In accordance with the law, when a noble lineage belonging to the royal family is removed, the royal family has the right to recover the property of the noble lineage and transfer it to others, and the subordinate vassals who were previously loyal to the nobility should normally swear allegiance to the new lord - but this is not mandatory, but a "moral" and "customary" requirement, the king has no right to interfere with the vassals, so whether the followers of the old lord will be loyal to the new master often depends on the new lord's skill. In fact, whether or not 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 in Ansu.

The prestige of the name Gawain Cecil among the knights is unquestionable, and his legendary personal strength and current development prospects of the new Cecil Territory are enough to convince the old knights of the Kant Realm, but there is one final test in front of them-

That is whether they are willing to give up their old land privileges and submit to the new order of Cecil's lordship.

The knights of the Kant Territory are no strangers to Cecil's order, although the traditional aristocracy is a somewhat dull group, but the Cecil family has ruled the Kant Territory for a whole half a year, and even the dull people will notice the changes that have infiltrated them, and those who are a little more attentive will go to inquire deeply about the "legal basis" behind these changes - after all, they have guessed that the Cecil family will become the new masters of Kant sooner or later, and no one will not care about what they will face in the future.

After learning about the current state of Cecil's system, the Kant's knights were already nervous, but no matter how nervous they were, they still had to face it - the king's canonization became a fact, and the knight Philip, who had always been in charge of Kant's affairs, brought the order summoned by the lord.

The Kant's knights responded to the summons in apprehension, and on the seventh day of the Month of Recovery, the "Old Knights" of the Kant Order, led by Wald Perridge (formerly the chief knight of the Viscount Kant), arrived at the Duke of Cecil's mansion.

Everyone knew what they were gathered for today, so they put on their bright, scrubbed armor and robes over it, and these mighty knights gathered in the hall of the lord's palace with a little uneasiness, whispering to each other from time to time.

The main topic of their discussion was the unbearable "new order" of Cecil's lordship, and how to fight for the privileges that the new lord should keep.

"I've heard that everything that Cecil leads revolves around that 'government office,' even the collection of taxes and the drawing of money," said a young knight to his companion, "and the land belongs to the nobility in name, but in reality the holders of the land have few rights at all...... It even has to listen to the arrangement of the government affairs department. ”

Another knight was even more worried: "They may take back all the fiefs - the knight Philip said that he has no fiefs." ”

"It is said that the fief will become a 'dependent territory', and we will only receive an annuity according to the size of the territory in the future, and we will have no other power - even if the people in the village want to go to the city to work, or to go hunting, they only need to report to the government affairs office, 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 mud legs probably won't even bend down to salute us! ”

The knights were worried, and one of them whispered, "We ought to express our attitude—it is true that the Duke of Cecil was a great man, but his decree was nothing short of nonsense, and it would be a mess sooner or later to leave the order of the land to a group of clerks who were busy in the government hall!" ”

The others nodded in agreement, and most of the eyes were focused on the old knight sitting in the center: "What do you think, Mr. Wald?" ”

The old knight who was watching was silent for a long time, frowning and shaking his head slightly: "...... It depends, take one step at a time. ”

This reply was obviously not reassuring, and the knights gradually began to discuss it again, whispering incessantly.

All this until the man in the aristocratic trench coat, with a majestic face, who was exceptionally tall and muscular, walked into the hall.

Their whispered discussion immediately stopped, and everyone involuntarily looked away.

Walking into the hall, Gawain glanced at the Kant's knights in front of him: there are not many people, there are few transcendents loyal to a viscount, and even fewer people are ordained, and there are only a dozen of these "standard knights" with knightly titles and real estate in front of him, and judging from the transcendent aura exuded from them, only one of them is a middle-rank, that is, the gray-haired gentleman standing in the middle of the knights: the former chief military attache of Kunderberg, Wald Perridge.

Gawain and Wald Perridge met, after the end of the Kantburg Nightmare incident, 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 impression, Wald is a loyal to the lord, but not very conspicuous, but he has the longest loyalty to the Kant family, and has the strength of a middle-level knight, so he has the highest prestige and voice among the Kant knights.

While Gawain observed these knights, the knights led by Wald also stood up and saluted, and the sound of metal rubbing and clashing on the armor resounded, Gawain calmly accepted everyone's etiquette this time, and waited until everyone had finished saluting before speaking: "Ladies and gentlemen, you are very punctual. ”

There are not only men among the knights, but there are also three women among them - in this world where there are extraordinary powers, women have the same power as men as long as they awaken the relevant powers.

This is one of the few "fairnesss" in a world full of injustice.

"Salute to you, great pioneer, knight of knights, founder of Ansu, sword and shield of the kingdom......" Walder tossed out a list of titles, apparently reciting them many times before coming, "It is an honor to set foot in your castle - we are glad that you are the new protector and ruler of the Kant Realm, and that land will be safe and prosperous because of your presence." ”

When Wald had finished his routine words, Gawain raised a hand and said straight to the point, "I'm a person who doesn't like to talk nonsense, so let's get straight to the point—we all know the purpose of my gathering today."

"I have become the rightful ruler of the Kant Domain, and it is customary for you to swear allegiance to me, and I believe that your punctual arrival will be an indication of your attitude on this matter, but before I can explain the new 'rules' that you will have to adapt to after your allegiance to Cecil."

Such a straightforward way of speaking is not like the ordinary aristocracy of this era, which is impossible to get to the point without a few subdued arias after the ordinary aristocracy has opened their mouths, but Gawain Cecil is obviously not in this style.

The knights looked at each other for a moment, and then the atmosphere on the scene became tense and delicate.

But Gawain didn't seem to notice this, he beckoned, and several squires came out and delivered pieces of paper with words to each knight.

"I'm used to writing everything down, so it's more reassuring to have an agreement written in black and white," Gawain smiled, "and you can take a closer look." ”

When Wald Perridge saw the articles printed on paper, a mixture of unexpected, but resistant, emotions immediately emerged.

Abolish fiefdoms, change them to territories, abolish tax revenues, change to the investigation and accounting of the government affairs department and issue pensions, abolish the right to govern, and change it to the government affairs department or subordinate unit management, knights can join the government affairs department, but they must be evaluated like civilian clerks, and the position of "official" cannot be inherited......

On a piece of paper, almost all land-based privileges are erased.

This is only for knights who are only equivalent to "half a lord", knights with limited privileges in themselves, if a viscount or even an earl were to be incorporated into the Cecil family, how much power would he lose belonging to the nobility?

The old knight noticed that the people around him were quiet, and he barely had to look up to know that several pairs of eyes were focused on him, 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 thinking hard for more than ten seconds, Knight Wald raised his head: "Lord Duke, please allow me to ......"

"Don't be in a hurry," Gawain interrupted Wald with a smile, "These things on paper are just a first glimpse of what Cecil's 'order' is, but taking allegiance is a serious matter, and it's not enough to know a few legal letters—I invite you to visit my city and let you know all aspects of the land, so that you can better judge whether the Cecil family is worthy of allegiance, isn't it?" ”

The knights looked at each other, some of them looked thoughtful, and Wald Perridge quickly nodded in agreement: "What you say is very true. ”

It is understandable that the new lord may want to show off the economic and military strength of the realm in order to increase the weight of loyalty, and this is the most common way for the new lord to attract followers.

So since Gawain wants to follow this "traditional process", the Kant knights don't mind cooperating, but cooperation is cooperation, and the power that should be fought for still has to be fought for.

Everyone made their own calculations and followed Gawain out of the Lord's Mansion to visit the city, which was still a little strange to them.

A neat and orderly city, wide and straight, with streets of unknown materials, bustling commercial streets and well-dressed civilians everywhere, Wald sat on his horse, silently watching everything in front of him, but somewhat absent-minded.

These are indeed signs of the prosperity of the territory, a testament to Gawain Cecil's ability to govern and his wealth, and it is fair to say that a place that has been built less than a year ago can be developed into such a way that it is almost incomprehensible to even exceed the notion of "rapid development", but the Kant's knights do not seem to be paying attention to it at the moment.

Gawain was always smiling, silently observing the reactions of the old knights, but he didn't say anything, but signaled the team to speed up and walk towards the exit northeast of the city.

A female knight noticed the acceleration of the procession and couldn't help but ask curiously, "Lord Duke, where are we going?" ”

Gao Wen said casually: "I see that you don't seem to have much interest in the commercial streets and houses in the territory, so it is better to go and see what you may be interested in first." ”

"We're interested?" The female knight became even more curious, "What do you mean ......?"

"It's something you're sure you're going to have to deal with in the future."