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Section 284 slander

"Didn't you say he won all the way? I thought he was going well!"

"No, Your Majesty, that's not what I meant. As far as I know, His Majesty and General Essien...... An agreement was made. I wonder if it's true?"

"Well, I did promise him. If he is able to complete this task, I will give him the title of Duke and promise him a territory of his choice. The little girl replied.

"Your Majesty, I beg your pardon for taking the liberty of it, but ...... You don't feel like you're committed...... Is it a little too generous?"

"Huh?" the little girl's eyes widened in surprise.

"As far as I know, our General Essien has not fought any decent battles since he accepted the mission. He is there to deceive and betray ...... in your name."

"But at least he got rid of the rebellions, didn't he?" replied the little girl.

"Your Majesty, you should have heard the saying: no sweat, no gain. Duke's title and domain...... It is a king's highest reward for loyal and capable subordinates. You know, the dukes canonized by King Macremiz were all courtiers who were loyal to King Macremiz and were born and died for the monarch on the battlefield, and established great achievements. For these people, I fully agree that the title of a duke is a fair remuneration. But Essien...... Nothing else, his loyalty is at stake. ”

"This ......"

"陛xià. You should remember that when Byron was in power, he was faithful and served Byron before and after the saddle. Essien did a lot for Byron, and even he once came to arrest you on Byron's orders...... He didn't succeed, but at least he captured our venerable Lord Skadera and nearly killed him. At that time, Essien was completely Byron's lackey. However, when Byron was defeated and trapped in the lonely city, Essien immediately betrayed him without hesitation. Eryn said. "Let's assume that Gruney is in danger again in the future, do you think General Essien will shed his last drop of blood for you, or will he be the first to defect and join the enemy's camp?"

"This ......," the little girl hesitated. It must be said, at least on the surface, that Ellen's words are convincing.

"Of course, if General Essien had won the victory by superhuman cunning and courage, then at least I can consider him worthy of the honor in terms of ability. It is a pity that General Essien relied on intrigue and the assistance of his loyal subjects at critical moments to win the victory. If you examine every letter of success he has sent in the past, you will know that our General Essien is a speculator in the truest sense of the word. If there is one merit in him that deserves the title of duke, it is his audacity. He gambled with money that didn't belong to him, and then he just happened to win, and that's it. ”

The little girl was still hesitant.

"Your Majesty, I know that the promise of a king is better than gold. If you do nothing and just wait, then I'm afraid that the untalented and virtuous General Essien will be given the title of duke that he does not deserve. ”

The little girl hesitated. In a trance, she remembered the time when she had talked to Essifat in the barracks under the city of Fornoros.

“...... As for the so-called generals, in fact, they only exist for one purpose: that is, victory. The little girl remembered what Ashrufat had said. "However, whether it is to use the method to win the victory, whether to steal, to cheat, or to obtain it openly, whether to fight head-on or sneak attack, or even threaten, poison, assassinate, whether to use easy methods or hard methods, or to resign to fate, or to risk great dangers...... And so on and so forth, and so on and so forth, are not important. There is only one thing that matters, and that is to take victory in your hands. As long as he can achieve victory, he is a qualified general, and he is a good general. Otherwise, it's a wreck. In other words, a qiē is a consequentialism. For example, Essien, whether you hate him or like him, at least you have to admit that he is capable. He's a guy who knows how to use shapes. At that time, even I had to be defeated at his hands. ”

"You lost at his hands?"

"Well, it's Byron's safe withdrawal from Falcon City. Victory and defeat were not determined by the size of the casualties (although in most cases there was a direct connection between the two), and in that case Byron was left unharmed...... It can only be understood as a failure. Essien did earn a clean victory. ”

"So, Ashrufat, do you think he'll succeed?"

"I believe so. If it were Essien, he would definitely make the most of the various battlefields and conditions outside the army......"

“...... Therefore, the ideal way is to ......" Allynn's voice to wake the little girl from the trance of memory.

“...... Now, remove General Essien from his duties!" said Ellen.

"But......" The little girl herself didn't know why she said that. "Is there a replacement?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, I have some suitable candidates at my disposal, for example, I know a Sir Damien, of noble blood, brave and good at war, and has a long military experience......"

"Who is this Sir Damian?" interrupted the girl. "How I haven't heard of it. ”

"An experienced commander, who was the commander of the border guards in the south-west of the kingdom. Later, because Byron was in power, he was dismissed from his post and was idle at home. He is currently in Eagle Falcon. ”

"Really?" the little girl thought about it. She was also a queen, and at least knew that the garrison in the southwest of the kingdom was not an elite force - because it was close to Chur, a country in the Stygia region. Relations between the two countries have always been friendly, with a quiet border and prosperous trade. And Chur's territorial ambitions, if any, were never aimed beyond Stygia. This is not to say that Kur is a weak and weak state, but that the peoples of both sides are so different in life, ideas, religion, and so much so that it is really difficult to annex the territory of the other side and stabilize its rule. In addition, the two sides are separated by a natural and steep mountainous area, and only one mountain road is connected, and this geographical condition also prevents the ambition of coveting each other. Both sides were content with the prosperity of each other's trade, and did not want more.

"Well, someone should have recommended him to you, right, my Prime Minister?"

"In fact, it was just an accident. Some time ago, a Viscount of Minas came to visit me and spoke to me about this Sir Damien. ”

"Let me think about it. ”

This sentence became the last sentence of such a meeting. Allyn left, and the little girl sat alone in the room, which looked lonely because it was too large. Consider Iryn's Tiyì today.

Having said that, although Eshurufat recognized Essien's ability, to be honest, at that time, the little girl herself didn't quite believe that Essin could complete such a combat mission with five hundred soldiers. Even after Essien had surrendered Byron's two castles and had 7,000 troops, she did not believe that Essien would be able to accomplish such a task.

But that's just the way it is. Essien was on the offensive with divine help, and even though he was dealing with fortified castles beyond his capabilities, there were always moles who helped him open the gates. And the will of those lords to resist is far less strong than everyone expected. In fact, as Ilynn said, even though Essien won all the way, it didn't seem like he was capable at all, but just shit luck.

"Her Majesty the Queen. A voice sounded, interrupting the little girl's thoughts. She turned her head and saw her makeshift governess appear in front of her.

"Rhodia, it's you......"

"Your Majesty, you look like you're listless. Rhodia asked. "Are you still unhappy about that? Rest assured, we didn't plan to succeed in one fell swoop. ”

"No, I'm thinking about Essien. Rodia, you know Essien, right?"

"Oh, it's the same General Essien...... Speaking of which, I still know a little bit about it. He's a bit of a strange guy. ”

"Kind of weird?"

"Well, he used to be...... Well, what about the gladiators in the gladiatorial arena in the city. Rhodia recalled. "If you want to talk about gladiators, that's a precarious profession. So most of them are regulars in Flower Street, although rude, but they can be regarded as generous. But that Essien was different, he never seemed to have been to Flower Street as a guest when he was a gladiator. Well, I heard so. ”

"He likes men?" "Because of his contact with Rhodia, he listened to all kinds of stories about the bottom of human society. This can be regarded as an indirect contact with the dark side of the world. Under the influence of her ears and eyes, the little girl's thoughts have also become a little blackened.

"Not really, I've seen this man...... Anyway, I have the impression that this person has ambitions beyond ordinary people. For the sake of this ambition, he was able to endure a qiē. ”

"Hey, didn't you say he didn't go to Flower Street?"

"When you're a gladiator, you don't go. But after becoming Byron's subordinate, he often went. However, he never looked for a woman himself, but accompanied other people. He was a very self-controlled man on the one hand, and ambitious on the other. I remember him once ...... with little Byron Little Byron was merry in his room, and he stood guard at the door to prevent others from disturbing him. It's really not common to say that a man like that. ”

"This man...... Can you be trusted?"

"This, the so-called trust or not depends on the specific environment. You should know that those kings who died in history, when they really came to the end, how many people around them were willing to swear to follow? On the contrary, a wise monarch such as King Makremiz, even his half-minded subordinates were trembling and did not dare to make a mistake. So there's no point in discussing this. If people like Ashrufat are everywhere, they are not worth cherishing. ”

"Can't be trusted...... the little girl muttered.

"In my opinion, you shouldn't worry too much about that. The current situation...... Essien is impossible to betray!"