MacReynolds feels proud of his eldest son, but also feels angry and helpless.
What he is proud of is that the eldest son is very talented as a knight and is very likely to become the family's first Legendary Knight in the future. He is also good at training the army. Under his leadership, the army of the Grand Duke's family is stronger than before.
The anger and helplessness are due to the other party's temperament. There is no respect at all. Only when facing someone stronger than himself, he will be respectful. He looks like a beast.
Beasts will only respect beasts that are stronger than themselves.
The second son Roland is countless times better than him.
"Do you think that by killing King, we will become the royal family?"
"People live in circles, and the circle of nobles is not just the nobles of the kingdom, but the nobles of the entire world."
Otto blinked his eyes at this time and laughed.
"I know father, you have also thought about this choice."
Wind Emperor, Mad Emperor, Otto are the Grand Duke's biological sons, so they must inherit something.
"Since you have given up this option, I will naturally not take action, but can we really not rely on the Church to build a brand new McReynolds Kingdom?"
Otto is somewhat attached to that name.
"West Coast There is news that the war between the Church and the empire is even more terrifying. The reason is because the Imperial House member of Northwind Province got Divine Grace of Light."
"The Church needs our support now."
"No."
The Grand Duke shook his head.
"None of us can choose. If we rely on the Church, even if we establish a ninth kingdom, we will be restricted by the Church. Every decision must be approved by Pope."
"What about the Empire?"
"Empire?"
"The empire only has territory and territory. Today you tell the empire that you want to be attached, and tomorrow they will let Winged Gorge's army out, turning Andara Kingdom and us into the empire's land."
"Angels and Evil Dragon are actually the same to us."
Otto stopped talking. He didn't know what a better answer was in this situation.
Next to him, Grand Duke McReynolds narrowed his eyes, with crazy plans reverberating in his mind.
"But you're right, they all need our support now."
"I will send someone to the Church, the Church, not that Pastor Soto."
"At the same time, send people to the empire. Do you think Roland is qualified?"
"There is no better identity than Roland."
Otto said with approval.
The two madmen were discussing, but their eyes were also fixed on the fortress ahead.
There was a buzz of people there, and occasionally there was a hum that shook the ground.
"After my weapons arrive, I will personally break through the Carlos Family's so-called impregnable defense line."
Frozen Earth Territory, Ryan are leaving for Thundercloud County.
Lord Governor of Northwind has received the great God of Light Divine Grace. As a devout believer in the light, the nobles should pay him a courtesy visit.
"Praise the light."
On Thundercloud Mountain, the nobles' mouths went dry after saying this, but Marquis of Northwind in the center of the crowd was full of high spirits, and the golden flames that could be hidden were openly burning in his pupils.
Why don't you burn your eyes through?
Ryan thought sullenly, and then found that he seemed to be able to do it, but it would not be a real flame, but a reflection of the flame.
"Praise the light."
Marquis of Northwind likes this extremely concise but straightforward statement from Baron Ryan.
Although Ryan copied it from the teachings of the Church, it does not prevent this sentence from being widely recognized because of Marquis of Northwind.
Thundercloud Mountain was very lively, and at the banquet, Ryan also discovered people from Imperial House and Mayers Family.
It is said that there are people sent by the great nobles of the empire South later. The empire is composed of Imperial House and the great nobles, so they are all determined to fight against the Church. It is certain that they will not miss this opportunity.
Northwind Province's nobles are so eager to come, and it seems to be excused for this.
They have been having a heated fight with the nobles of South recently, and now they have another chance to talk, so they start delivering specialties from Forest Otherworld free of charge.
Ryan I just feel that they are noisy.
When I arrived at the window sill of Marquis's mansion and looked down, I saw Gargoyle hanging on the protrusion of a stone pillar like a statue.
"You've been here Northwind Province for so long, why don't you come to visit my brother?"
Ryan said with a smile. Not far away from him, another young man suddenly had a stiff expression. He wanted to leave with several Lordship but didn't know why.
You can't say you don't know him.
"Norton has met Baron Ryan."
Ryan looked at the Clayton Family badge and Lordship badge on the opponent's chest and smiled in surprise:
"Hey, why are you just Lordship? I thought you would become Baron in the future."
"How should I put it? You still owed me two hundred thousand Gold Coin. When will you pay it back?"
Hearing the huge vocabulary of two hundred thousand, Norton immediately opened his eyes.
"Ryan Don't go too far. When will I owe you two hundred thousand!"
"Pay attention to your identity."
Ryan said calmly, patting his Baron robe.
"When I walked from the Royal Palace to the gate of Imperial Capital, the wealth given to me by Imperial House and my family was worth two hundred thousand, but when I walked to the gate of the city, there were only a few soldiers left."
"You must have reached out, otherwise those guys wouldn't have the courage."
"Ryan Don't spit on anyone."
Norton lowered his voice and said.
"Who doesn't know that Imperial House was trying to suppress us Clayton Family. We did this to deal with Imperial House and make him take back the coronation order. As long as we wait until our father returns, we will be able to make huge contributions."
"At that time, all of us heirs may obtain fiefs and a lot of wealth."
"So, you are so angry that I have robbed you of your wealth, and then you divide the two hundred thousand resources and want to get your money back?"
"That's all because Imperial House didn't keep his word. He actually sent us away with Baron Noble Title, wasn't it?"
Norton's voice was very quiet, because there were members of Imperial House not far away.
"That has something to do with you——"
Ryan looked at Norton's chest and said seriously:
"Baronet Norton."
Norton's face turned red. They had ridiculed Ryan in Clayton County for pretending to be Baron at Northwind Province. Then he came here and was just Lordship. He didn't even dare to meet Ryan once.
But this time it is unavoidable, he is the bright Pioneers.
Ryan failed to continue, Count Winter asked the waiter to take the message, and he soon appeared in another circle.
Looking at Ryan's back, Norton sniffed and felt envious.
After becoming Lordship, in a sense he was also separated.
"Baron Ryan, our Lord Governor is too dazzling."
Count Winter gritted his teeth and looked at Ryan and said.
"This is what he deserves. The gift of light allows the empire's faith to be recognized."
Ryan said seriously.
"Really? But I heard from South's people that the Church proved that this was a small punishment from Lord of Dawn."
"Then the Church must be jealous. I guess the Church will also build a bigger wonder soon."
Several people looked at Ryan in surprise, almost asking how did you know that?
"Already started? It's really fast, no, it's really rich."
"It's not these things that matter."
Count Winter finally got to the point. In addition to the two earls, there are several county guards here.
"I just communicated with the governor, and he's probably going to collect taxes."
"Tax?"
Ryan frowned, isn't this year's provincial tax revenue gone?
"It's not the empire's tax, it's the God of Light tax."
"Everyone in Northwind Province is a subject favored by God of Light, whether they are slaves or civilians. Each slave must pay two copper coins a month, civilians five copper coins a month, Lordship one Gold Coin, Baron ten Gold Coin, viscount thirty coins, and earl one hundred coins."
"Every month?"
Ryan Open your eyes? Slaves belong to the noble lords, so the slaves' money is still paid by the nobles. The same is true for civilians.
"Every month."
Next to him, Count Soron squinted his eyes like an old man about to sleep in the afternoon.
"I did the math. I need to give him more than four hundred Gold Coin every month in my territory?"
Five thousand a year... that's really cruel.
The other Count Winter is only a lot more, and after hiding a considerable part of the number of slaves.
Sitting there, you can get tens of thousands of Gold Coin every year. Is this person too greedy?
Even the nobles of Northwind Province are now trying to find ways to get in touch with South, so they are frightened by this number.
"How can you get so much money together?"
Ryan shook his head. Don't look at how little one noble produced. It seems that the number of only two earls is a bit scary, but the dozens or hundreds of Gold Coin produced by each noble are not brought by strong winds.
War can wipe out the gains of the past ten or several decades, but every month, the nobles count their expenses on their fingers.
If a Baron can earn two thousand Gold Coin in a year, his total daily consumption in a year will not exceed two hundred gold.
Only those occasional impulse purchases, although they will be a big deal, will have to wait until the Chamber of Commerce comes.
What about collecting tithes?
No wonder these big nobles came to find me and co-authored it in order to drag me, Baron, into trouble.
"Taxation is never a casual matter. If tax collection is not done well, many people will die."
Ryan said meaningfully:
"And it makes no sense to accept Northwind Province. We are believers in the light, but other provinces in the empire are not believers in the light. If they accept us but not theirs, does that mean they have been abandoned by the light? Being abandoned by the light and Dawn at the same time, how can this be done?"
"That makes sense."
Iron Mountain County's Viscount Walter nodded in approval.
Although he has recently begun to gain wealth from Otherworld, he is still in a tight situation.
However, a few people still underestimated the empire's determination to use Northwind Province as a test field.
Just when they had just reached a consensus, members from Imperial House at the banquet suddenly stood up and said loudly:
"The people of the empire have suffered Church of Dawn for too long. Now the immortal and great God of Light has favored the empire and the noble Columbus. I am here on behalf of the Columbus Royal Family, in the name of Imperial House Yihe Fortune, donate 300,000 Gold Coin to Faith of Light, praise the light, and hope that Radiance and Eternity of God of Light will shine on the blood of Columbus!"
As soon as he finished speaking, an old guy from the Mayers Family member next to him said immediately:
"Mayers Grand Duchy will donate 250,000 Gold Coin to the light."
"Wonder is a gift from God of Light. I hope these Gold Coin can help the wonder be built as soon as possible. The wealth of Otherworld is the resource given to Northwind by God of Light for the sake of the wonder."
Soon, other nobles could be seen coming from more than twenty provinces in the empire.
Every representative's words made the nobles around Ryan look stiff.
"Praise the light, the great light Eternity shines on the territory of the empire, we are all his devout believers, Northwind Province has received more glory, I think, Northwind Province should not It's time to stay out of the situation, because our faith is closest to the great light, so as Marquis of Northwind Province and also the governor, I should give every piece of wealth I earn to the greatness of the light."
Marquis of Northwind said, making Ryan wonder if the stupidity this guy showed before was a kind of deception.
He donated all his wealth to God of Light. He had no money, so he could only spend money for God of Light. Moreover, he had no money and could not donate money to other people in Northwind Province.
Others also want to praise it, no wonder they can get Divine Grace.
He looked at Count Soron and Count Winter next to him. Sure enough, the two nobles were in a somewhat stiff mood.
"Master Marquis is right. On the day of Divine Grace Festival, we should all praise the great light."
In the end, they had to lower their heads and absolutely could not deny the birth of this matter.
This was agreed upon by the great nobles of the empire.
Grand Cathedral of Light has been taking money from outside before. Now, it's time for them to make money.
Northwind Province's nobles held their noses one by one and affirmed their beliefs.
Those who are further away can donate money, but those who are close to Northwind Province can only collect taxes.
And once tax collection begins, it is almost impossible to cancel the tax.
"I used to give it to the Church, but now I give it to Guangming. Hehe, it's not much different."
Count Soron said in a low voice that only a few people next to him could hear clearly.
"This is already considered a small amount."
Viscount Walter is a little helpless. They can support this tax revenue, but the historical record can be checked. With the development of light faith, they will become more and more profitable like the Church.
The only difference is.
The empire is a combination of Royal Authority and divine power, which means that these wealth will eventually be gathered into the hands of Imperial House and a few qualified nobles.
Ryan's face didn't look good either. He didn't even know whether Deities would be angry if something happened to destroy religion in this world.
But if the religion is not extinguished, it will at best be reincarnations and cycles.
In this political struggle, Northwind Province is undoubtedly the loser.
It also made Ryan realize that he might not really have any extraordinary political talent?
I have never been an official, so I have a headache.
"If you give me time, how can I solve this matter?"
Ryan thought in his heart that when he came to this world, he was definitely not as good as those great nobles in some aspects, but what he was best at was studying.
After a long time, Ryan felt that what he was best at was cheating.
Deep in his eyes, there was gradually a slight murderous intent.
"The Church won't be indifferent, right?"
Ryan once again arranged for Catfolk assassin to go to the Andara Kingdom. The fastest way for him to contact the Church now is next door.
Something as big as Divine Grace happened to the empire, it makes no sense that the Church didn't react.
There was actually only one way that Ryan could think of. He even wondered if he had been hit on the head by Armored Bear at the War Bear Tribe, but he couldn't think of a second way.
Mountain Forest World.
Ryan sent a large amount of Gold Mine to Svadilfari Wilderness World, and when he returned, he moved it to Frozen Earth Territory and smelted it into standard Gold Coin.
After the transfer was completed, it was a blessing to some people as a reward. No one found Gold Mine digging here in the past month, which surprised Ryan.
As Planar Gate was closed again, Ryan also returned to Frozen Earth Territory. While he was busy moving Gold Mine out, he also began to let Brandt train new recruits.
The days are boring. In addition to exercising, every day is spent observing the progress of territory development. God of Light's faith tax caused a wave in Northwind Province, but it did not affect Frozen Earth Territory. Ryan's time was always dull.
However, the drifting snow that would fall from the sky every few days still made him a little uneasy. Logically speaking, it had been windy and snowy before, so there was no reason why he was still so desperate after so many days.
If there is thunder but no rain, it must be preparing for more turbulent rain.
Ryan thought so, so on the last day of September, a snowstorm came.
As soon as it came, hundreds of houses collapsed, and countless people were crying and howling on the ruins in the ice and snow.
The strong wind made it difficult for Ryan to open his eyes. Standing on the top of Rhino Horn Mountain, he could no longer see Northgar Lake in the distance. As time went on, his field of vision became shorter and shorter, until the houses below Rhino Horn Mountain seemed so difficult to gaze at.
"Damn it! This is a basin! How can there be such heavy snow!"
In fact, Frozen Earth Territory is already considered small, precisely because the entire Frozen Earth Territory looks like a Big Bowl full of gaps.
Higher in the sky, the wind is stronger and there is more snow.
Overnight, 70% of Northwind Province's land was covered in silver.
Cold is no longer something that can be resisted by wearing clothes.
"This is the lethality of Northlands."
The wind and snow reached the ankles, and the Frozen Earth Territory war horses galloped in the snow. Then the streets began to buzz with people pushing wheelbarrows to throw the snow onto the glacier on the other side of the Rhino Horn Mountain.
Lord Ryan's life is not boring, he started a new war.
The war between Northlands and Winter's Chill.
"To defeat the cold, all you need is—a blazing flame."
The burning Knight's Greatsword shone on the ice and snow. The road carved out by the knight bit by bit led to the place where the wind and snow came. The moment when a blazing flame burned in the iron pot at the top of a watchtower, it pierced the hazy snow like a beacon.
Immediately afterwards, on the distant hilltop, a second watchtower began to light up with flames.
"This winter, the flame must not be extinguished. If it is, someone will definitely die."
Gao's fighting horse Ryan's murderous voice echoed in the wind and snow, and the cloak on his body rustled, but it could never drag him in the direction of warmth.