I'm not a lord

Chapter 274 Reform of Noble Titles
Inside the military camp in Kawanuma County, Lynn put down his ladle, took the dark yellow parchment scroll from the clerk Victor, and asked, "Who won?"

Victor had already seen the contents of the scroll beforehand, so he replied, "My lord, the winner is Otto."

"Otto won, which was somewhat expected."

Lynn unfolded the scroll and glanced at it, then took a copper goblet from the tray for Victor, gesturing for him to pour himself a drink. He then asked, "What about the loser, Lothair?"

Two months ago, Lynn had already predicted the approximate time of the war and the most likely winner.

As he had predicted, a great battle broke out in December, resulting in the defeat of the Duke of the Marsh and the victory of Otto III.

The difference in combat strength between the two sides is quite obvious. If the Duke of the Swamp still had those thousand court cavalry, there might be some explanation.

But in order to protect his stronghold, he secretly sent the cavalry, along with his eldest son, back to Golden Deer Castle before the decisive battle.

One cannot have it all.

Wanting everything results in getting nothing in return.

Of course, it's also possible that the Duke of the Swamp had already foreseen his defeat and deliberately left himself an escape route.

Keeping a thousand veterans might give them a chance to make a comeback.

Just as Lynn was talking to Victor, the fifth brother, Andrei, quickly finished the last bit of porridge in his bowl, moved closer to Lynn, and craned his neck to peek at the contents of the parchment.

Unfortunately, his education was limited, and he couldn't understand half of the characters, only making out a vague outline.

In the end, he could only sit back down in his chair, feeling rather dejected.

“We haven’t received any definite news yet, but Lothair is most likely still alive.” As he spoke, Victor pulled out a chair and sat down opposite Andrei, naturally pouring himself half a glass of warm mead.

Lynn never put on airs with his core subordinates. If they happened to be reporting on their work during a meal, he would invite them to eat with him.

Victor rode his horse swiftly from the castle to the military camp, having been freezing the whole way, and desperately needed a sip of hot wine to warm himself up.

Right now, all sorts of rumors are flying around. Some say the Duke of the Marsh has died a heroic death, others say he surrendered to Otto to retain his title, and still others say he has already secretly fled back to Golden Deer Castle.

However, Lynn has established relatively reliable intelligence channels, enabling him to effectively distinguish intelligence from various parties.

According to the most reliable account, Lothair escaped the battlefield under the protection of his personal guards.

Upon hearing this, Andrei clicked his tongue and said, "How come you're still alive? It would have been better if you were dead."

This statement was somewhat disrespectful to the Duke of the Marsh, but Victor and Andrei shared the same view.

For the White River Territory at present, the dead Duke of the Swamp is the best duke.

With his death, the duchy will be leaderless.

Once the snow melts next year, Lynn will be able to easily penetrate into the heart of the duchy.

Moreover, Lynn was able to recruit nobles from the Crown Territory in the east, replacing the Duke of the Swamp as the new banner of the North.

After downing half a glass of hot wine, Victor pursed his lips and said, "Of course I also hope he dies in battle, but unfortunately, in a war of this scale, it's not difficult for a commander to escape."

By this time, Lynn had already read through the intelligence report as quickly as possible.

To be fair, the information was quite detailed, seemingly coming from the account of a war veteran.

According to intelligence reports, the Duke of the Marshland and Otto III fought their final battle north of the city of Koren.

The two sides had very similar formations, with a strong right flank and a weak left flank.

The battle began around nine o'clock in the morning and the outcome was basically decided by noon.

The Duke of the Swamp's weak left wing could not withstand the fierce offensive of the opposing right wing. The ferocious alliance of Southern nobles crushed the ragtag troops on the left wing in just two hours.

This ragtag force quickly collapsed and fled the battlefield in several separate groups.

Otto's two flanks then launched an attack on the Duke of the Marsh's right flank.

Although the native nobles of the Crown Territory fought bravely, the enemy was simply too numerous. After holding out for more than half an hour, they began to retreat and were subsequently utterly defeated.

In the ensuing chaos and pursuit, most of the native nobles of the North chose to surrender, with only a few managing to escape.

The Duke of the Swamp was escorted by hundreds of elite guards, and his main camp was located at the rear, so he was not caught in a pincer movement and naturally escaped safely.

Lynn had anticipated the outcome of the war, but the fighting itself was rather lackluster.

Lynn put down the scroll, glanced at the two important ministers, one civil and one military, sitting below him, and chuckled, "Lothair must have escaped back to River Bend Castle again. If it had been a month earlier, I would have sent troops to capture him alive."

River Bend Fort is only 200 kilometers from Three Rivers City, and it takes less than two days for a boat to travel down the Jing River.

Even by land, they could reach the city within ten days.

With Lynn's current forces, plus the bronze mortars that are now ready for use, he truly has the strength and confidence to launch a strong attack on River Bend.

The bronze mortar was not difficult to use, and the steps involved were quite simple.

Under Lynn's careful guidance, a group of clever soldiers have already mastered the basics of how to use artillery.

Compared to traditional catapults, the power of cannons is naturally incomparable, and they may even be able to destroy part of the castle's battlements and walls.

Even the most fortified River Bend Fort could not withstand the repeated bombardment of more than a dozen cannons.

People are always prone to fear of the unknown, and the first combat use of artillery will inevitably play a tactical role far beyond firepower.

Unfortunately, the weather was not cooperating; the northern border in mid-to-late December was simply not suitable for long-distance military operations.

After a night of blizzard, two or three hundred of the thousand soldiers camped in the wild would probably freeze to death, and nearly half of the livestock accompanying the army would also freeze to death.

Unfortunately, artillery is extremely demanding on animal power. Even a lightweight mortar with a short barrel requires at least five strong draft horses to pull it.

Just two or three snowfalls are enough to completely render a weary army incapable of fighting; that is the power of the northern winter.

Victor poured himself another half glass of hot wine, and holding the glass, he shared his views on the situation in the North:

"My lord, it is not appropriate to send troops now. The earliest we can do is wait until mid-February next year."

I think you should now send envoys to try to win over the nobles of the Crown Territory, especially those whose territories are close to the White River Territory. Now that Lothair is no longer able to stop Otto, you should raise the banner of the North and lead the North to resist the invaders from the South.

Not only can you use this opportunity to expand your military strength and territory, but you can also gain boundless fame and prestige, which will help you in your future coronation as king.

As a high-achieving student who studied at Amber Harbor University, Victor harbored a dream of the 'Great North.' This was also the dream of many highly educated individuals in the North.

To put it simply, it means concentrating the power of the entire Northern Kingdom to end the two-hundred-year-old system of decentralized governance.

Because he was born in Three Rivers, he naturally became a supporter of the Duke of the Marsh, who once hoped that Lothair would unify the North.

Later, Three Rivers fell into Lynn's hands, and Victor, recommended by his brother Marcel, entered Lynn's court and quickly rose to the high position of court scribe.

Victor possesses extremely high professional ethics. He not only loves what he does but also remains loyal to his employer. As a result, he transfers his hopes for realizing his dreams to Lynn.

There was nothing shameful about it, and he even took the opportunity to confess to Lynn.

Given the rare opportunity, Victor naturally hoped that Lynn could seize it and replace the Duke of the Marshland in one fell swoop.

Lynn pondered for a moment and asked, "Your plan is indeed feasible, but have you considered why these nobles would want to pledge allegiance to me?"

He then asked, "You also know that there is no fertile ground for nobles to live on my territory. All my subjects are loyal to me, and all my lands belong to me alone. How could those nobles easily pledge allegiance to me?"

In fact, it wouldn't be difficult for Lynn to gain the loyalty of the royal nobles.

If he were willing to acknowledge the privileges of those nobles in their respective territories and promise to protect their lands and people, he could instantly expand his territory to a vast area.

That's exactly what Earl Mirror Iron did in the south. Just a few days ago, he held a conference at a castle east of White Eagle Castle, where he received many nobles from the Valley Duchy, acting like a duke.

Clearly, Earl Mirror Iron had secured the loyalty of these nobles with his promises, thereby expanding his territory and military strength. He may now be besieging White Eagle Castle.

He might not be able to breach the fortified castle atop the mountain this winter, but he could trap the Duke of the Valley inside, leaving him to deal with it slowly next spring. With enough time, he could eventually break through the city.

But do these powers truly belong entirely to him? The answer is clearly no.

Earl Mirror Iron ascended to the ducal throne through 'borrowed' power; the price he paid was bound to be extremely heavy.

Victor was well aware of these political dilemmas.

After a moment of silence, he offered his opinion: "My lord, I think you can make some compromises, such as retaining the titles of those nobles and granting them certain economic privileges, but they must hand over their territories, armies, and people in exchange for your protection."

After nearly half a year of experience as a clerk, Victor's understanding of politics has deepened significantly, and he has almost fully mastered the knowledge he had learned in the past.

His proposed solution was quite feasible, and Lynn was actually very familiar with it.

Isn't this the same as the ancient Eastern system of "real fiefdoms"?

Simply put, it means that the monarch grants titles and fiefs to his subjects, but these subjects can only enjoy some of the economic rights of the fief and cannot directly govern the population of the fief.

The existence of this system essentially resolved the conflict between the monarch and his subjects over fiefdoms, making it virtually impossible for subjects to rebel against the monarch using the power of their fiefdoms.

Human wisdom in politics is always interconnected.

In the southern part of the continent of Dievas, some countries that have successfully centralized their powers have actually begun to implement similar systems.

After hearing this, Lynn turned to look at the fifth brother on his right and asked with a smile, "Andrei, do you want to be a baron?"

“Baron? Me?” Andrei was very surprised. He pointed to himself and said, “My lord, how could I be a baron? If I were to manage thousands of people in the territory, I would go crazy.”

Although Andrei has been studying with Timo the sixth brother for a year, he still can't recognize all the basic words, and his arithmetic is terrible; he can only do addition and subtraction within single digits.

If he were to manage a baronial territory, he would most likely be sidelined by his stewards, managers, and knights, and wouldn't even be able to calculate how much revenue the territory could generate in a year.

Lynn picked up his wine glass, took a sip, and then asked, "What if this baronship was just an empty title without any territory, where you could receive a portion of the territory's tax revenue without managing it? Would you accept it?"

"If it's a reward from the master, then I can only barely indulge in the life of a baron." Andrei's face immediately lit up with a smile, as if to say, "Brother, you should have said so earlier."

Who wouldn't like free income?
Andrei recently married a beautiful wife and naturally wants to leave more wealth for his future children; this is a father's most basic wish.

Lynn then turned to Victor on his left and instructed, "Make a note of this: I will soon be assigning a noble title to all the major generals in the army, but they will not have any land to command; they will only receive economic benefits."

“Yes, sir.” Victor, of course, understood the implication in Lynn’s words, and his face lit up with joy.

Granting noble titles to military generals served both as a reward for their achievements over the past year and as a way to set an example for the outside world.

Lynn could use this to tell the nobles of the Crown Territory that the Earl of White River does not completely exclude the noble class, but can only retain the title and a portion of the economic benefits, while the territory, population and army must be handed over.

If you can accept these requirements, you will be able to gain the protection of Earl Shirakawa.

Even if these nobles surrendered to Otto III in the south, they still had to obediently hand over their territories and people.

With such a large territory and population in the Crown Territory, Otto had to grant lands to the southern nobles who came to him for refuge, while also reserving a large territory for himself.

To satisfy both of these requirements, the local nobles of the royal territory will have to suffer.

Therefore, Lynn was not afraid that the nobles of the royal domain would refuse to comply.

A painful choice: do you pledge allegiance to the people of the North or to the people of the South?
Of course, you can continue to follow the Duke of the Swamp, or join the newly rising Earl of Mirror Iron. I, Lynn, will not stop you, but next year you will see the army of White River Territory marching to your doorstep.

In fact, Lynn has already made considerable concessions. Retaining the noble title and economic benefits will definitely put pressure on the territory's finances and force him to support fewer soldiers.

However, after considering various factors, Lynn decided to make some compromises.

Since he was going to award titles to the generals in the army anyway, he might as well take this opportunity to finalize the rules and system for noble titles.

You can't expect that when you become a king or emperor, the brothers who fought alongside you will still be humble 'army commanders', right?

How shabby is that?

We're all brothers, so we should definitely make progress and achieve prosperity together.

As Lynn pondered, he thought of his own title.

He is currently only the Earl of Baihe. If other nobles of earl rank were to come and submit, what title would be appropriate for him to give them?
Surely it can't be an earl, right? Then who exactly is in charge of the White River Territory?

For the sake of future expansion, Lynn's own title also needs to be mentioned, and he happens to have a naturally prestigious title at hand.

In the evening, just as he and Victor returned to the castle, they received a bombshell message.

Herman, the Duke of the Valley, has two daughters on their way to Three Rivers and are seeking his political asylum.

However, Hermann himself did not follow, but was determined to defend White Eagle Castle to the death.

(End of this chapter)