Throne of the North

On the stone slab, the iron hooves of the war horse made a crisp sound. The strong horse legs stepped accurately on every clean open space, carrying Ryan with his back facing the direction of the wind. His back was covered with ashes from the sky. It floats for a long time and is unwilling to fall.

This is not the ashes from burning straw, but the fly ash after the corpses were burned on the battlefield. This world has no environmental awareness, and it seems to be a tradition to allow these ashes to fly in the sky.

The war is over, but it doesn't seem to be completely over. A large number of werewolves died and a large number of werewolves fled. The army of Beifeng Province did not have time to erect a wall and clear the country, nor did it have the ability.

Piling up these messy corpses on the battlefield and lighting them with flames had consumed the last strength of the soldiers.

The ashes filled the air, and Ryan walked on the earth. The figures coming and going around him had restored their original identities, farmers, slaves, and craftsmen, except that they did not look like soldiers. They were originally warriors who chased ducks and became warriors.

Everyone looked at him in awe, but Mr. Ryan was no longer complacent because of this. He was much more mature. He walked past the humans who were cleaning up the wreckage of the battlefield with an expressionless face and came to the Earl's castle.

"It's a pity that no legend was born in this war."

It is possible for this war to give birth to a legend, but the right time, right place, right people, and the last item are missing. There is no extraordinary person in the war who is leading to the pinnacle of the legendary holy realm.

The legendary gift naturally does not appear because of anyone, which makes the war a little less colorful, but there is no doubt that this war is still a legendary piece of history in Beifeng Province.

"Baron Lane is here."

I don't know who said something, and the surrounding area became quiet. Ryan dismounted quietly, walked calmly through the crowd of nobles, and came to the depths of the castle.

There was no laughter outside, no joy over the victory in the war, and the nobles all seemed silent and heavy.

It was not until the end of the war that the nobles had the time and energy to count the losses in the war.

And this answer is destined to be difficult for them to accept.

"Congratulations to all of you, you have entered a new chapter in history. The future of this land will be written by us."

Ryan was the first to break the silence, allowing Earl Winter to respond somewhat mockingly.

"Is this a new chapter in your history, Baron Lane?"

"This land belongs to everyone, not me. One person's power is limited. If you want to reach a higher mountain, you can only work together."

The war did end with the death of the King of the Silver Moon Court, but the politics of human aristocracy only began with the end of the war.

According to preliminary estimates, Beifeng Province lost nearly 20% of its population in this war between the orcs.

The two percent of the population refers not only to those who have died, but also to those who are still alive, but have lost their ownership of certain lands and certain interests due to serious injuries, disabilities, and the fall of nobles.

These lands are vacant and no one can occupy them. They belong to a certain family. Even if that noble family dies cleanly, it still needs the crowning of the emperor for a new noble to inherit, or a distant relative can obtain it because of its bloodline. inheritance rights.

But before the arrival of the new nobles, or even after their arrival, the resources on those lands were now something that these nobles could covet.

It's very simple. That land has lost its owner, and it has also lost most of the population living there. Ryan, included, will frantically plunder the population in the following time to replenish the lost population in his territory.

Moreover, every noble in Beifeng Province has suffered heavy losses now. Population is the first element of development. Whether they are conservative or radical nobles, they have to rely on population to restore the prosperity of their territories.

The aristocracy without its nobles is like a mouthful of fat meat. The greed of the nobles will not ignore the immediate interests and take a bite.

War makes people sad, so they must turn into hungry wolves even more quickly.

However, this kind of thing also worries the nobles. They need face, face and dignity.

Therefore, unbridled plunder will turn into a friendly negotiation. What is the negotiation?

Negotiate how to restore the ecology of the territory of Beifeng Province, what are the necessities for human survival, and what kind of 'help' can the nobles provide to those who have lost everything.

The first thing the nobles thought of was a shelter from the wind and rain. They could provide houses, food, and even land for farming for the poor people.

Secondly, the nobles also thought that if the land was not taken care of, weeds would grow and become wasteland.

Adhering to the principle of nobles helping each other, how could they see other nobles being deserted because they lost the care of the population, and even the castles were growing weeds? Naturally, they would send people to manage the new nobles before they arrived.

The nobles in Beifeng Province all have iron mines, and perhaps this is the most critical place.

However, the purpose of the negotiation was for a charter, a charter that only the surviving nobles could participate in.

This seems to be difficult to handle. The nobles will not give up any benefit in their hands, and they cannot suffer losses. The small nobles are arrogant, and the big nobles in front of them will not give up the benefits of even a tree.

War can be decided quickly and decisively, but this kind of political carving up of interests is extremely anxious and slow. The ashes from the burned corpses outside have filled the entire sky for several days, but the nobles here have been continuously Not a word has been decided yet.

"According to Lady Rosalind, the emperor may not crown a new noble in the North Wind Province next."

Lian's words made everyone look at him.

Earl Winter's eyes were terribly bright.

"Really?"

He reacted quickly and knew what this meant.

"At least not in the short term. Our Majesty has reached some kind of deal with the Meyers family. The management of the North Wind Province for the next thirty years will fall to Grand Duke Meyers."

"Those lands that have lost their nobles will be inherited by people related to the Meyers family if nothing unexpected happens."

Earl Winter looked at Ryan, narrowed his eyes, and then said:

"But we all know that the nobles of the North Wind Province have not married many nobles in the South, especially those land nobles near the North. They only defected to the Empire thirty years ago."

"There are not many people around the Meyers family who are qualified to inherit those lands with noble honors and glory, and the Grand Duke cannot force the bloodline of the Meyers family to inherit those titles."

"That's right. Most of the nobles in the North Wind Province still have a lot of blood relations in this land."

Ryan nodded and said that he was actually at a disadvantage in this matter. Everyone knew that Baron Ryan had only been in the North for a few years, and the complicated marriages between the nobles had nothing to do with him.

But he would not throw away his share because of this.

"We can decide who owns most of the land, and the rest will be left to Meyers."

"In addition, it is obvious that I can't find any 'relatives' of the dead nobles around me. I only need some manor-sized places, about a dozen, to grow food."

Lian waved his hand and said so.

"Then there is the share of the Northern Chamber of Commerce. You have to compensate me more or less."

Lian's territory is in the frozen land. For him, it is too troublesome to extend his tentacles to these lands. It is better to centralize power from other places.

...

The short communication will not have any answers. Ryan left the Earl's castle and returned to the world full of ashes again.

Two more days passed, and the ashes in the sky became much clearer. It was time for Ryan to return to Lingdu County with his army.

The war was over, but the chaos between humans and orcs was not over. The werewolves allowed millions of orcs to cross the Xiangshan Plain. With the fleeing werewolves, there were still many orcs left in the North Wind Province.

Moreover, in those noble territories, battles between orcs and humans broke out from time to time. These orcs came a little late, and they would not leave without robbing some things.

The army led by Ryan had most of the young and strong people in Lingdu County. Their disappearance for one day would be a panic for a family, let alone such a long time.

The battle with the orcs was needed, and the family's income also depended on them. If they didn't go back, Lingdu County would be in chaos.

The orcs naturally dared not make trouble when the army passed through. Ryan finally returned to Lingdu County after helping some nobles to temporarily solve the orc problem.

"Can we eliminate the orcs here?"

Baron Enzo asked, frowning at the uninhabited land, thinking that the power of this army might be able to make the orcs in Lingdu County disappear.

"Can't be eliminated."

"You drove away the orcs in Lingdu County. Guess where they will appear? By then, the pressure from the other counties will not be able to bear it, and the war will break out again. At that time, it will not be a problem that can be solved by elimination."

"It's actually not bad now. When the orcs were not organized, they were also a mess."

"As long as we can achieve a balance, these orcs can make us spend the next few years comfortably."

"A few years?"

Baron Enzo was surprised and puzzled, and Ryan nodded helplessly.

"Our neighbor, the Kingdom of Andara, sent three letters of help to the empire in succession. One of them was sent to me, and the other two were sent to the Imperial City. Our Majesty should be very troubled about what kind of troops to send to support the Kingdom of Andara."

"I guess he wants to send the army of the North Wind Province, but the orcs did not leave, so the army of the North Wind Province could not leave, and our losses were very tragic."

"These orcs are our reason to face the emperor."

"What about the Wing Canyon?"

"The North Wind Province was occupied by werewolves, and the Wing Canyon The Extraordinary Legion can't be dispatched, so how can it be sent to rescue Andara. "

"Then..."

"Don't worry, Andara Kingdom is one of the nine kingdoms after all, it's not that fragile, and if it's really urgent, Sera Kingdom will also support it."

"After all, Andara Kingdom is Sera Kingdom's line of defense against the orcs."

The Griffin Mountains are directly connected between the orcs and the Sera Kingdom, but such a geographical terrain is obviously not suitable for the outbreak of war, and the orcs will not understand the difference between human kingdoms. For them, being human is enough.

"The orcs are invading in full force, and everyone can only sweep the snow in front of their own doors. This kind of thing will give the imperial capital a headache. After all, Andara Kingdom has just surrendered to the Empire. The Empire wants to set an example in the land of the south, and now is the time for testing. "

Baron Enzo felt a little weird. In Ryan's words, the North Wind Province and the Empire felt like there was a layer between them, but he didn't think it was too wrong.

The Dragun family only joined the Empire thirty years ago, and the involvement with the Empire was not that deep, nor was there such an absolute sense of identity.

Baron Enzo Dragun grew up in such an environment, and his loyalty to the empire was not too high. Originally, his descendants should have been very loyal, but now the North Wind Province was handed over to the Meyers family by the emperor. If the Meyers family paid attention, the next generation and the next generation of the nobles might recognize the Meyers family more.

If they don't pay attention, then this loyalty will blossom everywhere and grow randomly.

Compared with loyalty to the emperor of the empire, the nobles here care more about the interests of the land.

"How do you think the mines, forests, farmlands and rivers on those lands will be divided in the end?"

Baron Enzo cares more about this matter. His loss is not bad in comparison, but loss is loss, and he needs to make up for it from other places.

In the previous debate with the nobles, he could not get over the limit of only being able to reap part of the profits of a mine.

He wants more.

"After the Divine Grace Festival, I plan to serve in the Winged Canyon and become the deputy commander of the Violent Elephant Legion as a baron officer."

Baron Enzo said his goal, which is legend.

In front of this goal, he needs to prepare a lot of resources to supply the promotion of legends.

Therefore, the interests of the struggle at this time are very important to him.

"It's nothing more than dividing the land into pieces, leaving a little bit of leftovers for the nobles who inherited the land, and in the end everyone can only harvest a few crooked melons and cracked dates."

Ryan laughed, making Baron Enzo beside him a little embarrassed.

Baron Ryan looked down on that little thing because what was given to him could never be shared with others.

Having said that, Ryan was actually not willing to accept such a division.

"In the impression of the South, the North Wind Province is a stereotype of poverty and coldness, but what I can't understand the most is that everyone has a mine, how can it be related to poverty."

"The only problem is the direction."

"Perhaps, we should open up the source instead of competing on the existing basis."

Baron Enzo was thoughtful. Although he received the education of the nobles and was ahead of the civilians by many versions of knowledge, he still had a hard time understanding what Ryan said.

"Among the many provinces in the empire, the size of the territory of the North Wind Province can be said to be in the top five. There are too many places on this land that can be cultivated."

"It's just that these places are scattered all over the place and are in the hands of the nobles."

"Do you know any way to connect these lands?"

"Roads?"

"Roads are for people to walk on."

Lian said with a smile, giving Baron Enzo a hint. After all, the nobles of Lingdu County have a better relationship with him, Ryan.

"It's the Chamber of Commerce."

"Only the Chamber of Commerce can connect resources into money."

The war is over, where will the North Wind Province go?

In the eyes of the emperor, it doesn't matter, as long as it doesn't affect his prestige and reputation in office.

In the eyes of Meyers, the land of the North Wind Province will become an important part of their plan in thirty years, and the thirty-first year does not exist at all.

In the eyes of the nobles of the North Wind Province... they can't see that even a great noble like Earl Winter is difficult to take the initiative to lead the future because he is deeply involved in it.

They live in the past and do their best to maintain the hereditary authority.

Ryan doesn't live in the future. He can't see what the future of a supernatural world will look like. The only thing he can do is to use different cognition and knowledge to stand in the present and pursue what he needs now.

It's not a good thing for the future to appear in a time and space that doesn't belong to it.

Ryan can't do it either. He's not even a legend.

However, Ryan feels that he has the qualifications to lead many things that will happen next on this land.

What Earl Winter said was not a mockery, but after the war, the great nobles of the North Wind Province showed extreme weakness in many aspects.

Earl Weiss is gone, and the Marquis of the North Wind who replaced him is nothing. The supernatural legions of Earl Winter and Earl Sauron suffered heavy losses, and the territory suffered epic destruction.

The only thing that is still strong enough in the North Wind Province is the increasingly mysterious frozen land. Everyone is getting weaker, but Baron Ryan's weakening is not much, which is a kind of enhancement.

He has become weaker, and he has also become stronger.

Count Winter's words represent hostility towards Ryan. This hostility does not come from subjective will, but from instinctive vigilance after authority is threatened.

However, the change of power has not yet begun, and the spread of theocracy is indeed intensifying.

As the army entered Lingdu County, the number of soldiers around Ryan became fewer and fewer. With their departure, the joy of war did not appear. After all, they did not benefit from the victory of the war, and after they returned, they still faced the threat of orcs. The war ended for the nobles, but it continued for the noble territories.

In a sense, these people are still under the haze of war.

And in such a haze, what is needed is hope.

The miracles of the God of Light before became one of the few things they can hope for.

The nobles are too close, and ordinary people dare not ask for it. The gods are high, but they can make them believe from the bottom of their hearts that one day...

If the belief in gods also has a progress bar, I am afraid that the belief in light in the North Wind Province has already topped the list of the empire.

The closer they got to Lingdu City, the more nervous the remaining soldiers around Ryan became.

Because this was the end of the journey, and there was no place for them here.