North, Newcastle.

Due to the Newcastle riots last year, the King ordered the construction of a military base castle there as a core hub for controlling Newcastle. The project had been underway for nearly eleven months, but the construction speed was not fast because there were still sporadic violent activities in the area.

At the moment, the transport vessel that should have arrived a few days ago did not show up, the construction had stalled, and the common people and craftsmen staying in Newcastle were in a state of anxiety. They didn’t know what was going on, and they didn’t know if the project could proceed smoothly or if they could return home as scheduled.

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As the architect of the entire castle, James anxiously walked through a pile of messy wooden frames and into the camp of the resident military commander.

“What the hell happened!”

James angrily slapped a pile of reports on the commander’s desk.

“The stone material can be dug on the spot, but there is no more wood material left! Not even one piece of wood left! What do you want me to use to build? This is your sincerity? Throwing me into this damned place, and then giving me nothing, asking me to conjure up a castle out of thin air for your great Majesty? Why don’t he just cut off my head altogether?”

James’ anger was understandable. He would have become the architect of St. Jo’s Cathedral, but after reading his resume, the King’s order of appointment was passed and instead he had to come to Newcastle where recent turmoil had just ceased.

The good thing was that James was a very responsible architect. Despite his grievances against the King, he did his best to build the entire castle. He seemed to treat every building he designed as his own child.

During these days, the commander was often yelled at while having his nose being pointed at. Criticisms such as the quality of the wood not being good enough, and that the hardness of the stone was not high enough…..Of course, the most frequent complaint was the speed of the raw material transportation. In his words, the transport ships of the Five Port Alliance became “a pile of rubbish that was slower than a snail.”

Today, the commander was extraordinarily calm.

He poured a glass of red wine for James: “The ships of the Five Port Alliance will not come.”

“…..”

James’ endless curses came to an abrupt halt. He looked at the commander in astonishment for three seconds, and then jumped up like an old cat with its tail stepped on.

“What! Are you going to abandon this half-built castle? Holy Lord! Those of you who desecrate buildings, you all will…..”

“Stop! Stop! No matter what you say, I won’t go to hell right away.”

The commander stood up and pulled on his cloak.

“The ships of the Five Port Alliance will not come anymore, but the castle will continue to be built. Come with me.”

Newcastle was located in the northwest region of Legrand, and the wind felt like knives as it blew past. James and the commander walked through the snow to the southwest gate of the castle. In order to prevent vandalism by scattered mobs in the area, the gate of the castle had been closed. The commander said a few words to the guard on the tower.

The suspension bridge was lowered down.

The city gates opened.

“Look.”

The commander said.

James took two steps forward.

The gates of the city were open, and a cold wind rushed in. A long line appeared on the snowy field outside, with scarlet flags flying above the procession. The royal family’s iron roses bloomed on the flags that flapped in the cold wind. The procession made its way over slowly from far to near, and a small armoured cavalry accompanied the procession.

James saw it clearly.

It turned out to be a long transportation team!

Their carts were loaded with neat piles of wood and other materials, the long convoy arriving in a meandering manner. The armored cavalryman in front of the team found that the city gates had been opened. He urged his horse forward and saw the commander and James standing behind the city gates.

The cavalryman dismounted: “The first batch of supplies has been escorted, and the remaining supplies will be delivered as soon as possible.”

“What’s this?”

James looked at the wooden materials and then at the commander.

The commander rubbed his hands and laughed. He patted James on the shoulder: “My dear Mr. Architect! You should take your eyes away from those piles of stone and wood once in awhile. In the future, our supplies will be directly delivered from Ingres! The amount of wood will be as much as you want, and it will definitely not be rotten wood that has been soaked in sea water!”

It took James a long time to understand why.

The State of Ingres had the highest density forest in the entire Legrand, and the best quality iron tree forest in the entire Legrand. It was not far from Newcastle, but the relationship between the State of Ingres and the royal family was tense before, and during the construction of the castle they often had to guard against attacks from Ingres, so don’t even mention such a thing as direct transport of timber from Ingres.

But now everything has changed.

The State of Ingres bowed down to the royal family, and the highest quality iron trees would be continuously transported out of the peaks of Ingres. The King would now build the strongest castle.

The cavalryman on horseback also showed a smile.

He was the person sent by the State of Ingres to protect the supplies. He grew up in Ingres and was used to seeing the Ingres people being rich in lush forest but impoverished in everything else. They lived the hardest life on the most rugged land, but now Legrand’s trade had once again opened for them.

The timber was transported from the State of Ingres, and the golden pounds flowed into the pockets of the Ingres people. They were even allowed to trade with various places on the way of their escort. For the first time, commodities that could only be obtained through robbery could now be easily obtained——if one could come and go peacefully, who would want to shed blood and die?

This was just the beginning. The days when Ingres could not even afford a button on the King of Legrand’s clothes with their one year’s tariff revenue would be a thing of the past.

“From Ingres to Newcastle, the blood of the empire will continue to flow where the royal rose flag will fly!”

The cavalrymen bowed over and spoke as if making an oath.

………………

The King received a report that the construction of the castle had continued.

With that, the architect James, who never wanted to appear in the report, actually attached a letter.

In the letter, the fellow who seemed to only see architecture dryly praised the King’s achievements and then made a request towards the King. The ironwood shipped by the State of Ingres had been grown for a long time and the texture was extremely hard. James had a new idea——he wanted to maximize the military function of the castle. He wanted to build a higher survey tower than originally planned and build more military towers that could correlate with each other.

“…..They will be observation towers standing high on the ground of Legrand. If they can be equipped with the crossbow banned by the Pope, they can even be called terrible killing machines…..All the abnormal movements on the northern grasslands will have nowhere to hide…..”

When talking about his ideas, James’ tone clearly became more frenzied and obsessed.

When the King saw this, he couldn’t help but feel that the tone was somewhat familiar: “Did our Lunatic Academy of Sciences miss a member?”

Look at this fellow, how was he a church architect? He was clearly a war machine fanatic.

At the end of the letter, James revealed his true intentions:

——He reached out to the King for money.

The King picked up his pen and struck out the astronomical figure set by James and ruthlessly wrote another number.

Want more money?

Fine, speak to me again after the Five Port Alliance has sunk.

The royal family was really poor now.

Although it was cheaper to buy timber from Ingres than from the Five Port Alliance, the quantity was too huge. In addition, after the injection of new blood among the county lords, the militia recruitment and selection had begun. Some time ago, the parliament had agreed to the royal family’s request to expand the militia, and Baron Sheehan also became busy.

The King did not intend to select his private soldiers from among the aristocratic knights, as that would mean his military reform would be in vain.

New soldiers would be selected from various places and avoid too much connection with the old aristocrats.

According to the King’s request, this newly established private army might not be strong enough at the beginning, but it must have high potential——so long as it had potential, it could be cultivated through later training. Although the knights of noble origin were better than the common people in physical fitness, their loyalty on the other hand…..the King had no choice but to raise a question mark on this matter.

Every day the army was maintained, it would consume a day’s food supply and a day’s military pay…..

In short, one sentence: He was unable to make ends meet.

The King was more and more eager to have the Five Port Alliance sink into the ocean with their pile of rotten monopoly systems.

He put aside the pen and took out the Legrand Port Free Trade Act, which had been drafted, and checked it again.

The name of the bill was drawn up by the King himself, and when he wrote the word “free”, he smiled slightly.

It was time.

……………………

The resistance movement of the chamber of commerce in the southeast region had reached the stage of a collective strike.

The originally busy port waa quiet at this time, and the boats were all moored quietly in the port. Large amounts of cargo on the ship were not unloaded, and the workers who made a living helping to load and unload the cargo gathered at the dock every day and watched the merchant ships while sighing anxiously. The impact of the port’s shutdown and the merchants’ strike was huge.

At this time, petitions like snowflakes flew to the capital from various places.

People affected by the merchant resistance movement hoped that this movement would be subdued as soon as possible——undoubtedly they wanted the King to make concessions.

However, no matter how the resistance movement of the chamber of commerce in the southeast intensified, the royal family persisted on not making concessions.

The local aristocrats in the southeast chose to be neutral and remain on the sidelines——the new “Port Restriction Regulations” had no small appeal to them. But they also did not intend to support the King, because the current situation seemed to be more favorable to the Five Port Alliance, and the royal family seemed even more unable to withstand the commercial stagnation in the southeast.

It was said that the ancient Ross family had prepared a feast to celebrate the victory in advance at the Port of Koszoya, the headquarters of the Five Port Alliance.

Just when the situation elevated to the point that even the small merchants’ guilds and small cities became uneasy, the royal family finally acted.

The King announced a new maritime commerce bill.

The Legrand Port Free Trade Act.

This was a regulatory and anti-monopoly bill in the name of “freedom.”

This bill broke the illusion of victory for the Five Port Alliance.

Almost as soon as the bill was announced, the gathering of the all-member meeting of the Five Port Alliance was issued from the port of Koszoya, flying to various coastal commercial cities.

The King did indeed make concessions.

But not for the Five Port Alliance, but for all merchants along the southeast coast.

……………………

Koszoya Port. The Five Port Alliance’s all-member meeting was held.

Unlike the Brotherhood of the Five Port Alliance, the Five Port Alliance’s full-member meeting included all members along with the core five ports. In the Five Port Alliance, there was a strict hierarchical division, and each city’s chamber of commerce was divided into formal alliance members and informal alliance members depending on their respective power and influence.

The protagonist of the meeting had always been the core five ports.

But it had changed today.

The entire hall was silent.

The face of the Ross patriarch was even more ugly than ever. The Dawson family refused to participate in all the Five Port Alliance meetings after they left the Brotherhood last time. The remaining three major business families all sat on the high seats with dark faces.

“Everyone, your attitude towards the new bill is surprising. Do you really think it is a liberty bill? It is a unified jurisdiction of the chamber of commerce directly organized by the royal family. You plan to give up the autonomy that we have gained at the expense of the sacrifices of many generations?”

Suppressed anger colored his voice.

There was still silence in the hall, and silence itself was a terrible expression.

“It is you who has autonomy, not us.”

Finally, someone spoke up.

He was a representative of the Haines City Chamber of Commerce. Haines was one of the official members of the Five Port Alliance, and Ross originally thought that the first to speak would at least be an informal member. 

The representative of the Haines City Chamber of Commerce stood up.

“Haines joined the Five Port Alliance three years ago, because if we don’t join the alliance, our ships will not be able to pass through the major ports smoothly, and the lighthouse tax we need to bear will be twice that of others.”

“After you became a member of the alliance, the alliance did not share the privileges of the main port with you? Didn’t give you protection?” Ross asked back.

“If you say that the privilege of paying more than what is given is the same as protection and equal treatment, then I have nothing to say.” The representative of the Haines Chamber of Commerce replied coldly, “We join the alliance, and citizens can indeed use the Alliance’s baron title, can indeed have a seat in your Brotherhood, and can indeed speak on Alliance affairs [1].”

He spoke more and more hurriedly, apparently having resented for a long time.

“But it’s just that!”

He pointed out sharply.

“We must share the naval services of the main port [2], must bear the cost of the main port’s participation in parliament and various royal ceremonies, and must provide a large amount of Alliance fees to the main port every year! But we do not have the right to vote! What’s the use in participating in various affairs, we are just mutes and bystanders! Whoever wants such privileges and autonomy, then I welcome them to take away!”

“The Haines Chamber of Commerce officially withdraws from the Five Port Alliance!”

The representative of the Haines Chamber of Commerce tore off the badge of the Five Port Alliance from his chest and threw it on the ground. He glanced directly at Ross as he stepped on the badge in front of him with his boot.

The Ross patriarch was so angry that his next breath almost got stuck.

The Five Port Alliance had the five main ports as its core, and the white boat symbolizing the Ross family was carved on the middle of the badge.

“Please allow me to take my leave.”

Another representative of a city’s chamber of commerce took off the badge on his chest.

“I also don’t think that we in Krate have real autonomy——our municipal officials are sent from the main port. If that’s the case, is it not the same to accept the royal family’s municipal officials?”

Another person stood up.

Metal badges were either thrown on the ground or on the table, making a crisp sound each time.

Ross, the old man who had always been tough and forceful, sat expressionlessly in his seat. The patriarchs of the other three families watched with indecisive expressions.

Why did it evolve in this way?

Because of the new bill issued by the King.

The Legrand Port Free Trade Act

According to this regulation, all chambers of commerce large and small in the southeast coastal area would be treated “equally” without discrimination.

The tariff protection privileges that originally belonged to the Five Port Alliance would be cancelled. The wool and red wine trade concession granted to the Five Port Alliance in the 13th century would no longer exist. The Five Port Alliance’s responsibility as the supervisory governor of the southeast market would be cancelled. They would also no longer be able to tax merchants because they managed the lighthouses…..

As long as the merchants announce their withdrawal from the Five Port Alliance and join the “Free Chamber of Commerce” to be established under the supervision of the royal family, they would be able to enjoy these rights.

The King’s purpose was very obvious.

He was happy to act like a spendthrift and transfer the various powers to all merchants, in exchange for the collapse of the Great Alliance of Chambers of Commerce created by the Five Port Alliance.

“Damned bastard! Is he crazy?! How dare he let everyone enjoy that kind of power!”

Ross couldn’t help cursing at the empty meeting place.

Only the main port members of the Five Port Alliance still remained sitting.

“What are we going to do?” The graceful poisonous spider lady in the black dress admired her white gloves and asked softly, “You must know, the Dawson family seemed to have walked into the arms of the King? What about us? Should we do the same as him?”

“Impossible.”

Ross flatly refused.

His expression was indecisive.

“There is still someone who can help us.” He said slowly.

……………………

The King was reading the news from the southeast in the palace.

“Without a decadent backbone, how can one fall when the wind blows?”

The King sighed.

The Head of the Households walked in lightly: “Someone wants to see you.”

“Who?”

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The Head of the Households looked a bit conflicted: “Your…..scientists.”

It was very difficult for him to not directly utter the word “madmen”.

AN: [1] After the 13th century, there was a huge difference between the privileges enjoyed by the main port of the Five-Port League of England and the privileges enjoyed by ordinary members.

[2] The main port here refers to five core port cities

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There was silence all around. The King’s voice was soft, and couldn’t be distinguished between happiness and anger. The nobles thought that the King asked this question with the intent to treat Earl Consett as his next target that needed to be dealt with.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

At this moment, Count Consett felt like a loyal official who was brave enough to dissuade the tyrannical monarch in ancient times. In order to show that the nobles were determined not to give in, this letter of admonishment was drawn up and written by Earl Consett himself and not his scribe. [1]

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Count Consett replied loudly and forcefully, and was prepared to speak eloquently on the spot if the King refused to acknowledge the letter.

The nobles applauded him lowly, calling him “extremely valiant.”

“There are three spelling errors and four grammatical errors.” The King picked up the quill, signed his name on it, then looked at Earl Consett with a smile, “I will send a writing teacher to your castle afterwards. I hope to see a qualified document next time. It shouldn’t be difficult for you, yes?”

Count Consett’s expression blanked out.

There was a moment of silence in the hall, and then the people bursted into laughter.

This was a slight mishap in etiquette, but one had to admit that the atmosphere seemed much happier in this way.

Don’t know which mischievous fellow shouted out into the crowd: “Valiant Earl Consett, oh, may the Lord be able to save your writing!”

Count Consett’s face flushed red.

He sought the source of the voice, wanting to find out which bastard kicked him while he was down, but he only saw rows of faces that were twisted from trying to hold back laughter. Even the nobles who had just cheered him couldn’t help lowering their heads and snickering.

“Please sit down, sir.”

The King handed over the signed document to the Lord Chancellor.

“Subsequently, there will be demarcation officers who will re-survey the royal forest. I hope I didn’t misunderstand your intentions. This is what you want.”

Under the King’s half-joking words, the atmosphere eased.

The bloody massacre just now was brushed lightly aside by the King, and he seemed to be willing to show some sincerity——he didn’t intend to drive all the nobles to the guillotine.

The nobles also felt that they had won some victories.

So at present, it could be regarded as “everybody being satisfied” as a whole.

The Duke of Buckingham sitting on the side sighed quietly in his heart.

——After the King almost died in the Konosen Forest, he made up his mind to revise the Royal Forest Law. He had been waiting for the nobles to attack him with this from the start, so that he could use what he originally planned to do in exchange for some benefits.

Sometimes not knowing the truth might not be a bad thing.

May the Lord bless these “triumphant” nobles.

“Alright, let us discuss the last matter.” The King waited for a while, then smiled and stretched out his hand to silence everyone, “Come, let us discuss…..”

The King looked across half of the hall, his eyes falling on the representatives of the port citizens sent by the Five Port Alliance.

“About the Port Restriction Regulations.”

The King said briskly, his tone very friendly, as if he was just talking about an ordinary, trivial matter. Of course, all the smart people knew that this was today’s finale.

The “Port Restriction Regulations” was something that William III tried to implement, but did not have time to implement in the end.

After the death of William III, the Duke of Buckingham exhausted all his energy to defend his nephew’s throne, so the “Port Restriction Regulation” continued to be delayed. It was not until this day that the King mentioned it for the first time during parliament.

The port citizens’ representatives sent by the Five Port Alliance sat in their chairs, but they were not very worried.

Long before participating in the parliament, the Five Port Alliance won the alliance of the great nobles along the southeast coast. The relationship between the Five Port Alliance and the nobles along the coast was definitely closer than the relationship between the King and them.

They were partners of interest.

The restriction regulations would not be passed.

“Of course, after all, the regulations have been shelved for a long time, and some things still need to be revised.”

As if not seeing the unworried looks of the Five Port Alliance, the King clapped his hands. The King’s judges stood up with copies of legal documents and distributed them.

“Perhaps I need to trouble you gentlemen to spend a little time looking at these changes?”

The representatives of the Five Port Alliance looked at the distributed documents and suddenly got a bad feeling. They nervously took over the new restrictions from the judge.

For a time, the whole hall was full of “rustling” page turning sounds.

The King observed the expressions of everyone, and unsurprisingly watched as joy suffused the faces of the nobles, while the representatives of the Five Port Alliance gradually lost their composure.

The new “Port Restriction Regulations” made some changes on the original basis. The 1/3 pence tax originally collected by the Five Port Alliance was re-stipulated and assigned to the local aristocrats in the southeast in accordance with the provisions of the Law of the Lords [2]. In addition, there were several other new regulations, all of which reassigned the interests that originally belonged to the Five Port Alliance.

The alliance between the Five Port Alliance and the southeast aristocrats was by no means unbreakable.

So long as there was competition for interests, even iron barrels could be riddled with holes.

“Tell me, what are your opinions?”

The King seemed to ask amiably.

The representatives of the Five Port Alliance turned their gazes on the nobles who had originally made a private agreement with them.

They were destined to be disappointed.

The nobles were naturally full of praise for this, as if all of them had lost their memory in an instant, turning a blind eye to the gazes of their former partners. Many impatient fellows even stood up and praised the new regulations, saying that they inherited Legrand’s usual legal spirit.

The representatives of the Five Port Alliance stood up, but when they were about to refute the King clapped his hands.

“Alright, gentlemen.” He terminated the discussion, “It is not early any longer, so let us vote. Everyone, please.”

He glanced deeply at the representatives of the Five Port Alliance.

Feeling as if they had been thrown into an ice cave, they watched as their former allies abandoned them in a blink of an eye.

The southeast aristocrats, who they originally thought would become their comrades in arms, now became their competitors.

The bell of St. Wyth Cathedral rang.

Under the ringing of the bells over the Rose Palace, the voting ended, and the new “Port Restriction Regulations” was passed with a very high vote of approval.

……………………

When the parliament representatives left, they saw that the entrance of the palace was still bright red. The guillotine stood high on the ground, and the blood of the county lords stained the snow.

Someone stood in front of the guillotine for a long time.

He was the only patriarch of the five main families of the Five Port Alliance to come to Metzl Castle, Patriarch Dawson.

This patriarch with brown hair and brown eyes looked at the blood that had been frozen in the severe cold for a long time, and finally made a decision.

He raised his head: “I hope God will bless Legrand and the Dawson family.”

This was destined to be a busy winter, on that was diametrically opposite to the past.

The newly appointed county lords hurried back, and the representatives of the free citizens returned to their counties happily. The blood of the executed county lords froze into ice at the gate of the palace, while the civilians in the dilapidated houses felt a rare warmth despite the mid-winter temperature. Even if the King’s intention was not so, things were moving in a good direction.

There was hope in everything.

The representatives of the Five Port Alliance also returned with the new “Port Restriction Regulations.” This winter had just begun for many people, and some people already understood that the biting winter had come for the Five Port Alliance.

They either bowed their heads to the King or rise up against him in resistance.

The Five Port Alliance chose the latter.

The end of October 1432.

In the first week after the parliament, the Five Port Alliance, headed by the five families including Guros, protested to the royal court: they believed that the “Port Restriction Regulations” violated the powers promised to them by the royal family since the eleventh century. It went against the free spirit of the port cities.

Represented by the Five Port Alliance, the merchant guilds along the southeast coast united and refused to provide maritime military services to the royal family unless the royal family made amendments to the “Port Restriction Regulations” [3]. They also refused to transport the supplies needed to build castles all over the country for the royal family.

The two important military castle projects being built by the King had to be interrupted.

The resistance movement of the Five Port Alliance kicked off.

……………………

“You don’t seem too worried?”

The Duke of Buckingham and the King walked slowly on the promenade of the palace, chatting as they walked.

The Duke of Buckingham was referring to the resistance movement of the merchant guilds in the southeastern region. Under the organization of the Five Port Alliance, this time maritime merchants, large and small, united and unanimously refused to accept the King’s restrictions.

The momentum was quite big.

The southeast region could be regarded as the richest place in Legrand. It was where the business capital of the empire was located.

But the King did not seem to regard the union of merchants as anything of importance.

“The materials used to build the military castles can also be transported by land.” The King replied, “The Gelug family will be happy to take on this responsibility. The State of Ingres will not reject the royal family’s purchase plan——they are too poor. Even the Chancellor of Exchequer felt a little unbearable when negotiating. As for those merchants…..”

The King smiled.

“They are businessmen, not aristocrats, nor common people. My dear uncle.”

“You already have a solution?”

“What do businessmen want freedom for?” The King asked, and then he replied himself, “The meaning of freedom itself is for profit. It’s a simple thing…..place the interests in front of them and they will be faster than anyone else in making their choice.”

The King walked forward on the icy rock ground.

“Just watch. An anti-monopoly law, and you will know how fragile the alliance between merchants is.”

The King said softly.

“Then I will watch.”

The Duke of Buckingham responded gently.

The King looked at the entire long corridor, and the beautifully carved stone pillars that stood tall and straight. There was no warmth in the King’s eyes.

He never made jokes.

Once seated on the table of power, everyone would become a hunter. If you want to treat other people as prey, you must prepare yourself to become prey one day.

And never forget one thing——

All of you here are wolves, and all of you here are lambs.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

AN: [1] As early as the 13th century, it was common for nobles to read and write, and other classes also began to become literate. However, writing in the eyes of many nobles at that time was a troublesome thing, and it was not worthy of their own status, so they would hire specialized writers.

[2] Historically, in 1040, the Savior’s Monastery and St. Augustine’s Monastery had frequent disputes over their right to levy a 1/3 pence tax in Sandwich.

[3] The meaning of navy here does not mean the navy in the modern sense, but refers to the navy in the medieval era. Taking the English Navy as the prototype, England did not have a formal naval management organization at the time, and there were no professional naval soldiers. The Port City Alliance provided important maritime military services to the royal family.

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Carry on.

The King’s order was issued.

The county lords who participated in this assembly and were on the list all had pale, frightened faces, but the representatives of the free citizens almost cheered in joy——they originally did not believe that they could really achieve any good results at this meeting, and only came on the order of the King. It was just a gamble, but now the lucky balance was tilting towards their side.

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The discussion started again, but the members of the meeting all knew in their heart——

This was no longer a petition, but an unprecedented impeachment.

It was not uncommon to file a lawsuit against the officials appointed by the King through the convening of the parliament.

Since the Mad King Henry conceded to the parliament in order to launch an expeditionary war against Bressi, Legrand’s parliament had the right to impeach the “unlawful officials”, but this was often a means by the great nobles to restrict royal officials.

For the first time since the establishment of the parliament, civilians were able to make their voices heard on the bench of power.

Although the power behind this voice came from the King, at this moment, the representatives of the free citizens were still very excited. If the King wanted them to swear allegiance to him on the spot now, they could even kneel down and kiss the King’s boots.

A fierce debate broke out in an instant.

The representatives of the free citizens, the judges, the county lords, and the great nobles who were all instigated by the King broke out into non-conceding arguments among themselves. Out of worries that one day such impeachment might befall them, even the great nobles who usually didn’t like each other before had no choice but to join forces now.

But this was all in vain.

The civilian representatives fervently accused the county lords of violating the imperial laws and wantonly embezzling and oppressing the people. Each and every small matter was exposed in detail by them, and the judges who were instructed by the King provided them with strong legal support.

Someone once said that the discussion part of the imperial parliamentary meeting was actually a large-scale bazaar quarrel.

So this time, in this biggest bazaar dispute, it was undoubtedly the representatives of the free citizens representing the King’s will who were the most valiant and triumphant winners. They were simply awe-inspiring, utilizing the detailed investigation data and the many laws and regulations provided by the judges, they closed in on their opponents step by step.

Whereas on the other side, the county lords lost ground steadily.

The King, as the puppet master behind everything that was happening right now, only sat in his place, indifferent to the situation as if he was just an outsider.

He didn’t participate in the debate, he just coldly watched as the verdict of the petitions were quickly decided through discussion——or argument. Those results would be uniformly presented before the King by the Lord Chancellor, and the King would make the final judgment.

The King had a clear measuring stick in his heart.

Legrand’s county lords must undergo a major exchange of blood.

This was not only for the subsequent military reforms, but also for strengthening the royal family’s control over the empire. Hundreds of years ago, the Mad King Henry established the institution of county lords based on the system of “the employee of my employee is still my employee”.

At the beginning, the county lords really did help the king to strengthen his rule over the empire, because the position of the county lord was appointed by the King himself.

However, with the passage of time, earldoms gradually overlapped with the scope of the counties, and the system of county lords originally appointed by the King turned into an invisible “hereditary system of county lords.”

This was not something the King could tolerate.

The Duke of Buckingham, who sat next to the King, felt pride for his nephew.

He knew that if the King had not spent so much effort to conduct such a detailed investigation before, and also personally participate in the entire compilation process, then this scene would not have occurred today.

——A miracle would never come out of thin air.

Soon, this alternative impeachment came to fruition one by one, and the county lords all fell back in their seats, limp and defeated. The elderly Lord Chancellor, holding the final decision of the discussion, walked to the King’s desk solemnly.

The King accepted the parliament’s judgement.

Everyone looked at the King nervously.

The result of the judgment not only deprived the county lords of their posts.

The anger of the representatives of the free citizens had been suppressed for too long. They needed to vent, and the result was severe punishment. According to the severity of the crime, some of the county lords were sentenced to imprisonment, but more were sentenced to death.

The county lords still held onto their wishful thinking in their hearts.

If it was all carried out according to the decision of this parliament, the number of county lords who would be executed would be as many as 56 people, and some of them were earls.

Would the King really execute so many nobles directly?

The representatives of the free citizens came back to their senses from the brief joy of victory. They also looked at the King nervously, for fear that it would be nothing but false joy in the end.

The King looked through the parliament’s verdicts one by one.

Under the harsh breathing of everyone, the King took out some of the verdicts and put them aside. The nobles instantly had triumphant smiles on their faces while the representatives of the free citizens could not hide their disappointment, their hearts sinking deeply. They suppressed their sorrow and watched the King’s actions unblinkingly.

The King picked up a pen.

Unexpectedly, he signed his name on all judgments.

What did the King mean?

Everyone was confused.

“These…..”

The King put down the pen, picked up the pile he pulled out earlier, and casually handed it to the Duke of Buckingham.

“Execute immediately.”

Execute immediately!

It was as if a thunderbolt had exploded in the whole hall immediately, and everyone was stunned by the King’s words. For a while, they couldn’t even understand what the King meant, except for the Duke of Buckingham, who accepted the judgments.

The old duke stood up and showed the pile of special judgments to everyone:

——The ones that were to be sentenced to death.

“Take them out.”

The old duke said in a deep and strong voice.

The door of the Bright Room instantly opened, the cold wind roared in, causing the candlelight in the hall to flicker. Along with the cold air, a group of soldiers filed in. They were wearing armor and swords, their figures enveloped in murderous auras——these were the royal soldiers personally trained by the Duke of Buckingham.

Amid the shocked exclamations of the county lords, they were as cold as steel. They ruthlessly pulled these arrogant fellows from their chairs and dragged them through the gaps between the long tables in the hall like dead dogs.

It was deathly silence at first.

But in the next moment, the representatives of the free citizens all jumped up from their chairs and cheered loudly. They spontaneously bowed deeply to the King.

“God bless my king!”

“God bless Legrand!”

The great nobles were pale as paper amidst this wave of cheers.

They didn’t know that from the moment everyone entered the palace, the scarlet carpet was quickly removed from the front of the palace’s main gate where the warrior queen slaughtered a large number of nobles, and a tall guillotine was quickly built.

All the executioners near Metzl City had arrived at the Rose Palace three days ago.

They had been waiting for the orders for a long time.

Following the warrior queen Eleanor, Legrand’s second massacre against the nobles was staged.

The moment the King’s signature appeared on the paper, the doomsday judgment descended on the county lords who had forgotten their duties.

……………………

General Edmund sat in a remote corner and watched all this develop rapidly.

As a representative of the State of Ingres, it was an unprecedented honor for him to step into the Rose Palace, so don’t expect to get a good seat. The fierce controversy just now had nothing to do with him. The State of Ingres had always been in a state of autonomy.

The people of Ingres took pride in bravery and felt shame for cowardice.

But at this moment, General Edmund felt a rare timidity.

A kind of fear bred in him uncontrollably. He saw a terrifying power in the young king sitting at the highest seat in this room. That was the will of the iron-blooded monarch. Perhaps one day, this young king would bring unprecedented changes to the entire world. At the moment when the King’s soldiers walked in, General Edmund seemed to see such a future.

He suddenly felt extremely grateful.

—— Fortunately, the State of Ingres made the right choice as soon as possible.

What chilled General Edmund even more was that it seemed to the King himself, the execution of so many county lords was nothing more than a passing thought.

He calmly announced that the parliament shall continue.

The nobles began to join the following discussion with trepidation.

No one made any criticism of the King’s cruelty just now——they remembered the rumor that the King had compiled a book of taxation and civil administration for each county some time ago.

They didn’t know if their names were also on the booklet, so they could only choose to be silent, hoping that they would not become the next target of the King.

The meeting continued to advance, and the Duke of Buckingham was the next to submit a proposal.

The Duke made a request to the parliament for the expansion of the royal soldiers on the grounds that the Bressi Expeditionary Army had not yet left and there was an urgent need to protect Legrand’s safety.

When Grand Duke Grice fought for the throne not long ago, one of the reasons used was the Bressi Expeditionary Army. Now the Duke of Buckingham once again brought it up at the parliament.

The representatives of the free citizens who had just won a victory with the King’s support almost unanimously passed the bill without hesitation——it was worth mentioning that the King also appointed new county lords on the spot, and the new county lords were all acceptable choices for the representatives of each county’s free citizens

The nobles cautiously discussed among themselves in whispers for a while.

They held a grudge against the King’s exploitation during this period, but the county lords had just fallen, and no one wanted to be the next.

In the end, some aristocratic representatives chose to abstain from voting, some representatives of the church expressed opposition, while others agreed.

The proposal to expand the royal soldiers was passed smoothly.

The King’s plan was moving forward steadily.

Knowing that the great nobles had been forced hard enough today, and there was a need to stop before going too far, the King stopped participating in the following matters and allowed the great nobles to file lawsuits over territorial disputes.

One unpleasant thing happened during this period.

The nobles represented by the Earl of Consett submitted to the parliament a letter of request to “resurvey the royal forest”, protesting that the royal forest had expanded to three times the size it was back in the reign of the Lion King, and the “Forest Charter” had become empty words. They requested that the royal family provide an explanation and response to this.

Here it was.

General Edmund, who had been observing the whole time, subconsciously looked up at the throne.

Here it was.

The King said in his heart.

He knew better than anyone how much pressure he had exerted on the nobles during this period. And these nobles who had taken root in Legrand for a long time would definitely not allow themselves to be tied up and accept the deprivation of power from the King. It was now time for the counterattack from the nobles.

The Royal Forest.

This was a word that waa easy to give people a misconception. On the surface, it seemed to be just a small forest belonging to the King himself, but that was not the case. The area of ​​the Legrand Royal Forest was extremely vast and it could be said to cover a large area of ​​the Legrand countryside. Furthermore, it was not only the woodland that was classified as the “Royal Forest”. [1]

All this depended on how the King himself and his forest officers defined the term.

During the Pureland period, the royal family’s forest area expanded indefinitely, and now it was indeed as the Earl of Consett said in his admonishment——unprecedentedly vast.

The nobles were putting pressure on the King.

When the King sent commissioners to the counties, they were also not idle. The nobles were also trying their best to collect evidence of the King’s violation of the “Forest Charter”, and also attached a rigorous indictment——the forest officers who sued the King.

The evidence might not be as detailed as the King’s tax book, but it should not be underestimated.

The letter of admonition was sent to the King.

The nobles were ready to immediately make trouble on the judgement of the county lords earlier as soon as the King threw the letter on the floor.

Whispers broke out in the entire great hall.

The King flipped through the admonishment letter. People peered subtly at the King, unfortunately they couldn’t tell from the King’s expression what his mood or thoughts were.

The nobles sat in silence and refused to participate in other discussions as wordless persecution.

Amid the tense atmosphere, the King finished flipping over the entire letter. He didn’t fly into a rage, but laughed: “Did you personally write this admonition? Earl Consett.”

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AN: King: The guillotine was prepared for you early. Aren’t you touched?

[1] In the medieval period, the royal family forest covered a wide area, and the relevant regulations were extremely strict. According to the records of the “Doomsday Judgment”, in the period of William I, nearly two-thirds of the 30 territories were classified as royal forests. The parliament and the royal family often had conflict over the royal forest. During the time of King John and Edward I, the nobles once asked the king to make concessions on the royal forest.

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Blood, strangeness, and wind that seemed to have come from nowhere.

The Devil stood on the black ground. It was a pity that there was nothing behind the gates of Purgatory. Contrary to his expectations, there were no old friends he could say hello to. Their etiquette had gotten worse and worse, maybe this time he should knock on the doors of these Lords of Hell and help them to reaffirm what exactly was “propriety”?

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The butterflies of the departed flew and danced up and down in front of him, guiding his path.

The Devil walked with light springy steps across the scorched earth.

The sky here——if it could even be called the sky——was an uneven dark red, as if the sky was bleeding at all times. The blood dripped down, turning into a dark red rain of sulfur and fire. The fiery rain fell down to the ground, and a huge lake immediately appeared on the scorched earth. White, acrid mist rose up from the lake, and fire like molten lava slowly flowed within.

This was a place where humans would never want to step in.

The huge ridges of rugged peaks rose up from the ground, the peaks in weird and bizarre shapes, like a fearsome jagged sharp knife. The corpses of countless dead people hung on the blades that protruded out of the mountains, swaying in the wind. They were either wrapped in long pall or yellowish white clothing.

The sluggish long river of Hell was like the blood vessels of the sick and dead, meandering and zigzagging into the distance. The long river of Hell was still, but at first glance, one would think it was flowing. However, if one looked carefully, one would find that it was not the river water that flowed, but the countless souls of the departed crowded in the river water. Some of them were intact, some were missing fragments, and some even merged with other souls, all squeezing forward in their trek.

The Devil walked slowly forward, completely unscathed despite passing by those boiling lakes of sulfur and fire. He passed through rows of hung corpses, and finally arrived at the long river of Hell.

The souls of the departed in the long river of Hell silently parted left and right, shuddering as they made way for the Devil, opening up a wide path.

He finally arrived in front of a castle that could only be described in the most crazy of legends.

The black megalithic castle rose up sharply from the ground. The castle was built on a sharp and steep mountain. The spires of large and small towers were fused with neighboring black stones, and it was difficult to distinguish between the top of the tower and the peak of the rocky cliffs. The pale bones of a humongous snake winded around the entire mountain peak, connecting the castle with the earth, and providing the steps of the castle.

The snake bone was amazingly long, with curving arcs that made for a terrifying kind of beauty. Those twisted joints seem to still be soaked in the soul of a certain cold-blooded and cunning creature, the slender bone spurs protruding out obliquely, forming the exquisite decoration of the castle. The skull of the giant snake hung low, pressing down against the ground and performing a posture of submission.

The entrance to the castle was the mouth of the snake.

“Long time no see.”

The Devil spoke briskly.

When his voice fell, countless flapping sounds erupted in the air. Flocks of strange bone birds fluttered from the shadows of the black stone castle. They hovered in the sky, the sound of their bone wings colliding against each other could even be considered a rather beautiful melody. Though the tune was absolutely beyond the reach of the human world.

The snake bones began to move one by one, as if a giant snake was currently resurrecting at that moment!

“It’s time to wake up!”

He said lightly, in a rare moment that lacked any disguise of frivolity.

The Devil spread his hands, and tens of thousands of black butterflies spewed out across the sky. They looked so fragile as if they could rip apart from a gentle wind, but in fact their dance struck up a powerful wind.

The world was suddenly thrown into an uproar.

Imperceptibly, this Hell that seemed to have been dead for a long time began to celebrate.

……………………

The bell of St. Wyth Cathedral rang.

The penetrating sound of the bell echoed over half of Metzl Castle. The pale sun rose up the cold sky from the horizon and the sunlight spread out over the earth. The ice crystals and white snow reflected the sunlight, and the night was mercilessly dissipated.

Enough time had passed since the King issued the call, and the parliamentary representatives from all over Legrand had all gathered in the city of Metzl.

Today, the largest parliamentary meeting was officially held.

The representatives arrived at the main entrance of the Rose Palace in the early morning, standing patiently in the open space where Eleanor, the warrior queen, had carried out the first massacre of nobles. The accumulated snow had been cleared, the red carpet spread out, and the guards of the palace wore all donned in armor, their hands resting on the hilt of their swords while standing at attention on either side of the front door.

The last morning bell rang deeply, and the doors of the palace opened on time.

At this moment, the greatest power and supreme splendor of the entire empire opened its door to everyone. At that moment, there seemed to be an intangible wave of energy rising from the palace, enough to make everyone dazzled. The representatives glanced at each other and stepped into the heart of the empire under the guidance of the attendants who filed out.

The scarlet royal flag of the Rose family flew in the uppermost towers of the royal palace, flapping in the wind.

The opening ceremony of the parliamentary meeting was held in the Bright Room of the Rose Palace. Unlike the previous temporary meetings, all the candles in the Bright Room were lit at this time, and the entire huge room appeared as glorious as if it had been plated in gold. The fireplaces were also all lit, and the raging fire filled the room with domineering heat, relentlessly expelling the cold.

Excluding the big nobles, the minor nobles and the representatives of the common people met their King for the first time.

He sat in the center of the conference hall.

The throne that symbolized supreme authority was extremely gorgeous, but the King himself was even more gorgeous than the throne. All words used to describe dignity and luxury could be used on the King.

This was a formal ceremonial occasion. The King wore the crown that had been passed down for thousands of years. The crown was inlaid with red rose-like gems. Under the crown, the King’s face even surpassed the son of God described in all legends. His ice blue eyes looked coldly down at everyone, and yet it only made people feel that this was natural, he should be like so.

The King wore the royal ceremonial attire.

The scarlet cloak with intricate rose patterns embroidered with gold thread draped over his shoulders, and the golden tunic under it was also covered in gorgeous embroidery. He held the golden scepter in his hand, and the symbol of the Rose family was worn on his cold white finger.

Under the candlelight, he was simply brilliance itself.

Beside the King, on the left, the secular aristocrats with the Duke of Buckingham as their representative seated according to their titles, and on the right, the church aristocrats headed by the Archbishop of St. Wyth were seated according to their positions.

The long table where the King sat was the table of power in the entire Legrand Empire today.

Everyone sat down, and the Lord Chancellor stood up and began to preside over the opening ceremony. Legrand’s Lord Chancellor was older than even the Duke of Buckingham. He wore a heavy wig and an iron rose badge pinned on his dark red robe, which showed that he was a firm member of the Royalist Party in the “Rose Crisis”.

The elderly Lord Chancellor stood upright, his wrinkled hands holding a long scroll, trying his best to speak clearly and loudly.

The Lord Chancellor originally felt that he was too old, and he might not be able to undertake this important task. He wanted to give up this glorious opportunity to others but the King rejected his proposal.

——If anyone dares to laugh at the opening ceremony, then he can expect his head to fall.

The King spoke thus.

There was only silence in the great hall.

The people listened to the Lord Chancellor reciting the speech clearly and loudly, his voice old but powerful. But gradually, his voice became a little hoarse, and some frivolous noble representatives were just about to whisper among themselves, when they saw the King looking over coldly from the throne.

A poisonous chill crawled over their backs, and in an instant no one dared to make a sound.

In this utter silence, the Lord Chancellor described the purpose, content, schedule, and agenda of this parliamentary meeting. Finally, the Lord Chancellor announced that Legrand’s King would now officially declare the start of the meeting.

The Lord Chancellor closed his speech and after finishing the last sentence loudly he straightened his spine proudly.

“I declare——”

The King stood up and his gaze swept across the hall.

“This parliamentary meeting officially begins!”

His voice was clear, powerful, and suffused with irrefutable majesty.

There was a moment of silence in the hall, and then the people got up and bowed deeply to the King. Whether they were nobles or commoners, they all shouted at this moment: “God bless my King!”

The parliamentary meeting had begun.

………………

This time the parliamentary meeting was completely changed from the lengthy process before, and after the opening ceremony, it went directly to the most important part.

Representatives of all levels began to submit petitions and complaints to the clerks of the parliament in turn. Under the auspices of the Lord Chancellor, the parliament participants were divided into several groups and began to discuss the issues just submitted.

There was no cumbersome etiquette, no banquet, and no opera performance to enjoy.

This time the parliament had undergone a huge change, just like in the change of participants. From beginning to end, it was permeated with an urgent smell of gunpowder. There seemed to be an invisible battle front in the air.

Unlike in the past, when he directly left after attending the opening ceremony and didn’t make an appearance until it came time for the decision-making process. This time, the King sat in the top seat from beginning to end, and seemed determined to participate in the whole process.

Something different from usual was brewing in the air.

Soon, the people’s instincts were confirmed.

Because the representatives of the free citizens who were allowed to participate in the parliament for the first time began to submit their petitions.

——A petition calling for the removal of the local county lord.

They had quite the tacit understanding, each letter of petition was accompanied by a very detailed statement, carefully explaining the county lord’s dereliction of duty, and if according to the above, some of the county lords would even be thrown on the guillotine.

Many of the county lords on the removal list also participated in this assembly, and they paled after seeing these petitions.

Everyone looked at the King.

No one believed that these commoners could make such detailed and methodical statements. This was absolutely based on the King’s will. As everyone was aware, the King’s commissioners flew all over the land of Legrand like black wings some time ago.

The King, who suddenly became the focus, casually raised his eyes.

“Gentlemen, is there a need for me to remind you all that this is a parliamentary meeting? Please proceed in accordance with the procedures you have always adhered to.”

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

The participants were speechless.

In the past, when the King convened a parliamentary meeting to increase taxes, they resisted by bringing out the fixed procedures of the parliament. No one thought that one day the King would also use this knife against them as well.

“Carry on.”

Said the King.

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Carriages with curtains emblazoned with the Rose emblem rolled over the thick snow on the road, beginning to return to the capital Metzl Castle one after another.

The people’s mood presented a polarization.

When the King’s commissioners first arrived in the counties, the civilians were as numb as a pool of stagnant water while the nobles busied themselves in preparing banquets and gifts for their reception. But when they left, the situation changed completely. The nobles gritted their teeth with hatred as they glared at the back of the carriages, but at the same time they also felt fear. Whereas on the other hand, the commoners watched the carriages leave with reluctance, a glimmer of hope rising in their hearts.

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This time, would it work? Would it change for the better?

They hoped that the King’s wrath could bring a little warmth to pitiful, suffering people like them while burning his enemies——even if that was not the King’s intention.

A kernel of hope began to burn in the people’s hearts. For the first time, civilians were looking forward to the convening of the parliament more than the nobles.

The King’s black wings brought back a thick pile of documents, and the King summoned his advisors and officials. The officials who thought they could spend a comfortable winter had no choice but to leave the embrace of their beautiful lovers and rush off to the palace.

This was probably the worst winter for these officials.

What they were faced with was investigation reports that were so thick that they could be piled up to the ceiling. After sitting down, one would be immediately submerged in paper and the whole sky seemed to be full of flying documents…..The King gave them half a month to sort out the results of these investigations and compile them into a detailed and complete national tax and civil administration booklet.

Holy Lord! Was this something humans could do?

Tax officials, clerks, statisticians…..They all let out desperate moans when they got this order from the King. A few of them could not reconcile with the matter at first, thinking that the King was only joking, but reality showed them that the King was not joking with them at all.

The people who participated in the compilation were arranged to live together in the Rose Palace, and the guards of the palace told them politely, “Gentlemen, when you have finished your work, then you can leave. Before that, please make yourself at home in the palace.”

The dark period of working overtime began, the extent of which was comparable to the lords exploiting their serfs.

Someone refused to give up, and tentatively asked the guards of the palace if he could go out to relax. If he didn’t go to see his lover, he might never be allowed to step into her room again.

The guard shook his hand with deep sympathy, so sincere that he nearly seemed to tear up in the next second: “Too right you are, sir. My beautiful Miss Lisa is also waiting for me, if I allow you to take even half a step out of the palace, Miss Lisa could only go see me at my tombstone!”

At the end, he also sincerely asked, “Being in the same situation, you can understand me, right?”

Officials: …..Alright then, such a rogue with no sense of a knight’s chivalry was indeed the style of their Majesty.

They could only accept their fate.

During this period of time, the Master of the Households often ran back and forth between the officials and the King, constantly conveying the King’s will to the officials. He was known to be very amiable to others, but now when the officials heard the footsteps of the Master of the Households, they would reflexively feel their scalp go numb——because it only heralded what harsh requirements the King had put forward next.

“Such a truly terrible way of recording.”

While the officials were in the middle of great distress, the King had already begun to read through the completed parts of the compilation in his office. Occasionally he would also critique their work mercilessly.

The Duke of Buckingham sat opposite the King. He glanced sideways at the unprecedentedly neat and clear tax records and chose to remain silent in the end.

——It was winter, and there was nothing wrong with exercising the fingers on occasion.

The King ridiculed the tax records in a harsh and cutting tone while flipping through it quickly. During this period of time, his workload even surpassed those of the compiling officials as the King had to personally examine and approve each of the compiled parts, and when encountering ambiguities, he would throw it back and have them start over.

The King added the item “reform system” to his long-term plan. Oh, and there was also a need for further education for these court officials.

May the Holy Lord bless the court officials. One hoped that they were strong enough.

“What are you worried about? Your Majesty.”

The Duke of Buckingham noticed that the King did not immediately call the Head of the Households to come in after closing the tax records. The workload of the Duke of Buckingham during this period was also not small. He, the King and the advisory team had to analyze suitable candidates for the county lords based on these investigations.

“Five Port Alliance.”

The King replied.

The Five Port Alliance had special privileges, and their taxation fell under a separate system. The scope of the King’s investigation did not include the autonomous cities of the Five Port Alliance.

It was not difficult to guess just how many pounds of money slipped past the King’s pocket every year.

However, it was not because of this that the King thought of the Five Port Alliance at this time.

——It was because of the Black Death.

According to the information obtained from the Devil, Legrand was not the only country where the Black Death would show up in. Now that maritime shipping was a prosperous industry, maritime travel had also become an important way for the spread of the Black Death. If the customs could not be effectively controlled, then even if the Devil could solve the plague in Legrand in some way, the Black Death might still break out in Legrand again soon.

Even if not for the title of “Uncrowned King”, the King must still completely resolve the issue presented by the Five Port Alliance before the Black Death arrived.

The King sighed.

“Hold a parliamentary meeting.”

The King put down the tax records, having passed his review. He quietly looked out the window.

The Duke of Buckingham followed the King’s gaze and saw the land of Legrand covered with snow. The Duke sighed with gratification and other conflicted emotions in his heart:

How heavy was the burden of a country? This was a no-question answer, because only the person who wore that crown knew.

Not the crown worn on the head, but in the heart.

And people who wore the crown in their hearts disdained to speak out on how heavy the burden was.

“Follow your will, Your Majesty.”

The Duke of Buckingham said.

………………

When October was about to end, following the custom, the King issued a summoning order to the entire territory of Legrand. [1]

But what was different from the past was that the scale of this meeting was unprecedented. A total of nearly a thousand representatives had obtained the qualifications to participate. In addition to the regular local nobles, there was also the addition of representatives of the free citizens in cities and towns. Compared with the representatives of the free citizens who were allowed to participate in the parliamentary meeting, the representatives of the royal family of Ingres who were also qualified to participate were not so conspicuous.

In addition, as a special member of Legrand, the Five Port Alliance also had its own representative.

The Five Port Alliance had been too quiet during this period, but this quietness was the same as the King’s stance of non-commitment, both hinting at something unusual.

Finally, the representatives of the Five Port Alliance set off from the port of Koszoya.

On an unobtrusive little note, there was an addition of a low-key young man to the delegation.

Drifting winter snow enveloped the skies of the Legrand Empire, and people began to gather in the capital.

Tension, excitement, anxiety…..All kinds of emotions were surging under the ice of the empire, and only the one who was on the throne knew best the true purpose of this meeting.

The largest parliamentary meeting in the history of the Legrand Empire was to be held soon.

………………

“What a truly big gesture, my dear Majesty.”

A letter made of a material that was difficult to discern was unfolded by a pale and slender hand, and the Devil quickly scanned the content on it. He sighed.

A crow quietly perched on the black withered tree in front of the Devil. It had dark red eyes and cawed in seeming response when it heard the Devil’s words.

“Shut up, Mela.”

The Devil scolded without hesitation.

The crow known as “Mela” ignored his scolding and continued to caw at him, its tone harsh and short and urgent.

“Alright, alright, what’s the use of urging me?”

The Devil raised his hand, and the letter went up in flames in mid-air, turning into specks of ash, and then the specks scattered and turned into black, bizarrely beautiful butterflies.

“The Decree hangs over the earth, separating heaven and earth from hell…..The time has not come, we must wait.”

Perhaps it was the “Decree” mentioned in the Devil’s words that worked, and the crow calmed down.

The black butterflies danced slowly in the air as they flew forward.

The Devil raised his head. He looked at everything in front of him and sighed quietly: “…..You say, if I go in now, will those Lords work together to hunt me down?”

In front of the Devil stood the terrifying gates of Purgatory. The door seemed to be made up of the gathering of blood and dark colors, the vague sound of sorrowful crying welling out from behind it, like thousands of souls shattering or like thousands of evil spirits laughing nastily. An ancient text was inscribed on the side of the door:

From then on, I entered that miserable city.

From then on, I entered the abyss of pain.

From then on, I entered the crowd consigned to eternal damnation. [2]

Below were two lines of words that were scratched away with a blade by a person——let us call them a person for now——and were unable to make any sense of.

Immediately followed by:

Before me, there was nothing but eternity.

I exist along with heaven and earth; I live forever. [3]

“I hope no one will be guarding behind the door.” The Devil murmured, but his expression did not appear nervous at all, and even vaguely revealed a hint of expectation, “Know that I am here to clean the palace for His Majesty. Ai…..This is really a trivial, troublesome but sweet job.”

The crow cawed out angrily again.

“Oh, sorry, I forgot that you can’t serve His Majesty at the moment.”

The Devil apologized pretentiously, but his smile showed a hint of wanton impudence.

The crow flew up angrily, flapping its wings around the Devil, with the intention of pecking out the Devil’s eyes…..but it only stopped at intention.

Just as the Lords of Hell gritted their teeth with hatred for this guy, but still none of them truly wanted to really provoke him, the crow also cautiously drew a line in its heart to prevent itself from crossing the line and angering the Devil.

Because…..

In the whole of Hell, this guy was a complete lunatic.

“The thousand year kingdom is coming, and He told the seven angels to come down to the world with bugle horns in their hands. The rivers will turn into a sea of ​​blood, and the plague will swim to the mainland with the dead fishes…..”

The Devil gently hummed the ancient sacred hymn, stepping on the bones of unknown creatures as he walked forward. The huge gates of Purgatory stood before him, an ancient taboo blocking the connection between the human world and Hell.

“The seven calamities of the apocalypse will bring about the final judgment.”

The crow watched as the Devil stepped inside casually.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

AN: The most domineering and unreasonable Party A in history——Your Majesty the King.

The history of blood and tears of the court officials is now online √

[1] In accordance with the meeting procedures during the Edward III period, the parliament must be convened in the name of the king, and a calling order must be issued in advance.

[2][3] Quoting from Dante’s “The Divine Comedy”, the following setting for Hell will be adjusted to a certain extent based on various aspects of the material.

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“Please step here, Your Majesty.”

The warden of Metzl Prison respectfully led the way for the King. He was a young man. This was the first time he had seen Legrand’s most noble person, and his voice trembled slightly with excitement.

Metzl Prison was located in the capital, and the environment was much better than that of Mohn Tower, where the Duke of Buckingham was once imprisoned. Although the air was slightly turbid, at least the sanitation was kept clean——of course, some of the credit went to temporary overtime cleaning.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

After the “talents” the King wanted to see were found by the Gelug family, they were escorted to the capital’s prison in Metzl Castle.

Yes, that’s right, the capital’s prison.

Because these fellows more or less had committed certain crimes. They were all fellows who dealt with evil characters such as devils and witches in the eyes of ordinary people. Some of these people were accused of committing “corpse desecration”, some were accused of worshiping witches, and some were accused of preparing poisonous medicine…..

In short, they were all people who should be burned at the stake.

“Get up! You slackers and bastards!”

The warden led the King all the way to the innermost cell. Along the way, the young man who practically straightened his back as upright as a ruler instantly had a dark expression when he saw the situation in the old cell.

He stepped forward quickly, scolding, wanting to tidy up the situation before the King saw it.

But the King had already seen the situation in the cell clearly.

There were a total of seven people, all concentrated in a large cell. Some were leaning lazily against the wall, some were curled up and lying on the cold floor, and some were facing the wall with a pensive look…..all seeming to look like they had some mental related problems.

“Your Majesty.”

The Master of the Households spoke in a low voice.

“The crimes they are accused of include insanity, and likely making deals with evil forces.”

The King who sold his soul to the Devil himself let out a single hum, but did not comment.

“Open the door.”

The Master of the Households reluctantly carried out the King’s willful orders.

After General Sheehan pledged loyalty to the King a few days ago, the negotiating delegation returned to Metzl Castle smoothly.

The Master of the Households was almost speechless when he saw the King again. He knelt on the ground, lips trembling for a long time, and no one could understand what he said. In the end, the King sent him off to go deal with the affairs accumulated in the palace during his absence this period of time.

——My dear Master of the Households, our Lord Duke has been dealing with trivial matters for you for too long, so you know what you should do.

——Yes, Your Majesty.

The gratification the Master of the Households felt lasted only a few days, and he was soon defeated by the King’s all sorts of weird demands.

Holy Lord! Your Majesty actually came to this dirty place in person.

The Master of the Households felt a familiar and faint feeling of helplessness.

The prison door was opened, and the talents with yokes on also stood up under the whip of the warden. The King looked at them, and they looked back at the infamous tyrant as well. They had restrained their arrogance a little bit, as geniuses——or lunatics——could instinctually sense their own kind.

They could vaguely feel that the young King who stepped into the prison possessed a certain equally dangerous aura.

The King reached out to the Master of the Households who then handed over several files to him.

“I am very pleased to see you here, and not at the stake.” The King smiled as he opened the files, “I think, you all must definitely feel that you are bound to die, right?”

“Are you willing to give us a way out?”

A tall and thin middle-aged man dressed in a hemp garment spoke up.

The King noticed that his fingers were very thin and long.

“Could it be that only those who feel that they are bound to die can be so calm? Towards you gentlemen’s talent and willingness to devote your lives to science, perhaps later poets will write a few odes in praise?” The King matched the information on the file with the person. “Oh, Mr. Jacob, you have thrice in succession dissected your neighbors who were just buried….My God, why are you so obsessed with your neighbors? Wouldn’t it be good to change to the corpses found in the wilderness instead once in a while?”

“Because they have just been buried and the body has not yet been corrupted so the blood vessel structure can be seen more clearly.”

When speaking of this, the face of the middle-aged man known as “Jacob” was full of fanaticism.

“Oh, so you were accused of killing your landlady on that last time.”

“I didn’t kill her!” The mad anatomist became angry. “She was already dead at that time! But I believe that blood can still circulate in the blood vessels when a person just dies…..How hateful, only just a little bit! Only just a little bit and I would have been able to draw a complete diagram of the blood circulation of the heart.”

“So when the landlady’s son arrived, he saw you leaning over his mother, cutting her up. Poor man, he fainted directly when he saw his mother’s cut open stomach.”

The King spoke lightly.

“His mother has already died, but the science of life will continue to develop.” The crazy anatomist replied nonchalantly.

The warden turned pale when he heard this, almost vomiting up his last meal. The Master of the Households glanced at the King, guessing at His Majesty’s intention, and had the warden go out first.

“Alright, it seemed to be a matter of course that you were thrown into jail.” The King turned over the file, “Next…..you are accused of killing the carpenter’s daughter. Mr. Pharmacist.”

“I was trying to save her. I believe that there are some things that can affect human life in places that we can’t see with the naked eye…..The damn stupid doctor used an ointment to treat her that smelled even worse than the ditch! Just look at the ointment he used——made with the blood of a newly born puppy, lily flower oil, turpentine and earthworms…..My God! Does that idiot think he is cooking Easter dinner??” The pharmacist cursed eloquently.

“So you sneaked into Miss Ilya’s room, threw away her ointment, and tried to fill her with potion?”

“Yes, I was saving her.”

The pharmacist emphasized.

“Alright, you being convicted of murder and rape is also a matter of course it seems. Come, the next good gentleman.”

The expression on the Master of the Households’ face looked more and more ugly, and he wanted to beg the King to throw these fellows onto a burning stake. Meanwhile, the King continued to ask after each one at a time.

The seven people included:

An anatomist who persisted in dissecting his neighbors, a pharmacist who hated all idiots, a doctor who tried to cut open the human skull with a knife, two chemists who worked together to study gunpowder only to cause a fire, an architect who tried to use violence in order to make the town dwellers plan and build houses according to his wishes——the King felt he should cooperate with these two chemists, one in charge of persuading, and two in charge of setting fires.

The last one was an astrologer——now that was truly rare.

According to what the King learned from the former Templars, the astrologers should have all submitted to the Holy Court.

But when the King turned over the files and found that this fellow used the cross as a measuring tool, he understood why this fellow did not dare to cross the Abyss Strait.

After searching the entire territory of Legrand, only seven people were found. According to the King’s thinking, this was still too few.

But actually, the Gelug family had originally found “talents” far more than this number, but after being screened by the Duke of Buckingham at the King’s request, only these seven people were left.

The others were all thrown onto the guillotine.

“You are all very good indeed.”

The King closed the file and praised sincerely.

“In all aspects. Should I say that geniuses and lunatics always go hand in hand? Gentlemen.”

“Thank you for the compliment, Your Majesty.”

The pharmacist accepted the King’s praise without any guilt.

Judging from the looks of the other people, they also seemed to feel that the praise was well-deserved.

The King applauded them: “Excellent, gentlemen. Then, one question, are you willing to prove to the world that you are geniuses and not lunatics?”

“What do you mean?”

Even in prison, the architect did his best to keep himself neat and tidy——his obsessive-compulsive disorder and obsession with cleanliness seemed to be quite serious.

“A very simple matter.” The King said briskly, “I am interested in the ‘truth’ that you speak of. You now have a chance to continue to live, which is to prove to me that what you insist on is correct…..What do you think? Do you feel you are right or wrong?”

“The truth cannot lie, and the goddess of knowledge and wisdom has given me enlightenment.”

The architect replied decisively——he was actually a heretic.

“So, soon someone will take you out of here, and you will have a bright and spacious room——in your terms it is called a laboratory. There will be as many corpses as you want to dissect, and there will be as many minerals as you want to experiment with…..But how do you plan to prove to me the truth in your beliefs?”

The King raised his head slightly, as if thinking about something.

He was born good-looking as well as possessed a noble and distinguished aura, appearing very much like a bastard who could throw countless golden pounds into the water.

“How about this,” The King said in a negotiating tone. “A truly accurate diagram of the human anatomy, a report of what the microorganisms that cause disease are, a sufficient and feasible city plan——I need it to be able to change those messy sewage systems, gunpowder that can at least give you time to escape, a celestial body movement chart. What do you think, gentlemen, will you turn out to be geniuses or idiots?”

In response to the King’s contemptuous and mocking tone, the seven people accepted the King’s challenge.

The King glanced at the Master of the Households.

The Master of the Households called the warden over and told him that someone would come and take them away.

“I hope your research goes smoothly.”

The King smiled and said goodbye to the seven “geniuses”.

“After all…..if you fail, you really will have to ‘dedicate’ your life to science.”

There was a nastiness in that smile.

Afterwards, the seven people who were taken out of the prison understood the meaning of the King’s parting words.

They arrived at a surprisingly big house, but the Royal Guards blocked off the house tightly. The most important thing was——

At the front entrance of the house, a row of stakes were erected.

Seven, no more, no less.

……………………

When the seven “geniuses” were taken to their residence, they passed by the tower of Metzl Castle.

The Duke of Buckingham and Queen Mother Eleanor sat in the tower of the palace. The two people looked down from a high window and saw this scene.

Eleanor’s current identity was the chief commander of the hidden guards who were hidden in the dark of the palace——this was not due to the Duke of Buckingham using his power to avenge any private wrongs, but her own choice. She couldn’t walk into the light right now, so she was willing to stand in the shadow to guard her child.

After they passed, the two returned to the table in the tower and sat down.

The Duke of Buckingham and the Queen Mother Eleanor discussed the King’s trip to the prison.

The Queen Mother Eleanor sat opposite the Duke of Buckingham, examining a sword in her hand.

The arc sword used by the King to kill Grand Duke Grice.

The Duke of Buckingham borrowed it from the King according to her request.

The Queen Mother gently stroked the hilt of the sword. The Duke of Buckingham looked conflicted——he was accustomed to seeing this woman’s madness, or the violent brutality from before.

“His iron cavalry will kick up wild gales, and his fleet of ships will weave an unbreakable net. His power will shake the four seas, and he will be the ruler of the world.” The Queen Mother slowly drew out the long sword. “You don’t need to tell me what he did, you just need to tell me what he needs.”

She watched her child die in front of her time and time again, but she was powerless to stop it at the time.

But everything is different now.

She was able to overcome obstacles for her child, as well as shelter her child from wind and rain. She was finally able to offer her shoulders, and before he fully grew up, she would hold up this sky covered by dark clouds for him.

So what about housing a few lunatics?

If those madmen did not listen to orders, then she would use the heads of those madmen to sharpen her blade.

Her child, whatever he did was justified.

………………

“I don’t quite understand, Your Majesty.” The Master of the Households followed the King out of the prison. “What are you going to do with them?”

“I intend to have them form an academy of sciences.”

Said the King.

He walked a few steps forward and found that the Master of the Households did not follow. He turned his head and saw that the Master of the Households was looking at him with a very strange expression.

“Are you serious?”

Even though it was considered offensive, the Master of the Households could not help but ask.

Holy Lord, just look at what those guys were?! An academy of madmen and perverts? What scientific academy was that? Lunatic Academy of Sciences?

The Lunatic Academy of Sciences had yet to be established, but the Master of the Households already felt that he would go crazy first. The distance between his thinking and that of His Majesty seemed to be that of the entire territory under Legrand.

“Don’t be so nervous.” The King seemed to not notice the mental breakdown the Master of the Households was having. “It’s just an attempt. If they can’t prove that they are geniuses and not lunatics, then I can only start over with the Royal Academy.”

Start what? Start ravaging those old scholars?

The Master of the Households seemed to see the scene where tragedy befell the Royal Academy.

In truth, the King originally wanted to start with the Royal Academy.

The Black Death would come in a few months, and the King did not place all his hopes on the Devil. And even if the Devil could really solve this disaster, what about the next time? Relying on external forces would only bring more serious consequences. What the King hoped was to prevent and solve these problems from the root.

This was not an easy task, it would take time, courage and experimentation.

The King knew some general directions, but he was the King, not a doctor and not a researcher. It was naturally impossible for him to do everything himself, and there were more things to do than to study one or two anatomical structures. There were more things that required the King to make decisions on.

To use an analogy, Legrand was like a huge ship. The King was the one who decided the ship’s travel route. What he had to do was to change and regulate on the macroscopic level, to decide which old things on the ship should be replaced, and the direction of the ship’s travel. How to adjust the screws, how to build a replacement plank…..those details were what the people underneath needed to be responsible for.

Knowing what one should do and what one should not do made a qualified King.

During the conversation, the King and the Master of the Households walked passed another cell.

The fellow detained inside caught the King’s attention——his cell looked extraordinarily comfortable.

“That’s Dunati Ross.”

The Master of the Households noticed the King’s gaze and explained.

“Ross…..I remember, he is the chairman of the Five Port Alliance Brotherhood. It seems that the Five Port Alliance is headed by him.” The King stood in front of the cell, watching the fellow inside sleeping deeply on the comfortably spread straw, “Is this his son?”

“His bastard son. It was he who robbed the royal merchant ship last time.”

The Master of the Households was about to loudly call over the warden and scold him.

The King stopped the Master of the Households and continued to walk straight forward. Bribery was the norm in prisons. As the oldest member of the Five Port Alliance, the Ross family naturally had the abundant economic power to reach into Metzl’s prison and reprimanding a warden was to no avail.

“Your Majesty, the Five Port Alliance has not been peaceful lately.” The Master of the Households followed behind the King, “Do you want to give them a warning?”

“On the contrary.” The King revealed a meaningful smile, “I do hope they are up to something.”

“Are you…..” The Master of the Households looked at the King carefully, “Are you deliberately forcing their hand, Your Majesty?”

“If there is no excuse, then there is no reason to deal with them, yes?”

The King asked back.

Of course, the King was deliberately ignoring the Five Port Alliance.

Don’t forget how poor the royal family was. If the Five Port Alliance was willing to cooperate 100% with the King’s subsequent reforms, then it was not a must to deal with them. However, this was impossible. The Five Port Alliance had existed for too long. They were too dazzled by the glory of the past, and even lost their rationality in the face of huge interests.

“Don’t you worry about them linking up with other nobles and causing new turmoil?”

The Master of the Households took a risk and spoke out his worries.

After returning to the Rose Palace, he suddenly found that more people were loyal to the King. This gave the loyal Master of the Households who regarded himself as the King’s number one subordinate, a rare sense of crisis. For this reason, he was as busy as a spinning top during this period, not only filling in the blanks left from his absence from palace life before, but also actively following all the current news in Legrand.

The King’s preparations before his great purge were naturally within his scope of attention.

The Master of the Households was worried that if at this juncture the Five Port Alliance instigated trouble, it would cause a chain reaction.

“No. It’s not like that, my dear Master of the Households.” The King was not angry. He continued along the icy stone path, a hint of mockery in his tone. “The Five Port Alliance has taken root in the southeast for too long. They are too arrogant. So much so that they have forgotten their initial caution. They even forgot to share the soup with others.”

“Just watch.”

The King chuckled lightly.

“If the Five Port Alliance falls into trouble, there would be more than enough people who will kick them while they are down and try to take their place, rather than provide help in their hour of need. There are too many people eyeing such a big piece of fat meat.”

There was a frightening aspect in the King’s mocking words.

He saw many things clearly, so that when he spoke, he always sounded indifferent.

“Get in touch with Ingres.” The King calmly said, “They have been poor long enough. I imagine they will want to come and get involved in this matter.”

There were many mountains and forests in the Ingres State, which meant that they had abundant timber resources. If the King was willing to set a price and relax some terms for them in some respects, Ingres would be very happy to provide the materials needed for building castles and even act as transportation escorts.

“You sound well prepared.”

The Master of the Households was a little shocked and couldn’t help but exclaim.

The King reached an agreement with the State of Ingres before the civil strife was put down. At that time, the King only borrowed the cavalry of the State of Ingres. But who could have thought that the King had already set his sights on the timber resources of the Ingres mountains as early as that time?

The King smiled.

A vow of loyalty, a quelling of chaos, a single cavalry. Just that in exchange for the status enjoyed by the people of Legrand? Don’t get him wrong, the King was not so generous. Before General Edmund of the State of Ingres reminded the King of the contract, the King was already thinking about how to obtain greater benefits from the State of Ingres.

The knight commander’s familiarity with the State of Ingres was the basis for the King’s plan.

Facts prove that the King’s early planning was not in vain. Didn’t they come in handy now?

The King walked up the cold stone steps of the prison one by one.

He wore exquisite black boots with gorgeous gems inlaid on them. As the King walked, the gems on both boots shone like the stars. The King walked firmly and decisively with every step. Looking at his back from behind, he was like a blade that was forever advancing courageously forward.

“In January, the merchant ships of the Five Port  Alliance refused to accept a search by the Governor of Customs.”

“In February, the Five Port Alliance sub-cities privately traded wool.”

“In March, the Ross family of the Five Port Alliance ordered their ships to attack passing ships.”

“In April, the Shard County merchant ship was detained after passing the port of Koszoya due to not lowering their insignia flags.”

………

“In September, the Five Port Alliance and Grice smuggled the Gulundi heavy cavalry into the borders.”

“In October, the Five Port Alliance joined the Rose Crisis.”

The King’s voice got colder and colder. His tone was steady, but anger brewed under the calm icy surface.

The Five Port Alliance might not know what they have accomplished——they had completely provoked the murderous intent of a king with a shockingly good memory. All the things they did, every single one, the King remembered them all clearly.

“The Uncrowned King of the Sea and Commerce?”

The King laughed lowly.

The meaning hidden in that laughter chilled one to the bones.

With a sharp tap, the black boots stepped onto the last step. The King raised his head and his eyes swept across the snow-covered ground, the cold wind howling past.

“On my land, where is there a second king?”

The King stepped past the last step and out of the shadows without hesitation. The sunlight instantly fell down on him.

The cold wind howled past, and the King’s eyes were illuminated with a dazzling light.

The scarlet robe announced the determination of the iron blooded emperor.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

The throne of the Rose family towered majestically on the land of Legrand, therefore, there could only be one will and one voice on the land of Legrand, and only one flag could be hoisted on the ships sailing across the Abyss Strait.

Grand Duke Grice tried to set foot on the throne, only to eventually have his blood dye the King’s robe red.

Now, the King was determined to sink the old giant ship that was the Five Port Alliance, the “Uncrowned King of the Sea” into the Abyss Strait.

The throne will not tolerate provocation!

AN: Tyrant: DomineeringCEO.jpg

Congratulations to the little king for possessing a before-its-time…..Lunatic Academy of Sciences (?)

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