I will be crowned king

The dark night is getting darker, but outside the shotgun club in the inner city is still crowded with people and traffic, and there is no trend of being deserted due to time.

On the contrary, as time went by, the surroundings became more and more lively.

Due to Sophia's investment at almost any cost, coupled with the literally desperate propaganda from the newspapers in Clovis City, news about the Citizens' Assembly Bill, the assassination of Anson Bach and other news finally spread throughout the city; originally, there was no interest in these at all, and The middle- and lower-class citizens who had no idea, the landless farmers who had just entered the city, and the small businessmen who were not having a good life were all awakened to the idea of ​​participating in this matter under the encouragement of the newsboys.

Facts have proved that no one can have no interest in "politics" that is closely related to them. The so-called indifference is either because the distance is too far and there is nothing you can do even if you know about it; or because your own strength is too small, even if you participate, it will not have much effect.

But now the Shotgun Club and "Bare Heart" have proven with facts that it is really useful; not only is it useful, but it can also directly affect your real interests!

The Privy Council and Whitehall Street Police can no longer issue orders directly to various communities, and must first seek the consent of the Citizens' Council;

Streets, community taxes, road transportation, public facilities, welfare subsidies...all should be decided by the citizens' assembly through joint discussion; no matter how small or poor the community is, as long as it has not been banned, it must have its own seats and corresponding representatives in the assembly;

The inner city enjoys the best public facilities in Clovis City, controls the most wealth, and monopolizes the most resources. Naturally, as it should, in order to bear most of the costs, it has the densest population, the largest total tax payment, and a poor community environment. Subsidies are provided in outer urban areas; the specific amount should be paid according to the proportion borne by each community;

There is no restriction on the identity of the community representative. Anyone who has lived in Clovis City for more than five years and can be recognized by the vast majority of community residents can participate in the election;

Representatives have no income, but they can receive a subsidy plus travel expenses each time they attend the citizens' assembly. The specific amount is determined by the actual situation of each community...

In order to maximize the impact of this rally and build momentum for the real citizens' assembly in the future, the Shotgun Club and "Red Heart" deliberately downplayed the definition of Clovis City's citizen identity. Anyone who claims to be a worker or businessman in a certain community Even nobles can participate in discussions, participate in speeches and vote on various preliminary regulations.

Considering that it was getting really late at the end, the citizens of the outer city really wanted to go across half of the city to attend the rally at the Shotgun Club and even go on stage to speak. This difficulty was simply beyond imagination... so there were quite a few "general people from the outer city." "People" are actually impersonated by some nobles and wealthy businessmen in the inner city.

But it doesn’t matter, and it can even be helpful – what the Parliament is most worried about is that the nobles and Privy Councilors in Clovis City don’t care and don’t take the Parliament seriously at all; then the two sides will definitely not understand each other because they don’t understand each other. Pointless conflicts break out over what you want.

On the contrary, the more fearful they are, the more vigilant they are and the more they keep sending people or even coming to spy in person, the more they understand that the current Citizens Council has united the vast majority of the citizens of the entire Clovis City, and it is by no means just killing a dozen representatives. , the club or "heartfelt" organization will cease to exist by disbanding it.

Now that they have achieved an initial victory, the buzzing Shotgun Club is full of voices calling for "revenge for Lieutenant General Anson Bach" and "catch the real culprit behind the scenes"; Trying to change the direction of the discussion if you feel that it may get out of control if this continues will not help at all.

And all these voices were reported layer by layer through the spies mixed in at the club's speech scene and the Whitehall Street police sent to monitor the surrounding areas, and reached the inner court and Privy Council of Osteria Palace.

At this time, the lights in the palace were still on. Ludwig had decided to accept Ansen Bach's proposal to dissolve the Privy Council and achieve one-man dictatorship before the National Assembly was formally established. However, in order to dissolve the Privy Council, in addition to conclusive evidence of treason, he also had to obtain The permission of the king himself - after all, strictly speaking, the power of dissolution and establishment is not actually in his hands.

This is a little more difficult.

Although the royal family has been effectively eliminated, as long as the Queen Mother Anne has a little bit of brain, she will understand that once the Privy Council is disbanded, she and her little king will really become Ludwig's puppets; even with the help of the nobles It was impossible to suppress Ludwig with all his strength.

As for her loyal minister of war and a certain chief of the royal bodyguard... After the assassination, the two parties had actually broken up. What's more, the other party had gathered the support of most of Clovis City, and no longer needed to rely on the name and support of the royal family as before. .

Anne Heritage now regrets very much. She was not actually involved in the assassination. She could have secretly warned him in advance and tried her best to rescue and deal with the aftermath to win over Anson. She could also take the initiative to suppress Anson by taking a positive stance towards the railway investment company. The Privy Council passed the Bill of the Citizens' Assembly to monopolize the other party's political fruits through the title of king.

But she chose to stand by and let Anson and Ludwig fight each other, thinking that the assassination organized by the empire could slightly deter these "loyal ministers"... But she didn't expect that the situation was far beyond imagination, and it was out of control from the beginning. Got it!

At this point, there was actually still a way out, which was to immediately take action personally and organize the royal guards to quell the riot in the name of the king, but she didn't dare at all.

With Carlos II as the front-runner, she now even has more than one-third of the royal guards guarding herself and the little king around the clock, for fear of similar accidents happening again; at this time, she will use up her precious combat power. When you are sent abroad, losses are secondary. What if someone takes advantage of you? !

After hesitating again and again, when night fell, Ludwig and Ansen Bach "succeeded" and got the result they wanted most, Anne finally regretted it.

If everyone at the gambling table wins money, or at least doesn't lose money, and you don't know who loses the most, it must be you.

Anson and Sophia won the hearts and minds of the people of Clovis City. Ludwig eliminated dissidents in the Privy Council and did not express any opinions during the whole process. He sat and watched all this unfold without supporting or intervening to stop the royal family. The royal family, which had once said that it was the right thing to do, completely lost its position as the arbiter of the country. absolute authority.

What she didn't know yet was that this was just the beginning - Ludwig was about to tell her the great news that he was going to dissolve the Privy Council!

After a group of Clovis nobles who were said to have colluded with the empire were purged, the remaining members of parliament were not very opposed to the dissolution of the Privy Council; in addition to not daring to do so, they even looked at it It’s clear now that the kingdom is no longer decided by the royal family.

In this case, instead of continuing to rely on the royal family, which cannot provide any help at all, it is better to join the Ministry of War or the Prime Minister's Office, which has not yet completely seized power, and place your bets early. There is no way out as a neutral wallflower.

In addition, although it was a bit regretful that he could not find evidence of the empire, Ludwig still kept his promise and sent messengers to send the news about Clovis to all provinces and major cities in the country as soon as possible, and summoned representatives from each province to discuss the establishment. Matters related to the National Assembly.

He must have his own selfish motives... Since uniting the provinces is inevitable, then of course he can also be the one to unite the powerful factions in the provinces; as the ruler of the Kingdom of Clovis and the direct heir of the Franz family, let the representative We can clearly see whose side is most advantageous.

As for Sophia, who has no military power, and even the Ministry of War cannot fully control it... what benefits can the two of them bring to those representatives?

Only you... you must let them see clearly who they should unite and invest in!

However, Ludwig, who was hesitating about his ambition, didn't know that he was still half a step too late... As early as the day, the people of the Truth Society had already brought the news out of the city in advance and sent it to the Kingdom of Clovis as quickly as possible. All over the place.

Of course, he was far from the only one whose truth was concealed tonight...

……………………

"…In other words, Machia is still alive."

In the ward of the Truth-Seeking Club, Cole Dorian, who was lying on the bed, took a look at his intact left arm, and looked at Anson and Sera opposite him in a rather depressed manner:

"The battle between Him and me at the Leiden Military Factory was actually a play from beginning to end... No matter what, it will be me who wins, right?"

"Uh...that's not necessarily the case."

An awkward but polite smile appeared on Anson's face: "Although the general direction is correct, he is an apostle after all, and none of us can guarantee that he will 100% abide by his promise... "

"Yes."

Before he could finish his words, the expressionless female judge came up and pointed it out directly: "Just to make the matter end conveniently, the other party took the initiative to give Qiuzhenxiu face."

"Ah, by the way, all the inquisitors who participated in the hunt for Machiya are also fine. They just suffered varying degrees of trauma. They have now been arranged to be repaired - and the injuries of all of them are much lighter than those of Qin. many."

She raised her eyebrows and deliberately said in a slightly exaggerated tone: "How about you, Your Excellency the Chief Inquisitor, who thought that he had made a huge sacrifice, but ended up accomplishing nothing?"

This, it doesn’t have to be that exaggerated... Anson, who was standing next to him, couldn’t help but twitch his lips.

But Cole didn't get angry as he imagined, nor did he roll his eyes and continue to complain about the female inquisitor.

He was silent for a long time, then looked out the dark window with his complicated eyes that were slightly relieved and a bit regretful:

"Yeah, that's great."

"Ah." Sera said softly with an expressionless face: "Yes, that's great."

Subtle emotions gradually fermented in the air, making Anson, who didn't know whether to speak or not, suddenly feel redundant.

By the way, why did I come...

"When I made up my mind to break my left hand, I was already making final preparations." Cole said softly: "It's strange...I can't do anything, but I just want to do something. It seems that only by doing this, I can't do anything." I won’t regret it.”

"That's because you want to surpass Captain Lawrence too much. You think you can reach his height as long as you sacrifice yourself."

Serra's tone finally changed: "But that's impossible, no one can surpass him; even if you really succeed in hunting down an apostle, it's impossible to replace Captain Lawrence's position in everyone's hearts."

"Yeah, I know, but I just can't control myself." Cole smiled, and he turned to look at Anson:

"You probably saw through this in me, so you didn't fully tell me your plan, right... You did the right thing."

"On the contrary, I actually regret it a bit." Anson sighed helplessly: "No matter how convinced you are, the apostle is the biggest uncertain factor in the entire plan; no one can guarantee that Machia will really keep his promise. so……"

"...At that time, He might really kill you on impulse."

"Huh?" Cole raised his eyebrows: "But didn't you say that the guy named William has..."

"Cracking the 'Law of Wishes' only adds a bargaining chip for us to use for negotiation, but it does not mean that we can use it to blackmail Him." Anson said solemnly:

"We absolutely cannot hope that everyone will think about things the way they think they should, let alone make decisions for the enemy on their own initiative... This is the premise of all 'perfect plans'."

"...makes sense."

Thinking of the situation when he and Machia "fought", Cole couldn't help but nodded: "Then... He hasn't left Clovis City yet?"

"No, and we will probably 'get along' with us for a long time." Anson shrugged helplessly:

"This is also one of the conditions for negotiation. Of course, He will not easily set foot in the city again, but as long as he does not leave the place we designated, we have no right to interfere or stop Him no matter what we do - you can understand We are no match for Him, so we can only watch helplessly.”

"Machias is not Rune, and he does not have such a strong sense of family, but he will use his own way to do things that are 'interesting' in his eyes, so..."

"We're probably going to be quite busy in the days to come."

The female inquisitor said solemnly: "Various Old God sect groups under the banner of Machiavelli, or receiving the 'care' of his power, will probably keep popping up like flies after the rain; but the Holy See and the Tribunal have completely abandoned it. They even said that turning it into a playground for the Old Gods is exactly what they want."

"From today onwards, the Truth-Seeking Cult will have to fight alone."

"Ah, that sounds like it." Cole's eyes flickered: "By the way, do any of you know about Machia's nest... I mean, where does he plan to live?"

"A place you should have heard of and be familiar with." Anson chuckled and fiddled with the rune ring hanging on his chest with his right hand:

"Lund Manor."