Why did the lord rebel

Chapter 362 Chapter [-] A turning point in history
The special envoy of the Eastern Army who came to ask for help left Shuangfengling dejectedly.

Until the moment he walked out of the gate of the Phoenix Terrace, he did not get any confirmation from the Duke whether the Igor family would rush to the east.

At that time in the study of Horned Eagle Manor, the lord told him this:
"If troops are sent to support the eastern border, what will be consumed is the food and resources of our people in Shuangfengling, and the lives of soldiers in our pioneering army will be sacrificed... I have no right to make decisions on this matter, and the people in Shuangfengling must follow A democratic process votes to decide."

These words directly confused the special envoy of the Eastern Army:
Whether an aristocratic territory should send troops to support the imperial war, isn't this a fucking matter for the lord? !

How can there be such a fucking practice of "voting by the citizens" before sending troops to join the war in Haven Continent?
However, no matter what the special envoy of the Eastern Army says, from the responsibilities and obligations of the lord of the empire to the significance of "President Southern Military Affairs" to the security of the empire, the lord is as stubborn as a bastard biting his finger, and there is only one sentence:

Whether to send troops or not, we must wait until I convene a people's meeting, and everyone will vote to decide!

Even the request of the special envoy of the Eastern Army to attend the meeting of the people of Shuangfengling was sternly rejected by the lord of Shuangfengling. Pushing and shoving, they were sent out of the Phoenix Terrace.

On the way back to Fort Trout, our hapless special envoy of the Eastern Army, looking at the lush and lush vegetation on the south bank of the Lion Heart River, felt sadly that the so-called "convening a democratic vote at the People's Assembly" was probably nothing more than It's just an excuse from the dark-haired young lord;
It seems that Shuangfengling is really planning to stay out of the matter this time, abandoning the friendly forces in the east and ignoring it...

However, this special envoy of the Eastern Army, who has run into walls everywhere, is still a bit of a villain to judge a gentleman's belly:
Because after he left, the lord of Shuangfengling actually held a "Leadership Assembly".

In the evening of that day, the Fenghuang Terrace in Shuangfengling, the lord's hall of the Vincent Palace, was brightly lit.

The senior official Xiahou leaned on the black iron throne with swords, guns, swords, halberds and claws. Under the brilliance of the "upright and bright" plaque above his head, he watched the important figures in the territory file in from the entrance of the hall.

Although it is said to be a "Landing People's Assembly", in view of the growing population of Shuangfengling, the lord is unable to call all the people to the Vincent Palace for a meeting after all;

However, Shuangfengling's representative system is relatively democratic: at this time, in addition to the high-level officials who are familiar with the daily decision-making of the territory's confidential matters, there are also many representatives who are voted by the citizens on weekdays. The cultural level is relatively high, and the clerks of the territory and the political commissars of the pioneering army account for a considerable proportion of this group of people.

Xia Houyan has no interest in showing off his power in front of the people of his family and using some emperor's tricks. He didn't let these participants stand underground and accept the overlook while he was on the throne:
The hard-working and capable young man of the Pioneer Army moved an armchair for each of the participants;
The Lord's Hall, which was originally very spacious, suddenly seemed a bit crowded.

Among the many participants, Katerina, who is the nominal number two person in the territory, got a special place next to the lord—however, this noble lady sitting dignifiedly on a high-backed chair seemed to be He didn't seem to have any interest in expressing his opinion, but just looked at his younger brother softly as always.

Seeing that everyone was almost there, the lord clapped his hands on the duke's throne.

The crowd who were still whispering fell silent in an instant.

Frost Maple Ridge Knight Commander Aaron Cousins, who served as the host of the meeting, took a briefing from Sean Mountbatten, and explained to all the participants the current tense fighting situation in the Eastern Territory, and then explained that Luo Grand Duke Sario sent someone to ask for help.

Sooner or later, the federal orcs will attack the Eastern Territory again. This point has become a consensus even among the traffickers, so the news of the glorious Federation's resumption of war did not cause much disturbance among the residents of the land of cracked souls:
After all, people in the east will die if they die, so it's none of my business!

But immediately afterwards, the news that Grand Duke Rosario sent someone to ask for help, requesting Shuangfengling to send troops to the east, almost immediately aroused a wave of discussion.

"Quiet! Be quiet, everyone." Xia Houyan clapped his hands again, and immediately suppressed the heated discussions among the participants, "Now the Eastern Army has sent us a request to join the war... Should we answer Rosari's request?" Grand Duke Austria's request to send troops to support the empire is a big deal, and it concerns the overall situation of the territory. I convened this meeting to hear your opinions. At the end of the meeting, we will vote on whether to send troops to Shuangfengling. But until then, please raise your hands and speak your mind on this issue, and the truth will become clearer as the debate continues... Aaron, you are responsible for maintaining order in the meeting."

Almost as soon as the lord's words fell, countless palms begging to speak, poked out of the crowd like mushrooms after a spring rain.
Xia Houyan moved his body on the steel throne, put his hands on his cheeks, watched Knight Cousins ​​take a step forward, imitated the press spokesman, and used his fingers to select the next one who was allowed to stand up and speak. By.

Just as Xia Houyan had expected before, the leaders of the people had extremely different opinions on "whether to send troops to support the eastern border": almost everyone who raised their hands to speak had their own set of views, and some said that they should Immediately sent troops thousands of miles to help the eastern border, some said that the war situation in the eastern border had nothing to do with Shuangfengling, it would be better to see death, and some said that they should send people to investigate and report to see the situation before making a fuss.

Sun Tzu said, soldiers, the great affairs of the country, the place of death and life, the way of survival, must be observed.

This intensified continental war between the Human Empire and the Glorious Federation was originally a grand tragicomedy that involved the fate of almost every Haiwen people. As for whether Shuangfengling would participate in the battle, of course it would be fair to say that the public is right and the woman is right , How can it be easy to draw a unified conclusion?
What's more, the eastern border is far away from thousands of mountains. If Shuangfengling really wants to send troops to support it, it will be the first time for Igor's pioneering army to step out of the land of cracking souls and set foot in a foreign land - to fight all over the world invincible in the wasteland. Can the Igor family really please them on the far and cruel eastern front?
If you really want to fight, what about the logistics?What about soldiers?What about tactics?What about the gains and losses of this battle?
If you don't fight, what will you do in the east?What about the Empire?What about humans?What about the Igor family's responsibilities and obligations as the lords of the empire?
For a while, the Vincent Palace was buzzing with people, and I will appear on the stage after you sing. If it weren’t for the Knight Commander Cousins ​​holding a sword to control the place, the people who have different opinions would have turned this lord’s palace into a vegetable market. .

However, the lord, who has the highest decision-making power, did not say a word. He just sat on the steel throne of the Duke of Shuangfengling, watching coldly from the sidelines.

What makes Xia Houyan particularly interesting is that the factional differences in public opinion mentioned by Karim Lodge in the "Investigation Report on the Internal Affairs of the Duchy of Igor" were precisely reflected in this debate in the hall:

For the members of the Wilderness faction who have a strong sense of belonging to the central government of the empire, although most advocate standing still and observing the development of the war situation in the eastern border before making decisions, some people also proposed to send a small number of troops to the eastern border of the empire to support operations—

The logic of the Wasteland faction is simple: the reason why the Igor family can establish rule in the wasteland actually depends on the stable ruling order of the empire;
The Wilderness faction believes that if Frost Maple Ridge is left to die under the critical situation of the Empire's Eastern War, it will undoubtedly damage the legitimacy of the Igor family's rule in the Land of Broken Soul as the conferred lord of the Empire:
After all, during the war years, each imperial lord had the legal obligation to send troops to participate in the war under the orders of His Majesty the Emperor and the request of friendly lords.

However, even the most radical members of the Wilderness Faction only suggested "sending a small amount of troops" to support the East Territory, rather than sending out the Igor pioneer army:

The members of the Wilderness faction are not stupid, they all think that Shuangfengling can at most send some people to the east to pretend to be fulfilling their obligations—could it be that they really took out their wives’ coffins and household registration books and ran all the way to other people’s territory A desperate bloody battle?
The precious lives of the children of the wilderness were not picked up by the side of the road!
However, compared to the mature and prudent Wilderness Sect, the young Central Plains Sect members are much wilder.

A young staff officer who followed Sean Mountbatten to organize military affairs all the year round and supported the propositions of the Central Plains faction, raised his hand and pointed out loudly to the lord that this "sixth human-orc war" is purely a matter of the Empire and the Federation. A boring contest between two bastards!

The young staff officer said that the people of Frost Maple Ridge eat the water from the Maoxin River and plant the soil from the Land of Soul Breaking. The people of Frost Maple Mountain can shed their blood for the lord and the Igor family, but there is no reason Run to die for the group of fat-headed imperial nobles!

What benefits can we, Shuangfengling, gain from helping the imperial people fight?The Emperor of the Empire has not yet avenged his blood revenge for killing Lord Vincent Igor and banishing us to the Land of Souls and the towns on the Left Bank!They fight with the orcs, lose if they like, and die if they like, what does it have to do with us!
All in all: Frost Maple Ridge does not send troops!

After some impassioned speeches, the young staff officer immediately aroused enthusiastic responses from the crowd (mostly from other members of the Central Plains faction). Awkward.

However, just when everyone thought that this young staff officer who advocated staying out of the matter and being "gloriously isolated" was an out-and-out Central Plains radical, the reality ruthlessly told everyone that Ya could only be regarded as a moderate in the Central Plains faction——

Because immediately a political commissar of the pioneering army stood up and enthusiastically proposed that Shuangfengling should take advantage of the empire's busy eastern war situation and the emptiness in the rear, and directly cross the Lion Heart River to send troops northward in the name of sending reinforcements, stabbing Basil III Buttocks!
This idea of ​​betraying the old master and backstabbing the empire is really wicked and brutal!
After listening to the political commissar's proposal in a daze, the senior officials of Xiahou recalled in a trance that he copied Nurhachisang's "Seven Great Hatreds" when he attacked Yanxi City;
For a while, he felt lost at the shocking similarity of history.

However, before Xia Houyan could say anything, Sean Mountbatten, the leader of the Central Plains faction, stepped forward and refuted his little brother's bad idea of ​​backstabbing the empire.

After all, Xiao En, who was born in the Imperial Military Academy, understands the background of the regular army of the Empire better than anyone else—don’t look at the fact that the Empire is suffering losses in the East, it’s only because the enemy of the Empire is another giant from the mainland, an orc from the Glorious Federation Just a hero;

If Shuangfengling really dared to betray mankind, it would be easy for the empire to spare no effort and send a few divisions to deal with the two or three kittens in Shuangfengling. It means that the current Igor family really has the capital to compete in the Central Plains!
However, Sean Mountbatten had just reprimanded the radical political commissar for his haste, and followed the tone of the previous young staff officer, pointing out to the lord seriously that it is indeed more beneficial for Frost Maple Ridge not to send troops for the time being and to stay out of the matter .

Sean's point is clear:

First, they went all the way to the east to support the war situation, and Shuangfengling could hardly get anything except a moral title—even if the orcs were really repelled and the lost land in the east was recovered, that would be far away. How many copper coins can Shuangfengling on the southern border earn?
Although His Majesty the Emperor and Grand Duke Rosario promised to "express their gratitude with all their strength", whoever can take these political rhetoric seriously will have that big pig's head on the shoulder of Arrow Ridge Peak!

Second, if the empire really loses the war against the orcs, or even loses part of the territory of the Central Plains, it would be a good thing for Shuangfengling!
A strong and unified empire may not be happy to see the Igor family, a former rebel family, grow bigger and stronger in the south;

On the other hand, if the empire's strength is damaged in the war, then they may have to pay more respect to Shuangfengling and rely on it!
Thousands of words merged into one sentence: I, Sean Mountbatten, do not support sending troops to support the East Territory either!
After Sean Mountbatten expressed his views, Mayor Joel, who was more inclined to the views of the wilderness faction and had a better attitude towards the center of the empire, took Alan Hotelling and stood up and said a few words about the benefits of supporting the East , won Xiao En's helpless eyes.

After the representatives of these factions finished speaking, no one spoke anymore.

So the eyes of the participants once again focused on the lord—obviously, everyone selectively forgot about the matter of "voting". Every fool knows that there is only one person who really decides on this matter.

Katerina leaned forward and stretched out her hand, shook her younger brother's hand, and smiled softly.

Xia Houyan looked at the crowd with piercing eyes, pondered for three seconds, and then stood up from the throne.

He opened his mouth and said:

"I have listened to all your opinions. So far, I think one thing should be certain - we, Shuangfengling, must not send troops to the east."

The members of the Wilderness faction were silent, while the members of the Central Plains faction showed joy.

Xia Houyan shook his head and said:

"I can't help it. The eastern border is too far away, and this war is too cruel...I must not allow my subjects to bury their lives in a distant foreign land for the sake of the people of the Central Plains of the empire. Our Frost Maple Ridge It’s not that we don’t fight wars, but we only fight profitable wars, wars that are beneficial to the lives of our people and the security of our territories... and the Eastern Border is too far away. As Sean said just now, even if we help the empire win After the Sixth War, what benefits can we gain? In the "War of Doom" hundreds of years ago, the story of Count Olaf, the "Light of the Empire", was hidden by the bird's bow, do you all remember?"

Master Laurie nodded aside.

Xia Houyan stood in front of the throne, pursed his lips, and continued:

"However, in this war, we also cannot stay out of it."

Now it was the turn of the members of the Central Plains faction to be stunned and speechless, and the members of the Wilderness faction raised their heads suddenly.

Xia Houyan said slowly:
"Mayor Joel and the others said that our Igor family's responsibility as the lord of the empire is on the one hand. On the other hand, my experience also tells me that neutrals who stand on the sidelines in the continental war often have no good end. ——Sometimes, in a war, there is no room for neutrality. Sean is right. A traumatized empire may indeed be beneficial to Frost Maple Ridge, but if the Federation orcs directly flatten the empire and sweep the court Where is the hole? If the Federation really takes control of the Human Central Plains west of the Yongri Mountains, what fate will we face when we just killed a "Hammer of Purgatory" division? After all, we are a human regime. Everyone must understand the truth.”

Captain Cousins ​​was a little confused:
"Then...the lord, in this battle, shall we fight...or not?"

"Fight! But it's not fighting in the eastern region, or going away from home!" Xia Houyan sternly said, "You may not have forgotten how the 'Hammer of Purgatory' division crossed the Dust Mountain Range last winter and entered Are we from the Land of Cracked Soul?"

Everyone was almost shocked and opened their mouths wide.

Xia Houyan sneered:

"Send Dongying Pigeon to tell Rosario that Frost Maple Ridge and the Igor family will support the Empire in this war-now almost all the forces of the Glorious Federation are concentrated on the northern front, and the dust mountain On the other side of the secret road, where the heart of the federal orc land lies, it is a land of unsuspecting milk and mead..."

(End of this chapter)