Clang!
Seeing Luer's knife on his neck, Adric suddenly changed color, quickly pulled out the matching sword, stabbed at it, and the cold light on the sword's edge flashed, hitting Luer's blade, swinging the blade away.
It's just that it's still slower this time, and the blade still cuts a hole in Luer's neck. Although the knife edge was not deep, the blood had already flowed out.
Seeing that the knife in Ruhl's hand fell out of his hand and fell to the ground, blood was already flowing down Ruhl's neck on his clothes.
The two men stared at each other. Finally, Adric took a deep breath and sighed: "I'm sorry, I think you must be very disappointed in me."
Ruhl smiled bitterly, looked at the sword in Adric's hand, and said in a low voice, "Disappointed? You stubborn idiot, if you are just stubborn, that's fine. You are obviously seeking your own death."
Adrick's face was ugly: "Then what do you think, what can I do?"
Ruhl looked at Adric's face, and was silent for a long time. Finally, his eyes gradually became more and more resolute, and he slowly said a word.
"Soldier!"
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"Father."
Roddy walked into the study and saw his father standing beside the map hanging on the wall, thinking.
After a while, Rhodey finally couldn't bear his temper and called out in a low voice.
There was some dissatisfaction on Roddy's face, but more of it was a trace of inexplicable complex feelings.
As the heir of the Minas family, although he has a lot of dissatisfaction with his father's actions, over the years, the estrangement between father and son has deepened, but after all, as a son of man, he is still a man of his father's every move. The one that knows best!
He is very aware of his father's recent series of actions, the unusual tastes that he has tasted...
"I remember I told you many times." Duke Minas slowly turned around and looked at his son calmly: "You have to knock on the door when you enter my study."
"Yes, father." Roddy took a deep breath, his eyes were complicated, and he looked at the old duke with white hair. He hesitated, but finally chose to suppress those thoughts in his heart and said slowly: "Bank The Marquis and the Earl of Blick are here to see you in the drawing room..."
"Let them wait." Duke Minas smiled faintly: "Wait a little longer, no one will die. Sit down, I just have something to tell you."
Roddy hesitated for a moment, then slowly sat down on the chair in the room.
Duke Minas looked at his son's face - his son's appearance was very similar to himself, and the outline of his eyebrows, eyes and nose were almost carved out of his own mold. I remember when I was young, I used to be the same as him. I had a firm temperament, I would not change my position easily when I looked for things, I was stubborn, persistent, and... blood boiled, I was also full of those unrealistic ideals... No, it should be said that it is a fantasy .
Just because Minas knew that his son was very similar to him, he also knew very well that it was not easy to convince his son.
"You are very dissatisfied with me recently." The old man slowly sat down in front of Roddy.
Roddy didn't speak, just lowered his eyelids.
"You are dissatisfied with the practice of sending Daphne back to the palace. Also... Since my comeback, you have also been dissatisfied with my attitude towards Adric. I contacted those nobles, and you did not agree with me, and..."
"Son dare not."
"You don't dare." Duke Minas suddenly smiled, his smile was somewhat mocking: "You just feel that you can no longer communicate with me, so you are too lazy to continue arguing with me, right? ?"
Looking at his silent son, Duke Minas sighed and said in a low voice, "I know you look down on those nobles, hmph, Marquis Banks is just a fat-headed idiot who can only rhetoric, Billy, a flamboyant man things, and other people, are short-sighted and stupid, but also pretentious... You look down on them, you think that the existence of these guys will only bring bad effects to the empire, and their existence is exactly this The root cause of the growing decay of the empire, isn't it?"
Before Roddy could speak, Duke Minas suddenly smiled again and said lightly: "In fact, from the bottom of my heart, I completely agree with your opinion... Those guys are simply a group of idiots, a group of people who are attached to the empire and suck the empire. Blood vampires, a swarm of greedy rice bugs, mice."
Roddy was stunned, he raised his head and looked at the old man in surprise: "Father, you, you think so too, then..."
"You want to ask why, don't you?" Duke Minas squinted at his son: "You look down on these guys, you think they are a group of nobles with more than enough success. But you have forgotten your own identity, Luo Di! You are an aristocrat yourself!"
Duke Minas raised his hand, pointed his finger at Roddy, his fingertip almost poked on Roddy's chest, and said coldly: "You yourself are also a noble!"
Roddy stopped talking.
"I don't expect you to understand all my intentions and painstaking efforts now. In fact, I don't expect you to understand all of my practices now." Minas said lightly: "When I was your age, It's also full of unrealistic fantasies, so I know that no words can impress you now, and can't reverse the obsessions in your mind now. I don't want to convince you at all. "
Roddy looked at his father, and suddenly felt an impulse in his heart, he couldn't help but blurted out: "But father, what are you trying to do?!"
"What do I want to do? Everything I do is to save this country." Duke Minas sighed.
"Save this country?" Roddy was suddenly angry, and he asked loudly: "Everywhere to control Adric's northern expedition plan? Oppose him everywhere in the military? Provoking the relationship between the emperor and the prime minister? Secretly contact the nobles to expand the private army. Don't you understand that it is precisely because you instigated the nobles to expand their private armies that more and more military expenditures have made their leaders in the south endlessly forcibly levied and extorted, and finally forced the civilians in the south to not survive and rise up in rebellion? Father, is this what you call saving the country?!"
Duke Minas glanced at his son with disappointment in his eyes: "That's why I said, I don't expect you to understand all this now." After a pause, the old duke finally added: "The problem in the south is not a problem in the south. Days, years of harsh taxes, heavy burdens, one war after another... These are not what I did, right?"
Rhodey was speechless.
"I said, you won't understand now, and I don't expect you to understand now." Duke Minas stood up and said lightly: "I just want to tell you, you remember your own identity, you are A member of the Minas family, and you are also a noble."
Roddy was silent.
"I will lead the army south soon, you make preparations, and you will go south with me. You have been the general of the city guard army for nearly a month, but you have disappointed me. In a month, you You didn't have any capable subordinates that could be subdued. You looked at Adric's eyes and acted. You didn't really grasp even a little bit of strength in the city guards. You really disappointed me. Before I set off, I will ask your majesty to avoid it. The position of your city guard general... Well, this is also a compromise and exchange to appease the suspicious heart of our majesty."
Speaking of Nanzheng, Luo Di finally broke the silence: "You... Really want to lead the Nanzheng?"
In any case, the situation in the south is rotten. If you lead troops to the south to quell the chaos, it will be a good thing for the country. Roddy felt a little comfort in his heart, but couldn't help but said: "Your Majesty, will he agree? I mean, let you lead your troops south..."
"It's impossible for him to disagree." Duke Minas said slowly: "He has no other candidates. Adric can't get the emperor's trust, and other people... That guy Ruhl is already a root in the emperor's heart. Thorn, the emperor will not choose him, and Ruhl has already stood with Adric. Hmph, no one can settle the chaos in the south except me. Whether the emperor likes it or not, he can only do this A choice. Things will be decided in two or three days, I just want you to be ready. You have let me down so many times, this time, I hope you will not let me down again. Go south, and I am ready Take you as the vanguard. Hmph... You don't like my series of actions in the imperial capital, so if you go south to pacify the bandits, you must be willing to work hard."
"It is my duty." Luo Diteng stood up, his young and majestic body straight.
"Very good, I have already prepared the plan to send troops. I will gather two thousand cavalry for you. Those mud-legged soldiers in the south are just a mob, and two thousand elite cavalry will go south. I think they can't stop you in the field. Your task is to drive straight in and drive as quickly as possible to Effenwirt, where the rebellion is most eyed. According to my judgment, once our army moves south, the rebels will shrink. Although most of the rebels are mud legs My son, but there are some smart people among them. They know the combat power of the regular army of the Empire, and they have no cavalry to confront us. They will only choose to gather and shrink their forces and defend the city. But this is not something you need to consider, I All you need is to use 2,000 vanguard cavalry to swept the Efenwright army, eliminate those small-scale skirmishers who dare to resist, and force them to shrink their forces."
"I won't let you down!"
Roddy's eyes suddenly glowed with brilliance.
Duke Minas looked at his son and sighed inwardly: Approaching is still a simple young man.
Roddy was about to go out excitedly, and suddenly turned back and looked at his father: "Father, then... Marquis Banks and the others are still waiting to see you..."
"I said, let them wait a little longer." Duke Minas slowly walked back to his desk, took out a wine bottle from the cabinet below, poured himself a glass of wine, and sipped it lightly. After taking a sip, he sneered: "There are icing on the cake, but there is no one who brings charcoal in the snow. When I was dormant in Minas, why did these gangsters come to me in such a hurry? Right now the south is in chaos, and their territories are all in the south. I hurried to hug my thighs, huh, how could it be so easy. My trip south is to use their strength to prevent them from drying them out, how can I make them bleed willingly?"
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"Soldier!"
This voice fell into his ears, and it was like a stone-shattering shock. The shocked Adric's face changed wildly, and he was furious.
Ruhl didn't seem to hear Adric's anger, and quickly said: "Although Duke Minas is persecuting more and more, after all, the military power is still directly in your hands, and most of the defenders in the city are your direct descendants. As long as you With a single order, martial law will be enforced in the city, the gates of the city will be closed, the connection between the city and the city will be cut off, and then the credible subordinates of the army will be summoned. It doesn't need to be much, as long as there are two or three thousand people, and immediately surround the palace. Besiege but not attack, the matter of marching troops! Immediately after the whole city searched, immediately arrested the Duke of Minas, and then placed the Duke under house arrest in a selected place, and eliminated the restless nights in the city. Go to all the official titles and titles of the Duke, and entrust you with full authority! In this way, as long as we act fast and act decisively, major events can be settled in one day! When the time comes... "
"Shut up! Shut up!!" Adric glared at Ruhl and roared angrily: "You are so courageous, you dare to say such outrageous nonsense! Shut up quickly!!"
Ruhl looked calm, looked at Adric, and after Adric's roar was over, he said coldly: "Why are you so excited? Or... My words are talking about the most feared thought in your heart? That's why you have Such a strong reaction?"
Adrick was at a loss for words.
"If you rely on words to persuade the emperor, I am afraid that even if you, Adric, cry and cry blood, the emperor will not give you a second look. Hmm... The only way to force this majesty to make concessions is to... "
"I definitely won't do such a rebellious thing, you don't need to say it again!" Adric scolded decisively: "Ruhl, I just thought I didn't hear it, and I don't want to hear it from your mouth again. It's the second time!"
"Okay, if you don't want to do this, then I have a plan..." Ruhr said slowly: "The matter of going south to suppress the rebellion must not be delayed, but the Duke of Minas must not be the leader! Since you are unwilling to do so. If you give advice, then immediately go to the army to organize the army, that is, to lead the troops out of the city and go south to quell the rebellion! The emperor will be furious when he learns that you don't want his orders to move south, but you are in the army, and the army is yours. Direct line, he can't do anything about you either. It's impossible to send someone to the army to arrest you. At that time, it's nothing more than an order to call you back. Let's just ignore it. Once the army goes south and it becomes a fait accompli, he will have nothing to do with you. "
"In this way, wouldn't the contradiction be openly exposed, that is, the trend of rupture! The military will definitely be unstable!" Adrick said coldly: "I forcibly led the troops south and rebelled. Are the rebels in the north all Fool? We are in civil strife here, they must have taken the opportunity to enter, and Duke Minas has no intentions. If our army goes south, wouldn’t it be equivalent to abandoning His Majesty the Emperor in the city of Osgilia?! Ruhr, you What's the point?!"
Ruhr sneered a few times: "This is not possible, and that is not possible, Adric, you are brave and firm in marching and fighting, why are you indecisive now? Do you really have to sit back and wait?"
Adrick took a deep breath: "I will definitely not do things that are disobedient."
"Hmph, then you just watch Duke Minas go south. After going south, with his old man's skill and decades of prestige, the army going south will surely be firmly grasped by him. He has 10,000 ways. Sweep out all the disobedient voices inside, and within a month, the army going south will be purged from top to bottom and firmly in his own hands! At that time, the counties in the south will be under the control of Duke Minas, and the sky will be high. Let the birds fly, the sea is wide and the fish leaps! You and I are both from the Duke's door. We are very aware of the Duke's military strategy. With his ability, it is not a problem to defeat the bandits in the south. I'm afraid he is Under the pretext of pacifying the bandits, he cleaned up the places, and then annexed them one by one... At that time, the old man happily ate up several counties in the south, and you, Adric, you fool who is dedicated to the country, But stupidly defending Osgilia for him and resisting the rebels in the north, having you sit in Osgilia and resist the rebels of Hughes and others in the north for him is equivalent to shielding him from the threat behind him. Hmph... Once Duke Minas has mastered the military power to go south, he has tens of thousands of obedient troops in his hands, occupying several counties in the south, who will be able to control him at that time?!"
Adrick didn't speak.
Ruhl stared into his eyes and continued: "You must be careful! Although there seem to be more than 100,000 troops in the city, except for our Central Army, the other 100,000 people are all transferred from the south. Yes! Once Duke Minas goes south and takes control of several counties in the south, he will quell the bandits in the south, and he will make a few excuses. If he stays in the south and does not come back, who can command him to move him? And he has mastered it. The south is equivalent to grasping the fate of those southern troops in the imperial capital! As long as he does a little trick in the south, in addition to the central army in the imperial capital, the other southern troops will fall to him! At that time, once The Duke of Minas has already formed his wings, who else can stand against him? Adric, although you can still compete with him now, and even have a slight advantage, but once he takes the south, the army from the south of the imperial capital will be drawn. , it all depends on his face! At that time, how can you fight against him again? Just relying on the Central Army in your hand?! Do you know the consequences of this?"
Adric was shocked and fell into a dead silence...