The nobles were stunned! They couldn't believe their ears. The Duke, who had been missing for a long time, made drastic reforms as soon as he returned, directly targeting the roots of the nobles.
Are nobles still nobles without financial and military power?
What rights did the nobles have to walk around in their own territories? Wasn't it the financial and military power? All the respect and prestige were obtained by these two things. Now, without even saying anything, they directly said they would take back the power, which was like killing them.
They almost wanted to rebel on the spot!
Unfortunately... no one dares...
Compared to a peerless warrior who had killed the demon king Sargeras and the demon commander Archimonde, they were nothing! The combined forces of all the nobles couldn't even defeat Duke.
If it were still the era of 20 years ago when the nobles of the seven human kingdoms were united, perhaps they could call on external forces to teach Duke, the madman who dared to challenge the rules of the aristocratic game, a lesson.
Unfortunately, when the Storm Nobles thought about it, their mouths suddenly felt bitter, as if they were force-fed shit.
Unknowingly, the world of the nobles has collapsed in one disaster after another.
Among the seven human kingdoms, Stromgarde has been destroyed and has not yet been revived; Dalaran has a completely different system. By the way, the current Speaker Rhonin is Duke's direct disciple; Gilneas is still surrounded by a group of werewolves, and no one knows whether it has been destroyed.
Except for the Stormwind, the nobles of the remaining three countries were almost wiped out.
Alterac: With the Second Dark Gate War, the Horde captured Broken Ridge, and even the nobles including King Aiden Perenolde were cleared out. Only the Barov lineage remained. Although Ilucia ascended the throne, the old Duke Barov still stayed in the territory of the Edmund family. The entire family and even the kingdom were in the same boat with Duke.
Lordaeron: With Arthas' betrayal, the core nobles of Lordaeron were wiped out. Only staunch local lords such as Mograine remained, but they were all the most loyal knights.
Kul Tiras: In the third battle of the Dark Gate, the entire land fell, all the nobles were wiped out, and only Queen Jaina was left.
Well, the problem is that everyone in the aristocratic circle believes that the queens of the three countries mentioned above are all Duke's lovers.
foreign aid?
Damn, it's already a courtesy for Duke not to bring in other human countries to keep things under control, and he still needs foreign aid?
Without any external help and relying solely on their own strength, the nobles were simply no match for the Duke, whose power was equal to that of a king. The nobles were truly frustrated.
Unrest!
Embarrass each other!
For a moment, everyone wanted to find someone else to compete with Duke. Amidst countless glances of "Why don't you do it" and "Do you take me as an idiot?", the Storm nobles discovered in despair that no one could do anything to Duke.
Duke didn't even take out his staff. He just stood there leiSuraely with his hands behind his back, demonstrating what it meant to be domineering with his smile!
If looks could kill... these weak nobles would have been killed on the spot by Du, chopped up and fed to dogs.
Duke is so overbearing now, it is clear:
You can object!
I can ignore it!
This is how he asserted his power and force with an almost brutal momentum.
silence!
Don't explode in silence!
Just die in silence!
Just like that, Duke killed the nobles' will to resist with his silent smile.
"Haha! Anyone else wants to object? The gate is right there. Don't worry, as the regent of Stormwind, I have no intention of confiscating the property of opponents. After handing over the territory to the country, I will allow you to sell the property in the territory, and at the same time allow you to continue to do business and live in the territory of Stormwind."
Duke's attitude of "I have given you this gift, but you still don't thank me" almost drove the nobles crazy.
The rage spread through every blood vessel in their bodies, but they couldn't vent their anger and were almost causing internal injuries.
Bolvar stood there stunned. He wanted to speak several times, and even when a familiar noble gave him a pleading look, he felt a little soft-hearted. But after moving his mouth a few times, he finally said nothing.
What echoed in his mind were the words that the late King Llane had said to him when he was still alive: "Bolvar... Duke's reforms are incomprehensible to us with our wisdom. In fact, you and I are both mortals. We don't have Anduin's courage, nor Duke's wisdom. So mortals should do mortal things well, and leave the rest to the two of them. We just need to make sure that they are doing it for the good of the kingdom and the people, that's enough."
right!
The ones that the late king truly relied on were Duke and Anduin. I, Bolvar, am just a person who maintains the status quo.
Precisely because he knew the limits of his wisdom, Bolvar's loyalty to the House of Wrynn ultimately overrides the interests of these nobles.
Duke pressed forward, but Bolvar and the Knights remained silent.
This resolution, which was almost a disaster for the nobles, was passed.
As soon as the meeting ended, Bolvar couldn't wait to recruit Duke.
Almost as soon as he entered the secret meeting room, Bolvar asked, "Duke! What on earth do you want to do!?"
"Bolvar, do you really not know, or are you pretending not to know, that Stormwind Kingdom is already corrupt!" Duke's face turned cold, and he threw out a stack of "petitions": "I made so many reforms to make the entire kingdom prosperous, not to feed those termites."
As soon as he saw the stack of petitions, Bolvar's eyes closed in pain.
Don't seek death and you won't die!
In the past, the lords controlled the territories, and even the king had to pay tolls to build railways. Now, they are used to the good days of making money from every train, and those nobles have jointly besieged him, the regent, saying that they want to impose special tariffs on the supply trains passing through their territories to the cursed land of Watchtower. Otherwise, every time a train passes by, they will stop the train and check whether there are any contraband items or something.
In addition, relying on the fact that the land was privately owned, the nobles made all kinds of noise.
Bolvar, who strictly abides by the iron rule of 'the nobles' territory is not the king's territory' for 2,800 years, has no way to deal with this.
But he never thought that Duke would take action as soon as he returned.
"But this is too drastic. It will cause the entire kingdom's ruling class to collapse."
"Then let's change a new group. Even if we don't have to do anything, they will eventually perish under the enemy's attack. The key point now is whether we destroy them or let them continue to corrupt the entire kingdom and drag the kingdom and all of humanity into the abyss of destruction."
"Is… is it that exaggerated?"
"What if I told you that the loss of Varian's soul was the conspiracy of an enemy, and that enemy happened to be among the nobles?"
Bolvar's heart instantly froze into ice.