The Knight's Journey to the Empire

Return to reality.

Well, no, back to the plot.

In fact, Soran did not gain nothing from this cocktail party.

He still recognized a big businessman who might be helpful to the future development of his territory.

That is the general manager of the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce in the western part of the kingdom, the big businessman Lord Balmoral Nutway.

The Kingdom of Midburg has a total of four counties in the east, referred to as the Eastern Four Counties.

They are: Dalman County, Garnisee County, Seville County and Netherlands County.

From a geographical point of view, Dalman County is close to the central county of the kingdom's direct territory and is one of the royal counties directly under the jurisdiction of the royal family.

The other three counties are close to the sea and are distributed along the coast from south to north.

Among them, Ganise County is in the north, across the river from Fir County in the north.

Seville County is in the center and borders Dalmain County on most of the west.

The Netherlands County is in the south and borders Innartkirchen County, one of the four southern counties.

Among the four eastern counties, except for Dalmain County which is directly governed by the royal family, there are two larger hereditary aristocratic forces in the other three counties, namely the Duke of McClellan's family and the Earl of Castile's family.

Duke McLennan is the only duke in the Kingdom of Midburg and a branch of the royal family of the Kingdom of Midburg.

It is also the largest behind-the-scenes shareholder of the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce.

As one of the top chambers of commerce in the Kingdom of Midburg, the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce has extensive business operations throughout the country and even radiates beyond its borders. Its power is immeasurable.

Sauron was able to meet the general manager of such a chamber of commerce, and the role it would play in the future development of his territory would be immeasurable.

Although the two are only casual acquaintances, this does not hinder the subsequent cooperation between the two sides.

It was December 4876rd, 12 in the Gregorian calendar of the Knight Continent. This was the day to reward meritorious service and hold a celebratory reception after the Western War of the Kingdom of Midburg ended.

From today on, Soren Lipton has a new identity, the hereditary noble of the Kingdom of Midburg - Baron Lipton.

Although Soron's territory was transferred by Prince Leo II, it was nominally granted in the name of Marquis Saladin.

Therefore, Marquis Saladin was actually the feudal lord of Sauron.

According to the laws of the Kingdom of Midburg, Soran needs to be loyal to Marquis Saladin, fulfill his obligations as a vassal, and pay tribute to Marquis Saladin.

At the same time, Solon was also protected by Marquis Saladin.

However, when Marquis Saladin was enfeoffed, he simply waved his hand and exempted him from annual tribute for thirty years.

This action made Soran full of gratitude towards the feudal lord.

But in fact, this was just Marquis Saladin responding to Prince Leo II's request to "give Soran more gold coins."

The only difference is that he changed "giving gold coins" to "exemption from annual tribute."

In this way, the Marquis can pay less money and gain a good reputation for being kind, benevolent and generous.

Look, someone is now grateful to Marquis Saladin.

……

In the following days, Soran became busy!

First he needed to register his new identity in the House of Nobles in the city of Saladin.

Then they would submit to the House of Lords the noble flags, noble coats of arms and other symbols they had created to mark their noble status.

Finally, we have to visit Marquis Saladin and negotiate with him to stipulate some rights and obligations, etc.

The complexity of it made Sauron feel puzzled many times.

There is no need to explain the other things, but the noble emblem of Baron Lipton needs to be explained.

The main body of Soran's noble emblem is a standing white bear roaring towards the sky, holding a shield in its left hand and a book in its right hand, surrounded by various exquisite patterns.

To use Soran's explanation to the head of the House of Nobles:

The white bear standing up and roaring to the sky represents the noble character of the Lipton Baron family, which is upright and unyielding and not afraid of difficulties.

The shield represents that the Lipton Baron family will always be the staunch defender of the kingdom and the Marquis.

The last book is a symbol of the kingdom's laws, representing that the Lipton Baron family will resolutely implement and enforce the laws made by the Kingdom of Midburg.

As a reward, Soran received not only the hereditary title and territory of the baron, but also a reward of 5,000 gold coins.

Although it may not seem like much, when you add the thirty years of tribute exempted by Marquis Saladin, it is a lot.

Soran also has his own plans for the use of these 5,000 gold coins.

First, he took out two thousand gold coins and placed them with Javier as his own private treasury for backup.

He also took out fifteen hundred gold coins to use as pensions for the families of soldiers who had fought with him and had died, to ease their living pressures.

Although Marquis Saladin will also give a pension to the families of these martyrs.

Of course, it is impossible to distribute the benefits equally.

The families of those members who joined the personal guard team and the subordinates who finally participated in the defense of the fortress must give more.

The remaining 1,500 gold coins will be used to distribute rewards to the surviving brothers.

Soran did not say that he would abandon these brothers. He also contacted his superiors, took over their military status, put them under his own baron title, and then let them make their own choices.

Sauron would not stay if he wanted to leave, but the bounty was enough for them to live comfortably for the rest of their lives.

If you don’t want to leave, you can just follow me to the new territory to continue your struggle and create a better future.

There were a total of 12 comrades who survived this time, including 5 of his original confidants: Martin, Henry, Gubellini, Ramos, and Javier.

The remaining six were: Wulf, Borgia, Vosvezza, Olaf, the four knights, and two ordinary people.

Those two ordinary people can be left alone and allowed to stay or go.

But Soran felt that it was still necessary to fight for the fate of these four knights.

After all, for Soran now, an advanced knight who has cultivated fighting spirit is, in any case, a strong fighting force.

Woolf Cook was an illegitimate son of a noble family.

Although he joined the army and received some help from his father, it is known that the inheritance rights of the paternal family had absolutely nothing to do with him.

So, Sauron used a promise to lure him into the pirate ship.

The promise was to knight Woolf in the future.

Lord is a special title or rank, which can be said to be the smallest nobility, but not a noble.

Its appearance can be traced back to two thousand years ago. Initially, it was sold to merchants by the state to make money.

According to the laws of the Kingdom of Midburg, a baron can be awarded three lordship titles.

The title of Lord is not hereditary and cannot be passed on to future generations, but it is a threshold.

A threshold from leaving the common people class and entering the aristocratic class.

Obtaining the title of lord means that one foot has stepped into the ranks of nobility.

This is something that many wealthy businessmen, landlords, local tyrants and celebrities dream of.

Therefore, it can be said without exaggeration that every lordship title in Soran's hands is worth a fortune.

Borgia finally chose to follow Sauron and prepared to move his family to Sauron's territory.

Olaf chose to stay in his hometown. He thought that with his training as a knight, he could live well anywhere, so there was no need to leave his hometown.

Vosveza chose to leave.

Although he was Wolfe's confidant, his real identity was a free mercenary hired by Wolfe's father to help Wolfe.

Now that Wolfe has found a home, he naturally has to go back to report, collect his commission, and start his mercenary life again.

However, he said that if one day he got used to the life of a mercenary on the edge of a knife and wanted to live a stable life, settling in Soran's territory would be his first choice.

Sauron naturally welcomed this.

Soran expressed his understanding for the choices made by these comrades.

All good things must come to an end, and everyone goes their own way. That’s all there is to it.

Sauron felt that what he could do was to lead those who stayed behind, regroup and start again, striving for a better future.

Afterwards, Soran made the following division of labor for those who stayed behind:

Wolfe, Martin and Borgia stayed behind to distribute pensions to the families of the fallen soldiers and other matters.

At the same time, ask these families if any of them are willing to settle in the Barony of Soren.

If there is, then the three of them will lead the way and go together.

He and Javier, Henry, Gubellini and Ramos headed south towards Ulster County and returned home.