Siyuan City.
Today's Siyuan City is full of waste, with construction sites for rebuilding homes and busy people everywhere.
When Emperor Marius burned the materials in the city, and Fear Legion fought with the rebels in the city, the bustling place in the capital became chaotic, but Siyuan City only had one voice left from then on.
The nobles who could run had already run away. The noble members of the Senate would neither participate in "barbaric battles" nor "coolie-like construction", nor would they scrimp on food and clothing and donate the materials hidden in their homes for centralized supply under the call of Emperor Marius.
In fact, the original Senate probably no longer exists, and Emperor Marius has reorganized the new Senate Council.
Members of the Senate are all elected from citizens of all walks of life, and unlike before, the members of the Senate now hold important positions and are all people who have made outstanding contributions to the country.
Among them are the veteran nobles, Marius' think tank, initiator and promoter of reform, and the new imperial financial officer Governor Justus;
General Clerion, a rising aristocrat who has a commoner background and has been fighting against Snake Worship Cult and Red Death;
There is the newly appointed Siyuan City garrison officer General Valeus - he was once the lord of the burned Olegaburg, and now he is the garrison officer leading the construction in Siyuan City. He has been leading Siyuan City The residents of E responded to Marius' call. Whether they were withdrawing from Siyuan City to organize fortifications or returning to Siyuan City to rebuild their homes, Valeus was the leader of the residents and craftsmen.
There is also General Ivaylo. Emperor Marius who was born a serf but successfully defended Imperial Port. Pig Farmer General was given the official title of general - originally a fighter. He was considered to be appointed as the administrator of Imperial Port, but the serf general refused the appointment. He believed that he did not have the experience and ability to govern. He did not want to cause the people to suffer because of his incompetence, but he could be a general and lead troops to fight.
These four new senators each represent the Bax old aristocracy, Pendor's emerging aristocracy, residents and craftsmen, as well as farmers and serfs.
This was also the vision that Marius had always had in mind.
The Senate should not only be the imperial hand that assists the emperor in governing the country, but also should be a hanging bell that supervises the emperor's behavior on behalf of all classes, but it should never be a battlefield for power and profit and factional struggles.
The Senate at this moment cannot be considered a faction, or rather... they are all Marianists who support reform, so naturally there will be no serious internal strife.
And in the new five-seat Senate, the last seat is empty.
This seat should be reserved for the spokesperson of the armed forces, that is, the military representative.
This is of course reserved for Agason.
Only Agason will not be opposed by anyone. He was born in the Shadow Legion, but at the same time he supports reform. He has made outstanding achievements and is always undertaking arduous tasks. He is the best candidate to balance the power of the military.
In addition, Brutus was appointed as an intelligence officer by Emperor Marius, which is an important position for the Bacchus Empire responsible for intelligence reconnaissance and surveillance investigations.
But in fact, the real controller of this position is Alina, and Brutus can only be regarded as her deputy at best.
Because those professionally trained spies were originally Justus's subordinates, they only listened to Alina's arrangements. At the same time, only Alina could make Shadow Wolf Pack's General Sura provide her with Help--General Sura will only respond to the requests of two people in the territory of Bax. One is Emperor Marius, and the other is Alina who was entrusted by Emperor Marius to contact him at the most dangerous time.
But Alina currently does not have any position.
It is Justus's request not to give Alina the position. He does not want his daughter to engage in intelligence work, because this job always involves contact with the dark side. He is worried that if this position is made public, his daughter will not be able to marry in the future.
In fact, this child has been refusing to talk about anything related to blind dates. He keeps saying that he will only marry Child of Prophecy, but there is no such thing as Child of Prophecy...
But after Alina lost his position, the secrecy of the intelligence department was greatly enhanced.
Alina often wears a mask and disappears, and even Justus doesn't know where she is.
Sometimes she would hide behind the screen in the council chamber, holding a small notebook to provide intelligence to Marius;
But more often than not, it is not Alina behind the screen, but Elina, Brutus's sister--she and Alina look very similar, and now they wear exactly the same clothes, and no one can tell them apart unless you look carefully...
Emperor Marius knew that Alina had such a substitute, but Marius was the only one who knew about it.
At this time, the new members of the Senate Council were holding a small meeting in the chamber.
The huge black stone conference table is hollow, and a fire basin is placed under the table. The firelight reflects the hollow part of the table, making the tabletop show obvious patterns and lines.
Those hollow lines and patterns represent fortresses and roads.
This huge conference table is engraved with the map of the Pande Continent.
A black metal chess piece carved into the shape of a sword is placed at Seven Forks Fortress on the map, and another blue-gray chess piece carved into the shape of a giant crown helmet is placed at Fort Lela.
"This was the situation three days ago... Have the people sent to Fort Lela come back?"
Emperor Marius is placing a red chess piece in his hand next to Seven Forks Fortress, and placing another red chess piece with a crown logo on Lion City.
"Your Majesty, we have made contact with Phoenix Knight Order, but according to Phoenix Knightss, it was General Titus who told them to stand still at Fort Lela... General Titus claimed that he would stick to Fort Lela and work with General Agason to buy time for the empire. To this end, he asked your Majesty to allocate troops, money and food to him, and asked him to establish a new legion..."
The person who reported it was Intelligence Officer Brutus. He conveyed the situation with an expressionless face and no emotion at all in his words.
"If he really cares about the empire, he should defend Sava Fortress instead of illegally occupying Agason's territory..."
General Clerion shook his head, thinking that Titus's statement was unreliable.
"I can't say that... Fort Lela is indeed easier to defend than Sava Fortress. It is understandable that Titus will retreat. He can be stationed in Fort Lela Protecting the capital means that he does not intend to treason. He is just greedy and wants a higher status. But using Phoenix Knight Order to blackmail the empire into supplying money, food and soldiers is very dangerous... The empire can't give him money or food now!"
Governor Justus shook his head, flipping through the book in front of him that he used to keep accounts.
The empire needs money everywhere, and there is not enough money and food to rebuild Siyuan City. As finance minister, he is probably the poorest in the history of the empire, and the national treasury really has no money.
"Ivaylo, do you have any opinions?"
Seeing that the serf general had been silent, Marius spoke out to encourage him.
"Your Majesty, I am just a pig farmer and don't know how to govern the country... My only opinion is that the land is sacred. Even if you face a formidable and powerful enemy, as a general, you should not give up any inch of land."
Ivaylo said softly with some hesitation.
"That's right! Titus gave up Sava Fortress when he could hold on, and he gave up after Agason successfully attacked Seven Forks Fortress - he not only gave up the country Soil, and let Agason, who wholeheartedly aided him, fall into despair! Maybe this bastard did not treason, but he betrayed the people under his rule! Countless civilians at Sava Fortress will die because of his evacuation, and more people will be homeless as a result!"
General Valeus's attitude is more intense. Obviously, he cares more about the life and life of each Baxian. It is no wonder that Emperor Marius will let him serve as the consul.
"Now is not the time to talk about charges... The key is how to get Phoenix Knight Order out of Titus's control and quickly assist Agason. Lion King. Since Appointing Li Ang as marshal is obviously for the purpose of invading the empire, so Agason will take the risk to invade Seven Forks Fortress alone to buy time for the empire, but he probably won't be able to hold on for long..."
Justus is obviously more practical.
"Sura, do you have any friendship with the people from Phoenix Knight Order?"
Emperor Marius turned towards the shadow in the corner and asked.
The place was dark and looked like there was no one there, but the voice of General Sura came out. "No... Although the Phoenix and the Shadow both exist to fight against Snake Worship Cult, and I admire their character, they are noble knights who shine as brightly as flames in the light, while we are just ghost wolves hiding in the darkness and not wanting to attract attention..."
This is true, Shadow Wolf Pack is a commoner, and he probably doesn't have much in common with those noble knights Phoenix Knight Order, but they both have the mission of dealing with Snake Worship Cult.
"Your Majesty, gentlemen, I have just received a new piece of information... Seven Forks Fortress was burned by General Agason, and Titus is trying to take Agason's troops as his own!"
A pleasant female voice came from behind the screen.
That was the voice of Alina, and everyone at the conference table turned their heads.
Alina walked out in a hurry, covered in dust, and handed a letter to Emperor Marius.
"Agason... Is he still alive?"
Emperor Marius frowned. He did not ask what Titus had done, but was more concerned about the life and death of Agason.
"Still alive, I saw him. But General Agason is injured now, and he was detained by General Titus in Fort Lela. Titus is currently forcing General Agason's troops to be loyal to him... Fortunately, I brought back this letter, and General Agason said this was written by Count Li Ang to you."
Alina pointed at the parchment sealed with fire paint in Marius' hand.
"Sigh... The enemies of the empire always come from within... But the enemies from outside are actually thinking about the empire. It's really ridiculous..."
Emperor Marius After reading the letter, he looked down at the map on the desktop and sighed deeply.
"Everyone, bring your troops to prepare for war. Gather all the empire's troops between Siyuan City and Fort Lela... I will personally go and 'provide soldiers, horses, money and food' to Titus..."
After just squinting and thinking for a few seconds, Emperor Marius made a decision.
"Your Majesty, if all the troops are mobilized now, will the eastern region... be ignored? Lion King asked Li Ang to serve as marshal. This is obviously to let Li Ang lead the army to enter the country from Calundru Castle..."
General Clerion doesn't understand.
"What Agason brought back is a covenant. Li Ang plans to do a business with me. He will not have any ideas about the eastern region... Of course, this business must be negotiated, and I have to talk to him in person. Alina, send a reply to Li Ang, I will meet him at Fort Lela, the matter of Titus is just a matter of course..."
Emperor Marius shook his head, with a trace of ridicule in his eyes. "However, Titus is Ash Descendants's person after all. I have to give Emperor Manius of the Ash Descendants Empire some face. I plan to make him a glorious Phoenix Knights..."
Fort Lela.
General Titus was in a manic rage and was forcibly taken away from the fortress by a group of Phoenix Knights and headed east.
He felt that he had been betrayed.
Betrayed by Emperor Marius, betrayed by the Imperial Senate, and betrayed by Phoenix Knight Order...
Because Phoenix Knight Order actually ignored his order and prepared all members to go to Calundru Castle, and even forced himself to go with him...
The reason why Phoenix Knight Order went to Calundru Castle is because Count Li Ang, the current lord of Calundru Castle, destroyed Snake Worship Cult's army and created a system to suppress Red Death's vaccine. This was confirmed by all Bax's leading figures including Emperor Marius. Count Li Ang even told them on the spot how to make and inoculate the vaccine.
Phoenix Knights are here to deal with Snake Worship Cult. No matter which country's lord they are, whoever can deal with Snake Worship Cult will be their ally - Ash Descendants Empire, who are from the Amara Continent, originally did not want to participate in the struggle between the Pande Continent countries, especially not to participate in the struggle for power.
Therefore, Phoenix Knight Order plans to build separate auditoriums for Calundru Castle and Marasburg to ensure that Snake Worship Cult will not resurrect.
Not only that, Emperor Marius also made the decision himself, allowing Titus to join Phoenix Knight Order and become a newbie Phoenix Knights.
This is the first time that Phoenix Knight Order, who was inherited from father to son, has recruited outsiders for the sake of Emperor Marius. This is of course an honor, and it seems like Emperor Marius is praising Titus.
But the problem is that Emperor Marius took back Titus's position as the liaison to the Ash Descendants Empire. He is no longer the envoy representing the emperor...
Titus's mission is over. Of course, this emissary identity will be taken back. Emperor Marius even gave Titus a larger territory as a result of successfully completing the mission. Commendation--All the land around Sava Fortress, including villages and towns such as Emilin and Laiwulun, are all considered the territory of Titus.
But the problem is... these territories currently do not belong to the Bacchus Empire--Li Ang's army has marched to the south of Sava Fortress, and these territories are all under the control of Li Ang.
Moreover, judging from the look of Li Ang, he probably won't return it to Titus...
In this way, Titus himself is just an empty general. After losing his status as an envoy, he can no longer control Phoenix Knight Order - he is now a newcomer who has just joined Phoenix Knight Order. The Knights have their own establishment and level, so a newcomer like Titus will naturally not have any authority.
Ash Descendants Empire guys are all brainless, they only think about muscles, blood and fire!
Except me...
Baxian are not good things either, they are all xenophobic!
Emperor Marius is even more of a treacherous person! He claims to treat everyone equally, but in fact he has never trusted me!
And that Li Ang... a young man who has just been lucky enough to win a few battles, what does he know?
Sooner or later I will get Sava Fortress back! And I have to add Calundru Castle...
Titus thought angrily.