In other words, as long as Thundercrash and Monolith set up a defensive line between Odin Mountain Range and Emis, then Polyvicia's capital and Canas, more than a third of the eastern part of the continent would have to say goodbye to Aueras and become part of the region's sphere of influence.
If the royal capital wanted to attack that defensive line, Odin Mountain Range was a natural barrier that couldn't be crossed.
The only places they could attack were between Emis and Polyvicia's capital, and between Polyvicia's capital and Canas.
It was a pity that those two defensive lines were the territories of nobles that His Majesty had just bestowed upon them. The royal army would have to seek permission from the nobles in order to pass through and be guaranteed compensation.
Claude found it rather amusing that he was caught in a trap of his own making.
His Majesty and the royal court definitely didn't expect that the nobles they bestowed upon Nasri would end up becoming a stumbling block in their campaign against the rebels of the region.
Could the kingdom really afford to send out such a large army?
Thundercrash and Monolith had wiped out nearly 700,000 Alliance soldiers, destroying the Nasri Kingdom and Canas Duchy.
Claude's plan was wonderful, but could it really be carried out?
Judging from the current situation and timing, Aueras didn't have the strength or capital to wage war against the region.
Claude was even confident in destroying Aueras and placing the entire eastern part of Freia under the rule of the region.
But would it work?
Claude was filled with hesitation and doubt.
If the region and Aueras were in a state of war, Claude could attack however he wanted with military authority.
But now, the region and the royal capital were on good terms. It was like they were on a honeymoon.
If Claude were to attack the kingdom on his own, he would immediately become a traitor to the kingdom.
That was the sentiment of the people of Aueras. The Stellin royal family had ruled Aueras for more than 300 years, so the people of the kingdom considered themselves Auerans. Even the immigrants from the autonomous dominions were no exception.
If you asked an immigrant from the Dominion, he would proudly tell you that he was an Aueran and that the bloodline of the Stellin royal family was the king he served.
That was why he couldn't let his thoughts show. Otherwise, not only would he be opposed by the other officers, there might even be cases of soldiers shooting from the back.
Even Claude, who had fought for the kingdom for more than a decade, couldn't help but consider himself a soldier of Aueras.
After two days of wandering, he met a messenger sent by Eiblont when he was one day away from the capital of Northbay, Canpaster.
The messenger brought a message from Eiblont, saying that there had been some changes in the royal capital and that Claude should return to Thundercrash's HQ as soon as possible.
Claude had no choice but to leave his men behind and rush back to the city with a squad of guards.
When he entered HQ, Eiblont came up to him and said, "The councilors and Marshal Bolonik who went to the royal capital, General Skri, and the other high-ranking officers have been placed under house arrest.
The 30 million crowns in cash has also been taken away. The councilors who received the eagle message are furious and are demanding that we attack the royal capital. "
Claude suddenly felt like laughing. That was the perfect excuse to fall out with them.
However, he didn't understand why the royal capital would risk universal condemnation and do something so stupid.
King Fredrey the First and Blancarte weren't fools. How could they be fools if they could come up with such a plan? How could they be so sure that they wouldn't face retaliation from the region?
Take the three newly reorganized imperial guard corps, the Crimson Dragon Legion and the Gryphon Legion for example. They were still armed with old-fashioned muskets.
Even if their combat prowess had improved, they wouldn't be a match for any corps in the region.
The ministry of the army should be well aware of that. Why would they have the guts to place the councilors and high-ranking officers under house arrest?
Weren't they afraid that the recently stabilized state of the kingdom would be destroyed again?
"Don't be hasty. Tell me what happened," Claude said.
It was actually quite simple. The royal court of Aueras had a tradition of holding a court session on the 10th, 20th, and 30th of every month. The king and his wife, as well as all the ministers of the court, would discuss the various matters of the kingdom for the past ten days.
Usually, the affairs of the kingdom would be handled by the prime minister, who would also have to report to the king during the court session.
A few days ago, Marshal Bolonik, General Skri, Speaker Bennett, and President Henderman also represented the parliament and military of the overseas autonomous territories to attend the court meeting on the 10th of November.
Then, they bid farewell to King Frederick I and Queen Christy at the court meeting, saying that they would leave the capital the next day and return to the overseas autonomous region.
The king was shocked and asked if they were going to give up on their hereditary lands.
Chairman Bennett said that the price was too high and they couldn't afford it, so they didn't want it.
Blancarte hurriedly stepped forward and told Marshal Bolonik and General Skri that they were promoted to hereditary nobles due to their contributions in the war and didn't need to pay anything for their hereditary lands.
But what the ministers didn't expect was that Marshal Bolonik and General Skri smiled and rejected the free hereditary lands right in front of the king.
They said that Marshal Claude, General Eiblont, and General Beechlin had made the same decision. They would stand together with all the councilors, officers, and honorary nobles of the kingdom. Either everyone got a piece of land, or none at all. This was to show that the people of the region were united.
It was said that the atmosphere in the palace was extremely awkward and at this moment, Queen Christy spoke up at the most inappropriate time. She said that if they didn't have money, she could lend it to them and each of them could receive a hereditary territory.
Chairman Bennett retorted, "It's not that we don't have money, but we just don't think it's a good deal.
We'll have to pay half a million crowns for a hereditary fief.
Even if we get five thousand crowns a year, it will take us a hundred years to recoup our losses.
Also, this kind of land isn't fair to us. We know that almost all nobles who get land get discounts and some even get it for free.
Especially the nobles who get loans from the queen, they get a 50% to 60% discount.
But we don't get any discounts at all, so we reject this unfair deal.
Deal?
You dare call His Majesty's land a deal?
Queen Christie's face contorted in anger. The king, the prime minister, and the ministers didn't look too good either.
It was indeed a deal.
Chairman Henderman also stepped forward.
He said that we're paying money to get the land from His Majesty. If this isn't a deal, then what is?
The only difference is that the target of the deal is the king, the commodity is land, and the name is bestowment. It's just that the name sounds better, but it's still a deal.
But as the buyer, we don't think it's a good deal, so we refuse to buy it.
Preposterous!
Queen Christy was enraged. No money means no money. A bunch of paupers and bumpkins from overseas. Only you would treat the Royal Family's gift to you lowly merchants as a transaction!
It is the greatest insult to the royal family to allow you to stand in this noble palace. Guards, chase these lowly merchants out of here!
General Skri stood up and said righteously, "Your Majesty, please don't forget that it was us, a bunch of country bumpkins and lowly merchants, who paid the overseas region's taxes and tribute in advance when the kingdom was about to perish, allowing the kingdom to survive."
It was us bumpkins who formed the two armies that swept through the eastern region and wiped out the kingdom's mortal enemies, Nasri, Canas, Sidins, and Rimodra. We recovered our lost lands and allowed you and His Majesty to return to the royal capital.
We lowly merchants completed the agreement with His Majesty and wiped out the Alliance's army. We also expanded the kingdom's territory to the entire eastern region and now we're defending the new lands for free.
We are truly grateful for the grace that the royal family has bestowed upon us.
That's why we came to the royal capital with great sincerity. You can take a look at the balcony and see if we don't have money …
The hall of the royal court was built on top of a stone hill. It was about five meters high from the plaza below.
The plaza was where the attendants of the ministers waited. But today, a lot of the space was occupied by the 60 iron wooden chests brought by the representatives of the region.
Next to each big iron box stood four tall and burly palace guards. They were in charge of the palace's security, and these big iron wooden boxes were locked. They could not open them, so they could only send people to stand guard next to the boxes.
If Chairman Bennett and the rest insisted on moving the iron wooden chests into the hall, they would have to be opened and checked by the palace guards.
But it was fine to put them on the plaza 20 meters away from the hall.
There were many ministers, attendants, and servants of the palace surrounding the plaza to watch the show. They were all trying to guess what was inside the iron wooden chests. They were so heavy …
"I heard those bumpkins wanted to put them here for His Majesty to see. I wonder if they're filled with gold coins?" One of the attendants had already guessed the truth, but he didn't know it himself.
As expected, his guess was mocked and ridiculed by his companions. "Forget it. How could they be filled with gold coins? Such a big chest could hold hundreds of thousands of gold coins.
How could those bumpkins be so rich? Look at the 60 chests here. "
"The last time I went to the treasury with my lord, I saw the iron wooden chests that held gold coins were only twice as big as this one. I heard they could hold a million crowns.
It's just that I've never seen a chest filled with gold coins. It's always covered with gold coins at the bottom, and the person in charge of the treasury would use a large iron ladle to reach into the iron chest to scoop out the gold coins … "said another attendant who was watching the show.
"Sigh, do you think two or three soldiers could be hidden in these chests?
Do you think those bumpkins are plotting a rebellion and hid soldiers in these chests, waiting for the right time to rush out and murder His Majesty and the ministers? "Their guesses were getting more and more out of hand.
At this moment, the four representatives of the autonomous region walked out from the side door of the hall, along with a few curious ministers.
The side door led to a wide balcony. Sometimes, the ministers would have afternoon tea here and take a short break under the warm sunlight.
Standing on the balcony, they could clearly see every blade of grass and tree in the plaza below …
"Open the chests!" General Skri yelled from the balcony.
Five or six guards in the autonomous region's military uniform ran over from the side of the plaza. They held a bunch of keys in their hands and came to the iron wooden chests. As they opened the locks, they said to the palace guards standing at the side, "Brothers, be careful when I open the chests. Don't let anyone take advantage of you, or else you won't be able to bear the responsibility …"
One of the guards was about to retort, but the guard with the keys had already unlocked the chests and opened the chests. Under the midday sun, the chests shone with a brilliant golden light.
The guard and his three companions were dumbfounded. It was only then that they heard the exclamations around them. "Gold! They're all gold coins! They're all crowns! Heavens, how much money is that?!"
"Not just one chest, but all the chests we've opened are all crowns!
Oh my god!
I'm not crazy, am I?
Don't tell me these sixty chests are all filled with gold coins? "
Congratulations, you're right, but there's no reward …
To be honest, it wasn't that none of the ministers of the kingdom had never seen such a huge amount of money. As the prime minister of the kingdom, Marquis Blancarte had handled more than one or two national bank notes worth ten million crowns.
It was just that these notes were used by the various departments of the kingdom for circulation and bookkeeping. No matter how many of them one held, it felt like a feather. At most, it was just a few pieces of paper with exaggerated values written on them. Even if they were taken outside, they wouldn't be used as money.
But now, the sixty iron chests on the square below were all filled with shiny crowns.
Under the sunlight, the entire square seemed to be shrouded in a layer of golden light.
Whether it was the King and Queen who were watching from the balcony above, or the Prime Minister and the ministers of the court, even the onlookers and palace guards around the square, all of them were completely mesmerized by the dazzling golden light …
Clap!
Clap!
Two crisp claps rang out. The guards standing at the edge of the square ran up again. This time, they closed the chests one by one and locked them again.
When the sixty iron chests were all closed, the intoxicated expressions on everyone's faces and eyes could still be vaguely seen.
"These are sixty iron chests filled to the brim with crowns. Each chest is filled with five hundred thousand crowns in cash, for a total of thirty million crowns."
Speaker Bennett spoke, "This is the entire reserve of the Minsheng Bank of the autonomous region. We have brought all of this gold over to show our sincerity.
Unfortunately, we never expected the so-called promotion fee and land selection fee to be so expensive. To us, there is no meaning in using such a high price to obtain a hereditary family's territory.
Our members of the Self-Governing Dominions are indeed lowly merchants by birth, but we merchants have our own vision.
Perhaps we will never become noble nobles of the kingdom, but we all agree that rather than investing so much wealth into some hereditary family's territory, we might as well invest it in the autonomous region. Opening a manufacturing workshop, building an additional school, or purchasing an additional ironclad warship are all more meaningful than a hereditary family's territory.
So, esteemed Your Majesties, we have placed these sixty chests filled to the brim in the square for you to see, not to display our wealth, but to express our sincerity.
Unfortunately, we are unable to come to an agreement.
Tomorrow, we will embark on our return journey. How did we transport these chests here, and how will we transport them back … "
After proudly putting on a show in front of everyone, the four representatives of the autonomous region, Speaker Bennett, Marshal Bolonik, President Henderman, and General Skri, bowed and excused themselves. Then, they escorted the sixty chests filled with gold crowns back to the office of the autonomous region stationed in the capital.
"But that night, the royal guards followed Queen Christy's orders and captured all of the overseas autonomous territory's parliament members and officers. Even Marshal Bolonik was no exception.
They were brought to the Crimson Stone Fort in the palace. Everyone knows that the Crimson Stone Fort is where the palace's prison is located.
The reason the palace guards captured the council members and promoted officers was that they slandered the king and queen's reputation behind their backs. "
Eiblont held a messenger hawk in his hand. "This is news from another spy in the royal capital. Our office in the royal capital has been sealed. The 30 million crowns have been transported away by the palace guards. They should be sent to the palace."
"Do the councilors know about this?" Claude asked.
"Yes," General Eiblont said with a bitter smile, "The autonomous territory's councilors and honorary nobles who stayed behind have received the news from the Royal Capital. They are furious and have requested for our two corps to immediately dispatch troops to the Royal Capital.
But at that moment, we received a messenger eagle signed by His Majesty and a messenger eagle eagle from the prime minister, Marquis Blancarte.
The two of them said that it was a misunderstanding. The thirty million crowns that our council members were carrying was exposed in the square and everyone in the capital knew about it.
In order to ensure the personal safety of everyone, they sent the palace guards to invite everyone into the palace overnight. They even sent the funds over. The main reason is that they don't want anyone to have an opportunity to take advantage of them … "