On the official road, the sound of horses' hooves came from far and near. At the fork in the official road, the galloping horse team slowly stopped.

The old man at the head was majestic in appearance and had a very loud voice, and it was the Grand Duke of Mateus.

"Your Royal Highness, Boy Anthony, we are saying goodbye here."

"I also ask the Grand Duke to make efforts to supervise the recruitment of soldiers and the reorganization of armaments after he returns. Whether it is the invasion war of the Riga people on the front line, or the rebellion launched by the disgraceful mutineers in the rear, it needs to rely on the strong support of the Grand Duke. ”

Princess Arina bent down and said with a sincere face.

Grand Duke Mateus waved his hand and said arrogantly: "Her Royal Highness the princess doesn't need to be polite. For so many years, my old man and my family have stood firmly on the side of the royal family. Even without the princess's advice, I will do my best to provide Your Majesty with more troops, more equipment and supplies. ”

Then he changed his words: "If it weren't for His Majesty's special order to return to Burgundy, in fact, I would have wanted to join you in killing Taranto and kicking the old boy in the ass of Cochis." Duke Ben has long seen that the old boy is not pleasing to the eye, and always says calm and restrained, don't use the sword in vain. Hmph, it turned out to be an immature white-eyed wolf who had hooked up with Riga's puppy for a long time. No wonder they always wanted to make peace with the Riga Empire. Anthony, you kid must teach that old boy a hard lesson for me this time, so that he knows the fate of being a traitor. ”

Anthony Lian claims to be.

He had dealt with Grand Duke Mateus many times, and he was familiar with the old man's personality. Knowing that although his words are a little vulgar, he can be regarded as an outlier among the nobles who pay attention to etiquette and demeanor. But he has a frank temperament and does not like to be fake. Coupled with the deep-rooted ideology of loyalty and patriotism, it is natural that the Grand Duke of Kochis, who betrayed the glorious empire, hated it very much.

Since that day, Grand Duke Kochis and General Franchi, a repeat offender of the Riga Empire, fled the imperial capital through the tunnels, His Majesty the King has urgently summoned all the ministers to discuss countermeasures.

After the meeting, the rulers of the six major provinces of the empire, except for the Grand Duke Matesias, who commanded the defense on the eastern border of the empire, and the Grand Duke of Kochis, who was almost equivalent to the mutiny, were allowed to return to their respective provinces to prepare for war and deal with the rebels in Taranto.

His Majesty the King was aware of Duke Kochis's movements, so he arranged for someone to monitor his residence. The five Grand Dukes were left in the Imperial Capital, and the real target was only the Grand Duke of Kochis. It's just that it's not good to make things too obvious, so as not to force Taranto Province back, and instead fall into the truth, and be taken over by Duke Kochis.

Unexpectedly, the momentary hesitation allowed Grand Duke Kochishi and others to escape through the tunnel.

Now that Grand Duke Kochis has fled the Imperial Capital, the next step must be to return to his lair and raise the banner of rebellion. It is useless to strand the remaining four Grand Dukes in the imperial capital, it is better to let them all return to their respective provinces and preside over important military and political affairs. On the one hand, it can organize armaments more effectively. On the other hand, it can also avoid being taken advantage of by Taranto.

Grand Duke Mateus was left alone, leaving for the road two days late.

The province of Burgundy, like Warsaw, where the imperial capital was located, was located in the heart of a glorious empire, and was almost universally connected to the other provinces. Moreover, as a die-hard faction of the imperial family, the line of Grand Duke Mateus is a very important and reassuring force for His Majesty. There is a grand duke with a heavy army in his hands, sitting in charge of the overall situation of the province. Whether it is to support the main battlefield of Edinburgh Province in the east, to defend the imperial capital in the north, or to oppress the rebellious Taranto Province in the south, they can choose the opportunity to move and advance and retreat appropriately.

Therefore, His Majesty the King talked with the Grand Duke of Mateus for a long time and talked a lot. However, the Grand Duke's strong request to raise the provincial army and go all out to fight against the traitor Duke Kochis was vetoed and there was no need to discuss it again.

Not only could the troops of the province of Burgundy not be moved lightly, but the military forces in the imperial capital could not be weakened or transferred elsewhere.

Since there is such a great minister as the Grand Duke of Kochis, but there are rebellious ministers and thieves with different intentions. It is hard to guarantee that there will be no other rebel forces lurking somewhere, just waiting for the opportunity to rush up and attack and bite.

The Imperial Capital City is the heart of a glorious empire, and there is no room for negligence. Of course, it is necessary to maintain sufficient escort force to ensure the safety of the royal family.

The military forces of the first three of the Glorious Empire could not be mobilized for their own reasons: the troops of Grand Duke Matesias had to defend against the invasion of the Riga Empire, the Imperial Forbidden Army had to defend the imperial capital, and the army of Grand Duke Mateus had to be in the center.

So who will put down the rebellion?

After two days of deliberation and discussion, the upper echelons of the empire came to a conclusion:

Borrow soldiers!

The word "borrowed" may not be very appropriate, because the troops planned to be "borrowed" are not the armies of foreign powers. It is the strength of one of the six provinces under the rule of His Majesty the King.

The king, as the head of a country, is ostensibly the power collector of the empire. Within the borders of the glorious empire, all land, people, and property belong to him.

In fact, the king and his royal family are only one of the most powerful and powerful families. He was elected by all the noble families to govern the entire country on behalf of the nobles.

As a representative of the aristocratic class, the royal family certainly cannot do anything at will that harms the interests of the nobility. Otherwise, His Majesty the King and his royal family would have been ostracized by the entire aristocratic class, even overthrown and trampled to the ground.

Under this framework, the nobility enjoyed a high degree of autonomy within their respective domains. Except for a few national laws that must be observed, the nobles and lords are just the emperors of the earth, lawless and do whatever they want - as long as they are not afraid of reputation, the common people under their rule will be lost.

At this time, the Empire was at war with the Riga Empire, and according to wartime decrees, His Majesty had the right to levy the armies of all provinces and counties and all noble families in support of the national war. However, there are no clear regulations on the number of troops that can be truly mobilized, the degree of enthusiasm of the generals in carrying out orders, and so on, and it is impossible to have clear regulations.

These have to be discussed.

The outcome of the negotiation depends in addition to the eloquence of the negotiator. What is more important is the right to speak on both sides. To put it more bluntly, it is the contrast of power between the two sides.

If it is a small nobleman, for the order of His Majesty the King, of course, he is submissive, and he does not dare to disobey it in the slightest.

But if the object of the order is changed to a grand duke, there are many places that can be discussed, discussed, and even bargained. The situation is naturally completely different from that of the minor aristocracy.

With such a heavy responsibility, who is enough to shoulder this heavy responsibility?

The results came out quickly.

Not as the ministers speculated, Prince Andrei, who has been doing very well recently. It's his sister, the war, Her Royal Highness Princess Yalina!

When the lobbying target also came out, everyone let out an "oh" in their hearts and suddenly realized.

In fact, in addition to the above-mentioned factors, there is another situation that is easy to ignore in the outcome of the negotiation - personal friendship.

And coincidentally, the province of Aberdeen, which wants to "borrow troops", is originally a pro-royal force. Whether it is the Grand Duke of Edwards, the Duchess, or their pearls, they all have a great friendship with Princess Arlena.