Golden Dragon: Six Thousand Years of Empire.

Chapter 171 Dragon Kingdom, Family Traitor

Whenever the Gemological Society founded by Noah held a meeting, the number of dragons present was only fifty or sixty at its peak, and most of the time, there were only thirty or forty dragons.

However, since the establishment of this academy, its membership has reached nearly two hundred. When the news of Noah's enfeoffment of the dragons spread, not only the areas around the city of Elysium, but also some dragons that had traveled far away came back, wanting to accept Noah's enfeoffment and become his lords.

The ancestral golden dragon, which is only in its teenage years, already has the form of an ancient dragon. It can be a leader that people follow and pledge allegiance to. Even though the dragon clan is arrogant, they are not really ungrateful.

Of course, the most important thing is that following Noah can really bring huge benefits. This is the most crucial point. Noah's identity and bloodline, plus the temptation of the sealed land, are difficult to resist even for the dragon clan.

Therefore, after the first round of granting titles, faced with the dragons that returned one after another and looked for him, Noah had to go to Tidel again to ask for more territory, and then carry out the second and third rounds of granting titles.

The enfeoffment of the Hundred Dragons
This is a true name, not an exaggerated false name. However, when the news spread widely, it caused a great shock in the East Territory and even the entire continent.

In Noah's eyes, perhaps he was just going with the flow, taking advantage of Teddel's impending dominance as king to expand his influence in the dragon clan and strengthen his power.

But within the kingdom and in the eyes of many external forces, the political significance of this move is too obvious.

The territories granted to the dragons are scattered throughout the kingdom, and most of them are located in some extremely controversial and strategic places. These lands are of special significance and are now controlled and ruled by the metal dragons.

In the eyes of many nobles and legendary families within the kingdom who were ready to obey Taidel's rule, this was clearly the royal family's way of strengthening its rule over various regions of the kingdom, making trouble for them, and driving a nail into their core, just to make life difficult for them.

But this is an unsolvable conspiracy. Although the average strength of these enfeoffed dragon lords is not very strong, their identities are special. Who dares to have evil thoughts towards them? Use some dirty tricks on them?
This means that even if some nobles are dissatisfied with the dragon lords around them, they have no way to resolve the issue through violence or assassination. They can only resort to political schemes and some underhanded tricks.

But the problem is that the dragon clan has to be willing to play with you. If the dragon clan is unwilling and only wants to overturn the table, even the legendary family can't stand it.

Therefore, although many nobles and local forces were extremely dissatisfied with this, they had no choice but to hold it in.

As for external forces, they are more cautious about this country that is about to rise in the east, because there are as many as a hundred powerful dragon lords, which is enough to show how close this kingdom is to the dragon clan. This is completely a country of metal dragons.

No one wants to provoke such a country because you never know what you will face.

Both inside and outside the kingdom, everyone agreed that the Augustus family was ambitious and had great goals in distributing hundreds of dragons, and that the new king, Tidel, wanted to establish a true kingdom.

But in fact, neither the new king who provided the greatest support, nor Noah who led the matter, actually thought too much about it.

Teddel just felt that both himself and the Augustus family were under too much pressure, so they had to find someone to share it.

The dragon clan is obviously a good choice. Even teenage dragons that have not yet reached adulthood can be awarded titles, and no one will object to this. Even if there is, they will have to keep it to themselves.

As for Noah, he didn't think too much about it. He just plainly took advantage of others by borrowing chickens and eggs. The Augustus family only had so much background.

It sounds like a lot to say about the three legends, but compared to the Eastland Kingdom that is about to be unified, it is actually nothing. The area that the Augustus family can control and influence is less than one-tenth of the Eastland.

In this case, using the king's power to divide up the lands that are not under his control is equivalent to taking the benefits into his own hands.

This can be said to be killing two birds with one stone and a win-win for all parties.

Tidel's kingly authority was strengthened, Noah's dragon clan's reputation soared, its power expanded, and many dragons also gained practical benefits.

The nobles who had previously had disputes over territory no longer had any reasons to fight each other or compete privately. It could be said that all parties benefited.

It's simply a win.

"Noah! Don't you think you're going too far?"

"Where is it too much?"

Noah looked at the middle-aged and elderly man whose upper body was visible on the opposite communication array, and responded lazily,
"Why is there a young dragon on the fourth list of lords you submitted?"

"What's wrong with this?"

"Let a young dragon who is only in his teens or twenties be the lord? Do you think that's okay? Do you know how many arguments your list has caused in my cabinet?"

"Why can't a young dragon be a lord? Look carefully, I have marked their species on the back. They are bronze dragons. No matter what, they are better than your human nobles, right?"

Noah said confidently, it was absolutely true.

He had seen how low the bottom line of human nobles could be.

Merchants who are merely economically superior to their own kind can treat their poor fellows as beasts of burden. Nobles who possess extraordinary powers and are superior to ordinary humans in the essence of life treat the lower-class civilian population as grass.

It's not like that as long as the tax is not used to death, they will use it to death. Instead, the nobles simply ignore any objective facts. No matter it is a natural disaster or a war, they will still collect taxes. If it is a year of bumper harvest, it will be even better, and the tax will be doubled. In every sense, they are inhumane.

A considerable number of human nobles believed that the lower-class civilians were like monsters in the wilderness, such as ogres and goblins. Even if most of them died, as long as some survived, they would quickly spread and multiply everywhere, so they did not need to be paid any attention to.

With such a mindset, it would be a miracle for common people to live a good life. Refugees and rebellions were common. Of course, there would occasionally be righteous people who could not stand it and would impose sanctions on the nobles, but the latter situation was rare, and the former was more common.

Noah divided hundreds of dragons into fiefdoms. With his understanding of the nature of dragons, Noah did not expect these guys to do a good job, and he never thought that they could use their own assets to maintain and operate the territory and promote the development of the territory.

As long as they kept their taxation standards in line with those of the Augustus family and didn't exploit the common people too much, Noah would be fine with that.

Noah was very confident in this regard. No matter how greedy and possessive the Metal Dragons were, their moral lower limit must be higher than the average upper limit of human nobles. His kind were not short-sighted and short-lived people who would not be obsessed with the profits of one or two years.

"But they are young dragons. What achievements have they made? Do we have to give them titles and fiefdoms just because they are dragons? This is against the rules!"

Teddel did not comment on the view that the metal dragons were superior to the human nobles. He knew much more about this point than Noah.

Noah had come into contact with so many human nobles, and he himself was one of them. He knew to what extent those maggots could rot and stink.

"What rules are against this? Whose rules?"

Noah sneered when he heard that Teddel actually used the rules to refute him.
“I provide you with my list only for you to read it once and then sign it for approval, not for you to bring it back to me for discussion and rebuttal.

Look carefully, none of the fiefs above belong to the Augustus family. They are all fiefs of other nobles. Whoever opposes is equivalent to opposing you and the Augustus family." "Noah, I am not refuting you, but you must have a legitimate reason. I did not object to the three lists you provided earlier.

These dragons have all made great achievements in fighting against demons and in the abyss battlefield, but what do these three young dragons have?
This will trigger the dissatisfaction of those nobles. Don't you know? Those guys' patience is almost at its limit. They will give in, but they can't give in without limit. "

"Then give it a try. What will happen after you cross their bottom line?"

Noah still didn't care.

"Now that the kingdom has not been formally established, nothing has been finalized. This is the time to make great efforts. Once the kingdom is established, everything will be set in stone. No matter what you want to do in the future, you may not be able to change it even if you pay ten or a hundred times the price. This will leave a lot of trouble for your descendants."

"Noah! I am already very satisfied with what we have achieved so far. We can't be too greedy!"

Taidel said earnestly.

Compared to the Golden Dragon who has been living in the Mage City for a long time, he has been at the core of the vortex of politics and power for a long time. He is the most sensitive to all changes. And because of this, he is very cautious in his every move.

“I’m really impressed by you. Since you want a reason, then continue to give me more titles. All the previous ones don’t count. They are all the rewards that the dragon clan deserves.

You have to confer a new title on me, and I will confer titles on my subordinate lords in the name of the great lord. In this way, what objections can they have?"

Jinlong immediately gave a solution. As the saying goes, my vassal's vassal is not your vassal.

Such a power structure, because of the existence of extraordinary power, is widely present in all parts of the continent and can be considered a tradition. Since Taidel cannot confer titles in the name of the king, he will confer titles in the name of the Holy Dragon.

Although he had done so before, all the dragons nominally surrendered directly to Noah rather than to the new king, Tidel. Of course, he still had to leave the land.

"Noah, someone has come to me and warned me."

"What warning?"

Jin Long asked.

"He asked me if I wanted to hand over the human race's land to the dragon race? If I wanted to turn the East Territory into a dragon country?"

Teddle's expression didn't change at all. Even Noah could hardly tell his mood swings. This guy was in a high position and had developed the basic skill of not showing his emotions.
"I refuted him at the time. Although the kingdom has many dragon lords, there is still no real legendary metal dragon. But he asked me, what about two hundred years, four hundred years, or even six hundred years later? By then, will this country still belong to dragons or humans?"

"Hahaha, very far-sighted warning and advice."

Noah burst into laughter when he heard this.
"So how did you respond to him?"

"My answer is I don't know, because by then, I will probably no longer be here."

Infected by Noah's unbridled laughter, Taidel also smiled.
"But I believe my descendants will follow the trend of the times and make the right choice."

"What an irresponsible answer!"

Noah couldn't help but shake his head.

"Dealing with current affairs has already overwhelmed me, and I still have to consider what will happen hundreds of years later. Please forgive me, that is not something I should worry about. That is something you and my descendants should pay attention to."

"I?"

"Noah, if one day you want to establish a kingdom of dragons, just go for it. As you said, if the metal dragons become overlords, they will definitely be better than human nobles."

Teddle said abruptly.

"Teddel, have you neglected your racial stance?"

Noah was not surprised, but half-jokingly said,
"If word of this gets out, your throne will be over."

"Do you think I care?"

The middle-aged and elderly man on the other side of the communication array regained his composure, like a pool of well water that no longer flows.
"I really want to rest now. No matter who can replace me, I am very happy to give up my position. I just want to have a good sleep now."

"You have too strong a sense of responsibility. Sometimes you need to learn to employ officials. They will help you share many things."

Noah knew Teddel's style of handling things. Basically, he took on everything, no matter how big or small, and he had to go through everything himself. If he did this for a long time, he would certainly feel mentally exhausted.

"As for those stupid things you said, I will pretend that I didn't hear them. Now in this land, the only one who is qualified to take your place, besides Ur, is little Gwen, so you just have to be patient for now."

"Then I appoint you as the Hand of the King. What do you think?"

"Please allow me to refuse. I have a lot of things to do right now. If you feel that you lack trustworthy officials, I can assign a group of goblins under my command to you. They may be corrupt, but they are still very reliable."

"Send more."

"By the way, what was the name of the official who warned you? I'd like to meet him."

"I've already killed him. I'm afraid you don't stand a chance."

Teddle shook his head.

"Killed just like that? For what reason?"

"Betraying the family and disobeying the head of the family!"

"Members of the Augustus family?!"

(End of this chapter)