(Thanks to the book friends Ajie and Vero for their tips, it will be officially entered V as soon as midnight passes, and these free chapters will be sent quickly! Thank you for your support and love!)

The night before Donald stayed in the western suburbs, a small brown falcon flew north with a letter box strapped to its feet in the post station behind the Holy Sword Fortress on the Northwest Frontier.

After the great victory against the orcs, several such birds have appeared. The nobles have their own way of transmitting news, most of them secretly domesticate some birds that fly very fast, and of course, there are also nobles who are spellcasters themselves who will use spells to transmit messages, and the speed is far from being comparable to that of the letter birds, but the cost is greater.

The brown falcon that delivered the message was extremely fast, and after flying for about a day, it had arrived in Boulder City, the capital of North County. At this time, it was already the evening of the next day, and in the attic in the back garden of the Lord's Mansion of Boulder City, an old servant untied the letter box on the feet of the falcon, fed the bird a little favorite insect food, and immediately secretly presented the letter to the master's study.

But half an hour later, a fast horse galloped out of the city overnight, riding a man in black, who looked ordinary on the outside, and was definitely the kind that could not be found in the crowd. The man was speechless all the way, and he did not stop except for eating and changing mounts, and entered the royal capital before the officials who had made great achievements.

After entering the royal capital, the man in black turned into an alley that was very familiar to him, and entered a ready-to-wear shop through the back door.

After the meal, the man in black had changed into a set of noble butler's clothes, rode in an inconspicuous carriage, and arrived at the mansion of the kingdom's current finance minister.

Rutherford was a white-faced, middle-aged man, more of an elegant artist than a businessman, but he was indeed an aristocratic businessman before he became a Celt official. Although his aristocratic temperament is also very outstanding, just because his family background was mostly squeezed out by those old aristocratic forces, he has not been able to achieve great success in his career, and he has to abandon business and enter politics, starting from the court auditor, and gradually rising to the ranks.

It was this person who was originally not favored by the big nobles that he climbed to the first echelon of the kingdom in just a few years, which has to be impressive.

As a minor nobleman, how simple is it to be able to ascend to the position of the kingdom's finance minister, oversee the country's economy, and elevate the family title from baron to earl?

At this time, the Chancellor of the Exchequer was in his reception room to receive a guest from North County.

"Lord Rutherford!"

Earl Rutherford waved his hand.

"No need to be polite, sit down!"

After listening to the relay, Rutherford knocked lightly on the tea table, seemingly careless, but in fact he was already thinking in his heart.

The news of the great victory on the northwest frontier had reached his ears two days ago, in fact, except for the small and medium-sized nobles and the people at the bottom of the kingdom, some powerful aristocratic forces in the kingdom had already received accurate news at the earliest.

"Is that what you Viscount mean?"

The visitor replied respectfully, "Yes, Lord Rutherford, my Viscount has prepared these gifts for you in order to show his sincerity, and at the same time promised that if it happens, the tax in Boulder City will be increased by 10% next year!"

When the Chancellor of the Exchequer heard this, he couldn't help but laugh in his heart, the other party's empty promise was very happy, as for the gifts, with the support of his wife's family, his family's business income has expanded a hundredfold, and a little Kinsol wants to buy him off to do that offending thing? Is this to treat him as if he were those little nobles who have no strength?

"What a viscount Macbeth, so undignified, and thinks very highly of himself, no wonder several generations have not unified the Northern County lands. ”

The last thing Rutherford likes in his life is the kind of big nobleman who asks for you, but still pretends to be giving alms, which is disgusting to think about.

"Not to mention that your Archon of the Northern County is far from having the prestige to unify the Northern County, and has reached the level of a first-class nobleman in the kingdom, even if you have done it, in front of the two towering trees of the royal family and Ansel, you will not be allowed to have a small viscount family with a history of only three hundred years to be arrogant here! The land of the Northland belongs to the two families of Ansel on the Celt River, and if they can lay down this land from the soil, they can also destroy all the clowns who try to split the territory of the kingdom!"

Over the years, he has gradually been trusted by the old king, and Rutherford, as a confidant of His Majesty the Fifteenth, has also come into contact with the hidden power of the two families of Selt and Ansel. How could the old aristocratic families of the Ancient Magic Empire, which had been passed down for thousands of years, be easily provoked?

The visitor did not know that his words had slapped the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the face, and he was waiting for a reply with great anticipation!

Thinking of this, Rutherford nodded lightly and said: "I accepted the gift, you restore your family, as for whether it is successful or not, it is not up to me alone, after all, there is also the intervention of the Ansel family, and the royal capital is not what I say as a finance minister!"

He was not prepared to help the ambitious viscount, and as for the gifts, if he had money to send to his door, he would naturally take it for nothing! Even after becoming Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rutherford's frugal habits in his youth did not change.

The visitor also saw that the Chancellor of the Exchequer did not take his master's request seriously, but it was not something that his little servant could interfere with, he was just a messenger, and the specific matters had to be decided by the big men in the high!

In his heart, he did not prepare a glass of water from the mansion of the dignified Minister of Finance, so he respectfully took his leave, returned to the stronghold of the royal capital, and passed the news back in a letter.

In the afternoon, the king summoned his ministers and ministers and members of the noble council to the royal palace.

The theme of the conference was about how to win the Northwest victory.

At court, many ministers debated how to reward the greatest merits of the war.

The reward cannot be ignored, just the name of the first-day genius mage of the other party's North County, the silver-level master behind it, and the potential of the rare summoner, you can't erase his merits at will.

But the accumulated military exploits added up to enough to divide a hereditary baronial title plus a knight's domain, and if he had a hereditary title, then he had to be converted into a fief, so that at least a barony would be in line with the rules and block the mouths of the kingdom.

Generally, the rich and large local territories above the baron have basically had owners for a long time, unless they are noble territories that have been deprived by the royal family for treason and have lost their heirs, but that kind of situation can only happen a few times in a hundred years, and it is basically impossible to meet.

At present, most of the subdivided territories below the viscount in the hands of the royal family are currently the size of knights' domains, not reaching the level of barons, and there are not many places close to each other, so they cannot be cobbled together to deal with the past. In the south, there are some rich large territories, among which there is a marquisate, but it is the fat meat of several major forces in the kingdom.

If it is easily split and canonized, it will be a piece of meat in the hearts of other aristocratic forces, which will definitely cause a backlash from many local nobles with real power, and even His Majesty the King will not be able to suppress it, and maybe a great turmoil will be formed.

You must know that although the situation in the Kingdom of Celt has been stable in the years since His Majesty the 15th Emperor ascended the throne, with the gradual decline of the royal family's grasp of the power of the kingdom, there is a lot of undercurrent surging inside, the ambitions of the local nobles have swelled, and the big nobles have put the interests of the family first.

The members of the military department headed by the Ansel family insisted on making a reasonable reward for the greatest meritorious service, and the representatives of the middle-level local nobles in various places were opposed and wanted to do something about it, among which the cronies of the Archon of the Northern County were the most active. Behind them was the figure of the eldest prince, and the information that Donald had talked with the second prince and the commander in the Holy Sword Fortress had already been transmitted to the kingdom by the nobles from all sides. For such a genius who is close to his brother, since he can't win over him in a short time, then he must be completely suppressed.

In the end, as long as the outcome of the reward did not involve their interests, the representatives of the great nobles of the kingdom chose to take a neutral attitude.

And the Earl of Rutherford, who was not on the same path as those ministers from the great nobility, should have expressed his opinion, but surprisingly remained basically silent until the meeting was going on, and did not participate in the argument of those people.

Seeing these ministers from all sides of the nobility grinding there repeatedly, fighting for a long time for a little benefit, His Majesty the highest Celt XV couldn't help but feel bored in his heart.

The factions in the kingdom are complicated, many forces are fighting for each other, he, the king, mediates in the middle, and has spent all his efforts over the years, and he is aging faster than normal people, and he looks like he is in his sixties at the age of fifty!

Looking at the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who was sitting quietly and calmly on the side, and a few officials from the various ministries who were silent but sure of every word, Celt XV felt a little comforted. He is still relieved and satisfied with these henchmen who have been cultivated over the years, even if his body can't support him in the future, the successor king can stabilize his power with the help of these people.

The hall was noisy, and a maid listened to the contents of the ministers' deliberations in the rest room of the hall, and after a while, the maid quietly left the back door of the council hall and entered a beautiful palace in the inner palace.

The palace is a typical inner temple layout, and all sides are covered with pale gold veils, which makes the palace rich and luxurious. A graceful and luxurious beautiful woman was sitting on the soft couch covered with the fur of the monster in the middle, elegantly opening her mouth to take the small crystal fruit fed by the maid beside her, the sweet delicacy bloomed in her mouth, and the beauty pursed her lips with satisfaction, revealing a pleasant smile.

"Your Majesty!"

The eavesdropping maid returned from outside, saluted Nakami, and then stood opposite the other maid to the other side of the master.

"How's the situation? Is Your Majesty's body still able to eat?"

It turned out that Her Majesty, the queen of Celt, had heard the news of the arguments of many ministers from the attendants, so he sent the maid to inquire about it.

If this practice is in the ancient inner palace with strict etiquette in Donald's previous life, it is taboo for women to interfere in politics, but in this world, although men are still in charge of the world, and women's status is generally below men, but there are also outstanding women whose wisdom or force surpasses most men, among them, led by the strength of the churches under the goddesses, the status of women in individual goddess churches is higher than that of male clergy.

Therefore, women in this world have the same inheritance rights as men, and if the king is unable to handle the affairs of the court, the queen acts as an agent for state affairs, and even if there is no male heir, it is very normal and reasonable for the queen to inherit the throne.

The maid couldn't help but smile and said:

"Queen, you don't know, the ministers are arguing, it's more interesting than watching the maids in the palace fight! Your Majesty is in good spirits, but you are a little impatient to see them arguing over one thing!"

Immediately, he recounted what he had heard.

Her Majesty the beautiful Queen thought for a moment when she learned of the basic situation, and she couldn't help but smile, and ordered the attendant who was in charge of her own safety to be called, and then gave His Majesty the King an idea.

After a while, a tall male attendant in a top hat walked in through the side door of the council hall and said a few words to the attendants in front of the hall. Then a chamberlain came in to report to His Majesty, and the presence of the chamberlain just interrupted the argument of the nobles and ministers.

The chamberlain, who had been allowed, entered the main hall to greet His Majesty, and then whispered a few words beside His Majesty. Everyone present knew that this was the Queen's attendant, and it must be that Her Majesty the beautiful and wise Queen had something to discuss with the King.

Celt XV listened to the relays of the squire, nodded slightly, and said at the moment:

"Since everyone is arguing here about the award of the knight of Merlinna, it is better to send an envoy with my will to the northern county to inform the young mage, let him choose a piece of the unowned land of the northern county, and then officially canonize him through the kingdom, if he does not have a satisfactory choice, the southern marquis that has lost the heir will divide a town as a reward for his war exploits, this matter will be decided for the time being, and we will discuss it after the envoy returns!"

After speaking, Celt XV did not wait for the people below to raise a rebuttal, and left the council hall under the escort of his attendants, and went to talk to the queen.

When the ministers and officials of all parties saw this situation, they couldn't help but look at each other, but the matter was a foregone conclusion, and if they forcibly changed it, they would be slapping His Majesty the King in the face, don't look at the joy that these ministers and nobles were arguing just now, but it was a group of ministers discussing politics, and the king could not ignore the will of all the nobles. If they really confronted the opposition to Celt XV personally, then their political path would have come to an end, and perhaps even the family, the territory, and even the risk of losing their titles.

It is too easy for the king of a country to find an opportunity to rectify a single noble.

But this result made them feel unwilling, so they couldn't help but think about other things. Some of them quickly set their sights on the emissary, and they deliberated privately in the palace.

As everyone knows, His Majesty the King, on the advice of his Queen, has recruited into the palace a beautiful woman who is twenty-five or sixteen years old, who is in her best years.