Volume 3: Artifacts Chapter 19 Three Conditions
Luke's words were so overbearing that they made the people in the conference room think back to the things he had done since he became famous.
The new nobles of the Cross Society had run the city of Nutao like an iron barrel. The Empire had once wanted to take back Nutao City, but most of the people sent there ended up with nothing. After Meteorite arrived in Nutao City, it quickly disintegrated the power of the Cross Society in Nutao City and firmly controlled the city in its own hands.
The Western Territory has always been the most troublesome territory for the Empire. The nobles in the Western Territory have formed an offensive and defensive alliance and do not take the imperial power seriously. After the meteorite arrived in the Western Territory, it did not take too long for the nobles in the Western Territory to hand in their letters of loyalty. Now the nobles in the Western Territory are very honest, and each of them is like an ostrich with its head buried in the ground, and they remain silent no matter how the situation in the Empire changes.
Imperial capital...
Meteorite is a jack of all trades in the imperial capital. With the full entry of officials from Nutao City into the palace and their important posts, Meteorite will soon become the prime minister of the empire. The empress will be sidelined by him, and he will become the most powerful official in the history of the empire.
Now the meteorite has come to the Tedega Hills.
If someone else said those arrogant words, no one would believe them.
But that's what Meteor said.
That makes sense!
And it was said in public, so it was likely to reach the ears of the Celtic Duke.
Isn't he afraid of arousing the Celtic Duke's vigilance?
General Joshua asked Luke, "Can I know your plan for Tedega Hill?"
"General Joshua, if you tell me the Northern Army's plan to attack northward, I will tell you my plan for the Tedegar Hills."
Luke was aggressive, and General Qiao Xiuer immediately denied it: "The north is the homeland of the Empire. How could the Northern Army attack the north? Marquis Meteor, please don't frame me."
Luke held out his hand and Prince MacDonald immediately placed a document in his hand.
Luke took the document and threw it in front of General Joshua without even looking at it: "This is the intelligence collected by the Imperial Secret Service about the Northern Army. There is evidence that the Northern Army is building many permanent fortresses in the fan-shaped area north of the Triumph Fortress, and the defense surfaces of all the fortresses are facing north.
..."
Luke reached back and took another document from Prince McDonald, then threw it in front of General Joshua: "This is a detailed list of supplies for the Northern Army signed by the Imperial Cabinet in the past three months. According to the intelligence of the Secret Intelligence Bureau, in these three months, the Northern Army did not engage in a battle with the Barbarian Army with a scale of more than 100 people, and the supplies reported by the Northern Army increased instead of decreasing.
What is puzzling is that the cabinet gave it all.”
Luke brought another document and threw it in front of General Joshua: "These are the types and quantities of supplies that entered the Tedega Hills from the Northern Legion's control area. Although the above figures are shocking, this is only a small part of what the Imperial Secret Intelligence Agency has discovered.
General Qiao Xiuer, the Empire ordered you to quell the rebellion of the Duke of Celtic, what do you want to do by doing these things? "
General Qiao Xiuer did not look at the three documents on the table. There was no need to deny them if they were all correct.
He looked at Luke and asked, "It was Emperor Augustine who gave me the order, but His Majesty has not appeared in public for a long time. There are rumors in the court that His Majesty has died long ago!
Marquis Meteorite, is this rumor true or false?"
Everyone in the venue looked at the meteorite.
The rumor that Emperor Augustine had passed away had already spread, but no one dared to confirm it. Meteorite was definitely someone who knew about his majesty's health condition, and everyone was looking forward to his answer.
Luke glanced at Agatha first, then said, "Rumors are just rumors. No matter how I answer, some people will only believe the answer they want to believe. General Qiao Shuer, here are His Majesty's daughter and His Majesty's grandson. It is beneath your status to tell such an absurd rumor on such an important occasion."
"I'm sorry, Your Highness." Joshua immediately apologized to Sinclair.
"Calm down for a moment." Sinclair knew that as a professional soldier, Joshua was no match for Meteorite in terms of rhetoric, so he said to Luke, "Let's get down to business. What does the Queen want me to do?"
Luke said: "Since the Northern Army has left the North, this army name can no longer be used. The Empire has a reorganization plan for the Northern Army, and the army name is tentatively set as the 'Royal First Magic Army'. As a pilot unit for new magic weapons, the Royal First Magic Army will be the first military force in the Empire to receive magic."
When the generals of the Northern Army heard that the name of the army was to be changed, they were opposed. But when they heard that the new name of the army was "The First Royal Magic Army", their mood suddenly changed 180 degrees.
The generals learned about magic from the chief magic consultant of the legion. It was originally a branch of alchemy, but now it has been picked up by the City of Raging Waves as a major subject. Influenced by the City of Raging Waves and the Oulu Academy, major famous colleges around the world have begun to pay attention to magic, an ancient subject that has been given new vitality.
Through mechanical prosthetics, the generals understood the application of magic technology and realized that magic weapons would reshape a whole new mode of warfare.
What the generals could not have imagined was that yesterday they were still discussing how the Northern Legion, as the disadvantaged party, should respond when faced with the generational advantage of the Magic Legion's weapons.
Now... you told me that the Northern Legion will be reorganized into the Magic Legion.
And it is the "Royal First".
What an honor!
But can such a good thing really happen to the Northern Legion?
The empire is now controlled by the evil queen, and Meteor is the biggest traitor of the queen's party, and the roadblock for Prince Sinclair to ascend the throne. Could he be so kind as to let the Northern Army be the first to receive the magic weapons? Isn't he afraid that the Northern Army will be the first to send him to the guillotine if they get the magic weapons?
Expectations and distrust made the expressions of every general of the Northern Legion extremely rich.
Sinclair didn't expect Luke to give such a big gift.
"I can't figure it out, what good will this do you?"
Luke replied: "Benefits? Of course there are. The reorganization of the Northern Army into the Royal First Magic Army is conditional."
Sinclair nodded. That's right.
"Tell me your conditions."
"The first one: General Qiao Shuer resigned from the post of commander of the Northern Army..." Luke stopped Qiao Shuer from speaking and continued, "Your Highness Sinclair will serve as the first commander of the Royal First Magic Army.
General Qiao Xiuer, if you have any opinions, please tell me."
Say, what did you say?
Just now, Qiao Xuer thought that Meteorite was going to take over the military power of the Northern Legion, but he ended up giving the position of legion commander to Sinclair.
Can I object?
To oppose would be to be disloyal to His Royal Highness Sinclair, and would prevent the reorganization of the Legion and offend everyone in the Northern Legion.
"I...I have no objection ..."
General Qiao Xuer had no choice but to agree. He believed that Meteorite had put the harsh conditions aside for the future, and it would not be too late to object then.
Luke asked Sinclair, "Your Highness has no objection, right?"
Sinclair didn't know what Luke wanted to do, so he said, "General Joshull has no objection, and neither do I."
Luke continued, "The second condition is that the Royal First Magical Corps will cancel all noble privileges, whether they are written in the law or tacitly accepted, and all of them will be canceled unconditionally."
General Qiao Xiuer immediately objected: "The nobles have contributed to the empire for generations, especially the military nobles, who have countless outstanding children who died on the battlefield fighting for the empire. Their privileges are left to them by their ancestors and are also the glory bestowed upon them by the empire.
Moreover, military nobles receive military training from childhood, so what qualifications do civilian officers have to be treated equally with nobles! "
Luke smiled and said, "General Qiao Xiuer, we are discussing the Royal First Magic Legion, not the Northern Legion. The commander of the Royal First Magic Legion is His Highness Sinclair. Please do not express your opinion beyond your authority."
General Qiao Xuer didn't expect that the meteorite had dug such a big hole for him here.
He immediately said to Sinclair: "Your Highness, this is a conspiracy of Meteorite. Canceling the privileges of the nobility will affect your control over the legion."
Luke said to Sinclair: "Not only will the Royal First Magic Corps abolish the privileges of the nobility, but the privileges of the nobility will be abolished from the entire Imperial Army in the next round of military reform. High-ranking officers cannot always be controlled by the nobility. If the noble officers really think they are better than the civilian officers, they should not be afraid of challenges.
If the military wants to be vibrant, it must provide opportunities for advancement for all capable people.”
Sinclair knew very well that if he agreed to this condition, the nobles' control over the legion would be diluted and their support for him would drop significantly.
"If I don't agree to this condition, will the Northern Army be unable to obtain magical weapons?"
"Yes!" Luke answered clearly: "As the first magic army in the empire and the world, the empire cannot hand it over to the military nobles. If the noble privileges are not abolished, Your Highness will only be a nominal legion commander."
Luke said and looked at Joshua.
Sinclair said: "I need to consider this condition carefully and also seek the opinions of officers at all levels."
Luke understood the message Sinclair was sending to him.
He is not yet the commander of the Northern Legion and cannot make decisions without going through the legion's command structure. Moreover, the officers here will never agree to cancel their own and their family's privileges.
But getting mid- and lower-level officers involved can change the situation.
The abolition of noble privileges is definitely a benefit to middle and lower-level officers, and they have no reason to refuse the path of advancement. Moreover, becoming the world's first magic corps is very tempting to middle and lower-level officers and all soldiers. Led by the emperor's grandson Sinclair, as long as the middle and lower-level officers and soldiers speak out together, the senior officers will have no choice but to agree if they don't want to be shot in the back.
This condition will not be a problem as long as Sinclair is given room to maneuver.
Then comes the final condition.
"As for the second condition, I will wait for your reply, Your Highness. I will also state the third condition: Your Highness needs to publicly announce that you are giving up your right to inherit the imperial throne..."
As soon as Luke finished speaking, General Qiao Xiuer immediately slammed the table and stood up: "Meteor, are you planning a rebellion? His Highness Sinclair is the eldest grandson of Emperor Augustine the Great. You dare to instigate His Highness to give up the right to inherit the throne. Do you want to usurp the throne!"
Sinclair also looked very bad.
Although he was not greedy for the throne, asking him to give up his inheritance rights would ultimately be a serious infringement of his interests.
Sinclair said to Luke: "This condition... is too much!"
"Let me explain..." Agatha, who had been silent since the beginning of the meeting, said, "Sinclair, the fundamental reason why Meteor and I came to Triumph Fortress this time is that someone is using your identity to fight for power. Even if it is resolved this time, as long as your inheritance rights are there, there will be people who will keep jumping out.
Now the whole world is entering an extremely critical period. The empire must use all its energy to deal with crises and seize opportunities. Any internal turmoil may cause the empire to miss the opportunity to lead a new era and thus collapse. "
General Qiao Xiuer angrily rebuked: "This is just an excuse for you to steal the country! The throne originally belonged to His Highness Sinclair. Under His Highness's leadership, the empire can still deal with dangers and seize opportunities."
Sinclair said to Agatha: "Aunt Agatha, I admire you very much. Do you really think I should give up my right to inherit the throne? Am I really not qualified to be an emperor of the empire?"
Agatha asked Sinclair in return: "If you become the emperor of the empire, can you guarantee that your people will not covet the wealth of Raging Wave City and use the privileges obtained by supporting you to compete for the interests of Raging Wave City?"
Sinclair thought for a moment and replied, "I can't!"
"Raging Waves City is now the heart of the empire. It is under the control of the Governor of Meteorite and is leading the empire to quickly enter the next stage of civilization. If there is a problem with this heart, not only will the empire's new dilemma not be solved, but old problems will also recur. You can't even control the Northern Army now, and you can't restrain your subordinates." Agatha waited for a moment and continued, "Now there are golden people, angels, dragons, demons and shadow tribes in the imperial capital . Five ancient civilizations have suddenly gathered in the imperial capital. Do you have the ability to deal with them?"
Sinclair asked, "What are they doing in the Imperial City?"
Agatha replied, "I don't know. But to attract five ancient civilizations, and all of them are extraordinary creatures who have participated in ancient wars, it must be a very, very big event. I still remember the oppressive feeling when the angels surrounded the palace. This is also one of the reasons why the empire quickly armed a magic army.
Sinclair, answer my question, can you take on five ancient civilizations?"
"I...can't..."
Sinclair could only admit that he couldn't even control the Northern Legion, let alone deal with five ancient civilizations.
"Did you know that Meteorite has been supporting the civil war between the demons in Hell and obtained the mining rights of Fire Crystal Mine from Dragon Country. Miss Clear Sky suppressed the group of angels that surrounded the palace and made the Shining Gold Man compromise on a major event.
She also killed a Shadow Clan assassin.
Sinclair, I really hope you can go to the imperial capital in person and see what the empire looks like now. But if you go back as the heir to the imperial throne, someone will definitely stir up a huge wave in the court!"
Sinclair was silent.
The generals of the Northern Army all urged: "Your Highness, you must not agree to this!"
