Chapter 254: Crisis of Ennoblement in the Northland
It takes a good blacksmith to make good steel. Owen’s idea was good, but he still needed enough strength to support the plan.
Fortunately, although Hydra was far away and not in the area with the densest concentration of refugees, it acted early and seized the opportunity to absorb a large number of people, reaching a population of 50,000.
Owen immediately upgraded the Town Center to level 5, raising the population limit to 100,000 to prevent exceeding the limit and being unable to assimilate more people.
After the upgrade, in addition to the increase in population limit, the potential in technology, military, and talent also deepened.
For example, in terms of firearms, in addition to more advanced muskets, he could also cast heavy artillery and explosive shells, already possessing the strength of modern warfare.
If they were near the sea, the territory could even build ironclad warships to dominate the seas.
It was a pity that a heavy rainstorm could wipe out the entire firearms army, and Legendaries could even single-handedly destroy warships.
Therefore, Owen was very clear that these were just the foundation of the territory, not his true reliance.
Just as Owen was finally able to settle down and develop his territory, Ferrier contacted him through the two-way mirror. Seeing her haggard face and the anxiety she couldn’t hide, he knew that she had been under a lot of pressure during this time.
Owen asked and learned that the pressure Ferrier was facing was even greater than he had imagined. After all, her territory was closer to the Imperial border than Hydra and more susceptible to the Empire’s influence in the Northland.
Therefore, during this time, the number of spies in Ferrier Town had skyrocketed again. Almost all the townspeople had side jobs, even openly selling all kinds of intelligence, including that of her, the lord. For example, her personality, dress, hobbies, even the furnishings in her room and her favorite jewelry were all being sold as intelligence. It was as if they only needed to know what kind of underwear she wore every day and what shape her poop was. How could this not drive her crazy?
After complaining for a while, Ferrier calmed down and told Owen a very bad piece of news.
The Empire was going to re-evaluate the Northland nobles and grant them new titles, real Imperial titles, based on the land and population of their territories.
Now Owen understood why they had let the refugees into the Northland to fatten them up. It was all for the Imperial titles.
As for why it was bad news, it was because everyone needed to go to the Imperial Capital to receive their titles from the Emperor.
For the forces that had come to the Northland from the Empire to divide the cake, this was like returning home in glory. But for Owen, a pure Northland noble, the dangers he would face along the way were enough to make anyone’s scalp tingle.
Especially since Owen had no foundation or connections in the Empire. When facing threats and demands to choose sides from various forces, he was in danger of disappearing if things went wrong.
Therefore, after listening, Owen’s face was no better than Ferrier’s.
But this was also a rare opportunity. If he succeeded, Hydra would break free from the constraints of the Northland and truly enter the Empire’s center of power.
After thinking about it for a while and realizing that he actually had no choice, Owen gave up on other methods and began to prepare for entering the Empire.
Logically, Owen should first send Root agents into the Empire. The problem was that the Empire was so vast, and Root had only a few people. They wouldn’t be able to achieve much and would easily alert the enemy.
So Owen planned to do it openly this time, displaying enough strength and background to make people think that winning him over was better than using force.
“Immediately start the city construction plan!” Owen called Maya over and said excitedly.
“Has there been any change in the Empire? Are they going to re-ennoble the Northland nobles?” After integrating with Zhuge Liang’s template, Maya, who was already politically sensitive, became even more astute, hitting the nail on the head.
Owen nodded and told her the news he had received from Ferrier.
After pondering for a moment, Maya sorted out the whole matter and believed that Owen’s plan was very good.
With Hydra’s strength in the Northland, the various forces in the Empire would not be able to bypass or ignore it. They would only have two choices: win him over or suppress him.
The stronger the territory’s strength, the more goodwill it would face. On the contrary, the more weakness it showed, the more malice would swarm in. Therefore, Owen was eager to build a city.
Maya had already prepared for city construction. After the internal affairs system was established, she had made preparations in advance. Now the biggest problem was how to deal with going to the Empire for the ennoblement.
Although this was in line with their previous plan to find allies in the Empire, after all, the Northland was vast but had limited potential. The more it developed, the greater its limitations would become. Therefore, laying out a plan in the Empire in advance was to cope with the trend of future development.
But one was to go fully prepared, and the other was to go somewhat passively. Moreover, this trip to the Empire to receive the title was like being placed under a spotlight, which gave Owen a headache.
“Maybe we can use your mother’s identity,” Maya suddenly said.
Owen was stunned at first, thinking that he wasn’t even married yet, and then realized that Maya was referring to his mother.
The eldest daughter of the Ha Rui Trading Company, this identity was nothing. But what about the Rebellious Witch?
It was said that his maternal grandmother was also extraordinary, a prominent figure in the wizard sanctuary of Dorinta.
Although witches were not well-regarded, they were an integral part of the wizard system. After all, wizards relied entirely on magic bloodlines. The offspring of a male wizard and an ordinary woman were obviously not as potent as the offspring of a male wizard and a witch. Therefore, there were many witches in the wizard sanctuary, and they held considerable power.
As a wizard sanctuary, Dorinta was not weak. There were more than a few Legendaries, and there were even rumors of higher existences.
Whether it was true or not, it was a consensus among the upper echelons that Dorinta was not to be trifled with.
Everyone knew that witches were formidable, let alone an organized group of wizards.
“It’s not enough. My gender is the biggest problem,” Owen said, touching his chin. Because his mother belonged to the witch lineage, he, as a man, was destined to not receive much support.
“What if we add the trans-dimensional Hydra?” Owen suddenly thought of something and said to Maya with a spirited look.
Since his mother’s side was not strong enough, he would add his father’s side.
If the Legendary Witch, the Rebellious Witch, could disguise herself as the eldest daughter of a small trading company in the Imperial border, then why couldn’t a prince from another world disguise himself as the son of a down-and-out Northland noble and have a love-hate relationship with her?
The background Owen fabricated for himself was indeed impressive. His mother’s side was completely traceable with sufficient evidence. As for his father’s side, Hydra’s strange development speed and the existence of the trans-dimensional teleportation array were all evidence.
As for the biggest problem with this matter, whether his mother would cooperate, he didn’t care at all.
Her identity and Owen’s strength were ironclad evidence. Even if she personally denied it, it wouldn’t matter. How many people would dare to believe the Rebellious Witch’s words? Moreover, as long as Owen acted realistically enough, even she might suspect that her husband had faked his death and escaped.
Owen didn’t care at all whether his father’s grave would be dug up by his mother to verify his identity afterward. He pulled Maya along to enrich this plan.
