bookpub Chapter 186 The Characteristics of the Empire
Chapter 186 The Characteristics of the Empire
Richard was unaware that his men had inadvertently frightened away a slave-hunting team, and led his troops on a wild gallop across the plains.
but...
What Scarface and his group were worried about before is exactly what he is worried about most right now.
He had to take the Snow Rabbit Clan away unharmed before Earl of the Wolf Division divided up the Blackwater Territory.
otherwise.
They will become the property of the new lord.
By then, getting them out won't be something that can be solved by simply talking or spending a little money.
...
The reason why the Wolf Warriors had to hand over the Blackwater Territory they had just acquired was due to the Empire's system of one clan, one city.
As the name suggests.
A family can only rule one city-state.
Take the wolf as an example.
When they were first enfeoffed, their territory was limited to 1,000 square kilometers. Later, as their strength grew, they took over places like Flowing City.
but...
I am sorry.
The Benlang family cannot keep it for themselves; they must distribute Benliu City to others.
Let the other party take their own clansmen and confidants to manage the city, set up a separate household, and establish a brand new Benliu family.
If no fiefdom is granted within one year.
The royal family will directly intervene and deal with him.
Either send the royal army to take over, or parachute in a nobleman loyal to the royal family to take over.
At that time...
Not only did Benlang gain no benefit, but he also ended up being accused of disrespecting imperial authority.
...
The core of this system.
To put it bluntly, the royal family was worried that a certain lord's power would grow too strong, and that he would have too many resources and troops, and once he became powerful enough, he would dare to challenge the supreme imperial authority.
In this world, food is the foundation of all combat power and the only key to achieving high-level strength.
The more city-states a lord controls, the more farmland can be cultivated in the surrounding area, and naturally, the more food and resources can be produced.
It accumulates over time.
Resources accumulate and accumulate.
This would allow for the support of a larger army and the training of more elite warriors.
Over time.
They would have enough power to challenge imperial authority...
...
The Wolf is the best example. By allying with the Darkmoon Tribe, it obtained resources and food from outside the country.
In just a few decades.
From a third-rate territory, he has risen to become a heavyweight in the North, his strength rivaling that of Grand Duke Frostfowl, and he seems poised to replace him.
This is exactly the situation that the royal family fears.
so...
This system is a shackle around the necks of the lords, its basic logic built upon the harsh realities of this era:
Extremely backward agricultural techniques.
The yield per unit area is pitifully low.
Even in the wealthiest city-states, the amount of arable land that can be cultivated is limited; a few million acres is the maximum.
The food produced from these lands can feed hundreds of thousands of people, maintain a sizable army, and train some Star-level powerhouses, but that's already the limit.
Do you think you can build a Saint-level weapon with these limited resources?
Don't make trouble.
The astronomical amount of food and rare resources required is simply beyond the capacity of a single city-state to produce.
...
The royal family is different.
He is not bound by this system.
In addition to the imperial capital, which served as the core of the empire, the royal family also directly governed hundreds of large and small city-states surrounding the capital.
It belongs to a regional centralized system.
All the life-sustaining food and resources produced by these city-states eventually flowed into the hands of the royal family.
There was no enfeoffment.
There was no diversion.
With such a terrifying accumulation of resources.
Only the royal family can cultivate the supreme military force capable of dominating the entire empire, thus allowing them to sit firmly on the throne and look down upon all the lords bound by the system.
Forced by this system, the lords were also compelled to develop their own unique characteristics.
Since the power of an individual territory is strictly limited by the system, group fighting becomes an inevitable choice.
This is why feudal lords often liked to summon their vassals to form army groups.
North of the North...
Because the land was so barren, no one wanted to give away the nearby land, so the Frost, Snow Deer, and Snow Fox banded together to form a small circle.
Only in this way can one thrive under these cruel rules.
...
As for those city-states that were granted fiefdoms, such as Flowing City, would they secretly supply most of the life-giving food produced in their territories to Flowing Wolf, helping him to secretly accumulate strength?
This definitely exists.
And quite a lot.
But the royal family often turns a blind eye to this.
Why?
From the perspective of the royal family, this kind of tribute, which is ostensibly based on loyalty but actually involves the one-sided transfer of benefits, is difficult to sustain in the long run.
Just like the current generation of Riverrunners.
Perhaps out of gratitude for the enfeoffment granted by Benlang, and out of unwavering loyalty, they were willing to relinquish most of their resources.
But what about the next few generations?
In the eyes of empires and dynasties that have existed for thousands of years, people's hearts are fickle, and only interests are eternal.
Once the Wolf Clan declines, or the newly succeeded Lord of the Flowing River develops disloyal intentions and desires independence, this fragile bond of loyalty can be severed at any moment.
of course.
On the surface, they will still obey the summons and certain orders of Benlang, and will not easily break away from this big family.
Once the Wolves regain their strength, they will not demand tribute from them again, otherwise they would only destroy their own vassal system.
Over time.
Everyone is used to this system.
...
Richard was also troubled by this system.
Chiffon Wasteland is clearly over 600 square kilometers, but the letter of appointment given to him by the Earl only states 100 square kilometers.
It's not that the count wouldn't give it to him.
Instead, according to the empire's nobility system, the upper limit for the number of baronial fiefs is limited. If he can acquire land through other means in the later stages, that is his own skill.
This has resulted in a large area of wasteland between Chiffon Territory and the Rocky Forest where the farm attribute cannot be activated.
and also.
If he wants to build a city outside this 100-square-kilometer area, such as the Stone Forest, then he can no longer use the surname "Qi Feng".
It can be granted to Karl, allowing Karl to establish a separate family, such as the "Stone Forest" family, and the city-state can be called Stone Forest City.
As for whether Karl should offer him tribute, that was a private matter between them.
As long as they are nominally two independent families and two independent city-states, the royal family will not interfere.
Chiffon Wasteland is a little better off on the border.
The southern territory, with its densely populated borders, is surrounded by land that is already owned, making expansion impossible.
The only option is to wait until a new realm takes control and launches a campaign against unclaimed lands, just like the Cape Region did.
This results in everyone having many unconnected enclaves, which indirectly weakens the overall combat power of the lords.
...
To put it simply, this policy is:
Institutional restrictions on resources.
Resource locks in combat power.
Combat power locks in imperial authority.
This ensured that the imperial power would not be shaken by any lord, while also giving the lords some room for development so that they could maintain their basic combat strength.
It can even possess a certain self-renewal function by continuously granting fiefdoms, thereby ensuring that the empire's territory is not eroded by foreign enemies and does not decline.
...
But in Richard's view...
This system is far from perfect; in fact, it is riddled with flaws.
Take frost as an example.
They could easily level the black pine forest and turn it into fertile land, but they wouldn't establish any city-state or adopt any family name.
In this way.
Without having to distribute resources according to regulations, all the life-sustaining food produced in the Black Pine Forest could belong entirely to Shuangmo, allowing her to accumulate resources without anyone noticing.
But then again.
These sneaky little tricks can only allow lords to earn a little extra money at most.
Compared to the vast land and population resources controlled by the royal family, this amount is still a drop in the ocean and cannot cause any significant trouble.
As long as a lord's power does not show any sign of threatening the imperial authority, the royal family usually turns a blind eye.
But if any lord dares to cross the line and makes the royal family feel threatened, the royal family will show no mercy whatsoever.
The reason why the royal family joined forces with Wolves and Frostfollicles to kill the Church of Light is probably because of this.
The Papacy itself is not a family.
However, they secretly control the believers and resources of countless city-states, which is equivalent to having multiple invisible city-states in disguise, violating the core balance of power between a clan and a city.
...
Richard remembered what his fourth sister had once said.
Ancient human systems were not like this. Back then, lords could expand at will, and it was common for a single family to own more than a dozen city-states.
However, this also led to constant internal wars among humans.
The system was learned from the Dragon Clan and improved by the first Star Emperor, eventually forming the current feudal system.
have to say.
This system has many loopholes.
However, this allowed the Star Kingdom to maintain a stable rule for thousands of years, and to some extent reduced the internal strife among its lords, and gradually expanded into its current imperial territory.
This is why Richard was so shocked when he first thought that Run Wolf wanted to rebel against Frostfollicle.
Once the Starry Sky Royal Family chooses to march north to quell the rebellion, the Wolf Warriors will have absolutely no chance of survival.