The Lord of the Rings: Lords of Middle-earth.

Chapter 947 Franz's Advice

"I..." Roland blinked. No one had told him that things were so complicated! He thought he could just be the General Who Conquers the North, but there were so many twists and turns involved.

“The kingdom needs stability to be re-established. I imagine His Majesty Nyx has focused his energy on domestic affairs. After all, it’s not easy for Swiftstream City to coordinate most of the kingdom!” Marquis Al-Tegran Franz said thoughtfully.

"Alright, since you're an expert, what are your thoughts?" Roland glanced at Marquis Al-Tegran Franz. Considering the Franz family's prestige, Roland felt it was necessary to bring the lackey back to the right path. After all, he was a hereditary marquis, and he was branded with the royal mark. It was neither a matter of discarding him nor keeping him around for nothing. It was a good opportunity to find him a proper job!

"Then may I ask what Your Majesty's needs are? If it is to maintain trade, then simply setting tariffs and conducting trade in accordance with the law will suffice. If Your Majesty wishes to control the economies of both countries and continue to vigorously squeeze their markets, promote our currency to deeply bind them, and add arms trade, we can surely weld them to the kingdom's war machine..." After saying this, Al-Tegran Franz looked up at Roland and then bent down slightly to whisper.

“If Your Majesty wishes to acquire it, it will take some time and effort…” Al-Tegran Franz thought for a moment and said.

"Stop!" Roland quickly shouted. "You're already eyeing someone else's land when nothing's even started? After oil breeds 'mold,' is land going to breed 'army'?"

"Is Your Majesty worried about damage to your morality and reputation? No worries! Your Majesty can devise a plan to swallow up two countries and force them to submit to the kingdom. This will not damage Your Majesty's reputation for benevolence and bravery!" Marquis Al-Tegran Franz thought Roland was just shy and quickly raised his hand to indicate that he still had work to do.

"Get out of here! You can't even manage a piece of wasteland within the kingdom, and you're already eyeing others? The kingdom doesn't lack generals to expand its territory, but it lacks statesmen! You should know pretty much how dire the kingdom's nobility is, but let me tell you! The situation is even more serious than you think! There are serious vacancies for officials in various places! It's common for people to hold multiple positions! Even if you annex two countries, how to govern them will become a major problem!" Roland frowned, his eyes showing distress.

"Your Majesty might as well conscript nobles from among the nobility to serve you, as a sign of your favor..." Marquis Al-Tegran Franz looked at Roland's face and then fell silent.

"..." Roland was utterly speechless. Six hundred and sixty-six, no acting at all! Just spouting off heartfelt words, huh? What kind of sincere words are these?! If I had nobles under my command, would I need you spouting nonsense here?

Many people might wonder why, given the lack of capable and ambitious individuals, the Lagrange Empire didn't prioritize education and enlighten the populace, or even emulate the ancient Eastern Empire's imperial examination system. Roland could only chuckle at this. Leaving aside the immense groundwork and fierce resistance from powerful clans involved in implementing imperial examinations in ancient times, the very environment and conditions were vastly different. The Lagrange Empire, much like the Qin Dynasty, relied on military merit for advancement, with officials almost exclusively from aristocratic families. Furthermore, the complex intermarriages and bloodlines among the nobility involved countless exchanges of power and influence. To allow commoners to challenge the aristocracy's privileged position would be suicidal!

The empire never suppresses the upward mobility of commoners, nor will it save the downwardly declining nobility! Behind every commoner's rise to power lies the fall of countless lower-ranking nobles! But no one, past, present, or future, will push commoners to climb the social ladder! Anyone who dares to cross the line will be punished by all the nobles! Not even the Lagrange Emperor!

Then another wise man might say, "Roland is now essentially the founding emperor! He's practically recreating the Lagrange Empire. As a self-made man with the system, isn't he perfectly capable of implementing this policy?" That's quite true! As the de facto founding emperor, Roland's loyalty, guaranteed by the system, allows him to implement this policy without any pressure. But Roland isn't an idiot!

The core of the Lagrange Empire is its royal family as its foundation, with the empire serving as its two pillars! The Dragon Rider families are its blade! The Electors and Grand Dukes are its shield! The Marquises and Earls of various regions are its skeleton! The Viscounts and Barons are the blood that supports this colossal giant! And you actually tell the future Lagrange Emperor to dismantle the very foundation of the nation to overcome immediate difficulties! Do you think Roland won't kill you? Doesn't Roland know about education? He does! The history of children who prefer farming over education is long and rich, and although he's not good at politics, his history is absolutely top-notch! The Zhou dynasty's feudal system collapsed because people's hearts were no longer pure and the emperor was weak! But the Lagrange Empire wouldn't! The Zhou dynasty's rites and music collapsed, but the Lagrange Empire had a group of nobles, large and small, loyal to the end! Do you know the significance of a nation falling because of the fall of a duke or marquis? It's no less significant than Jiang Wei's nation falling because of the fall of a general!

The moral standards of the Lagrange nobles are so high that they would trample on someone who points a finger at the Luo River like a dog! Look at the ultimate ambition of the Sword and Shield families in their turmoil—nothing more than becoming dukes! Enlightening the people and desensitizing the nobility will only lead to a society like in ancient times, where kings and generals were born with special privileges! A society where the emperor is the one with the strongest army! What good would this do Roland? Since ancient times, one's position determines one's perspective! He is a beneficiary of the aristocratic system. As long as the royal banner flies high, all the nobles will unanimously unite behind him, and anyone who bares their teeth at him will be torn apart by nobles of all ranks! Instead of everyone eyeing his position with green light!

Since Roland is not a self-made emperor, he doesn't need to overthrow the system that benefits him. Right now, he's just making things difficult for Yunfeng, which is much better than making his descendants suffer in a few years. You can't expect the beneficiaries to eat their fill and then smash their own bowl, can you?

“Then we can only make things difficult for the officials in various places for now. In addition, it’s time to redeem the war merits! We always need some nobles to be born. The kingdom’s land is vast and we need them to expand your territory!” Marquis Al-Tegran Franz said solemnly.

He had carefully considered Roland's current war history; in fact, the original members of the knightly order should all have been granted titles, but Roland had been delaying this due to the kingdom's early establishment and inability to release them. Even his early subordinates, such as Casloreno, did not have titles. After learning about the deeds of Baron Ismir and Duke Apophis Breo, Marquis Al Tegrand Franz astutely realized that the King Roland he served was not an ungrateful tyrant, but a king who was too poor to bestow titles. Reaching this point was already quite pitiful; what was more tragic than a king whose achievements threatened the king and who had no one to bestow titles upon was a king who was so poor that he had nothing left to bestow titles upon…

So when Marquis Al-Tegran Franz offered this answer as a close advisor, Roland was momentarily stunned. However, Roland also understood that dragging things out like this was not a good idea, so he could only ask helplessly.

“But the current conditions for investiture in the kingdom…” Roland sighed. Other kings could bestow a small town or a village upon a king, while Roland couldn’t even bestow a single village.

"It doesn't necessarily have to be a formal title bestowed upon His Majesty! A court title is still a title! It also represents your favor!" Duke Joelsteria, who had been listening for a while, said leisurely.

"Huh?" Roland was suddenly startled. Oh, right! There were still court noble titles that could be bestowed at will! The reason Roland restricted the birth of court nobles was because he was afraid of the emergence of an overbearing imperial family like the one in the Ming Dynasty! Although court nobles were restricted in many ways, their stipends and salaries were still real and substantial!

Dear readers and customers, please forgive me. I've been on a date these past few days and there may be some delays in updates.

(End of this chapter)