Struggle in the Steam Age

After Lawrence's oath was read, the emperor replied: "I will also fulfill my obligations as a lord." Then he withdrew his left hand and took the plate from the chief attendant and handed it to Lawrence.

Lawrence froze for a moment when he took the plate, because according to common sense, after a court noble like him received the canonization, the plate should contain a canonization document with a sealing seal and a seal ring engraved with a private coat of arms. , a jeweled silver tiara and a folded cloak.

But now that the plate in Lawrence's hand is fine except for the first two items, the two headbands and cloak are replaced by two silver bowls, one of which is half filled with water, and the other is half filled with water. Bowl of soil. According to the custom, these two things are only bestowed on the feudal nobles. For example, the fief nobles among the previous few nobles have these things on their plates.

But considering this occasion, it is impossible to make a mistake, and before entering the door, someone reminded me of this problem. So Lawrence also took the plate according to the etiquette and withdrew.

The following ceremonies were similar, and only a few royal nobles who were regarded as the emperor's retainers gave speeches when they took the oath. Lawrence, who was loyal to the country and the emperor, became loyal to the emperor and the royal family. At the same time, they kissed the ring on the emperor's hand instead of putting the ring on his forehead.

After everyone's canonization ceremony was completed, the bishop of the Noble Goddess Church next door opened the magnificent book in his hand and began to recite the ordinances on it. That is, a series of content about the rules that the nobles should abide by, the rights and obligations of the nobles, and so on. At the same time, following the bishop's speech, the noble goddess also blessed the new nobles present.

After such a sacred ceremony is over, the newly conferred nobles will line up out of the palace and onto the square. Then the band played a very solemn tune to pay tribute to the guards and audience in the square, and accept their cheers and salutes.

After the series of ceremonies were over, it was already two or three o'clock in the afternoon. But before he had time to leave the palace, Lawrence was stopped by the Emperor's Chief of Attendants and took him to the Academy of Arms for some formalities.

As soon as he got into the carriage, Lawrence hadn't had time to ask anything. The chief attendant waved his hand to make him quiet, and then said: "I think you must have a lot of doubts in your heart now, and now I can explain it to you in this little time."

Lawrence nodded after hearing the words, and then stretched out his hand to signal the chief attendant to start. The chief attendant nodded when he saw this, and then he started talking. Sure enough, what he was talking about was the reason why Lawrence inexplicably got the silver bowl containing water and soil at the canonization ceremony today.

The reason for this is simple and simple, that is, at the last moment of suppressing the rebellion. Before committing suicide, the rebellious second prince ordered the few remaining dead men to capture all the cursed mages who cursed the nobles for him and send them to the churches that countered the rebellion.

The reason why he did this instead of letting those mages escape or kill them directly was probably because he wanted the nobles who pushed him out to die with him when he was facing complete failure.

But in this way, it will help everyone understand the cause and effect of the entire rebellion more conveniently. After the joint trial of various Orthodox churches and the royal family, the cursed mages captured from the rebellious second prince's mansion before explained the details of their previous manipulation of other nobles.

Lawrence's uncle was one of the first few nobles to be controlled, and his practice of offering land to the emperor was also done under manipulation. The reason why the group of manipulators did this was, on the one hand, to convey to the neutral nobles a tense atmosphere that His Majesty would even want the land of these pro-emperor nobles, so no one would be spared. On the other hand, it is to better break into the emperor's faction to investigate the situation.

And the emperor conferred Lawrence as a feudal nobleman this time, in order to show the entire aristocratic class that although the emperor wants to reform, it will be an aboveboard reform. Absolutely will not take those low-handed means.

After all, the nobles are the cornerstone of an empire. The emperor can fight against one faction, or confiscate the territories of those nobles who plot rebellion. These are all allowed within the scope of the rules. However, if such a territory obtained by relying on low-level means is found out and the matter is found out, if you pretend not to see it and eat it directly, it will cause opposition from the entire noble class and even everyone.

"That is to say, His Majesty the Emperor granted the county of Sauer to our August family again?" After hearing the chief attendant's explanation, Lawrence asked curiously. The New World pulls back.

"I'm sorry, that's not the case." The chief attendant sat there and said with a sharp bow, "After discussions between His Majesty the Emperor and the nobles, we transferred the territory for you."

According to the chief attendant's explanation, because there are a large number of open-pit coal mines that are convenient for mining in Shaw County, and the transportation is also very convenient. Therefore, after it was returned to the country, it was quickly built into a steel and machinery manufacturing center. The emperor also sent a lot of manpower and invested a lot of resources to develop it, so now this place is returned to August. Family is not suitable.

Of course, this is only a superficial reason. The real reason is that because the emperor is carrying out centralized reforms in the empire itself, it is simply impossible to reverse the process in this regard.

"This is really—" Lawrence showed a bitter face, because traditionally changing fiefdoms is a very bad situation. Especially now that he doesn't know where his fief will be changed.

"Don't worry, sir, this fief is not bad, otherwise, the group of nobles would not agree." After seeing Lawrence's face, the chief attendant comforted him.

However, this did not make Lawrence feel comforted. The nobles would indeed be saddened by the death of rabbits and foxes, but adding insult to injury and selling comrades-in-arms were also very skilled things for them. It is also a matter of course for someone like myself who has never been in the aristocratic circle to be sold.

Sure enough, when they entered the Academy of Arms to handle the handover, the map of the new location left Lawrence in a daze. Because he found that there was no such place on the map of the empire.

"Can you tell me where this island is?" He tapped on the parchment map on the table and said. "Why have I never seen an island like this on the map of the empire."

Before coming here, Lawrence looked at all the maps of the entire empire. After the awakening of his network, the memory that has been strengthened several times will not be unable to remember an island. So after seeing this map, he immediately muttered in his heart.

"This is a colony that the empire has opened up in the New World for more than 100 years." The staff member said, "And its area is ten times that of your family's old territory."

"That is to say, this island is more than 60,000 square kilometers?" Lawrence was shocked when he heard it, and then the ominous feeling became more obvious. Thinking about the value of his family's old territory, he knew that there must be something wrong with the size of this island, otherwise, even if he compensated, he wouldn't be able to compensate for an island ten times the size.

Following the staff's further statement, Lawrence's heart sank to the bottom a little bit. Because the island conferred this time is not only large enough, but the emperor also gave great convenience.

For example, because the island is not in the mainland, Lawrence has the maximum freedom. In other words, this island is a self-made territory rather than a simple noble fiefdom. In other words, apart from the fact that this new territory does not have independent diplomatic and national defense rights, the remaining rights can be exercised independently.

This also shows one point from the side, that is, this fief is likely to be a big pit. However, due to the constant urging of the staff, Lawrence could only quickly sign all the documents and then left the Academy of Arms.