I will be crowned king

Under the extremely patient explanation of the little maid, Ludwig, who was completely confused, finally figured out the general situation of the matter and relaxed slightly; the originally overly impactful picture became more or less understandable to ordinary people.

After all, as soon as he walked in the door, he saw Sophia and Anson hugging each other tightly. The little maid was crying with joy and his father turned a blind eye... The ring of order was on. For a moment, Ludwig almost thought that he had walked into the wrong door or had an affair with Anson. After soul exchange - he is the redundant one in this family.

Of course, understanding does not mean acceptance, especially after hearing Angelica's overly exaggerated descriptions. Ludwig must use his rich experience as a commander for many years: from all kinds of exaggerated and false intelligence from his subordinates, Extract that one ten thousandth of useful information.

Then, he was shocked again.

"You, you plan to make Sophia...be the leader of the Army Department?!"

At the dining table of Franz's house, Ludwig, who was holding a wine glass, almost spit out a mouthful of wine. His wide-eyed eyes stared at Anson Bach and his father, completely ignoring the girl beside him who was already triumphant. .

"No, no, no, Major General Ludwig, you have misunderstood." After swallowing the kielbasa in his mouth in an orderly manner, Anson explained calmly: "Miss Sophia is a woman. How can she become the leader of the Army Department?"

"That is……"

"Our goal is to reorganize the War Department and then make Miss Sofia the Minister of War in His Majesty Carlos's Cabinet - in other words, just the spokesperson of the Army's interests before the Privy Council and the Royal Family."

"...What's the difference?!"

Feeling his heartbeat that was about to break through his chest, Ludwig couldn't help but speak.

"The difference is huge!" Anson nodded seriously, put down the knife and fork in his hand with a little reluctance, and wiped the sauce from the corner of his mouth with a napkin.

I have to admit that the dishes at Franz's House are really tasteful. They are not like the high-end restaurants in Clovis City that imitate imperial dishes, nor are they similar to the rough food of ordinary Clovis people, with tables full of sauced elbows, sausages and mountains. This kind of "hard dish" - not only has the heavy taste of the Clovis people, but also has a rich taste and a combination of meat and vegetables.

Braised beef, fried vegetable balls, hot dumpling soup, smoked pork with cheese, lemon juice with fried pork chops, chive egg pancake... Although Clovis is not short of fried food, it is coated with bread crumbs and egg liquid. Deep-frying is a high-end "novel method" that you would never see in an ordinary tavern.

"Major General Ludwig, you are also a member of the Army. Although the most powerful group within the Army Ministry has always been very ostracizing the Franz family, many situations are self-evident as long as you are here." Anson turned his attention to other side:

"For example, what I said at trial that 'the Department of the Army does not represent the Army' was really from the bottom of my heart. What do you think?"

The stunned Ludwig paused for a moment, then nodded slightly.

Because this is indeed a fact. The Ministry of War has no power and cannot truly be the leader of all armies. They just used the power of the royal family or Carlos II in a pretentious manner, and then used Anson Bach, the "traitor", to convert many People who didn't know the real situation rallied around the War Department.

The best example of this is Ludwig himself - neither his actual Southern Legion nor the officers of the Clovis Crusade who accompanied him in the New World were involved in this campaign against Anson Bach. Amid the condemnation, I don’t think there is anything wrong with not taking a stand.

Why should your Army Department say whatever you say? When did you become qualified to represent us... This is their truest idea.

"There are hundreds of thousands of soldiers, but there is no one who can truly represent them, and there is no organization or department that can truly fight for their rights and interests. This is obviously abnormal - perhaps in the past, Clovis had less frequent wars and was more peaceful. It's nothing, but it obviously doesn't fit the current situation." Anson spoke while quickly sorting out his thoughts:

"The war with the empire will not end easily. The surrounding allies need Clovis to maintain strong military power to maintain stability and suppression. This is the current situation of Clovis. The kingdom must adapt to this status quo as soon as possible and let the dozen or so people who work for His Majesty fight. Ten thousand soldiers can have their own voice at the core of the highest power."

"Even to put it a bit too much, many of the current powers and functions of the Privy Council should be assigned to the War Department - those guys who want to nail me to the pillar of shame and establish a military government are not completely without foundation. "

"So just as the Guards were replaced by the Whitehall Street Police, the War Office must be reorganized into a department with greater power, more functions, and a better reflection of the true thoughts of the hundreds of thousands of Army personnel, and those people must be completely replaced ." Anson paused, his tone slightly helpless:

"Given the cordial relationship we have with the current War Department, and the latter's plummeting prestige after losing the trial, it is clearly more practical to create an entirely new department."

"I see, I understand."

Ludwig raised his eyebrows, and then his brows twitched even more fiercely: "But I still don't understand, what does this have to do with Sophia becoming the Minister of War?!"

"Of course it does matter!" Anson's serious expression greatly benefited the girl opposite:

"May I ask Major General Ludwig, which general in the army do you think is qualified to be the representative of everyone in the Army Department?"

"this……"

"There should be none, right?" Anson gave the answer directly: "Then do you think if I announce now and beg His Majesty to grant me the position of Minister of War, will anyone be willing to accept it?"

Ludwig didn't want to speak, but his expression betrayed his true thoughts.

"You see, the result is obvious." Anson shrugged:

"Even if I can win over many middle- and lower-level officers to my side, it doesn't mean I can make them obey my leadership - even if it were you, I don't think the result would be any different."

"In this case, it is better not to let someone from within the army become the leader. After comprehensive consideration, I personally think that Miss Sophia Franz is simply the best candidate we can have."

"You see, although Miss Sophia has never participated in the military, she personally participated in the formation of the Storm Legion. Therefore, all my military exploits in Hantu, the Iser Elf Kingdom, and even the New World were nominally with Miss Sophia. Obtained under the leadership of the State Council, it gave His Majesty the name to confer this status on her."

"Moreover, Miss Sophia has been running around the palace for many years. She is more familiar with the high-level politics of the kingdom than any general with an army background, and knows better how to fight for the interests of her subordinates. As a subordinate of Miss Sophia, I feel that I still have some say in this regard. "

"Finally, and most importantly, Miss Sophia is from the Franz family." Anson said word by word:

"This will directly change the past situation in which the Franz family was ostracized and treated indifferently by the army; for you, me, the Storm Legion, and those middle- and lower-level officers who also contributed to the trial, talented but Military academy graduates who are not being reused can all benefit from this."

"Let Miss Sophia Franz become the leader of the Army Department, and then let all experienced and prestigious generals in the Army unite to assist her in managing the Army Department, so that His Majesty can truly hear the voices of all the Army - to be fair, Don’t you think this idea is totally…interesting?”

As he spoke, Anson began to lose control of the raised corners of his mouth.

This was the solution he finally came up with after thinking about it for a long time after communicating with Luther Franz.

The real problem before us now is that even if we can immediately replace the Bayonet Club with the Shotgun Club and replace the Continental Army with the Skirmishers, it is simply impossible to convince hundreds of thousands of troops to truly convince the masses... The problem still exists and things are still out of control. , just let yourself sit in the position of the current group of people at the top of the Army Department, and it is even more dangerous!

For the people in the Bayonet Club, relying on the reputation they have accumulated over the years, if they can lead the army to successfully overthrow the Privy Council and establish a military government, they will truly have unparalleled reputation and make hundreds of thousands of army soldiers obey them.

But if it were Anson himself... I'm afraid he would have to consider the gap between his orders and toilet paper after he leaves the office as soon as he takes office?

After weighing the two aspects, he obviously cannot do that... This is not the same as the situation in the New World. At that time, the strength of the Storm Legion could crush all the colonies, but the Storm Legion was placed among all Clovis's organized armies, let alone fighting. With so much strength, there is no advantage even in quantity.

The only way is to bring everyone to the same level... Since I can't be the leader of all armies, then everyone can't; not only that, I have to let a person who has nothing to do with the army become the leader of everyone in name only Leader, if you dare to challenge the leader's position, then you are everyone's enemy.

And Sophia Franz became the Minister of War. On the surface, of course, she had to maintain the status among all the generals, but who to favor and exclude... wasn't it decided by the minister himself?

Ludwig was obviously aware of this. He narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at his father who was enjoying his dinner silently: "Is this what you meant?"

"Dear Ludwig, I simply don't know what you are talking about." The old man lowered his eyebrows and put down the wine glass in his hand: "I am just an archbishop, how can I interfere in secular affairs?"

An archbishop... Ludwig couldn't help but rolled his eyes, but he understood somewhat what the archbishop meant.

"Okay, but I have another question - have you ever thought that if you do this, your intention will be too obvious. Everyone will know that this is the Franz family, preparing to seize control of the army."

"On the contrary, I think everyone will not think so. Instead, they will think that the Franz family is just being used by His Majesty and is not greedy for this power." Anson shook his head:

"Major General Ludwig, think about it seriously, does the Franz family have any foundation in the army?"

"this……"

Ludwig was stunned at first, and then his pupils shrank.

yes!

Except for themselves, the Franz family has no roots in the army at all, and is completely different from those wealthy families with deep roots in the army; if a member of one of their families became the Minister of War, they would be suspected. Are you preparing to take the opportunity to seize power?

But the Franz family...her father is the archbishop, and he cannot interfere too much, at least in name. Sophia does not understand military affairs at all. Her real areas of expertise are politics and finance - making this person who least understands military affairs a minister does not mean the same thing. Tell others that the Franz family does not have this ambition?

But then he thought that the result was not so perfect: Sophia did not understand military affairs, which meant that she would almost certainly be ignored by the generals below, and what would a Minister of War who was completely ignored be like? …

"Wait a minute, could it be that Anson Bach, you..."

"Although I am not very senior, I am already a brigadier general after all... I have barely entered the category of general." Anson said solemnly: "As for Major General Ludwig, I personally feel that you are fully qualified to serve in this newly established A place in the 'War Office' to assist our Secretary of War."

Ludwig, who gladly accepted the flattery, nodded slightly and continued to think along this line of thought very seriously: "Then if we want it to truly replace the current Ministry of War, we have to find a group of people who are prestigious enough but not It would be better if the generals who are coerced by the War Department join."

"It's not difficult. How many generals are there in Clovis City right now?"

"This... generals and marshals above lieutenant general are generally honorary titles. Even if major generals are included, there are less than ten, and there are even fewer young ones who are still serving."

Looking at the eager Anson across from him, Ludwig rolled his eyes: "Of course, if you include the brigadier general, there will be quite a few... about twenty people."

Well, this is basically in line with the information he has... Anson nodded slightly: "Currently, there are about eight legions in hand?"

"That's right. Counting those in the War Department who have not joined the Bayonet Club, there should be two of them." Ludwig recalled: "I can only say that I am certain about whether we can win them over."

"Ahem!"

Sophia on the side suddenly coughed twice, interrupting the conversation between the two: "If I remember correctly, the dean of the Wang Family Military Academy should also have the rank of general."

"That's right." Ludwig nodded slightly: "Counting the two of us, there are a total of... thirteen generals who can serve as representatives of this new Army Department."

"Thirteen……"

Anson, who whispered softly, recalled all the past... the Council of the Elves of Ysel, the Thirteen Colonies of the New World... and smiled meaningfully:

"What a... very lucky number!"