Chapter 374 Christmas Dinner

Although Margaret is young, she is precocious and intelligent, even more mature than these uncles and brothers who are in their twenties.

Many people in the Harland family received a half-baked aristocratic education, and invited tutors to their homes since childhood.

In fact, aristocratic education is not only about inviting tutors to teach knowledge and etiquette, but also about teaching by words and deeds, and teaching some ways to observe words and expressions and deal with people. There are even many things passed down by word of mouth, involving the black history of great nobles, secret extraordinary knowledge, and the emperor's skills figured out by themselves.

The Harland family has a short time to rise and lacks foundation. The teaching quality of this half-baked aristocratic education is actually not as good as that of official schools.

Margaret has been studying in school since she was a child, and she has been in contact with older children. Her level of hospitality may be higher than these brothers and uncles, and she is more cunning.

These people complained and even cursed Sophia in front of her. Although Margaret did not speak, she remembered them in her heart.

After returning, she decided to tell Sofia about it. Margaret knew very well that her mother was not a broad-minded person, but rather a little narrow-minded. At that time, the only unlucky ones would be the young people of the Harland family.

After a difficult journey, the group finally arrived at the Hurricane Castle before the Goddess's Birthday, and Richard also greeted them in front of the castle early.

After arranging accommodation, Margaret immediately told Richard about some things along the way.

Richard saw that Margaret had grown to his shoulder height, raised his hand to touch her head, and suddenly felt that his daughter had grown up. He waved his hand and said to his adjutant: "Inform everyone that except Simon, Cohen and George, the rest of the people will not attend this year's Christmas dinner. The same will be done in the future. The rest of the people have not passed the test, so we can only take care of the face of the elders and support them as parasites."

Seeing that the adjutant was about to go out to pass the order, Richard suddenly asked: "Green, is Cohen serving in the reconnaissance brigade? How is his performance?"

Richard's adjutant is also a member of the Harland family. His bloodline is relatively close to William's branch. Green's grandfather is William's cousin.

Since William was promoted to hereditary nobles, the distant relatives of William's three brothers have rushed to join him. Over the years, Richard has always used people according to their talents, but only three people can really get important positions.

The first one is Anne. She is the housekeeper of Richard's court, an important assistant to Sophia in managing the court, and a formal member of the Mage Association. She has been promoted to a fourth-ring mage and has a very important position in the territory.

The second is Gibson. Gibson was originally William's housekeeper, and later transformed into a civil servant in Harland. He retired a few years ago. Although retired, because he watched Richard and his sister grow up, he still has a great influence in Harland.

The third is Gibson's eldest grandson Noel, who is now responsible for managing the intelligence system of Harland.

Green is the fourth distant clan member that Richard has reused. He is closer to William than the Gibson family. His relationship with Richard is less than five generations in terms of bloodline. According to the classification of the noble bloodline of the Grant Kingdom, he is actually a close relative.

Green is 26 years old, and his talent is no less than William, which is considered superior. Now he has been promoted to a third-level professional. He can be promoted to the fourth level before the age of 30. There is a little hope to break through the legendary bottleneck.

There are now 1.8 million people in Harland. Even if there are only one in ten thousand talented people, there are not a few every year, but whether they can grow up is actually uncertain.

Talent is only considered successful if it is fulfilled, otherwise it is just an ordinary person.

Green joined the army when he graduated from elementary school at the age of fifteen. He was a young soldier. He first worked as a logistics staff in the headquarters, and later went to the squadron to lead soldiers. He served as deputy squadron leader and squadron leader. Because of his background, he quickly caught Richard's attention. After being promoted to the third rank, he took over Richard's adjutant.

Although the position of Richard's adjutant is not high, the responsibility is very heavy, and it is actually not easy to do. As an adjutant, he not only serves as Richard's assistant, manages military affairs, coordinates many things, but also manages Richard's private affairs. It requires a strong memory and a smart and capable person to take on this position.

"Cohen served as the deputy squadron leader of the reconnaissance brigade. He was highly evaluated in the files, but I know that he is a person with no talent for war. The only thing worth praising is obedience. He is an honest man and can execute the orders of his superiors without discount."

As Richard's adjutant, Green is naturally well-informed. As the younger generation of the Harland family, Cohen is the focus of attention. As Richard's adjutant, Green is not afraid of offending people, and chooses to tell the truth about everything.

After listening to Green's introduction, Richard nodded and said, "How is his talent?"

"Not as good as Master George, barely above average."

"After all, he is the child of my second uncle, so he can still be trained. I will write a transfer order to transfer Cohen to the captain of the seventh squadron of the guard brigade."

Among William's three brothers, Richard has the deepest relationship with his second uncle Powell.

Not to mention when they were young, after Richard traveled through time, William had married Mrs. Ola, and most of his feelings were poured into his eldest son Ron, the second son Barron, and the youngest son George.

Ron's mother was William's first love, and without any other mixed, they had the deepest feelings for each other.

Although Mrs. Ola was also a marriage of convenience, she was at the age of a flower, and she had already fascinated William. Moreover, William was busy with military affairs at the time, and only his uncle Soros and second uncle Powell often took care of them.

Richard's relationship with Soros and Powell is actually deeper than William's.

The Grant Kingdom has a special system and cannot be knighted without military exploits. Even if Richard is grateful to Powell, he cannot be promoted to the hereditary aristocracy.

Powell had many children, including nine illegitimate children, but most of these children were of average ability. Some of them settled down to be playboys, while some had poor qualifications and were transferred to the civil service system. Only three of them were promoted to professionals.

The eldest son Adrian is already a three-ring magician, but Adrian has been managing the hospital and is responsible for the logistics. Although the logistics work is safe, it is difficult to achieve military exploits. Without military exploits, it is basically impossible to be promoted to a hereditary noble.

The second son Colon joined the Grizzlies in his early years and served under William in recent years.

Now Cologne is already a third-level warrior and serves as the captain of the third squadron of the fifth brigade of the Grizzly Bear Legion. He has accumulated seven medium skills and six minor skills. Cologne is just thirty years old, has average talent, and still hopes to be promoted to the hereditary aristocracy.

Cohen's talent is similar to that of his brother Cologne. He has been promoted to a professional and was promoted by Richard to the guard brigade as a squadron leader. If he can gain a firm foothold in the army and proceed step by step, he should be promoted to a hereditary baron by the time he reaches his fifties.

If Uncle Powell had lived longer, he would have had the opportunity to see this day.

After making arrangements for Cohen's future, Richard suddenly thought of his eldest nephew Simon.

"Where's Simon? Has he been reused by Ron?"

Green shook his head and said: "Simon is an illegitimate son, and his talent exceeds that of Ron's heir. This has always been a headache for Ron, and now he has begun to suppress Simon."

"Since Ron is unwilling to use it, you can write a letter of recommendation and ask Simon to lead the army in Haaland. I think he will go to the first brigade to train first. If he can stand firm, he will be transferred to the infantry brigade behind to serve as the squadron leader. Soldier."

The future of the junior was arranged, and the Christmas dinner was held as scheduled.

Although he was on the front line, the Duke's family banquet was still very luxurious, but only a few people could attend. In addition to young people such as George, Simon, Cohen, and Margaret, the banquet was also attended by some military veterans, such as Soros, Jennings, Audrey, and others.

This winter, when the orcs fought at their best, Zhan Nings won some military merits, and just enough to raise ten major merits, he became Richard's fourteenth vassal.

The fiefdom of Jennings is in the northern part of the Barony of Vito. Due to Richard's special care, the territory covers an area of ​​1,400 square kilometers, which is somewhat larger than the normal barony.

This territory is already on the front line, very close to the No. 2 Military Station.

Zhan Nings and Flora don't have much money in their hands. Although their salaries are very high, Zhan Nings usually spends money lavishly and often supports his comrades, relatives and friends. The two have been married for more than ten years and only have a few hundred gold coins in savings. Among the upper class of Haaland territory, he can be considered a poor man.

Jennings was the first of the Powells to be a hereditary peer. His promotion to the hereditary peerage made Powell very happy.

Powell has a lot of property, and Adrian has a lot of assets, which funded the couple three thousand gold coins in cash. In addition, Zhan Nings old comrades Sula and Odaye are both rich people. These old comrades-in-arms were very active. They worked together and lent Zhannings a huge sum of five thousand gold coins. In addition to the two thousand gold coins sent by Richard, Zhannings and Flora actually had something in their hands. Funds of tens of thousands of gold coins.

Although he was promoted to a hereditary baronet, Jennings did not retire from active service in operating the territory. His wife Flora still lives in Fort William.

Jennings was very open-minded and followed Wendy's example in handing over the territory to the Harland bureaucrats for management, and implemented exactly the same decree as the Harland Dukedom.

The two baronies of Jennings and Wendy also implemented the serf pardon.

After having enough wine and food, Richard waved his hand, the dancers and musicians retreated, and the banquet hall suddenly became very quiet. Richard stood up, pointed to a few young people who were allowed to attend the dinner, and said directly: "Last year I asked you a question, who are our friends and who are our enemies? Now in front of everyone , you might as well tell us your answer.

George, you are the oldest, starting with you. "

George prepared for a moment and answered directly: "From the perspective of the Duchy of Harland, I think the orcs are our biggest enemies, and our friends are the clansmen and noble vassals of the Harland family. To expand it, they are military professions. Or, prepare the aristocratic class.

But in the southern territory, our enemies are the Kingdom of Delong and the United Kingdom of the East Coast, and our friends are the southern nobles, and to expand it, they are the main army officers and soldiers. "

After hearing George's answer, Richard smiled and said: "You are young and have some knowledge, which is not bad."

Richard turned his eyes and faced Cohen: "Keen, what's your answer?"

"Our enemies are the orcs, and our friends are all the nobles and soldiers who fight against the orcs."

"Simon, tell me what you think."

Simon hesitated for a moment, organized his words and said: "Our enemies are not only the orcs, but may also include the royal family and other nobles. We should beware of them when making decisions.

And our friends include not only the Harland people and territorial vassals, but also the aristocrats of the three northern Xinjiang provinces. "

After hearing the young man's answer, Richard smiled heartily and said: "What everyone said is pretty good. As a noble, I hope you will think more and use your brains more. Know who is our friend and who is ours." The enemy can make the right decision.”

After eating and drinking, everyone sang and danced, showing great joy. After eating and having fun, Richard happily announced the end of the banquet.

After the banquet, Richard, Sophia, and Margaret's family sent off important guests such as Soros. When there was no one around, Richard patted Margaret on the shoulder and said, "Margaret, what's your answer?"

"My answer is different from theirs, respected father."

Sophia smiled and said, "Child, everyone is in a different position, so of course the answer is different."

"I think the Harland people and noble vassals may not be our friends, and the Harland territory army may also become our enemy. As a lord, we should not have friends, and anyone may be our enemy."

Richard looked at his growing daughter and patted her on the head gently: "You are so extreme at such a young age."

Margaret opened her eyes wide and asked like a curious baby: "So what's your answer, respected Duke father?"

"There is no standard answer to this question. We have different friends and different enemies at different times. Who is our friend and who is our enemy should be dialectically different at different times.

As lords, our natural duty is to expand the size of the territory and maintain the territory. Stability. Whoever can improve productivity and increase the strength of the territory is our friend, and whoever hinders the development of the territory is our enemy.

But this does not mean that we have to be alone. Using power and tactics to govern the territory and suppressing the territory with force is not the smartest way.

The smart way is to move people's hearts with ideals.

You are still young and have a strong curiosity. Along the way, your mother told me how happy you were to come out this time?

It is a very good thing to have curiosity. As I get older, I find that I have gradually lost my curiosity. How regrettable!

But our situation is not stable. There may be enemies both outside and inside, and some enemies are hiding in the dark.

You are my only heir now, and you cannot leave your parents' sight. This is not only for your own safety, but also for the stability of the territory.

In recent months, I plan to let you stay on the front line, act as my secretary, and get in touch with military affairs, but you can't fall behind in meditation, and you can't relax in your daily life. "

After listening to Richard's arrangement, Margaret pulled his arm and said, "I know, father. "