Chapter 012: Documents from Fifty Years Ago
A nation within a nation!?
Du Fan took a sharp breath but remained silent.
Duke Green, however, seemed unaware of Du Fan’s expression. He clapped his hands together, took out a silk handkerchief to wipe the wine from his palms, and then continued, “Actually, the empire had already begun to sense this situation fifty years ago, during the reign of Austin II. To prevent chaos in the northern regions, His Majesty Austin II issued an order to my grandfather at that time—your great-grandfather!”
Du Fan felt a stir in his heart as he vaguely remembered something. He touched his nose and asked, “What order?”
Duke Green snorted. “What order, huh… Hmm… Come with me. You’ll understand better if you see it for yourself.”
With that, Duke Green walked behind the desk and pressed a button somewhere. Soon, a “chirping” sound came from, and a bookshelf on the left side of the study slowly moved aside, revealing a secret room.
Duke Green stepped forward and made a gesture. “Your elder brother has been inside this place. As for your second brother, I don’t intend to let him in… You should come and take a look today as well.”
Saying this, Duke Green went in first.
Du Fan nodded, set down the crystal glass in his hand, and followed Duke Green into the secret room.
Once inside, Du Fan realized it was just an extremely ordinary room. There were a few magic arrays faintly visible around, but they weren’t very sophisticated. In the center of the room stood a yellow dragon wood desk that was several hundred years old; nothing else was in the room.
Noticing Du Fan’s puzzled look, Duke Green cleared his throat and said calmly, “This secret room has remained exactly as it is since the construction of our Duke Green family’s residence… No one dares to change it. Of course, there’s nothing valuable or precious inside—those are kept in our Duke Green family’s fiefdom. You can go check it out when you have time… As for what’s in this room, it’s just this.”
With that, Duke Green picked up a scroll placed on the yellow dragon wood desk and handed it to Du Fan. “Your great-grandfather stipulated that only the heads of our Duke Green family could read this… You weren’t supposed to see it, but given the unstable situation now, it’s better if you take a look.”
Du Fan took it and glanced at it. It was an ordinary parchment scroll, but due to the passage of time, it had turned yellow, with the edges even slightly blackened. Over the years, it must have been flipped through countless times. Du Fan could almost feel the weight of time settled upon it.
He looked up at Duke Green again. Seeing him nod, Du Fan took a breath and slowly unfolded the parchment to take a look.
It was an official document, signed by Austin II. Yet, it was issued jointly by the Imperial Chancellor, the Imperial Military Command, and the Imperial Capital Finance Ministry!
“This document is the greatest foundation for our Green family’s rise, as well as our biggest trouble at present. Although not many people know about it now, most of the royal family and the major families in the empire likely possess a copy of it,” sighed Duke Green. “Whether it’s the Crown Prince or Prince Fisher trying to win you over, it’s mostly for the content of this document!”
Du Fan showed no expression. He wasn’t sure if he had heard Duke Green’s words, but in truth, his heart was already in turmoil!
Because what was clearly written on this document!
“Order for the Control of the Imperial Northern Army!”
The document was lengthy, filled with praise and flattery first, followed by opinions from various imperial departments and discussions on the benefits of such a measure…
But none of that mattered. What mattered was the last sentence:
“Hereby, the Green family is appointed to command the Northern Army and govern the five provinces in the north, holding unified control over military, political, and financial affairs!”
“Do you understand what this last sentence means?” Duke Green glanced at Du Fan, but instead of waiting for his son’s reply, he continued, “It means that from the moment this document takes effect, our Green family will command the Northern Army and govern the five provinces in the north. At the same time, all military, political, and financial power in those provinces will be in our hands… In other words, from that moment on, the north can be considered our Green family’s fiefdom.”
Du Fan frowned and examined the document carefully again before placing it on the table. Taking a breath, he said, “Father… is there any problem with this?”
Duke Green sighed and said, “After all, you haven’t been involved in politics yet, so you don’t understand the true meaning behind this document… Although this document states that the Green family is to oversee the five northern provinces, in reality, the situation in the north had already become unstable by then. The intention of this document is for our Green family to use our powerful army to stabilize the situation in the north, because the Gavin Empire cannot afford chaos. If chaos breaks out and the Laney Empire, which has been eyeing the south, takes the opportunity to march north, then the Gavin Empire will be ruined. So, the essence of this document is that from this moment on, the northern armies will no longer be under the control of the imperial military command but will only be led by our Green family. Even to help us raise troops, some of the taxes paid by the north over the years, though not much, will all go to our Green family… Do you understand now?”
Du Fan took a deep breath; he had understood.
It should be noted that as a military and political powerhouse, the Gavin Empire had a standing army of millions. Its founding emperor was also a genius who established a rule requiring both the royal family and the military command to jointly control the army—that is, no matter which army or regiment, it was under the control of both the royal family and the military command. Whether in peacetime or during war, mobilizing the army required three orders: one from the royal family, one from the military command, and one from the commanding general!
Although this made the country’s army less flexible and often led to missed opportunities and defeats, this rule had many advantages besides this flaw… For example, in times of turmoil, local generals would find it much harder to lead a rebellion.
This ensured the stability of the Gavin Empire’s royal rule. Although various families sometimes had their own ambitions, their small private armies paled in comparison to the imperial army.
Moreover, in each province, military and administrative powers were separated—the governors were not under the control of the regiment commanders, and the regiment commanders could not control the governors. This prevented anyone from amassing power or losing control over local areas to the greatest extent possible.
But the document obtained by the Green family granted the Northern Legion independence from both the royal family and the military command, while also allowing them control over the financial affairs of the five provinces… So even if those five provinces became restless, in a sense, the Green family already held absolute power in the empire—power to mobilize a hundred thousand soldiers from the North!
Since the Green family was not subject to the military command, if they intended to rebel, it would be countless times easier for them than for others!
Thinking of this, Du Fan couldn’t help but sigh.
Seeing Du Fan’s expression, Duke Green smiled bitterly and said, “Du Fan, now you understand why Prince Fischer wants to win you over, right? You see, even moving the imperial guards around the capital requires orders from both the emperor and the military command. But the hundred thousand soldiers of our Northern Legion outside the city are completely unaffected by such restrictions… Do you think if a prince wanted to stage a coup to seize the throne, he would need to win over our Green family?”
Duke Green glanced at his son carefully again and said, “So, do you now understand why you were assassinated before even arriving in the capital, and why, once you arrived, no one bothered to build relationships with you?”
“Assassinated?” Du Fan frowned. “Father, are you saying… the mastermind behind my assassination is the royal family?”
Duke Green nodded. “Not only that, but if I’m not mistaken, it was likely an order from Emperor Austin III himself!”
Du Fan sighed. “Why?”
“Why?” Duke Green smiled bitterly. “It’s simple. Emperor Austin III wants to give our Green family a warning, to let us know that we must not act recklessly or do anything unnecessary at this time. So he sent us a warning. As for me, with a hundred thousand soldiers from the North protecting me, no one could dare attack me. Your elder brothers are also in the North, so the royal family has no chance either. With only a few people around you, if they had to choose a target, it would naturally be you.”
Du Fan sneered. “What does the old emperor want to warn us about?”
“What to warn about?” Duke Green’s expression turned somewhat peculiar. After a moment, he sighed and said, “Actually, there isn’t much to warn us about. It’s just to tell us that at this critical time, we shouldn’t act recklessly or choose positions casually, because the old emperor is afraid that we might support someone else…”