Chapter 1,432 The Origin of Noble Power

Before other Grand Dukes could put forward their opinions, Lin took over the conversation again and said: "Don't talk about dividing it into five seats like now. Everyone can just discuss who will sit. Even if there are more seats, isn't there anyone who is dissatisfied? Even if there are more seats. So many positions have come out and everyone has been arranged, and some people want to care about why others are higher than me, rather than why I am higher than others. In short, there is no end to greed. Your Excellencies, you can create the current situation, I think there must be some unknown bitterness in it.”

Grand Duke Montezuma did not defend or solve the problem raised by a certain magician, but asked directly: "Then how do you think you should evaluate the strength of a noble?"

"Money? No, a noble who can spend money but cannot save money does not mean that he is poor in strength, it may just be less stingy. Even if it is not a simple calculation of the number of coins, some places where the money is spent cannot be disclosed, and naturally it cannot be converted It becomes capital and is included in the calculation of aristocratic wealth. Therefore, money is not suitable as a criterion."

Lin himself came up with an idea, but rejected it himself. Save these nobles from thinking wildly and establish a preconceived concept for themselves. He continued:

"Land? In fact, this is not very suitable. Some land is fertile, some is barren, some has mines under it, and some has nothing but yellow sand. Under these differences, the value of the nobility is It is not appropriate to judge by land.

"Some people will say that using the area of ​​cultivated land as a criterion, food is the most important. That is right, but it is wrong. Food is important, but even if those wealthy businessmen do not farm and do not have any cultivated land to their names, their strength is weak. Is it? I don’t think so.

"Military strength? For those who propose using this as a standard, my lords, please treat this guy as a person with bad intentions and deal with him directly. Such a talent does not deserve to live in the world at all."

Lin asked and answered his own questions this time, but it made a certain elder feel annoyed. The Grand Duke of Piercenza said: "When it comes to judging by military strength, no one can be wrong. The ultimate expression of all strength is the army in hand. If a weak person dares to override the strong, then the army in his hand will be destroyed." It’s just a decoration.”

Lin replied: "What if someone resorts to militarism? What if someone pulls in a group of farmers to fill the scene? What should we do with the system of registering and receiving military pay? Local army, orthodox army and ace army, these different levels How do we calculate the strength of the nobles in our army? Can they really be drawn out for a fight? Can it really be solved like this? Don't stay by the emperor's side just to get a small errand, why not just go to war directly. Beat them to pieces and destroy the others. Once you've conquered them all, you can become the emperor yourself."

…

When all the great dukes heard this, there was nothing wrong with this. If military strength is to be used as an indicator, not many people will be convinced if they don't get involved in a fight.

Even in the empire itself, no one thinks that the several legions are inferior to each other. At most, they are just different in the direction of their expertise. For example, dragoons can fly, wolf cavalry is good at raids, horse cavalry is good at running, and sheep cavalry is good at mountain combat.

It's just the military achievements accumulated over generations that gave them first, second, and third place. But in a confrontation, victory or defeat depends on many factors, and it is not just about who wins.

So military strength doesn't really seem appropriate.

Lin dismissed several general direction indicators once, then changed the topic and said: "In fact, the indicators to judge the strength of the nobility should be considered from the root of the power of the nobility."

"The source of power?" Grand Duke Mu Xi, who was still outspoken, repeated in confusion.

Lin explained: "The reason why a noble is a noble is that he rules a group of people and promises to protect them. He is also wise and fair enough to act as an arbiter when disputes arise. Things like land, wealth, and military power are all It is produced by these people. The larger the population, the more wealth it can bring to the nobles; the population must be large enough to develop the territory and organize an army at the same time. Some people may think that you need land to support them. People. But in fact, this kind of thinking is limited by the current situation. If I had wealth and an army, wouldn’t it be convenient to grab a piece of land? If I didn’t have enough troops, I could keep the inheritance from generation to generation. The land came down. Therefore, population is the source of all the power of the nobles."

The distinction between aristocrats and commoners was basically based on two arguments in my hometown in Europe in the old days. One is the divine right of kings, and the other is the theory of noble blood. Lords are appointed by the king, and the king is recognized by the only god. Therefore, nobles and commoners are different creatures, and the former is much nobler. They don’t drink the same water, they don’t eat the same things, they don’t even poop together.

However, in the Lost Land, the divine right of kings is completely unacceptable, because there are real gods in the Lost Land. In other words, the God of Lost Land is not as unreachable as the God of his hometown. Even if the noble lords of Lost Land can accept having a king and a god above their heads, when the two conflict, who will they listen to?

The so-called "There is no two days in the sky" is not an arrogant statement, but a practical need. Even though my hometown is Hyundai and I work in a company, I have two direct bosses, and I have to listen to everyone. When one of them wants to go east and the other wants to go west, it will be damned if this work can be done.

Not to mention that you have become a king or emperor, how can you accept that there are other beings above you who can command you!

As for the theory of noble blood, we may be able to talk about it in other places in Lost Land. But in the Karlsruhe Empire, this argument was very weak and could not withstand challenge.

Because behind the selection of merit rather than seniority in the succession of the Karlsruhe Empire was the idea that the most capable would rise to the top. Everyone's blood is red, no one is golden. Even if the starting point is high, it does not mean that the achievements will be high.

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If you don't have the ability, it is only natural that you will be replaced by someone who has the ability. Even lords with serious titles have been replaced by unrelated people in the history of the empire.

Some are extinct and are inherited by others. Some of them were really so fucked up that they couldn't keep their titles, so they could only deprive them of their titles and hand them over to others. If you don't do that, if you don't talk about people's grievances, you may even be in danger.

The folk customs of the Karlsruhe Empire are so fierce.

This is also why a certain group of great transmigration people will try to establish a constitution in this empire and promote the process of legalization. Because the Karlsruhe Empire already has suitable soil, there are also such signs.

Even if you don't do it, the empire will face changes within a hundred or two hundred years, and all it takes is an opportunity. So, this is a matter of smooth flow. Only a time traveler who is afraid of trouble would want to try and see what it feels like to be a promoter of this kind of history.

Of course, the grand dukes in front of them are not people who will accept everything others say without any conditions.

The Grand Duke of Piercenza said at this time: "This is the reason why you think it is necessary to form a lower assembly. A certain number of people elects a representative, and then the more representatives, the more advantages they will have when voting. If so, Wouldn't it be nice if each noble represented the population of his territory? When voting, that's how many people he represents."

Without directly refuting such an opinion, Lin raised a question: "If this method is used to allow the lords of the territory to directly represent the population under their jurisdiction, then cities such as Neuquen City, Sani City, and Hurricane Bay can nominally They all belong to the direct jurisdiction of the emperor. There are also many cities where nobles gather and prosper due to commerce. They all have a similar situation. Just like that, it all belongs to the emperor, or it belongs to a lucky lord who just wears a title, okay? ?”

Now it was the turn of the grand dukes to stop talking and silently calculate an account.

Excluding those secondary titles, among all the nobles in the empire, the noble with the largest territory, the largest population, and the strongest strength is the emperor. If the secondary titles that were enfeoffed are taken into account, there are quite a lot of big cities in the territory directly under the emperor's jurisdiction.

The current situation of these big cities is not what the emperor said. In the city, big and small forces are intertwined, and there are few big nobles who don't fly their flags.

Perhaps taxes and labor belonged to the emperor in name, but were actually in the hands of the imperial finance minister, but which noble nobleman did not profit from them? According to the method of territorial ownership, its lord can represent the population of the territory. Wouldn't this be giving everything in one's pocket to the emperor for nothing? No one can agree to this stupid method.

If a certain population is used to select parliamentary representatives, it also means that the nobles can not only have the number of representatives in their own territories, but also win over these parliamentary representatives in the Mohu area. Some people even thought about whether there was a way to reach out to the territories of other nobles and win over the MPs in those disputed areas.

Thinking about it this way, perhaps the solution proposed by the magician in front of him is to open up a new battlefield for nobles like them. But this battlefield is virgin territory that no one has explored yet, which means there is a lot to be done.

If it works well, it can also expand its political influence without involving the taboo of territorial disputes between nobles. With such benefits and challenges, who wouldn’t be willing to try it?

The great duke, who had a good mind, figured it out in a few moments. Even those who usually act stupid in front of outsiders understand the twists and turns involved.

It can be said that this method not only allowed them to legally share the emperor's power, but also provided an opportunity to expand their influence. Even if some people don't think of this level for a while, they don't reject this method in their hearts.

However, the expressions and acting skills of the grand dukes were still well-trained, and Lin Bianxian could not tell their inner thoughts from their performances. Unless you bring out the Haggiri cheat device and read their minds. But instead of doing that, he threw out something else.

Just like the constitution, the text is displayed on a magnified water mirror screen so that several grand dukes can clearly see it.

The Grand Dukes initially thought it was a document like a constitution. But if you look closely, the title reads "Imperial Law", and the content also revolves around some of the privileges and norms of the emperor and his family. Everyone looked at it with frowns and confusion.