"Lock, do you think His Majesty is behind all this? That illegitimate son, the Earl of Wixas, was just pushed ahead as a puppet?" Duke Kenmes asked.
Now Lorist, Duke of Kenmes, Duke of Felim and Duke of Shaheen have all left the city. They left the imperial capital with their families and family armed forces and headed for Qilin Port along the national road, where they were going to board a ship and go to Shirowas first. Island, to discuss countermeasures and escape the summer heat.
What surprised the Duke of Kenmes and the others was that Lorist would turn against the Second Highness so resolutely this time, and it can be said that he did not save the Second Highness any face. If the Second Highness declares the Norton family to be rebellious, then the Kingdom of Antinac will fall into turbulent war again. As the three major families in the four northern alliances, they seem to have no other choice but to stand with the Norton family against the entire kingdom.
In fact, you can also stand with His Majesty the King to denounce the rebellious acts of the Lorist and Norton families. Duke Kenmes said this to Duke Shaheen and Duke Felim.
We are not fools. This is the answer of Duke Shaheen and Duke Felim. Take refuge in the Second Highness? It is not that Duke Shaheen and Duke Felim have thought about it, but based on their understanding of the nature of the Second Highness, once they were allies of the Norton family, they will definitely become the first to attack the Norton family Batch of cannon fodder. Compared with the Second Highness, they thought it was safer to stand with Lorist. Even if the family's armed forces were completely lost, they didn't have to worry about being annexed by the Norton family. On the contrary, Lorist could help their family revive.
"Yes," Lorist replied with a gloomy face: "You told me that last year there was a competition between the Snow Salt Chamber of Commerce and the Ontario Chamber of Commerce for the salt market. You defeated the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and caused it to lose nearly One hundred thousand gold dollars. Now think about it, one hundred thousand gold dollars is a huge loss for any kingdom chamber of commerce, and it will even fail in a short period of time. But haven't you noticed, Mrs. An Will the merchant look a little tired
You must know that the Ontario Chamber of Commerce is not one of the old chambers of commerce in the business alliance, with a deep foundation, but a new chamber of commerce just started by that person's illegitimate son. Moreover, after it was opened, it provoked competition with the Snow Salt Chamber of Commerce, intending to monopolize the salt market of the entire kingdom. It doesn't matter if it lost nearly 100,000 Goldford after the failure, it was obvious that someone was paying for it. Then think about the fact that you were assassinated by a great swordsman one after another after you won the competition at the Snow Salt Chamber of Commerce. Obviously this is an act of revenge, just like what you said, your intuition believes that this is the instigation of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce.
Then we can easily conclude who the mastermind behind the Ontario Chamber of Commerce will be. Do you think that a rogue bastard who has been in the market since he was a child would have such a strategy and courage to plot against a prince like you? Does he even have the confidence to bear the huge consequences of losing the competition? And sending a great swordsman to assassinate and retaliate, does he have the right to instigate the great swordsman? Obviously, only someone standing behind that illegitimate child is eligible. Do we have to guess who this person is? "
The Duke of Kenmes turned pale, and Lorist's words made him feel terrified: "But I don't understand why His Majesty wants to attack the Snow Salt Chamber of Commerce and me. I'm just a businessman, and I haven't hindered His Majesty's hegemony. You don't have the qualifications to pose a threat to His Majesty, do you?"
"You take yourself too lightly," Lorist laughed. "The war is over, and everyone knows that there will be a period of peace and rest. The foreign aggression is over, so what our Majesty will consider is Internal troubles. Do you think there is anything in the kingdom that worries His Majesty more than the alliance of our four families? No, His Majesty cannot avoid our four families if he wants to rectify the internal affairs. So his most urgent thing is to split up the alliance of our four families .
I suspect that His Majesty took aim at your Snow Salt Chamber of Commerce because he knows that your Snow Salt Chamber of Commerce is the bond of interest between our four alliances. Especially the Shaheen family and the Felim family, relying on the dividends from the Snow Salt Chamber of Commerce every year, the vitality of the family territory is quickly restored, and the strength of the family's armed forces is also restored quickly. It was only after the commercial competition failed that His Majesty took your idea. Without you, the Snow Salt Chamber of Commerce would not be a threat.
I don't have any evidence to prove that His Majesty sent a great swordsman to assassinate you. It was just conjecture and suspicion, but I found that the illegitimate son bullied those royal nobles who came to participate in the ceremony in the imperial capital, and his newly opened chamber of commerce could This suspicion deepened when the guards headed by the Golden Swordsman were pulled out. Without the support of His Majesty, how could the Ontario Chamber of Commerce have such a strong guard force? You must know that your Snow Salt Chamber of Commerce is mainly based on silver guards...
Especially when I massacred that team of Chamber of Commerce guards and destroyed the Ontario Trading Company, do you still remember the scene where His Majesty got angry at me? Just like a child whose favorite toy was destroyed, he was so hysterical, even asking me to give him an explanation regardless of the right or wrong of the matter, which made me sure that he was behind the scenes. Now, what else can I say, why should I care about his face, of course I turned my face and left. "
Duke Felim, who had been listening, nodded: "Lock, your analysis makes sense. But what do you think His Majesty will do next? Will he declare us rebellious?"
Earl Shaheen next to him said: "I don't care if you are rebellious or not. Anyway, even if our four families are against the entire kingdom's forces, we can guarantee victory. I believe that apart from the Feisabrun family, other nobles in the territory But he is not so stupid, he would be willing to work hard for His Majesty and fight with us. The last time he listened to His Majesty's lobbying and fought bloody battles with the commercial alliance for three years, most of the kingdom's lords have not recovered their vitality, and most of the promises made by His Majesty at that time have not been restored until now. If it didn't come true, who would listen to his orders
What I am worried about now is whether His Majesty will tear his face and send the Royal Guards to chase us regardless of the consequences. For him, maybe it would be a good way to hold our family members in his hands and threaten us now. If we are allowed to return to the family territory, even if he declares our four families to be rebels, we will not be withdrawn. He knows that with his The kingdom's armed Royal Guards and the White Lions simply cannot defeat the armed forces of our four families. It's better to let the Royal Guards tie our family back and bargain with us slowly... "
Duke Shaheen's words left everyone silent. Now the four families have less than 5,000 people in total armed forces, while the Royal Guards has 45,000 people, which is almost ten times the strength. If it is true what Duke Shaheen said, the Second Highness announced that the four families were treasonous to the kingdom, and at the same time dispatched the Royal Guards to besiege them. The family members are all together, this is indeed everyone's weakness.
Lorist replied ponderously: "If he wants to do this, he will end up with us forever. This is almost betting the future and destiny of the Christen royal family. I believe he will not lose his mind, he should understand The consequence of doing this is to drive the rest of the nobles of the kingdom to our side. No one would be willing to obey the orders of such an unfaithful king, let alone if he really wants to do this, can he really get what he wants
We have just left the imperial capital, and it takes nearly two days to travel from here to Qilingang. I have had people keep an eye on the barracks and gates of the Royal Guards. If he really sends out the Royal Guards to pursue us, we will get the news as soon as possible. All the carriages had been reinforced enough for a two-day long journey. At that time, let the two of you, Kenmais and Felim, and Reddy escort our family members to go ahead, Shaheen and me, and Tiger Ross with our family armed forces stay to stop.
Although the Royal Guards outnumber us by ten times, I believe it is possible to stop them for a day or two. We don't need to defeat the Royal Guards, we just need to slow down their journey so that they can't catch up with our families. As long as our family members arrive at Qilin Port and board the ship, they will be safe. As for the garrison corps in Qilingang, they accepted the orders of our family, so they will not listen to His Majesty's will. "
The Duke of Kenmes breathed a sigh of relief: "I knew that the big market that your Norton family opened in Qilingang would not let His Majesty do anything. If the garrison is our own, the way forward will be open. Just do it You can do what you say, Locke, the pursuit of the Royal Guards alone will not be able to deal with us. As long as we return to the family territory, we will simply establish our own kingdom with Locke as the king and separate from the Antinac Kingdom. Slow to settle accounts with him... "
The idea of the Duke of Kenmes is that if His Royal Highness declares the four families as rebellious, the four dukes will simply establish their own country when they return to the family territory, and elect Lorist as the king. The Kingdom of Nak launched a strategy. I believe that within two years, the armed forces of the four families will be able to sweep over half of the territory of the Kingdom of Antinak, and get the response and support of the nobles of those kingdoms. The emperor was trapped in the imperial capital to dream of his revival of the empire.
Lorist shook his head in confusion: "I don't think that time has come yet. If we take the initiative to establish our own kingdom, it will make people feel that His Majesty declared us rebellious. I think that if we return to the family territory, we will not only strengthen our defenses. Foreigners should not take the initiative to provoke us. It would be better to wait for His Majesty to launch an attack on us with the soldiers of the kingdom, and then announce our separation from the kingdom after we have won the victory... "
Duke Felim sighed: "Locke, I'm not talking about you, your character is still too gentle, don't worry too much about the reputation of your Norton family's unparalleled loyalty, now His Majesty is forcing us to rebel, slandering us as rebellion. In this Now, we should take the initiative. If we stand on our own feet, we don’t need to consider His Majesty’s safety on the battlefield. Otherwise, if he does something good or bad on the battlefield, we will bear the stigma of killing the king... "
A hurricane came from a distance, and finally stopped everyone's messy discussion.
"Your Highness, His Majesty the King is here." Lai Qi was a guard that Lorist had placed at the city gate.
"Is the Royal Guards also dispatched?" Lorist asked urgently.
"No, there was no movement from the Royal Guards, so His Majesty the King brought a dozen people to chase after him." The guard replied.
Lorist and the others glanced at each other, what the hell is the Second Highness doing
"Perhaps His Majesty the King came here to delay our journey, so that the Royal Guards would have enough time to pursue..." Duke Kenmes guessed.
"Hehe," Lorist sneered, "Let our family and troops move on, let's wait here and see what our Majesty the King has to say."
Soon, the Second Highness arrived with a dozen guards on Pegasus.
"Brother Locke, how could you turn around and leave like this? It's all my fault. I just investigated and found out that what happened today can't be blamed on you. It was my bastard who bullied people too much and offended the Norton family." Dignity, you did the right thing. I shouldn’t think that you didn’t give me face by killing me on the royal road, so I lost my temper and blamed you. It’s my fault, I hope you can forgive me. After all, there are only two days before the enthronement ceremony. Oh my god, I'm very anxious and worried about problems. That's why I lost my temper when I was stimulated... "
The Second Highness approached, grabbed the reins of Lorist's mount and sincerely apologized with a sincere smile, justifying the thunderous anger that erupted more than two hours ago. I begged Lorist and the other four dukes to return to the imperial capital again and again, not to say goodbye and leave.
Lorist and the others repeatedly declined, but the Second Highness just held on to the reins of Lorist's mount until half an hour later, Grand Duke Feisabrun came with a group of nobles from the kingdom, and at the same time told Lorist and the others People have retained and persuaded.
It wasn't until night fell that several guards monitoring the Royal Guards arrived and quietly reported to Lorist that His Royal Highness had not dispatched the Royal Guards to pursue him. Only then did Lorist change his mind. After much deliberation, they finally agreed to the retaining request of His Highness the Second Highness, Grand Duke Fesabrun and other nobles of the kingdom, and agreed to return to the imperial capital.
But at the same time, Lorist rejected the Second Highness's request that the families of the four dukes and their armed forces also return to the Imperial Capital, on the pretext that their family members had been frightened and did not want to stay in the Imperial Capital any longer, and they would go to Hirovas Island for summer vacation. Take a vacation to soothe the frightened. If they insist on turning back, then Lorist and the others will also refuse to go to the imperial capital.
The Second Highness reluctantly agreed to this request, and asked the four of Lorist to return to the Imperial Capital with less than a hundred bodyguards to attend the enthronement ceremony two days later. At this moment, no matter whether it is the Second Highness or Lorist, as well as the Duke Fesabrunn, Duke Kenmes and other nobles of the kingdom who are watching, everyone understands in their hearts that there is already a deep gap between the Second Highness and Lorist. And cracks, in the days to come, the two will no longer be able to cooperate as closely as they did with commercial alliances. Even if the Krissen Empire is restored, future empire disputes will arise between the Norton family and the royal family...
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