King-Chapter 1398 - 273: The Tangled Elf

In the Jade Palace, the Kingdom’s key figures gathered together, frowning as they stared at the circled markings on the map.

The war had ended, and now it was time to divide the spoils. Unlike previous wars, this time, the victory against the Orcs was achieved far too easily.

At first glance, this seemed like a good thing—the war ended ahead of schedule, minimizing the Kingdom’s losses, and they still secured all the loot they were entitled to.

But herein lies the problem!

According to past practices, rewards would be granted based on contributions. Those worthy would receive titles or promotions, and those needing land would be granted fiefs.

However, this time, things were different. Most of the participating nobles had only contributed effort, while the few who achieved military merit did not accumulate significant accomplishments.

The victory had come so swiftly and effortlessly that most of the credit ended up concentrated in the hands of Hudson, the Commander in Chief.

When it came to dividing the spoils, things became awkward.

According to the Kingdom’s strategic plan, this expansion was meant to push 800 miles eastward. Drawing from strategies used in the Near East, this sort of planned expansion typically results in more territory being seized than originally projected.

Yet, the nobles qualified for land grants were pitifully few, leaving the newly acquired territories under-allocated. The remaining nobles had only rendered laborious efforts, lacking both the legal justification for land grants and the means to ensure fairness.

After all, if land were granted to everyone, the numerous nobles involved in the division would slice the fiefdoms down to insignificant sizes.

Such fragmentation may not matter in the Kingdom’s heartlands, but doing so in frontier regions is tantamount to suicide.

If a family were granted only a few thousand acres, how could they muster enough strength to fend off Orc harassment?

If land were granted only to a select group of powerful nobles, it would undermine the Kingdom’s foundational principle—the principle of fairness.

"Marshal, you have spent significant time on the frontlines and are most familiar with the situation there. What suggestions do you have for the division of the fiefs ahead?"

Caesar IV asked expectantly.

This thorny problem had been languishing in the hands of the Kingdom Government for quite some time, and no appropriate solution had yet been found.

If not for everyone’s current focus on plundering the Papal State, the pressure on the Kingdom Government would have been even greater.

However, this is a matter that can only be delayed momentarily, not indefinitely. If the issue is not resolved quickly, once the Papal State incident is over, things will only grow more complicated.

"Your Majesty, this is no simple matter!

The fairness principle of the Kingdom must not be undermined—it is the foundation of our nation!

However, we cannot ignore the situation on the grasslands. After the next round of expansion, the border between the Kingdom and the Orc Empire will increase significantly, putting greater pressure on national defense.

The Standing Army alone will not suffice to secure so many areas. Local nobles’ private armies must supplement our forces.

If a noble lacks sufficient military strength, they will find it very difficult to establish a foothold on the frontlines.

My personal suggestion is to encourage powerful inland nobles to exchange their current fiefs for frontier land and relocate their entire families to the frontlines.

However, such measures should depend on voluntary action. The Kingdom should not mandate this. After all, the risks on the frontlines are not trivial. Orc counterattacks could happen at any moment, especially in the early stages, leading to devastating losses."

Hudson answered earnestly.

But upon careful scrutiny of his words, it became evident that while he appeared to address everything, in truth, he said nothing concrete—all his answers were ambiguous.

The suggestions he provided, though seemingly reasonable, were entirely impractical in execution.

In recent years, the Alpha Kingdom first reclaimed the Seven Northern Provinces and then occupied the Near East Land.

The Kingdom’s old, powerful clans of intermediate aristocracy had long since leapt at the opportunity to escape their initial confines, relocating their entire families for better development prospects.

Among the remaining nobles, there were certainly individuals with ambition, but unfortunately, their strength did not match their ambitions.

While they all technically belonged to the intermediate aristocracy, the disparity in strength between families was massive. The strongest were several times—if not dozens of times—more powerful than the weakest.

Even if these nobles were willing to relocate, others might gladly give them the opportunity, but the lack of support from their family forces rendered such plans infeasible.

Without a solid core of elite forces, relying solely on ordinary fief nobles to organize meaningful resistance would be nearly impossible.

What sense does it make to station someone there, only for them to be wiped out by Orcs before they even settle in?

The Kingdom’s hard-won strategic advantages must not be squandered recklessly. If the frontlines suffer a few losses, the hard-won morale and unity of the troops could collapse again.

"Marshal, what do you think about the Kingdom directly administering certain frontier territories?"

After hearing Earl Rinnares’ suggestion, Hudson couldn’t help but exclaim inwardly, "What a brilliant mind!"

In the Alpha Kingdom, there were indeed cases of government-administered territories, but these were all prosperous metropolises that provided the government with an endless stream of tax revenue.

During this expansion, the lack of nobles eligible for fiefs did present the Kingdom Government with an opportunity to expand its directly administered zones.

But the issue with these frontier lands was that they not only lacked tax revenue but also required massive initial investment in manpower, materials, and finances.

When conferring land to nobles, all it took was an edict, and the costs of local development and governance were entirely offloaded. Once the tax exemption period ended, the Kingdom could simply collect taxes.

The success of the Near East development owed much to the nobles, who, because they owned the land, worked tirelessly to develop it.

If bureaucrats were tasked with management instead, ten times the administrative cost might not achieve comparable results.

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