Chapter 24, The Empire in Nightmares (Part 2)
In fact, not long ago, the succession to the throne of the empire was not a problem at all, because Emperor Morte II had already canonized his eldest son Soshar as the crown prince as his legal heir. But the problem is that about two years ago, the crusade against the Headhunting Rabbit tribe personally commanded by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Saushar failed completely. Not only was the crusade troops completely annihilated on the grassland, the defeat was extremely humiliating, but Saushar himself was also defeated. Captured. Such a humiliating defeat instantly became a laughing stock in the Falmat continent. The empire, which had just unified the continent, also suffered a slap in the face, and everyone from the emperor to the Senate felt deeply humiliated. So, after holding his nose and negotiating with the Headhunter Rabbit and paying for the ransom of Soshar, the furious Emperor Molt II issued an edict to depose him as crown prince and ordered his guards to escort Soshar back to his fief. Confinement and reflection.
However, at the same time, Emperor Morte II did not appoint other heirs as crown princes. It seems that he has not completely given up on his eldest son Sochar, but still hopes that he can change his mind and grow through this lesson... Because the emperor His Majesty has been in charge of state affairs for decades and has accumulated great authority. He is still in good health and does not look like he will die soon. Therefore, the nobles of the empire do not talk too much about such private royal matters.
This time, Emperor Morte II appointed his third princess, the nineteen-year-old Her Highness Pinna Golanda, as temporary regent before leaving the imperial capital of Urabianka and going on a patrol in the Arnus Hills to supervise the battle. But in the upper class circles of the empire, basically everyone knew that the title of regent was purely empty. The actual affairs of the government were entirely handled by the emperor's confidants and the Senate, and the princess was only qualified to attend.
The reason for this arrangement is that on the one hand, according to custom, when the emperor leaves the capital, he must appoint a member of the royal family to serve as regent. On the other hand, Emperor Molt II, who is still angry, has not yet forgiven His Highness Saushar for losing his master and humiliating the country, but he does not want other princes or princes to serve as regents, lest they have unreasonable thoughts about the throne. As a result, his empire was in danger of civil strife, and the emperor who was most suitable to serve as regent was The queen or queen mother has now passed away... In the end, Emperor Molt II chose to let his daughter, Princess Pinna, who was only the tenth in line to inherit the throne, stay in the palace of the imperial capital, sit on the throne, and take the With the scepter he left behind, he served as the regent of this empire in name only.
From the emperor's point of view, this patrol and supervision was not an expedition across half of the continent. Anyway, Arnus Hill was not far from the imperial capital. Even if there was any accident, it would not be a mistake to have the envoy come... Then, just after When everyone was unprepared, the emperor died in the flood! !
What's even more terrible is that Emperor Morte II did not leave any will at all before his death! No details were given about the aftermath!
So, when half of the imperial capital city of Urabianka was still submerged under the torrential floods, the once strong city walls were crumbling and collapsing section by section, and thousands of refugees were trapped on rooftops and trees at a loss. The entire upper class of the empire exploded because of the vacant throne.
According to common sense, although Crown Prince Soshar was deposed as crown prince by the emperor due to his defeat in the war and was driven out of the imperial capital, he was still the first successor to the imperial throne based on his bloodline and status. Under such circumstances, it seemed a matter of course to recall Soshar to the palace and ascend the throne. But the problem is that when Soshar was expelled from the imperial capital, his cronies were also implicated. Almost all of them were demoted or sent back to their respective fiefdoms during this period. However, Sochal's political opponents took advantage of the opportunity and grabbed many powerful positions and lucrative positions.
In this way, when the disaster broke out, neither Sochar nor his supporters were in the imperial capital, and not many people in the Senate were willing to speak for him and contribute. As a result, the current Senate was not very willing to let him go. Soshar came back to be the emperor, and the reason was very good: Soshar was no longer the crown prince, but a sinner of the empire. When there were other options, how could there be any reason to let a sinner become the emperor?
——Due to polygamy being implemented in the empire, there were eight legal descendants of Emperor Morte II, and including illegitimate children, the number was as high as fifteen...
In addition, as the regent of the empire, Princess Pinna is legally the highest person in power in the empire after the emperor's death. The princess herself is a direct member of the royal family with pure blood. In theory, she can transform from the female regent of the empire to become a member of the imperial family. The possibility of the queen - in fact, Emperor Morte II, who had just died, usurped the throne of his young nephew Kadi in this way many years ago as regent.
But it was completely different from the situation when the late emperor Morte II gradually managed and finally seized the imperial power. First of all, Pinna's position as regent princess was purely a vase from the beginning, and no one took it seriously; secondly, because the flood broke out too suddenly, when When half of the imperial capital was submerged in water, Princess Pingna only served as regent for less than three days from beginning to end. She may not even recognize the faces of hundreds of elders, and the so-called regent power is completely in vain.
What's worse is that the Princess Regent herself had no mental preparation for the fight for the throne in advance, and she never attracted any strong supporters - unlike Soshar, who was the eldest son, Princess Pinna was only born by a concubine. , although she theoretically has the right to inherit the throne before marriage, she is ranked tenth in the order of succession (male first, female first, first concubine first, first concubine first, the queen's daughter and the emperor's brothers have priority over her). And according to convention, she will give up her inheritance rights in a few years, change her surname and marry a foreign royal family or a domestic noble. Therefore, in the past few years, no noble noble will regard her as a candidate for emperor, let alone He will not seek refuge with her in order to gain support. Therefore, even the Princess Regent herself had no confidence in the fight for the throne... During the period when the throne was vacant, she was basically in a state of confusion.
In the end, the winner of this battle for the throne was Soshar's half-brother, Princess Pinna's elder brother, His Highness Diabo, the second prince of the empire. Unlike Sochar, who has an arrogant and rough personality, His Highness Diabo is quite humble and polite. He has close relationships with many scholars and civil servants and has many fans in the imperial capital. After the crown prince Sochar was deposed and driven back to his fiefdom, Diabo became the most powerful contender for the throne. He used this time to develop a large number of connections and win the support of many senators and nobles. Or at least neutral.
More importantly, when the disaster struck, Prince Diabo himself was in the imperial capital. As soon as he learned of his father's death, he contacted party members everywhere, wooed powerful people, bribed ministers, and created momentum. , and was finally elected as the new emperor by the Imperial Senate.
——Although it is actually a hereditary feudal dynasty, the current empire still retains some remnants of the republic. For example, theoretically, every emperor must be elected by the Senate... and this is also a "system backdoor" left for usurpers.
Seeing that the deal was done, Princess Pinna, as the regent, had no choice but to go with the flow and hand over the scepter and throne to Diabo without any hesitation.
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However, even though he succeeded in becoming emperor, Diabo, who had just ascended the throne, still faced a mess that couldn't be worse: the violent floods from the Arnus hills were still pouring down, and there was no trace of anything. Signs of lulling. Half of the imperial capital city of Urabianka was soaked in water, and the remaining half of the imperial capital became an isolated island surrounded by floods, and the water level showed signs of further slowly rising. Since most of the imperial capital's treasury warehouses were fed with fish and shrimp, and the wells were flooded and polluted, food, fuel and clean fresh water in the city soon became extremely scarce. Every day, hundreds of citizens died from drinking sewage or drinking sewage. Some fell ill from eating moldy food, and others died in fights over food, fuel and clothing.
In addition, the tens of thousands of square kilometers of vast plains surrounding the imperial capital of Urabianka were also soaked and washed by the alien sea water washed down from the Arnus Hills, and all the villages, towns, and pastures were turned into a swamp. This area is the most fertile land in the Kinki Empire. It is not only a very important granary, but also the core of the royal territory. It cannot be abandoned under any circumstances and the subjects of this land are allowed to fall into purgatory.
Therefore, from the first day after he won the throne, there was no condition to hold even a registered celebration, so Diabo had to devote all his energy to disaster relief. First of all, the imperial capital surrounded by salt water can no longer support such a large population, and the remaining residents must be evacuated out of the imperial capital and moved to nearby highlands that have not been affected by floods; secondly, the empire's strategic reserves have been depleted after the disaster, and there is no way to provide relief to such a large number of people. There are many refugees who have no food or clothing. After some deliberations, the Imperial Senate decided to adopt a two-pronged approach. On the one hand, it urgently ordered all the subject countries and local lords to deliver food and supplies to the imperial capital, and on the other hand, it organized the refugees from the imperial capital to move long distances and dispersed them to various noble territories and subject countries to resettle "food" ".
In addition, the Senate also sent people to inspect the terrain nearby and prepare for various matters to build the new capital of the empire - if this flood from another world cannot retreat, but turns into a road with Mount Arnus If the Qiu is the source of a fast-flowing river, and it is also a "salt water river", then with the miserable situation of Urabianka City now that it has nothing to offer, I am afraid that it will not be able to continue to be used as a capital. The fertile farmland near the imperial capital will soon be polluted into saline-alkali land and crops will no longer be grown, so even farmers and herdsmen in the countryside will have to move away together.
Amidst all the hustle and bustle, Princess Pinna was also assigned a task, which was to escort more than 30,000 refugees from the imperial capital, mainly "demihumans", with her personal guard "Rose Knights". Avoiding the monstrous torrent coming from the Arnus Hills, they crossed the Romanian Mountains to the west and went to the hereditary territory of Count Formar on the other side of the mountains, the city of Italica, which is famous as the "reservoir of the demi-humans" for resettlement.
——The city of Italica, with a history of more than 200 years, was once a border city in the western part of the empire. At that time, the empire's power had just expanded westward to the Romanian Mountains, and the city of Italica was the first forward fortress established by the empire at the western foot of the Romanian Mountains.
The city is located at the intersection of the Thessalian Way and the Appian Way, and is a transportation hub for trade and military affairs. When the empire's territory was not as vast as it is today, emperors of all dynasties crossed the Romanian mountains many times, gathered large armies in the city of Italica, and then marched westward. However, as the empire's territory continued to expand, the city of Italica gradually became farther and farther away from the border, and its military and political importance also continued to decline. There were no specialties in this place, and it finally became a city. An ordinary medium-sized commercial city was even rewarded by the royal family.
The current city of Italica, as well as a large area of rugged mountains nearby, are the hereditary territories of Count Formal, an imperial nobleman
Among the imperial nobles who generally have the concept of "human supremacy", the former Earl of Formal, Colt, is a relatively alternative person. It is said that Colt prefers beauties from demi-human races such as cat people, winged people, and Medusa tribe to human beauties. Among the humans on Falmat continent, there are actually guys with similar curiosity-seeking habits. Not a lot, but in the eyes of traditional imperial nobles, this is a relatively degenerate performance.
In short, although Colt still married a pure-blood human wife, he had a large group of demihuman mistresses. Even the maids in the Earl's mansion were mainly demihumans. At the same time, in his territory of the Earl of Formar, the Headhunting Rabbit Clan, the Catman Clan, the Winged Man Clan, the Medusa Clan, and other demi-human tribes that were commonly abused across the continent also received a considerable degree of tolerance and protection. At least it is strictly prohibited to illegally capture and trade these demi-humans. As a result, orcs, elves, and dwarves from all over the continent migrated to live near the city of Italica, forming many demihuman villages.
——In the human concept of Falmat continent, the term "subhuman" broadly speaking is the general term for all non-human humanoid intelligent life. Dwarves, elves, orcs, demons, etc. can all be called subhumans. people; and in a narrow sense, the term "sub-human" can also be just Represents non-human intelligent lifeforms other than dwarves and elves, mainly orcs and demons. They usually have human body shape and most physical characteristics, and also have some but very obvious characteristics of beasts or monsters, such as cat ears, rabbit ears, Tail, wings, hooves, etc.
After humans became the masters of the Falmat continent, the vast majority of the remaining demi-humans have been fully integrated into human society. Only a small number of demi-humans still live in the wilderness far away from human civilization, in the form of tribes and clans. Carry on life. However, because of their beast-like or monster-like physical characteristics, with the exception of elves and dwarves, most of the demi-humans on Falmat are generally suppressed at the bottom of human society, suffering all kinds of discrimination and discrimination. Due to unfair treatment and difficulty in obtaining the most basic rights and dignity, a considerable number of the demi-humans have simply become slaves. There are also many places where humans regard them as failures created by gods, and even openly discriminate against and persecute demi-humans in the form of laws.
There are also tens of thousands of demi-humans living in the red light districts and slums of the imperial capital. Although the discrimination and persecution of demi-humans in the core areas of the empire is not very serious, for example, werewolves, foxes, demons and elves can be seen everywhere in the empire's army. There are also a small number of demihuman officials and nobles in the government of the imperial capital. But the folk customs in other areas may not be so tolerant of the existence of demi-humans. It was precisely in consideration of this special situation that the Senate arranged for the demihuman refugees in the imperial capital to eat in the city of Italica, which was known for its "kind treatment of demihumans", in order to reduce conflicts and troubles.
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But the problem is that a few months ago, the former Earl of Formar, Colt, and his wife died suddenly due to an accident. They left no son behind, and the Earl himself had no brothers. He and the Countess only left behind They have three daughters, from eldest to youngest: Ellie, Louis and Miyou. Except for the youngest daughter Miyou, the other two older daughters have changed their surnames and married into other people's families to become noble ladies. Originally, the earl and his wife planned to find a son-in-law to inherit the family business after their youngest daughter grew up. Unexpectedly, they passed away before they could make arrangements.
In this case, Earl Fomar's eldest daughter Ellie and second daughter Louis are considered members of other families because they have married into Earl Ron's family and Earl Mizner's family respectively. Therefore, their inheritance rights are naturally ranked after the unmarried youngest daughter Miyu. This is the legal regulation of the empire and the practice of the aristocracy. There is no room for debate. However, the youngest daughter Miyou is only eleven years old. Who should be her guardian until she reaches adulthood? In other words, before she comes of age, which sister should take control of the city of Italica and reap huge benefits for herself?
As a result, the two married sisters started a hysterical fight for custody of their younger sister: at first it was a reserved verbal exchange, and then it quickly evolved into an ugly shrewish exchange, and then it developed into The farce of pulling hair and fighting in public frightened the younger sister Miyou into crying at a loss, and all the veterans of Earl Fomar's family could not persuade her. In the end, the two sisters even got their husbands' families involved - Count Ron's family and Count Minaz's family both sent private soldiers to forcibly enter the city of Italica, and a civil war was about to begin.
When the matter got to this point, even the Imperial Senate on the other side of the Romanian Mountains was alerted and was about to send an envoy to mediate... However, before the candidate of the Senate's envoy could be determined, the flood from the top of Arnus Mountain came from the opposite side of the "Gate". Then came the turbulent news, and then came earth-shattering events such as the death of the late emperor and the fight for the throne. This small conflict in the Earl of Fomar's family was naturally forgotten and delayed.
After the issue of the selection of the new emperor was settled, someone finally thought of the mess in Earl Fomar's family again. Therefore, Princess Pinna, who was ordered to take 30,000 sub-human refugees to the city of Italica for resettlement, was shocked to be informed by the Senate before leaving that she would also be responsible for mediating and arbitrating the new appointment during this trip. The issue of custody of Miss Miyo, Countess of Formal.
As a result, when Princess Pinna finally arrived in Italica after a long journey, she found that the headache of mediating and arbitrating household affairs had disappeared on its own because the two shrew sisters who were fighting for the custody of her little sister had left. ——The flood rushing down from the top of Arnus Hill also swept away the houses of Earl Ron and Earl Mizner. Most of them were men, so that the eldest daughter Ellie and the second daughter Louise of the Earl of Formar, who were already married, became widows and widowers in the blink of an eye... Therefore, in order to protect their children's inheritance rights to their husband's family's property and titles, Ellie and Louise Neither of the two Yi sisters had the energy to care about their mother's family's petty affairs, so they immediately led their troops home to fight for power and profit.
But the problem is, even if the situation has developed to this point, before leaving, the two sisters Ellie and Louis did not forget to empty out more than half of the treasury savings of Count Formar's family... So, taking the official documents of the Senate and Princess Pinna, who led the Knights of the Rose to temporarily take over the city of Italica under the emperor's order, looked at the empty granaries and treasury in the city and immediately began to worry about how to feed the more than 30,000 imperial subhuman refugees. .
In addition, during the chaos of the previous conflict over custody, the young and cowardly Countess Miyou was unable to deal with the invasion of other noble private soldiers, nor was she able to restrain her retainers. Her two sisters who had married outside were famous The unjust words caused the entire Earl of Formar territory to fall into a state of anarchy. Corrupt officials who had lost control took the opportunity to expropriate and enrich their own pockets, even if they provoked a popular uprising. By the time Princess Pinna arrived with her troops, the entire territory was already in a state of unrest, and the security situation had deteriorated sharply, reaching a state of turmoil on the verge of rebellion.
To make matters worse, after the 100,000 Imperial Expeditionary Force on the Arnus Hills was washed away by the flood, a considerable number of the surviving defeated troops became thieves and began to attack the Tissaria Avenue in order to obtain mounts, carriages and rations for their return home. and caravans on the Via Appia, which paralyzed the commercial and trade operations of Italica. It has become even more difficult to raise food rations to supply 30,000 demi-human refugees.
However, for the anxious Princess Pinna, all the above disturbances are not the most terrifying nightmare.
In the second month after she arrived and took over the city of Italica, the real nightmare finally arrived from the east.
——The messenger from the imperial capital rushed over the Romanian mountains and delivered an urgent war report to the princess: Her eldest brother, the former crown prince Sochar, refused to recognize his younger brother Diabo's throne and announced a rebellion in the private territory in the east! Moreover, with the connections and prestige accumulated during his previous years as Crown Prince, Prince Saushar quickly gained the allegiance of a large number of vassal princes, imperial noble lords, and field legion commanders after raising the flag and raising troops, and he easily gathered An astonishingly large rebel army has arisen, and it is about to rush towards the imperial capital with great force!
In addition, a younger brother of the late emperor, the uncle of Princess Pingna, also raised a flag of rebellion near the imperial capital...
There are also several countries that have just been conquered by the empire. They are ready to take action after hearing the news, and there is a possibility of rebellion at any time.
Suddenly, the empire was in turmoil, and the raging floods had not yet receded, and it seemed that a huge war was about to hit. ——Before the alien invaders set foot on the land of Falmat, the overlord of this land had already fallen into a nightmare of destruction...