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From any point of view, the current governor of the Armenian Military District, General Hughes, can be regarded as the real power figure of the Byzantine Empire, and he is also the top class.

If there was a list of "the hated men of the emperor's heart", then Governor Hughes would be one of them, and undoubtedly at the top.

The Armenian Military District, centered on the capital city of Merika, is composed of six surrounding cities and dozens of villages and towns, and importantly, it is also rich in iron ore in Armenia - which makes the Armenian Military District the overall strength enough to rank among the top three of the more than 50 military districts of the empire!

What worries the royal family even more is that the Armenian Military District is too close to Dìdū Osgiria. It is the closest military district to the Dìdū Command, and if it goes well, it takes only three days to march from Merica City to Osgilia!

Beside the couch, there is such a big tiger sleeping, I am afraid that no emperor can sleep well.

Governor Hughes was not yet fifty years old, and in the usual sense was the peak of a man's rise to power—with enough experience and experience from the years, and not to the point of old age.

And what also worries the royal family is that this Hughes Governor can indeed be considered a good leader. His family has owned the Armenian Military District for seventy years, and by the time he was the third generation. Among the three generations of governors, under his hands, the strength of the Armenian Military District has developed to the highest state, and the Armenian Military District under his rule is more prosperous and powerful than the times of the previous governors.

As the family's third-generation governor, General Hughes was a man of considerable intelligence, and his xìng character also possessed the virtues of success: decisiveness, tenacity, ambition, and cunning when compromises were needed.

It is worth mentioning that this Hughes governor has another "characteristic" that is widely circulated among the upper echelons of the empire.

Despite his official position as Governor of the "Military District" and the rank of Imperial General, Governor Hughes was never a qualified military man. In his resume, he has only experienced one war, and that was in a war when the current Emperor, His Majesty Contos, led the Emperor's ** team against the invasion of the Odins. In that war, Hughes, who was still serving in the army at the time, experienced that war as the deputy flag officer of a flag regiment, and experienced the only battle in his life during the war, which ended in the defeat of the Emperor's ** team.

The only thing Hughes learned in that battle was that the Odin went mad, far more savage than you might think.

This became a flaw in his character: throughout his life, he always had an indescribable fear of the country of Odin, although he hid it deeply, deeply. It can be said that Governor Hughes is the kind of person who rules with an iron fist on the inside and a tough leader on the outside.

Another characteristic of the xìng grid is that General Hughes seems to have been born with an irresistible yearning for "aristocracy".

That is, although he was nominally a military man, an imperial general, a governor-general. But he seems to want to be a real nobleman all the time.

Yes, this Hughes Governor, is a standard "aristocratic control".

Even in his life, he was strict with himself by the standards of a nobleman - it can be said that if you don't know Governor Hughes, then you will feel that he is more of a nobleman than the ninety percent of the nobles of the empire!

First of all, he paid great attention to etiquette, and basically he carried out the etiquette and behavior of the aristocracy almost completely and meticulously in his life. He liked to wear fancy clothes, and at the same time learned the "kindness" of the aristocracy. This "aristocratic benevolence" is defined by the fact that he may often show his kindness to some of the lower classes. But this kind of kindness is only for the sake of showing, it does not mean that he is really compassionate, but only for the sake of properly showing his benevolent side. He may occasionally say a few kind words to his groom or even the gardener, and even pat the other person on the shoulder, but the real effect of his politeness is to remind the other party: I will always be the master, and you will always be a servant. I can be great if I show my kindness once in a while, and if you dare to forget who you are, then you are transgressing.

In addition, Governor Hughes paid special attention to the aristocratic lifestyle, for example, he was very picky about food and clothing, and he liked to hold a banquet in his palatial governor's mansion after every prayer, inviting celebrities from all walks of life to participate in grand events, and during these balls or banquets, he would wear the most traditional aristocratic dress, and even wear a wig on some major festivals.

Also, Governor Hughes fanatically yearns for aristocratic culture and civilization. Everyone knows that the true aristocracy is very focused on "tradition" and "family glory". Unfortunately, Governor Hughes's family had no proud traditions: his family was only three generations old, his grandfather was the first Governor of the Armenian Military District, and in fact his grandfather was a young man who was only a big soldier in the army, and only took advantage of the war to make his fortune - even his grandfather did not learn to write his own name until he was twenty years old. By the time Governor Hughes came by the time, Hughes had learned at least three languages and could write poetry in aristocratic calligraphy.

What's more, in order to satisfy his "aristocratic dream", he once hired the empire's first-class heraldic experts and historians to go through a series of incredible researches, trying to verify from his ancestors that their ancestors had noble bloodlines: under the influence of large gold coins, some scholars succumbed, and they "discovered" that the ancestors of Governor Hughes possessed the royal blood of a certain ancient kingdom. Of course, many more people think that this so-called discovery is simply made up. Governor Hughes, however, did not think so, and spent more money on the experts to verify the coat of arms and traditions of the noble lineage, and revised a thick genealogy, which was said to be thicker than the Imperial Code.

Suffice it to say, Governor Hughes is an outlier among all the governors of the military districts, on the one hand he is the governor of the military districts, the beneficiary of the Tema military district system, and at the same time must do his best to protect the interests of this group. On the other hand, Governor Hughes seems to have some disdain for the company of those governors, preferring to make friends with the aristocracy.

At this point, he is actually a very conflicted person. Because everyone knows that the existence of the governors of the military districts is for the purpose of confrontation with the imperial family. The aristocracy, on the other hand, were loyal supporters of royal rule.

So, if Governor Hughes really wanted to be a complete aristocracy, then first he had to be truly loyal to the royal family.

On the other hand, to the embarrassment of Governor Hughes, he did not have a real title of nobility.

Until now, the title on his head was only a "lord", the lowest of these titles, which was not even recognized as a real title of nobility at all.

Everyone knows that Governor Hughes dreamed that the Emperor would give him a real title of nobility - there was even a joke in the upper echelons of the Empire: if the Emperor wanted to remove the threat of the Armenian Military District, he would not need to have thousands of troops at all, but only promised Hughes the title of Earl or Marquis, and perhaps the Governor Hughes would lead his troops to surrender.

Salvador and Hughes have known each other for a long time, so he is familiar with his colleague's special hobbies. After killing dìdū, he led his men all the way into the Armenian Military District, got rid of the pursuers behind him, and finally came to the city of Merika, to the governor's palace.

Although Salvador urgently needed to meet with Governor Hughes immediately to discuss important matters, he was politely told by the housekeeper in the governor's palace in a formal dress that the Governor was having afternoon tea, and asked the honorable Lord Salvador to wait. When the Governor had finished his afternoon tea and had changed his clothes, he would come to see him at once.

Looking at the butler, dressed like a court steward, Salvatore endured his restlessness.

He was familiar with Hughes and knew that this guy's fanaticism for aristocratic life, aristocratic tea time, was simply sacrosanct in this guy's heart.

Still, Salvador and his party were treated generously by the Governor's Palace, and everyone was given food and rest.

In the process of breaking through, less than 60 of the more than 100 Jīng Rui in El Salvador ran into Merica City. Among these 60 people, there are still several wounded, who are also fully cared for here.

At this moment, in the small conference room of the Governor's Palace, Salvatore was accompanied by only two cronies and guards, and two ladies, Adeline and Daphne, who rubbed their numb wrists and sat helplessly in their chairs, depressed.

It was a full half hour before Governor Hughes finally appeared.

The Governor of Hughes, who was not yet fifty years old, was slender and straight, and looked much younger than Salvador, with a slightly morbid pale face that the nobles coveted, and even a black hemorrhoid on the left side of his cheek, and his beard was extremely neatly trimmed.

When the Hughes governor walked into the reception room, his first act was not to greet El Salvador. His eyes fell on the two girls for the first time, and then his eyes suddenly lit up. He walked briskly past Salvador's side and came to the two girls, then with an elegant smile on his face, he nodded slightly, bowed, took Daiffiny's hand, and gestured to his lips, a standard kiss that could not be more standard: "It is an honor to meet you, Your Highness." He took a step back, took Adeline's hand and kissed her hand: "I hope that the two Highnesses can enjoy a pleasant mood here, and I guarantee that they will be treated in accordance with your status here." ”

Salvatore couldn't help but laugh and cry, just coldly watching Hughes complete his "aristocratic" etiquette. Finally, when Governor Hughes finally turned to face him, Salvatore stepped forward and hugged him. Hughes seemed uncomfortable with such a hug, and in fact, in his understanding, nobles of status would never greet them with the slightly vulgar etiquette of hugging.

"I need to talk to you right away. Salvatore stared into Hughes's eyes, a guy who had always been a bit of a mouthful, and although everyone knew each other for a long time, the two had never been friends, never been.

"I know you're in a hurry. Hughes was unhurried: "However, there is no hurry at this moment. ”

Next, the "noble governor" actually pretended to greet the two highnesses for a long time, complimented each other's beauty for a while, and talked a few words about the weather. Adeline and Daphnene were obviously embarrassed, they were prisoners of the rebels, lambs who had fallen into the hands of the enemy, but this Governor Hughes seemed to entertain the two distinguished guests attending the banquet.

When Salvatore's face became more and more ugly, Hughes finally put an end to his aristocratic performance, and as if he was very satisfied with this process, he slowly raised his hand and summoned the butler who was dressed in a flowery beard: "Take the two distinguished ladies down to rest, give them the best courtesy, and make sure that our distinguished guests are satisfied." ”

Salvador immediately frowned, he didn't expect that as soon as they met, this guy would openly want to snatch these two important captives from his hands, but Salvador hesitated a little in his heart, and acquiesced in this move, after all, he was now in the other party's territory.

"Okay, now we can get down to business. When the two girls were taken out, Salvador's voice was low and Salvador asked, and those who knew him well knew that this was a sign that the adult's patience had reached a critical point.

"Don't be anxious, my friend. Hughes sat down slowly, he took out a handkerchief and wiped the corners of his mouth, and smiled: "Actually, I have made all the preparations, and my Jīng Sharp Infantry Regiment has already made all the preparations yesterday - I hope this news will effectively ease your anxiety." ”

Salvatore breathed a sigh of relief, and his face looked slightly better.

"I have a problem, though. Hughes still had a smile on his face: "I only have 20,000 standing troops, and in Dìdū Oskiria, I now have more than 40,000 troops, not including the other standing regiments that were quickly assembled upon hearing the news. What do you think I should do? I could mobilize more troops, but you know, last winter my territory was hit by a snowstorm, and I was short of food, and I was ......."

"Enough. Salvatore coldly interrupted Hughes, and he stared at Hughes: "I think you understand what we are facing! That old madman with the crown has finally gone mad! Now is our best chance! The emperor wants to wipe us all out, Hughes! All!! This is a war, this is an official declaration of war, and all the governors of the Tema Military Region will be involved! I need your army to launch an offensive immediately and make an offensive posture against Osgilia! Because you are the closest military district to Osgilia! You must march in at once to show our toughness!Let all the people of this empire know that our supporters of the Tema system will not compromise!!Do you understand!!"

Hughes smiled and said nothing.

"I don't think I need to remind you to understand that because of the location of the Armenian Military Region, while the old emperor is cleaning the dìdū, he will gather all the forces in his hands to attack here as quickly as possible!" Salvador sneered: "A corps of the City Guard, plus the Imperial Forest Army, and the Second and Ninth Corps that has just been reorganized, add up to more than 60,000 troops! These troops will appear under your nose as quickly as possible! The emperor will try to sweep Armenia as soon as possible and eradicate the biggest threat around him. So, Hughes, you can go around in circles with me here, or pretend with me -- to be honest, I hate your aristocratic tone, you're not a nobleman at all, no! You know this very well in your own heart, and those nobles hate us and despise us! In their minds, we, the governors of the military districts, are just a bunch of nouveau riche. ”

Hughes finally put away his smile, and he said slowly: "As you said, the emperor will gather at least sixty thousand troops, and the strength of our Armenian military district is not enough to face the three standing regiments of zhōngyāng alone. ”

"You're not alone. El Salvador gave assurances: "My territory is already mobilizing, and my army will be mobilized as quickly as possible." At the same time, there are all of our fifty-four military districts, and each of them will show their strength! Of course, as a vanguard, Armenia will be compensated to a certain extent. Salvatore took a deep breath when he said this: "I personally make a promise, in the future, once you capture Osgiria, then the original Osgilia and the Dìdū Municipality will be included in your future territory! It's just my personal commitment, but I promise that when it's time to make a collective decision, my allies and I will support this proposal, and I think, with you and your allies, we're getting more than half of the votes at the roundtable. ”

"A very appealing proposition. Hughes squinted, his eyes smiling, "Osgiria, the city of miracles...... As the future new capital of my 'Armenian district'...... Sounds like a great proposition. ”