Chapter 434 Jazz Meeting

Allen and Roger were taken to a cubicle in White Castle, which was located next to the conference room, separated only by a wall. The cubicles have viewing holes, which provide a panoramic view of the conference room. The location of the viewing hole lies in a self-portrait of Count Aubain on the wall of the High Discussion Room. No one would look at the Earl's portrait, because that would be disrespectful in itself. And even if there is, it will be impossible to see through the peepers behind because of the angle and some layout reasons.

As for the significance of the earl's design of this compartment, perhaps only he himself knows. But suspicion and distrust of subordinates have always been one of the qualities of nobles, so Allen was not surprised to see a room with another purpose.

Soon, footsteps sounded in the meeting room. Roger pressed his face to the sight hole and saw someone coming in through the door.

It was a fat man over a hundred years old. Bald, with extravagant clothes. She wore a golden necklace around her neck, and her hands and fingers were covered with gemstone rings of various colors. The fat man is full of jewels, like a nouveau riche. Roger said: "This is Baron Eni, he is one of the shareholders of Emerald Pearl. He is timid and fearful, but his territory is rich. But because the army is insufficient, he can only choose to rely on the earl for protection."

Baron Eni seemed to be very hot, with beads of sweat on his forehead. Holding a silk handkerchief in his hand, he kept wiping it, and someone snorted behind him: "You should hurry up, Eni. Damn it, I can smell your sweat from afar."

The baron turned away in embarrassment, and said to the man behind him, "I'm so sorry, Viscount Graal."

The man who passed by the baron was tall and thin, and his clothes were decorated with exaggerated flower patterns. Wearing a fluffy blond wig, and even eyeliner on his fair face, he snorted, without looking at the fat baron, and went straight to the first seat on the left side of the table.

That represented his power second only to Count Aubain.

The fat man looked at him, then lowered his head in order to conceal the strong hatred in his eyes.

"This is?" Allen stepped back a little from the viewing hole, giving room to Roger.

Roger glanced at him and said, "This is the Viscount Graal, who is inextricably linked to the Ridley family. The two families have been married for several generations, so the power is only under the earl. This Lord Viscount himself is also one of the major shareholders of Emerald Pearl, he loves art salons, and attends stage receptions more than battlefields. Well, I also heard that he is very masculine, I don’t know if it’s true.”

Next, people entered the meeting room one after another. Roger introduced them one by one, and Allen kept it in his heart, and had a preliminary understanding of the earl's team and power structure. To put it simply, the relationship between Earl Aubain and these dependents is different from that of other high-ranking nobles. As far as Allen knew, most of the high-ranking nobles firmly controlled their vassals with their own strength, but the relationship between Earl Aubain and these people was more like a partner.

This caused many problems, the power structure was loose, and the orders representing the Earl could not be fully implemented. The importance of the earl to them lies more in the relationship between business and money than in personal strength and a powerful army. In other words, this loose structure can easily collapse, after all, there are no permanent interests in this world.

From this structure, it is not difficult to see the predicament that Earl Aubain is facing. His personal force is mediocre, and even the title of earl is obtained by relying on huge taxes and family contributions from generation to generation. As for the army, it was even more worrisome. For a majestic earldom, the main composition of the army in the territory turned out to be mercenary regiments. Perhaps the wealth of the Ridley family can afford to hire three or even more large mercenary regiments.

But such an army is bound to lack loyalty. An army without loyalty can betray, and it will never fight for the earl in the face of desperation. So from the structure of power alone, Allen saw that the pyramid of Earl Auban's power was crumbling. The reason is still the earl's own force. With his personal strength, it is more than enough to be a viscount, but it seems powerless to run an earl's territory.

Count Aubain came in through a side door only after everyone had arrived. He glanced at everyone in the seat, and sat down in his seat: "Everyone, I invite you here today, I think you all know the reason. Yes, our territory is being peeped by the shameful Daniel. Although this situation has been going on for a long time But recently, Daniel's behavior has become more and more disrespectful, his ambitions are expanding. As his neighbors, we are under real threat."

The earl glanced at the butler, and the butler Mace bowed to everyone seated: "My lords, just three days ago, the powerful baron known as 'Hungry Wolf', Druf under Sir Daniel, suddenly launched an attack. Occupied the three villages adjacent to Sir Daniel's territory in our territory. This is a blatant act of aggression, and the Earl is very angry about it."

"So I want to hear everyone's opinions." Count Aubain spread his hands and said, "You can speak freely."

Everyone on the table looked at me and I looked at you, but they couldn't say a word for a long time. Viscount Graal, who was sitting in the first seat on the left, frowned and said, "My lord, such a thing happened, I think we should notify the Imperial Legion."

Hearing this, Allen almost didn't laugh, and even Roger shook his head. The two exchanged a look, and both saw the helplessness in the other's eyes. The imperial regiments are indeed stationed in various places, but their responsibility is more to prevent the invasion of foreign ethnic groups than to resolve the grievances and private struggles among the nobles. If the empire had to intervene in this kind of thing, then the imperial regiment, known as the million-strong army, would not have free time at all.

Every day, there are so many private fights among the nobles that break out in the empire, and the empire can't manage it, and it won't. The military style of the Balegon Empire was strong, and the royal family didn't care about this kind of war between nobles at all. At the beginning of the founding of this human empire, it respected the law of the jungle where the weak prey on the strong, so as to ensure that the empire will continue to have fresh blood, and at the same time ensure a strong force.

Unless the war among the nobles affects the country, the royal family will only turn a blind eye and close their eyes. Therefore, as a viscount like Graal, he uttered these words that undoubtedly showed weakness. If it is not naive, it is ignorance, which makes people laugh in vain.

Of course, Comte Aubain could not laugh. Instead, anger welled up in his eyes, and he gave Graal a hard look.

Graal quickly turned his face away, pretending to be confused. Then the lords below started discussing one after another, and put forward some strange suggestions, including the suggestion of using money to bribe Truff to let him withdraw the army. The Jazz who made this suggestion added afterwards: "Anyway, we are not short of money. If we can solve it with money, it would be great."

In this way, the Jazz can't come up with a really useful suggestion. With his eyes closed, Aubain seemed to let the jazz speak freely. Only the butler who was familiar with him saw the Count tapping the table with his knuckles. That was the expression of the Earl's anger, and Butler Mace couldn't help but took two steps back.

Without the earl's interference, the group of jazz got farther and farther away, and began to draw on each other's grievances and interests from Truff's invasion. When it comes to heat, two of the lords are ready to rise from spats to fights. At this moment, the atmosphere in the conference room was frozen, and Earl Aubain finally opened his eyes. He snorted, and the jazz below sensed that the atmosphere was not right, and shut their mouths sensibly.

"I've given you enough time to discuss, so now, what's the suggestion?"

A baron stood up and was about to speak, when Aubin shouted, "Shut up, if we are reduced to the point where we have to buy Truff with money, what is the difference between that and redeeming our own land with money?"

"Gentlemen, if you can't come up with a feasible suggestion, then let me come up with it." Count Aubain stood up and said loudly: "What we need is not bribery, let alone avoiding war. We need to fight directly. Back off Truff and warn Daniel that bastard not to mess around. If we back down this time, let Daniel see our weakness. Believe me, he won't stop, his appetite will only get bigger and bigger!"

"So, everyone here, who can fight Dulufu for us. Drive that hungry wolf back to his wolf den!" The count waved his hand vigorously, and then looked at everyone on the table.

There is no doubt that his words are full of provocative force. However, all the knights below lowered their heads. Viscount Graal coughed lightly and said, "Dear Earl, you should be clear. The title of Sir Truff has the prefix of strength. With all due respect, all of you here With so many people, only your strength can defeat him. So, do you think it would be better for the Earl to handle this matter himself?"

After hearing this, the other barons also nodded in agreement. Count Aubain looked at them, with deep disappointment in his eyes. He shook his head, as if he had lost the strength to support him, the count sat back. After a while, he sighed: "I'll think about this matter carefully, you...you can go."

Graal was the first to stand up, and after bowing to the count, he withdrew. The other jazz followed suit one after another, and walked away after a while. In such a large conference room, only Earl Aubain and Butler Metz were left. The earl shook his head helplessly, and said, "Sir Allen, you can come out now."

Walking in through the side door of the meeting room, seeing the silence on the earl's face, Allen and Roger looked at each other, both feeling the crisis in this territory.

Earl Aubain laughed at himself and said: "I think it's been hundreds of years since my family has fallen leaves and roots in this land. But now, I feel like a big tree is about to fall. We have earned enough wealth in the world, but You can’t even keep your own territory.”

"These wastes only know how to enjoy themselves. Whenever they encounter something, they want to use money to get rid of it. They don't know that sometimes, money can't buy things. Just like this time, even if I can use money to send Du Lufu away, buy Go back to my territory, but you can't buy back the dignity of being an earl!"

Speaking of anger, the earl slapped his palm on the table bitterly, making a muffled sound.

Allen stepped forward and said, "Is the Earl going to fight in person?"

Oban smiled wryly: "Do I have any other options? Do I rely on those trash?"

"Maybe there are..." Allen said with a faint smile, "For example, me."

"what do you mean?"

"I am willing to fight for you, but I need an identity, an identity that has the right to fight in your territory, Earl."

Butler Mace thought of Alan's bag of gold coins, and immediately whispered into the Earl's ear, "It's not difficult, as long as Sir Alan officially joins your camp, it will be considered justified."

Count Aubain nodded and said, "It's not difficult, so what do you hope to get from me?"

"A territory." Allen said.

"Territories..." Oban thought for a while and said, "Okay, if you repel Duluf, then the villages he occupied will be your territories in the future. Of course, they are too small to be commensurate with your status as a baron. But that piece of territory is adjacent to Daniel's Viscounty territory. Since Truff started the attack, I can naturally fight back. At that time, I will assign you to take charge of the attack. As long as you can eat Daniel's territory, then I'll admit it belongs to your legitimacy."

"Thank you, my lord, it couldn't be better."

Oban laughed and said: "I also hope that someone who is good at fighting like Sir Allen will join us. You see, I am not stingy. So as long as you have enough strength, I will give you everything you want."

"In that case, I hope the Earl can provide some information. For example, Viscount Daniel's information, as well as maps and other relevant information."

"I will ask Steward Metz to hand over the information to you later." The count smiled and said, "By the way, I heard that your territory was attacked by several coalition forces not long ago. What a coincidence, Redbud He and the city lord of Dawn Castle are all dependents of Sir Daniel. As for the unicorn army, it is more directly subordinate to the powerful Viscount. Perhaps this way, Sir Allen will be more motivated."

After hearing this, Allen smiled sincerely: "If this is the case, it would be great. It just so happens that they still owe me a debt, and I just took this opportunity to let them pay it back. Sir Hungry Wolf begins."

So Aubin ordered Mace to prepare materials for Alan, while Alan and Roger left first. After they left, another man entered the meeting room by the side door. He has a rare oriental face, black hair and black pupils, and handsome. With a more subtle demeanor in his movements, Earl Aubain said indifferently: "Mr. Long, what do you think of this young Sir?"

"He has great ambitions, Lord Earl." The man said in a deep voice, "He will be your powerful arm, but when you can no longer satisfy his ambition, be careful that he will bite you back."

"It's good to be ambitious. I like young people like this. What do you think, Mr. Long?" Earl Aubain smiled sincerely.

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