Although Barnik is more greedy for pleasure, likes beautiful women, acts quite deviantly, and does not pay much attention to the control of the empire, he is not stupid, and he has a firm grasp of the army.

What does it matter if the empire is not well controlled? Where it is disobedient, it is just a fight. And the church guys obviously made him more scrupled. The church is the best at winning people's hearts.

He glared fiercely at the Minister of War, then turned to the other ministers, and said, "What do you think?"

The ministers were suddenly noisy, and they were elected one after another, they did not think like the Minister of War, the position of marshal was a kind of gambling, and if the battle was fought well, it was obvious that they would get land, knighthoods, and supporters.

Barnik was not satisfied for a while, these candidates were randomly selected by the ministers for their own families, as for the remaining veterans of the empire, it is not easy to collect their power, and then let it be released to them?

Originally, the Minister of Defense was only in charge of Yanjing's defense, and according to his private rules, he could not recommend candidates, this was to prevent the collusion of the army inside and outside Yanjing, but now he said: "Your Majesty is young and strong, and we are all old guys." ”

Barnik was distraught, and was dizzy when he heard this, and immediately interrupted: "We are talking about the marshal candidate, do you want to retire?"

The Minister of Defense was not nervous, he glanced at the Jinghua Imperial Concubine Andina, and found that she was nodding slightly at him, so he continued: "Your Majesty, I mean, the empire needs new generals to become Your Majesty's right-hand man and support the empire's long-term peace and prosperity, I think it can be selected from the talents from the Yanjing Academy of Magic." ”

The concubines can also participate in politics, but generally in order not to arouse the suspicion of the emperor, they do not speak, however, Andina has no scruples, her family is strong, just near Yanjing, with a big dukedom, which has a great impact on the situation in Yanjing.

Andina doesn't live in the palace, and has her own castle in the small lake of Yanjing Waterfall, which is completely out of order, but this is the condition for her to marry Barnik back then, because she was the patriarch of the family at the beginning, and she said coquettishly: "Well, Your Majesty, this is a good suggestion, I like those young people who are full of tide." ”

Andina often meets with some young people from the academy, although there are a lot of scandals in private, but Barnik secretly sent someone to check carefully, all of them are fake, and these young people have no family power, Andina for her mother's family, it is reasonable to find some talents, within the range of Barnick's tolerance.

So although Barnik was a little upset to hear it, he still thought it was a good idea. But the marshal had better not be too strong, not too useless, so he said, "Is there any good candidate for that?" Oh, by the way, Count Louis, aren't you from the academy? So, Louie, what about your loyalty? You don't take the initiative to stand up for the Empire!"

Louis was secretly happy in his heart, and took the initiative to stand up? Then it would be strange that you would agree! He immediately took a step forward and said: "Your Majesty, all the ministers are highly respected, and I really don't dare to be abrupt, but since Your Majesty has a life, of course I am willing to serve Your Majesty, and I am confident that I will defeat Maitz's army." ”

Barnik listened to Louis's words, very satisfied, and relieved in his heart, in his opinion, the trouble had been solved, he touched the thick beard on his lips, and said: "Very good, well, you are good at winning more than few, Matz is not an auxiliary, but only 300,000 troops, I will give you 400,000." ”

When Andina heard this, she was depressed, but she was also helpless.

Then Barnik began to give orders, and discussed with the ministers about the army, Andina was bored, and retired, and as soon as she retired, it must have been out of the palace and hiding in her little castle.

This made Barnik even more annoying, he really liked Andina, but Andina, a special princess, was not something he could get close to if he wanted to, and today Andina finally came once, and he encountered a magic message, saying that Metz was in rebellion.

Louis came out of the palace in the congratulatory voices of the ministers all the way, and felt that the imperial capital was more elegant and beautiful, and he couldn't wait to yell at the sky. After controlling his emotions, he hurried back to Yanjing's mansion.

After a while, a carriage without any signs drove out of the back door of the mansion, Louis sat in the carriage, followed the gap in the curtain, secretly observed the outside, and found that this deserted back street was normal, so he leaned on the saddle, remembering the half of the earl's collar he had obtained a while ago, and his heart was infinitely proud.

The Earl's Foot, which included ten large city-states and vast lands, he got five.

Speaking of which, he made a little insignificant military exploits in the small border frictions, but these military exploits were infinitely exaggerated, so that he first got the title of earl, and then on recommendation, he was ordered to conquer a restless earl near Yanjing, obtained the territory, and became a truly noble nobleman.

Now it seems that the earl must have colluded with Maitz, and was not careful enough, before the emperor found out.

The carriage drove all the way out of the city, stopped in a small dense forest with no people, and the two loyal guards pretended to be the coachman removed the camouflage tarpaulin on the outside of the carport, and the carriage immediately changed its appearance, and then they drove the carriage, after making a detour, entered the Yenching Academy of Magic, and then turned around in the Academy of Magic, before heading towards the waterfall and the small lake.

Yanjing is very large, except for the imperial palace, the entire Yanjing building does not exceed three floors, but it accommodates 500,000 people. The waterfall lake is completely enclosed in the city, consisting of two round lakes, and in the outer round lake is a small island, on which there is a beautiful little castle, which is communicated by an elegant porous stone arch bridge.

Louis's carriage, galloping up the arched bridge, stopped, and a team of castle guards came forward to investigate. Louis stretched out his hand from the carriage with a ring on his hand.

When the captain of the guard saw this, he only asked a secret word lightly, and after receiving an answer, he did not lift the curtain to look at it, and let it go, and then the carriage slowly marched towards the castle.

Louis peeked out the window at the castle in the shade of lush trees, all the stones of the castle are long history, revealing simplicity and dignity, there is a garden on the periphery of the castle, the walls of the garden are crawling with wattle vines, this magical plant is very beautiful and very tough, and the vines are covered with spikes containing paralyzing toxins.

The entire castle is reflected in the lake, making it feel far from the ordinary.

Louis had a wish in his heart, that is, one day he would be able to walk into this castle of thorn flowers generously.

Entering the castle, the carriage stopped in a secluded special stable, and he was led by the knights of the guard through the complex corridors of the castle to a private parlor in the castle.

Andina is sitting upright, leisurely sipping tea and looking out the window at the delightful view of the lake.

Yes, it is the support of Andina's family that has given him his current status and territory, Jinghua Castle is the origin of the Jinghua family, and it is also the origin of the title of Princess Jinghua.

Andina turned her head slightly, glanced at Louis with lake-like eyes, and said, "Have you settled all your territories?"

Although Louis was still requisitioned to serve in Yanjing, his territory had been straightened out as early as the time of the conquest, and now his cronies are helping him manage it, so he said: "Dear Your Highness, there is no problem. With a fire in his eyes, he approached Andina, gently squeezed her little hand, and kissed her.

Andina felt very uncomfortable, but she still smiled, let him kiss him, and then said, "This time, you have to take care of it." ”

Louis said: "I will, I am the most loyal sword in the hands of His Highness, Your Highness, will I have the pleasure of watching the moving scenery of the waterfall?"

Andina, after gathering a lot of young talents, once gave him a magic necklace given by the emperor because she took a fancy to Louis, and hinted that if he did well, he would let him see the waterfall, which was the window of her bedroom.

Now, however, she is not satisfied with Louie.

She was clear about the collusion between the deposed earl and Maitz, and in order to show her loyalty, she immediately reported it to the emperor, and then ordered her forces to support Louis, so that Louis had a chance. But Louis is not as powerful as he seems, after the battle, Andina privately counted the results, not to mention the progress of the battle, just talking about the battle damage, it exceeded her expectations.

Prepared to fight unprepared, and the strength is much greater than the other party, what kind of genius is this to get such a result?

But now there is no way, the five very important city-states are already under Louis's name, and the other half is taken by the emperor.

She glanced at Louis's blonde and blue-eyed handsome face a little helplessly, but for people who didn't have enough talent, no matter how handsome she was, it wasn't in her eyes. Moreover, she also saw the glint in Louie's eyes, which was a glimmer of ambition, which made her feel even more uncomfortable.

It is too common for nobles to have lovers, but Andina's status is noble, and she is also a high-level magician of the water system, where would she find a lover casually? She has always been only the emperor, and the standard of her lover in her mind is very high: extremely talented, no ambition, and can be completely loyal to her, obviously, this standard itself has a strong purpose.

Given the importance of Louis's territory, it must be exploited, but never too intimate. Andina was thinking about it, and was about to find an excuse to shirk it, when the guards outside reported: "Cardinal Clark asks to see!"

As soon as her heart was relieved, and there was no need to make excuses, Andina said to the door: "Let Your Excellency Clark wait outside for a while, and I will go." ”

Then she said to Louis, "Later." She left the small parlor and went to change her clothes, she was dressed in a casual dress, not suitable for formal occasions.

Louis was very unwilling, but there was no way, the status was more important than getting Princess Andina, he could only retire and leave, and when he left, he couldn't help but open the curtain and look at the castle.