Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 295: Debate on the Situation
The "carrot and stick" plan that Harvey and Asdalen had discussed long ago was used to deal with and handle the group of nobles, both big and small, in Grizzly Castle.

After all, Grizzlie Castle is too far away from Harvey's base camp in the wilderness. Unless one uses flying magic or a magic vehicle to travel day and night, it would take at least a week for a normal round trip by horse and carriage.

If it is just used as a strategic defense target like the valley outpost, it would not be difficult to rotate the troops to control the city. However, if Harvey wants to get deeply involved in the administrative management of the city, the cost and benefits he needs to pay will be obviously disproportionate.

Therefore, he needs a person or a family to be his "agent". This person must be very familiar with the intricate forces in the city of Grizzlie Castle, be able to quickly calm the current chaotic situation after the war, and take the initiative to become a "target" in the eyes of other nobles, so as to disrupt the group relationships formed by these people in the past and prevent them from standing against Harvey again.

In addition to requiring the other party to hand over a certain number of people as the price of redeeming their freedom, Harvey also required "Count" Trevor, who was managing Grizzlie Castle on his behalf, to pay him 30% of the city's operating taxes as "protection fees" every quarter.

In exchange for this payment, the Northern Army had to garrison Grizzly Castle for a long time to defend against the attack from the Grand Duke of the royal capital, Golden City. After all, according to past practice, if the Feigen family wanted to maintain the rule of the fiefdom, it would cost far more than paying 30% of the taxes to satisfy the Grand Duke.

"Count" Trevor was very satisfied with the deal. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to inherit the title of earl, coupled with the actual management rights of a city, which would make him the most powerful person in the entire Saint Valen border territory after Harvey.

Relying on a powerful force as a support is a wise choice for the long-term continuation of a noble family. Compared with the Grand Duke Saint Valen who is far away in the Golden City, a powerful wilderness lord who is close at hand is obviously a better target for reliance.

After sending off Trevor, the Earl, who had been conversing with him in the study for a long time, Harvey stretched and asked Asdalen, who had stood by his side without saying a word the entire time, "How is it? Do you think the other party's sincerity in cooperation is acceptable?"

The crimson soul fire condensed in Asdalen's metal eye sockets slowly dissipated, indicating that he was breaking away from the "absolute rationality" mode of alchemical life. "He is basically honest, but his expression and words are filled with uncontrollable greed. It seems that this gentleman has coveted the title of Earl for a long time..."

"Haha, that's good. Compared to Earl Fagan's stubborn and unyielding followers, I prefer guys who can be tempted by power and interests..."

Asdalen said slowly: "How do you plan to deal with those diehards of the Earl?"

Harvey waved his hand and casually arranged, "Send them to the mines and lumberyards. They're always short of people, and this kind of free labor is most welcome."

He then stood up and said to his chief advisor, "Today, please come with me to the Spellcaster Forum and sit in on this routine forum discussion... They'll be discussing the church's revival and the all-out civil war among spellcasters, which is also very important to us."

……

In fact, as early as a week ago, Harvey received a forum message from Mr. Burning Overlord, informing him in advance of the content of today's exchange meeting. He also knew very well that the other party was indirectly testing the forum's position.

But after the exchange meeting really started, Harvey found that he had underestimated the impact of the current situation on all parties.

Even Mr. Hand of the Elements, who always opened the ceremony with greetings, changed his usual elegant speaking habits.

[Hand of the Elements: Praise Mr. Turing, Mr. Neumann! Good evening, everyone... The renewed war between the Church and the Spellcaster Union has seriously impacted the stability of the various factions within the Seven Wizarding Nations. Everyone, we must take this matter seriously!]

Harvey had used the magic network to locate these old members who had joined the forum for the first time. Naturally, he knew that Mr. Elemental Hand was not an insider of the Federation, but a member of a powerful neutral spellcaster faction in the Seven Wizarding Kingdoms.

Even he pointed out the seriousness of the current situation so bluntly, which shows that the impact of the breakdown of the alliance between the two sides and the outbreak of a full-scale conflict is already difficult to control.

[Ghost Captain: But as far as I know, the current war is limited to the borders of several small secular principalities in the central part of the continent. Grand Duke Saint Valen was one of the first noble princes to formally declare war on the Federation. The Church did send a large number of troops there, but they have only had two or three small-scale conflicts with Daeus.]

Mr. Ghost Captain was a high-level, independent spellcaster who apparently lived in seclusion. His daily location was often displayed near the coastal islands of Pharos, the "Country of a Thousand Sails." It seemed he didn't have a clear understanding of the current situation in the southern border. The often fiery Son of Flame spoke rather bluntly.

Son of Flame: Humph, a small-scale conflict? That's because they're still a little wary of our strength. After all, during the recent battle in the Evil Moon Mountains, when we faced the demons alone, we were overwhelmingly defeated. Of course, those Goris charlatans and the foolish nobles and princes who knelt at their feet were afraid...

Harvey looked at this with a bit of a dilemma. Mr. Son of Flame's political sense was not very sharp. He did not realize that it was precisely because the Federation chose to fight the demons independently that it gave the Church and some secular kingdoms the opportunity to attack them. After all, in the situation of fighting on two fronts, the Federation could not spare the time to deal with the enemies from the rear wholeheartedly.

However, his words made Harvey understand the theme and true purpose of today's exchange meeting - the Federation faction that occupied the majority of the forum wanted to test the positions of other non-Federation members and the forces behind them on this civil war initiated by the church.
Of course, the most important thing is to get the forum's position from the forum's "agent" Mr. Kel'Thuzad, and whether he will stand on the side of the Federation representing the "spellcasters" as usual.

Frost Giant: No matter what, we don't want the war in the South to reignite. After all, it would harm the interests of the vast majority of people. The situation has been tense recently, and the trade in magic stones and magic materials has been affected. Don't you feel it?

The attitude of the Cave Dwarves of standing by and watching was clearly revealed. After all, their tribe itself had mixed beliefs. The vast majority of dwarves believed in the simple primitive totem gods of their tribe, and only a small number of them converted to the God of Light, which accounted for an almost negligible proportion.

Mr. "Heart of the Forest", a high elf who has always been unwilling to conceal his identity, also immediately expressed his neutral attitude.

[Heart of the Forest: The Golden Forest has always been unwelcome to outsiders. Neither the Federation nor the Church of Glory are allowed to establish or develop their own forces here. Therefore, we do not wish to participate in this extraordinary power struggle within the human race.]

Although what he said was true, Harvey still felt somewhat disdainful of the other party's arrogant and reserved demeanor. You know, the various magical plant materials and defensive magic tools produced by the High Elves were mainly sold to and bought by the human spellcasters he mentioned.

The Man in the Mirror and the Shield, two members clearly marked as having a Federation background, also spoke in turn, each expressing a pessimistic view of the situation. Their words hinted that this was not just a power struggle between the Federation and the Church, but a severe dilemma that all spellcasters would face. After all, wizards who pursued the truth and the way of magic would naturally be rejected by the Church, which believed that they were blaspheming and stealing the great authority of the Creator.

Unfortunately, this formulaic speech was too cliché and did not easily inspire the neutral parties in the forum to change their positions.

Finally, the most authoritative legendary spellcaster among the members, Mr. Scorching Lord, came out and made a proposal that everyone thought was reasonable to set the tone for this exchange meeting.

[Scorching Overlord: Regarding this extraordinary civil war between the Union and the Church, whether it's simply a power struggle between the two factions, or a struggle for truth between spellcasters and the gods, I believe everyone will naturally understand it more clearly as the situation develops... But now that the Union has shouldered the heavy responsibility of defending the southern border against the demons, doesn't it deserve some degree of support and assistance from you all? At the very least, in the event of an alien invasion, we should be in a cooperative relationship, sharing weal and woe, right?]

These words are indeed a slap in the face of some neutral members - when you were relying on the Federation to gain benefits, you didn't have the indifferent attitude you have now. Why do you all just stand by and watch the show once a fight breaks out?

[Scorching Overlord: Our request is not excessive... Since the secular kingdoms affiliated with the Church have chosen to expel all Union spellcasting organizations within their borders, should the Wizard Kingdom and the Dwarven Elves, who have always had friendly relations with us, also make a gesture and close down all church parishes, monasteries, and other missionary institutions within their sphere of influence? This shouldn't be difficult, right?]

After the legendary spellcaster finished his speech, the forum exchange meeting fell into a long-lost silence. All the neutral people were obviously still hesitant, and were obviously waiting to see whether the forum would stand up and express their support for the Federation in the form of an organization.

[Falcon Shield: @Mr. Kel'Thuzad, as the forum's real-world agent, what are your thoughts?]

Harvey raised his eyebrows, knowing that the highlight of today's exchange meeting was about to begin, and he was obviously the protagonist.

Kel'Thuzad: Hmm... We've always had a close and harmonious relationship with the Union! Oh, and by the way, you've all been too focused on the situation with the Union and the Church lately, so you might not be aware of the minor conflict that broke out on the border of Saint Varen...

Kel'Thuzad: Grand Duke Saint Varen and the Church of Radiance instigated a noble, a count, to openly declare war on me under the pretext of suppressing spellcasters... Now he's been defeated and killed. His vassal nobles have sworn allegiance to me and have clearly chosen to side with the Union, assisting spellcasters in their land against the unwarranted persecution by the church and nobles...

(End of this chapter)