Chapter 556 Bottom Line

"Gift?" Roland raised his eyebrows, "What is it?"

"The Hoss family and the Lista family in the north...Your Majesty, the two earls refused to obey your rule, and even tried to collude with the rest of the nobles to rebel. My father saw through their tricks in advance and gave the two families the punishment they deserved. Cole said regretfully, "But due to my negligence, I didn't expect you to return to the West Territory early, and the head used as evidence has been broken on the way."

"Wait, your father executed the two earls directly?"

"Uh," he turned his head to look at the assistant, "yes."

This vote was more intense than I expected... Taking the heads of the two earls as a vote means that it will be difficult for them to get the support of the nobles of the Eastern Realm, at least the possibility of uniting against their own territory will be greatly reduced. Roland thought to himself, but now that Nightingale is not around, he doesn't know if the other party is deceiving him.

He pondered for a moment, then whispered to Barov beside him, "Are there these two families in the Northland?"

"Horsehead Hoss and Lista with Two Spears are both families in the northern region, and their reputation is even more prominent than the five families in the western region. Among them, Lista's ancestors fought in armor for the Wimbledon family, and the two spears on the family emblem are exactly that. It was taken from the flag of the Kingdom of Graycastle." Barov stroked his beard and said unhurriedly, "Of course, this happened more than two hundred years ago. But the Kant family is not well-known, I remember it was about fifty years ago. A family that only appeared in 2009...I didn't expect that Timothy would choose Calvin Kant as the leader of the Northern Territory. The dissatisfaction of the established family."

"So what he said is true?" Roland automatically ignored the old manager's nagging to show off his extensive knowledge.

"Hmm...the possibility of lying is not very high," Barov said in a low voice, "This matter concerns the honor of the nobles, if you promise to accept their allegiance, if it is proven to be a lie, the Northland itself will be in chaos first." stand up."

It makes sense to say so, he nodded slightly, and whether it was a lie or not is actually not a big problem, the key is that his bottom line is already there, if he can accept giving up the fiefdom, everything can be discussed, if he insists on holding on to power, then Expensive gifts are meaningless.

Thinking of this, Roland smiled at Cole, "First of all, I have to express my gratitude to the Duke. It is every noble's responsibility to protect the honor of the royal family. Your father has done a good job. Secondly, the two earls deserved what they deserved, and the kingdom will not Hold Duke Kant accountable for this move."

"Yes, yes? Father will be very happy to hear this," Cole seemed relieved, "He has always hoped to play for the real king, and now he finally has the opportunity."

"Yes, I am also happy to accept the allegiance of the Duke of the North... on the premise that he can abide by the new laws of Graycastle."

"New law?" He was slightly taken aback, "What is that?"

"Regulations on the withdrawal of the nobility's enfeoffment rights," Roland looked at the other party's expression, and said word by word, "From now on, the kingdom will no longer have enfeoffment nobles. You can simply understand that all the territories in Graycastle have only one owner. , that is the king."

"What? Your Majesty, this..." Cole's expression changed drastically, and he turned to look at the assistant again.

Is this guy really the duke's second son? Although she looked a little younger, she wasn't inferior to his female officer...at least the latter only opened her mouth slightly, and her appearance was still calm. Of course, it might be that she couldn't understand the meaning of what she said.

"Don't worry, nobles are still nobles, your good life will not change in any way, and you still have a chance to climb to a new peak," Roland clapped his hands, and asked his attendant to hand over the brochure he had prepared, "Longsong Fortress This set of laws has been fully implemented, and in the manual, you can see many small stories of changes, and examples of nobles who have devoted themselves to it. It seems that it will make the nobles lose some of their privileges, but in fact it also liberated the nobles from their fiefs Come out and join the big stage of the kingdom, or even the entire continent."

The other party looked blank, "But... I don't know..."

Roland was a little disappointed by Cole's performance, but it's normal to think about it. After all, he is still the second son who has not yet grown up. It is estimated that this trip is only to serve as a microphone, and he cannot make a final decision.

"It's okay, you can pass the news back to Duke Calvin. Before he replies, you can stay in Neverwinter and visit the unique scenery here. I think you will like it here."

Although sending the second son here itself meant sincerity, but Roland didn't intend to waste this sincerity, so he withheld it for the time being as a guarantee to prevent the other party from taking risks.

He had thought that this meeting would be over, but he didn't expect Cole to make another request.

"Your Majesty, may I see how your domain manufactures paddle steamers and steam engines?"

This was a novel request, and Roland looked at him with great interest, "Are you interested in this?"

"Yes, I heard about this kind of strange ship in the capital, and I found it everywhere after I came to the western border. I am very curious about how the paddle steamer can travel without sails." Cole stroked his chest.

"I see," he nodded with a smile, "I'll let Manager Barov arrange it."

...

After dealing with the affairs of the Northern Envoy, Roland returned to the office and was about to complete the design in his hand when he suddenly heard a rapid knocking sound from outside the window. He turned around, but saw two unexpected figures.

Lightning was lying on the window sill, and Maggie squatted on top of her head, pecking at the glass.

Roland's heart tightened suddenly. It's only the third day, and the paddle steamer shouldn't come back so soon. Could something be wrong?

"Why did you come back first?" He opened the floor-to-ceiling windows and asked hastily, "Where are the others?"

"Your Majesty! We have caught the devil!"

"But Anna, Ye Zi and Nightingale are all injured Goo!"

"Fortunately, it's not a big problem!"

"But it still hurts! Can you let Miss Nana come with us?"

After listening to the two scrambling to finish speaking, Roland felt like his heart was on a roller coaster, and he let out a sigh of relief, "Is it really all right?"

"No goo!"

"I'll ask someone to pick up Nana," he turned and walked out of the room, "Next time remember to finish speaking in one breath!"

...

In the evening of the next day, two paddle steamers finally appeared at the west end of the Chishui River.

In order to prevent the crowd from seeing the devil and causing panic, the left-behind troops of the First Army have cleared the No. 22 trestle and prepared a covered carriage. A temporary wooden house was also set up in the back garden of the castle as a laboratory, and the research on devils and sigils will be carried out under the supervision of Ye Zi.

Seeing Anna and Nightingale walking down the trestle bridge, Roland was completely relieved. It took only four days from departure to return, but it seemed like he hadn't seen him for several months. Especially after hearing the news that the two were injured, time passed even more slowly.

"This task is hard work," he raised his mouth and opened his arms to Anna.

The latter didn't answer, but rushed into his arms quickly, hugging him firmly.

Nightingale sighed, "You said you're waiting for us in the castle...the pier is not safe, Your Majesty."

"You too," Roland said with a smile, "Thanks for your hard work."

"Hmm..." She turned her head uncomfortably, "It's actually not bad."

Anna let go of Roland and pulled Nightingale over.

Then Wendy, Ye Zi...

All the witches hugged Roland this time, and Agatha and Iffy were no exception.

Under the reflection of the dark red sunset, the figures of the people were stretched out. u