Eagle’s Glory

While Edmond Dantès was conscientiously acting for his Majesty in Paris, his sovereign was also conscientiously performing his duties.

Ever since he and Father Faria reached a consensus on the distribution of the next affairs, Aigron began to devote himself to performing the government affairs of the principality.

At the beginning, he asked the priest to provide him with regular weekly reports and a list of various affairs, so as to learn the various government affairs of the principality. He even attended the meeting of the principality's cabinet in person, but he only listened and did not speak .

After all, he was a clever man, and he had the heart to learn, so as time went by, with the help of Father Faria, he gradually became familiar with these matters.

In addition to copying the experience of Father Faria, he also made a little innovation. He made a list of various matters according to his own priorities, and then asked people to supervise the most urgent matters at any time Report the progress to yourself at any time.

Compared with Father Faria, Aigron has one advantage. He has a young and healthy body, so he can personally supervise him on the spot. No one can fool him just by word games.

Today, Egron brought Grand Duchess Haide to a large construction site on the outskirts of Ioannina to supervise the progress of the project.

This is the newly planned aqueduct outside the city, and it has also been listed as the top priority by Aigron.

As an ancient city, the city of Ioannina had similar facilities in ancient times, but due to various natural and man-made disasters over the years, many facilities were slowly destroyed or abandoned, especially when Ali Pasha rebelled and the Greek War of Independence broke out Afterwards, this place encountered wars that lasted for more than ten years, and the related facilities naturally became more dilapidated.

These diversion canals not only benefit the surrounding farmers, but also solve the increasingly severe drinking water problem in Ioannina. Naturally, they have become the most important priority for Aegron.

According to Father Faria's plan, several engineers have already drawn up the design drawings, and the relevant human and material resources have also been deployed. After Aigron took over, he made a decision to start work, and he also spared time To supervise in person, in order to reflect their own importance.

Aigron and Haide came to the site in person, which naturally made the person in charge here panic, but neither of them likes to put on a show, and they don't want to cause the construction site to fall into chaos because of themselves, so they just pack lightly.

Under the leadership of the person in charge, they came to a high ground not far away, from which they could overlook the scene of the entire construction site.

It's summer time,

The weather was quite sultry. Although there was wind on the high ground, it was still a bit unbearable. Aigron couldn't help but took off his coat and unbuttoned the top button of his shirt to cool himself off.

This is the case in Aiglon on the high ground, and the migrant workers working below are naturally hotter. They are sweating profusely under the scorching sun, and some of them directly take off their shirts and work shirtless.

Like Aigron, Haidee also held a telescope on the high ground to look at the scenes on the construction site.

When she saw this scene, she was a little bit shy and put away the binoculars.

Then, she blushed slightly, and turned to look at Aigron.

"Your Majesty! How many people are here?"

"There are thousands of people here. If other locations are included, the manpower used for the entire project is close to 10,000."

Egron answered casually while fiddling with the telescope,

"10,000 people!" Haiide couldn't help being slightly startled, obviously frightened by the number, "It must cost a lot of money to recruit so many people at the same time, right?"

Aegron was stunned for a moment, then put down the binoculars and looked at Haidee.

It seems that Teresa's education in person was very successful, and Haidee has begun to learn to look at problems from the perspective of a monarch.

"It does cost a lot of money, but there is no way. If we don't do it now, Ioannina will be overwhelmed sooner or later." Then, Aigron replied, "Besides, we still have some criminals and prisoners in our hands. They can be used cheaply, and later it will not be so easy."

"That's right." Haiide nodded, "It's reasonable to ask them to use their labor to compensate us for the money we spent on feeding them!"

After speaking, Haidee picked up the binoculars again and looked around.

After all, Haiidee is still young, and there are not many opportunities to go out of the city, so she pays more attention to the surrounding scenery than inspecting the construction site. The sound of gunpowder explosion and the smoke rising from the explosion of gunpowder from time to time , it brought her a different kind of lively experience.

But for Aigron, there are a lot of things to consider.

His attitude towards the principality he created is also changing.

At the beginning, he just regarded this place as the territory he snatched, an accidental landing place during the journey, or a transit station. He only planned to stay here for a while before leaving, so he didn't bother to care about the life and death here; but Seeing that Father Faria had worked so hard for the Principality and even exhausted his own vitality, he began to slowly change his mind.

He didn't want the priest's painstaking efforts to be in vain, and he also hoped that the principality would be able to maintain long-term stability in the future and become a "ancestral property" of the Bonaparte family.

Compared with France, where the situation changes from time to time, this quiet and remote small country in the Balkan Peninsula can't be regarded as the family's last retreat?

When he thought about the original glorious Habsburg family, on the original historical line, it finally fell into the empty royal family without an inch of territory and could only be an exile royal family, he couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

Perhaps as Teresa approached her due date, he gradually became conscious of becoming a father, or even an "ancestor" of others.

He couldn't tell anyone about these things, he could only bury them in his heart.

So he began to devote energy and began to focus on building this new principality.

Of course, even if you want to build, you can't act indiscriminately. You must prioritize, otherwise it will only be counterproductive.

His resources are limited, the principality is a small country, and its manpower and material resources are quite poor. Although he still has some money, it is no problem for him to become a rich man with that money. If he wants to build a country, it will be a drop in the bucket.

In addition, due to years of wars in the Principality, it can be said that it is now full of waste, and its financial revenue is also quite meager.

Therefore, from a practical point of view, he must control the scale of construction, so as not to let the only remaining resources of the principality be consumed.

This is a paradox. If he doesn't want to do any construction, just when a conqueror replaces the previous ruler, let the people here continue the previous life intact, then the people will not feel that there is anything wrong, they have always been Their lives are very painful, and Aigron will not make them suffer any more. They will continue to live silently and endure the new ruler; but once Aigron wants to do something for their future, he must mobilize them Construction requires the deployment of labor, the consumption of a large amount of storage materials, and the large sum of money spent. Then he will definitely reduce the quality of life of the people of the principality in the initial period, and will make the principality's already insufficient material strength even worse.

On balance, Aigron could only make the most logical choice. First, concentrate the vast majority of manpower and material resources that can be used to build the city of Ioannina and the surrounding area, making it the absolute center of the principality outside the city. The diversion canal project is the most important part of his whole plan.

Firstly, building the capital can improve the cohesion of the principality's ruling class; secondly, after the capital's resources absolutely crush the surrounding areas, he will have a stronger ability to suppress, and then he can levy labor and taxes on a larger scale, Instead of worrying about stirring up rebellion and resistance.

Next, he intends to expand the port, develop foreign commerce, and expand the kingdom's tax base.

Next, after the principality's financial strength is more substantial, it can gradually develop other places according to the plan.

This is a fairly long-term plan, and when it is carried out, Aigron is probably no longer in Ioannina, but even so, he still hopes that this plan can be carried out smoothly.

He is the de facto ruler of the Principality of Ioannina, and naturally has certain obligations for the future of the Principality.

These conclusions are all the results of Egron, Father Faria and several other senior counselors after many meetings and discussions, and he does not intend to tell Haiide all of them.

Haiidee just needs to be her titular monarch. Anyway, she certainly doesn't care about these details.

"Your Majesty, what are you thinking about?" Perhaps sensing that he was thinking, Haiide couldn't help asking.

"I'm thinking about how to make our principality more stable and stable." Aigron replied casually, "The existing structure can only guarantee temporary peace, but it cannot stimulate its vitality. Instead, it only temporarily suppresses all potential dissatisfaction through violence. It's just that if we don't remove the obstacles sooner or later, sooner or later, the pent-up anger will overwhelm this country forever."

Haidee blinked her eyes, looking at Aigron with half understanding.

"You... what do you mean?"

"Haidee, are you devout to the Lord?" Eggron asked suddenly.

"of course!"

A flash of panic flashed in Haidee's eyes, and she quickly answered loudly. "Your Majesty, ever since I was baptized, I have been thanking the Lord for the grace bestowed on me, and I have never forgotten that I am the Lord's people...Please believe in my piety!"

It's no wonder she reacted so strongly, because Aigron's question touched her sensitive nerves.

As a convert, what she fears and hates the most is that others question the piety of her faith. After all, her Orthodox status is the basic condition for her to become the Grand Duchess of the Principality of Ioannina. If she does not convert, Neither Greece nor the Russian Empire would recognize the existence of her monarch.

And Aigron's inquiry made her feel even more frightened. She was afraid that His Majesty would doubt her loyalty, so she immediately expressed her loyalty without thinking.

Eggron saw her panic, so he reached out and stroked Haidee's hair tenderly.

"Haidee, don't be nervous. I don't care if you are really pious. Although I often claim to be ordered by the Lord, my loyalty to the Lord is absolutely no more than you."

Hearing these words, Haiide's heart skipped a beat. The little girl subconsciously raised her head to look at the sky, fearing that some thunder would threaten the blasphemous king.

Fortunately nothing happened.

Seeing Haidee's timid look, Eggron couldn't help laughing.

He continued to rub Haidee's hair, so as to reassure the little girl.

"I ask you this question to remind you that you are a converted ex-Muslim, and in our country, there are still a large group of unconverted believers. Yes, the superstructure of our Principality is all Christians. There are also a large group of Greek peasants guarding us around the capital, but in general, we are caught in a sea of ​​​​msl believers. They now accept the rule of us heretics because they have been fighting for many years. Make peace as soon as possible, regardless of who rules them; but if time passes, sooner or later someone will feel that we Christians are not qualified to rule them, and they are so many that they can shake our rule at any time."

Hearing that Aigron put herself as a member of "us", Haidee felt a little happy. This proved that His Majesty would never doubt the loyalty of herself, a reformed believer.

However, she also felt a little apprehensive about Aigron raising the issue.

"Then what do you think should be done?"

Aigron didn't answer her immediately, but continued to look at the crowded fertile fields under the high ground.

"Haidee, you know, it's 1828. Two thousand years ago, there were no Christians in the world, but a thousand years later, there were Christians everywhere; likewise, thirteen hundred years ago, The world used to teach YSL, but after a thousand years, people here have become MSL... Times change, everything can be changed, just like you were born as an MSL, but eventually became a Christian , we have seen its changes in the past, so I will bring about new changes myself If I do not do this, our principality will not be integrated into Europe."

Haidee listened silently to Eggron's words. After this period of education, it's not that this young girl doesn't understand anything.

"You mean... are you going to convert the people on a large scale?" She asked in a low voice.

"Do you mind?" Aegron asked back.

"No! I don't mind." Haidee replied without thinking. "As long as it is your wish, I think it is all right. Besides, I am a Christian now, and since you are my subjects, you should be like me... "

Aegron couldn't help laughing.

"Haidee, you have the courage, and you have the appearance of a king! However, we can't be in a hurry, and we don't need to be in a hurry. When we first took over this country, I already issued a notice announcing respect for a certain person's religious belief. No doubt I intend to renege on my promise, but I can't be that quick, and I can't be that obvious, I want to do it gradually, and by the time someone finds out, it's too late!"

After a pause, Eggron explained to Haide in a low voice, "Haidee, I have publicly declared that I agree with civil rights and the republic, and it will not be long before all Europeans will know what I have said. In this case, I cannot It's like a butcher and a tyrant, so I want to grant citizenship to everyone in the principality, and try to solve the problem as softly as possible. Let's start with education. All educated people must swear allegiance to you and your Christian successors. "

"Successors..." Haidee muttered to herself.

The word was too far away for her, but it seemed to be very close.