Chapter 256
Myron listened to Andrew silently.
The vassal told him for a long time about the glory of the family, the dignity of the nobility and so on. In short, in his opinion, it was really disrespectful to the Gardner family to let the Council of Alda manage Bailding. Decent.
"Andrew..."
The young earl lowered his knife and fork and looked at his vassal. Now he felt quite happy in his heart. He didn't expect that he would have such a loyal minister. From Baron Andrew's tone, he could feel that the other party was not pretending. Since his betrayal last year, Myron has learned to read the true meaning of other people's words.
"The Garner family is so lucky to have people like you loyal to them."
"My lord, please don't say that, the Wallen family will never break the oath of their ancestors!"
< br>"I am happy and grateful for your loyalty, but I do not intend to change the status quo."
Myron's words did not exceed Andrew's expectations. He had already guessed that this would be the result. But he was still unwilling in his heart.
“Why? Do you just watch yourself being ignored?”
"Haha, just making excuses? In fact, I haven't personally managed the territory since I took the throne, right?"
Hearing the Lord speak like this, Andrew's face turned red, although he knew that the count was targeting the traitor An Qi Luo and others, but there was also a feeling of guilt in his heart. Although he is loyal enough, he is usually too obsessed with martial arts and pays too little attention to what is happening in Butua City. He is not even aware of the fact that Angelo and others are quietly evading their lord.
As soon as I heard someone recommended that I go to fight in the south, I went there excitedly without even thinking about it. If I had paid more attention, I wouldn't have had to rely on outsiders to put down the rebellion.
Andrew lowered his head and said: "As a vassal of your family, I bear a great responsibility. Please punish me, Lord Earl."
"No, Andrew, I did not ask for it. I want to hold you accountable. After all, I am too young and easily manipulated by Angelo and others.”
Myron shook his head and said: "Andrew, think about the current situation. In the past few years, Angelo and the others have placed their own people up and down Bairding. After they were defeated, these people were able to catch and run away. Run. If Alda hadn't sent people over, I'm afraid Bailding would have quickly entered a state of chaos and disorder. Besides, in the past few days since you've been back, haven't you noticed that my people are living better than before. "
Baron Andrew nodded slightly. After what he has seen in the past few days, at least the city of Butua is better than before.
Myron continued: "Not only did the industry under the name of the Gardner family not suffer any loss, but it increased a lot with the technical support of Bailding, and the profits earned increased several times compared with before. It even exceeded the tax revenue in the territory the year before last."
"Uh...congratulations."
"Andrew, I advise you to invest in setting up a factory, otherwise the factory will grow more and more. In the future, I’m afraid the money won’t come as quickly as it does now.”
"Thank you for your kindness, I will consider it."
"And Paul respects me enough. He will ask for my opinion on any decision-making by Bailding, and I will review the tax situation every quarter. , I will know and agree with every expenditure of taxes. Think about those people in history who have experienced similar experiences to me. Which one has not chased away the wolf and invited the tiger?”
Andrew secretly cursed, If you say "no" a few more times, I'm afraid Earl Grayman won't be so respectful.
But I heard Myron say: "And you, Andrew, go back to your fiefdom tomorrow. The fiefdoms of the four traitors have all been deprived of. With my consent, the town in the center of the lake has been deprived of its fiefdoms. Affairs officers are stationed in these places for direct management, but your fiefdom has not changed at all. It is still managed by your family, and no taxes or output are taken from it. "
This is not necessary. Myron said Andrew had confirmed this from correspondence with his family.
"Yes, I am very grateful to Earl Grayman for this, but..."
"Okay, Andrew, you should be clear about the current situation, not to mention that Paul and I are blood-sworn brothers. The real threat forces us to work together."
Andrew guessed: "Are you talking about the Kent family? If the notorious Maltz Kent is allowed to take over, what will happen to us? It is a disaster for the northwest territories." Unexpectedly, Mailon shook his head, "No, this is indeed an imminent threat, but in the long run, it is not just this one. What do you think of the situation in the kingdom and the entire continent? "
Myron's words surprised Andrew slightly. He did not expect the count to ask him such a "profound" question. This young man is not yet an adult, and he is only a lower-level noble. It is a bit funny no matter how you think about it, two such people discussing the situation in the kingdom, the situation in the continent, and the like.
"My Lord Earl, I...cough!"
Andrew coughed lightly to cover up his embarrassment. He went to the south just to fulfill his long-cherished wish on the battlefield and had not thought about this issue.
"Just tell me what you know. For example, how long do you think it will take for the rebellion in the south to be put down?"
Andrew frowned, as if hesitating, and said after a long time: " To be honest, I think the process of counterinsurgency may...may be more tortuous."
"Why?"
"Not to mention that Grand Duke Tanlang himself is very powerful. When I was in the royal capital, everyone was privately rumoring that there seemed to be foreign forces supporting him behind the Grand Duke. Moreover, there was a lot of bad news coming from the south. It seemed that the lords who were loyal to the royal family had already Being dealt with.”
“In other words, the royal army will be in a stalemate with the rebels in the south for a while?”
“This is very likely to happen.”
“Even if the royal family has gathered troops from all over the country?”
“There are many lords who follow Giles...”
After listening to Andrew's words, Myron tapped his fingers on the table, staring at the dancing candlelight, wondering what he was thinking.
“The most powerful force in our country has always been the royal family. His Majesty the King is the supreme arbiter among the lords and the object of our common allegiance. To maintain this loyalty, in addition to The oaths made by the ancestors when they were granted the title, as well as the sword and shield in His Majesty’s hand. His Majesty’s sword is sharper than our swords, and His Majesty’s shield is stronger than ours. He controls the most powerful person in the kingdom. Power."
"What do you mean?"
"If such a force is restrained somewhere for a long time, it means that the country is about to lose order, because The power to maintain order is declining. Even though this force is still the most powerful, it is declining at a speed that others can see."
Andrew's eyes widened, even if he had been on the scene before. The battlefield was also shocked by what Mailon said. It was really disrespectful, and it came from the mouth of a fifteen-year-old boy.
"Lord Ganard, you mean...Aldo will lead to chaos?"
"I think so, taking the recent events in the Northwest Gulf as an example, if the royal family is still as it has been in history Strong, will the two factions still fight against each other? No, no, a hundred years ago, would the lords fight on their own if there was a dispute? And the royal family would not respond so slowly, even you knew the news. We returned to the northwest, but there was no official attitude from the royal family."
Myron stared into Andrew's eyes and whispered:
"The royal family is hesitant, the royal family is waiting, and the royal family is worried. The existing power in our hands cannot quickly settle all this, further exposing our own weakness."
"So, Andrew, we need to stay together with like-minded people to protect ourselves when troubled times come, and the closer we are. , the safer it is.”
The words of the young earl made Andrew deeply moved. It seemed that his master had grown a lot after the great changes. Regardless of whether his words were correct or not, at least he... uh... he had not thought of this level. .
"Lord Gardner, what do you need me to do?"
"After staying in Lake Town for a while, I had a hunch that my ally seemed to be going to ...It seems that some kind of "new order" is going to be established. Let's use this word for now, because I don't know how to describe it exactly. And we, Bairding, should make good use of the early advantage and occupy an important position in the new order. Location.”
(End of this chapter)