With limited survival resources, it is impossible to meet the various needs brought about by the expansion of the population, and any race will be eager to expand in such a situation.

It's like pushing a chariot that has sunk into a quagmire, and the first few steps must be the hardest, and once the wheels of the chariot are out of the quagmire, the chariot's rolling forward momentum will be unstoppable for some time.

Any existence that tries to stop the wheel of history will be crushed to destruction.

Obviously, what Martin Lorraine is doing now is just following this trend.

After the reward for meritorious deeds and the distribution of the bounty, it was the triumphal day of Lorrainburg. It just so happens that at this point in time after the autumn harvest is completed, the Triumph Day is simply amazing.

In Martin's study, Jaime reported to Martin about Lorrainburg, reminding him emphatically: "There have been some discordant voices in the king's capital lately. ”

"How?"

"Several dukes are sending emissaries to Lorrainburg. At the same time, they put pressure on His Majesty to let the kingdom take the lead in the development of the wasteland. ”

"Ho?" Martin let out a cold sneer, his eyes full of fierce coldness.

Jaime shrugged, "I know that the Lorraine family's Pioneer Knight mandate includes Graget and all of the wasteland. If you want to blame you, you are too rich, too famous, too young, and you refuse to stand in line, and now many old aristocrats look at you unpleasantly. ”

"With such long claws, aren't you afraid of being chopped by me?" Martin's sneer intensified.

"The price is sky-high, and the money is just paid back when you land. Rather, this is the political game of the old aristocracy. They were targeting international trade with the Rick Empire. I hope you will be sensible and abolish the customs duties at Lorraineburg, and ensure the safety of the trade routes and prohibit the involvement of other unsightly forces. Otherwise, you may be besieged by the old nobles in all areas. ”

Jaime also looked helpless, and continued: "Fortunately, you gave enough sweetness to the Duke of Baden and other local nobles this time, at least they are on your side, otherwise you will be even more isolated politically." ”

This is the characteristic of this era, and the king is the nominal boss. Most of the real power was in the hands of the great nobility. Even if it is a knight order directly under the kingdom, it is actually controlled by several dukes.

The king does not have the ability and energy to directly govern all the knights, and the only thing he can catch is the royal knights.

This is also the sadness of this era, which has no basis for the implementation of centralized power at all.

Jaime was able to remind Martin of this, and he was already a very competent staff member and interior officer.

Martin sat upright on the soft couch, his elbows resting on his knees, his fingers crossed, gently covering his mouth and nose, revealing only a pair of eyes.

"Jaime, I need the title of Duke, the sooner the better. ”

Jaime was taken aback: "It's unconventional. Even if you don't do anything, you'll ...... when you're twenty-one."

Martin's eyes gradually sharpened: "No! The Pioneer Knight can be withdrawn, but the Duke cannot. You bring 500,000 gold coins and go to the event for me. The current situation in the world of Kaos is that the Chaos family is stronger. I don't believe that if I destroy one of the main orc clans on my side, the orc gods and the chaos gods will not react at all. I just want to grow my strength as soon as possible, and the dukedom is a prop to buy me time. Don't forget, Sigma has gone to great lengths to bring in foreign gods in order to increase the power of the human gods!"

The principle is universal, and no vested interest group would be willing to see outsiders get a piece of the pie.

Taking the initiative to bring in outsiders to strengthen the strength can just prove that the situation has reached a very bad point.

The guy who can't see the general trend clearly is destined to be crushed to the slag when the frenzy of annihilation comes.

"This ......," Jaime's heart pounded. He finally realized that Martin's sense of urgency was coming. This is simply an oppressive force that seems to be falling apart!

After a deep groan, he still asked with some difficulty: "According to your estimate, the distance is a big battle between chaos and order...... How much longer?"

After carefully pondering the Red Knight's recent movements, Martin gave a roughly estimated conclusion: "Three years at the earliest, no more than five years at the longest." ”

"In that case, I suggest that you propose to His Majesty Keane that the marriage be made to Princess Eliza, who is only twelve years old this year, and that she will have to wait at least sixteen for her to be married. You must know that you are only fifteen years old, and it is very appropriate to marry a princess who is three years younger than you. As long as you are engaged, you have the support of His Majesty and the local nobles, and you can have at least four years to show your strength. ”

Martin's pupils suddenly shrank to the eye of a needle. Arranged marriage, which is undoubtedly the most disgusting thing for a modern youth, Martin's instinctive reaction is to refuse.

Martin's reaction fell into Jaime's eyes. Jaime was surprised, he didn't know where Martin's disgust came from. In his opinion, this is very unreasonable.

Born as a noble child, he has long known and accepted his fate, at least his wife cannot be chosen by himself. Marriages between the great nobles were the most important means of adjusting the political map of the kingdom. There is no marriage, all contracts, promises, cooperation, are castles built on quicksand, and everything can be destroyed at any time.

Thus the aristocracy of the entire human world would allow the "qingren" to exist. You can't master marriage, at least you have to turn a blind eye to your partner's emotional world. Of course, in order to avoid trouble, the nobility also refused to give power and status to illegitimate children. Unless the heirs of the main line are dead, it will not be the turn of the illegitimate child to inherit the family business.

Jaime was strange to him, since he was already the Home Secretary of the future Grand Duke Martin, whether public or private, he had the duty to stand in the shoes of his childhood friend.

James patiently continued to persuade Martin: "Actually, Princess Eliza is an out-and-out beauty, and she has expressed her admiration for you in several public appearances after your victory in Lorrainburg. If you marry her, at least it won't cause you trouble. Take another 10,000 steps back, and if you calculate that the world chaos will happen, you can even find an excuse to refuse to continue with this marriage in the future. ”

Jaime said that in Baccagliari, which promotes a culture of loyalty, it is already a great rebellion.

Martin sighed: "Then Princess Eliza, you can test Your Majesty's tone for me." If Your Majesty is willing, then give your Majesty 1 million gold coins as a dowry. ”

This time it was Jaime's turn to be surprised.

He knew that Martin was rich, but being able to give such a dowry was enough to prove Martin's courage! This huge amount of money was already the income of the royal family for five years.

"Your Majesty will be pleased...... Sure enough, I wasn't wrong. ”

"It's okay, it's just a million gold coins, I was able to earn five million last year. I'll be able to make 10 million this year. ”

What is a spirit, this is a spirit!