A rare banquet, sumptuous dishes, the warm and cold weather in early spring, the fair skin of the ladies and ladies with a slight trembling, and the beauty of the world amid the feasting and feasting made Carlos feel a little dazed.
Isn’t this the kind of life I’m pursuing?
Isn’t my long-term unremitting struggle just to live such a life?
Why do I feel such a subtle discomfort in my body and mind?
Someone is sneaking up behind you!
Carlos turned around sharply while holding the wine glass. The contents of his glass were not spilled at all, but Alsace was startled.
Ah, I understand. At the most, it’s the war syndrome, but at the most, it’s because I’m being hypocritical!
Carlos suddenly realized, then he squatted down and touched Alsace's head, messing up the little prince's yellow hair.
"Carlos, we won, didn't we?"
Alsace, who originally wanted to scare Carlos, had no specific purpose at all. After his little prank was discovered, he had no choice but to find a topic.
"Well, we won."
Carlos spoke loudly, not only to Arthas, but also to everyone present, mainly to Terenas.
It's important for people to be self-aware. Lordaeron is prosperous and Alterac is weak. If you can't even recognize this fact, you can only get confused. Because of the rapid defeat of the tribe in the Hillbrad Hills, Carlos's plan was suddenly disrupted.
As the backbone of the Alliance, the Kingdom of Lordaeron supports almost half of the Alliance's army with its own power. As a hero of mankind, it is not an exaggeration to say that Terenas and Anduin Lothar share the first credit. .
According to Carlos' plan, the best time is for the Alliance to defeat the Horde at the end of July. At that time, Alterac's domestic political reform should also have results. The Kingdom of Lordaeron, which was dragged into summer, was busy cleaning up the post-war situation. No matter what, he couldn't spare the time to deal with Alterac, and the alliance with Quel'Thalas would give Carlos a greater say in the handling of many post-war matters.
The most important point is that the Kingdom of Alterac, which has completed the annexation of Hillbrad's land, will change from the weakest among the six countries to tied for second with the same territory and population as Gilneas.
But the Alliance won. Carlos' plan failed.
When doing great things, you must pay attention to timing and destiny. To put it bluntly, it is luck.
The Alliance and the Horde fought fiercely in the north of Hillbrad, giving Carlos too much room to operate. But now, Lothar's main force has gone south, chasing the tribe all the way. Even though his momentum is overwhelming, it has also reduced Carlos's operating space.
The territory of various human kingdoms is generally composed of these parts: the direct territory belonging to the king, the territory of the vassal, and the vassal territory.
Take the Kingdom of Alterac as an example. The territory directly under Carlos is simply impressive—Alterac City and the entire Alterac Mountains.
Yes, no more.
Whether it's Caerdalen or Southshore. That belongs to the Barov family, and is the territory of Alex Barov. As the private legacy of the late King Aiden, Steinblade will be divided between the former Queen Sasha and several Perenolds who have family inheritance rights.
The kingdom's return to the kingdom, the king's return to the king, this is the current situation in Azeroth.
The current human kingdoms themselves are the product of the compromise of the senior citizens of Stromgarde in the north of the Arathor Empire. Even the Menethil family of Terenas has only been king for two generations. No one dares to shout proudly, "I am "Country", you dare to shout this in front of you, and when you go out and turn left, there will be a rebellion.
So Carlos's wishful thinking was loud and clear - vassal territory and pioneer land.
Using the Lordaeron regime as an example, Stratholme is the territory directly under the Menethil family. The mayors of Stratholme City are directly appointed by Terenas. Hearthglen is a typical vassal territory. In addition to the protection fee that should be paid, Hearthglen does not need to pay any other gifts to the royal family. And there is a high degree of autonomy within the territory.
This is what Carlos had in mind. He wanted to acquire a large amount of land that had no royal rights disputes. At worst, it would have dual ownership. Anyway, the land deeds are in my hands, and all the people cultivating the land are my people. The trend has become overwhelming and cannot be stopped, let alone me. You are a hero of the Anti-Japanese War, and you want to provoke a civil war in mankind? Everyone's legal rationality is recognized by Anduin Lothar. Do you want to cause internal strife under Uncle Lothar's nose?
I held back the first breath, and the rest was nothing. It's time to admit cowardice, and it's time to cut off your flesh and blood. Anyway, the foundation is preserved, and the vitality will be restored sooner or later.
It's a pity that the tribe's quick defeat made everything flow like spring water. It's one thing to use coercion and inducement to buy and sell. You can't even produce a land deed transfer with a bloody handprint. You can't do that even if you want Anduin Lothar to turn a blind eye!
If I can't beat you, then I'll join you.
Carlos went north to the city of Lordaeron alone. At best, he was taking advantage of a great victory to propose marriage. At worst, he came to surrender and lose half the money.
Briar's location is too special, less than 30 kilometers away from the city of Lordaeron. The annual output of this fertile land is enough to feed 200,000 people. It can be said that because of the existence of the Brill and Barov families, the city of Lordaeron needs to transport a large amount of food from other places every year to meet the needs of the citizens. Grain merchants in other places, such as the many chambers of commerce in Stratholme, only need to transport the grain to Auckland, and then they can use some extra money to buy bills and go to Brill to collect the grain and sell it to the city of Lordaeron at a high price. The Menethil family needs to spend more than 200,000 gold coins every year to make up the difference because of Briar's starting price.
Moreover, the Barov family owns a thousand-strong militia and self-defense force in Brill. Although this person can't even afford to splash in front of the city of Lordaeron, as a legal military unit, the Lordaeron regime has no right to interfere with its actions.
This is how the Menethil family feels about Brill.
But the Menethil family did not live on hard work. After spending a lot of money, Menethil I bought the then deserted Anhador from the nobles of Hearthglen, and mobilized the population to reclaim the wasteland and build. town. When Terenas came to power, the population of Anhador region exceeded 100,000. Although the town of Anhador was called a town, its permanent population exceeded 30,000.
The most painful thing is that through the invasion of the orc tribe, Terenas ordered a large-scale construction, and Anhador was directly built into a fortress city, guarding the throat of the Alterac people moving north and Keldaron moving west. thoroughfare.
If it is peacetime. Terenas' actions may directly trigger a war in the kingdom. Repairing the bunker has damaged my nose. What do you mean? But during the war. Everything is reasonable and just.
Each Alterac soldier spread out the map. Looking at Anhador was as uncomfortable as eating Yoneda, just like the general of Lordaeron looked at Brill.
Therefore, Alex Barov is very optimistic about this marriage proposal. Since we are tired of looking at each other, let's change it. My Brill is worth more, and it will be more advantageous for you to have a daughter. I will admit it with gritted teeth.
Terenas Menethil II actually agreed. This was indeed a good deal. Look around. It is easy to find a duchess title for your daughter, but the queen crown is not so easy to find. Except for Thoras Bertone of Stromgarde who wants to survive old age, the other kings are all young and strong, and only Carlos single.
Therefore, the special envoy from Alterac had been talking with the Lordaeron royal family for so long. The dispute was not about whether Her Royal Highness Princess Calia Menethil would marry, but about how to give the dowry to the Lordaeron royal family.
Originally, Carlos didn't care about Auriden Perenold's problem at all, and he could make trouble as much as he wanted. What kind of trouble is caused is nothing more than the support behind the scenes by people with ulterior motives and causing trouble for the Barov family. As long as the exchange of interests is in place. Carlos didn't have to do anything himself. Someone would naturally send the rebel's head to the palace to receive the reward. Carlos could also listen to the articulate guy telling his heroic story about how he defeated the powerful enemy.
However, everything changed, and time stood against Carlos.
One month, this fateful month, no matter how powerful Barov and his son were, Alterac would not be able to produce food for nothing.
If the war ends in a stalemate, the whole country of Alterac will be at war. It must be reused, whether it is to give conditions for marrying a daughter or to hold one's nose and admit failure. Terenas must sell food to Carlos.
Today, however, Terenas has too many choices. You must sell, but how to sell is a big question.
Once there is no food in Alterac, the royal family loses its trust, and public resentment boils over, all Carlos's grand vision will be in vain.
Now or never.
Therefore, Carlos abandoned his army, suppressed the traitors with iron blood, and came to the city of Lordaeron with a domineering attitude of a winner.
It's not that he is blindly arrogant or young and frivolous, but that he is cheating and taking advantage of the asymmetry of information to force things to develop.
So, Uncle Terenas, don’t think so much, just think of me as a lustful idiot! Carlos thought to himself.
"To the fearless Alliance, to the heroic people of Lordaeron, cheers!"
Carlos raised his glass.
"cheers!"
"To His Majesty Carlos Barov!"
…
The queen brought the dressed-up Gallia and Carlos to meet each other in a very polite manner and then took her daughter away, leaving Gallia with a look of confusion and anxiety.
Arthas and Varian were hanging around Carlos, listening to Carlos tell war stories when the major families came to toast.
When Varian heard about Lothar's victory, even though he forced himself to be calm and mature, Varian was overjoyed and carefully savored every word that Carlos said.
"Your Majesty, congratulations on the great victory."
"Thank you for your hard work, my dear."
Seeing the envoy from Alterac coming forward to congratulate him, Carlos shrugged helplessly at Arthas and Varian, and then walked to a quiet corner with the envoy.
"Your Majesty, you are too impatient. This kind of chaotic behavior will not help the progress of the matter."
The envoy whispered with a smile on his face, and raised the back of Carlos' hand to kiss it.
"Things have changed and I have to come."
Carlos smiled and shook his head, as if helpless to the flattery of his subordinates.
"What level of change?"
Before the accident happened to the special envoy, Alex discussed various emergency response plans with his men. However, what Alex didn't know was that the special envoy he selected was also a close confidant of Carlos.
In addition to proposing a marriage, he also shouldered other responsibilities of His Majesty the King.
"Disaster Level: Dragon."
Carlos drank the contents of the cup in one gulp and spoke the coded words under the cover of the cup.
"If it's a dragon, then the preparations are less than half complete!"
The envoy's heartbeat couldn't help but slow down by half a beat.
"So, here I am."
Carlos stretched out his hand to signal the Lordaeron royal attendant who came over to pour him wine.
"How can I be the only one in the victory gathering of kings without the queen? You are too slow."
"It's my incompetence."
The envoy replied fearfully. (To be continued.)
