Chapter 234
Northwest Bay by the Auldo Kingdom There have been two types of lords for a long time.
One type is the indigenous lords, most of whom can trace their family lines back to the military leaders or religious nobles of various tribes who lived here in ancient times. Since the beginning of human civilization, their ancestors have taken root in Northwest Bay - but according to scholars' research, their ancestors also migrated from the central plains of Aldo to the northwest. There are also some who were enfeoffed here by various regimes before Rodney Dynasty, but they have a long history of living in Northwest Bay. Some families were even enfeoffed here in the Gabella Empire.
The most powerful among these lords is Ferdinand Family. The other indigenous lords are basically vassals of the Ferdinand family or vassals of vassals.
The other type is the foreign lords, whose ancestors were enfeoffed to Northwest Bay after the establishment of the Rodney Dynasty. In the process of unifying Aldo in the new dynasty, more than half of the original lords of Northwest Bay defected to the current Royal Family, but a small half of the lords did not see the situation clearly and were cleared. The vacated territories were rewarded by Rhodesney Royal Family to the meritorious ministers who followed them.
The new lord named Rhodesney Royal Family, in addition to guarding the border, is also responsible for monitoring the indigenous lords. For a long time, the old and new lords have restrained each other.
However, Greiman Family is special. The original fiefdom of this family was in the fertile central plains. Later, in the political struggle, Royal Family got on the wrong side and was kicked to Northwest Bay. The new fiefdom was still an original unclaimed land. In a sense, Greiman Family was also under "monitoring".
Northwest Bay has a total of twelve counts, six of which are vassals of the Ferdinand Family, and the other six are vassals directly entrusted by the Royal Family. The strength among the major counties is uneven. The most powerful Kent Family, in addition to its own direct territory, also has 10 Viscount Territory as vassals, while the (previously) weakest Greiman Family does not even have a formal knight fief, let alone a second-level vassal.
As for other Viscount Territory and baronies, they are basically vassals of Northwest Duke or the twelve earls.
The current situation of Northwest Bay is: Five of the six earls enfeoffed by the Royal Family formed an opposition group headed by Earl Parker against the Kent Family Alliance, while Kent Family has attracted the other three counts who are also vassals of the Ferdinand Family to form a competing alliance. The remaining three counts have ambiguous attitudes and have not yet clearly chosen sides.
Although Kent Family seems to be at a disadvantage, Maltz Kent, who controls Earl Ferdinand, can use the power of the duke's direct territory in the name of the duke, as well as other vassals under the duke's name. Some Viscount Territory are quite powerful, and their population is not much worse than that of a nominal count like Arda. Therefore, in terms of absolute strength, Maltz Kent has the advantage.
"Don't worry! Many of the lords under Duke believe that the letter is true. As long as we can withstand Maltz Kent's offensive, they will support us from behind."
At a meeting, Earl Parker shook a stack of letters and revealed his seemingly unreliable trump card.
In late March, the two major factions, which had already been sharpening their knives, attacked each other almost simultaneously. Maltz Kent issued an ultimatum to the lords who did not respond to the call last time, forcing them to arrive at Cent City within three days to join together, otherwise they would be punished for humiliating the Duke. Not to be outdone, the anti-Kent alliance publicly displayed the Duke's secret letter, and at the same time brought Viscount Henry to the forefront. Viscount Henry had long been placed under secret protection by Earl Parker. The appearance of the secret letter and Viscount Henry caused Northwest Bay to become a public outcry.
Maltz Kent immediately said that the letter was a forgery. Henry Ferdinand was jealous because he did not become the duke's heir, so he escaped from the dungeon and framed him. However, a group of villains headed by Earl Parker had always had different intentions, and both parties hit it off and conspired against him.
He controlled Duke Ferdinand through Little Mage Andy to hold up the dying soldier's body, and held a public meeting at Cent City to reiterate this point.
However, Earl Kent was still a little scared privately. He had expected that Henry would seek asylum from those who opposed him, but he did not expect such consequences.
And the secret letter in his hand is exactly the same as what he did and planned. Was it really written by Duke Ferdinand? Is there a loophole in Master Barnett's control spell? When he thought of this, Maltz Kent felt a sharp pain in his head, and then he naturally thought: How is this possible? How could Master Barnett's spell have loopholes? Praise Master Barnett, praise Secret Art Society, Duke Ferdinand is obviously under his control. That's right! It must be that damn guy Henry who imitated his brother's handwriting.
As for why the content in the letter is consistent with the facts... it must be a coincidence! It must be a coincidence!
But... but... why do so many lords follow old Puff Parker to oppose him? These guys were usually submissive to me, and everything they said sounded like flattery, but now they actually had the courage to go against me.
In his original expectation, there might be one or two thorns in the side who were dissatisfied with him, such as that old guy Price Parker, but when he was holding on to the duke's honor and righteousness, he couldn't make any trouble at all. After you clean out the lords who are still loyal to the Royal Family one by one, you can stand on your own in Northwest Bay and stab the royal government in the back while its attention is in the south.
But now it seems that Henry Ferdinand's escape and the secret letter he forged have aroused the vigilance of the outsiders - what the indigenous lords privately called the new lords of the Royal Family - and made them gather together in advance. The original plan can no longer be implemented.
The Earl was extremely upset when he thought of this. He should have found an excuse to detain all these potential enemies at the Duke's birthday party. Although the follow-up processing would be more difficult, it would be much easier to deal with than the current situation.
There is no use regretting now, we can only see the truth on the battlefield.
After a long period of preparation, the two major factions have gathered considerable military strength. They mobilize their troops and generals, and the war is about to break out. However, neither side has forgotten the existence of the Royal Family. Not to mention the Kent Alliance, Royal Family will definitely be involved, and Earl Kent also needs to temporarily pretend to be a loyal minister of the kingdom. Both sides invariably sent their own envoys to Crystal Radiance to state the "real situation" to His Majesty the King, request Royal Family to support them, and inform the rest of the kingdom that the other party was rebellious.
I wish all readers a happy Spring Festival, may all your wishes come true in the new year, may everything go well, and may the sesame blossoms grow steadily!