Decherim City.

Prince Fiderick, the minister of the Imperial Mission, looked at the civil and military generals arguing in front of him, and felt an inexplicable annoyance.

The opinion of the army was clear, that is, the Kugit were now at the end of their power, and that there were 9,000 soldiers in the city of Dehrim who could be called out at any time, and that the already scattered Kugit could not resist wherever these soldiers went.

But civilian officials were reluctant to take the risk, and when they heard the news, the Salanders had already joined the war. In many places, the guerrillas provided information that the Salanders had entered the eastern frontier of the empire. At this time, take the risk and attack if Dehrem is suddenly besieged, the empire will pay a heavy price.

Since a few months ago, when the Decrepit Emperor appointed Count Harlaus to assist Prince Fidelik, the city of Decherim has been prepared. New armies from all over the country had reached the city of Dehrim, and on the banks of a river beach west of the city, the overwhelming tents confirmed the region's strong armament. One by one, the lords began to enter the Dehrim military camp, and their banners were planted throughout the camp like a glorious gathering.

Count Haraus stared at the heir to the future empire, his eyes flickering slightly.

"Your Royal Highness, what do you think should be done?" Haraus asked the young man.

Prince Fiderick's father was the last emperor of the empire, and more than twenty years ago, shortly after Prince Frederick was born, the emperor who was known for his benevolence died suddenly, and several imperial doctors were subjected to strict scrutiny, and these people unanimously confessed: "The emperor died without warning, exactly like a normal person, and the rheumatism that had been plaguing the emperor was cured half a month before the emperor's death, and the emperor died of natural causes."

At that time, the imperial family was in a panic, and finally, a sudden voice from the royal family demanded that the deceased emperor's own brother be appointed as the overseer, and wait until the young Prince Frederick had reached a long time before returning to the throne. With no leader in the group, Fidelik's mother had no choice but to reluctantly agree to the request. Soon after, the prison state felt that the order was not respected, and after a series of political events, the prison was officially crowned emperor in the Imperial Cathedral. This prison state is the emperor who later brazenly launched the war of aggression against Rhodok.

Now that Prince Frederick has grown up, some of the forces that were once dormant are gradually coming to the surface, and a promise made twenty years ago has been remembered again: "When Prince Frederick grows up, the prison country will automatically give up all rights." There was widespread optimism about this, as the current Emperor was a noble emperor but had no heirs, and it was believed that this was a blessing from Heaven to prevent the bloodshed of the court. Count Haraus has always been an admirer of the emperor, and although he experienced a series of defeats in his early years, he had an excellent reputation among the royal family because he knew how to make fine tunes that were beneficial to the nobles under the emperor's arbitrary policies.

Now, Haraus has been appointed by the emperor as a superintendent of the army and is involved in the military guidance of Fiedre.

"I think," Fidel said, looking into Harlaus' deep eyes, "strike?" ”

Haraus smiled and shook his head, looking unfathomable, and in this way he forced Fidelé's confidence into a corner. Haraus always came across as willing to help the Prince, but in almost everything, Harlaus would intervene to prevent Fiderick from exercising his abilities and opinions. Afterwards, Harlaus would look distressed in front of Fiderick: "Eh, Your Royal Highness, there are some things that you really have to worry about."

At first, Fredret felt that Count Harlaus was very considerate and would help him solve many problems. Later, however, Fiderick discovered that Count Harlaus's hand was stretched too long, and Haraus's courteous attitude began to make it unbearable for Fiderick. Privately, Fiderick often complained to his attendants that Harauth had deprived him of almost all his rights: Harauth always decided everything, and then came to pretend to consult Fiedré, and then rejected all of Fiderick's proposals one by one, until Frederick asked, 'What then shall we do?' Harlaus made a lonely expression of 'I still have to come' to guide Fidre.

"Old bastard, he'll never be able to come out on top if he's a ****", Fidelik thought to himself. At this time, Fidelik was still very young, and he just regarded Harlaus as an old horseman who did not know how to advance or retreat. It didn't occur to Fidel at this time that Count Harlaus wanted more than just a little vanity brought by the imperial prince.

Harlaus once again made Fiderick feel frustrated, "Your Highness, the generals know that their opportunity is on the battlefield, so they will fight for the war; The civilians, for their part, knew that their future lay in their domestic affairs, and that as long as Dehrim was not in danger, they were not at any risk. And you should think for yourself. You see, as the heir to the empire, what can make people remember your outstanding abilities? Will you hold on to an impregnable city, or will you go out into the wild and defeat a powerful enemy nation? The latter, of course. So you should support military operations. But if you rashly stand on the side of the generals, you know that civilian officials are the main mouthpiece of public opinion, and if you offend them, I am afraid that you will be deliberately erased if you have made great contributions. So what you have to do is find a balance in that. ”

"It's about making people on both sides feel like you're your own. Then use the guidance of public opinion to make civilian officials have to support you to fight. Remember, as the leader of the empire, what you have to do is to maintain a balance between the factions, this is the art of domination, and you need to think about it yourself. ”

Prince Frederick turned pale and nodded, and the Prince was now simply afraid to say a word in front of Harlaus, for every word he said could be quoted by Harlaus and then refuted to the fullest.

"What does the Earl think should be?"

"Your Highness," Harlaus knew, was the center of this conversation, "to find a hero for the civil servants." It is better for this person to come back from the front, and to have personally experienced the most treacherous wars; At the same time, he must know the art of language; Also, he had to be a nobleman in order for his speech to be weighty. In short, you need to find a hero and use this hero's mouth to tell the pot-bellied civilians: on the front line, there are many such heroes, and the war will be won in the end. Of course, this is only one aspect, and the civil servants will not easily agree with this man, and you have to send people everywhere to promote this hero, make him a household name, and have his name talked about by every citizen at every wine table. When the deeds of heroes are known, the desire for romantic war will make people lose their minds, and at that time, the civilian clique will be forced by public opinion to demand that you send troops quickly."

"Yes, Earl", the Prince nodded, agreeing with Haraus, "do you know where you can get such a man?" ”

Haraus smiled heartily, "Your Royal Highness, I think I know one. The young man came from a fallen aristocratic family on the coast of the empire; This person once studied abroad, and resolutely returned to China because he cared about the motherland; This amazing fellow had been in that Hero's Castle --- Lundia for ten months, covered in wounds. And now, he stands outside the door with the glory of the empire baptized in blood and fire. If you want to see him, just call out his name and he will walk in and be ready to answer any questions you may have."

"Thank you, Earl, what's his name?"

"Sloin. Wright. ”

In front of every weaving machine in Dehrim; In every boudoir in Paraven; In every school in Uxhall; On the edge of every market in Suno. People started talking about a young man.

The soldiers said that the general had stayed at Fort Lundia until the last moment, and had not abandoned even the lowliest of his men;

The aristocratic maidens said that the young nobleman's face was handsome, like an ancient beautiful man carved from marble;

The peddlers' pawns said that when the officer was on the Eastern Front, he was the protector of the people, and often gave to the poor and needy.

The story of the general staggering back to Dehrim with dozens of battle flags is told;

It is said that in the dim dawn of Dehrim, the man shouted in a hoarse voice: 'Lundiaborg did not give up!' Fort Lundia is impregnable! Then he fell exhausted by the city gates;

It was said that the army of the Empire should be like this general, to fight for glory, to fight for dignity, to fight for the happiness of everyone in the Empire.

People say that this man is the glory of the empire, and this man is called Sloin. Wright.

In the blink of an eye, it was already the second spring after the war.

Wright sat in the wooden hallway, quietly looking at the weeds in front of the steps. Last night's rain filled the yard with a strong earthy smell, and a few small yellow and white flowers were scattered in the wet grass. Rainwater trickled down from the edge of the tiles on the eaves and fell to the edge of the house, silently sucking in the dirt.

It's been two months, and Wright doesn't know that he already has great honor in the empire. All he remembered was that a few officers and bards had come to him, and that perhaps in the end, people would remember Wright in the ballad of Fort Lundia. Wright felt that the greatest honor was that after returning to Dehrem, he was received by Prince Fidred, although the prince has not come to him again, but Wright has provided him with all the food and lodging. As for Wright's request to restore the family title, the prince agreed.

Now Wright just sat on the edge of the steps, quietly listening to the rain, thinking about his journey.

"It seems like a long time has passed, and it seems that my Wright has been like this for the rest of my life."

On the previous night, Count Harlaus sent someone to tell Wright that he was going to be questioned by a group of civil officials today. The Count told Wright that he only had to tell the story of what had happened at Fort Lundia, and that "it would be better to be sensational."

Wright was thinking that maybe the people in the rear were thinking about how to honor the dead warriors of Fort Lundia.

At noon, a servant approached Wright and asked him to change his clothes. Wright boarded a special carriage and went to a large auditorium. To Wright's surprise, the audience was not the dozens of bureaucrats he had imagined, but an auditorium full of people. The people quietly commented on Wright, which made Wright a little confused. But as soon as he thought of the purpose of his trip, Wright took a deep breath and walked to the middle of the auditorium.

Wright answered the questions that several officials took turns asking, and later, Wright no longer answered them one by one, but began to review everything in this Lentia Fort in a low voice.

Hundreds of people in the auditorium listened silently to a story about Fort Lundia, a poem full of blood and tears, and people kept coming and going, relaying Wright's story to those outside the auditorium.

When Wright said that he had climbed out of the dark earth and looked back at the flames of victory still burning in the sky above Fort Lundia, he noticed that the eyes of an old civil servant in front of him had become moist.

The old man with snow-white hair stood up: "All right, child. You've done enough for the Empire, and now it's time for the Empire to see the children who died for her. What about the opinions of my colleagues? The man looked left and right at the officials who were silently listening to Wright's speech, and they pursed their lips, and some of them raised their hands continuously, and eventually, most of the officials raised their right hands in approval.

Wright bowed. As he stood up, three maids came out, and in Wright's bewilderment, the women dressed Wright in shining armor and in delicate linen robes.

The old man came over and kissed Wright on the cheek, then said to everyone in the auditorium, "Let our citizens meet our heroes!" The auditorium erupted in cheers.

At this time, Wright learned that Count Harlaus had already arranged a street parade in Decherim City for him.

Wright was led out the door and mounted on a white steed, with a guard of honor holding the reins for him. In front of Wright were twenty-three newly sewn battle flags on the Eastern Front, each with a flame sewn into the background.

Infected by Wright's story, the citizens poured into the streets, throwing flowers and handkerchiefs at the young general.

Wright fell into a brief dizziness in the great shadow of the statue in the center of the city, and he almost wondered if it was a dream. With tears in their eyes, the townspeople called him the "Eagle of the North"; The soldiers raised their weapons for him and roared loudly; The ladies blushed and looked at the young nobleman with a polite salute.

Raite froze his mind and raised his right hand in response to the cheers of the people, and like a monarch, he walked through the market and received the cheers of the people.

Wright looked up, and a ray of sunlight shrouded the clouds.