December 30, 1379 in the Metland Glory calendar.

In the afternoon, 3:05 a.m.

It was the first time Joe had entered the court hall of Hydra Palace.

This is a large hall in the style of the Delenian Empire, with a boxy hall of nearly 1,000 feet long and wide, enough to accommodate a gathering of thousands of people easily. The height of the single-story hall is more than 150 feet, and everyone standing in the hall will feel their 'insignificance' inexplicably.

The decoration in the main hall is mostly iron gray.

Only on the small platform of the nine-story staircase at the front, near the Hydra Throne made of black iron, there were two blood-red curtains, which became the only dazzling bright color in this hall.

The throne was empty, and Margrethe III clearly did not intend to attend today's celebration.

Mata XIII stood beside the throne, smiling at the crowd of people who were eligible to enter the main hall.

The imperial capital, as well as the top dukes and marquis of more than a dozen nearby provinces, the feudal officials from all over the country, the important ministers of the imperial capital, heroes like Hesse, Gorkin, and Joe who are about to be canonized, as well as the guests they invited.

Oh, and the ambassadors of more than 100 countries who were guests of honor.

In the square outside, there were more than 10,000 guests participating in the Spring Festival celebration, but less than 1,000 people were eligible to enter the main hall.

Under the guidance of the court ceremonial officer, everyone stood in their place.

Even those countries that have a gap with the Delen Empire and are in full swing to mobilize their troops and prepare to form an alliance to give the Delen Empire a little color, their ambassadors are also abiding by the etiquette of the aristocratic circle at the moment, standing aside with a smile on their faces, and putting on a casual appearance.

"So, let's get started." Mata XIII's laughter came: "Don't waste everyone's time, many young people, they can't wait to participate in the next banquet and ball." ”

Merlin, the head of the Hydra court, smiled, nodded slowly, and gestured to one of the ceremonial officers standing nearby.

The ceremonial officer turned.

Behind him, two court officials walked up with a large silver platter, on which was placed a fist-thick scroll.

The ceremonial officer picked up the scroll in both hands, and walked slowly to Mata XIII.

Mata XIII nodded.

The ceremonial officer unfolded the scroll and chanted it aloud.

The hall was extremely delicately arranged, and his voice echoed through the huge hall, and everyone could hear his voice clearly. Then, his voice floated out of the main hall, and half of the people in the Hydra Palace could clearly hear what he was saying.

This is a commendation order for the front-line officers and soldiers who have made meritorious contributions in the Lanyin Corridor.

These officers and soldiers, because of their heroic battles in the Ranin Corridor and their meritorious service in the war against the Plateau Kingdom, were awarded the rank of Imperial Knights.

The war to reclaim the Rhine Corridor was the most important foreign conquest of the Empire in the last decade.

As long as the Lanyin Corridor can be recovered, it represents the influence of the empire, and it will re-enter the hinterland of the Medland continent, and dozens of large and small kingdoms and principalities close to the Lanyin Corridor will once again be shrouded in the shadow of Hydra.

Therefore, this reconquista war is of great significance to the empire.

The ceremonial officer read out the names of one front-line officer after another, and the knightly class of the Deren Empire was divided into nine layers from top to bottom according to the number of snake heads of the hydra. One head is the lowest, and nine heads are the highest.

This time, the number of officers and soldiers who received the rank of knight on the front line of the Lanyin Corridor was close to three thousand.

Among them, the lowest knighthood they received was also above the three heads.

With the knighthood, they transcended the commoners and became the privileged lords of the Empire, and from then on they were able to enjoy a very different treatment from the commoners.

Even if it is only the lowest position in the aristocracy, these front-line officers and soldiers who have been awarded knighthood will not only enjoy generous special allowances, but their families will also receive tax deductions. In the future, even if they retire from the army, they will be able to enjoy a generous annuity every year, even much more than their current military salary.

What's more, their direct descendants can receive additional benefits and subsidies when they enter university in the future.

In the future, the eldest sons of each generation of them are eligible to participate in the assessment of the Royal Knights, and once their strength and character are recognized, they can join the Royal Knights and become real royal courtiers.

Under the guidance of the court ceremonial officer, ninety-nine young men dressed in army uniforms and permeated with a fierce aura strode out of the crowd and formed a neat small phalanx in front of Mata XIII.

This time, nearly 3,000 people were knighted, and of course they could not all have arrived at Hydreraborg from the front line of the Ryan Corridor.

On the part of the military department, 99 of the most meritorious and awarded the highest number of medals were selected and asked to serve as representatives to rush to the Hydra Palace to participate in the celebration and be canonized in public.

As for other meritorious service recipients who were awarded knightly orders, naturally there were special court nobles who rushed to the front line and awarded them medals in public in the front-line barracks.

The faces of the 99 officers and soldiers were red, their bodies swayed slightly as if they were drunk, their bodies tensed, their heads held slightly high, and they stood in the middle of the hall in full view of everyone.

The ceremonial officer with the scroll in his hand pronounced out aloud a name - 'Haynes Big'!

A burly young officer, with a resolute gaze and the rank of captain on his epaulettes, strode forward. The soles of the hard boots struck the glossy iron-gray marble floor, making a 'pop' sound.

Haines Bigg walked up to Mata XIII, gave him a solemn military salute, and then knelt down on one knee.

Mata XIII took an antique knight's sword from the ceremonial officer behind him, and solemnly placed it on Haynes Bigg's shoulder.

"Haynes von Biggqing, may you make another distinction for the Empire."

Haynes Bigg...... Oh no, now it was Haynes von Bigg's face flushed, he bowed his head deeply, and said solemnly: "I am willing to die for the Empire...... Long live the Empire, long live the Hydra! ”

Two ceremonial officers walked up, skillfully and calmly, and hung an iron-gray ribbon for Haynes von Bigger, and then fastened a palm-sized Hydra Knight Medallion to Haynes von Bigger's neck.

The freshly baked Knight Haynes von Bigg stood up in a daze, gave another military salute to Mata XIII, then turned cleanly on the spot and walked back into the procession.

One knight after another was canonized.

Loud applause continued to resound in the hall.

The canonization ceremony of each knight takes less than a minute. But the canonization process of the ninety-nine knights lasted nearly two hours.

The ceremonial officer put away the unfolded scroll in his hand, pulled out a long scroll on the ground, placed it on the silver plate held by the two officials behind him, and then picked up another scroll.

Also because of the fighting on the front line of the Lanyin Corridor, there are dozens of officers and soldiers who have far outperformed their peers.

They fought valiantly and won many honors, so they were given the title of Lord of the Empire.

Compared with the knights, the treatment enjoyed by the lord is undoubtedly much higher.

Thirty-two knights were present, and the ceremonial officer gave their names, and their places of origin were read aloud, followed by the name of a small village.

Yes, compared to the knights, these lords will get a village of comparable size as a fief in their hometown.

The fief that the lord can get is not large, usually a village of about a thousand people, and it is only a few miles away.

However, this is where a family is rooted.

In the fiefdoms, the lords were qualified to recruit knights, form private armies, and build fortresses.

Hundreds of years ago, during the most chaotic period of Metland, each lord was a small warlord who could rely on his private army to wage war on all sides and annex his neighbor's fiefs and estates.

In short, as long as it is not unlucky, and encounters an unlucky loser, the fief of a small village is enough for a lord family to live in peace without food and clothing.

In the Deren Empire, there were many viscounts, earls, and even marquis families, and the original family was a small lord village.

Thirty-two lords were followed by twelve barons.

Each of them was given a fief with a population of nearly 10,000 people.

After the twelve barons, there were five viscounts.

In addition to a town of 10,000 people in the core area, their fiefdom also included 20 villages with a population of more than 1,000 people.

The above is all the Imperial officers and soldiers from the civilian class who were awarded medals in the Ranin Corridor War.

In the huge Lanyin Corridor War, of course, these officers and soldiers were not the only ones who made meritorious contributions.

But more and more officers who have made greater contributions are themselves from aristocratic families.

Most of the credit they have made has been converted into promotions in military ranks.

As a nobleman, it is obviously much more difficult to rely on military merits to get a promotion to the knighthood than a colleague from a civilian background.

For example, an officer from a duke's family, he and a colleague of the same rank, who was born as a commoner, made the same feats of destroying 10,000 enemies. An officer who was born as a commoner might have been awarded the title of Lord or even Baron, relying on his merits this time.

As for an officer from the Duke's family, he may only be awarded a commendation order, and he will be given priority when he is promoted in the future.

Regarding military merit, whether it is the Delen Empire or the other countries of the Medland continent, they have their own mature institutional templates.

Little by little, time passed.

Outside the main hall of the court, the sky had already darkened.

The gas lamps lit up, and the blue-white light illuminated the square outside.

Finally, the ceremonial officer, who was standing beside Mata XIII, picked up the last scroll on the silver plate and read aloud the names of the Hessian father and son.

"Hessian Rong Ritu!"

"Gorkin Jon Wittu!"

"Joe Rong Ritu!"

Under the guidance of the ceremonial officer, the Hessian father and son solemnly walked to the middle of the main hall.

Thousands of eyes quickly focused on them.

Among them, their eyes were as sharp as knives and as fierce as the fangs of poisonous snakes, especially the people of the Ice Sea Kingdom and Barbaria of the Lucia Empire, whose eyes were the most fierce and vicious.