Chapter 177: Exposing Contradictions

After successfully killing Delenci, Richard once again made a great contribution.

Now his merits are enough to be awarded two baronies, plus Richard's original territory.

According to Grant Law, if you have three baronies, you can be promoted to Viscount.

Compared with Baron, Viscount has more voting power in the Noble Council.

A Baron has only one vote in the Noble Council, while a Viscount has five votes.

If Richard's title is promoted to Viscount, the Harland family will have one Viscount and two Barons, and control seven votes in the Noble Council.

The hereditary nobles in the province of Gedda only have 46 votes in total. The status of the Harland family in the province of Gedda will become extremely important.

There is no legal threshold for a baron to be promoted to Viscount. As long as you have three territories, you can be promoted.

However, after being promoted to Viscount, you have to bear responsibilities after enjoying obligations.

If you are recruited by the royal family, you must provide a large team of troops, even if they are serfs, and your responsibilities have increased tenfold.

The Harland family is strong and powerful, and Richard is not afraid to take responsibility.

After getting the head of Derenci, Richard did not send it to Spencer, the mayor of Black River County.

Who knows if Spencer is a confidant of Jerram and an official of Prince Felix's faction. If Spencer embezzles the war credit, he will have to go to the noble parliament to sue. It is also very troublesome to find someone to smooth the relationship.

Richard directly handed Derenci's head to William and asked for credit through the relationship of the Northern Legion.

Although this is somewhat against the rules, it almost directly points out the nobles' distrust of local bureaucrats.

But Richard would rather expose this contradiction to his superiors than to trouble himself and ask for credit through Black River County and Geda Province.

Last time, his credit was withheld, and Richard no longer trusted the bureaucrats of Black River County and Geda Province.

If the king does not give him a satisfactory answer this time, don't blame Richard for not being attentive in future battles.

Now the army of the Harland territory is a very important force in Geda Province and the pillar of the noble coalition.

The reason why the Northern Army fought well this time was that the soldiers under Richard played a very critical role.

If he chose to slack off in this battle, Maruland would conquer the Pratos Castle and join the main force of Drenti, and the orcs would increase the strength of three battalions in Black River Fort.

With an increase of 6,000 main forces, Maruland's troops would cooperate with Gunderson to defeat Viscount Romen and clean up the periphery of Black River Fort. The orcs may conquer Black River Fort, annihilate the Northern Army, rush into the Dragon Canyon, and corrupt the Gedda Province.

Richard did not believe that the king's capital did not understand.

If the border meritorious nobles were suppressed wantonly because of a little personal grudge, the Grant Kingdom would not be able to defend the North.

The pillar of the royal family, Duke Brena, is still alive. He was the commander of the army more than a hundred years ago and understood the military spirit on the battlefield very well. He is a real understanding person.

This time Richard deliberately went against the rules to tell the king's capital that there was no possibility of cooperation with local bureaucrats.

If the king doesn't care, Richard will keep it in mind and guard the territory with all his heart. He will just fool around outside the territory.

Richard is just a small noble. If the overall situation in the northern border is corrupted, who will feel sorry for him in the end?

A capable noble does not lack wise leaders. If the Grant Kingdom can't make it, he can go to other kingdoms. At worst, he can start over. Anyway, Richard is still young.

Richard's attitude gave William a headache.

William and Richard exchanged letters several times. His opinion was to compromise with the Holland family, give some gifts, say a few good words, and bow his head to get the Holland family's understanding.

Richard didn't need to come forward for specific communication. William would communicate with the new provincial commander.

But Richard insisted on his opinion. If William didn't cooperate, he would take Derensi's head directly to the noble meeting to register his military exploits.

In desperation, William had to agree to Richard's request and communicate with the upper echelons of the Grant Kingdom through the legion commander Zachley.

As expected, Richard made his attitude of non-cooperation clear, which alarmed the high-level officials of the Grant Kingdom.

King Charles refused to obey the management when he saw a small baron, and he was going to give Richard a good look, but Duke Brener personally went to the king's bedroom.

When he met King Charles, Duke Brener had no respect for the king and asked bluntly: "Richard, the noble of Black River County, who decided to suppress his merits?"

Seeing that King Charles was a little confused, Duke Brener raised the marshal's scepter, knocked the floor hard, and asked sternly.

"Who is it? Tell the truth!"

Duke Brener is the real patron saint of the Grant royal family. Only with him in the royal family can the great nobles be suppressed, and there has been prosperity for more than a hundred years.

Even without legendary strength and the aura of famous generals, the descendants of Marshal Brener are still powerful in the Grant royal family.

Pansy Grant, the president of the Grant Kingdom Magic Association, is his descendant, and the Duke of York is also his descendant.

The old duke has sixty-three sons, more than three hundred grandchildren, one thousand six hundred great-grandchildren, plus thousands of great-great-grandchildren of the next generation.

There are thousands of his direct descendants, almost all of whom are professionals, and many of them are officers of the Royal Guards. They are the royal family's foundation and the core of ruling the country.

If King Charles does not obey, Marshal Brena has enough power to replace him.

"It is Bellet Holland, the governor of the province of Geda, who suppressed the merits of Baron Richard."

Seeing Marshal Brena's anger, King Charles did not dare to lie because of his past prestige, and immediately told the truth.

"Why did you agree?"

"Bellet Holland is the provincial commander I appointed, and I need to trust his judgment."

"Do you understand the military achievements of Baron Richard?"

"He annihilated 4,000 orcs, of course I know that?"

Marshal Brena was furious when he heard this, and his brain was hit hard, and some stars appeared in his eyes. He raised his scepter fiercely and knocked King Charles to the ground.

Although King Charles was a sixth-level knight, his strength was far inferior to that of the third-level legendary Marshal Brena, even though the marshal was old and his physical condition was declining. The powerful force made King Charles unable to compete at all.

Brena broke King Charles' arm with a scepter and cursed fiercely: "You have been king for 30 years, but you don't know anything. I don't know why I supported you, a waste? It's better to kill you and let Roger come back to be king. At least he understands military affairs and won't let the people below fool him."

Marshal Brena was still not satisfied after breaking King Charles' arm, and kept cursing.

"If I had known that Louis' grandson was so useless, I would have been the king.

In the Dawn Continent, a king can know nothing, be cruel, and play with women. But he must master power, understand military affairs, and be able to capture the hearts of the army.

A king's authority relies on violence, and the greatest violence is the army. The most important thing to control the army is to reward and punish fairly.

For those who have made military achievements, we cannot suppress them blatantly. Doing so will hurt morale and military spirit. After a few times, you will have no prestige in the army.

It is very dangerous to lose the military spirit and be unable to suppress the army.

Officers who rise from war are all very dangerous people. Once you lose the military spirit, someone will replace you. At that time, the country will change its master. Do you understand this?

The reason why the battle in Geda Province was fought well was that two people played a key role. The first was Baron Richard, and the second was Army Commander Zakli. As your appointed confidant, you should believe in Zakli's judgment, not the local bureaucrats. You have been on the throne for thirty years, why are you so useless?"