Blue sea, blue sky, sun, and sand.
Duke
He handed a cup to Lorist, took a sip of the fine wine himself, and praised, "I really don't know how you come up with so many brilliant ideas. To actually produce ice blocks in the height of summer like this—drinking a cup of chilled fruit wine in this kind of weather is truly an unparalleled pleasure..."
Lorist said nothing, simply downing the contents of his cup in one gulp. Then he poured himself another half cup and fished two ice blocks from the wooden bucket to drop into his wine.
It was now early September. After attending the
This was the stretch of white beach in front of the Wanghai Estate. Compared to the White Gold Beach of the Kemes family, this beach was much smaller, but it was still plenty for the families of the four grand dukes to play in the water. Watching the crowd frolicking on the beach, Duke Kemes let out a deep sigh. He had invested enormous sums into developing the White Gold Beach in his family's territory, turning it into the kingdom's premier summer resort, hoping to welcome large numbers of nobles and their families every summer. Then the Second Prince had come along, persuading the kingdom's nobles to send troops to fight the Commercial Alliance. Three years of bloody warfare had left all the kingdom's nobles with heavy casualties, and none of them had any desire to visit White Gold Beach for a holiday anymore. Everyone was staying home, licking their wounds...
"It's fine. Next year you can invite those nobles to White Gold Beach again. It's been five years now—they should have forgotten by then. With the empire recovering, there shouldn't be any more wars for a while. Once people have money in their pockets, they'll naturally come to your place." Seeing Duke Kemes staring blankly at the beach, Lorist naturally understood what was on his mind.
"Oh, no..." Duke Kemes snapped out of his reverie. "That's not what I was worried about. What I was just thinking about was what His Majesty meant by his proposal for military downsizing at the celebration banquet that night."
After the coronation ceremony concluded, the Second Prince had hosted a grand welcome banquet in the imperial palace, entertaining all the imperial nobles and their families who had come to attend the ceremony. Although some unpleasant incidents had occurred before the ceremony, thanks to the Second Prince's efforts, the coronation had been a resounding success. Pleased with himself, the Second Prince announced his governance plans for the next three years at the celebration banquet: focusing on domestic affairs and the people's livelihood, increasing the empire's fiscal revenue, strengthening the treasury, encouraging commerce and the development of mineral resources, and downsizing the military while streamlining administration...
The key point was the military downsizing and administrative streamlining. The Second Prince believed that with the empire now recovering, he planned to restore the previous empire's three-corps system—that is, the Royal Guard Corps to defend the imperial capital, the White Lion Corps for external campaigns, and the Gale Corps for internal suppression of bandits and vagrants. Additionally, a garrison corps would be established in each of the provinces directly under the royal family to maintain local order. The Second Prince also planned to re-establish the Royal Knight Corps, recruiting the relatives and sons of the kingdom's nobles to serve as royal knights for the Krisen royal family...
All of this was actually the old system of the Krisen royal family, and nobody paid much attention to it. The Royal Guard Corps, the White Lion Corps, and the Gale Corps had been the three standing corps of the former Krisen Empire, directly under the royal family. As long as the Second Prince could afford to maintain multiple corps, nobody would object. The Royal Knight Corps, meanwhile, provided an outlet for the sons of imperial nobles who could not inherit titles or territories. During peacetime, to avoid disputes, these sons could not even join their own family's armed forces, lest they cause confusion and threats to the family heir. Lorist's second uncle, who had died on the battlefield, had been the deputy commander of the Krisen Empire's Royal Knight Corps.
However, what none of the imperial nobles had expected was that after discussing the empire's standing military system, the Second Prince had put forward a proposal for military downsizing. He said that with the empire recovering and peace on the horizon, the empire's territorial lords should no longer continue expanding their family armed forces. Instead, they should invest their limited funds into developing their territories. Therefore, he proposed that the empire's territorial lords should downsize their family armed forces, and they should discuss and establish a family armed force system that everyone would follow, to limit the military establishment of all territorial lords.
The Second Prince believed that an imperial baron could maintain two or three companies of a hundred as family armed forces; a viscount could have five hundred; a count could establish a thousand-strong family armed force; and an imperial marquis could have up to three thousand. As for territorial dukes, they could form a family armed force corps or a small-scale family armed force legion. For example, they could reduce their current large forty-five-thousand-strong legion to four smaller six-thousand-strong corps plus a thousand-strong logistics unit, bringing the total to around twenty-five thousand...
For all territorial lords, this was a considerable expense and burden. The Second Prince believed that reducing military expenditure would help imperial nobles better develop their territories and enjoy a better life. As for the bandits and vagrants scattered across the land, once the empire established the Gale Corps, it would handle their suppression vigorously, so territorial lords would no longer need to bear the responsibility of eliminating bandits themselves.
The Second Prince expressed his benevolent concern that three years of bloody warfare on the Mana Hill Plains had caused significant casualties among nearly all the empire's territorial lords. Therefore, reducing their military expenditure was the empire's way of compensating them. In the future, all external campaigns would be handled entirely by the empire's three standing corps. The family armed forces of territorial lords would only be responsible for defending their own territories. Unless the empire faced an existential threat, the Second Prince would not conscript the family armed forces of territorial lords to the battlefield.
As for disputes between territorial lords, the Second Prince stated that he did not wish to see such territorial wars break out. If there were conflicts, they could be submitted to the noble court for arbitration. After all, launching a territorial war was a lose-lose proposition for everyone involved. Regardless of who won or lost, the empire's three standing corps might intervene in such noble territorial wars, to restore peace while awaiting the noble court's ruling on the conflict.
All the nobles attending the celebration banquet turned their gazes to Lorist, the Grand Duke of Fisablen, and the three grand dukes—Kemes, Filim, and Shaxin. It was common knowledge that the
It was obvious that the Second Prince's sudden proposal for military downsizing at this particular moment was targeting the Northland Four Family Alliance led by the Norton family. For the other imperial territorial lords, the Second Prince's proposal was of little consequence. Even Grand Dukes Handera, Forlundo, and Sabagi were more inclined to support it. As the Second Prince had said, this proposal would indeed reduce their military burden—they would no longer need to maintain full-strength family armed force legions. In the future, even if they received the Second Prince's conscription orders, they would not need to send so many troops.
Perhaps because he had already coordinated with the Grand Duke of Fisablen beforehand, the Grand Duke of Fisablen stood up: "Your Majesty, the Fisablen family firmly supports Your Majesty's proposal for military downsizing. I am willing to return the Border Patrol Corps to the empire's military system, placing it once again under Your Majesty's command."
Old fox! In that moment, who knew how many imperial nobles were cursing silently in their hearts. Anyone with half a brain could see that this old man, the Grand Duke of Fisablen, was getting a good deal while pretending to be generous. The Border Patrol Corps, while not one of the empire's three standing corps, was still a well-known imperial military force. It had originally been established to deal with the barbarian tribes of the northeastern grasslands, who raided the empire's border regions. The Border Patrol Corps was properly defined as a regional armed force.
However, during the campaigns against the barbarian raiders, the Border Patrol Corps had fallen into the hands of the Fisablen family, becoming the Fisablen family's armed force. Currently, the Border Patrol Corps comprised the First and Second Corps, with nearly eighty thousand men and horses, serving as the Fisablen family's main military force. Lorist had established his own family's Hunting Cavalry Corps and deployed it in Muyeyuan Province primarily to guard against and counter the Border Patrol Corps.
When the Grand Duke of Fisablen spoke of returning the Border Patrol Corps to the empire's military system, he meant that under the previous Krisen Empire's establishment, the Border Patrol Corps would have forty-five thousand men and horses and would be classified as the empire's regional armed force, with its military pay and equipment funded by several northeastern provinces—not counted as the Fisablen family's armed force. So the Grand Duke of Fisablen made it sound wonderful, placing it once again under the Second Prince's command, but in reality, the entire corps would still remain firmly in the Grand Duke of Fisablen's grasp.
The old man's scheme was quite elegant: spin off the Border Patrol Corps as one entity while converting the other into the Fisablen Family Armed Corps—just a change of name. In reality, both corps would remain under Fisablen control. Moreover, the Fisablen family would only need to pay for one corps' military expenses, while the Border Patrol Corps' costs would be spread across the local provinces. This would greatly reduce the family's burden and free up more military resources for the family's garrison corps and the reserve corps modeled on mercenaries, primarily composed of elite barbarian cavalry.
The Second Prince smiled and nodded: "The Grand Duke of Fisablen is loyal to the nation, heedless of personal loss—truly admirable. Let me see, I recall that the Border Patrol Corps' military and equipment costs were originally shared by three provinces: Muyeyuan, Weston, and Southern Province. Let us follow the previous arrangement. From now on, the Grand Duke will prepare the annual budget for the entire Border Patrol Corps and receive funding from these three provinces according to the original proportions."
This was a direct jab at the Northland Four Family Alliance! Years ago, Muyeyuan, Weston, and Southern Province had all been heavily raided by barbarian horsemen, which was why the three provinces had proposed establishing the Border Patrol Corps to guard against barbarian incursions, with costs shared among them. But as the Border Patrol Corps fell under the Fisablen family's control, and with the opening of the Donghuang Province, Southern Province and Weston Province no longer faced the threat of barbarian raids. However, as the Border Patrol Corps became the Fisablen family's armed force, the cost-sharing agreement had long since become void.
Using the moral high ground of returning to the empire's military system to make these three provinces once again share the Border Patrol Corps' military expenses was clearly intended to antagonize the Northland Four Family Alliance—forcing them to use their own money to fund their rival's armed forces, all while sounding so righteous. It was quite the elaborate scheme the Second Prince had devised.
Duke Filim slammed his golden goblet on the table with a bang and stood up furiously: "Absolutely not! The Border Patrol Corps was originally established to deal with barbarian raiders. Do the barbarian tribes still pose a threat? The Border Patrol Corps has already become the Fisablen family's personal armed force. On what grounds should we pay for it?"
Lorist sighed and stood up, restraining Duke Filim's anger: "Back then, Southern Province was not Duke Filim's family territory, so sharing the military expenses was reasonable. But now that Southern Province has become Grand Duke Filim's family territory, it would be inappropriate to continue spreading the Border Patrol Corps' costs to Southern Province. How about this, Your Majesty, Grand Duke of Fisablen—the Norton family is willing to take over the Border Patrol Corps' military expenses and guarantee that the Border Patrol Corps will never lack funding..."
The Second Prince was delighted: "As expected of Brother Locke—the only one who understands reason and is willing to serve the nation."
The Grand Duke of Fisablen was also pleased: "Does Grand Duke Norton truly mean what he says? In front of so many imperial nobles, you can't go back on your word..."
"Of course, I mean what I say." Lorist nodded. "Beyond military pay and daily expenses, the Norton family is also willing to provide the Border Patrol Corps with comprehensive new equipment. However, this will require bringing the Border Patrol Corps to our Norton family territory for reorganization and retraining based on the characteristics of the new equipment. Everyone knows that our Norton family's armed forces are unmatched in their elite quality. We are willing to share our training insights and combat experience with the Border Patrol Corps without reservation. Give us just half a year, and I guarantee we'll return to Your Majesty a first-rate Border Patrol Corps."
The Grand Duke of Fisablen's face turned pale instantly. If the corps were brought to the Norton family territory for half a year of training and reorganization, would the Border Patrol Corps still obey him? Every last man and horse would become part of the Norton family's armed forces, eating and receiving pay from the Norton family. Would they still take orders from anyone else? He would have to be a fool to send the Border Patrol Corps to Norton family territory...
The Second Prince understood this as well. Lorist had defused his little scheme with just a few casual words. "We can discuss this further—there's no rush. By the way, Brother Locke, what do you think of my proposal for military downsizing? Now that the empire is at peace, the Norton family doesn't need to maintain such a large family armed force. I think you could easily reduce your four family corps to two, or even just one family armed force corps would be sufficient."
The mask was coming off! Lorist shook his head: "Your Majesty, I regret that I cannot agree with your proposal for military downsizing. It would affect our family's military plans."
"Military plans?" The Second Prince was startled. "Where does the Norton family plan to campaign next?"
"Not a campaign—Your Majesty need not worry at all," Lorist said. "In the next phase, the Norton family plans to expand into the Dark Dragon Mountain Range and the barbarian plains further north. We intend to open up new territories and establish provinces in the north, creating new territory for the empire. Currently, two of our family's four corps are preparing to head north, another is deployed in Muyeyuan Province to guard against the barbarian tribes, and one more remains stationed in the Northland. In truth, our family's military strength is quite stretched. We may even need the help of several grand dukes' family armed forces..."
The grand dukes Lorist was referring to were Duke Kemes, Duke Filim, and Duke Shaxin. This effectively thwarted the Second Prince's scheme to force them to reduce their family armed forces.
The Second Prince's face turned livid. He believed Lorist was simply making up excuses to refuse the downsizing of his family armed force corps. But after taking several deep breaths, he barely held himself in check: "Fine, Locke, since you're unwilling to reduce your family armed force, I won't force you. But shouldn't you at least change the name of your Guard Corps? After all, it shares the same name as my Royal Guard Corps—people might talk..."
Lorist laughed: "Very well, Your Majesty. As you wish—starting today, our family's Guard Corps will be renamed the Iron Guard Corps."
To Lorist, the name of the corps didn't matter. Since the Second Prince was sensitive about the name "Guard Corps," he would simply change it to "Iron Guard." Simple and easy to remember. But what he hadn't expected was that the moment the name "Iron Guard Corps" left his lips, the Second Prince flew into a rage. He kicked over the table in front of him, turned, and stormed out of the great hall. The celebration banquet ended on a sour note.
After leaving the imperial palace, Lorist was still completely bewildered and somewhat irritated. Was the Second Prince flipping out at him like this? How outrageous!
Duke Kemes, however, burst out laughing: "Locke, you're truly something! If I'd known you were going to rename it the Iron Guard Corps, you'd have been better off not renaming it at all. That was practically a slap in His Majesty's face..."
"What? I still don't understand—why couldn't we call it the Iron Guard Corps?"
"Haha, have you forgotten? Back in the day, Grand Duke Madras established an Iron Guard Corps—eight thousand men defending Kebo. The Second Prince's father, the late Prince Andinak, brought the entire Royal Guard Corps of sixty thousand men and attacked for over six months without being able to take the city. Instead, he lost more than half his forces and retreated with barely twenty thousand men left in disgrace. The empire's situation changed dramatically because of that, ultimately leading to its fragmentation. When you said you were renaming it the Iron Guard Corps, wasn't that slapping His Majesty's face? It was clearly a direct challenge to his Royal Guard Corps..."
...explaining further, and left the imperial capital early the next morning.
Lying comfortably on the sandy ground, Lorist said, "That night, His Majesty's proposal for military downsizing was actually a trap. He doesn't really care whether we reduce our family armed forces or not. The important thing is to establish the official establishment of each family's armed corps. Once these small-scale family armed forces are defined, if anything happens and we expand our forces, he can accuse us of building up troops with malicious intent. And if we don't expand, we'd have to seek his help, at which point he could use the empire's three standing corps to interfere in our family territories' internal affairs... That's my guess."
Duke Kemes finished the fruit wine in his glass: "His Majesty has become quite calculating these days."
"Of course..." Lorist nodded. "With no more external threats, His Majesty's attention has turned to our four-family alliance. Perhaps to him, our four-family alliance is even more threatening than the old Commercial Alliance. That's why our four families' armed force corps must not be reduced. We need to drill regularly to maintain our combat effectiveness. Only then can we ensure our families' survival and the security of our territories."
...