Under legal circumstances, when an aristocratic lineage belonging to the royal family is delisted, the royal family has the right to take back the property of this aristocratic lineage and transfer it to others, and the subordinate vassals who were loyal to the noble family before should deal with the new lord under normal circumstances The oath of allegiance is not mandatory, but a "moral" and "customary" requirement. The king has no right to interfere with the vassal of the vassal. Therefore, whether the followers of the old lord will be loyal to the new lord often depends on the new lord. How about the Lord's wrist. In fact, whether the vassals of the previous lord can swear allegiance to him is an important criterion for judging whether a nobleman has sufficient strength and prestige, at least, this is the case in Ansu.
The prestige of the name Gawain Cecil in the knight community is unquestionable. His legendary personal strength and the current development prospects of the New Cecil Territory are enough to convince the old knights of the Kant Territory. There is one final test ahead
That is whether they are willing to give up their old land privileges and submit to the new order of Cecilland.
The knights in Kant Land are no strangers to Cecil's order. Although the traditional nobles are a somewhat dull group, the Cecil family has actually ruled Kant Land for half a year. Those with a little heart will inquire deeply about the "jurisprudential basis" behind these changes. After all, they have already guessed that the Cecil family will become Kant's new masters sooner or later, and no one cares about what they will face in the future. What.
After learning about the status quo of Cecil's system, the Kant knights became nervous, but no matter how nervous they were, they still had to face the fact that the king's canonization had become a reality, and the knight Philip who had always been in charge of Kant's affairs Then he brought an order from the lord to summon him.
The Kant knights responded to the summons with anxiety. On the seventh day of the recovery month, the "old knights" led by Walder Peric (former Viscount Kant chief knight) arrived at the residence of Duke Cecil .
Everyone knows the purpose of everyone's gathering here today, so they put on clean and bright armor and burqas over the armor. These mighty knights gathered in the hall of the Lord's Mansion with a little anxiety Communicate in low voices from time to time.
The main content of their discussion was the unbearable "new order" of the Cecil Territory, and how to fight for the privileges that they should have and deserved from the new lord.
"I heard that everything in Cecil Land revolves around that 'government hall', even including tax collection and levying," a young knight said to his companion, "The land is only in name Aristocrats, but in fact, people who hold land don't have much rights at all... even have to listen to the arrangements of the government affairs department."
Another knight seemed even more worried: "They may take back all the fiefs. Knight Philip said that he has no fiefs."
"It is said that the fiefdom will become a 'territory'. From now on, we can only receive annuities according to the size of the territory. We will not have any other rights. Even if people in the village want to work in the city or go hunting, they only need to go to government affairs. Reporting from the hall without the permission of the lord... ”
A tall and thin knight frowned: "We don't even have the power to restrain those civilians from running around, how can we maintain order on the land? After a long time, those muddy legs may not even bend down to us." Salute!"
The knights were worried, and someone whispered: "We should express our attitude. It is true that Duke Cecil is a great man, but his decree is simply nonsense, leaving the order on the land to a group of people who are busy in the government office If the clerk comes to take care of it, it will be messed up sooner or later!"
The others nodded in agreement, and more than half of them focused their attention on the old knight sitting in the center: "Mr. Wald, what do you think?"
The old knight who was watched was silent for a long time, frowning and shaking his head slightly: "...depending on the situation, let's take one step at a time."
This answer was obviously not reassuring, so the knights gradually started discussing again, whispering non-stop.
All of this, until the tall and strong man in a noble trench coat with a majestic face walked into the hall.
Their whispered discussion stopped immediately, and everyone involuntarily looked away.
Walking into the hall, Gawain glanced at the Kant knights in front of him: there were not many of them, there were only a few Transcendents who were loyal to a Viscount, and even fewer were enshrined. There are only a dozen or so "standard knights" in total, and judging from the extraordinary aura exuding from them, only one of them is an intermediate rank, and that is the gray-haired gentleman standing in the middle of the knights: the former Chief Military Officer of Fort Conde , Walder Peric.
Gawain met Walder Perici. After the nightmare incident in Fort Konder, this middle-aged knight was one of the first people to rush to the main hall of the castle to stabilize order. In Gawain's In my impression, Wald is loyal to the lord, but not very showy, but he has been loyal to the Kant family for the longest time, and has the strength of a middle-level knight, so he has the highest prestige and voice among the Kant knights.
While Gawain was observing these knights, the knights headed by Wald also got up and saluted one after another. The sound of metal friction and collision on the armor rang out. Gawain accepted everyone's etiquette this time, and waited until everyone did After the ceremony, he said: "Ladies and gentlemen, you are very punctual."
There are not only men among the knights, there are also three women among them. In this world with extraordinary power, as long as women awaken the relevant power, they also have full power equal to men.
This is one of the only "fair" things in a world full of injustice.
"I salute you, the great pioneer, the knight among the knights, the founder of Ansu, the sword and shield of the kingdom..." Wald opened his mouth and threw out a series of titles. Obviously, he had memorized this set of words many times before he came. , "It is my honor to be able to step into your castle. We are very happy that you can become the new protector and ruler of Kant Land. That land will be safe and prosperous because of your existence."
After Wald finished this routine, Gawain raised a hand and said straight to the point: "I am a person who doesn't like to talk nonsense, so let's get straight to the point. We all know the purpose of calling you here today. .
"I have become the legal ruler of the Kant Territory. According to the usual practice, you should swear allegiance to me. I believe that your punctual arrival is to show your attitude towards this matter, but before that, I should explain that you are loyal to Cyprus. A new 'rule' for Seale to adapt to."
Such a straight-forward way of speaking is not like the ordinary aristocrats of this era. It is impossible for ordinary aristocrats to get to the point without a few cadenced arias after speaking, but Gawain Cecil obviously does not have this style of painting.
The knights looked at each other for a while, and then the atmosphere on the scene became tense and subtle.
But Gawain didn't seem to notice this, he beckoned, and then a few attendants came out beside him, and handed each knight a piece of paper full of words.
"I'm used to putting everything into written terms. A black and white agreement is more reassuring," Gao Wen smiled. "Everyone can take a closer look."
When Walder Peric saw the provisions printed on the paper, an unexpected but contradictory complex emotion emerged immediately.
Abolish fiefdoms, change them to territories, abolish tax revenue, and change them to be investigated and calculated by the government affairs department to issue annuities. And the position of "official" is not inheritable...
On a piece of paper, almost all land-based privileges are wiped out.
This is only for knights who are only equivalent to "half lords", knights with limited privileges. If a viscount or even an earl is to be merged into the Cecil family, how much power will he lose that belongs to the nobility
The old knight noticed that the people around him became quiet, and he knew that several pairs of eyes were focused on him without even raising his head, but what could he say
What could he say to a duke
But he had to speak, at least not without saying a word, so after ten seconds of hard thinking, the knight Walder raised his head: "My lord, please allow me..."
"Don't worry," Gawain interrupted Walder with a smile, "These papers are just for everyone to understand what Cecil's 'order' is, but swearing allegiance is a very serious matter. It is not enough to just understand some legal provisions, I invite you to visit my city, let you understand this land from all aspects, so that you can better judge whether the Cecil family is worthy of allegiance, isn't it?"
The knights looked at each other in blank dismay, some of them looked thoughtful, and Walder Peric quickly nodded in agreement: "Your words are very true."
The new lord may want to show off the strength of the economy and army of the territory, so as to increase the weight of people's loyalty. Everyone understands this, and this is also the most common method used by the new lord to attract followers.
So since Gao Wen wants to go through this "traditional process", the Kant knights don't mind cooperating, but cooperation is cooperation, and the power that should be fought for must still be won.
Everyone had their own calculations, and followed Gao Wen to leave the Lord's Mansion, and started a tour in this city that was still a little strange to them.
Neat and well-ordered urban areas, wide and straight streets paved with unknown materials, bustling commercial streets and neatly dressed civilians everywhere, Wald was riding a horse, silently watching everything in front of him, but a little absent-minded .
These are indeed manifestations of the prosperity of the territory, and a strong proof of Gawain Cecil's governance ability and wealth. In all fairness, a place that has been built for less than a year can develop into such a place and even surpass the concept of "rapid development". It can be described as incomprehensible, but the current attention of the Kant knights does not seem to be on this.
Gawain was always smiling, silently observing the reactions of these old knights, but he didn't say anything, but signaled the team to speed up and walk towards the northeast exit of the city.
A female knight noticed the team's acceleration and couldn't help asking curiously, "Master Duke, where are we going?"
Gao Wen said casually: "I see that you don't seem to be very interested in the commercial streets and residential buildings in the territory, so why don't you go and see what you might be interested in first."
"What are we interested in?" The female knight became more curious, "You mean..."
"It is something you will definitely have to deal with in the future."