The witch thought I am a Demon God
Chapter 676 - 365: Control of Earl Yisen Hanjian _ 1

Chapter 676: Chapter 365: Control of Earl Yisen Hanjian _ 1

The occupation of Earl Yisen Hanjian’s territory had continued for a full month. However, during this time, Ivita had remained secluded, studying her improved magical power as a Great Wizard, stabilizing her power, and consolidating her own earldom.

But because Wilson, Iron Mountain Knight and Knight Kelmu were leading troops in the expedition, and the Blue Illusion Witch and Dead Cow Wizard were assisting them, Ivita did not need to manage the specifics.

She only learned from the daily reports Joe Joseph, the steward, made to her that the troops of Earl Yisen Hanjian’s territory were losing continuously. Most of the nobles in their territory were captured at Thunder Fang Cliff a month ago, and now there were few nobles in the earldom who dared to resist or defend themselves.

Maybe because they saw Ivita’s troops winning continuously in the earldom, Viscount Ice Wolf also automatically led his troops into the earldom to assist Ivita’s army in suppressing the rebellion.

In Ivita’s earldom, those nobles who had once sworn loyalty to the Viscount Jose’s territory and the Valji family, one after another, took their troops and joined the war. Even though the numbers of the armies they brought were generally small, ranging from tens to hundreds of people, together they made up a force of one to two thousand people.

In the study, Ivita was leafing through the prototype atlas that she had ordered Tartax to organize and gather geographical information about her territories. She nodded in approval.

She now called her earldom Earl Augustus’s Territory.

It was constituted from the three viscount territories of the Valji family, Viscount Ice Wolf’s territory, Viscount Jose’s territory, the commercial center of Maple Town, the Death Plateau and the Death Swamp, the lost territories, and some other scattered lands.

Although she would soon march towards Cross Island, it was also very necessary to organize her current territories.

Because the new territory was too large, Ivita did not deprive the local nobility of too much of their rights, only doing a minor reorganization. The most important thing is, she had now thought of a way to gain the support of most of the local nobles on Cross Island -- that is, to declare outwardly that she is here to restore the ancient nobility’s honor and expel pirates.

In this way, the local nobles would naturally support them.

As for how to consolidate power afterwards, that’s another matter.

As she conquered the entire Cross Island, she would gain a huge amount of power, and at that time, she could easily change the rules of a place and take the opportunity to consolidate her power.

Ivita looked at the map on her desk and spoke to Tartax, who had traveled from afar," The time for inheriting territories has passed. Now is the time to win territories through war."

Tartax: "Huh?"

Ivita said to him: "The easier it is to obtain something, the easier it is to lose it when it’s gone. Conversely, the harder it is to obtain something, the harder it is to lose it."

"Only territories won through war can be centralized."

"Territories acquired through inheritance and matrimonial alliances always have local nobility restraining me. For example, I was able to easily exchange the territories of the nobles in the Valji’s territory and centralize it because it was obtained through war, but I couldn’t do that to the nobles of Viscount Jose’s territory or the Swampland people. Because those territories were inherited and not obtained through warfare."

Tartax replied to Ivita: "Only things obtained through war give you the right to change laws in that land."

Ivita nodded. "So that’s how it is."

Tartax said: "Consolidation is indeed the only correct path to a strong nation, but without the protection of nobles, the monarchy is both tremendously strong and frail, Milady."

"Milady, why must you centralize power? Accepting the ancient traditions of the locals and sharing power with the nobles could also be a wise choice."

Ivita knew this.

In her previous life on earth, after Europe transitioned from feudalism to monarchial tyranny, revolutions and royal insurgencies occurred within just a few generations.

Because while the nobility prevents the consolidation of power in the country, they also serve as a shield for the monarch.

When common people can’t survive due to natural and man-made disasters and want to curse the upper classes, they can curse the local nobles while the king stands as a just judge who is loved by the masses and reaps all the benefits.

But once the nobility disappears from the monarchy’s side, things change.

When the common people want to complain about their rulers, the king, who was once a judge and protector in the eyes of the common people, becomes the one who brings disaster upon them.

That’s why the duration of a centralized system of government is noticeably shorter than that of a feudal system.

Ivita shook her head and said to Tartax: "Nobles cannot be trusted. They will only satisfy their own desires, divide people and cut connections. Only a centralized and unified country can create a strong community."

"People should be in a large family or a large language community, reducing internal consumption and concentrating resources to do better things. But now, the nobles divide the people into groups based on villages, causing these groups to confront and consume each other."