Chapter 253：

McLone listened silently to what Andrew said.

The vassal told him for a long time about family glory, noble dignity and other things. In short, in his opinion, it is really undignified for the Garnard family to let the government council of Arda manage Bairdin.

"Andrew..."

The young earl put down his knife and fork and looked at his vassals. Now he was quite relieved, he never thought that he would have such a loyal subject, and from Baron Andrew's tone, he could feel that the other party was not pretending. Since his betrayal last year, Macron has learned to discern the true meaning of others' words.

"The Garnard family is so lucky to have someone like you loyal to it."

"My lord, please don't say that, the Warren family will never break their ancestor's oath!"

"I am happy and grateful for your loyalty, however, I have no intention of changing the status quo."

Myron's words did not exceed Andrew's expectations. He had already guessed that this would be the result in all likelihood, but he still felt unwilling.

"Why? Are you just watching yourself being emptied?"

"Hehe, empty? In fact, I haven't managed the territory myself since I took the throne, have I?"

Hearing what the lord said, Andrew blushed. Although he knew that the Earl was targeting the traitor Angelo and the others, he also felt a sense of guilt in his heart. Although I am more than loyal, but I am too obsessed with martial arts on weekdays, and I pay too little attention to what happened in Butuya City, even An Qiluo and others did not notice such things as quietly evading the lord.

As soon as I heard that someone recommended me to go to the south to fight, I went there excitedly without even thinking about it. If I could pay more attention, I wouldn't have to pretend to be an outsider to quell the rebellion.

Andrew lowered his head and said, "As a vassal of your family, I bear a great responsibility. Please punish me, Lord Earl."

"No, Andrew, I have no intention of holding you accountable. After all, I am too young to be easily manipulated by Angelo and others."

Macron shook his head and said, "Andrew, think about the current situation. Over the past few years, Angelo and the others have planted their own people up and down Bairding. After they are defeated, these people can catch and run Run away. If Arda hadn’t sent people over, I’m afraid Bairdin would soon enter a state of chaos and disorder. Besides, after you’ve been back for a few days, didn’t you find that my subjects’ lives are better than before? ?"

Baron Andrew nodded slightly. From what he saw in the past few days, at least the city of Butuya is better than before.

Mellon continued: "Moreover, the property under the name of the Gardner family not only did not lose the slightest loss, but increased a lot with the technical support of Bairding, and the profits earned were several times higher than before, even exceeding those in the previous year's territory. tax revenue."

"Uh... Then congratulations."

"Andrew, I advise you to invest in factories too. Otherwise, when more and more factories are opened, I'm afraid the money won't come in as fast as it is now."

"Thank you for your kindness, I will consider it."

"And Paul has given me a lot of respect. Bairding will ask for my opinion on any decision-making. I will have a look at the tax situation every quarter. I will know and agree to every expenditure of the tax. Think about those historical events. People who have had a similar experience with me, which one didn't drive away the wolves and then invited the tigers."

Andrew secretly slandered, if you said "no" a few more times, I'm afraid Earl Greyman would not be so respectful.

But I heard Melon say: "And you, Andrew, go back to your fief tomorrow to have a look. The fiefs of the four traitors have been deprived. With my consent, Huxin Town has stationed affairs officers in these places." Direct management, except that your fiefdom has not changed at all, it is still managed by your family, and the taxes and output in it have not been taken at all."

It doesn't need to be said by Mellon, Andrew has confirmed this point from the correspondence with his family.

"Yes, I am very grateful to Earl Greiman for this, but..."

"Okay, Andrew, you should be clear about the current situation. Not to mention that Paul and I are blood-sworn brothers, the threat in reality alone forces us to be a united team."

Andrew guessed, "Are you talking about the Kent family? If the notorious Maltz Kent is allowed to take over, it will be a disaster for the Northwest Territories."

Unexpectedly, Mellon shook his head, "No, this is indeed an imminent threat, but in the long run, it's not just this one. Andrew, you went to the south, and you have a big impact on the situation in the kingdom and even the entire continent." What are your views?"

Andrew was a little surprised by Myron's words. He didn't expect the earl to ask him such a "sophisticated" question. This young man is not yet of age, and he is only a low-ranking nobleman. What kind of situation are these two people discussing about the situation in the kingdom and the situation in the mainland? Things like that are kind of funny no matter how you think about them.

"My lord, I...cough!"

Andrew coughed lightly to hide his embarrassment. He went to the south just to fulfill his long-cherished wish on the battlefield, and he hadn't thought about this kind of problem.

"Just say what you know. For example, how long do you think it will take to put down the rebellion in the South?"

Andrew frowned, as if hesitating, and said after a long time: "To be honest, I think the process of countering the rebellion may...may be more tortuous."

"why?"

"Not to mention that Grand Duke Greedy Wolf himself is powerful. When I was in the capital, everyone privately rumored that there seemed to be foreign forces supporting him behind the Grand Duke. Moreover, there was a lot of bad news from the south. It seemed that those lords loyal to the royal family had already It was cleaned up."

"In other words, the royal army will be stalemate with the rebels in the south for a while?"

"It's highly likely that will happen."

"Even if the royal family brings together the king's army from all over the place?"

"There are quite a few lords following Giles..."

After hearing what Andrew said, Mellon tapped his fingers on the table, staring at the dancing candle flames, wondering what he was thinking.

"For a long time, the most powerful force in our country has been the royal family. His Majesty the King is the supreme arbiter among the lords, and he is the object of our common allegiance. To maintain this loyalty, except for the ancestors when they were entrusted The oath you made, and the sword and shield in your majesty's hands, your majesty's sword is sharper than our swords, your majesty's shield is stronger than our shields, he controls the most powerful force in the kingdom."

"what do you mean?"

"If such a force is restrained somewhere for a long time, it means that the country is about to or has lost order because the power to maintain order is declining, even if this force is still the most powerful Yes, but it is declining at a speed that others can see."

Andrew's eyes widened. Even if he had been on the battlefield, he was shocked by what Mellon said. It was really disrespectful, and it was said from the mouth of a fifteen-year-old boy.

"Master Gardner, are you saying... Aldo will go into chaos?"

"I think so. Take the recent events in the Northwest Gulf as an example. If the royal family is still as strong as it has been in history, will the two factions still fight each other? No, no, a hundred years ago, the lords had Will the dispute go all out on its own? And the royal family’s response will not be so slow, even you know the news and returned to the northwest, but the official attitude from the royal family is not the slightest bit.”

McLone stared into Andrew's eyes and said in a low voice:

"The royal family is hesitating, the royal family is waiting and watching, and the royal family is worried that the existing power in their hands will not be able to settle all this quickly, and further expose their weakness."

"So, Andrew, we need to stay with like-minded people to protect ourselves in troubled times. The closer we are, the safer we are."

The words of the young earl made Andrew deeply moved. It seems that his lord has grown a lot after the great change. Let alone whether his words are correct or not, at least he...uh...I didn't think of this level.

"Master Ganard, what do I need to do?"

"After staying in Lake Town for a while, I had a premonition that my ally seemed to...seem to establish some kind of "new order", let's use the word, because I don't know how Describe it exactly. And we, Bairding, should make good use of our early advantage to occupy an important position in the new order."