Claude received the two eagle messengers from Eiblont and looked at the date marked at the bottom. He noticed that it was from the prime minister, Marquis Blancarte. It was the same time as the report from the spies in the royal capital.
They were both sent on the same day, but one at a different time. The spies in the royal capital reported at noon, while the prime minister's eagle messengers were only received at night.
Even though the two messengers arrived on the same day, one could glean quite a bit of information from them.
The prime minister's eagle messengers showed that the prime minister was the first to know that the queen had sent people to attack the office in the royal capital, capture all the councilors and officers, and take away the thirty million crowns. The prime minister sent the eagle messengers to Monolith and Thundercrash to calm the two armies down.
The prime minister's eagle messengers said that the queen was worried about the safety of the thirty million crowns in the royal capital, so she moved the money and all the councilors and officers to the royal palace. The king and the queen told everyone not to worry. The king and queen definitely have no ill intentions.
The king's eagle messengers came a day late. Frederik said that the four representatives of the region had exposed the thirty million crowns in the plaza in front of the royal palace without permission. Due to the large number of spectators, the news spread throughout the royal capital in less than an afternoon.
In the end, many criminals in the capital began to target the huge sum of 30 million crowns. Her Majesty obtained concrete evidence that the attack on the office in the capital would happen that night.
In order to protect the councilors and officers in the royal capital as well as the thirty million crowns, the queen sent the palace guards to escort everyone and the money to the palace.
Claude waved the two letters in his hand and asked, "Do you believe the words in these two letters?"
General Eiblont said hesitantly, "Apart from the fact that everyone was furious after receiving the report from the spies, and the councilors who stayed behind requested us to march to the capital to rescue Marshal Bolonik and the others, after receiving the two eagle messages, everyone's opinions began to diverge.
Many people thought that the fact that the Prime Minister and His Majesty the King had sent the two eagle messages meant that the incident was not as bad as everyone thought.
Otherwise, the Prime Minister and His Majesty the King wouldn't have specifically given us an explanation. We should just wait and see … "
Claude shook his head in disappointment. It was no wonder Bolonik said that Eiblont was only a brave general and wouldn't make a wise commander.
If no one made the decision for him, he would hesitate at the crucial moment and miss the best opportunity.
"What's General Birkin's opinion on this?" Claude asked.
Eiblont replied, "General Eiblont has already ordered Monolith's two divisions to prepare for battle. However, they're infantry and can't be used immediately."
Claude tossed the two eagle messages on the table. "These two letters are lies. They're only meant to keep us from sending troops to the royal capital to prevent the worst from happening.
You shouldn't have waited for three days, Allen. You should've sent the troops as soon as you received the news from the spies. That way, it'll be more shocking when it reaches the capital.
If it's really a misunderstanding like what the Prime Minister and His Majesty said, you should've noticed that the ones who sent the eagle messages shouldn't be the Prime Minister or His Majesty the King, but Speaker Bennett or Marshal Bolonik. No matter how you look at it, it's not His Majesty the King's turn to send an eagle message to explain the so-called truth.
That's why the two eagle messengers from the Prime Minister and His Majesty prove the truth of the matter. Our spies in the capital reported that Queen Christy coveted the huge wealth of our autonomous region. She risked universal condemnation by mobilizing the palace guards to arrest and rob us. This incident is extremely vile!
Our esteemed Prime Minister and His Majesty the King are cleaning up Queen Christy's mess. At least they're still sane and haven't lost their minds.
But in the past few days, we still haven't received any personal letters or explanations from Chairman Bennett, President Henderman, Marshal Bolonik, and General Skri. This means that there must be some changes …
So, there's no need for us to wait any longer.
The longer we delay, the more dangerous it will be for the captured councilors and high-ranking officers in the capital.
Perhaps the big shots in the capital think that we don't dare to act rashly and have already given up on Marshal Bolonik and Speaker Bennett. They're hoping to use this opportunity to divide our unity and force the captured councilors to submit. That way, they'll be able to obtain the thirty million crowns … "
Claude stood up. "I order …"
All the officers in the command center stood at attention, including General Eiblont.
"Send a messenger hawk to General Birkin and ask him to dispatch a division to occupy the Odin Mountains, Amis City, and the route to the capital of Polyvicia. Strengthen the vigilance, raise the state of war readiness, collect all kinds of armaments, and prepare for war!"
"Yes, sir!"
The communications officer of the corps took the written order and copied it into an official document. After handing it to Claude for his signature, he ran to the communications office and sent the order to General Birkin of Monolith via a hawk.
"Thundercrash's 2nd, 3rd and 4th Folk are to prepare for war. We'll leave for the royal capital at nine in the morning tomorrow.
4th Folk will be the vanguard. Allen, go to 4th Folk. If anyone blocks the way, kill them all! "
From Canas to the kingdom mainland, they had to pass through the fiefs of more than ten Nasri nobles.
It was a hereditary fief that the king had just bestowed upon them. Claude was hoping to make an example out of a few ignorant nobles who refused to allow Thundercrash to pass through because it was their rightful right to do so.
Claude would use his saber and the gallows to make them understand that hereditary fiefs were nothing in the face of military might.
The guarantee of the king's fiefs was completely useless.
Fourth Division was chosen to be the vanguard because the soldiers of this division had originally belonged to Prince Hansbach. Even though Frederick the First was on the throne, the prince's original subordinates were still considered traitors and had not been pardoned.
It was only because the region didn't mind that they took in the defeated soldiers and formed 4th Folk.
With them as the vanguard, even if they were intercepted by the kingdom's three major corps, they wouldn't show any mercy when the order was given.
"Also, send a letter to the army in the royal capital. Tell them that for the sake of the 30 million crowns belonging to the region and the safety of the councilors and officers heading to the royal capital, Thundercrash will be sending three divisions to the royal capital to transport the funds and protect the representatives back to the region. To avoid conflict, this notice is hereby given.
"Also, if any army or armed force obstructs our path, it will be seen as a provocation and a declaration of war against the region's military!
"Thundercrash will launch an attack after the warning and eliminate them without mercy. The masterminds behind the scenes will be held accountable.
Those who conspire to start a war will have their entire families wiped out! "
Claude stamped the document and said to the communications officer, "Send this letter to the ministry of the army and have it spread to the various regions of the kingdom. Let the people know why Thundercrash is heading to the royal capital."
"Yes, Lord Marshal!" The communications officer saluted and was about to leave when Claude stopped him.
"Wait. Apart from the notice to the various regions of the kingdom, write down the entire process and send it over as well. Don't forget to spread the word among Thundercrash and Monolith's units as well. Tell them why we're going to the royal capital.
It's to rescue the innocent councilors and our comrades from the military, and to protect the assets of the Dominion from any invasion! "
"Yes, Lord Marshal! We understand!"
Soon, the high-ranking officers in the office left to tend to their own matters. The three folk would be leaving the next morning and there were many things to do. Many of them would have to work through the night.
Claude could finally rest in peace. As he sipped on his fruit wine, he pondered about how the royal capital would react to Thundercrash's three folk and Monolith's strange movements. Would they really go to war with the kingdom?
Not long after, Eiblont returned to his office. It seemed that he had finished giving his orders.
He closed the door and poured himself a glass of fruit wine. "Claude, you said that the longer this drags on, the more dangerous it will be for our captives. It might even break our unity and allow the royal capital to get the 30,000,000 crowns. Is that possible?
Isn't the royal capital afraid of falling out with us? "
Claude sighed and asked the politically insensitive Eiblont, "If I were the king or the prime minister, do you know what I would do? Clean up the mess of the greedy Queen Christy and solve the problem of capturing the councilors and officers in the royal capital and transporting the huge sum of 30 million crowns away?"
Eiblont shook his head in confusion. "I don't know. But since the prime minister and His Majesty sent two eagle messengers, it means that the misunderstanding will be cleared up soon. Our men will be released and the funds will be returned."
Claude smiled bitterly. "That's what they want you to do. Trust their promise and bide your time here.
If we give them more time, they'll be able to break down our unity. In the end, our overseas autonomous region will suffer a great loss. We'll be in a mess and have many conflicts.
They'll get the 30,000,000 crowns and watch the show from the sidelines. They'll pretend to be good guys and watch as the region collapses. "
"I don't believe it," Eiblont said, "There's no way they can do that!"
"It's indeed impossible in a short period of time." Claude nodded and said, "But if we believe the words in the two letters sent by the prime minister and His Majesty and hesitate to send troops for half a month, what I said just now might become a reality.
You know, Allen, all five of us are hereditary nobles of the kingdom, so we don't have to pay any promotion fees to get a hereditary fief.
But for the sake of unity, the five of us have agreed to stand with the councilors, officers, and honorable nobles of the kingdom. If they don't get the land, we'll give up the land that belongs to us, right? "
"Yes," Eiblont replied, "That's what we promised."
"But you should know from the information we received from the royal capital that His Majesty and the prime minister aren't giving us any discounts at all. It's obvious that they're trying to extort a fortune from us," Claude said as he poured the last bit of fruit wine into his glass.
"President Henderman has calculated that if we want to follow our plan to obtain the coastal area of the northern bay as a hereditary territory for all of our families, His Majesty and the prime minister have offered an exorbitant price of nearly a hundred million crowns as a promotion fee and land selection fee. It's an expense we can't afford, so we've decided to give up on it.
"But Marshal Bolonik purposely revealed the 30,000,000 crowns he brought with him to the plaza in front of the palace to refute the lie that we don't have money.
"We showed off our wealth, but it also brought disaster to the councilors and officers who went to the royal capital.
We believe that His Majesty and the Prime Minister will be wise enough to not act rudely towards the councilors and officers who are heading to the capital and start a new war, seeing that we have two powerful legions in the Autonomous Military District.
"We believed that His Majesty and the prime minister could control their desires and the other ministers and wouldn't be a threat to us.
"But we forgot that there was a queen. She was married to the king for a few years and had a son.
At that time, the king hadn't ascended to the throne yet and was just a nameless prince.
"It was because of Queen Christy's encouragement and her family's influence in the royal guards that the royal guards rebelled and allowed the king to ascend to the throne.
"That's why the king and Queen Christy had a good relationship and tolerated the queen's reckless actions.
"We also forgot that the queen's reputation wasn't that great among the people and officials. Some even described her as a dragon in human skin.
She was greedy, arrogant, and loved to enjoy and flatter others. Just like the legendary dragons, she liked to collect treasures for herself.
Queen Christy doesn't care about the strength of our two armies. She probably thinks that we don't dare to offend her just because she's the Queen.
"To her, our actions are a rebellion against the kingdom. The kingdom can even gather troops to annihilate us. As for how many people will be sacrificed for the 30 million, she doesn't care at all.
"It's sad for His Majesty and the prime minister to clean up the mess of such a queen.
They are well aware of the combat strength of our two corps, and they also understand that the kingdom's current situation is due to the two corps of our autonomous region.
In that case, they only have one choice as to how to resolve this vile incident and not give our two legions a reason to turn against them.
That was to stabilize our two corps and buy them more time. At the same time, they would threaten and bribe the captured councilors and officers. As long as most of them were willing to pay the promotion fee and land selection fee, they would be able to deduct the corresponding expenses from the thirty million crowns. Some of the councilors and officers would be given the inheritance of their families' land first.
That's the best way to resolve this issue. We'll turn it into a conflict between the representatives of the autonomous region and the officers who've been promoted.
Some of them spent the 30 million to obtain the hereditary lands, but what about the councilors and officers who didn't get the lands and the honorary nobles who didn't go to the royal capital?
That isn't the responsibility of His Majesty, the queen, or the prime minister. They're just worried about the safety of the councilors and officers in the royal capital and the 30 million, which is why they moved everyone to the royal palace.
Perhaps something went wrong during the process, and the servants misunderstood and transferred everyone to a prison or something. But the situation changed quickly, and His Majesty the King could even sincerely apologize for it …
As for the 30 million crowns, your people have already spent it all.
Look, these are the signatures and seals of your own people. They used the money to pay the promotion fees and land selection fees to obtain the hereditary lands the king bestowed upon them.
Everything was done according to the decree. It's fair and reasonable.
His Majesty, on the other hand, gave them the land you chose along the northern coast of Canas. There was no deceit or concealment, it was their choice.
So, the councilors, officers, and honorary nobles who didn't get the lands can only blame yourselves. They can't blame the king. "
General Eiblont was stunned. "Is … is that possible?"
"Of course it's possible. That's the most likely scenario!
In half a month, some of the captured councilors won't be able to endure the torture and special measures. As long as a few dozen of them submit, our unity will become a joke in their eyes.
The thirty million crowns will become the property of His Majesty and Her Majesty the Queen.
That's why we have to approach the royal capital as soon as possible.
Allen, send an eagle messenger to the royal capital. Tell them that without the signatures of all five of us, no representative or individual from the Dominion Parliament has the right to use the 30,000,000 crowns.
I hope that when I reach the capital, I will be able to see the complete funds, and that no one has used them … "