Volume 4 Chapter 130 Deciding factor
Strictly speaking, without the authentication of Duke Stantine, all the land the lords controlled in the Stantine Duchy were considered illegal.
So according to this, over 80% of the land that Count Wein controlled now was illegal.
Count Wein was only a small lord back then, but now he had stolen land from the other lords. This was the silent rule of the Stantine Duchy, whoever’s fist was bigger and could steal it belonged to that person, no one had ever questioned it.
But now, Duke Stantine had announced that he would be giving land that belonged to Lord Wein to Xu Yi.
In theory, there wasn’t a problem because Duke Stantine could grant all the territory of the Stantine Duchy to whoever he wanted.
But by doing this, this was without a doubt a slap to Count Wein’s face.
Giving such a large piece of territory to Xu Yi was clearly trying to instigate the relationship between Count Wein and Xu Yi.
The most important issue is that territory was important to any n.o.ble of the Sines Continent, it could even say that how big a territory represented everything about a n.o.ble.
Duke Stantine doing this now was clearly throwing bait to let Xu Yi and Count Wein fight over it.
If Xu Yi and Count Wein really fought over this territory, naturally they would fall into Duke Stantine’s plan.
Count Wein was this forceful and the most important reason was the support of the Frestech Chamber of Commerce. If he had a falling out with the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, losing their support, this would be a fatal blow to Count Wein.
Like this, Count Wein that was already strong enough to threaten Duke Stantine would become nothing to worry about.
Even if Xu Yi and Count Wein didn’t fall out because of this territory, the ownership of this territory would place a deep thorn between them and would affect their relationship.
It had to be said, Duke Stantine’s move was very wise, making full use of his ident.i.ty as the duke. He effortlessly took care of the threat that Count Wein had posed for him.
He made it more absolute by sending the news of Xu Yi’s new territory all over the Stantine Duchy, letting all the lords know about this matter.
So the other lords of the Stantine Duchy all stretched out their necks and waited.
The Frestech Chamber of Commerce and Count Wein working together was too terrifying. If their relationship was not destroyed, the other lords of the duchy wouldn’t be able to see any hope.
However, Xu Yi and Count Wein’s reactions to this greatly surprised everyone.
First, Xu Yi very quickly accepted Duke Stantine’s orders and even expressed that he would accept this territory.
Then what surprised everyone the most was that Count Wein didn’t have any objections to this.
After Xu Yi expressed he would accept this territory, Count Wein immediately removed all his subordinates from this territory.
Not only his army, even the people that were in charge of managing the territory were moved out. It was clear that he was completely ceding control of this territory.
Then the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s guards entered the territory, followed by the Amrit Chamber of Commerce. They began building many factories as well as staff residences with the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s symbol, symbolizing the Frestech Chamber of Commerce was officially taking over.
During this entire process, there was no conflict between the Frestech Chamber of Commerce and Duke Stantine’s side at all. Rather when the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s guards met Count Wein’s troops, both sides were quite friendly to each other. There wasn’t the smell of gunpowder at all.
This performance had shocked everyone.
Count Wein was invincible in the north of the Stantine Duchy. Everyone thought that with his arrogance, he would tolerate someone stealing territory from him.
But when facing the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, he didn’t resist at all, he didn’t even say a single word of opposition.
Could it be……he feared the Frestech Chamber of Commerce?
No one knew what Count Wein was thinking, but everyone knew about Count Wein’s actions afterwards.
Perhaps he felt that his territory had dropped, but after this matter, Count Wein attacked two other lords. In just a single month, he defeated those two lords and took their territory as well.
The territory of those two lords were much bigger than the territory Duke Stantine had given Xu Yi. Calculating it, Count Wein’s territory had rather increased by quite a bit.
Half a month later, Duke Stantine played the same trick. He gave another part of Count Wein’s territory to Xu Yi and this territory was far from Xu Yi’s existing territory, with a large part of Count Wein’s territory in between them.
However, Count Wein didn’t object either this time. He removed all his subordinates from this territory and even gave the territory that separated the two pieces of territory that Xu Yi had, letting Xu YI connect them all together.
Like this, Xu Yi’s territory already surpa.s.sed a shocking two thousand square kilometers.
Count Wein who lost more territory targeted other lords again. This time he was even fiercer, using less than a month to defeat three lords, expanding his territory once again.
After these two times, Count Wein’s territory already reached close to twenty thousand square kilometers, even not being far from the amount of land that Duke Stantine controlled.
Moreover, because he defeated those other lords, his army had increased. It suddenly broke the fifty thousand limit and was only ten thousand soldiers less than Duke Stantine’s army of sixty thousand.
If they were to compare battle strength, Count Wein’s fifty thousand soldiers with their experience from battles after battles and were equipped with the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s military magic machines, they were actually stronger than Duke Stantine’s soldiers.
This was a fact that the lords who had fought with Duke Stantine had experienced countless times.
With this contrast, there were many people that believed that Count Wein would replace Duke Stantine as the new duke.
In this duchy, the only one who could resist Count Wein was probably Viscount Anklo to the south?
However, thinking about how Count Wein and Viscount Anklo displayed this might, it was because they were being supported by the Frestech Chamber of Commerce.
The other lords had lost the military magic machines of the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, so they couldn’t resist these two lords with the military magic machines at all.
Just based on this, what would decide the fate of the Stantine Duchy was not the two lords, rather it was the Frestech Chamber of Commerce.
Or perhaps, it would be Xu Yi.
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In the summer night, the Stantine Duchy seash.o.r.e was still hot. Even if it was already dark, the beach was still filled with people.
Today was the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s set weekly holiday. After the Frestech Chamber of Commerce staff got off work, they didn’t even eat anything before changing into swimsuits to head to the ocean.
This public beach had been greatly invested in by Xu Yi, so now it was a very popular summer vacation destination.
There was a storefront by the sea that was filled with various stores. They were brightly lit every night with all kinds of roasted goods and wine.
When night fell, the giant Magic Lamps that were in the square of the beach lit up, brightly lighting up the entire beach. People went in groups and laughed as they walked around this nightless city near the beach,
Xu Yi and Still were taking a stroll on their personal beach and looking at the distant beach filled with people. Still couldn’t help saying in an emotional voice, “I remember when we came here a year ago, this beach was still bleak and there wasn’t a single person after dark. But now that it has become this lively, it can even compare to the night scene in Anvilmar City.”
Xu Yi revealed a smile, “What? You miss Anvilmar City? Isn’t the New Moon Troupe going to Anvilmar City to perform in a few days? If you want to go, you can go with them.”
Still shook her head, “No, I was just feeling emotional. Actually, to the current me, Anvilmar City is actually quite backwards, there are many places where it isn’t as convenient as Banta City. Not mentioning anything else, even now, Anvilmar City still doesn’t have a complete public transport system. Whenever I’m in Anvilmar City, it is very inconvenient to travel around.”
“There’s no way there, the public transport system is a welfare program and it can’t be used to make money. To have a complete public transport system, you need to invest a large amount into it. Although the Lampuri Kingdom’s finances are getting better now, they don’t have the free finances to spend on this.” Xu Yi said with a sigh.
Still looked at Xu Yi, “You understand the troubles of her majesty quite a bit.”
Xu Yi looked at Still with a smile and tapped her nose, “What? Are you jealous?”
Still gave a soft snort, “I wasn’t jealous when you hugged her so tightly last time, why would I be jealous now?”
Xu Yi laughed. He thought about how when he carried Seveni down the cliff, he met Still and the others waiting there. Still of course didn’t say anything, but she clearly cared about this in her heart.
“Alright, it’s impossible for anything to happen between me and Seveni, you should know that.” Xu Yi took Still’s waist as he spoke in a soft voice.
“Then why does she want to do this?” Still rolled her eyes, “Don’t think that I can’t see it, her majesty is actually interested in you. Although she hides it well, I am a woman as well and can see the thoughts in her heart.”
Xu Yi knit his brows, “You’re thinking too much, right? With her personality, if she was interested in me, she wouldn’t do those kinds of things in front of you. Perhaps she really was just acting that way last time because she wanted to discuss with me.”
“No, you don’t understand.” Still shook her head, “If a girl doesn’t approve of a man in her heart, she definitely wouldn’t do something this intimate. Could it be that you think that her majesty is a frivolous person?”
“She isn’t a frivolous person, but in the end, it is impossible for the two of us. She is the Lampuri Kingdom’s queen and I already have you as my wife, so it’s impossible for us to be together.” Xu Yi shook his head, “Still, just treat it as her being willful, alright?”
Still gave a shrug, “I don’t care. If my husband can even move the heart of the queen, doesn’t that mean my eyes are good? But Xu Yi, you really don’t care about this? Don’t forget, there have been many reports in the newspapers of the Lampuri Kingdom discussing the successor to the throne.”
“Successor to the throne?” Xu Yi’s heart skipped a beat.