I will be crowned king

Anson can be said to be quite satisfied with little Leon's statement or "encourage".

Both of them knew very well that not to mention Crown Prince Hantu, not even his father could affect the situation in Clovis City; and due to the "disappearance" of the king, the attitude of the National Assembly and even the citizens of Clovis City towards foreigners , even the most polite statement is quite sensitive. If a bad alliance breaks down, the probability of war breaking out is not so small as to be negligible.

Therefore, Leon Francois's attitude is obvious: the Francois royal family and Hantu are willing to provide assistance to help Anson Bach defeat Ludwig Franz and become Clovis's new ruler.

Even... the only one in power!

Correspondingly, Anson does need assistance from Hantu; there is no way, his foundation in Clovis is too shallow; even if Hantu adds the military exploits of the New World, the assistance of the Free Confederacy, and the help of a shotgun The club and the officer corps united by "Red Heart", the Storm Legion Foundation, Sophia Franz's connections, and the network that Christian Bach is working hard to build to contact the country through parliamentary representatives... The foundation is still too shallow. .

The old continent is not a new world. Everyone there starts from scratch, and the establishment of the new rich and the upper class is only a matter of one or two generations; as long as you are strong enough, you can crush everyone and become an undisputed absolute power.

But the Old World... Even the royal family of Osteria, who is scornfully called the "upstart", has a history of hundreds of years. The royal family of François in the vast land can be traced back to the Dark Ages thousands of years ago. The seven great powers of the empire The history of wealthy families exceeds the history of orderly world civilization, and they are even the source of "civilization" and "order" themselves.

Wealth may be able to achieve overtake through rapid accumulation, but the reputation, credibility, popularity, blood relationship accumulated over time... the gap between the two sides is a level of despair.

Not to mention Anson himself, even the surname "Bach" can basically be directly equated with "ordinary people" in the eyes of the real nobles.

If he wants to compete with Ludwig's size, that is, the real heritage of the Franz family behind him, Anson must gather more foreign aid and unite more supporters to reverse his disadvantage.

Of course, some things cannot be said too directly, especially behaviors that clearly violate the bottom line; the National Assembly, the Ministry of War, and the Prime Minister's Office are not fools. Of course, they know that if someone is both in power and a representative of the parliament, they still have What will be the consequences of seizing military power?

Therefore, we must let things fall into place; therefore, we must not initiate it on our own initiative, so we must let the Queen Mother Regent and the Little King...

"boom--!!!!"

The door that was suddenly knocked open interrupted their conversation, and the little secretary rushed into the room with a panicked look on his face. He could hardly control the trembling uneasiness in his expression: "An, Mr. Anson, it's not good!"

"Calm down, don't panic."

Raising his hand to stop Leon who was about to say anything else, Anson comforted the little clerk who was breathing heavily: "Relax first, and then slowly tell me what happened?"

"This...my responsibility requires me to tell you this matter immediately."

The little clerk shook his head to express his persistence, and couldn't help but glance at Leon aside.

Crown Prince Hantu understood the idea, smiled and nodded, then stood up and left the room. Before leaving, he did not forget to close the door for a busy secretary. He also deliberately stepped on the door very hard to tell the room with the sound of his footsteps. The two people inside walked away on their own.

After confirming again and again that Leon had gone far, the little secretary breathed a sigh of relief and took a half step forward:

"The National Assembly has received accurate information. His Majesty Nicholas has crossed the national border and headed for the Empire under the hostage of the Queen Mother Regent!"

…………………………

There is no doubt that the news of the "escape of the king" was a devastating blow to the royalists and moderates within the National Assembly; even before the meeting began, these representatives were already frowning and looking lost.

They really couldn't accept that as the king of Clovis, Nicholas could actually do something like ask the emperor of the empire for help; even if you went to the eastern or southern fortress to raise a counter-rebellion flag and announced that you would suppress the city of Clovis No matter how you are a rebel party, how can you surrender to the enemy? !

Even the most die-hard royalists have no way to explain to the king at this moment; everyone knows what will happen next, and there is silence in the seats of the moderate side of the venue, as if they are asking someone who is still alive. Mourn to the dead.

In comparison, the radicals led by the Black Flag Party were simply cheering. Whenever Speaker Christian on the stage issued an angry rebuke, they started cheering loudly. They were so excited that they even threw their hats out every time. Everyone blushed and expressed their feelings at the moment in the most direct way.

As for the representatives who could still remain neutral before, they have now fallen to the radical side; since the king no longer cares about his country, since he regards us all as enemies instead of loving his subjects, then Why should we continue to protect a king who has surrendered to his enemies?

"...So from now on, the National Assembly will no longer accept the mercy of the king, and the people of Clovis will usher in a new era without a king, with complete equality, and with their own future and destiny in their hands!"

As Christian's words fell, thunderous applause followed.

But the representatives knew better that this meeting was not just to announce that "the king surrendered to the enemy"; now that the little king had fallen into the hands of the imperial emperor, the imperial army under the banner of "restoration of Osteria" could be launched at any time appear on the border.

The war has begun, or rather the war has never ended, but continues again after a brief "intermission."

"Clovis has gotten rid of the yoke of the king, so next, she must fight for her freedom; freedom without paying the price of blood is destined to not last long!" Christian banged the table heavily:

"Everyone, this is no longer a war waged by kings in the past for the so-called glory and great cause, but a just war for the Clovis people to defend their hard-won power! All free Clovis people have the responsibility to take up arms and donate Wealth, fighting for his country to the last moment, dedicating all he had for freedom and equality!"

"I must emphasize again that becoming a soldier is not the only way to defend equality; working hard, doing business, opening up wasteland, and even running your family seriously, and paying my taxes meticulously are all proof of your fight. A way to ensure national prosperity and stability.”

The Speaker raised his voice again. Even though he knew that the matter was irreversible, he must find a way to suppress the arrogance of the radicals and prevent the voices within the National Assembly from completely falling into a one-sided situation:

"Hereby, with the authority granted to me by the National Assembly, and in my sole capacity as Speaker, I declare that Clovis has officially...entered a state of war!"

After the words fell, the expressions of everyone present were very serious.

The state of war...According to the Supreme Code co-drafted and established by the National Assembly, once a state of war is officially declared, the National Assembly will directly strengthen its control over each province. Each province will be based on the number of representatives, the proportion of taxes paid by the province, and even By direct order of the National Assembly, any supplies and troops required for the war effort were paid, and the most stringent taxation laws were enforced.

In short, the National Assembly will automatically have absolute power comparable to that of the king, and at the same time, no province will be allowed to refute; after all, you are also a member of the National Assembly, and the code also has your vote and signature. Your opposition to the National Assembly is tantamount to If you betray your promise, you must know exactly what the consequences will be.

Christian directly took out the taxation bill that he had drafted long ago. The content was roughly to send tax collectors to each province immediately to collect this year's various miscellaneous taxes in advance, and required the military recruitment offices in each province to initiate mobilization simultaneously; any families who were expropriated , can be directly exempted from this year's tax; correspondingly, if there are adult men in the family who have not been taxed, not only must they pay the tax in full, but they are also not allowed to default on it, otherwise the fine will be doubled.

There is nothing special about this compared with the past wartime taxation, but Christian added one more thing: granting temporary tax collectors partial enforcement powers. At the same time, if the stolen money in arrears or malicious resistance to taxation can be recovered, The Luck Taxer receives a commission of three gold coins for every thousand gold coins.

Three thousandths, this is not a very high number, but many representatives present felt shuddering; they could almost imagine what those wolf-like tax collectors would do in order to "generate revenue" coming.

As for the conscription bill, it was passed very smoothly; Clovis's standing army currently has about 300,000 people, and including the garrisons and levy corps in various places, there are about 700,000 people; based on the size of a normal country, basically It's already the limit.

But these are just forces on paper, just like the so-called "worth tens of millions"; there are indeed so many, but if you really ask him for so much money, he probably won't be able to come up with it.

The first is the 300,000 standing army. Except for the brief period of being stationed outside the city of Clovis before, all the legions have now returned to their stations. Once the war breaks out, Clovis will also need these elite troops to fill the gap with the empire. The long national border with neighboring countries was avoided as quickly as last time, and even a central place like Oak Town was captured.

The levy corps and garrison corps in various places are in a similar situation; they are not only important local armed forces, but also the foundation for maintaining law and order and ensuring that Clovis can implement effective rule over various places. They cannot be touched easily.

After excluding all "book wealth", Clovis's real mobile force is actually only 100,000 people, two or three legions; whether it is launching an expedition or mobile operations within the country, this is all that the entire country can mobilize family property.

One hundred thousand people... would be more than enough if they were just ordinary enemies, but if a war breaks out with the empire, especially if the other side is fighting under the banner of "restoring the country" and "counterinsurgency", it is obviously not enough.

"The current plan is to expand the size of Clovis's army to one million. On the basis of the original legions, an additional two hundred to three hundred infantry regiments will be formed to provide the frontline legions with a reserve source of troops that can be replenished at any time. ." Christian waved the document in his hand:

"This is an application submitted by the Ministry of War. Please ask the provincial representatives to fulfill their requirements as soon as possible without delay!"

"After that, regarding the command of the legion and who will be responsible for specifying Clovis's general war strategy after the war breaks out, all representatives will vote publicly to select the most suitable candidate."

"In addition, because the war broke out too suddenly, the application previously submitted by the Prime Minister's Office for the leader himself to lead the army will also be included in the discussion. I also ask all representatives to put aside your prejudices and act purely in the interests of Clovis. , discuss impartially whether this method is feasible..."

……………………

While there was a heated discussion in the parliament, Ludwig also made a special trip to find Anson and put a letter in front of him straight to the point: "East or west, you choose!"

Picking up the letter stamped by the Prime Minister's Office on the table, Anson, who was silent for a moment, looked up in confusion:

"What?"

"Should we go to the western front, or should we go to the east and ravage the Elf Kingdom of Yser!"

The corner of Ludwig's mouth twitched slightly: "This is my resignation letter. If the National Assembly ultimately refuses to allow me to be both a governor and a leader, I will directly resign from the title of governor and become my Army Major General again!"

"Of course, I guess they won't do this; this is not my boast. Now Clovis...without me shouldering the responsibility of governing, with the ridiculously superficial level of the National Assembly, the country may not be able to do that that night. It might malfunction!"

"To be honest, given the current situation, it would be somewhat unviable to continue to ask you to lead the army as a lieutenant general. I am very particular about fairness. It just so happens that the royal family is no longer around. Your identity as the chief of the royal bodyguards It means nothing." Ludwig said solemnly:

"So I will publicly apply to elect you to serve as the 'rotation' governor of the Prime Minister's Office. In short, if I am not in Clovis City, you can automatically take my place; in addition, your status is the same as I'm equal."

"This is the greatest sincerity I can show, in exchange for the Storm Legion not being allowed to leave Clovis City; and you can either lead the Ranger Legion to invade the Elf Kingdom of Iser and win the Hantu to our side; or Go resist the invasion of the empire and hold on until I return in victory and lead my troops to reinforce you."

As he spoke, he banged on the table as if impatient:

"Choose, east or west!"