He had brainwashed and hypnotized the Knights and troop-commanding nobles throughout the army. In a sense, he had already gained de facto control of the military.
This was because he held sway over two critical areas. Grasping these two key points was enough to control the army.
The first was inconspicuous but extremely important: the army's provisions.
Other than Fang Zhen, few people could afford the heavy financial burden of over ten thousand full-time soldiers.
In fact, both Balenzuo and Tarrenno before him had struggled greatly to support them.
But they had no choice.
If they didn't maintain an army of this size, they would easily be devoured by their rivals. That was why both Dukes had lived such strained, difficult lives.
Now that Fang Zhen had unified these two Duchies, he didn't actually need to maintain so many soldiers.
