The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

As the North Wind roared across the northern lands, Governor Lind of the North finally returned to his loyal Grey and White Collar.

Putting aside other things, the original sphere of influence of Linde is now quite loyal. Some nobles who were originally slow to act and reluctant to move have all flocked to the gray and white collars after hearing the good news.

The old days of the North are over. These nobles can no longer muddle through like they did during the time of Grand Duke Lars. There are no longer any lords in the North, only a governor, and there are no longer any complicated vassal relationships between nobles. Everyone is loyal to the governor.

This clearly violated the kingdom's rules, but no one objected. Everyone could see that the North was now effectively independent, and it was no longer possible to take Capet's sword and kill the officials of the North.

Linde didn't deliberately try to keep a low profile; at most, he asked Sean not to make the welcoming ceremony too extravagant. What he needed to do more was to maintain order at the station and properly guide the crowd present.

After getting off the train at the station, the scene was indeed packed with people. The wind and snow did not deter the enthusiastic crowd. Everyone was calling out the names of the governor and his wife. Sean followed Lind's instructions and did not make a big fuss with gongs, drums and firecrackers. He simply used his guards to keep a safe distance.

But this did not dampen people's enthusiasm, after all, the North was finally unified and the seemingly invincible demons were defeated.

It wasn't that Lind wanted to show off, but that he needed to do this now. It wasn't just to boost people's confidence, but also to tell all the nobles in the North in a tough stance that their era was over, and that obediently accepting all of Lind's conditions was now the only option.

After all, the North is too vast. Besides the areas controlled by Lind and Doug, there are many scattered minor nobles and lords. Most of these minor nobles and lords are hoping for the best, thinking that Lind doesn't have the time or energy to deal with them one by one.

If Lind really comes knocking on their door in the future, these lords will simply say they know nothing about it and then immediately submit.

Do they really not know? They just want to take advantage of this window of opportunity to transfer even more wealth.

Linde has a lot of things to deal with right now and doesn't have time to deal with these nobles for the time being. However, as the Northern Railway system is rolled out in the future, these nobles who want to play tricks will eventually be drawn into the system that Linde has built.

The nobles who truly understood the situation had already taken the initiative to join the new system built by Linde as soon as possible. Only those nobles who were really just trying to be clever were thinking of delaying as long as possible. Little did they know that by delaying, their original positions would be taken by other nobles who joined earlier, and the nobles who joined later might even start worse off than some commoners in some places.

Therefore, Linde had neither the energy nor the inclination to deal with those lords who still wanted to act arrogantly and domineeringly in their own territories.

The main reason was that the North had just been unified, and there was a severe shortage of officials. There simply weren't enough people to deal with those guys.

The tough stance was meant to tell those who were still trying to be clever that they shouldn't think they could have any ulterior motives just because the governor had just finished a war and was relatively weak.

Inside the cabin, Linde and Lena held hands tightly. This time, Lena was very careful not to crush Linde's hand, but you could still feel that her hand was trembling.

Lena thought she had experienced many situations, including fighting wars, so this kind of small situation was nothing to her.

But people welcoming each other spontaneously is different from fighting. Lena, who had hardly ever experienced such a scene since childhood, was still a little nervous.

Linde was only putting on a brave face. Seeing the genuine respect people showed him, Linde questioned himself more than once whether he was worthy of it. The more enthusiastic the support was, the more Linde reflected on himself. After all, for Linde, he was completely turning back the clock of history.

However, in this world, Lind already appears to be ahead of his time.

Seeing Lena seeking encouragement from him, Linde strengthened his resolve. He believed that history would judge his merits and demerits, and all he had to do was his best. Besides, no matter what, Lena was always there to support him, and to her, he was undoubtedly a hero.

"Let's go."

Lind composed himself, reverting to his usual calm and confident demeanor as the Northern Governor, and stood up with Rena.

Seeing Lind's determined gaze, Lena gradually calmed down.

Surrounded by their guards, the couple stepped off the train.

After his trip to the front lines, Linde's figure became even more upright, and his face became even more expressionless, exuding an air of quiet authority.

Although Lena was still a little nervous, she gradually adapted to the atmosphere and kept responding to the crowd.

As Lind waved, enthusiastic cheers erupted both inside and outside the station.

"Long live the Governor! Long live the Madam!"

It's unclear who started it, but similar cheers kept coming from the scene.

Lind responded with a clenched fist: "Long live the North!"

These words moved even many nobles watching the play, who repeatedly swore allegiance to Lind.

An old nobleman standing at a distance murmured, "It's as if the first Grand Duke has been resurrected."

But Pierre, standing beside the old nobleman, asked, "Is it really just the resurrection of the first Grand Duke?"

Thanks to their early surrender among the northern nobility, Pierre Laurent's family has now successfully transformed, with the younger generation either trying to join the army or pursuing further education in middle-class schools.

Although you have to compete with the new generation of commoner children in a gray-collar school, it may not be a bad thing. If a nobleman who has been educated since childhood can't even compete with commoner children who started later, he should find a leisurely job in the family business as soon as possible.

Moreover, the students in the school are likely to be the main force for the future development of the North, and may even form a new class. Pierre has a long-term plan. Although his two sons are indeed not very promising, they are good at heart and do not have the bad habits of the old nobles who look down on others. They are also young and can easily get along with the students in the school.

In addition, Pierre was willing to spend money on his two sons. Although the two sons were silly in other ways, they were very talented at spending money. Whenever a classmate was in trouble, before the school teachers even realized what was happening, the two sons would have already brought gifts to visit them. This made the two sons very easy to become the socialites of the school.

Although the two sons' future prospects are limited due to their lack of ability, as long as they don't make any major mistakes, they will at least be safe from trouble. In addition, they also have a sister in the military. The Laurent family has gradually found its place in the new era.

Hearing Pierre's question, the old nobleman smiled and nodded, replying, "Indeed, now we don't need to worry about so many taboos anymore; if we're going to brag, we can brag big."

Pierre laughed, but said, "I don't think the Governor will make any move so soon, and he might not even inherit the title of Grand Duke."

"Oh? Why? I think it would be perfectly fine for the Governor to establish a nation on equal footing with Capet right now."

The old nobleman looked at the people in front of him who were sincerely shouting "Long live the governor!" and stroked his beard. With the governor's current reputation, it was no problem for him to become king. In fact, he estimated that many people would urge the governor to become king.

Pierre, looking at the crowd before him with the old nobleman, said, "The Governor's ambitions are far greater; how could they be confined to the mere northern border?"