Claude really couldn't think of a solution.
It was said that humans were selfish by nature. They would want to obtain wealth, possess beauty and power to make themselves superior to others. That was a hidden desire in everyone's heart.
However, those who were clear-headed could control their desires and work hard step by step to achieve success.
Some didn't want to work hard but wanted to satisfy their desires, so they took the wrong path and lost everything in the end.
General Bolonik had once suggested that all the nobles and fiefs in the autonomous region should unite and link their fiefs together. That way, the autonomous region would gain a foothold on Freia.
But Claude shook his head. That wasn't something that could be done.
If a councilor of an autonomous region was made an honorary noble, he wouldn't have the resolve to entrust his family's land to someone else after spending 300,000 crowns to become a hereditary noble of the kingdom and being granted a piece of land by His Majesty.
On the contrary, it was very likely that he would transfer all sorts of resources from the Free Dominion to develop his family's territory. Because at that moment, the importance of his family's territory would surpass his identity and status in the Free Dominion. It would be the foundation of his family's legacy for future generations. There was nothing more important than a family's territory.
It was obvious that the plan to give the nobles a hereditary fief was an overt plot, and overt plots were the hardest to deal with.
It would make people jump into a trap even if they knew it was one, and they would do it willingly.
Just like Claude, he knew that the plan would have a huge impact on the region, but there was nothing he could do about it.
He could control himself, but he couldn't influence the opinions of others.
A month passed in the blink of an eye. The plan to give the nobles a hereditary fief caused quite a commotion in the royal capital.
According to the report sent by the overseas autonomous region's office in the royal capital, it was said that King Frederick the First had agreed to Blancarte's proposal.
The noble assembly passed it unanimously. The assembly, on the other hand, was still arguing, but the number of people who agreed and disagreed was about the same.
There was also news that His Majesty was going to give all the councilors of the national assembly the title of honorary baron.
It seemed that Frederick the First had made up his mind to carry out this plan of granting the nobles of the kingdom.
It was very simple. If all the members of the National Parliament became honorary barons of the kingdom, they would only need to raise enough money to pay for the promotion fee to become a hereditary baron of the kingdom. They would also be able to obtain a hereditary family territory from King Frederick I. In this case, they would have no reason to oppose this plan.
The following days were rather hectic for Claude and Bolonik. More than ten waves of envoys from the kingdom's nobles came to visit the two generals in the capital every day.
Many of the visitors were direct descendants of the kingdom's nobles, brothers and sisters. They brought expensive gifts and smiling faces, asking nothing more than for Thundercrash to send a team to escort them on a tour of Nasri and protect them.
In fact, they were all there to act as a stepping stone for their own families. They wanted to see the real situation in Nasrian and choose a good fief for their own.
Even though Claude and Bolonik were annoyed, they wouldn't slap someone who was smiling at them.
Not to mention, the families of the visitors were rather influential in the royal capital. The conflict between the autonomous region and the kingdom's old nobles wasn't made public. Everyone maintained a polite front.
When the visitors offered to hire Thundercrash to act as their temporary guards, Claude nodded and agreed to their request. He sent troops to protect the visitors as they wandered around Nasrian.
Compared to Bolonik, Claude was much more relaxed. At the very least, he didn't have his elders rushing to the capital to ask him to pick a good fief every day.
Just as Claude predicted, Bolonik's father ignored his old age and traveled to the royal capital in a carriage under the escort of two younger relatives. His goal was also to choose a piece of land for the family.
Bolonik's wife and children lived in the autonomous region's capital, Lanu. However, his parents and siblings continued to set up farms in the outskirts of the royal capital.
After hearing that Bolonik would be given a fief, his parents, who had never been willing to have anything to do with him, couldn't sit still any longer. They came all the way here to let him pick a fief as soon as possible.
His father, the old man whom Claude detested, lectured Bolonik in front of the two of them, saying that Bolonik would continue living in the autonomous region and that his brothers could help him manage the fief.
In the end, Claude had to step in and tell the old man to stop dreaming. As a high-ranking officer of the autonomous region, Bolonik's fief would be entrusted to the autonomous region. That was the decision of the autonomous region's parliament.
As for which fief to be given, that would be decided by the parliament. It wasn't up to him to decide.
If Bolonik didn't agree to it, he would leave the council and manage his fief on his own. The autonomous region would have nothing to do with him in the future.
Although Bolonik's father was angry that the Autonomous Territory Parliament had interfered with his family's territory, he was not stupid. He knew that Bolonik had relied on the Autonomous Territory Parliament to achieve his current status, which had brought a lot of benefits to his family's farm.
So, he didn't fall out with them and only extorted some money from Bolonik and brought some precious gifts with him before returning to the royal capital in a carriage.
Bolonik breathed a sigh of relief and thanked Claude for helping him out of his predicament.
Every family had their own difficulties. He knew very well that his parents did not like him, the second son. In order to disassociate themselves from him, they had even published a newspaper in the capital to declare that they had severed their blood ties with him and scolded him as a traitor to the kingdom.
Naturally, Bolonik understood that his parents did that to protect their family farm and didn't want his actions in the autonomous region to drag them down.
After the autonomous region sent reinforcements to the kingdom and Monolith won a great victory in Ambrize, his parents claimed that he was the pride of their family. At the same time, they sent his elder brother to tell him that their farm had been robbed clean by the alliance and asked him to give them some support. In return, they took quite a bit of money from him.
Now, because of him, his parents and elder brother took advantage of the poor situation of the neighbors to buy the land around the farm at a low price, preparing to expand the family farm.
Many of the neighbors who were forced to sell their land to them did not dare to say anything. His parents and brothers had a bad reputation in that area, but due to his current identity and status, even the local officials were not willing to offend his parents and brothers. This situation was reported to General Bolonik by the secret agents of the King's office.
General Bolonik knew very well that if he allowed his parents to interfere after he obtained his family's territory, his parents would soon force him to turn his hereditary territory into the family's territory. They would even think of ways to give his brother's son a noble title so that the most precious grandson in his parents' eyes could inherit the family's territory ….
Things like that wouldn't happen. For the sake of the family's inheritance, the nobles would do even more shameless things.
If Bolonik's wife and children had stayed in the overseas dominion, they should be safe.
However, if Bolonik's wife and children wanted to return to the family's territory after his parents and brother took over his territory, there would be a lot of 'accidents' waiting for them.
Bolonik didn't dare trust his parents and elder brother's character. Otherwise, his parents wouldn't have sent him to the royal family's military academy when he was only 12 years old. That was a place where food and lodging were provided and he could only go home once a month.
When he grew up, he would have to report to the kingdom's army, which was equivalent to selling him to the kingdom's army.
Unlike other poor students, his parents weren't poor, they just didn't like him. Bolonik was a rather dull child when he was young.
Just look at the nobles wandering around Nasri and the royal capital that was thrown into chaos because of it. It was clear how much of a commotion this plan caused in Aueras.
Even Bolonik's father wanted to have a hand in it. One could only imagine how much people yearned for a hereditary fief.
The plan would definitely be approved by the parliament and carried out smoothly.
King Frederick the First and Prime Minister Blancarte's plan was very successful. At the very least, His Majesty finally had a powerful weapon against the old noble families of the kingdom.
No noble dared to offend His Majesty now because the power to bestow fiefs was in his hands. Anyone who wanted a satisfactory fief would have to get His Majesty's permission.
What was laughable was that Stellin IX had fought a six-year civil war to remove the hereditary fiefs of the kingdom. He wanted his descendants to have the entire kingdom instead of restricting the government to Ibnister Plains.
In the end, this hero who had revived the kingdom did not expect that without the hereditary family territory, the old noble families would shift their energy to monopolize the kingdom's commercial interests.
In the past century, the old noble families had developed into economic giants that the kingdom couldn't afford to lose. Even all the kingdom's military industries were in their hands.
Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise. Without the fief, the noble families of the kingdom didn't have many disputes. Most of them were more polite when fighting for the position of family head. Some who didn't want to be the family head even gave up their right to inherit the position in exchange for some money and lived a carefree life.
Now, King Frederick the First's plan to bestow fiefs to the nobles was a brilliant move. It would allow him to easily gain the power to govern the kingdom.
At the same time, it would allow the old noble families to loosen their restrictions on the royal court and raise a huge sum of money from the nobles to solve the kingdom's financial crisis. It would also give the autonomous region some trouble.
One couldn't help but admire the plan. There were many people like Claude, but they had no choice but to jump in despite knowing it was a trap.
Sometimes, Claude felt that it was all his fault. It would've been fine if he had only chased the alliance out of the kingdom. Why did he have to go through the trouble of conquering new territories and destroying Canas and Nasri? That put him in a dilemma.
Of course, that was just what he thought. He knew that if he didn't kill the snake, it would only lead to more trouble in the future.
If he really only chased the alliance out of the kingdom, the two corps of the autonomous region would stay at the kingdom's borders to fight the alliance.
No one could afford to pay the price of fighting a few years that way. It would be much better to just kill all the enemies in one fell swoop. That was the only way Thundercrash and Monolith could intimidate enemies both inside and outside the kingdom.
The nobles and the envoys spent two months in the Nasri region. Once they had a good idea of what to do, they returned to the royal city and thanked Claude and Bolonik for sending their troops to protect them before returning to the royal capital.
That was when Viscount Tanggiro came as the royal court's envoy once more. His goal this time was to promote and reward all the meritorious soldiers of the autonomous region.
Just as Claude expected, the royal court and Fredrey the First were rather generous with the promotions and rewards given to the two corps.
Claude and Bolonik were promoted to grand marquis. Eiblont, Beechlin and Skri were promoted to general. Thundercrash's Berklin, Moriad, Dyavid and Myjack, as well as Monolith's four major-generals, were promoted to lieutenant-generals.
Apart from that, 22 colonels from the two corps were promoted to major-general.
Weyblon's son, Colonel Deryweyk, was also promoted to major-general. His childhood dream of being a general was fulfilled.
Claude and Bolonik could only look at each other with a bitter smile. What a generalissimo.
After this promotion, he would have to reform the military establishment. Otherwise, the overseas autonomous region's two corps would not be able to accommodate so many generals, unless a major general of the kingdom was also assigned to lead a local garrison regiment …
Promotions were quite normal. After all, Thundercrash and Monolith had helped the kingdom conquer the eastern part of the continent. No amount of rewards would be too much.
As for the monetary rewards for the two corps, Viscount Tanggiro apologetically expressed that they would have to wait for another two to three months. By then, the royal court would have the money and he hoped that everyone would be patient.
Lastly, Frederik the first bestowal of noble titles to the meritorious soldiers. Claude, who was originally a baron, was made a hereditary count.
Bolonik was originally a viscount of the third generation. He was conferred the title of viscount, making him only one rank lower than Claude.
As for General Skri, General Eiblont, and General Birkin, who were originally Barons III, they were all conferred hereditary barons this time.
It seemed that His Majesty didn't want the five powerhouses of the autonomous region to pay for the promotions, so he decided to just make them hereditary barons.
Claude found it rather amusing. The bestowal of noble titles by Frederik the first was a little too much. Even Skri, who hadn't set foot in the kingdom before, was given a hereditary title for his contributions in providing sufficient supplies for the frontline troops.
Apart from the Five Powerhouses of the autonomous military zone, nineteen high-ranking officers from the two armies who had previously received the title of Baron of Honor, such as Berklin and Myjack, were also promoted from Baron of Honor to Baron III. In addition, forty-seven soldiers who had performed meritorious deeds were awarded honorary titles, ranging from Baron of Honor to Earl of Honor according to their military achievements …
Following that, Viscount Tanggiro told Claude and the others something else. As His Majesty bestowed the title of honorary baron to all the members of the national council, he also bestowed the title of honorary baron to the members of the autonomous region's parliament for the sake of fairness. Those who were already honorary barons were automatically promoted by one rank.
For example, Sir Bennett and Mister Weyblon, who were originally honorary barons, were promoted to honorary viscounts.
Alright, it seemed that His Majesty wasn't willing to let even a single representative of the autonomous region go. He knew that they were rich, so he gave them a chance to get a fief.
Claude didn't have to think to know how grateful and welcoming the council would be to the king's decision. They would definitely use up all their resources to promote him to a hereditary noble title, which would give him a piece of land for his family to pass down to.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the wealth the representatives had accumulated in the autonomous region for decades would soon become His Majesty's.
"How is the fee for the promotion calculated?" General Bolonik asked on behalf of the nobles who were concerned about the matter.
"It's like this." Viscount Tanggiro was already prepared. He waved for his secretary and took out a document from his briefcase. "If it's an honorary title, you'll have to pay 10,000 crowns to be promoted from honorary baron to honorary viscount. From honorary viscount to honorary count, you'll have to pay 20,000 crowns.
From honorary count to honorary marquis, you'll have to pay 30,000 crowns. From honorary duke to honorary duke, you'll have to pay 40,000 crowns.
Finally, from honorary duke to baron, you'll have to pay 50,000 crowns.
In other words, he would have to pay a hundred and fifty thousand crowns to be promoted from an honorary baron to a third-generation baron.
If a third-generation baron wanted to be promoted to a third-generation viscount, he would also have to pay ten thousand crowns. Then, he would have to pay a hundred and fifty thousand crowns to be promoted to a hereditary baron.
Then, from honorary baron to hereditary baron, you'll need to spend a total of 300,000 crowns in order to obtain a hereditary territory from His Majesty … "
He really wanted to curse out loud. If all the councilors of the region wanted to get their hands on a piece of land, they would definitely have to fork out the nobility fee.
There were a total of 112 representatives in the autonomous region and Fredley I could easily get close to 30 million crowns out of their pockets.