Chapter 33 Hereditary Nobility

After the war, the promotion of new hereditary nobles became the top priority of the Kingdom of Grant.

This orc invasion war was divided into three major war zones. A total of eleven barons of the Kingdom of Grant died in hereditary territory.

The Duke of Fox suffered the most serious losses, and the Duke's vassals suffered the most casualties. More than half of the territory was destroyed by the orcs. Eight barons died in the war, and more than 100,000 people were abducted by the orcs. The property loss was also very serious.

The remaining three barons who died in the war came from the royal family's direct territory. Including Baron Stoppa, who Richard was familiar with, they were all vassals directly under the king.

The Kingdom of Grant will not deprive the hereditary nobles who died in the fiefdom of their titles or reduce their territories.

Generally speaking, the title will be given to the heir in line.

When it comes to the hereditary baron class, there will be multiple heirs. These heirs are scattered in different legions, different provinces. Even different kingdoms, so as not to be accidentally wiped out.

Even professionals like William who strive for aristocratic status will arrange for their sons to join different legions. Not to mention nobles of higher status.

Years of conflict and war have made everyone feel a strong sense of crisis. Diversifying investments, reducing risks, and not putting all eggs in one basket are almost their survival instincts.

The Eastern Front was the best, and Duke Jonathan did not lose an inch of land. In the war, the Duke personally killed the Eastern Front Orc Commander, the ninth-level wolf king Dantelon.

This military exploit is very hard, and with the merits accumulated in the past, Duke Jonathan's family will obtain two hereditary baronies.

Through gossip, Richard knew that Duke Jonathan's fourth and sixth sons would be awarded titles.

The Western Front was not fought well. Although the orc attack was eventually repelled and many orc professionals were killed, hundreds of thousands of people were also looted by the orcs. The royal family severely reprimanded Duke Fox, and there would be no hereditary noble promotion this time.

The central line of the royal territory directly under the royal family played a standard war this time, and a total of two baronies were conferred.

One of them is Baron Harden's eldest son Leon. Leon's territory is located in the north of Baron Harden's territory and the west of the Pratos Fortress Group. With this barony, Baron Harden can already merge the territory and be promoted to Viscount.

But Baron Harden did not do so, probably because he loved his children too much. He planned to give the territory to his three sons to inherit.

After more than 20 years of hard work by two generations of the Harland family, they finally made enough merits to be awarded a title after this war.

Before the war began, William had accumulated four major merits and six medium merits.

In this war, he was given the authority to lead an army alone, commanding two battalions to fight and defending the Graveson Castle on the southern foot of the Eagle Mountains.

Although the battle was very difficult, William still persisted to the end and won a major merit. In the war, William killed one fifth-level orc, one fourth-level orc, four third-level orcs, three second-level orcs, and two first-level orcs. He accumulated six medium merits for killing orc professionals.

William now has six major merits and two medium merits.

Before retiring from active service, his second uncle Powell was a very good reconnaissance squadron leader of the Northern Army. He has also made many merits in more than ten years of fighting, accumulating one major merit, three medium merits, and two minor merits.

Powell did not use these merits when he retired, in order to accumulate merits and make the Harland family a hereditary baron.

As long as the Harland family becomes a hereditary noble, Powell's children will also have aristocratic status.

Third uncle Bernie also gained in this war, and now has accumulated one major merit, four medium merits, and six minor merits.

In addition, Richard has one major merit and three minor merits.

The combined military merits of the four of them are enough to make the Harland family a hereditary baron.

In addition, other members of the family have also made some merits. Although Barron died in battle, he still has three minor merits. After Ron advanced to a professional, he also won two minor merits.

These merits can all be used to promote hereditary nobles.

With enough military merits, the Harland family has become a hereditary baron, which is a foregone conclusion.

However, the division of the territory is still uncertain.

Relatively speaking, the northern region is still relatively wild and has a very small population, so the division of the territory is much easier. In other areas of the Grant Kingdom, there have been no hereditary nobles promoted for many years.

The situation in the Dawn Continent has not been very stable, and wars often break out. Because of the pressure of the environment, most countries are very good at fighting.

Several countries in the north that were invaded by orcs have regulations that no one can be granted a title without military merit.

It is rumored that Duke Jonathan wants to enfeoff his favorite four sons in the wealthy southern region, and is now communicating with King Charles.

The Harland family does not have such a high network of people. Although his father William has some friendships with some nobles, he only makes friends with lower-class nobles.

With William's network of connections, it is impossible to enfeoff the Harland family in a wealthy area.

The fiefdom must be on the northern frontier, and the specific location can be roughly determined.

The royal family's direct territory in the north is just a few unowned lands.

The rich basin inside the Dragon Canyon is not the place for a weak new family like the Harland family to get involved.

It was divided up a hundred years ago.

Richard estimated that there was a high probability that four baronies had been granted in the northern mountainous area of ​​Geda Province.

The remaining area is still large, and several more baronies can be granted.

Generally speaking, the baronies are more than 300 square kilometers and less than 1,000 square kilometers.

In the rich areas in the south, many baronies are even less than 300 square kilometers.

However, in the sparsely populated and frequently war-torn northern border, many baronies have areas far exceeding the standard, and there are many that exceed one thousand square kilometers.

The largest baronies can even be compared with the southern viscounties.

The size of the northern territory is the most important factor in terrain.

In order to facilitate defense and control important passages, the king will combine part of the fertile land with the dangerous valley and reward it to the border nobles.

Such a policy has caused the border nobles' territories to generally exceed the standard.

The five duchies in the north together account for almost half of the territory of the Grant Kingdom.

The area of ​​the border baronies is generally between one thousand square kilometers and three thousand square kilometers.

In November, the reward was finally settled.

The Harland family's territory was sealed 80 kilometers east of the Pratos Fortress Group.

The territory is not small, 30 kilometers from east to west, 40 kilometers from north to south, with a total area of ​​1,400 square kilometers, and most of the land is mountainous and hilly.

The territory borders the two baronies of Stopa and Dirham.

This time, the orcs invaded, and the two baronies of Stopa and Diram suffered heavy losses. The population of Stopa was annexed by Baron Harden. The territory now has only a few empty castles, waiting for the remaining family members of Stopa to inherit.

Although Baron Diram defended the castle, he was also abducted by the orcs by seven or eight hundred people.

The reason why the territory granted to the Harland family is so large is that the king requires that the baron's castle must be placed in a valley at the northernmost end of the territory.

This valley can be inserted into the middle of the Eagle Mountains.

As long as this mountain pass is guarded, the flank of the Pratos Fortress Group will also have stable support.

In addition, after the construction of William Castle, it can also support each other with Harden Castle and Vick Castle, strengthen the strength of this area, and form a complete line of defense.

The royal family also knows that the Harland family has a shallow foundation. If they are only allowed to bite the hard bones, the territory will not have much output, and I am afraid that the Harland family will not do their best to manage the territory.

If the rewarded territory is lost soon, it will lose the meaning of enfeoffment of hereditary nobles. Therefore, the reward for the territory was generous, and the area given was almost equal to that of a viscount.

There were two rivers in the territory, and a lot of farmland could be opened up on both sides of the river. This territory had both meat and bones, which was a good result.

After obtaining the hereditary fiefdom, how to develop and govern the fiefdom became the top priority of the Harland family.

William had gone to the capital of Nolan to attend the ceremony of the ennoblement, and Richard wrote letters to Powell and Bernie to communicate. After William came back, Richard decided to resign from the military and preside over the management of the territory with Uncle Powell. The rest of the family continued to manage their connections in the military.