King
Chapter 725 - 725 25 Union_2

725: Chapter 25, Union_2 725: Chapter 25, Union_2 “Even without this incident, some other matter would have sparked a conflict.

No one can halt the trend of cutting the kingdom’s military budget!”

Hudson reminded.

Political issues never exist in isolation.

What seems simple and clear is often a chain of interlocking events.

If it wasn’t for his visit to the capital and his contacts with a number of military leaders, Hudson couldn’t confirm whether he could understand the relationships behind them in such a short time.

Upon hearing “cutting military spending”, Count Orlan frowned.

Since the end of the war, the kingdom has been continuously reducing troops and military spending.

But the Kingdom’s military budget for this year, affected by the Magical Beast Legion plan, is still exceeding that before the war.

Among the human kingdoms on the continent of Aslante, Alpha Kingdom has always been on the high end in terms of military spending.

For most of the time, the military budget accounted for more than seventy percent of the fiscal budget and occasionally it would reach over ninety percent.

As long as there are external threats, everyone naturally wouldn’t mind the high military expenditure.

But now with the disappearance of external enemies, the situation has changed.

“Hudson, are you suggesting that the King will compromise?”

Count Orlan said in a flustered tone.

A strong standing army is not only a powerful means for Alpha Kingdom to deter foreign enemies, but also an effective measure to suppress internal conflicts in the kingdom.

No matter which noble clan or political faction, their military power is far from being as strong as that of the kingdom’s standing army.

With this strong standing army, the kingdom can effectively maintain the rules of the game and limit internal strife within the rules.

Once the military budget is drastically reduced, the strength of the standing army will be greatly damaged, and the authority of the central government will also be affected.

For the Hollis family that has just moved its base to the Northland, this is certainly not good news.

If there was no central government to suppress the nobles of the North, those newcomers who were still not stable would have no easy days.

“Don’t you already have the answer in your heart, Your Excellency?”

“But His Majesty’s methods should not be underestimated.

Even if he agrees to cut military spending, he won’t do it unconditionally.”

If my judgment is correct, then the power of the royal family will enter a period of rapid expansion.”

If you look at the Kingdom’s map, among the 32 provinces, the royal family occupies two in the central region and three in the north.

The territories directly under the royal family distributed in the other provinces, when combined, are almost equivalent to a province.

Except for the three provinces in the north, all the other areas are economically developed areas with a dense population.

In terms of comprehensive strength, even the Northland nobles don’t dare to claim surpassing the royal family.

Once the development of the three provinces in the North is completed, the advantage of the royal family will become more and more apparent.

Know this, besides the royal family, there isn’t a single noble clan in the kingdom that can monopolize a province!”

For His Majesty, there’s no need to hardline now.

All he needs to do is develop the royal territories step by step!”

…”

These issues, Count Orlan might not see.

But the Hollis family is deeply trapped in the situation and they’re very involved.

They’re unable to analyze the problem objectively and impartially.

Hudson originally didn’t want to interfere, but the fact is that the Hollis family is his in-law and the only ally among the major nobles.

If Count Orlan doesn’t solve the puzzle in time and is drawn into the vortex of the storm, the Koslow family will be dragged down too.

…

“Gentlemen, the opportunity we have been waiting for has finally arrived!

Reality has proven, our previous silence was correct.

Without us pressuring them, those bastards will fight amongst themselves.”

Duke Torsten said excitedly.

Since the suicide of the five previous Dukes, the Northland Noble Group has been under a series of suppressions.

Not only were they stripped of their qualifications to distribute war spoils, but officials who belonged to the Northern Nobles Faction were also promptly sent home.

The entire Northern Nobles Faction was cast into turmoil, even teetering on the brink of collapse at one point.

Confronted with the intricate situation, the newly commissioned five dukes, after numerous discussions, decided to strategically retreat, patiently enduring the external political pressures while stabilizing internal affairs.

Their endurance lasted for a year and a half.

During this time, the Northland Noble Group played the part of the well-behaved child, never retaliating to any slander or attacks.

No matter what provocations were sent their way, they didn’t engage in any conflict.

Most times, they even pre-empted their enemies, selling off external properties to fully retract their assets back into their territories, leaving all sides at a loss on their next move.

After a lot of hassling, seeing that all benefits that could be exploited have been exhausted, everyone’s attention eventually shifted away from their group.

“To discuss this issue now is still rather premature.

Although disagreements have arised with Caesar III due to the Magical Beast Legion, none of these conflicts have truly erupted.

Looking at the current situation, all sides are still maintaining restraint.

Our Majesty the King has summoned everyone here under the pretext of the crown prince’s marriage, instead of bringing up taxation directly, all in an effort to retain room for negotiation.

This incident will only serve to disrupt their relationships at most.

To incite conflict among all the parties, a fuse is still needed.

The more tense the situation gets, the more we must remain calm.

Any rash action could potentially shift all attention back onto us!”

The cold reality pointed out by Duke Rodriguez immediately extinguished the passion of the crowd.

They had finally managed to distract the attention away from themselves.

If they carelessly drew it back, it would undoubtedly be a massive loss!

Being watched by the King and a group of major nobles every day, while they might not be able to do anything to them, they can certainly impede any undertakings.

“There actually is a way out, but not right now.

This is Caesar III’s era, and it was his machinations that led to our current predicament.

It is nearly impossible to get him to overturn his previous decisions.

However, our dear king’s health is not well.

According to undercover intelligence, in the past year Caesar III collapsed three times, and coughed up blood seventy-eight times.

No matter how you look at it, it doesn’t seem like he will live very long.

Whether it’s this year or next, the era of Caesar III is coming to an end.

Compared to His Majesty the King who would prefer to get rid of us, the attitude of the crown prince towards us is completely different.

The last time during the rescue of the Moxi Duchy, the Crown Prince lost several tens of thousands of the Kingdom Army, and deeply offended nobles of the southeastern provinces.

Now, he needs supporters.

If we secretly make contact with him, it’s likely that Crown Prince would not reject our goodwill.”

Duke Hiro said, taking the opportunity to suggest his idea.

The relationship between the Royal Family and the Northern Nobles might be tense, but that doesn’t mean that there are not back-channel communications between the two groups.

Perhaps due to a kindred spirit, the relationship between Hiro and Crown Prince Caesar has always been good.

Even though they belong to different factions, it hasn’t affected their friendship.

Making a proposal to cooperate at this time clearly indicated they have premeditated their strategy.

“Hiro, you should be aware of the King’s attitude towards us.

Once he learns about our connection with the Crown Prince, who knows what might happen next?

Due to historical factors, our five families have always had a bad reputation within the Kingdom.

If His Majesty the King decided to take action against us, there would be no shortage of people willing to kick us while we are down!”

Duke Anheer from the side expressed his deep concern.

This was not driven by personal greed, rather it was due to the fact that their ancestors had made too many enemies.

For their current generation, they wouldn’t even know where to start in trying to repair their relationships.

“Rest assured, Anheer!

The King is not our problem, the Crown Prince will naturally have ways to handle him.

As a seasoned politician, His Majesty’s eyes are only on interests; harboring grudges has never been an issue before!

Considering that the royal territory has already been recovered, our grudge with the Royal Family is not as deep as before.”

Hiro confidently stated.