrary, Alfred had a lot to say to Ryan. He simply didn’t know where to start. Alfred, who was in his thirties this year, had grown a short beard and the corners of his eyes had begun to appear. Thin crow's feet are proof of a man's maturity.

However, judging from Alfred's mental state, he is still full of surging vitality. His spirit is very good. He is the kind of person who still maintains an optimistic and positive personality after suffering some setbacks. Since being appointed by Ryan as Fu Alfred, the head of the ancient church district of Leia, encountered many difficulties in the construction and restoration of the entire church district.

In fact, in the weeks since Ryan returned to his Duke's Castle, the war in Mousilon has not stopped at all.

The first to launch the war was Lucien, Baron of the Spire Palace. He led two infantry battalions supported by Lane and launched the Battle of the Swamp. In this battle, Lucien made full use of the powerful combat effectiveness of the serf infantry battalions and faced the swamp. In a formation that was not conducive to the charge of the knights, he drove some livestock to attract the undead creatures and beastmen wandering in the swamp, and then ordered the knights to dismount and disrupt their arrangements among the serf infantry, using the pocket formation and the crossfire of the longbowmen. Cooperate with the slow movement speed of the swamp to surround and completely destroy the remaining undead army and beastman tribe near the Spire Palace.

Moreover, Ryan got the news that his father-in-law, Francois, privately gave Lucien a low-interest loan, with an annual interest rate of only 3%. With the help of this money and Ryan, Lucien successfully got through the difficulties.

Baron Richard Olivier launched the Richard Clearance War, wiping out an undead stronghold near the castle.

Baron Juan of Biokari launched the Battle of Orphan Hill. He somehow convinced the wood elves to join. This war defeated the Skaven lurking near Orphan Hill. The warlord was killed by the wood elf hero Araloth the Valiant, and through this battle Huan temporarily drove the Skaven of Mousilon underground.

This fully proves that under the leadership of Ryan, who keeps winning, his men have given birth to a large number of knights and nobles who are good at fighting.

What about Alfred?

The Templars seemed to have found inspiration in the previous explosion. He made full use of the power of gunpowder and defeated the wandering undead with a large number of grenades made by the dwarves when the beastmen gathered, winning the battle to defend the church district.

"In short, it's a lot more troublesome than I thought." Alfred didn't know where to start with a thousand words, and he could only sigh in the end: "Continuous fighting is not bad, but the real trouble is, Everything has to start from scratch. I don’t have my tax collector, I don’t have my sheriff. I only have a few paladins and ascetics. Those ascetics only know how to flog themselves all day long. The paladins are not good at management. They make everything worse. It's a mess. I'm forced to make decisions on everything. My good friend, you know, I'm not you. You can always come up with solutions and all kinds of whimsical ideas, even bypassing chivalry and the law. But I can’t.”

"But you handled it pretty well. I heard that you solved a lot of troubles." Ryan looked at Alfred with interest.

The fourth dish was brought up by the dark elf. The fourth dish was fish, the famous white wine cream salmon.

"Thank you... That's because I learned a lot from you, good friend." Alfred lowered his head and tasted the white wine buttered salmon, which was fried by the chef of the Wingford Palace brought by Sulia. There is a greasy feeling, and the sauce made of light cream can dissolve the greasy feeling. The smoothness of the cream combined with the delicateness of the salmon is the best in the world.

"Learned something new?" Ryan was very interested: "What did you learn, Afu?"

"Just like you, I suddenly realized the power of authority, good friend." Alfred showed an embarrassed expression and scratched his golden hair behind his back: "I suddenly realized that I seemed to have become a hero. , people worship me and fear me, and my words seem to have become truth and law. Although I have some problems with the handling of some affairs and the arrangements for personnel, no one questions me. On the contrary, as long as I The orders were resolutely implemented, so I understand that I know how to use personal prestige to deal with things. Although this is temporary, it is effective. Sometimes, I have some illusions. I even thought that in the area In the ancient church district, I am the center of the universe.”

"Normally, power confuses and inflates people." Ryan nodded and said softly: "Afu, remember that when personal prestige is exhausted, temporarily suppressing the problem does not mean solving the problem."

"I understand, good friend, I have also been observing your policies over the years." Alfred was a little embarrassed to be said. In fact, he was indeed a little inflated because of his monopoly in that place, but after meeting Ryan After building the newly built splendid Duke's Castle, he calmed down again: "But I'm not like you. I still haven't figured out how you created today's glory like magic, and how knights and serfs coexist harmoniously. Scenery."

"This is a complicated issue." Ryan nodded. He placed his hands clasped on the long table. The silver dinner plate trembled slightly with his movements and made a pleasant sound: "But you have made great progress. When faced with a problem, you neither escape nor try to solve the problem, but face the problem head-on, even if you rely on your personal prestige to temporarily solve the problem, which is also a positive way of coping."

"But this is not a solution to the problem." Alfred sighed suddenly: "You know, good friend, before that, I had written to the Justice Church several times and applied to send enough people to help me, but I was waiting for my answer. It was all prevarication and delay, and my superiors kept saying it needed to be reconsidered and looked into.”

"But when Mousilon was conquered this time, my name spread throughout the old world along with this battle. When I wrote another letter and sent it to the Church of Justice, Archbishop Wickma just said one sentence and sent it to me. With more than six hundred troops, and with the help of the imperial bureaucrats, everything in the ancient church district immediately became orderly." Alfred sighed: "But I don't like that style."

"What kind of style? Have small meetings for big things and big meetings for small things? Constantly requesting to expand the establishment and establish new departments?" Ryan smiled: "How often do we see this kind of situation?"

"Hmm~" Alfred shook his head and smiled bitterly: "There are many, I won't go into details about them. I actually don't like those people. They are always domineering, thinking that they are people sent by the Archbishop, and like to speak condescendingly. , On the one hand, they look down on the locals in Musilon and yell at them all day long, but on the other hand, they please me very much, with a somewhat flattering attitude."

"That's for sure." Ryan looked at Alfred across the table and said, "Isn't this normal? What position do these people sent by the empire give themselves? They are definitely not here to be serfs, then They naturally have a great sense of superiority over the serfs, and then who is the source of their power? It is you who have the autonomy and property rights of the entire Freya Ancient Church District. They naturally want to please you, because they are just agents. This It’s the bureaucracy.”

The fifth dish was served by the dark elf and other maids. This dish was the main dish. It was made with black truffles, wine and black pepper sauce. It was poured on top of sixty-seven mature sirloin steaks, and was dotted with a few pieces on the side. Roasted cauliflower and served on an iron plate.

The sirloin of sirloin steak is derived from the ancient Breton language (sur loin), which originally means the meat above the beef tenderloin, that is, the outer rib of the beef. The overall taste is strong, hard, chewy, and juicy. The taste is fresh and tender.

A piece of fried sirloin steak will exude a faint aroma. The vinegar and acid sauce is poured around the steak. The steak will show a very unique dark golden color. When you cut the steak with a table knife, the beef inside will be beautiful pink. Colorful and juicy.

Ryan picked up a small piece of steak and threw it into his mouth. He could clearly feel the juice spilling out as his teeth chewed it. The aroma of the barbecue was well transmitted to every taste bud in his mouth, swirling around in it. The original taste of beef is brought into full play.

"So, I heard that there are rumors outside that you like and admire the enfeoffment system and have some disdain for the bureaucracy? I originally thought this was wrong, but now I think you have your own ideas." Alfred He smiled and said: "Look, after the enfeoffment is completed, you can drop everything and rush back here, and we will be busy there from beginning to end."

"No, no, no!" Ryan said quickly: "I do not advocate the enfeoffment system, and I have never said that the enfeoffment system is a superior system. Don't talk nonsense!"

"But you..." Alfred hesitated.

Ryan gave a wry smile and looked at the starry sky on the summer night: "Afu, enfeoffment is a helpless move. This issue is very complicated. I'll put it simply. You won't say it. If I appoint the castle lord, what will happen in front of me?" Regarding Mousilon's current situation, will Olivier, Lucien and Juan work as hard as they do now?"

Lord of the Castle is a professional title in Brittany, somewhat similar to Chief of the Guard, that is, a noble appoints a subordinate noble to garrison a castle, and the ownership of the castle still belongs to the original noble.

Alfred shook his head and smiled bitterly, he understood.

It is precisely because the land becomes their own that they work so hard.

"So, the enfeoffment system is actually a trick." Seeing that Alfred understood it, Ryan said with a smile: "This is equivalent to me throwing the whole mess to Juan and the others, and they will definitely fight for the recovery. I will do my best to produce and rebuild the territory, so I don’t have to worry about it, but the drawbacks of the enfeoffment system are low military recruitment and lower tax revenue.”

"But your control over the territory is unparalleled. I dare say that as long as you say a word, all the knights and nobles will immediately lead their armies to follow you." Alfred was still struggling with this matter.

"Hahaha~ I said, I was just taking advantage." Ryan nodded: "Yes, as long as I say something, Juan and the others will definitely respond, but this is not because I am Duke Musilon, but because I am Ryan, I am Ryan Malcador because of my personal prestige and personal martial prowess, not my title."

"I understand, you are enjoying the benefits of the enfeoffment system and the cohesion brought by the lofty personal prestige at the same time! You guy! What a bad guy!" Alfred understood, and the Templar Commander pointed at Ryan and laughed. : "I understand, you don't really admire the enfeoffment system, you are just enjoying the convenience it brings to you!"

The sixth course is a hot plate, a standard southern Brittany dish, chicken braised in red wine.

The seventh course is a cold appetizer, consisting of Bordello octopus, salmon, arctic shellfish, tuna, frozen crab, and frozen shrimp.

"So, Ah Fu, you must be careful not to see the wind or rain. When you hear the rumors outside, you have to judge for yourself. Do you understand this? If these things are completely... out of nowhere, you can help He said it again, this means you are also responsible, right?" Ryan said with a smile, and then his face slowly turned serious: "I never said that the feudal system was superior to the bureaucracy. In fact, the empire's bureaucracy It is true that some problems are annoying, but in any case, it is much more advanced than the feudal system, and it is very necessary.”

The eighth dish was ice cream, and the mango sorbet did a good job of removing the fishy smell of seafood from Ryan and Alfred's mouths.

The ninth course is salad, fruit salad.

"In other words, you will eventually lead the entire kingdom to evolve into the empire's system, right?" Alfred thought thoughtfully.

"Yes." Ryan nodded: "But we need to remember that reform must be carried out step by step. If the step is too big, it will cause trouble. In fact, based on the current foundation of Britannia, the ultra-low literacy rate and The level of education is not enough to allow us to directly implement changes in one step. Now is the best time, because I have obtained the highest power, but the foundation is not good, and I still do not have the conditions for implementation. I need to have a clear mind at what stage to do it. What's going on? For now, I don't have the conditions to change it. I might as well delegate power, and these knights and nobles completely surrender to me. I don't have to worry about the low army recruitment level caused by the feudal system. The core of the problem now It’s better to restore Musilon first and let it return to its former glory, and let’s talk about other matters.”

"Yes, that makes sense." At this time, Alfred nodded sincerely: "My good friend, you have convinced me."

The final tenth course was dessert, and today’s dessert was the Imperial Black Forest Cake.

After finishing the black forest cake, today's dinner ended like this.

"Let's go, Afu, let's go to the hot springs." Ryan stood up.

"Okay~"

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