The New Year has passed, and the remaining heat is slowly dissipating.
People who gathered in the imperial capital returned to their hometowns one after another to start their work and life in the new year. Nowadays, those who are still staying in the imperial capital are just for fun. They are rich and powerful people who are not trapped by life.
These wealthy outsiders often bring a huge amount of income to the imperial capital, so as long as they complete the registration procedures, the administrators are happy to keep them.
For a period of time after the Chinese New Year, the atmosphere in the imperial capital was still quite leisurely.
However, leisure this year only belongs to the people and grassroots managers. A series of high-status nobles in the empire and Princess Liliana are currently taking care of diplomatic-related matters.
In the meeting hall, Liliana forced herself to endure the chattering discussions of many nobles below.
"The kingdom is the farthest country since the empire's foreign visit. For the safety of Her Majesty, it is best to have an army accompanying you!"
"Idiot! This is to establish diplomatic relations, not to fight! Bring the army, what do you want the kingdom to think?!"
"Then we don't care about Her Majesty's safety?!"
Liliana rubbed her brows as she listened to the two old men over fifty who were dressed in fine clothes arguing loudly about whether to bring troops with them when they went on a trip.
Since she took over, she has visited other countries three times. Each time, someone wanted to have a quarrel in this magnificent meeting hall, and each time the topic was different. The only thing that was the same was that the quarrels were between old nobles and the content was about trivial matters.
This time it was more serious.
Liliana even felt that they were not quarreling because of different opinions, but quarreling for the sake of quarreling, as if they were holding some kind of ceremony!
I wonder if they were like this when Brother Wang was in power?
Liliana, who was annoyed by the noise, was thinking about this issue for the first time.
I really want to throw them out!
Liliana glanced at Leonhardt, who was wearing a mask and standing among the nobles below.
Hurry up and find a way to stop them from arguing!
The corner of his mouth hidden under the mask twitched, Leonhardt held his head high and stepped forward and said: "What you both said is reasonable. Why don't we make a compromise and let the guards protect the safety of Her Majesty the Queen as usual? how?"
In the empire, the Imperial Guard is the symbol of the highest military force.
The original Imperial City Guard was a team trained by the regent. Although there were only a few hundred in number, its combat power was comparable to nearly half of the empire's military forces.
No one knows what the regent's training methods are, and the members of the team never mention it in front of outsiders. Outsiders only know that the regent has an absolutely loyal armed force.
During the empire's campaign, no one tried to inquire into the training methods of this secretive team or to sow discord with it, but these people were all outed and placed in front of the battle formation.
Later, after the war ended, this team was officially renamed the Imperial Capital Guard, expanded to 2,000 in number, and became responsible for the security of the Imperial Capital. However, its symbolic meaning is still there, and the members of the escort team, both old and new, all possess extremely high combat effectiveness.
Although their duty is to maintain law and order in the Imperial Capital, the soldiers of the Empire, from bottom to top, regard joining the Imperial Capital Guard as the highest honor.
One thing needs to be added here.
In fact, in this world, the establishment of diplomatic relations between countries does not require the king to go there in person. It is usually left to the foreign minister.
This is true of most countries, with the exception of the Empire.
The reason still originated during the imperial campaign.
During the reign of the previous king, the empire was not as vast as it is now.
At that time, there were many countries, large and small, scattered around the empire, and each king had his own little thoughts. As a result, no one lived a stable life in the end.
Although the empire is strong, it will still be implicated, and battles often occur.
At that time, the most dangerous profession was that of diplomat.
Although countries may appear to be friendly on the surface, no one knows which side will suddenly overturn the table. Once they break their skin, it means that the visiting diplomats will never be able to return to their home countries.
The pampered kings don't care about the life or death of diplomats. They only care about the expansion of their rights. The lives of diplomats are just an excuse to start a war.
The last king of the empire was a man who cared about his people and was determined to end the chaotic and separatist situation. But once force is used, it is the beginning of a long and bloody war, and even the empire cannot guarantee that it will stand to the end in each war. And negotiations cannot be carried out unless he abandons diplomats to try again and again, which is unacceptable to him.
At that time, the empire could only protect itself, and its diplomacy had long been at a standstill.
But at that time, there was no need for diplomacy.
They are all fighting, the only difference is when and what excuse is used.
The turning point occurred after the king died of illness and Lecco became the regent and consolidated his power.
Using iron-blooded means to unify the voices in the country, the first thing the regent did to the outside world was jaw-dropping:
The regent, who was only in his teens, and with less than a hundred guards under his command, personally visited the countries closest to the empire for negotiation.
Of course, the friendship was not successful. The other party turned against Lecco as soon as he welcomed Lecco in with a smile, closed the city gate, and drew out the sharp blade.
The nobles on the empire side angrily scolded Leko for his stupidity while anxiously arranging a rescue plan. At that time, Lecco was already the absolute core of the empire. Once he had any shortcomings, the empire would be in danger.
However, before the reinforcements reached the border to confront the enemy, the gate to the enemy's capital was opened again.
The young regent was covered in blood, and together with the guards who were also covered in blood, they stood at the gate of the city holding the head of the enemy king, announcing that the battle that had not yet had time to begin was over.
This was the beginning of the Imperial Conquest, and the beginning of the legend of the Regent.
Since then, the empire has expanded aggressively, using both hard and soft methods. Every time there was a negotiation, the regent went there in person.
It's not that no one followed the example of the first country the empire annexed and tried to keep the regent, but the result was the same as that of the original small country.
Every time the other party fell out, the regent behaved more and more calmly. Later, no one dared to think wrongly.
If you downgrade with a smile, the other party will still treat you as you are, with just one more superior; if you demote after being beaten to tears, you can tap your head lightly, but if it gets serious, the person will be gone!
The strength of the empire makes those countries with relatively peaceful national policies also fearful. Fortunately, after the empire integrated its chaotic surroundings, the annexation trend came to an abrupt halt, and it turned to gentle means to establish diplomatic relations.
Faced with Lecco, who sometimes came with single-digit entourage, various countries made various speculations.
Some people greeted them with smiles, as if they had known each other before; some people were frightened and cautious...
Regardless of what others thought, it became an imperial tradition for the ruler to make personal diplomatic visits, which remained unchanged even after the regent's disappearance, but with more caution than before.
Liliana didn't complain about this. If it weren't for this tradition, if she wanted to go to other countries to play, she would have no choice but to sneak out secretly.
Her past three foreign visits were all followed by the Imperial City Guards, and there were no problems. In the three previous cases, the two old nobles in the quarrel had nothing to say and fell silent after praising Leonhart.
Leonhart closed his eyes and nodded, accepted the compliments from the two nobles and returned to his original position.
Liliana nodded with satisfaction, looked down and said, "Do you still have anything to discuss? If nothing else, go and prepare."
No one said anything.
Liliana stood up: "Then disperse!"
Get ready for afternoon tea!
The little girl left the meeting hall with wind at her feet, and Xiao Yue followed her unhurriedly.
The princess left, and the nobles also dispersed.
Leonhardt was about to turn around when he saw a middle-aged nobleman walking towards him.
"Master Guard, the safety of the princess depends on you!" The middle-aged nobleman smiled, which made people feel good.
"Lord Ion." Leonhart stood up and saluted.
The kind-faced middle-aged man in front of him is the Minister of State for the Empire.
It can be said that when the regent disappeared, he was the most important figure in the empire after the princess. When the regent came to power, Ion was his right-hand man.
Today's imperial government affairs are supported by Ion, and Leonhart has great respect for him.
Nowadays, there are undercurrents in the empire, and the identity of the enemy is still unknown. If it weren't for the fact that his identity couldn't be exposed easily, Leonhardt would have wanted him to help him bear part of the pressure.
"You don't need such a big gift, the actual status of you and me is equal." Ion quickly helped Leonhardt up.
"The next warrior cannot solve the government worries for Her Royal Highness. As long as Lord Ion is here, our country's national strength will not diminish at all!" Leonhardt's words were sincere.
The regent single-handedly defeated all those with evil intentions, but once he disappeared, who could guarantee that those people would not think of making a comeback?
If it hadn't been for the person in front of him to stabilize the situation, the empire would have been in chaos long ago.
"It's ridiculous, how can the Sword of the Empire be so arrogant? Are you forcing me to praise you?" Ion said in a funny tone, "Then let's not even think about going back today!"
"Haha..." Leonhardt laughed politely.
After chatting and laughing, Ion's face straightened: "The escort team is traveling with the princess this time. Are there any worries about the security of the imperial capital?"
With the imperial guard here, there is no need to question the safety of the princess. However, the reduction of the Imperial City Guards may cause a small number of people to react abnormally.
Ion asked with the intention of helping.
As an important minister of the empire, it was impossible for him to be unaware of the undercurrent in the imperial capital.
"It doesn't matter, I only took away two hundred elites this time, and the remaining more than 1,800 people are enough to protect the emperor's capital." Leonhardt said confidently.
"Very good, then I can live a happy life for two days, haha!" Ion performed a very standard etiquette, "Then, Lord Guard, farewell."
"take leave."
Watching Ion leave, Leonhart also walked towards his mansion.
What?
You said that with Leonhardt’s character and situation, you shouldn’t trust someone easily?
So when he said he would bring two hundred people, did he really mean two hundred people?
While walking, Leonhardt raised his hand to straighten his mask to prevent it from falling off.
