Volume 3: Artifacts Chapter 13: Delegation of Consolation
As spring passed, the war in the northern border of the empire began to ease. The Art County Alliance not only failed to gain any advantage in the entire spring offensive , but also lost a lot of occupied land. The exhausted army needed to be repaired, and the conflicts caused by the war in the country needed to be mediated. The army of the Art County Alliance took the initiative to retreat to shorten the supply line and gave up a large area of land.
The Empire's Snow Corps, in accordance with the orders from the Imperial Capital, made every effort to reinforce the Snow City's defense line. Faced with the retreating Art County coalition forces, they did not pursue them, but only symbolically ceded the area to the other side and sent a small number of soldiers to form a non-military contact zone.
The public opinion of the empire was touting how many square kilometers of land the Snow Corps had recaptured, and which villages and towns they had recaptured. The Snow Corps, which had only been established for less than half a year, had gone from being a force that no one was optimistic about to becoming the most capable corps in the empire.
No matter how some people question the fighting power of the Snow Legion, the battle line does not lie, and a spring war slapped countless people in the face.
Countless people couldn't understand why the temporarily assembled Snow Legion could be more powerful than the original Northern Legion.
The Snow Legion is indeed strong.
Or is the strength of the Northern Legion exaggerated?
Under the deliberate guidance of a certain will, the Snow Legion and the Northern Army were frequently compared, and the Northern Legion, whose entire force was on the southern front to quell the rebellion of the Celtic Duke, was pushed to the forefront.
At this time, the imperial court announced that a military delegation consisting of royal members would go to the North and the Tedega Hills.
Queen Christina led a team to the North to comfort the Snow Legion. The Snow Legion had been tied to Queen Christina since its formation, and going there to comfort her at this time further consolidated her control over the legion.
The one who went to Tedega Hill to express condolences to the Northern Army was Princess Agatha, accompanied by the Marquis of Falling Star of Fury City as his deputy envoy.
Before the delegation left the imperial capital, Queen Christina once again made a major adjustment to the palace officials. A group of officials from the City of Raging Waves were promoted to the positions of department heads, and another group of government officials from the City of Raging Waves were transferred to the palace to serve. At the same time, Viscount Iscolan, Lady Michelle, and Ibel were nominated to the cabinet for the first time.
Although Queen Christina did not agree to the three people joining the cabinet in the end, everyone knows that this is a process. The three people joining the cabinet as cabinet ministers is very close. The current cabinet ministers can consider who they will replace and then take the initiative to find an excuse to resign without waiting for Queen Christina to name them.
After the three entered the cabinet, the handover between the old and new cabinets also entered the formal process.
Prime Minister Gabriel's small cabinet met again.
There was a long silence, and no one knew what to say. Some people kept smoking, some kept drinking water, and the old man kept coughing. None of them looked like important officials of the empire.
Gabriel sat in the first seat with an expressionless face. After a long while, he said, "When Her Royal Highness the Queen returns from the North, I will submit my resignation and resign from the position of Prime Minister of the Empire."
As soon as Gabriel finished speaking, someone loudly objected: "Master Prime Minister , you can't resign! If you don't serve as Prime Minister, what should we do? Now the entire court is almost full of people from the Reform Society, and the Cross Society is being driven out.
If we can’t keep the position of Prime Minister, we’re all doomed.”
Someone sighed and said, "Is this something we can stop? I really don't know what the At County Alliance is doing. They can't even beat the Snow Legion. We misjudged the direction of the spring war. The position of the Queen Regent has become more consolidated. The second prince, Alec, and the grandson of the emperor, Sinclair, dare not move.
Without the troops they have, we can do nothing.”
“Did we give all our money in vain?”
…
There was another silence.
It seems like it was given in vain!
An aide said at this time: "The Prime Minister wants to resign, mainly because he does not want to be implicated by the adults. Have any of you sold factory machinery and production materials to Tedejia Hills, and even sent skilled workers?
Have you ever thought about the consequences? "
Someone argued: "Raging Waves City is also for sale."
Gabriel slammed the table heavily. "All the materials from Raging Waves City that flowed into the Tedega Hills were approved by Meteorite. Meteorite will cover any troubles for merchants from Raging Waves City. If anything happens to you, do you think I can still help you get away with it like before?
You are a bunch of people who only have money in your mind. As long as you can make money, you really are not afraid of death.
You are looking for death, don't implicate me!"
Gabriel got angry and everyone was so scared that they dared not breathe.
After a while, a high-ranking official explained: "The alliance between the Duke of Celtic and the Northern Army has not been confirmed. The main reason is that the logistics of the Northern Army are all on the side of the Empire, and the Tedega Hills does not have any extra wealth to support the Northern Army.
Now that the Duke of Celtic has lifted the factory ban, we want to make money and free the Northern Army from the control of the Empire as soon as possible. With the assistance of the Duke of Celtic, His Royal Highness Sinclair will be able to return to the Imperial Capital to confirm His Majesty's physical condition."
Gabriel's anger finally subsided: "Has His Highness Sinclair's attitude not changed?"
"Yes, His Royal Highness Sinclair has not yet announced his right of succession. On the contrary, His Royal Highness the Second Prince has proposed to return to the imperial capital many times, and each time he has emphasized that he is the first in line to the throne."
For these ministers, the only way to overthrow the Queen and the Falling Star was to prove that Emperor Augustine was dead. As long as there was evidence that the Emperor was no longer alive, the Queen's legal basis for governing the country would be lost, and some of the troops controlled by the Queen would defect.
The best candidate for the emperor in the ministers' minds is the emperor's grandson Sinclair. He is the only son of the eldest prince Fania and inherits all of Fania's political legacy. At the same time, he has the support of a prominent military family and can completely control the northern army. If a military conflict is necessary for the fight for the throne, Sinclair is undoubtedly the strongest and most likely to capture the imperial capital by force.
The second prince, Alex, was a little inferior. The nobles of the Western Territory were closely watched by the Moonlight Court , and it was lucky that they didn't stab Alex in the back.
Gabriel no longer mentioned resignation. He said, "Agatha and Meteorite went to Tedega Hill to comfort the Northern Army this time, just for the emperor's grandson Sinclair. Sinclair is different from his father. He does not have such strong ambitions. If he is persuaded to give up the confrontation, we will have no chance at all.
I need someone to go to the Northern Legion and let Sinclair know that if he doesn't stand up and fight for the throne now, the empire will no longer belong to the Augustine family. "
One person stood up and said, "I'll go!"
Gabriel looked over and said, "Hermann, this is our last chance."
Herman said angrily, "Today I was replaced by an official from Raging Waves City. I have served the Empire for thirty-two years and paid so much to get to this position, but I was replaced by a person from Raging Waves City who has been in the Imperial Capital for less than half a year.
I have nothing to lose, and I am willing to sacrifice my life to achieve my goal."
A person without any worries is indeed the best candidate.
Gabriel said to Herman: "If you can't come back, I will take care of your family."
"Thank you, Prime Minister!"
The meeting was adjourned, and Hermann and his entourage boarded the train to Tedega Hill.
Soon after, the royal delegation set off.
Two trains loaded with relief supplies, one heading north and the other heading south.
Prince MacDonald, as an attendant, sat in a single room with Luke and Agatha. He was very excited about the trip to Tedega Hills: "Sister... No, our Queen told me that she would assign me a position after we return from Tedega Hills. I will soon be an imperial official."
Agatha, who was sitting opposite, said, "Prince MacDonald, you are not an imperial official yet. As an attendant of the Marquis of Meteorite, you should stay next door with the attendants."
Prince MacDonald was not afraid of Agatha, the head of the Secret Service, at all. He even acted like an elder: "Although I am the attendant of Big Brother Meteorite, am I an ordinary attendant? My sister is your mother, and my father is King Ruth'en. There are seven carriages at the back of this train with materials donated by the Kingdom of Ruth'en. Can I stay with real attendants with my status?"
Agatha, you must respect your elders!"
Prince McDonald was right, and Agatha had no way to refute it. However, she had to talk to Luke about something, so how could she let him sit in on the discussion?
Agatha winked at Luke, he was the only one here who could subdue this uncle of the king.
Luke said, "You can stay if you want. You will make the followers uncomfortable if you go to the next room. But I want to make it clear in advance that you can listen to what Agatha and I say, but you must not tell anyone. There are only three of us here. If anyone leaks the secret, it must be you."
"Why?" McDonald said, "I trust my brother, but if Agatha leaks the secret, it will be my fault."
Agatha's face darkened: "Don't question my profession."
McDonald backed off quickly: "I will never tell anyone."
Agatha had no choice but to tell Luke about the intelligence the CIA had recently obtained about Sinclair.
After the coup d'état by Grand Prince Fania failed, Sinclair arrived at the Northern Army controlled area of Tedega Hill under the protection of his attendants. Upon hearing the news of Fania's death, General Joshua immediately led his generals to swear allegiance to Sinclair. After all the Northern Army arrived, this main army of the empire was transferred to Sinclair without any damage.
“The Northern Army is actually still controlled by General Joshua. He is dissatisfied with Sinclair’s delay in expressing his attitude towards competing for the throne, and the two have quarreled many times over this.
The ceasefire with the Barbarian Legion was also ordered by General Joshull, and Sinclair knew it but did not stop it.
Our visit to the Northern Army this time still involves great risks."
Luke said, "Sinclair must still be hesitating, which is why we are here."
"I hope to convince Sinclair to consider the stability of the empire. But the obstacles we will encounter are also very great. The cabinet sent a resigned official to the Northern Army. Those cabinet ministers are eager to welcome Sinclair back to the imperial capital to ascend the throne.
The Crusaders even secretly funded the Celtic Dukes.”
Luke couldn't help but laugh, "Why do I feel like the Cross has been infiltrated by the Secret Service like a sieve."
"When a tree is about to fall, some monkeys will cling to the trunk, while others will flee and find a new tree. If Her Majesty the Queen had not wanted them to leave in a dignified manner, I would have invited them to the Secret Service for coffee.
By the way...Leo also funded the Duke of Celtic. These ungrateful Windtalkers, instead of establishing a kingdom, are looking for trouble with the Empire first. I really don't know what they are thinking."
Talking about Leo, Agatha couldn't help but get angry.
The Crusader merchants knew to hide their funding to the Celtic Duke and would not give him sensitive things, but Leo was different. He actually dismantled the machines in the factory and sent the entire production line to Tedega Hills.
Isn't this just raising an ungrateful wolf for yourself?
Luke remembered that he had not yet told Agatha that Pan and Yin were once the prince and princess of Leo, so he explained Pan and Yin's identity in detail.
After listening to her, Prince MacDonald cursed without waiting for Agatha to speak: "Is Pan still a human being? Yin is his biological sister, and he actually killed his own sister for the throne! Big brother, you declare war on Leo now, and I will go back to Luthien with my fleet to destroy Leo with you."
Luke suppressed Prince MacDonald who stood up and spoke loudly: "Pan hasn't established a kingdom yet. Whether he betrayed Yin is still our guess. And our destination this time is Tedega Hill. Don't let other things distract us."
Agatha said: "Yin is safe now, and Leo can't run away. Once we solve the internal affairs of the empire, we will have the means and time to deal with it. However... after the Duke of Celtic lifted the factory ban, the external assistance we received exceeded our expectations. Intelligence shows that the Art County Alliance has also had many contacts with the Duke of Celtic.
Will it affect your strategy?"
The Tedega Hills is a poisonous needle within the empire. After the factory ban was lifted, too many people wanted to use it to bring the empire to collapse.
The factory at Holy Mountain was built very quickly.
Luke did not answer Agatha's question, but asked in return: "How do you think the Empire can completely solve the problem of Tedega Hill and make the barbarians truly become citizens of the Empire?"
Agatha didn't think too much about it and answered, "That's difficult! As a fief of the Celtic family, Tedegar Hill has always been a semi-independent existence."
"But it doesn't have real independence." Luke expressed his point of view: "This means that Tedejia Hill has a sense of belonging to the Empire. If we want to completely solve the Tedejia Hill problem, military attack is only auxiliary, the key is to win the heart.
First of all, we cannot regard the Tedega Hills as an enemy.
Now we have someone to help us build our land, this is a good thing, we will take as many as we can. The only enemy of the Empire in the Tedega Hills is the Celtic Duke, I believe that as long as we are patient, time can help us solve everything.
Of course, we must resolve the issue of the Northern Army."
