Time passed quickly, and Vidia was somewhat surprised to find that the knights drank juice at a time and efficiency comparable to the speed at which the sun set outside the house.

They held the juice in their hands, and were willing to remain silent almost forever, only after a certain amount of time had passed, they looked up at the sky outside in a panic, and then drank it violently...... Then a small sip to cope with the time that has just passed.

And the best of them all was the Knight of Echmon, who had always been the leader in the rate of juice drinking, and when Duke Cheya, who had entered the house in full costume, he happened to be able to drink the last bit of liquid in his glass.

I don't choke on myself, and I don't drink too little to make me feel uncomfortable.

This is obviously just an obsessive-compulsive thing, but it has attracted envious looks from the knights around him.

Vedia didn't need to look at their cups to know that they must have either too little or too much left, and few of them could do something like this kind of neuroticism, even the most cautious priests and the most meticulous bureaucrats, let alone knights who played prestige on the battlefield?

But in any case, one of them did it, and there was no doubt about it, and what was even more unbelievable was that he himself felt that he had done a very decent job, so that when the knights around him threw envious looks at him, his first reaction was to look very proud.

This is not a very common thing in any cultural circle.

But Duke Cheya didn't seem to care about that.

He walked to the center of the crowd with a few tall squires with a smug look on his face.

A drop of clear water fell on Vidia's head, causing him to look involuntarily towards the ceiling.

The wooden open canopy hall, no matter how ornately decorated, is only an open canopy.

Above the dome, the water vapor in the room condensed into small droplets one after another, which followed the lines of the wood and then merged into relatively large droplets, and finally fell on the floor or the heads of the guests.

In Vidia's eyes, although Duke Cheya was an old man who was not handsome in appearance, and even a little obscene, he neutralized the advantages between his two sons.

First, he is physically strong, which can be seen from his age and demeanor when walking, and an old man with strong spirits is very revealing.

The second point is to be able to speak well.

Whenever a guest praised his vast domain, he attributed it to His Majesty the Emperor of Grand Prus.

He had a smile on his face and an unmistakable look of determination in his eyes.

"I can have today's status entirely because the Cheya family has always been the most loyal servants of His Majesty the Emperor, in fact, the Cheya family and the royal family of Abbasquia have also had a period of in-law history in history, I have reason to believe that it is precisely because of the 'special relationship' between the Cheya family and the royal family that our family has today's achievements......"

"I especially hope that all the nobles of the Northland can get a position in this empire to serve His Majesty the Emperor like me, such as the 'Soke Family', the 'Litt Family' present, and of course, our 'Sauter Henry Family' are all outstanding representatives of the Great Purus characters in the Northlands, and the Emperor should feel very relieved to be able to call us people to manage the North......"

It's not social anymore, it's just a cunning old fox.

The emperor needed a nobleman from the northern aristocracy who was directly loyal to the emperor, and he knew that what the emperor wanted was centralization, but he carefully encouraged several northern families to implement "autonomy".

This will only deepen the contradiction between the emperor and the northern aristocratic group, and the emperor canonized such a large piece of land in the northern land and gave it to the Duke of Cheya, and if there is a problem in the northern land, he will also come to consult him first.

Through such an operation, he will inevitably be able to become a "two-pronged" figure.

I have to say that there is only the wrong name, not the wrong nickname.

There is one less king in the north, but a grand duke has risen in sight.

After answering a series of questions from the state guests, the course of the banquet finally moved to the top.

Duke Cheya finally sat down on the main seat that had been left for him at the long table.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I don't look like those troubled southern merchants who want to come and put Piana (here the name for Pianna's gold and silver currency) before you, and when you have finished reading it, you will tell you what it will cost you to take it. ”

"Everyone knows that the Cheya family has a deep traditional hatred with the Wiegand people, and my father, the chief of the Cheya tribe, died at the hands of the Wiegand people, and I have had many Wiegand people under my hands. And now, the Empire has canonized me as lord of a Weygan land. ”

"I'm not going to give the Swamp Guy any autonomy, and to do that, I'll need to recruit some warriors to manage these barbarians for me. Whether you are a lord in a county's territory or the second son of a knight without inheritance, as long as you can prove your ability, I will definitely be able to find a suitable place for you in the hall of my Dingbei City. ”

"The current situation in which the Northern Expedition is progressing is not too smooth, but the process is not bad in the end. Regardless of the outcome of this war, I would say that Dingbei City, he will eventually become a shining jewel in the crown of the Empire. This land, although cold, has the fertile land that everyone wants, some of the heritage left by the Wiegand people, the gold and silver treasures of the barbarians, the inexhaustible slaves, and even the rubies and agate that the merchants of the empire loved. ”

"I'm not going to give it to the savages, but I don't want to be cheap cowards either. Therefore, I would like to hold a 'point-to-point' jousting contest today, all the knight brothers are eligible to participate, as long as you have a banner approved by the empire, I can grant you a piece of land in Dingbei City! Of course, if you are not interested in participating in this matter today, you are still a distinguished guest at my banquet, whether it is the barren Dingbei City now, or the incomparably rich Dingbei City in the future, I am an old man or not, there is still a place for you here. ”

"But what I firmly believe is that true warriors will always, always have the power to obtain a better position in this world than cowards!"

Duke Cheya's words undoubtedly raised the atmosphere on the table to an extremely dangerous level.

He had always been a man with a strong incitement, especially in this case, and the facial expressions of the knights became even more hideous.

The Great Prussians expelled the invaders by force, so the nobility of the entire country was known for their prowess and prowess.

Although most of the nobles in the interior were put in Nanshan, they became fat heads and big-eared wastes one by one. But for this kind of martial arts culture, it is still recognized to a large extent.

Many local nobles would hold knightly tournaments as a way of socializing/touting each other, and some lords would hold jousting tournaments at the coming-of-age ceremonies of their children.

If the family had a son, the tournament was meant to show his son's prowess and social planning for the lord's heir.

And if their family is a daughter, it is probably necessary to choose a wishful husband for their children.

In any case, the rich forms were only "for a prize" on the basis of the contest, and their main purpose was to hold a banquet as a pastime for farm life.

However, this time Duke Cheya made an exception.

The prize he gave for the knights' tournament was so heavy that the feast was dumbfounded.

Using land as a reward for knightly competitions is not a "point-to-point competition", and many young nobles will fight for it, and it may even cause death.

But the Duke, who was the proprietor of the banquet, did not seem to care in the slightest, and even sat down in his chair, observing with great interest the knights with a fierce glint in their eyes, and trying to pick among them the talents he liked.

After about a long time, a young noble knight with a southern accent couldn't help but ask

"Lord Duke, when and in what form is this contest going to take place? Forgive me, I don't seem to see any suitable fighting venues in the city, or weapons and armor to be used in preparation for fighting, but did you just inform us tonight that the real knights' meeting will take place tomorrow?"

Duke Cheya picked up a glass of wine, stood up and toasted the young knight, but the young knight naturally didn't dare to hold it up, and hurriedly picked up the wine glass in his hand with both hands.

Because of the distance between the two of them, they just simulated clinking glasses in mid-air and poured the alcohol into their mouths.

The young knight seemed to be a little uncomfortable with the ale from the north, and although he drank it all in one gulp, he choked several times, and almost did not spit the contents of the cup on the ground.

"Time is precious, young man! I think of my own youth when I see you. You have now caught up with the good times, the Northern Expedition of the Empire, and you participated in the war, you are riding a free ride and soaring, instead of wasting half your life in vain like me, an old man. ”

"Since all the young people here are ambitious, then I don't pay much attention to the rules and regulations. I'm an honest northerner, and I don't do what I don't have. ”

The Duke placed the wine glass on the table and said with a calm face.

This made the knight from the South blush, he was not only an opportunist, but also that there was such an unhonorable thing as a championship in the duel tournament in the South.

He was not old enough to be like the duke, to open his eyes and tell nonsense without changing his face.

"I thought, since everyone is a soldier, and most of them have protective gear and weapons on their bodies, why don't you just take your own equipment and fight in my hall?"

Duke Cheya said with a smile.

"I think this warrior from the south will be more than willing to set an example to all of you, after all, as far as I know, there is a saying that is widely circulated in our empire: only the knights of Abbasquia are true knights, and only the south is the home of chivalry. ”

The greatest weakness of the so-called young fighters is that they cannot withstand stimulation.

After listening to the duke's suppression and then praise, the young man seemed to have experienced the feeling of going from hell to heaven.

He has become the center of attention, and to some extent, he has even become a representative of the "Knight of the South".

If he has the courage to fight, no matter whether he wins or loses, he will probably be able to gain the praise of a "warrior", and if he has any cowardice at this time, it is undoubtedly that the knightly education he received in the past is essentially messy and dirty, and undignified results.

Thinking of this, he leaned on the table, slowly stood up, and said with difficulty after surrounding the knights around him with what he thought was the bravest eyes at the table

"It's a great honor. ”

Vedia thought that at this time, a few standard Northland nobles would stand up at the table, with thick arms to challenge this somewhat thin looking southern boy, but what he didn't expect was that before those Northland nobles swayed from the wine table, a knight around Echimon took the lead and walked out of the crowd.

Under the fire of the hall, Vidia was surprised to find that the knights had a rather unhappy look on their faces, and until then, Vedia had always regarded them as Abbasquians.

Unlike the Abbasquia knights, they had to carefully check their armor for any omissions before dueling, until they had completely wrapped themselves in half a tin can and walked to the open space near the hall to accept the challenge, and the challenger knight even took off part of his armor before the battle.

Looking at the tin can, the challenger made an uncomfortable gesture before the duel began.

It was a middle finger up.

Although there was no violent clash of words between the two sides, the tension was undoubtedly exaggerated to the extreme.

As soon as the duke's attendants announced the official start of the duel, the two rushed forward and started a fierce collision.

The knight from Abbasquia was also very brave when he put on his armor, and at least in terms of his sword-wielding posture, Vidia couldn't fault it.

I don't know if it was provoked by the opponent, at the beginning of the duel, the knights of Abbasquia relied on the advantage of their heavy armor, and stepped forward several steps in a row, and the posture of holding the sword in his hand also completed the change from the "forward stabbing style" to the "middle style" with both offense and defense.

Everyone