Throne of the North.

Chapter 431 Kingdom Changes, Fanatic Dawn

Ryan's words made Lawrence stay where he was. He couldn't let go of the sword in his hand, but it was obvious that the price of getting it was not money, but problems beyond his education.

He could go back and ask his father for advice, or he could ask anyone else for advice, but he didn't, and made his choice the next moment.

"I agree to this deal, your Excellency Lord Baron Ryan."

Lawrence is impulsive but not impulsive. He has endured too much dissuasion to come here. Ryan is right, commoners only need to accept the obstacles of their family, but people of noble blood bear more. He can be heartless, but Lawrence is not such a person. Under tremendous pressure, he pursues what he wants.

at all costs.

This is the determination Ryan wants. As for the question of the knight's path...

He landed on the blessing, and five blessings fell in succession. Lawrence was shocked and felt his blood longing for it again.

"I said, I will bear the consequences of your death, so in order to protect my own interests, it's okay to help a little?"

Lawrence left and went to the North alone, without servants or war horses. Ryan gave him a bearskin cloak and went to the North with a sword.

"Will he come back alive?"

Liam asked, a little curious as to how Ryan didn't seem worried at all.

"Why should I worry? You are the one who invited him here. Everyone knows it, especially Lawrence's servants. If he dies, it will be yours."

Ryan smiled and patted Lian En's shoulder, then turned and left, leaving Lian En standing there in a daze.

Of course, this was a joke, Baron Xavier was not a fool to think that Lane killed Lawrence, and Lane did not hide the fact that he entered Zero Crossing City's team.

No one knows why Ryan found Lawrence. Not even Ryan could know, and even Brand beside him was confused.

"The nobility is like a pile of loose sand, but the army is a stone. The army is made up of soldiers."

"Soldiers like Lawrence can help me influence the two kingdoms in the east. If all goes well, the nobles will become my supporters because of these soldiers..."

Ryan murmured in a low voice in the carriage. Among the five large nets in his circle, after picking and choosing, the two kingdoms were the only ones that could be untied now.
It’s not easy, but that is the price of power.

As for why Ryan wanted to keep an eye on the Andara Kingdom and the Serra Kingdom, of course it was because if the two kingdoms were not at peace, the North Wind Province would definitely not be at peace either.

The orcs inside the Borean Province are an excuse in themselves, but even so, it is not safe. In an era when the army cannot march ultra-long distances, the principle of proximity is only four words, but it can bring heavy pressure to the neighboring lands for hundreds or thousands of years.

As Ryan walked taller and taller, the pressure began to be borne by him, who was taller than him.

There is no end to the ladder of power. When he told Lawrence about the responsibilities that the other party had to bear, he was actually talking about himself. Baron Ryan had an even heavier burden on his shoulders.

The heart is beating, and the fiery clouds in the sky seem to be hovering in the sky above the head like a giant dragon. Ambition also comes from that heart-burning night, and perhaps it is also the distant place that every man dreams of.

The journey to Lingdu City ended, and what was left for Ryan became the countryside and dreamland, um, snow-capped mountains, swamps and terraced fields.

……

After walking through the golden ears of wheat, we arrived at the wonders of the Northern Province. There were magical animals and plants that the Northern Province did not have, but now the wonders were located in the middle of the messy land. Golden ears of wheat? The orcs would not let go of anything edible.

There are many people in the wonder, including Chrysus Meyers and Count Pascal Gargoyle. Ever since Chrysus canceled five years of taxes in exchange for the nobles' support for the iron mine of Elector Volvo, the pressure has come to the Church of Light, which is asking the nobles to pay more taxes.

Originally, this matter was shared by Meyers or Volvo, but now, it has all become a conflict between the nobles, the emperor and Count Pascal.

As for taxes, the nobles' territories belong to them, and they have to pay taxes to the empire. But if they keep asking for more, how can the nobles be kind?

Chrysostom wanted to fight against the emperor's eight hundred by sacrificing one thousand of his own, and it was unknown who would be the winner in the end.

"The war is not over yet. The Northern Wind Province needs a lot of money. The Empire will no longer provide support. We will have to bear all the expenses ourselves."

"In the next few years, the iron ore under this land will not bring us any income. Without wealth income, we cannot support the method of directly moving the wonders from the sky."

"Do you know what a terrible price it would cost to dig up this land and fly it out?!"

Count Winter suppressed his voice. His Countess was a magician who specialized in space magic, so among all the people present, no one understood it better than him.

"The money consumed here is enough for us to fight another all-out war with the werewolves."

“Archbishop Brener knows how much it takes, and you haven’t taken on much.”

Count Pascal said that Master Brenner is now the head of the Cathedral of Light and reports directly to the emperor. The Vatican is gnashing their teeth about this. The magician whom they once burned to death with holy fire has turned around and become a believer in the sun like them.

It didn't make sense no matter how you thought about it, so Brener simply became the number one target of the Vatican.

"Why move it? Why not leave it in the North Wind Province?"

Count Sauron was also asking. As a great noble, he had the right to know the truth.

"Northern Wind Province is too far away."

"But this place has become the origin of light. Believers of light are eager to pursue the holy land, but they are unable to walk to the North Wind Province."

"The merciful light has given us immortal warmth. We must also work hard to spread the light and bring believers closer to the holy place in their hearts. This is our responsibility."

Pascal looked at these people and knew that such remarks would not make sense to the nobles of the empire, who were blasphemers per capita.

"The Empire needs to use the prestige of defeating the orcs to confront the Church, so as to win over more noble lands to become our allies."

"We need to let the faith of light fight against the faith of the dawn, and let everyone know that this is the will of the gods."

This reason makes sense. For Emperor Flor, after defeating the orcs, he no longer had any enemies except the Holy See. The North Wind Province was too far away from the imperial capital and the south. The people here had no idea what a feat it was for the empire to defeat the evil orcs under the leadership of Emperor Flor. Even history would start a new page for this year. The people of the south were still excited until now. They witnessed a glorious era that had never existed in the past.

Columbus III and Emperor Flor are also human beings. They will also be excited and marvel at their brilliant achievements. The high-spirited emperor will of course press on to win the victory and make sure that no one in this world can be on equal footing with him.

The ambition of the empire is to seize royal power and divine authority and rule the world.

"What about the Northern Province?"

Viscount Hogg should not have spoken at this time. His position was still on the side of the royal family. However, with the emergence of Marquis Beifeng, Viscount Hogg's status in the royal family declined, and he had to consider the fact that his territory was in the Beifeng Province.

Count Pascal was speechless, he couldn't just attack the nobles, relying solely on words, a legend might not have any advantage over ordinary people.

Beside him, Chryses watched all this. This was the scene he wanted to see, to fight for the royal power of this land for the Emperor-Elect Volvo, and in the process, to make Meyers' power in the North Wind Province irreplaceable.

The political struggle brought about by the war more than 30 years ago has continued to this day and has not yet ended.

Political struggles are accompanied by interests. Count Pascal's current dilemma is that he cannot let his family pay all the costs, which would cause the Pascal family to lose too much of its resources. It is also unreasonable for Count Gargoyle to lose a lot of his own interests in order to help the emperor.

Now that both sides are in a stalemate and neither can control the other, it is the best time for Chrysos to intervene.

"Using the faith of light to fight against the faith of the dawn is the empire's plan. Meyers can't just stand by and watch. Perhaps I can suggest to His Majesty the Emperor to reduce some taxes in the Northern Wind Province to ease the pressure on the nobles."

Chrysostom said that nominally they were acting on the emperor's orders, but now everyone understood that the Meyers had the final say over the Boreal Province. The emperor gave them a blank imperial edict, and they could write whatever they wanted within thirty years.

"However, we will have to pay a painful price for this." Chrysostom looked at the few people and used a roundabout way to solve the problems of everyone here.

"I need 10% of the annual revenue from all the mines in the Northern Wind Province. Don't worry, it's not all 10%. It's the remaining 10% that belongs to you after you support His Highness Volvo in rebuilding the West Sea Fleet."

"You have quite a big appetite."

Count Winter stared at Chrysostom and snorted coldly.

"This matter must be resolved eventually, right? His Majesty the Emperor must obtain this wonder, otherwise none of us can withstand his Majesty's wrath."

The interests among the nobles are based on compromise and exchange. When everyone loses a little due to compromise, everyone can accept it.

"Should we inform Baron Ryan about this matter?"

I don't know who spoke, and no one responded.

Chrysostom also shuddered and said:

"All matters concerning the Empire's non-comprehensive strategies are decided by the great nobles. The result of this matter only needs to be informed to Baron Ryan."

After he finished speaking, no one responded. Everyone knew that Ryan and Meyers had a conflict, but in this land, no one could ignore the importance of the frozen land territory.

"I'll go talk to him myself."

Seeing no one react, Chrysos had to say this, with a hint of anger in his eyes.

"I believe he will not reject the result agreed by the nobles."

……

"That's it? That's all? How about I personally support you with a thousand gold coins?"

Faced with this result, Baron Ryan did not react at all, and even agreed without hesitation.

"It would be great if Baron Ryan could take on more."

Chrysus smiled, thinking that this matter was very troublesome.

"What's the big deal? One thousand gold coins isn't much, right? There's no iron mine in my territory, so supporting me with one thousand gold coins is a token of my appreciation."

Ryan's words froze Chrysostom's expression.

Looking at Baron Ryan in front of him, he asked in disbelief:

"There are no metal mines in your territory?"

He did not mention iron ore directly, but mentioned metal mines.

"Yes, there is an iron mine in my territory, in the mountain over there, but the environment in the frozen land is too complicated, and we haven't built a mine yet. I finally dug a mine tunnel, but it collapsed when the orcs came."

"After the war ended, I was originally eligible to acquire the mines on those lands, but you should also know that I did not choose to compete with the nobles for the land. Instead, I took a group of people and returned. I did not even take the income from a single mine."

"As for the metal mine, there is one, but it is in a different world behind the entrance to Thunder Cloud County. It is a gold mine. It can't be included in it, right?"

Chrysos was a little confused and couldn't help asking:
"I heard that the knight's long sword from the frozen land of the northern border is sought after and loved by the knights. I even bought one for my collection. A finely forged knight's long sword must consume a large amount of iron ore."

"I didn't expect Mr. Chryses to be interested in blacksmithing. That's right, but those metal materials are not mine. They are part of the profits from the nobles' mines."

"You may not know that there have been many wars in this land before. I gained a lot of wealth from it, which is enough to support the smelting of the frozen land."

Listening to Ryan's answer, Chrysos was a little dazed. He thought that the Frozen Territory had everything, so Ryan was so powerful. But now it seems that the Frozen Territory has nothing, and Ryan has everything because he is powerful.

The black-haired, red-eyed baron in front of him made Chrysostom feel terrified. How did he do it?
"Mr. Chrysos, is there anything else? If not, please stay in the castle for dinner and leave tomorrow. It's winter now, and the road out of the frozen land is not smooth, and it has not been peaceful at this time."

Ryan said helplessly, then handed the message in his hand to Chrysostom.

"This is a letter written to me by Count Fragoso of the Kingdom of Serra. However, considering the current relationship between the Empire and the Church, Mr. Chrysos, please do not tell anyone. When Count Fragoso was still a viscount, we were very good friends."

"Up here..."

As a noble, it is natural for Chrysos to want to control everything, but he will not excessively explore what others have, especially in this situation, the nobles' reserve and morality will prevent him from looking.

Even if he really wanted to see it.

Ryan saw that the other party didn't respond and said it directly.

"Earlier, a group of more than 100,000 Dawn believers from the Andara Kingdom were relocated to the Serra Kingdom. They left their homes and became particularly hostile to the Andara Kingdom and the Empire."

"Of course, this is not the key point. The key point is that these believers have turned into fanatics."

"Mr. Chrysos should understand better than me how terrible the fanatics of the Church are."

To describe the fanatical followers of the Holy See is simple and direct.

That is, even if the Pope asked them to kill the king or the emperor of the empire with their teeth, the fanatics would sharpen their teeth without hesitation and then launch an unstoppable attack on the target.

Lack of reason, yet extremely purposeful.

"My position and decision-making in the Kingdom War have caused these hundreds of thousands of fanatics to have unimaginable resentment and anger towards me. To be honest, I don't even dare to go out now, for fear that a group of fanatics among the peasants will suddenly rush out and attack me."

"Some of them have already entered the Empire's territory through the Chamber of Commerce."

"when did it happen?"

Chrysostom also frowned. The political struggle among the nobles within the empire was very serious, but when facing the outside world, the nobles had to unite no matter what.

Internal enemies can be dealt with through interests and compromise, but external enemies are a matter of life and death.

"Unfortunately, it was yesterday."

"In the Unicorn Fortress of the Kingdom of Sera, the Archbishop of the Holy See held a holy ceremony. The light of the morning sun turned into flames and fell on the square, forming an eternal bonfire. People used it to illuminate the darkness."

Chrysos was surprised that the Holy See could so easily attract divine blessings, but at the same time, he was also shocked at the speed at which Ryan obtained the news from the neighboring kingdom.

In one day, he learned about what happened in the kingdom and the troubles related to himself.

Ryan's influence in the North is not inferior to Meyers' prestige in some places.

"Our Emperor has once again challenged the Holy See, but it is clear that the Holy See is not a pushover. Their anger is burning in ways we have not yet discovered."

Ryan did not lie. The news came from the Kingdom of Sera. What happened yesterday made Ryan, who was originally planning to inspect the winter reserves in the territory, stop.

(End of this chapter)