There is no good way to solve this game, and the debate in the House of Lords can never be won or lost. Richard wasn't the kind of man who was eloquent either. Since someone has filed a motion, then this time he will not get the dukedom, and the next retrial will be a year later. The person who made the motion was thoughtful and stuck at a critical point in time. Give Richard a while to pull his hand out of the private plane, and he can take a dukedom with a sweep.

The gift of wisdom is running at full speed, and many potential developments are rapidly deduced from this proposition. This matter does not seem so simple, and the real purpose behind it seems to be to make Richard no longer a duke for at least a year. However, is there any important meaning for the duke?

Richard went through the contents of the Duke in an instant. The power structure of the three major human empires is very similar, the duke is the apex of the noble title, and the prince who goes up must have direct royal blood, while the grand duke is the honorific title of the duke that established the ** duchi. As the highest nobleman, the duke has the right and duty to check and balance the royal family. In some cases, the majority of the dukes united and could even overthrow the king. From a historical point of view, this is also normal. Because when the majority of the dukes agreed, even by force it was enough to remove the king from power. On the other hand, each duke is also responsible for guarding the kingdom. In foreign wars, the duke must send troops in a certain proportion and be under the command of the royal family.

Then there's the trivialities, the details of each empire and kingdom are different, but they're all pretty much the same.

In essence, the rights and duties of the duke are based on the strength of the family. Richard pondered it repeatedly, but could not get an answer from this, and it seemed to him that it made no difference whether he became a duke a year earlier or a year later. It doesn't even matter if you have a knighthood or not.

But this is only the usual way to solve the problem, and there are some other ways that Akmund likes.

Richard, who was in deep thought, had a sneer on his lips. Even if someone jumped out and tried to slap himself, Richard wouldn't mind chopping his hand. The motion was made by a guy named Baron Cannan, who was from the Silver Sword family. The current patriarch of the Silver Sword family is Count Fenrir. Regardless of who ordered Cannan, Richard was ready to find an excuse to fight. Even if he couldn't annex his territory, he could do as Alyselle had done, bulldozing everything in the occupied area, leaving Cannan with a scorched earth.

The other, more normal way, is still war. But the purpose of the war became to wage war with foreign countries and conquer new territories. Richard opened Norland's map and saw that there were large areas of chaos to explore in the West, Southwest, North, and even East of the Holy Alliance. The south is directly bordered by the thousand-year-old empire, while the southeast is stable because of the sea. So take a closer look, there are really a lot of battlefields to choose from around the Holy Alliance.

Regardless of the choice, it is imperative to add some territory to yourself. Even if Richard didn't care about the title, the followers, generals, and knights who followed him couldn't. The inheritance of their territory, title, and family is the driving force behind their bloody battles.

Richard glanced around the map and then took it back. Then start to take stock of the war resources in your hands to see how intense the war can be supported. The brood and faro are still the core strength, and there are still more than a hundred prepared construction knights left, which need to be replenished in time. For the average family, about 500 knights are enough, but Akmund, who is out of Richard, is an exception. Richard drew the construct so fast that there was not enough of a reserve of five hundred constructed knights. However, in addition to strength, loyalty is more important than the strength of the Constructed Knight, so there is no need to rush for a while. Richard was able to have so many reserve knights, and he also relied on the surrender of the freedom fighters of Akmund. But there won't be a second time like this.

Richard knew that the immediate priority was to build up an army other than the Akmunds. What this army needs is normal combat effectiveness and normal loyalty. The Akmunds were limited in number, and when the scale of the war had increased to a certain extent, such a professional army would be the key.

Finally, Richard's gaze fell on the small magic map. The content of the map is constantly changing, switching back and forth between several private planes, two of which are dark gray, meaning that they are not yet under Richard's control. One is the rocky heights where the fighter Wald is located, and the other is the valley of flowing gold where Asiris and Colddon are located.

On the surface, Asiris was subservient, and Richard would show up whenever he needed it, and he fought with all his heart. But from another point of view, Han Erdong has never returned to Norland, and Richard doesn't know what the real situation is in the Golden Valley. According to a rough calculation, Richard has provided nearly one million ordnance and supplies of various types to the Liujin Valley. But the situation on the plane there doesn't seem to be any better.

Hulan is also not calm, there is no news from Long Xing so far, so Semir can't leave, and the Gate of the Plane needs to be stationed at least fifty Constructed Knights to ensure that it will not be destroyed by Dragon Star's sneak attack. Now that I think about it, it seems that the only thing that is really stable is Midorimori. The rest of the plane is still a mess.

The territory that Gordon had left to Richard was already calm on the surface, and it was functioning normally. But Richard didn't forget that at least half of the nobles in that territory, large and small, had betrayed him, and it was only later that Richard accepted their allegiance in order to stabilize the situation. As long as Richard has any accidents, these people will inevitably make a move.

These are all issues that need to be addressed in the next step. After thinking about it for a long time, Richard focused his mind on the next topic, the trial of Marshal Rundstead.

The trial is still taking place in the House of Lords, but this time it is not a show, but a real trial. The Temple of the Eternal Dragon will send priests to observe to determine justice. All the floating magnates will attend the courtroom to hear the final verdict and vote on whether the marshal is guilty or not. The families of the seventh-tier floating island each have one vote, the sixth-tier floating island families each have two votes, and the fifth-tier floating island has three votes. The royal family also has three votes and one chance to veto the motion. If the royal family vetoes, the floating island families will need to vote again to decide whether to continue with their original decision. When three-quarters of the votes decide to carry out the original decision, the royal veto is overturned.

Marshal Rundstead, as a legendary powerhouse, must be extremely cautious in his trial. He was charged with a mistake in command and a violation of the League's original regulations. Even if convicted, the punishment is at most deprivation of military rank and removal of the title of marquis. There is actually another reason behind the dispute in this case for so long, if the marshal is punished, then who will be sent to guard the capital where the sun never sets?

Richard rubbed the corners of his forehead, instinctively feeling that this was another very difficult decision to make. If it weren't for the antagonism between the two sides, there would be no need to use this final procedure. To vote means to take a stand. On the battlefield of the Peerless Realm, Richard can express his opposition by leaving the capital where the sun never sets. But in court, Richard's vote represents the whole of Akmund, and the meaning is different.

After thinking about it for a long time, Richard decided to put these two pieces away in advance and adapt to the situation at that time. He pulled the summoning rope, and in a moment the old butler went into the study, and listened to the instructions.

"Briefly describe the expenses within the family during this time. ”

"Yes, master. The old housekeeper sorted out the contents, and briefly explained the income and expenditure of the territory and everyone. The largest continuing income still comes from Faro, which can contribute an average of about six million per year and counting. Green Forest had two million incomes, one-third of which belonged to Nereus and Agamemnon. But that's the old number, and after the war, the income that Midori Forest could contribute jumped to three million. The other planes are all in the investment stage, and Hulan and Liujin Valley each need to invest about a million.

In terms of projects, in addition to Richard himself, after the income and expenditure of Luoqi's magic workshop are even paid, each faro month can also get eight Luoqi Knights. If the Magic Factory does not sell Builds, the number of Lancet Knights will rise to ten.

The biggest additional expense this year is the support for Deep Blue. Deep Blue's daily operations have a shortfall of more than two million gold coins, and the cost of maintaining the mage killers is also around one million. In addition, Richard's various research funds provided to Deep Blue have exceeded two million, and there is a trend of continuing to rise. According to this calculation, soon Deep Blue will become a black hole that consumes more than five million, and it will get bigger and bigger.

Finally, there is the daily maintenance of the territory and the army. The construction and maintenance cost of the floating island this year will exceed 500,000, not including some unexpected costs, such as building another teleportation magic circle or something. In addition, the annual maintenance costs of all of Richard's armies have reached tens of millions! Most of his armies are scattered in various planes, so the Norland time has not been long, and the plane time has been several years. All maintenance costs have also increased several times accordingly. In addition, due to the intensity of the war, the pension also surged to three million. Finally, Richard paid his followers two million a year.

After listening to the old butler's report, Richard was shocked to realize that his stall was so big. Now it is a little difficult for him to make money on construction alone, and it is a little difficult to keep this business running.

Richard pondered for a moment and asked, "The expenses have increased a little too quickly, in your opinion, is there any way to improve the family's income and expenditure?"

The old housekeeper has decades of experience in territorial management, and usually just diligently handles the family's trivial matters, never talking too much about major policies, and abides by the duties of the housekeeper. At this time, when he heard Richard ask, he said: "Master, there are only two ways to improve revenue and expenditure, one is to reduce expenditure, and the other is to open source. Now there are three key points in the family's income and expenditure, one is the dark blue, the second is the flowing golden valley, and the third is the rocky highland. ”

"Oh, are there two key points in the plane that my father left behind?" Richard began to ponder as he looked at the magic map.