Chapter 399: Distribution of Battle Merits on Tieti Island

It takes four days to sail from Iron Horse Island to Coral Island, which is enough time for the knights of Coral Island to distribute their battle merits.

Liszt is also distributing the battle merits of his knight order.

According to the principle of more work, more reward, he is the one who has made the greatest contribution in this campaign. Even the Marquis believes that Liszt's contribution is almost catching up with his own, which is no surprise, as the Marquis is the one who has made the greatest contribution every time Coral Island participates in a battle, not only because of his strength but also due to his status as a lord.

"The Grand Duke presides over the battle merit meeting, in principle, focusing on the distribution of materials and minimizing the conferment of titles. Because the First Prince spoke for you, you can be conferred the title of Viscount, becoming the only noble to be promoted to Viscount in this campaign."

Liszt is somewhat surprised: "Am I the only one?"

He feels a bit too conspicuous, but he enjoys the thrill of being the sole standout.

"Many sky knights have made greater contributions than you, but they are either already Marquises or Earls, or already Viscounts... It is absolutely impossible to be promoted from Viscount to Earl based on the merits of this battle... Among the Barons, your contribution is the greatest, so it is only natural for you to be promoted to Viscount."

"Then, father, what price do I have to pay?"

"After you obtain the title of Viscount, you will hardly have any share in the distribution of materials, so you need to personally compensate the knights who fought with you."

"I understand." Liszt nods, this is a matter of course. The title of Viscount already belongs to the middle-level noble sequence, an identity that cannot be exchanged for any amount of gold coins. A completely owned island or city is definitely a family heritage that can be passed down for hundreds of years.

This means he has to personally compensate the knights who have made contributions.

And the compensation for battle merits he calculated later made him breathe a sigh of relief, because no matter from which aspect, he himself occupies most of the acquisition of battle merits. Without Hiddleston, the Black Knights would definitely not have achieved such glory, so the compensation standard is not high.

"Adding up to about six thousand gold coins, after deducting the spoils that have already been privately divided, I probably still need to supplement about four thousand gold coins."

Four thousand gold coins are within an acceptable range, equivalent to just a small half-year's profit share from Flower Town's brewing.

In fact, the Swift Shadow Bow he acquired is likely worth three to four thousand gold coins. In short, although he did not get the right to plunder spoils in this campaign, obtaining the title of Viscount is enough to satisfy him.

Then he thought again: "I have been promoted to Viscount, can any of my followers be promoted?"

After thinking about it.

It seems that no one has made outstanding contributions, and this is only the first time participating in a campaign, so it is not appropriate to promote too quickly. At most, Marcus Wheel and Charles Trapp can be listed as candidates for investigation, waiting for their performance in the next battle.

But as soon as he thinks about his followers making contributions and having to enfeoff land, he always has a knot in his heart: "The enfeoffment system... I feel great about obtaining land ownership, but it feels very uncomfortable to give it to others. Should I make a small change to the structure of the enfeoffment system?"

Given the area of Black Horse Island, under normal circumstances, it is more practical to enfeoff two or three Barons and a dozen or so Knight Lords.

But he doesn't want to enfeoff any land at all: "Perhaps, I can refer to the ancient Chinese enfeoffment system, virtual enfeoffment and remote leadership?"

Virtual enfeoffment is akin to the lifelong knighthood in this world, but lifelong knighthood cannot be inherited, while virtual enfeoffment can be inherited, without fiefs (land), only enjoying the salary paid by the court.

Remote leadership involves the court designating a fief or a specific official position as an identity, but the person does not actually govern the fief or perform the official duties, just holding a nominal title.

Whether it is virtual enfeoffment or remote leadership, it is all about giving enough honor, but in essence, there is no real enfeoffment, and all the land is still owned by the court. While this system may not be considered highly advanced, it significantly strengthens centralization during the feudal era and promotes national unification.

Europe has always been fragmented, while China has consistently maintained great unification, which may not be without institutional reasons.

Soon he calmed down again: "Now is not the time to solve the enfeoffment system, I am just a small noble, low-key development is the way to go, first adapt to the enfeoffment system... Perhaps when my followers see that the development of the territory is not satisfactory, they will take the initiative to change the status quo?"

Liszt possesses the vision and intellect of a modern individual, and with the aid of the smoke mission, the land under his control can undoubtedly achieve its maximum potential.

In the hands of his followers, it is likely to return to the simple farming method of ordinary nobles, and once hit by natural disasters, bankruptcy is possible in an instant. If it were other lords and followers, this kind of enfeoffment would not be a problem, everyone lives like this.

But in Flower Town, on Black Horse Island, when the followers see that Liszt's land is becoming more and more prosperous, they will definitely have many thoughts.

"At that time, I will subtly guide them, and without my prompting, the followers will likely take the initiative to embrace the new system."

Calculating battle merits made the voyage less boring. Liszt discussed battle merits with his knights almost every day, ensuring that everyone's demands were satisfactorily resolved.

At the same time, he would have a drink with his father and brother, discussing the direction of the family.

"The Grand Duke did not say what happened between him and the Sapphire Dragon, but the Sapphire Dragon has definitely undergone changes, and the Grand Duke has also undergone significant changes... It's unclear whether he has become a dragon knight, the Lord of Dragon Domain, or something else... The anger is far from subsided."

Lee William briefly recounted the meeting at Juniper Fortress for his two sons to ponder.

He continued, "The Grand Duke's purpose in clearing out Iron Horse Island is very clear; he wants to take control of Iron Horse Island. Then, using Iron Horse Island as a reward, he will grant three Marquises. Iron Horse Island can barely accommodate three Marquises."

The Iron Horse Island owned by the Marquis of the Bull is the second largest island after Blue Dragon Island, almost three times the size of the Red Crab Island owned by the Longtaro family.

If Red Crab Island can accommodate one Marquis, then Iron Horse Island naturally can accommodate three Marquises.

"So, father, you have a chance to strive for the title of Marquis?" Levis's eyes lit up with excitement, "Three Marquis candidates, the probability is high! By then, our Tulip family will be a family of Marquises!"

"Not three candidates, but five candidates." Lee William was also excited, though he restrained from showing it, "Blue Dragon Island will also carve out two large cities to grant two Marquises, joining the Blue Blood Alliance."

The Marquises of the Blue Blood Alliance certainly do not live as comfortably as those with fiefs, but a Marquis is still a Marquis, and the benefits far exceed those of a Count's.

Liszt, unfazed by the title of Marquis, frowned, "So, the Grand Duke is preparing to launch an even fiercer war?"

"Exactly, as soon as the Kingdom of Steel Ridge and the Kingdom of the Eagle go to war, the Grand Duke will immediately issue an expansion order, actively expanding resources to fill the deficit brought to the country by the Marquis of the Bull."

"Warlike and militaristic... Can the national strength of the Sapphire Duchy support such frequent wars?" Liszt said calmly, "The losses of the Coral Island Knights in the battle of Iron Horse Island are already significant, exceeding the losses of previous expansion orders. We need time to recover."

Lee William smiled slightly, not concerned with Liszt's worries, "The Grand Duke plans to start recruiting prisoners. In the future, we can replenish our ranks with prisoners of war from the Kingdom of the Eagle, integrating them into the knight order."