In the Name of the Queen

Hearing the voice of the political secretary standing at the door to remind her to attend the work meeting, Sif sighed in her heart, closed her notebook, and walked out of the room with her head held high.

When she walked out of the room, she left her girlish feelings and thoughts in the room, and walked towards the conference room with seven points of majesty and three points of kindness.

She was the deputy governor, and she was naturally responsible for the work of the jurisdiction during Roland's absence.

Of course, she could play the role of the queen to attend, but the queen's high-ranking image needed to be maintained, not to mention that the queen did not rule the country herself, so it was not appropriate to always convene ministers for a meeting.

We must not let the onlookers in the imperial capital think that the queen was an idiot who did not understand politics.

This was Roland's advice.

So she was used to letting the magic mirror play the role of the queen and the years were peaceful, and she accompanied Roland everywhere.

It was a pity that she could not accompany Roland out this time.

As Roland said, the pure political level of the magic mirror could not control the complex situation in the four overseas provinces at all. She was also worried about other people. When Roland went out, she could only take charge in person.

Only she and Roland knew the overall strategic layout of the Governorate, and only they could make decisions on the spot when encountering emergencies.

Roland's plan was for Sif to lead the army and cooperate with the wanderers of the Golden Kite Country to cause trouble on the border, attract Marco's attention, and encourage the resistance forces in the Golden Kite Country.

Unless necessary, the army of the Governorate must not enter the Golden Kite Country to avoid surprising friendly countries.

There is only one situation in which she must lead the army to attack the Golden Kite Country, that is, Roland and Alina successfully landed at the southern port and went all the way north.

Sif did not agree with this plan in her heart.

It was too risky.

If the Golden Kite people were unwilling to accept Alina, it would be a blessing from the gods to leave alive with the thousands of accompanying personnel.

But this risk had to be taken.

The southern part of the Golden Kite Country is the foundation of the Alina family. It is much easier to gather people to respond here than to directly cross the Black Forest to attack the northern part of the Golden Kite Country.

Attacking a solid defense line and several times the number of enemies with a weak force is probably a problem with the commander's thinking.

The Vladimir Empire has a tendency to form an alliance with the Pruden Kingdom and the Tyrol Kingdom, and Sif also needs a strong ally.

The Wend Empire is surrounded by three countries and can't take care of itself. Even if it forms an alliance, it can't help.

The civil war in Talia is in full swing. In fact, it has been divided into several countries. In addition, they are not good at fighting. Such an ally will only hinder them.

The Weimar Federation is only one step away from being served on the plate. It can be won over, but annexation is better.

Nubia and other countries are far away from the center of the Rodinia continent. They can be won over but will not help much.

If the Golden Kite Kingdom is lost again, it will be completely passive in diplomacy and fall into a situation of being surrounded by enemies.

For the Sussex Empire, the worst case scenario is to retreat to the mainland and watch the death battles among the countries on the continent, but for her, this means a complete failure.

She would rather stain the flower sea with blood than return to the country as a loser to be a puppet.

So the Golden Kite Kingdom must be taken, and Alina is their only chance.

Letting Roland accompany Alina made her feel a little uneasy, so she insisted on letting Lisa go with her.

She knew very well in her heart that Lisa and Alina were different.

Lisa and Roland grew up together. There might be love between men and women, but family affection definitely prevailed.

She might be able to accept being Roland's sister.

Even if she couldn't, it didn't matter.

After all, she didn't have a prominent family background, and Sif had a good relationship with her. As long as she was sincere enough, she would probably accept being Roland's lover instead of his official wife.

Alina was different. She came from a famous family, and her father was once the ruler of the country. If she succeeded in returning to the country this time, she would definitely take power again.

The Jinyuan people were romantic and passionate. To express their gratitude to Roland, God knows what she could do.

Someone must keep an eye on Roland to guard against the thieving cats of the Jinyuan country.

If Roland couldn't help it outside, Sif would rather it be Lisa.

Lisa could share, but Alina would snatch people. She certainly knew which one would cause more harm.

In this era, the most common love template for powerful men was to marry a wife of noble status and mutual understanding, and then have a few lovely and charming lovers.

Sif is no stranger to this kind of thing.

If Roland is like this too.

Don't think about personal matters while working, have a meeting!

With some worries, Sif walked to the conference room and held the first work meeting after Roland led the special operations team away.

Sitting in the main seat of the conference room, listening to the ministers' work reports, Sif looked a little dazed and distracted.

When Athos finished his work report concisely and waited for Sif to express his opinion, he found that the Earl was in a daze.

Athos knew the ways of the world and could probably guess why Sif was in a daze.

He coughed lightly to remind Sif that it was meeting time, and reported the content of the report more concisely.

Sif cast a thankful look at him, her eyes still blank.

What did the senior official Athos say just now?

She was too embarrassed to ask Athos to say it again after being distracted twice in a row.

If she said something three times, other ministers might think she was targeting Athos.

Even if no one thought about it, it was a bit rude to ask Athos to say it three times.

Sif was thinking hard.

Athos thought she was thinking about a solution, but she was actually trying to recall what he had just said.

A minute later, Sif still didn't think about what Athos had just said, but she knew how to answer.

"Sir Athos, what do you think we should do?"

Sif was still distracted and didn't even notice that there was something wrong with the address just now.

Athos bowed his head slightly.

Even though the ministers present were all confidants, and basically knew that the earl was the queen, this was obviously a slip of the tongue.

Athos was somewhat worried about Sif's mental state.

When the monarch made a mistake, the ministers naturally had to make up for it.

He smiled and reminded: "Mr. Earl, you can indeed call your vassal "Qing", but this formal title will make the vassal feel uneasy."

Sif also reacted.

She is now presiding over the meeting as an earl and deputy governor, not as an queen.

These red tapes are indeed troublesome, but they cannot be wrong. If Teacher Mary heard her just say "Qing Athos" as an earl, she would definitely be furious.

Athos and his identity is not only her vassal, but also imperial officials. When they are directly employed by the imperial government, their first loyalty should be to the emperor.

At least during working hours.

Sif's address just now exceeded the limit.

As an earl, Sif invaded the territory of Sylph, who was an queen, and crossed the line.

If they were serious, the cabinet could even impeach her on this ground.

Fortunately, she is the queen herself.

Sif smiled a little embarrassedly and nodded to Athos to express her gratitude.

Athos not only reminded Sif to pay attention to her identity, but also reminded other ministers not to talk nonsense.

Athos is a baron under Sif. Although it is a bit excessive to call him "Mr. XX", it can be used as a prevarication strictly speaking, and the matter ends here.

The old fox Athos seemed to have nothing to do and put forward his opinions on handling according to Sif's requirements.

As a senior official of the three overseas provinces, he has been with Count Sif and Governor Roland for so long, and naturally knows their style of doing things very well.

There is no need to hide your shortcomings or play tricks in front of these two big leaders, and you should show your talents to the fullest.

He just reported the plan to build a new factory area on the outskirts of Hansa.

Of course, he did not just make suggestions, he also prepared the construction plan for the entire factory area.

Steam engine factories, textile factories, coal chemical plants, paper mills and glass factories are all on the list.

If it were modern society, so many high-pollution projects would definitely be beaten up by environmentalists if they were to be collectively launched, but there was no concept of environmental protection in 1792.

There is not much pollution, so how can there be environmental protection?

This time, Sif finally got serious and listened to the report attentively.

She affirmed Athos's overall plan, and the only objection was that the paper mill was built around the Rodinia River.

The factory needs water, and it is not a big problem to build it by the river, but it cannot be this river.

"Building the factory like this will affect shipping and trade. Change the place, build a new city here, build the factory nearby, and then build a road to connect the two cities."

Sif walked to the map hanging on the wall behind the conference room and pointed her finger.

Only part of the river she chose is in the Hansa Province, and the lower reaches flow through the Pruden Kingdom.

Building the factory here is good in every way, but it is easy to cause international disputes.

Athos wanted to remind him, but Sif's next sentence made him shut up.

"If the Prudens have any objections, let them talk to the guns and cannons."

Although the Prudens Kingdom is a powerful country that has risen in recent years and its strength far exceeds that of the Oden Kingdom, there is still a clear gap compared to a giant like Sussex.

Even if there are objections, it is not necessary to go to war with the Sussex Empire for this industrial sewage.

The Prudens Kingdom is in a military conflict with the Wende Empire. Both sides have paid the price of thousands of casualties in several small conflicts. The situation may deteriorate at any time, so there is no time to care about these.

Athos thought silently in his heart that the Prudens Kingdom and the Vladimir Empire have a close relationship and must have been included in the list of enemies by Her Majesty the Queen.

He knew that Governor Roland led the fleet to sea a week ago. Although he didn't know what mission he was carrying out, he could vaguely guess something.

The Golden Kite Wanderers used to have dull eyes and were dejected, but they were somewhat proud when they spoke recently. It must be some happy event.

Governor Roland's going to sea is probably related to this matter.

Guessing is guessing, Athos will never ask more questions.

The master controls the overall situation, and the ministers don't need to do it. Just do your own thing.

After Athos finished his report, other ministers reported their work in turn. Sif basically agreed with their attached implementation plan, but gave some guiding opinions on some details.

Her few words made several ministers sweat.

Some people lacked ability, and some wanted to seek personal gain for themselves. Although they were hidden very secretly, Sif saw it at a glance.

Looking at the trembling appearance of these ministers, Sif smiled and comforted: "Don't be nervous, everyone. I believe in your ability and your loyalty. Do a good job and adjourn the meeting."

You can have selfishness without destroying the overall situation. After all, everyone has to support their families. But don't go too far, and don't treat her as a fool.

Her gentle eyes swept across the audience and met with every minister. There was encouragement and warning in her gentle eyes.

Several ministers who hid their selfishness were scared and kept wiping their sweat after Sif's eyes moved away.

Fortunately, Sif didn't like nonsense in meetings, otherwise they would be unable to sit still.

The last item of the meeting was for Raikkonen, who was in charge of supervision, to report on the officials' illegal and criminal activities.

Raikkonen's report was very quick.

He listed the suspects according to economic crimes, job crimes, criminal crimes, etc. and handed them directly to Sif, so he didn't have to read them one by one.

He also attached the disposal plan for Sif's reference. The disposal opinions he proposed were basically based on laws and precedents, and were well-founded.

Sif kept drawing circles on the paper to show her approval, but the last few lines of names made her frown.

"After the food tax exemption policy was implemented, they still collected taxes privately under the banner of the Queen?"

"yes."

"How come it's only been three years?" Sif narrowed her eyes with killing intent.

Raikkonen knew that Sif was angry, and he could even guess what Sif was going to say next, but his duty was to supervise and he must act in accordance with the law.

He explained calmly: "The crime of abuse of power plus the crime of malfeasance is serious. It should indeed start in three years."

"This is not abuse of power or dereliction of duty. This is bullying the emperor, an indisputable capital crime."

Sif casually helped these tax collectors avoid three years in prison, and thoughtfully helped them arrange the gallows.

"Her Majesty the Queen is kind-hearted and provides tax exemptions for farmers who have suffered hardships due to the disaster this year. These bastards who deceive others are not collecting taxes privately, but destroying farmers' support for Her Majesty."

She turned her gaze to Athos and asked softly: "Athos, am I right?"

"Your Majesty the Earl is right. It is indeed a capital crime to deceive the emperor, but wouldn't the impact of executing more than 40 tax officials at one time be a bit bad?"

Although tax officials are low-level officials, they are also members of the bureaucracy.

He certainly did not want Her Majesty to set a precedent of sentencing officials to death, so he tried to make some mild suggestions.

"My lord, deceiving the emperor is indeed a capital crime, but in judicial practice, this crime is rarely directly sentenced to death. I suggest that these worms be removed from the official ranks, and the penalty is doubled, so that they serve at least six years. It can act as a deterrent.”

Although Athos was not familiar with the tax collectors, he still tried to reduce their sentences.

Other officials also came to their senses and quickly joined the plea.

They dare not defend these worms, but they are also unwilling to watch the tax collector swing on the gallows. They must persuade them anyway.

The earl always listens to advice. With so many people speaking out, the attack should not be too broad.

Some begged for mercy, while others just looked on.

Tony, the Undersecretary of the Interior, was as motionless as a wooden stake made of clay.

The newly appointed guard captain Jace had no expression on his face, but he felt a little disdainful in his heart.

He knew very well what these officials were thinking.

Of course he didn't bother taking advantage of the poor. The family business is doing well, and with his introduction, it has opened up overseas markets, so there is no shortage of money at all.

He firmly supported the Queen's decision, but he always knew what was going on and did not want to speak here.

Xif clearly saw the officials' careful thoughts.

Although there are many people asking for mercy, this is a matter of principle and cannot be compromised.

Roland said that killing a chicken can deter a group of monkeys. These tax collectors are chickens and the senior officials in the conference hall are monkeys.

This chicken must be killed.

Sif's cold gaze made all those who begged for mercy feel cold.

They didn't dare to say anything anymore because they had an unspeakable feeling in their hearts.

I originally thought it was because the Governor was murderous and Her Majesty the Queen was gentle and easy to talk to, but now it seemed that Governor Roland was fortunate to be suppressing Her Majesty the Queen.

Just a few days after the governor left, she was about to kill dozens of low-level officials. This was too scary.

Governor Roland, you'd better come back as soon as possible!

After finally getting through to the end of the meeting, the ministers were finally relieved as they watched Sif leave.

The sense of oppression that Sif brought to them was no less than that of Roland.

She has intelligent eyes that see through everything, and no selfishness can escape her.

She didn't punish anyone present, but she made everyone tremble.

After the meeting, Athos looked at the wonderful expressions of the ministers and admired Sif a little more.

Although Her Majesty the Queen is young and sometimes acts impulsively and even a little immature, she is really good at judging people.

Never play tricks in front of her.

Those stupid tax officials used their own blood to help Her Majesty the Queen complete the warning and died unjustly.

Under everyone's awed gazes, Xif returned to the room, opened her notebook, thought for a moment, and wrote a line of beautiful cursive calligraphy.

"On the seventh day of Roland's absence, I missed him."