Iron Powder and Spellcaster

The original name of the quadrennial "League Congress" was actually the "Inland Sea Conference".

After the Battle of the Golden Saddle, at the strong initiative of Ned Smith (who was not yet a marshal at that time), representatives of the public opinion in the Piedmont gathered in Guitu City and sat in a room for the first time to "seriously discuss the current situation and the situation of the Duchy. Future”, historically known as the [First Inland Sea Conference].

In the context of the alliance, the First Inland Sea Conference was an important watershed in time, marking the end of the "local resistance phase of the sovereignty war" and the beginning of a vigorous and comprehensive uprising.

The official documents of the empire refer to the so-called "partial uprising stage" of the southern rebel party and the subsequent "stage of resistance to the tyranny of the Duke of Orleans" as the [First Rebellion War] - after the defeat and death of the Duke of Orleans. , distinguished from the [Second War of Rebellion] conducted by Emperor Richard IV himself.

That is to say, the empire believes that the "War of Rebellion" was fought twice before and after, led by the Duke of Orleans and Emperor Richard IV respectively, separated by a short truce of one year in between.

The Senas Alliance insists that there is only one "sovereignty war". Whether it is the peaceful imperial petition in the early days, the tax resistance movement, or the tragic confrontation between the two armies in the later period, they are just different stages of the sovereignty war.

The reason why both sides insist on different opinions is naturally because they have different interests. Needless to say, let’s turn our attention back to the first Inland Sea Conference.

The first Inland Sea Conference had fifty-five representatives, mainly from autonomous cities in the Piedmont, and only six from hereditary noble territories and bishoprics.

Most of the titles of public representatives are self-appointed, without any form of public election or formal authorization from the autonomous cities they represent.

There is even a meeting here in Guitucheng, and the citizens' assemblies of four municipalities over there have passed formal resolutions, immediately reiterating their loyalty to the emperor and drawing a clear line with the "rebels in Guitucheng" for fear of causing trouble. Upper body.

The personal qualities of the representatives at the first Inland Sea Conference were also varied. Most of them were enthusiastic young people who believed in Protestantism.

A month ago, they learned that the Protestants in Guitu City had driven away the cruel and incompetent governor, Count Chatillon, and were gathering manpower to prepare for the final battle with Count Chatillon, so they prepared their own weapons and gathered friends. , the stars and the moon came to help.

What followed was the "Battle of the Golden Saddle", which was an important event in the history of the league.

Militiamen from various municipalities and a coalition of royalist nobles faced off on a hill east of Cortlet.

The royalist coalition included 400 heavily armed heavy cavalry and nearly 2,000 infantry and crossbowmen. It was their private army at the bottom of the box.

And their enemies, the militiamen arrayed on the hill, although twice as many as them, were just lowly weavers and vendors. They could only run away in the face of the heavily armed heavy cavalry.

Therefore, Count Chatillon and the royalist nobles, who thought they were sure of victory, did not pay attention to the rabble opposite. According to the regular procedure, the earl first sent crossbowmen to exchange arrows, and then put in the infantry. After a short hand-to-hand battle, the rebels retreated steadily and their front line continued to shrink.

Seeing that the rebel party's military morale had been shaken, Count Chatillon recalled the infantry and sent the heavy cavalry composed of noble children into battle to reap the fruits of victory.

The impatient nobles picked up their guns and mounted their horses, rushing through the retreating infantry, crossing creeks, ditches and mud, and rushed into the large phalanx of the militiamen that had shrunk into a dense formation.

It was smashed to pieces.

They failed to break through the militia formations, and soon found themselves trapped in the broken terrain, with enemies on all sides.

Realizing that he had made a big mistake, Count Chatillon went into battle personally and led the last cavalry to launch a desperate charge, intending to break through in the center and turn defeat into victory.

Count Chatillion's reckless assault broke through the first and only front of the militia. Then...he was pinned to death in the mire by his opponent's reserve team who hid until the last moment. Until he died in battle, he could not figure out how he was defeated at the hands of a ragtag group of people.

At the end of this battle, the coalition of counter-rebellion nobles was completely defeated. Their gold-trimmed saddles became trophies that the militiamen competed for. The nobles and nobles who failed to escape were killed miserably by muskets and halberds - the militiamen did not need prisoners. The royalist nobles in the Piedmont area have had their backbones broken since then, and are no longer able to influence the situation.

Ned Smith, who led the militia to great victory, became the de facto leader of the militia - whether he wanted it or not, his name gradually became a household name in the Piedmont.

Then came the Inland Sea Conference, which marked the "official end of the partial uprising phase."

…

At the first Inland Sea Conference, the enthusiasm caused by the glorious victory had not subsided, and the high-spirited "public opinion representatives" dared to say any heroic words.

You said you wanted to wipe out all the brutal nobles in the front of the mountain in one go, and he said you wanted to send troops over the Shade Mountains to fight against the Eternal City.

Ned Smith had to pour cold water on the delegates over and over again, repeating the huge gap between the Empire and the Piedmont, between the Emperor's army and the armed militia.

Perhaps it was because he poured cold water on them so hard that the emotions of the representatives went from one extreme to another, so that the only result of the first Inland Sea Congress was that the representatives jointly signed a document.

This document didn't even have a name. The Alliance people called it the "First Declaration," but that was all later.

Anyone who can read and write, reading the First Declaration in its entirety, will find that the document is ambiguous, humbly worded—and ambiguous.

It contains no words for uprising, insurrection, revolution, independence, or freedom, nor does it express any negation of the emperor's authority.

It only restrainedly and even somewhat condescendingly elaborated on the sufferings and difficulties faced by the people of the Piedmont: corrupt governor, unreasonable taxes, wanton garrison, suffocating religious atmosphere... All of these, I hope that His Majesty the Supreme Emperor can Understand the sufferings of the people in Shanqian, and eliminate evil laws and harsh governance as appropriate. It’s more of a petition than a declaration.

The original declaration signed by fifty-five representatives was immediately sent to the Eternal City. After this was done, the representatives wanted to disperse.

However, Ned Smith worked hard to persuade more than half of the representatives to stay in Guitu City, retaining the form of the Inland Sea Council and making it a "temporary permanent body" that temporarily replaced the authority of the Governor of the Piedmont and was responsible for coordination. Militia of the Free Cities.

The reason why the old marshal worked so hard to keep the Inland Sea Council alive was not because he liked having someone in charge of him, but because he realized pessimistically and calmly: after losing the common enemy, the militia and armed forces have returned to being scattered. State; if there is not a bag that can put all the militia armed forces into it, these people who are still fighting side by side today will sooner or later fight each other due to old grudges and new enemies, and then fall apart.

However, he soon no longer had to worry about "the lack of a common enemy", because after the "First Declaration" was submitted to the emperor, Richard IV responded quickly.

The emperor saw it as a head-on challenge to imperial power—even though it was a modestly worded petition. In answer, Richard IV sent out his most ferocious war dogs.

The war resumed, and then came the Second Inland Sea Conference, the Third Inland Sea Conference, the Fourth...

More and more representatives attended the meeting. In addition to the public opinion representatives from the Piedmont, envoys from the city-state of Veneta gradually began to appear next to the long table... plus a small group of people who thought they were seamless but were actually so weird that they could be seen through at a glance. An observer with a fake surname and a stiff frontier accent.

Counting from the Battle of the Golden Saddle, the "second phase" of the Sovereignty War was fought for twelve years, and the Inland Sea Conference was held eleven times, almost once a year.

Representatives and military officers from the United Provinces, Veneta, and Plato often quarreled in this temporary permanent institution, and fistfights were not unheard of.

Everyone is dissatisfied with this temporary permanent agency, but it is the only agency that can coordinate the army, materials, and manpower of different factions, different regions, and different systems. It is also the only one that can coordinate the United Provinces, Veneta, and Plato is packed together in a bag.

By the time Richard IV withdrew his troops in 531 of the Imperial Calendar and the republics won the final victory in the Sovereignty War, the Inland Sea Parliament had become the de facto highest authority of the Alliance.

It just needs a new name. After all, with the annexation of the Republic of Monta and the Republic of Van, the territory of the alliance is no longer limited to the "inland sea coast", and the proportion of inland areas has already exceeded the proportion of coastal areas.

Therefore, in the same year that Richard IV withdrew his troops, the Inland Sea Parliament was officially renamed the League Congress.

According to the old marshal's vision, from the Inland Sea Council to the Alliance Congress, only the name was changed, and all structures, functions and operating methods remained unchanged.

As long as the Alliance can continue along the established path, although there are still gaps between the republics, they will sooner or later become an integral part of each other.

As long as the great alliance of the republics remains unbreakable, they will never need to fear any external enemy.

But Ned Smith failed to realize that the legacy he wanted to leave to future generations was no longer what he thought it was. Perhaps he never wanted to control the army and country he established, but the army and country he established objectively lost control and could not and did not want to obey his wishes.

The old marshal thought the name change was just a name change, but it was actually the collapse of the Inland Sea Council.

The three parties of the United Provinces, Veneta and Palato launched an attack together, and the Alliance Congress was emptied out. Since it is the Alliance Congress, it will "only be responsible for affairs related to the Alliance" from now on - that is, it will not be responsible for any actual affairs.

The republics divided up the Alliance Army, and the armies from the United Provinces, Veneta, and Palato each returned to their own territories and transformed into the official armies of the republics.

Although they inherited the same set of tactics, systems and rules, they were already distinct from each other.

It's like raising a child. You can make him strong, smart, and dexterous. You can proudly watch him grow from a toddler to a brave and vigorous young man, but you can never be sure that he will take a different path. What kind of road.

In the year 532 of the Imperial Calendar, the Alliance Army Academy was officially established. Ned Smith personally served as the first principal. He chose to place his hope in the future.

In the same year, representatives of the republics unanimously approved a new proposal at the 13th Union Congress, changing the original annual Union Congress to once every four years.

Because once a year is too troublesome, no high-ranking official or member of the republic is willing to work hard for this institution that exists in name only once a year.

Therefore, either allocate the representative quotas to those insignificant little players, or increase the interval between conferences. Representatives of the republics unanimously chose the latter - after all, the Alliance members at least have a little nominal value.

Increasing the interval between conferences saved the last bit of dignity of the conference.

Unintentionally, because the status of "representatives of public opinion" is automatically assigned to the heads of government and parliamentary leaders of the republics, the Alliance Congress inadvertently becomes a rare opportunity to bring important figures from the republics together in one place.

Naturally, the quadrennial Alliance Congress became the most important "diplomatic occasion" within the Alliance, allowing the men in charge of the republics to look into each other's eyes and talk face to face.

In Imperial Calendar 560, when the United Provinces and Veneta are at war with each other, the 18th Alliance Congress hosted by the Vane Republic will be the last chance for peace.

[I am guilty, Or2]

[I went to save Cathay from the 17th to the 20th. I am guilty...]

[But it was too cold from the 20th to the 22nd, it was really too cold...≡(▔﹏▔)≡]

[Slowly pay off the debt in the next few days Or2]

[Thank you book friends for your collection, reading, subscription, recommendation votes, monthly votes, rewards and comments, thank you all]