The fall of Nasri and Canas caused a huge uproar among the nations of Freia. It meant that Aueras now ruled over the eastern region of Freia, at least in name. They were now the true hegemon of the continent.
While various military experts and war historians studied the new weapons and military reforms brought about by the two armies, they also called this war the Second Eastern Regional War.
It was undeniable that the reason Aueras was able to turn the tide and unify the entire eastern region was due to the participation of the two corps from the autonomous region.
As time passed and the hard work of the spies from various nations, the new rifles and cannons equipped by Thundercrash and Monolith attracted the attention of more nations.
It was inevitable for weapons to be lost or damaged on the battlefield. Many fragments and wreckage of the new rifles fell into the hands of spies from various nations under the allure of a high price.
With the blueprints of the new rifles, it wasn't difficult to deduce their mechanical structure based on the wreckage.
The southern kingdom of Lesnia, for example, quickly announced that they had developed a new rifle. It was a rifle that had to be reloaded every time a bullet was fired. It looked very similar to Sonia's Type-91 rifle and was jokingly referred to as a one-shot rifle.
The problem was that while Lesnia was the first nation to announce that they had developed a new rifle, they didn't announce when they would be using it to replace the matchlock muskets with their royal army.
Just like the other nations who researched new weapons, the new rifles were easy to make, but the propellant for the bullets was the biggest problem.
Even if the bullets produced by the region ended up in the hands of other nations, they wouldn't be able to figure out the formula of the propellant from the tiny bit of propellant at the bottom of the bullets.
It wasn't that there weren't other ways to replace the propellant. Just like the revolvers and hunting rifles produced by the four Aueran military industries, the propellant at the bottom of their bullets was made of fire crystals, which made them extremely expensive.
If the Kingdom of Lesnia were to equip two legions of 120,000 soldiers with the new rifles, and each soldier was equipped with 50 bullets that fired with fire crystals, then the Kingdom of Lesnia could declare bankruptcy.
The cost of a new rifle, excluding cartridges, was about five to seven times that of a matchlock, a heavy financial burden for any country, and a new rifle without cartridges was cheaper and more practical than a matchlock.
Just like the old noble houses of Aueras, they had also concentrated their manpower to create a new rifle called Tegston 600, but they were also stumped by the propellant of the rifle.
However, they took another route, which was to write to the easy-going General Bolonik, hoping to purchase the rifle bullets they needed from the overseas autonomous region. The first batch required ten million rounds, and they asked for a reasonable price from the overseas autonomous region.
After Bolonik and Claude discussed it, they offered a riasso for one bullet.
Ten million bullets were worth ten million riyas, which was equivalent to a million thales, or two hundred thousand crowns.
If it was a matchlock, ten million bullets plus gunpowder would only cost ten to twenty thousand thales.
The price Claude and the others offered left the aristocratic families in a dilemma, but the autonomous region refused to bargain with them.
Apart from that, during the Aueran new year assembly in Year 601 of the Sacred Light Calendar, there was quite a commotion when they were discussing who would take over Claude's position in Nasri.
No minister of the kingdom was willing to take up the post in Nasri. Even those who were forced to find excuses to resign from their posts in Nasri.
They either said they were too old to take up the post, fell ill, or were bedridden after falling off a horse or a flight of stairs.
Quite a few newspapers in the royal capital even published betting notices. The first reason was to bet on whether the royal court would be able to gather enough people to head to Nasri, and the second was to see if there were any other excuses that the chosen officials wouldn't use. The entire royal capital was excited to see the royal court make a fool out of itself.
No one was a fool. If a prefecture in the kingdom lacked an official, there would be plenty of people willing to fight for the position.
But going to the Nasri region to be a local administrator was out of the question.
This was because this position was arduous and unrewarding, and it was even very likely to be a fatal position. Being the local administrative director was like sitting on a barrel of gunpowder that had already been lit, and you wouldn't even know when it would explode.
Anyone with a clear head knew that taking up a post in Nasri would be risking their lives.
First of all, Nasri had always been Aueran's mortal enemy for the past century. The two had fought five times and had a blood feud.
The Nasri people's hostility towards Aueran wouldn't end with the fall of Nasri. On the contrary, it would only get worse.
Secondly, the appointed officials would be civil officials, not military ones, so they wouldn't have guards to protect them.
The Nasri region had just been taken over and wasn't as peaceful as the other prefectures in the kingdom.
As a local administrator, even if he paid out of his own pocket to hire guards to take up his post, he would be exposing himself to the hostile Nasrian populace. He would quickly become a target for assassination and murder …
Thirdly, and most importantly, the only reason to be an official was for money.
Not only would they not get rich if they went to Nasri, their lives would be in danger. It was understandable why no one was willing to take up the post.
While the two kingdoms were both in the east, they had their own differences.
Aueran had an enlightened parliament system. They abolished the feudal nobles and formed a noble parliament and a national parliament, known as the House of Lords and House of Commons. They also made education universal in the kingdom.
Aueran's parliament was formed by the House of Lords, supervised by the House of Commons, and mediated by the king. This ensured the stability of the kingdom's politics.
Because the kingdom's military power was in the hands of the king in name, the kingdom's administrative affairs were handled by the prime minister.
The prime minister was responsible to the noble parliament and was supervised by the national parliament. Such a political structure had an obvious effect on the kingdom's economic development during peaceful times.
Of course, that was unless they encountered a weird king like Stellin XI.
The Nasrian Kingdom, on the other hand, was completely different. It still followed the old feudal system, or rather, the Nasrian Kingdom was an alliance formed by feudal lords of all sizes. They huddled together for warmth, and any national affairs were resolved by the lords through negotiations. The Nasrian royal family was only the most powerful of the nobles.
That was the same for Nasri, Shiks, Canas, and the other fallen principalities. That was why they were hostile towards Aueran and formed an anti-Aueran alliance.
In the entire Nasrian Kingdom, apart from the territories directly under the Nasrian royal family, the citizens of the other nobles were forced into serfdom.
Apart from the free citizens, most of the citizens and commoners were actually very poor. To put it bluntly, their life and death were in the hands of the lords. Even what they planted this year, what they did, whether they could fill their stomachs or not, were all decided by the lords. It wasn't up to them to decide.
It could be said that Thundercrash had swept through the entirety of Nasri. Their targets were the nobles, the officials they appointed, and their private forces.
That was why they were able to plunder so many valuables and gold and silver utensils. That was why they were able to use these plundered gold and silver utensils to store them everywhere in the western part of King City during the Battle of Polyvicia, luring the soldiers of the Union Army into the city into chaos for the sake of making a fortune, turning them into a mob that was easily wiped out.
The well-informed officials of the royal court naturally knew that Thundercrash had made a fortune from the destruction of Nasri. It was said that they had earned twenty to thirty million crowns.
But there was no point in being envious. The spoils of war belonged to Thundercrash and Monolith.
The royal court had the right to ask about the spoils of Nasri's treasury and requested that the two corps of the autonomous region present them to the royal court.
However, the spoils of the nobles' private forces and lands belonged to the two corps and didn't need to be presented to the royal court.
The fires of war hadn't stopped for the past few years. Not only had the entire treasury of Aueras starved to death, even the wealthy Nasri was on the brink of starvation.
This could be seen from the nearly two million crowns in gold and silver they seized from the treasury.
For Aueras, the biggest benefit from the destruction of Nasri was the elimination of their debt of eight million crowns.
While Fredri I had decided to renege on his debt when the war broke out, it wasn't as satisfying as cutting down his creditors with a sword.
Now that Nasri was gone, the debt was gone with it.
The nobles of Nasri had been purged by Thundercrash and the fat sheep had been slaughtered. All that was left were the poor peasants and peasants who couldn't even squeeze anything out of their bones. They might even have to fork out their own money to feed them.
So, there was no need to go to Nasri. There was no chance of getting rich and they would have to risk their lives. The officials of Aueras were very pragmatic and started boycotting the idea of going to Nasri.
Generally speaking, the best way to deal with a newly conquered territory was to implement a military system. In three to five years, the newly conquered territory would be cleared of riots and rebels. When the people of the newly conquered territory had gotten used to the conqueror's rule, the newly conquered territory would then gradually begin to implement the kingdom's policy in the newly conquered territory, gradually assimilating the hearts of the people of the newly conquered territory, slowly turning it into a local prefecture like the kingdom itself.
However, it was very difficult for the current Aueras to implement military rule.
Firstly, they didn't have the money. Garrisoning a new territory required a large amount of military expenditure to suppress it.
If not for the autonomous region providing the royal court with large amounts of resources and military support, Aueras would have collapsed long ago.
Just like how the royal court relied on Thundercrash and Monolith to destroy Nasri and Canas, they didn't have the strength to do so themselves.
That was why the royal court couldn't send troops to take over Askilin, Rimodra, and Sidins — the three territories that Thundercrash had reclaimed long ago — because they didn't have the money to do so.
As for sending officials, that was out of the question. Those territories were former rebels of the kingdom and belonged to Prince Hansbach's faction. It would be very dangerous to be an official there.
Secondly, military rule required troops. The kingdom only had three decent corps left — the royal guard, Crimson Dragon, and Gryphon.
While they were all old noble families, they were split into three factions. To the ministry of the army, there was a difference between those who were close to them and those who were distant.
The royal guard was its own son, while Crimson Dragon and Gryphon were the rebellious bastards who needed to be taught a lesson.
While the old noble families had the same attitude towards the outside world, there was a huge conflict within them.
The royal guard believed that they had done a great service for Fredri and didn't think much of the other two corps.
Crimson Dragon and Gryphon, on the other hand, had become more independent due to their unpopularity. Even the orders from the ministry of the army were ignored by them.
If you want to order us around, that's easy. You just have to make up for the military's expenses.
They didn't have the money to build a new corps and the royal guard couldn't be sent out. As for Crimson Dragon and Gryphon, they were too powerful. They couldn't be ordered around without money.
Also, it was hard to rest assured having them in charge of the military. They were afraid that if they stayed in Nasrian for too long, they would become the local tyrants. That place would become their territory and they would listen to orders but not listen to orders. They would be like warlords and there would be disputes in the future.
So, Fredri the First and the prime minister, Blancarte, were in a difficult position and didn't know what to do.
They didn't have the resources to manage the territories, while sending officials there was resistance. They felt that sending them there was no different from sending them to their deaths.
He had no choice but to send an eagle messenger to Bolonik and Claude, telling them that the two corps of the autonomous region would be in charge of defending the newly conquered territory while the royal court made further arrangements.
Claude didn't know whether to laugh or cry when he received the letter from the royal court. He didn't think that the kingdom would actually be so poor. Well, it was hard to say.
It was a good thing that Monolith and Thundercrash had left the kingdom. They avoided the whirlpool of power in the royal capital and didn't have to worry about their positions anymore.
Right now, what the two armies of the overseas autonomous military zone needed to do was to let nature take its course and do nothing.
The Nasri territories were easier to deal with. Thirty percent of the taxes were collected and the rest was handled by the local elders. That was enough to make the people in the towns and villages happy.
The Nasri royal family used to pay half of the taxes and a month's labor every year.
Now that the labor was abolished and the taxes were reduced by twenty percent, it was indeed a benevolent policy for the people who only cared about their families.
However, the other territories of the Nasri nobles weren't as easy to deal with.
The commoners there were like serfs. Without their lords, they wouldn't even be able to feed themselves.
They had no means of production, no land, no seeds, and belonged to the poorest of the poor.
Coupled with the Second Battle of Edom, many of the youths in the territories were forcibly conscripted and sent to the battlefield, leaving the old, weak, women, and children unable to feed themselves and their families.
Without their lords, the commoners wouldn't be able to live their lives.
So, while the royal court and Fredrey I left the Nasri territories to Bolonik and Claude, they were actually putting a heavy burden on them.
The best way to deal with it was to give the commoners land, food, and the like so that they could earn their own living.
However, Claude didn't do that, as he didn't have the authority to distribute the lands that originally belonged to the nobles to the commoners and commoners.
Without their lords, the lands would belong to the royal family. Without Fredrey I's permission, Claude couldn't do that.
So, Claude had no choice but to send his troops to each of the nobles' territories and assign them to manage the production and taxes.
Blancarte, on the other hand, sent a private letter to Bolonik, revealing the rewards for the two of them.
Both of them would be promoted to the rank of marshal. Claude would be made a hereditary duke, while Bolonik would be made a hereditary count.
As for General Birkin and General Eiblont, they were also promoted to the first rank and were conferred the title of hereditary baron of the kingdom.
Unlike the overjoyed Bolonik, Claude didn't feel the slightest bit of excitement. It was all within his expectations.
The king didn't have any money in his pockets, so he could only use these fake rewards to win them over.
Even though he promised that Thundercrash and Monolith would also be rewarded handsomely, the treasury was short on funds, so the rewards were temporarily placed in the ministry of the army. They would only be given out when they had more funds in the future.
It was as if he hadn't said anything at all. So what if he was made a hereditary duke? It was just a title that his descendants could inherit.
While he was still alive, Claude would still receive a generous income from the royal family. Once he passed away, his descendants would have to pay the royal family a fee to inherit the title.
Otherwise, the title would be demoted from duke to marquis to count. Of course, the fee wasn't much either.