Chapter 150: The Viscount’s Selection
Outside the temporary residence of the Fox family, Raven stood quietly.
His greeting card has been sent in by the gatekeeper.
Looking at this temporary station, Lei Wen admired:
“Tsk, it’s really majestic.”
After all, it is the Earl family. Even if it is a temporary residence, they will not just set up tents like the temporary army, but occupy the government building in the old city.
This was once a castle with three main floors. After it was converted into a government building, the city wall was demolished, but the overall scale is still grand, with an old and solemn atmosphere eroded by the years.
Raven's visit to the Fox family today was not just a whim.
He wants to fight for more benefits for himself.
There is no doubt that in the eyes of the outside world, since Raven has accepted the transfer order from the Slater family, he will definitely side with the Slater family.
Raven wants to break this prejudice and make the Fox family realize that he is not loyal to Slater and that he has the intention and possibility to cooperate with the Fox family.
Even if the Fox family cannot be a help to him, it is best not to be a hindrance to his profit sharing.
At this moment, a gust of wind blew by, waking Raven up.
His brows frowned slightly.
It’s been a little too long.
The soldier who had sent the greeting card into the castle had returned to stand guard at the door, but he did not look sideways and did not look at Raven at all.
The nobles coming and going looked at Raven and began to whisper and point.
Leiwen raised his head and glanced at the sky, his expression unchanged and he continued to wait.
At the same time, on the second floor of the castle, Gul'dan shook his wine glass and looked down at Raven through the window.
Now that the Fox family has made a strong entrance, visitors are coming in an endless stream, and nobles are coming in and out at the door. Raven is like an inconspicuous stone in the river, alone.
"Don't your Angel's Tears represent the province of Nord?" Gul'dan said with a contemptuous smile: "Now, why can't you even enter my house?"
Back then? During the press conference, Gul'dan was quite dissatisfied with Raven's double-faced behavior.
What disgusted him even more was Raven's reputation.
As the first and only recipient of the Medal of Valor, First Class in this war, Raven's reputation has been well known recently.
He is so popular that he is simply the number one among the young generation in Nord province!
Where does this leave him, Gul'dan?
Picking up Raven's greeting note on the table again, Gul'dan tapped the paper with his fingers, and the smile on his lips became wider.
Five hundred bottles of angel tears, plus three thousand gold coins, this is far more than the annual income of an ordinary baron family.
Being able to come up with these is enough to show Raven's sincerity.
The more this happened, the more Gul'dan asked Revan to wait a little longer and let him reflect deeply on his mistakes.
Responding to the Slater family's call was, in Gul'dan's opinion, a crime in itself.
Of course the Fox family welcomes the ability to "abandon darkness and turn to light".
However, although the Fox family is broad-minded, it does not mean that they are weak and can be bullied!
The longer Raven stood, the more he was able to tell other nobles - don't be complacent, the Slater family is finished now, so what if you are the recipient of the Imperial Medal of Valor, First Class, you still have to stand at the door honestly forward?
Time passed bit by bit, the sky began to get dark, and Raven was still standing there.
"Oh, you know what's going on." Seeing that the time was almost up, Gul'dan straightened his clothes and turned to go downstairs.
However, when he came to the door, Raven was missing.
Gul'dan frowned and asked the guard: "Where are the Ravens?"
"Over there, my lord."
The guard pointed out his hand, and Gul'dan followed. Looking in that direction, I found that Raven had turned and left, and his back gradually disappeared into the crowd.
Gul'dan frowned, anger rising in his heart.
I came to greet you personally, how dare you leave? What do you think the Fox family is? ?
A curse flowed out from between his teeth: "Bitch..."
The soldier did not hear clearly: "My lord, what did you say?"
Gul'dan was deep He took a breath, looked at Raven's back and said loudly:
"Look at that guy, does he look like a dog?"
For a time, all the eyes of the people coming and going were focused on Raven.
Leaven stopped slightly, then strode forward and left without looking back.
It is polite to wait at the door.
Leaving at this time is for your own dignity.
Gul'dan returned to the castle and asked the kitchen to make his favorite confit duck, and ate it deliciously with angel's tears.
Looking at the clear wine in the glass, Gul'dan raised a contemptuous smile on his lips: "Raven, Raven, do you think you have the backbone to turn around and leave?"
"Dignity , You have to fight for it yourself!”
Raven is a little baron with no power and no background. Does he really think he is important?
He doesn’t think that he can become a viscount based on his reputation, right?
"There can only be one viscount in this war, and that's me!"
After finishing the meal, Gul'dan used Raven's invitation as a napkin to wipe his hands, and threw it into the trash can together. .
It was also completely dark.
"Master Guldan, the Earl of Montreal and Bishop Thomas are back."
Hearing the servant's announcement, Guldan tidied his clothes and prepared to go to greet them.
However, unlike usual, the pace in Montreal was extremely fast today. As soon as Guldan arrived downstairs, he saw his father.
He stepped forward with joy: "Father, you..."
As soon as he opened his mouth, Gul'dan realized something was wrong, because there was no victorious look on the Count of Montreal's face. Happy, but as gloomy as a dark cloud.
Montreal said: "Follow me."
Guldan had a bad feeling in his heart, but he still followed, and Thomas followed leisurely. , came all the way to the study room.
Montreal and Thomas sat facing each other, while Gul'dan stood behind his father.
After a slight hesitation, Montreal said in a deep voice: "You can't get the title of Viscount."
This sentence was like a bolt from the blue, which stunned Gul'dan: "... …Why?”
Father Thomas said succinctly: “Tai Earl Long took out His Majesty the King's royal decree. This time he mobilized the Iron Legion is completely reasonable and legal. On the contrary, the Governor of Montreal may be charged with bad governance."
"He used this as a threat and wanted to. Give Hyde your share of the battle.”
Gul'dan's mind was in a mess, his face became extremely ugly, and he looked quite dazed.
How could the Viscount, who was about to get it, just disappear like this?
"Earl of Montreal, you don't have to worry too much." As if he hadn't seen Gul'dan, Thomas continued: "In my opinion, the reason why Earl Tyrone made this gesture today is because he wanted to Discuss and exchange benefits with you, rather than really wanting to take off your title of governor."
"I am here. I figured it out." Montreal nodded: "It will not be good for the Slater family if I lose the title of governor."
His Majesty the King is not an idiot. If the governor is handed over to Tyrone, it means that. The military power and political power of the entire Nord province are all in the hands of the Slater family, which is no different from the establishment of an independent country.
So if Montreal loses its governorship title, there are two possible outcomes.
The first is that Tyrone becomes the governor of Nord Province, but in order to check and balance, His Majesty the King will definitely uproot the influence of the Slater family from the Iron Legion. This is absolutely unacceptable to the Slater family.
Second, it is to directly send a court earl or earl from other provinces to serve in other places. This person will definitely be a close confidant of His Majesty the King. This will directly change the current confrontation between the two powers in the Nord province. In this situation, it is not in the interests of the Slater family to have one more person share the cake.
Gul'dan also thought of this: "In this case, why do we have to give up the title of Viscount?"
"Because it is just not cost-effective for the Slater family. Thomas said lightly: "For your Fox family, it is a real loss."
Montreal sighed: "Yeah, if it really comes to that, it's just a matter of comparing whose losses are smaller - in this regard, we must lose more."
"Not only is it very likely that we won't get it, The title of Viscount and the position of governor will also be lost. "
The title of governor of Montreal is somewhat unworthy of the name, but it is precisely because he serves as governor and holds executive power that the Fox family can confront the Slater family. If they lose this title, the Fox family will lose its influence in the three counties and become truly alone.
Gul'dan swallowed: "Isn't there a way to get the best of both worlds?"
"...No." Thomas said: "It is indeed an unexpectedly good move for Count Tyrone to obtain the royal decree from His Majesty the King."
Montreal knew that Father Thomas was right.
The most correct thing to do now is to stop fighting and give the credit to Hyde, using this as a price to win more military exploits and fiefdoms for the nobles who follow the Fox family.
But Montreal just can’t swallow this breath.
He cooperated with Father Thomas and used all the tricks to make the Slater family fall and suffer a big loss!
The Slaters did fall, but suddenly gold was dug out of the mud.
Not only did he not suffer a loss, but he also reaped the greatest benefits.
On the contrary, he is in Montreal, caught between the royal family and the Church of Light, neither advancing nor retreating!
“I can give the battle glory to Tyrone’s son.” Montreal said: “But I can’t let him get the viscount title so easily.”
“Push another person, and Hyde fights in the ring!”
This decision was not rational, but it was just right for Thomas. A divided province of Nord was more in the interests of the Holy See.
"Then what are you going to do? You can't directly nominate people from the Fox family. This will only make Tyrone lose everything."
Gul'dan realized that he could not become a viscount. Reality began to catch up with the two people's thinking: "In this case, why not nominate Baron Roger or Baron Florence?"
Both of them are vassals of the Fox family.
"No." Montreal shook his head and said: "Although there is no doubt about the loyalty of their two families, their achievements in this war are too small and cannot be compared with Hyde."
Gul'dan was stunned and mentioned several nobles who were not so close to him but were loyal to Fox, but they were all rejected by Montreal.
"Then there really is no candidate, Father." Gul'dan said with a bitter face: "These are the families that are closest to us and contribute the most. If we bypass them and nominate others, we will It’s even more inappropriate.”
The atmosphere in the study became dull, and Montreal’s frown became more and more intense.
Thomas sighed in his heart. He did not expect that Montreal's structure would be so small, so he had to remind him: "In that case, just choose people from those four temporary legions."
Guldan said: "Archbishop Thomas, please forgive me for being rude, but the coalition forces are all members of the Slater family..."
"No, wait." Montreal raised his palms and a glimmer of light flashed in his eyes: "This is indeed a good idea."
Anyway, the purpose of nominating other nobles is to create trouble for the Slater family. If we start with our own people, we can definitely poach people from the Slater family.
The Slater family does not have succubus blood, so it is impossible for all the nobles to be devoted to them.
And in this way, it will not only make Earl Tyrone sick once, but also bring new help to the Fox family!
“You said that, there should already be a candidate, right?” Montreal looked at Thomas: “Is he also from the Church of Light?”
Thomas shook his head: "His beliefs are the same as yours, and his loyalty to the Lord of Light is unquestionable."
What he means by this is that the candidate he wants to nominate is the same as all nobles, for The interests are not afraid of cooperating with the Church of Light.
"Who is he?"
"Raven, Raven Otta Griffith!"
After saying this, Montreal is nothing, ancient Erdan immediately shouted: "Who!?"
Montreal glanced at him and felt that his son was making a fuss. He turned to Thomas and said, "I have heard of this man too. He seems to be the Baron of the Eagle Territory, right? He seems to be a magician."
"Angel's Tears and Angel's Kiss produced by the Eagle Territory have become famous recently."
"And he has gained a lot of limelight in this war. He is the number one among the younger generation in terms of military exploits and reputation." He is indeed a strong contender for the title of Viscount."
"However, I heard that Minsk gave him a first-class medal of valor, which was endorsed by the reputation of the Slater family. This Raven is really willing. "Come to us?"
Priest Thomas smiled: "I don't know about this. I'm just proposing a candidate. As for how to do it, it's up to you to decide."
Montreal nodded slowly: "In this case, Gul'dan, you can send an invitation in my name and invite Baron Raven to come and talk tomorrow."
Hearing this, Gul'dan's face The expression on his face was even weirder: "This...Father...this..."
Montreal looked at his son strangely: "Why, you eat Got a bad stomach?"
"No." Gul'dan swallowed and said, "Well, actually, Baron Raven just came here today."
Montreal was stunned. : "This is a good thing. Since he is willing to come, he intends to join us. Where is he now? Bring him over to see me."
Guldan said: "Well, since he didn't wait for you to come back, he left on his own."
"Really, what did he say to you?" Montreal's eyes began to become cold.
He was very aware of Gul'dan's usual way of keeping his eyes above his head.
"This, this..." Gul'dan couldn't answer.
“Since people are here, there should be a greeting card.” Montreal snorted: “Bring it to me, you can get it yourself!”
"Yes!" Gul'dan left the study and searched for a long time before he found Raven's greeting card in the trash can. He endured nausea and wiped off the fruit and vegetable stains on it, making it as smooth as possible before going back and handing it to him. 's father.
Montreal took the greeting card, first glanced at the stains on the greeting card, and his expression began to darken. When he looked at the content, his breathing became heavier and heavier:
"...What the hell is he?" Why did you leave? "
The wording of the greeting was polite and the content was very appropriate, especially the proposal to dedicate three thousand gold coins and five hundred bottles of angel tears to the Fox family.
Showing sincerity that is very befitting a baron.
Gul'dan looked away.
Montreal emphasized his tone: "Say!"
Archbishop Thomas scanned the content on the greeting card, stood up and left without saying a word, leaving the father and son an independent space.
"This is all because of Raven's arrogance!" Gul'dan defended himself loudly: "You also know, there are so many guests now, how can I specially take care of a little baron?"< br>
“I just asked him to wait at the door for a while, but he left without saying a word! He didn’t even stop when I tried to persuade him to stay!”
Montreal extracted the most critical information from Gul'dan's words, staring into his eyes with trembling brows: "You let Raven, the recipient of the Empire's First Class Medal of Valor, a nobleman who came to visit with goodwill, at the door Standing?"
"Yes, Father, but..."
Pa——
Montreal raised his arm high and slapped Gur. Dan's face.
The force of this blow was so great that even though Gul'dan had level 3 strength, he was still whipped around in mid-air and fell to the ground with a thud.
Gul'dan covered his cheek, and his whole face swelled up at a speed visible to the naked eye. He looked at his father in disbelief, and couldn't understand why Montreal was so angry because of a mere Raven.
Montreal's chest heaved, pointing at Gul'dan's nose and asking: "Do you know why I hit you?"
Gul'dan's eyes flashed: "...because, because of my neglect. Lei Wen?”
Montreal closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and said in an honest tone: “What do you think politics is?” Not a painting or sculpture.
It can't be so elegant, so leisurely, polite, so gentle, courteous and thrifty!
Politics is an art, a bloodless but very cruel art.
It can make people reach the sky in one step, or it can make people fall into the abyss! "
From Montreal's point of view, it doesn't matter if Gul'dan is a little petty, and there is nothing wrong with neglecting Raven.
A mere baron, no matter how high his military exploits are, can't defeat Fox.
The problem is that Gul'dan's approach is too low-level and the impact is too bad.
Among the coalition forces, Raven is not the only one who wants to please both sides. There are also many people who want to join the Fox family.
Gul'dan did something like this today. Once word spreads, the nobles themselves will think - the Fox family is too powerful, and they can't take the initiative to join them. They have to kneel down and be their dogs. !
Nobles are all face-saving. You can really be a dog, but you are also a dog in terms of reputation, so you need to think about it.
Gul'dan's approach is simply driving the originally neutral nobles towards the Slater family!
"...Go to the priest to treat the injury." Montreal said:
"Tomorrow morning, you will personally send my invitation to Raven."
...
(End of this chapter)