The Sun King's Evidence

PS: Today’s first update, I saw a lot of people saying that the previous chapter was bad, saying that I was perfunctory and just coping. What I want to say is that in order to add an update yesterday, I returned to the dormitory at night and started writing the second update until eleven o'clock. I finally finished the second update and was about to write today's first update. I was so tired at that time I couldn't even open my eyes, but in order to keep updating or procrastinate, I insisted on writing until 2:30 in the morning to finish today's first update. Furthermore, I had planned to write such content for a long time. I’ve been reading this for a long time, watched a lot of broadcasts and press releases, and checked a lot of information. I understand if you don’t appreciate it. If you say I’m a bit weak, I’ll admit it because I know I’m relatively weak. But if I’m really perfunctory or have a bad attitude, I’ll Did you still work hard to write the second update yesterday?

There should be less thankless tasks in the future. I am already tired and uncomfortable sitting for long periods of time.

Anyway, let’s add another chapter today, the emperor apologizes here.

…………I am the dividing line that distinguishes the main text and PS…………

An elector with a melancholy face, wearing an extremely luxurious elector's dress, a large amount of gold and silver jewelry hanging on his body, and a hat with colorful feathers on his head, about forty years old, stood in front of Ryan. In front of him, his face was full of arrogance and severity. The silk coat was embroidered with the golden sun and golden wool patterns. Obviously, this was the family coat of arms of the Elector of Tuscany. There were two hanging on his waist. A sword, a long sword is the Holy Sword of the Imperial Elector, and a short sword is a dwarf rune-enchanted silver short sword. He is very handsome, but his melancholy expression and poker face ruin the lines of his facial features.

"Allow me to introduce you, this is the new Elector of Tuscany, Grand Duke of Iverland, and Grand Count of Iverheim, Marius Leitdorf." The emperor smiled and patted Marius. Shoulder: "The last elector, Umberto Corleone, finally decided to retire after serving as elector of Tuscany for two hundred years. Marius is his fifth descendant, a legendary pinnacle A strong man, when he was competing for the title of elector within the family, he defeated all the competitors with the two swords in his hands and stood out. I think you will have a lot of exchanges. Marius has always been the most steadfast in our family. Political allies and military partners, the friendly relations between Reikland and Iverland can be traced back to the noble friendship between Charlemagne and Sigurd, the first Elector of Tuscany, two thousand years ago."

"It's an honor to meet you, Your Excellency Ryan Malcador." Marius forced a smile: "If I have the opportunity, I will definitely ask you for some sword skills."

"Welcome at any time." Ryan stretched out his hand to shake Marius's hand. The Crown Prince of Britannia hesitated for a moment: "Crazy... Earl?"

"Hahaha~" The emperor couldn't help laughing when he heard the word "mad count", but Marius had no reaction at all. He replied firmly: "They asked for this."

Of course Ryan knew Marius, and of course he was concerned about the change of elector in the empire. After Marius Leitdorf was selected as the first successor to the elector, the first thing he did was to announce that the Mut leader could not submit to the throne. Iveyland merchants levied a high "shank tax."

What is the calf tax?

In the Mutt Territory, the homeland of the halflings, in order to protect the interests of the halflings and prevent humans from overly occupying the halfling's homeland, the halflings will levy a "calf tax" on humans entering the Mutt Territory, that is, humans with a height of more than 1.3 meters. Anyone who wants to enter a halfling town must pay a hefty tax. This tax was originally intended to protect the Mutt Territory, the empire's largest granary, from being re-infiltrated by humans and taking back the territory.

But as we all know, no matter how well-intentioned a tax is, as long as there is no follow-up and supervision, it will eventually become a tool for the ruling class to make money. As the halflings continue to increase the calf tax, Ivey leads this large grain-producing province and the empire. One of the richest provinces couldn't stand it anymore. The first thing Marius did when he was chosen as the heir was to lead the Knights of the Golden Fleece, the Knights of the Black Bear and the unique expeditionary army of the Aiwei Kingdom towards the territory of Mutt. The halflings declared war and demanded that the other side lower the calf tax.

As a result, the Halflings got a scrapped steam tank from nowhere. They installed a trailer behind the steam tank and installed the famous Halfling Crucible behind the tank. Relying on this steam tank, the Halflings There was a battle with Marius on the border. After that, Emperor Karl-Franz came out to mediate, Ai Weiland and Mutland signed an agreement, the halflings reduced the calf tax, and Marius withdrew his troops.

Marius Leitdorf earned the nickname "The Mad Count" for his unexpected behavior, his screaming and personal charge on the battlefield, his rough manners and his bad sense of humor.

By the way, Marius Leitdorf's brother is Hans Leitdorf, who is the Grand Master of the Templars mentioned above and Alfred's immediate boss.

As for where this scrapped steam tank came from... Ryan thought it must have something to do with Emilia.

There was no way. In the previous invasion of Tamu Khan, the army led by Ivey was busy guarding the Black Fire Pass and did not participate. The emperor was also fighting the Chaos warband in the Brass Fortress in the Hawk Territory. Nur was extremely dissatisfied with these two provinces. , the two sides had a lot of friction during this period, were hostile to each other, and their relations declined.

After introducing Marius, another very strong, bear-like middle-aged man stood in front of Ryan. He was wearing a bearskin coat and a lake green cloak. The back of the cloak was printed with patterns of sea ships and wind waves. The big man stood in front of him. He came to the emperor's side. His brown hair and beard had a few strands of white, and there were many wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. He had a long goatee that hung down to his belly. He was like a real northern warrior, stubborn, tenacious, and Warlike and vicious.

"I think you may have met this one, Theodorik Geisel, the current Grand Duke of Nord, the owner of the power to elect the emperor of the Kingdom of Nord, Grand Baron Sessenmund, the Fear of Norsca , you have all made great achievements in fighting against the Norscan invasion, maybe you are also a topic." The emperor picked up the wine glass.

"I have met him." Theodoric Geisel (to avoid being confused with Theodoric, Duke of Belion, will be collectively referred to as Geisel from now on)'s voice was very rough, and he was no longer young: "Ryan was just a knight errant at that time, wandering around Nord, looking for opportunities for promotion."

"Is His Majesty Harald's health okay??" Ryan picked up the wine glass and clinked it with Geisel. If His Majesty Harald is no longer good, the empire will lose another strong man from the holy realm who can control the situation.

"My great-grandfather is getting old and is no longer able to handle internal affairs. He is almost 300 years old this year." Geisel's voice was impatient: "He has retired, and now it is the turn of us young people."

Ryan thought to himself, are you over fifty this year? Is this still young?

However, the strong men in this world do have to live longer, and whether they are the Elector of the Empire or the Duke of Britannia, they will also pay relative attention to strength when choosing their heirs. After all, the heirs must live long enough to stabilize the territory.

Incidentally, Geisel’s daughter Anne-Talis is the wife of Elector Boris Todbringer.

Geisel, like his great-grandfather Harald Frank, was a ruler who was very obsessed with the size of his territory and especially liked to forge claims. After he took over as elector, he publicly claimed that he inherited Marienburg from his great-grandfather. As a matter of course, the title of the prince was given, and the Marienburg City Council immediately issued a statement, listing Geisel as an unwelcome object in Marienburg.

"It seems that you are very familiar with each other." The emperor was a little surprised, and he smiled heartily: "Am I being a little presumptuous?"

"No, it's an honor, Karl, that you actually brought such a luxurious delegation this time." Ryan felt the cold wind blowing through his body at night, and his attitude was very friendly: "I thought you would come, but I didn't expect... you This brings half of the empire."

"No, it's an empire." Marius extended an index finger and pointed at the emperor: "He is the empire."

This inappropriate and cold joke made Ryan twitch the corner of his mouth and made the whole atmosphere instantly awkward. Karl-Franz laughed dryly twice, really not knowing what to say. Geisel snorted from deep in his nostrils and mouthed He muttered "boring southerners" and walked away with the cup.

"..." The awkward atmosphere lasted for ten seconds. Karl-Franz and Ryan looked at me and I looked at you, neither of them knew how to respond to these words. Marius had no idea about his inappropriate humor. He didn't notice it, and he didn't intend to say anything to resolve the embarrassment.

"Okay, Ryan, I heard that you hired a team of Erengrad Sea Soul Guards from Kislev through your relationship with President Amancio of the Estalia Merchant Alliance. Tell me, who are you? How did you do it?" After thinking for a moment, the emperor decided to change the topic. He shrugged and pretended to be relaxed: "Can we talk about it?"

"Come with me, I'll show you something." Ryan motioned for the emperor to follow him. Karl and Marius looked at each other and followed immediately.

The three people came to a small room in the palace. Ryan carefully opened a large gold box, which contained five golden eggs made of gold with a white enamel outer layer: "Look, Karl."

"This is... a Faberge egg?!" Karl-Franz and Marius both opened their mouths in surprise: "This... isn't this Kislev's national treasure? Oh my God, Ryan, what are you doing? Got it?!”

Ryan opened the first Easter egg with a smile. Inside the egg was a small golden hen. In the belly of the golden hen was a mini crown made of diamonds and a miniature egg made of rubies. Its ingenious design The forging skills amaze everyone. Only Carl Franz’s royal treasury has the same Easter egg. It was a national gift from the Kingdom of Kislev to the Emperor. As a symbol of friendship, every Faberge egg is different. , and there is a powerful protective magic sealed inside, which can be recharged and used repeatedly.

"How did you get it? Someone needs money, someone needs something, someone has the channels, that's how we got it." Ryan looked at the five Faberge eggs with satisfaction. He smiled and said: "Amancio has a way, as long as There is enough money. Kislev is now in urgent need of funds to pay pensions and rebuild the army that suffered heavy losses. Her Majesty Katalin's magic research also requires a lot of expenses. The kingdom cannot provide so much tax revenue, and the finances that cannot make ends meet need money to fill it. This is how the easter eggs come, and so does the Sea Soul Guard. There are some things that we cannot do openly, but privately, the Tsarist royal family is willing to transfer their national treasures. As long as the price is right, there is nothing that cannot be sold. Amancio has a list in his hand. .”

"Oh! Charlemagne, Helena will like this." Karl-Franz understood, and the emperor smiled even more happily: "Helena will like this, and I will tell Amancio and ask him to give it to her too. I'll fix it."

"I want one too, no, two!" Marius's eyes were bright, and only these five eggs were left in the eyes of the mad count. Ryan thought to himself, these are what I want to give to the lady and Sulia, and What does it have to do with you, so Ryan immediately closed the treasure box again, and the three people came out of the room. The emperor thought for a while and asked tentatively: "So, your expedition to the Bafeng Mountain is also for the endless wealth in it?"

"Knights always need a reason to go on expeditions." Ryan did not directly answer Karl Franz's question: "King Belegar has a suitable reason and has helped us a lot."

"Black-hearted Lepp is the border prince you support?" Marius asked quite directly: "I heard his name more than once in the Aiwei territory. He seems to have a stable and sufficient supply of troops, and he can also obtain a large amount of troops from Haimen Pass at any time. The mercenary leader cannot do it without the support of others. He now owns three towns and more than a dozen villages, and more than 3,000 swords."

"Littlebird? Maybe, who knows?" Ryan said speciously: "He may also come this time to ascend the throne. You can ask him then?"

At this point, the emperor and Marius knew what was going on. Karl-Franz thought for a moment and felt that the empire did not have the energy to care about the affairs of the border princes. He laughed a few times and stopped a man in a fur coat. , the leader of Midden wearing a felt hat, said to Ryan: "By the way, Ryan, I almost forgot, this time I want to introduce you to a hero of the empire, my right-hand man."

"Imperial Hunter Marshal, Marcus Wolfheart!"

While there was a lively state banquet and cocktail reception in the palace of Corona, under the dark night sky, another group of visitors approached the capital of the Kingdom of Knights along the ancient road.

Grand Duke Schulz of Marienburg led his own bodyguards and Marienburg's elite pioneer cavalry "Border Patrollers" along the Kurona Road and arrived at the outskirts of Kurona.

More than ten years seemed to have left no trace on Van der Cooper-Schulz. He led a few particularly tall people on a small hill in the Kurona wilderness, looking at the glory in the distance. As the city welcomes the arrival of the Imperial Emperor today, Curona is brightly lit, like a beacon of civilization, illuminating the dark plains nearby.

"Your Majesty, your Excellencies, we are here."

"very good."

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