I will be crowned king

Chapter 269 I haven’t fired yet...

In the golden-red four-wheeled carriage driving slowly under the midnight street lights, Viscount Bogner was holding an oil painting and smoking a pipe, as if he was carefully admiring the brushstrokes of the Iser elf painter, but in fact, all his attention was entirely on the girl sitting opposite him.

"What do you think?"

Thalia, whose little body was completely sunk in the soft body, suddenly spoke to the old gentleman.

"It's a masterpiece." Viscount Bogner praised without hesitation, his eyes showing some real affection:

"The author must have had contact with a painter of the imperial court school. I have seen many oil paintings with the characteristics of the Ysel elves. Their colors are very wild and their use of paint is extremely casual. Each painting is full of... Distinctive personal style.”

"Like this painting "Knights on the Mountain", the castle and ice peaks behind it are very Yser elf-style, but the knight with a spear in the center is completely different. The brush strokes are delicate, and even the damage and patterns of the armor are drawn. , is a very standard feature of court style figure painting; they are obviously completely different styles, but they are so perfectly combined into one, this is really..."

"That's not what I'm talking about."

The girl gently interrupted the old gentleman's praise, with a small expression on her lips that made her feel sorry for being rude:

"It's another one."

"Another one?" Viscount Bognar was slightly startled.

Thalia could only remind: "The unfinished one."

The old gentleman suddenly understood, and at the same time he shrewdly realized that what the girl was referring to...may not be an oil painting.

But the people in the painting.

"That painting... is indeed very valuable and has great potential for appreciation. To be honest, I like it very much myself." Viscount Bognar put away the work in his hand and answered carefully and truthfully:

"But if you want to hang it in the corridor of Lund Manor, I'm afraid it's not qualified now, right?"

Thalia nodded slightly: "Now... of course not, but when it is completed, will Miss Sophia of the Franz family still be willing to sell it?"

"What do you mean..." The old gentleman frowned slightly.

"If it's just an ordinary oil painting with a clear price marked on it, it doesn't matter... The sincerity of the Franz family is still trustworthy." A strange look flashed in the girl's pupils:

"But I'm worried that Miss Sophia has already regarded it as... um... a private collection."

Um? !

Viscount Bogner was shocked and almost dropped the pipe at the corner of his mouth:

"Private collection... this... this should, shouldn't be possible?!"

"Even if Miss Sophia really has this level of thought, Archbishop Luther Franz...should and will never agree; the portrait of the eldest daughter's boudoir...he should have already planned it."

"Who knows?" Thalia said quietly:

"Perhaps one day, the price of this painting will really rise to a sky-high price."

The silent Viscount Bogner bit his pipe and took a few puffs to hide his surprise.

His understanding of Anson Bach was still in the state after the first meeting, and his appreciation was limited to his efficiency and ability to mediate between various forces.

After all, a guy who can be valued by the Society of Truth, win over by the Church of Order, and be selected as the successor of the "Black Mage" by the Rune family will not be an "ordinary person".

I...seem to still underestimate him.

"Is that why you left a deposit of 30,000 gold coins?" Viscount Bognar couldn't help but ask:

"Want to buy...that painting in advance?"

Smiling Thalia shook her head and turned her gaze to the car window:

"If I insist on saying it, it should be a kind reminder, right?"

"remind?"

The old gentleman frowned slightly.

“When you see something you like, spend money to buy it; even if it costs twice or even several times more than what it costs, as long as it satisfies the momentary joy of getting it, it is worth it, and you can own it forever.” Thalia smiled and said:

"I don't know why, but in recent years more and more people have this stupid idea."

"Is there anything wrong?" Viscount Bognar asked.

"Should I say...is there anything right about it?"

Thalia asked rhetorically: "If the value of the painting can really be measured in money, why should it be auctioned and fought over? Just set a price and sign a contract soon. Is there any need to fight for it?"

"The subtext that must be fought for is that it cannot be bought with money, and it can only breed greed; oil paintings are like this, and so are people's hearts." The girl looking out the window said quietly:

"She thought that by spending money, she would gain the same amount of loyalty. Sooner or later, she would be counterattacked by this naive idea; she would keep giving more and more, and eventually she would give up everything, and even her own soul would be mortgaged to that painting."

"I just want to make her aware of this in advance."

Viscount Bognar took a deep puff of his pipe and was silent for a few seconds:

“If money can’t buy loyalty, what can?”

"No." The girl's smile grew brighter:

"In the final analysis, it is originally impossible for an independent consciousness to completely control and control another."

"In pursuit of freedom and rebirth, the believers of Ayton, the masters of destiny who are unwilling to be restrained, will always try their best to break the shackles wrapped around them."

"Even if the end of the road is destruction, I will continue on without hesitation."

……………………

South of the Dawn Mountains, around the Principality of Paya, there is the Storm Division military camp.

When the city of Clovis was immersed in the joy of successive victories in the war against Yser and the pain of doing its best to deal with the empire's invasion across the board, it did not know that half of the "shares" of the Storm Division had been acquired by the Rune family. Sophia held accountable The letter is already on the way, and Anson Bach, who is "in trouble", is actively preparing to invade the Republic of Carindia.

After the most careful planning and judgment, carefully weighing the pros and cons, and making detailed deductions for the war situation in the next year, all the officers and soldiers of the Storm Division unanimously agreed... As expected, the deputy commander is far-sighted and can see with a sharp eye. Here comes the key of the key.

As for the repeated warnings of a certain Major Chief of Staff who liked to pour cold water on others, they were completely ignored by everyone.

Well, it’s an expected result.

In the final analysis, apart from the core team of the Storm Regiment, one-third of the remaining troops of the Storm Division come from the Thunder Castle levy force, and one-half are local troops who were replenished after the Battle of Eagle Point City. The organization is a mixed bag, with officers His background ranges from a family of military officers in Clovis City to a civilian lieutenant like Karl. There are countless factions in the army.

If Anson was a commander with absolute real power, or if the Storm Division was a standing army, perhaps he could forcibly integrate internal opinions, suppress small factions with different origins, and then win over some cronies, seniors and juniors from the same department in the academy, to build his own of leadership team.

The problem is that he can't do it.

The Storm Division is a levy corps, and the real big financier and investor is Sophia Franz - of course, there is also Talia Rune now - Anson Bach himself is at most an "executor" or something like that. senior staff.

The entire army, from the officer corps to the grassroots officers and soldiers, the only consensus they can reach is "win a big battle and then get rich"; talking about ideals with them is simply asking for boredom.

On the other hand, all the battles, big and small, since crossing the Dawn Ice Peak were successfully won; the Storm Division, which had never been defeated, inevitably swelled up and completely ignored the combat effectiveness of the Seven Cities Alliance's army. inside.

This kind of enemy can be completely routed after one round of rapid artillery fire, two or three rounds of volley fire, and then a bayonet charge. Even if there are 100,000 troops... at most it will be more difficult to capture prisoners after the war.

So Carl Bain's concerns and warnings were ignored.

In the end, the exhausted chief of staff had no choice but to start over again and tinker with Anson Bach's "imaginative" strategic plan to make it look at least not so outrageous.

Before the planning and preparations were completed, he realized that he might have done something useless again - because the Carindia Republic had decided to surrender to the Storm Division.

"Yes, after careful consideration, we, the Republic of Carindia, have decided to surrender to the Kingdom of Clovis."

In the military camp meeting room, the envoy of the Republic of Carindia sat respectfully at the end of the seat, smiling and saluting Anson Bach, who was sitting at the long table.

"Can you explain in detail the reason for this?"

Before Anson could speak, Fabian, the nominal third-in-command of the Storm Division and the commander of the Grenadier Regiment, spoke first:

"After all, our army has not contacted you before, and we have not made any diplomatic request to declare war, vassalage or alliance against you - why did we decide to 'surrender'?"

"sure."

The Carindia envoy—a young man wearing a black formal suit with gold thread patterns and a somewhat businesslike air on his face said:

"To put it most bluntly, we at Carindia are frightened by the strength of your army."

"scared?"

"Yes, I was really scared." A wry smile appeared on the corner of the Carindia waiter's mouth:

"To be honest, there was a lot of conflict in Carindia at the beginning. They were hesitant between sticking to the covenant with the Yser elves or joining the Grand Duchy of Thun...until the news of the Battle of Eagle Point City spread. Come."

"You captured Eagle Point City in less than a month, annihilated the Iser Guards in half a month, and pacified the Principality of Paya in two days... I have to admit that the strength of your army is really terrifying, and it has surpassed Kalindi. Asia’s imagination.”

The waiter paused and looked at Anson with a sincere expression: "Therefore, in order to avoid unnecessary casualties and destruction, the Republic of Carindia has unanimously decided to surrender to the Kingdom of Clovis."

After saying this, all the officers present, including Fabian, were stunned.

It's not that they don't have confidence in their own strength. In fact, most people in the Storm Division are convinced that "as soon as the Legion arrives, Carindia will surrender."

But now... what is this situation of "you fell down before I even exerted any force, and you were praising my accuracy in shooting"?

"I have two questions."

Anson extended the index and middle fingers of his right hand to the envoy:

"First, is this what everyone in your party thinks?"

Carindia is different from Thun. In this kind of republic formed by the union of free cities, the governor who is in power on the surface is often just an empty shelf and a mouthpiece. The actual ruler is likely to be a dozen or even dozens of powerful families. .

Feudal princes may be able to suppress the voices of the lower classes with their power. Dozens of families who dislike each other or are even hostile to each other reach a consensus and unanimously decide to surrender to external forces... It seems too nonsense to think about it.

"Of course not, but this is the final decision of the Carindia Council." A trace of surprise flashed in the messenger's eyes, and then he changed the topic calmly:

"Please don't worry about this. Since it is a decision that has been passed, we will not go back on it; what is your second question?"

Anson stared at the messenger with a meaningful smile on his lips, and slowly put away his index finger:

"Since you are determined to surrender to our army, you should be ready to accept our army's conditions, right?"

"certainly!"

The messenger nodded slightly, and calmly took out a scroll sealed with ink pad and stamped with the seal of the Carindia Council from his arms, and presented it with both hands:

"These are the conditions and requests we have provided. If you have any dissatisfaction, please raise it immediately - I have received full authorization from the parliament and can make changes on the spot."

Anson's face showed a trace of surprise that was not easy to detect, and it quickly returned to normal in the next second.

The conditions provided by Carindia are very generous, or basically the same as the previous treaty signed by the Principality of Paya - one-fifth of the annual income, opening borders, transportation hubs and military fortresses, accepting garrison and providing hostages and paying all their property. Expenses, providing servants and all necessary supplies.

Well, it is now basically certain that the "Agreement of Equality and Mutual Benefit" produced by the young clerk Alan Dawn has probably spread throughout the entire land.

Compared with the conditions provided, Carindia's requirements seem very insignificant - first of all, in order to ensure normal income, the Storm Division cannot restrict Carindia's regular trade, especially ocean trade, and cannot forcibly expropriate any ship. Large sailboat, but can be purchased for money.

Carindia's army can serve the Storm Division, but the officers must be Carindia; in addition, if Carindia is invaded or plundered, the Storm Division or the Kingdom of Clovis is obliged to provide protection.

Finally, since the negotiating parties are the Kingdom of Clovis and the Republic of Carindia, the Storm Division cannot negotiate or negotiate privately with a family in Carindia. All agreements must pass the Carindia Parliament.

All are very reasonable requirements, there is absolutely no fault to be found, and the attitude is so low that it is incredible.

After a few seconds of silence, Anson slowly placed the scroll on the table and looked at the messenger with a solemn expression:

"Two days, I'll give you an answer in two days."

"No problem." The messenger smiled slightly, stood up, and saluted Anson respectfully:

"Then Carindia will wait for good news."