The Mighty Dragons Are Dead-Chapter 1056 - 1053 Strength Does Not Allow

Chapter 1056: Chapter 1053: Strength Does Not Allow

Chapter 1056 -1053: Strength Does Not Allow

The sixteenth-ranked Marquis is Earl Elton of the Thorn Right Territory, with the Golden Chrysanthemum Medal. Liszt did not like this follower with poor qualifications and character. Initially, he had been subjugated only because of the principle of buying a horse’s bones for a thousand pieces of gold. Thus, Elton was a marquis before and remains a lower-ranked marquis now.

The seventeenth-ranked Marquis is Marquis Mary of Reed City, with the Dawnbreak. As the leader of the Blood Servants and a Pureblood Vampire, Mary had always been deeply trusted by Liszt, serving as his eyes in the dark to pry into intelligence from various countries.

The cultivation system of the Blood Servants, after being reformed by Ach and the Magic Association, discarded some elements of the magic system and shifted closer to the knight system. Their combat power declined further, but their ability to remain undercover significantly increased. Consequently, Liszt officially incorporated them into the Burning Legion, creating the Blood Knights.

All vampires, therefore, are ennobled as city nobles.

The eighteenth-ranked Marquis is Marquis Winston of the Upper Domain of the Giant Algae, with the Glowing Grass. His fief is one-quarter of Giant Algae Island, also known as the Upper Domain of the Giant Algae.

He is one of the marquises who migrated from the Grey Iron Duchy and has shown average performance since joining the Flame Kingdom.

Giant Algae Island is the third-largest island of the Flame Kingdom, with an area of 280,000 square kilometers, divided into four domains—Upper, Lower, Left, and Right Giant Algae Domains.

The nineteenth-ranked Marquis is Marquis Johnson of the Lower Domain of the Giant Algae, with the Vine-based Roses. He, too, is a marquis who migrated from the Grey Iron Duchy, with similarly average performance.

The twentieth-ranked Marquis is Marquis Hilton of the Left Domain of the Giant Algae, with the Laurel. His son married Li Vera, Liszt’s sister, so he migrated from the Sapphire Duchy to the Flame Kingdom quite early. Leveraging the familial relationship and respectable military achievements, he became the last of the twenty founding marquises of the Flame Kingdom.

…

Having reviewed the list of marquises, Liszt mostly approved of the allocation and ranking.

However, after contemplating, he promptly added, “Father, twenty founding marquises are too few. We should add another one, making it twenty-one… Let Sasumit the Saint join, and grant him the fief of the Marquis of the Right Domain of the Giant Algae. This is a special commendation for him.”

Sasumit the Saint, was none other than Su, formerly the Listener of the Moon Slayer Holy Tribe.

After Liszt descended from the sky, riding a dragon, and forcefully killed the old Listener, supporting his rise to power. He displayed exceptional qualities of a “Moon Slayer traitor,” serving Liszt loyally by integrating the Moon Slayer Native Tribes and not hesitating to use all sorts of violent and bloody means.

Even when Liszt demanded ancient mages to integrate into the knight system, he promptly changed his surname to “Saint,” signifying that he is a follower of the holy man—namely, Liszt, the holy man.

Such a sycophant naturally deserved commendation.

Li Weiliam, however, frowned, “Liszt, Sasumit is a life-long Earl. As a noble of a non-knight cultivation system, according to the Ennoblement Regulations, one can only be granted a lifelong title, and not an inheritable title. Moreover, life-long nobility can only ascend to the rank of an Earl.”

“I am aware of that, Father, but I want to make a special exception for Sasumit.” Liszt spoke without shame, rather with a trace of pride, “I wish to use this method to remind the nobles of the kingdom that the Flame Kingdom is different from the three great kingdoms. Here, my authority supersedes any system.”

Li Weiliam glanced at Liszt.

He replied, “I just fear that this may provoke the resentment of most nobles, potentially undermining your authority… After all, the knight system has been in place for thousands of years.”

Liszt smiled lightly, “You needn’t worry, Father. My life span has already exceeded the limit of ordinary people, and I am destined to rule the Flame Kingdom for a long time to come. Gradually, the nobles will adapt, learning to measure their lives by the new knight system I have established.”

“Have you found the cultivation method of the Dragon Domain Lord?” Li Weiliam couldn’t help but speculate.

“Not the Dragon Domain Lord, but something similar.”

Liszt preferred to keep it vague, and Li Weiliam did not inquire further. Even though they were father and son, they now belonged to different families, and some secrets should no longer be probed.

He then said, “Since you have considered it, I won’t object to the ennoblement of Sasumit as a Marquis. I hope this action will not unsettle the boundaries between the feudal nobles, city nobles, and life-long nobles.”

The kingdom’s titles had three different forms beyond the eight ranks.

The first was the feudal title, possessing one’s own territory and enjoying absolute jurisdiction over it, as well as the ability to recruit one’s own followers and grant them titles. The second was the city title, with the city as the territory, enjoying a stipend and jurisdiction, subordinate to the Burning Legion.

Both these titles are inheritable and clearly stipulate a primogeniture system of inheritance.

The third was the lifelong title, which does not come with territory and cannot be inherited; once the holder dies, the title reverts to the state.

Apart from honorary lifetime titles,

Land and city titles have corresponding knight rank restrictions—Apprentice Knights could be ennobled as Honored Knights; Earth Knights could be ennobled as Barons; Elite Earth Knights could be ennobled as Viscounts; Sky Knights could be ennobled as Marquises; Domain Knights could be ennobled as Dukes.

Furthermore,

The Flame Kingdom renamed the lowest level of nobility—the Honored Knight, to simply Honored.

Thus, the eight ranks of nobility were—King, Prince/Grand Duke, Duke, Marquis, Earl, Viscount, Baron, Honored.

…

There were as many as sixty-four Earls on the list.

In fact, there were even more noble Earls, but these nobles, due to their original affiliations, after seeking their opinions, continued to follow several Land Dukes and Marquises—such as Deborah Yuhua Stone, who continued to follow her uncle Dimaria.

Ranked first among the Earls who were direct followers of Liszt was Earl Marcus of Storm City, with the Wheel. The former family tutor had ultimately chosen to join the Burning Legion and took on the role of the commander of the Burning Knights Group. His strength was only that of an Elite Earth Knight, but he had been specially permitted by Liszt to be promoted to Earl.

Storm City was located within the King’s Domain, serving as a satellite city to the Flame King City.

Second in ranking was Earl Roland of Longtail Island, with the Pinecone, who was Liszt’s uncle by marriage, also an Elite Earth Knight, specifically promoted to Earl.

Third in ranking was Earl Goltai of Fiery Liquor City, with the Mast. This former family tutor did not wish to join the Burning Legion. Of course, even if he wanted to, Liszt would not have agreed, as no high rank could conceal the fact he was just an Apprentice Knight—many whispered behind his back about his title.

As for Fiery Liquor City, it was located not far from Heroic Yellow City and was part of the Heroic Yellow Plains Domain.

The administrative division of the Flame Kingdom was Land—City—County—Town—Settlement, a five-tier system that essentially copied China’s province—city—county—town—village model.

Cities were also divided according to administrative divisions into Land-level cities, City-level cities, and County-level cities. Lands or Land-level cities were used to enfeoff Marquises, Cities or City-level cities for Earls, and Counties or County-level cities for Viscounts. By the Town level, whether the title was a Land or a Town, all were designated by the town’s name.

Belows the Viscounts, the Honored only carry titles and lands without a designation.

Foll𝑜w current novℯls on ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm.

Marcus’s enfeoffed city, Storm City, was a City-level city, while Goltai’s enfeoffed land, Fiery Liquor City, was an independent city. In addition, some islands automatically replaced Lands, Cities, or Counties as the titles for enfeoffed noble lands depending on their size. Roland’s enfeoffed land, Longtail Island, was an island in the Shell Sea about the size of a city-level island.

“Except for the fifth-largest island, Mangrove Island, and the ninth-largest, Anchor Island, all other islands, big and small, in the Flame Islands have been enfeoffed. In the future, any new noble enfeoffments can only expand out to the open sea and mainland,” Li Weiliam reflected.

When they first discovered the Flame Islands, they thought it incredibly vast, even larger than the Sapphire Duchy.

It would have been enough to establish a duchy here.

But Liszt directly established a kingdom, and the Flame Islands suddenly seemed inadequate, with almost the entire archipelago being enfeoffed to nobles in the first batch of the kingdom’s establishment.

“So using Heroic Yellow City as a gateway, we must continue to expand on the mainland, consuming the Eagle Kingdom is the best choice,” Liszt put down the list.

He had not looked closely at the enfeoffment list for the lower-ranked Viscounts, Barons, and Honored; he had just glanced at the number of people in each rank—about three hundred sixty-six Viscounts, around one thousand two hundred forty Barons, and Honored reaching tens of thousands. Adding the three Dukes, twenty-one Marquises, and sixty-four Earls, these were all the nobles of the Flame Kingdom.

They all shared a common honor—inaugural nobility.

“Father, let’s hold the inaugural enfeoffment ceremony according to this list.”

Liszt stood up and walked out of the palace alongside Li Weiliam, “Furthermore, the lands can be slightly adjusted—the young, capable, but low-titled nobles should be enfeoffed to the mainland as much as possible, so they have the opportunity to continue their ambitious territorial expansion. After the initial chaos of establishment passes, the new war will soon be upon us!”

The war he spoke of would no longer be petty skirmishes like the Pioneer Mandate, but a formal declaration of war against the Eagle Kingdom in alliance with the Steel Ridge Kingdom.

“I always feel it’s too hasty, Liszt, perhaps we should slow down.”

“I, too, wish to slow down, but Father, our strength does not permit such sluggish development,” Liszt sighed with frustration.