Chapter 421: 393, His Majesty Julius Axler is dying
Earl Brittany travelled light, bringing only his eldest son Antonio and two attendants, plus a single carriage!
He did not even notify Anne and Charles; instead, he barged directly into the city of Liguria, with the abilities of an Earl and Antonio, let alone the capital of Modova, even the capitals of the Five Great Empires were places they could come and go as they pleased, with no one capable of stopping them.
So, while Charles was discussing with Anne how to establish a landmark building in Liguria that combined the functions of a publishing house, library, and bookstore, they were suddenly confronted by the Old Earl, and Charles almost called for the four of the Sacred Order—Black Dragon, Qiudelo, Vigo, and Akso—to come to his protection.
It was only when he saw clearly that the visitor was Earl Brittany that he breathed a sigh of relief.
Mmm, those four of the Sacred Order put together might not be able to best Antonio, let alone besiege Earl Brittany.
This content is taken from freёwebnovel.com.
When Antonio saw Charles, he was actually quite delighted and gave him a warm hug on the spot.
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Earl Brittany initially wanted to show Charles a display of power, but with this “disobedient son” acting like that, he also lost the mood, and he said to Charles, “You need to hurry back to the Red Dragon Strait, but Anne can no longer continue forward, just stay in Modova.”
“I will leave Mama Karen behind and have also brought her two of the Sacred Order!”
Charles could tell that the Earl’s tone was somewhat displeased and couldn’t help asking, “Is something the matter in Strasbourg?”
The Earl said indifferently, “Julius Axler is about to die.”
Charles was initially slightly shocked, but quickly became chilled to the bone as he asked, “Who will be the next Emperor?”
Earl Brittany let out a sigh and said, “I don’t know!”
Charles exclaimed, “How is that possible not to know?”
Earl Brittany said with a wry smile, “It just isn’t known.”
“Julius Axler had five children in his life, three daughters and two sons!”
“Not to mention my wife and Princess Akso. The last princess ran away from home and her whereabouts are still unknown. Of the two princes, one died young, and the other became a covenantor of the gods.”
Charles hesitated for a moment and said, “Perhaps it’s the Emperor’s brother or someone from a collateral branch?”
Earl Brittany said indifferently, “If such a person ascends to the throne, I’m afraid he won’t tolerate the Brittany Family.”
Charles instantly fell silent; he of course knew that Earl Brittany was speaking the truth. Julius Axtel VI had been on the throne for decades, his prestige well acknowledged. Even if he resented the Brittany Family, he wouldn’t do anything because he felt he could control them. But under a new Emperor with no prestige and perhaps clumsy in governing, who knows what trouble might arise.
Anyway, when a new Emperor ascends to the throne, no prestige means no power, and without power, there would surely be an attempt to seize it back…
Throughout history, emperors launching coups to seize power has been an endlessly recurring event, some successful, some failed, but emperors who remained silent and endured everything were almost nonexistent.
Earl Brittany’s decision to have Anne stay in Modova was truly for his daughter’s best interest.
Anne Brittany, as the Duke of Modova, could perfectly avoid the political storm of Fars. Even the newly appointed Emperor would struggle to intervene, primarily because Saint Mabija stood between them. Besides, given Modova’s excellent diplomatic relations with the Lionheart Dynasty, Fars wouldn’t dare to offend the only Empire that had not yet joined the war.
As for his instruction for Charles to hurry back to the Red Dragon Strait, it was clearly a preparation for the next step. The hundreds of thousands of elite Beastmen in the Red Dragon Strait represented a formidable political card.
Without hesitation, Charles replied, “I will take my men back to the Red Dragon Strait immediately.”
Earl Brittany said indifferently, “I’ll handle Strasbourg for you.”
The meeting wasn’t long. Earl Brittany and Antonio stayed for half the day before they hastily departed for Strasbourg.
After Earl Brittany left, Charles decided to maze-ify Liguria City. Once the city underwent maze-ification, he could continuously send various supplies to Modova. Furthermore, by using Modova as a transit hub, his merchant caravans could enter the Lionheart Dynasty.
As a critical transit point, Modova’s economy would soon improve and would no longer continue to decline.
The condition for Liguria City’s maze-ification was taxation, with which Charles was very familiar. He had done the same in the Black Phoenix Dynasty, although the maze-ified city there had been quickly destroyed by the Transcendents of the Black Phoenix Dynasty.
He introduced several minor taxes, and after completing the maze-ification, he returned the tax money to the residents of Liguria City, also announcing a policy of complete tax exemption.
On Earth, if a huge corporation were to settle in a place, there would be a series of tax breaks and policy incentives, which wouldn’t cause local economic problems, but instead would lead to vigorous economic growth.
Charles exempted many cities from taxes, but he also monopolized local commerce. So far, his system had been operating very healthily, wealth was accumulating, and citizens in all the cities were quite content and satisfied with their lives.
After settling the matters in Liguria City, Charles, though reluctant, bade farewell to Anne and used the Labyrinth passage to hurry back to the Red Dragon Strait.
During Charles’s absence, Anastasiya managed the cities of the Red Dragon Strait exceedingly well. She had recruited some human residents and was in the process of rebuilding all the cities. Already, many ships had heard the news and started passing through the Red Dragon Strait, resuming trade.
However, while the eleven cities of the Red Dragon Strait were without issue, Strasbourg could be facing significant troubles.
Not long after Charles returned to Red Cliff City, he sensed an atmosphere of brewing tension, akin to the calm before a storm. Military reports from Strasbourg were becoming shorter yet more frequent. Strasbourg often issued contradictory orders to the eleven cities of the Red Dragon Sea.
Many of the orders, in fact, were not legitimate, as they came from neither the Central Government Office nor the Royal Family. They varied wildly in origin, all trying to solicit this significant force.
Charles, of course, chose to hold his troops back; he had a good excuse. For legitimate documents, he claimed that the Beastmen were rioting and that it was impossible to spare any forces. For illegitimate ones, he didn’t bother to make excuses and simply ignored them altogether.
On several occasions, Charles even wanted to secretly visit Strasbourg to see for himself what was happening in this renowned city on the Old Continent. He knew Strasbourg must be “lively,” but being unable to witness it, made him quite curious.
Yet he knew that sneaking back was not a wise move. He resisted all impulses, or as they say on Earth, “he was biding his time until the dragon roared.”
Half a month after Charles’s return to Red Cliff City, he finally received momentous news!
News that could change the entire situation on the continent.