I will be crowned king

Accompanied by hearty and pious laughter, Ludwig and Renaud privately agreed on the division of interests in sending troops, as well as the excuses they would use to deal with the Church of Order—the latter was, to some extent, more important than the former. .

At least before the 102nd year of the Saints' Calendar, although the church in the entire world of order did not interfere in secular affairs on the surface, with its absolute and unique spiritual leadership position, it could actually use public opinion and the power of doctrinal interpretation to influence and interfere in many things. , the most important of which is the war between countries.

The most straightforward explanation is: it is okay to launch a war, but there must be a clear reason that at least sounds legitimate, and to the end, mediation from the Holy See must be accepted.

The Empire is the only exception... This is not because the Church is deliberately partial, but because the Emperor of the Empire still has the ancient title of "Guardian of the World of Order" on his head. He is the nominal co-owner of all countries that believe in the Ring of Order. In theory, he has The power of adjudication in any national and temporal disputes.

As for why it is said to be one hundred and two years ago, it is of course because of the Three Kingdoms War in the North Sea initiated by the Kingdom of Naxir that has not yet ended.

The scale of this war was not large, but it was suddenly launched during the holy war window. The war, which claimed to unify the three countries in the North Sea, was obviously not in line with the wishes of the church, and there was no legitimate reason - they all blatantly captured cities and territories, and started fighting. The war to destroy the country is an unabashed expansion, and there is no controversy at all.

However, the church at that time was forced to unite the entire world of order to implement the jihad plan, and only made verbal criticism without any substantive actions or obstruction; even after the jihad ended, everyone seemed to act as if nothing had happened.

As one of the witnesses of the whole process, Renault, Leon and Ludwig himself could certainly smell something strange in it. After the Holy War ended and the Holy See chose to compromise under the banner of "victory", this strange smell It immediately became a specific signal:

The "order" of the ordered world, whether openly or secretly, is on the verge of collapse.

Under the influence of this signal, both sides showed their greed: Ludwig wanted to reform the Clovis political system, unite more groups to establish his own dictatorship, and then overthrow the absolute empire. His leadership position made King Clovis at least equal to the emperor of the empire.

In comparison, Hantu's ambitions are much smaller: they just plan to destroy the past protectorate and cede a large area of ​​territory by the way.

Of course, both sides also have their own difficulties: it is almost impossible for Hantu to launch a country-destroying war on his own, and Clovis wants to rectify the internal and external affairs and establish a consensus to launch an aggressive war, which cannot be done in a short time.

While the careerists were planning the war, the ministers who had just truly taken control of their departments could not wait to start their real work, which was to build relationships and build small groups, an activity that was very beneficial to the kingdom.

After completely entrusting the Ministry of War to a certain royal guard chief who had recently "resurrected", Sophia decided to go into battle personally to win over and settle the provincial representatives who came to Clovis City from all over the country.

Although he has almost never left Clovis until now, the Minister of War is quite familiar with how to make outsiders feel "at home" in Clovis.

First of all, at least one-third of the delegates arrived at Clovis City by steam train. The train frequency is not a secret to Sophia. Then it is completely possible to arrange a special car transfer from the Royal Capital Central West Station directly through the White Lake District Park and The main square passes through Clovis Cathedral on Red Street, then goes around half a circle outside the Osteria Palace, and finally arrives at the resettlement area specially prepared by the Ministry of War.

Having had the experience of hosting wealthy businessmen and nobles for her father countless times, the girl is very familiar with the straight and neat streets, the noisy and bustling commercial streets, the parks that look like forests in the city, and landmark buildings such as the Cathedral and the Osteria Palace. What a terrible impact it has on outsiders who have never understood what "urbanization" is.

It is no exaggeration to say that it is enough to subvert a person's world view - a "forest" built of steel, masonry, and concrete. No words are enough to describe the greatness of Clovis City.

Anyone who has seen the city of Clovis with his own eyes will immediately have a similar view: the value of this city alone is comparable to that of the entire remaining Kingdom of Clovis!

This is indeed the case... Clovis City accounts for an astonishing quarter of the Clovis Kingdom's annual taxes; and if you want to consider the output value of various commodities such as steel, leather, textiles, etc., even more It is so exaggerated that it almost ignores all other areas.

With such a rich and powerful city, there should be nothing to worry about even if rebellion breaks out in all the provinces of Clovis, right?

"...With all due respect, it would be better for you to give up this idea as soon as possible."

Looking at the proud Sophia Franz who had just finished the reception with several representatives, Anson opened the door and poured cold water on her while preparing refreshing coffee for her:

"To put it bluntly, the current Clovis City is already in danger, let alone a city against a country. It is on the verge of collapse at any time."

"well?!"

The girl took the coffee in surprise: "The precarious situation... But, haven't the food crisis and the chaos caused by the mutiny passed?"

"Next, we just need to allow the citizens' council to operate normally, gradually restore security in various communities, factory production, and ensure a continuous flow of materials to the city. Is there any problem?"

"Well said, so these are all problems." Anson sat directly across from him without any courtesy: "The parliament is operating normally, community security is restored, factories resume production, and materials are continuously imported into the city...that is, public services, employment, logistics Three major categories, right?”

"How come you suddenly start to know so much about this?"

Sophia couldn't help but frown slightly: "Yes, is there any problem?"

"Yes, or all three are problems." Anson pushed the cup: "Does the coffee taste good?"

"I haven't...it's so painful!"

The girl who had just taken a sip shouted out and stared angrily at the guy in front of her: "How can anyone prepare coffee without adding milk and sugar?!"

"Sorry." Anson said calmly without any regrets: "But the price of sugar in Clovis City has soared now, and it is already three times that of coffee beans; the price of milk has also increased a lot, and even dairy products have become more expensive. It’s so expensive that many bakeries have started selling ‘imitation butter’.”

"... Just say the problem. Don't deliberately go around in circles in this way."

Perhaps because of the alcohol, the girl relaxed a little more than usual and stared at Anson with a complaining face: "In other words, the previous material problem, especially the food problem, has not been solved yet, right?"

"Yes and no." Anson deliberately used a very ambiguous statement:

"The mutiny did cause great damage to Clovis City's materials, especially the food supply, but the cause of this situation was actually Clovis City itself."

"……itself?"

"You have also been to the outer city and seen with your own eyes the lives of ordinary people, especially workers in military factories." Anson seemed to suddenly change the subject again:

"Living in a two-story longhouse dormitory with sewage flowing across the river, the family's living space is less than thirty square meters. The furniture basically only has a bed and a wardrobe, and very few have a table; they eat bread every day. Pickles, potatoes, water spinach and bacon, fresh meats and other vegetables, and dairy products are all luxuries that can only be enjoyed occasionally, not to mention sugar.”

"Of course I know this. Life in the outer city is very difficult... To be honest, it is because I have seen it with my own eyes that I invest a lot of money in the workhouse and organize charity activities every year." Sophia raised her eyebrows:

"In your eyes, I've probably never been able to live without a big goose down bed, a fireplace, and servants, right? But I lived in a workhouse that I funded, sleeping on the same bed and eating the same food as those who had no way out. Because I don’t want the money I use to save people to end up letting them go from one hell to another!”

The girl's expression was quite proud, and of course she had the right to be proud, at least she thought so; in terms of relief efforts for the poor, Sophia boasted that she was at least one of the top three in Clovis City.

"The most important thing is that this kind of simple relief can only alleviate the problem. The real solution to the problem lies in providing them with more jobs, and they cannot be ineffective positions that only occupy positions. They must have practical Only by doing so can the benefits be truly long-lasting.”

Speaking of her expertise, Sophia immediately changed her stance and started talking:

"For example, textile factories, tanneries, oil factories, furniture factories, and some industries that make cheap textiles, ready-made clothes, or blankets are most suitable for arranging new citizens from outside who have no skills; in addition, we can encourage those with experience , those who dare to work hard can start small businesses, and church banks can also provide very favorable small loans; and then there is the media industry, which is very suitable for supporting many people as a side job to earn extra income, such as letting children work as apprentices and part-time as newsboys some type of."

"In short, more capital investment, larger production scale, and more jobs are the only ways to improve the living standards of residents in outer urban areas." The girl sighed:

"Recently, many newspapers seem to have extreme remarks like 'divide up the wealth and food of the rich in the inner city, and everyone will be better off.' But no matter how greedy the nobles and rich people are, the food that one person can consume cannot be Ten times, or even a hundred times more than ordinary people in the outer city, how could..."

"But fuel does."

"……well?"

The girl who was suddenly interrupted was stunned, and it took a lot of effort to figure out what Anson just said: "Fuel?"

"Street lights on the side of the street, townhouse apartments, heaters in high-end restaurants, fireplaces in rich people's mansions, fresh hot food, coffee pots that are indispensable in every household... The fuel consumed by an ordinary person in the inner city in daily life is, on average, It is five times that of a person in the outer city, and it is even more exaggerated if it is a noble."

As Anson spoke, he took out a rolled-up notebook from his pocket: "What really widens the gap between the living standards of inner and outer urban areas is fuel consumption."

“The population in the inner city is roughly only a quarter of that in the outer city, but the quantity and quality of the fuel consumed are vastly different. It is no longer news that people in the outer city freeze to death every year. Many families use heating tools. There are only braziers, and the fuel is cork that is not resistant to burning; and in the inner city, even ordinary people who are temporarily unable to live well can find taverns with coal heating and lamps for entertainment all day long.”

"So the real problem is actually the lack of fuel supply in Clovis City?"

The girl secretly glanced at the note in Anson's hand: "What is that?"

"My beloved brother, Christian Bach's "Clovis City Social Survey Facts"... He was elected as a representative of the Central Bank Province and is ready to participate in the discussion of the National Assembly." The corner of Anson's mouth rose slightly:

"Those just now are the results of his recent field trips to the outer city."

"That's it! I said that you have never stayed in Clovis City seriously, how can you understand it so thoroughly..." The girl couldn't help complaining: "In other words, because of the previous holy war and mutiny, the Kremlin Is the lack of fuel in Lowe City indirectly causing prices to rise and the living standards of residents in outer urban areas to drop?"

"On the contrary, in fact, the amount of fuel imported into Clovis City every year, especially the amount of high-quality coal, has increased year by year. In the 103rd year of the Saint's Calendar, it has reached a new high in growth rate. The total amount is almost close to five years ago. Ten times that."

Anson shook his head: "But in addition to supplying basic life, almost all of the imported fuel was invested in production; cheap fuel supported the expansion of production; without these fuels, the wars in the Saints' history for a hundred years to the present, Clovis I’m afraid we simply won’t be able to produce enough arms.”

"The seemingly abundant fuel has also stimulated the scale of production... Especially in the city of Clovis, there are various rumors about the piles of raw materials in the New World, which are cheap and of high quality. Therefore, it is clear that the fuel supply has not yet reached the demand. But he showed up first."

"There is even an additional problem, and that is Clovis City's logistics level - a large amount of fuel input will inevitably crowd out the transportation space of other materials, which is reflected in food, that is, whether the Railway Commission or other chambers of commerce only The most important foods such as cured meat, wheat and potatoes can be transported first, and the rest will naturally be reduced."

"None of the above problems can be solved immediately, but the citizens of Clovis City, especially those groups that have just actively participated in the Citizens' Assembly Bill, will not think so." Anson said coldly:

"It won't take long for them to discover that although the Citizens' Council has changed the political structure, it will not immediately improve their lives. Instead, it will make the situation worse due to various problems; if it is not handled properly, they who have just won a 'victory' will , are likely to take very radical measures to solve the current situation they are facing."

“In other words, the current city of Clovis is almost a city that is about to ‘sink’!”