There is one thing that Claude has always had a question about, and that is what happened to the so-called Prince Hansbach who declared that he would go back to his hometown to recuperate and stay in isolation? According to common sense, the eldest prince has heavy responsibilities and has hundreds of thousands and nearly a million troops under his command. Even if he returns to the royal capital and stays behind closed doors, he should still be in control of the dynamics of the army, and information communication is indispensable. It was impossible for him to ignore matters like Major Scree's. Instead, Captain Durrioro found him and wanted to let the eldest prince know about such changes in the army through Madam Maria. Isn't this very suspicious...
Captain Durrioro shook his head and smiled bitterly. He told Claude that no one forced the eldest prince, and no one put him under house arrest in the mansion. The problem is that the eldest prince is angry with Sterling X because of the armistice negotiations. The eldest prince insisted on fighting to the end, but the kingdom no longer had the confidence to continue the war. Nearly 1.6 million troops are fighting fiercely on the front line. Every day of eating people and chewing horses is an astronomical cost, not to mention that the war has lasted for more than four years, and the wealth accumulated by the kingdom during the previous twenty years of peace has been consumed. Clean and tidy.
The Prime Minister of the Kingdom, Duke Crius, came to the palace overnight to explain the facts to the First Prince Hansback and explain clearly to the First Prince the difficulties faced by the Kingdom. The war can no longer continue. The kingdom now hopes to stop as soon as it gets better. Occupying the territory of three principalities is enough for the past. After the armistice, people's livelihood must be restored as soon as possible, the disabled must be compensated, and the place must be rebuilt. These costs will be the kingdom's largest expenditures in the future.
Prince Hansback hopes that the royal court can grit his teeth and persist a little longer, and wait until he leads the army to destroy the Principality of Karrnath before negotiating peace with the Kingdom of Nasseri. However, the eldest prince could not guarantee that the Principality of Karnas would be destroyed as quickly as possible. He estimated that it would take at least more than a year to capture the Gulf of Tonkin and destroy the Principality of Karnas. The kingdom could not hold on for such a long time, and Sterling X rejected the eldest prince's request.
The angry Prince Hansbach felt that he had no face to go back to the front line to meet the soldiers of the kingdom who wanted to avenge the three annihilated legions. He confined himself in his mansion like a self-exile and refused all information about the outside world. All information about frontline military affairs could not even enter his front door, and was pushed to the Ministry of War by his personal followers. Because of this, those aristocratic officers found an opportunity to use the incident of Major Skerry to suppress the civilian officers who were promoted and put into important positions during the war...
Claude stared at Captain Durioro with suspicion, and Captain Durioro smiled bitterly: "I know you think I am suspicious, why do I tell you these things? Because we business aristocrats think that big The prince must come back to clean up the current situation. Within the kingdom, the old aristocratic families are very powerful. Not only do they monopolize the military industry, they even control the business routes to the mainland of Nubisia. We, the emerging businesses, The nobles could only get a small share of the profits from their base.
This war is the best opportunity for our commercial nobles to expand the influence of free commerce and trade. The territories of the three principalities are a new source of wealth. Don't look at the war that destroyed everything and beat the three principalities to pieces. But there are endless business opportunities in rebuilding places and restoring people's livelihoods. We have reached an agreement with the royal family to exclude the expansion of the power of the old noble families in this new kingdom territory and prevent them from extending their hands into this territory.
It turns out that the plan has been implemented smoothly, the eldest prince is also very cooperative, and the progress is very satisfactory. But now the eldest prince has abandoned all of this in order to vent his anger and stays behind closed doors. It’s not like the business nobles in the royal capital never thought of visiting and persuading them, but they didn’t even get through the door. The eldest prince’s servants threw their gifts out the door without any dignity, and they were shut out. The reason is very clear to everyone. The eldest prince deeply resents the business nobles for not supporting his position, so he goes back on his words and stands on His Majesty's side, supporting the end of this war... "
Captain Durrioro stood up and walked around the room. Some things he said must be made clear: "Actually, in the hearts of our business aristocrats, Prince Hansbach is not a good successor to the throne. He He is a good soldier and an excellent commander, but he cannot become a qualified king."
Claude became interested: "Why do you think so?"
"It's very simple. The long-term military career has allowed the eldest prince to develop a straight-forward military character. He is generous and generous, and is deeply loved by soldiers. This is his strength. But at the same time, the eldest prince despises negotiation and compromise in politics and ignores The development of the kingdom's business and economy. Indeed, mastering the barrel of a gun can bring stability to the kingdom, but he forgot the famous saying of the late King Sterling IX that politics is an art of compromise. And what the eldest prince hates most is fighting with Enemies compromise, whether internal or external to the kingdom.
Regarding the children of His Majesty Sterling X, everyone in the king has this saying: the eldest prince is stable, the second prince is romantic, the third princess is unruly, the fourth prince is cowardly, and the fifth princess is stingy. It sounds like the eldest prince is the most reliable, but that is not the case. It is easy to describe him as stable, but in fact, the eldest prince is the most willful and even a little childish. It's just that this childish anger is not directed at anyone else, but at his father, King Sterling X. If something goes against the wishes of the eldest prince, the eldest prince will get childish with His Majesty, such as staying behind closed doors to discuss military and national affairs or ignoring important military affairs. Such things have never happened before. In the end, it all ended with Sterling X bowing his head and admitting defeat. …”
Claude was stunned when he heard this. This was completely inconsistent with the Prince Hansback in his impression. But it's understandable when you think about it. After all, he and the eldest prince have only met a few times. It's difficult to truly understand a person based on the impressions you see in front of you...
Captain Durrioro shook his head and sighed: "The eldest prince always thinks from the perspective of a soldier. He believes that war can solve all problems. But he does not understand that what supports the war is the economy. Once the kingdom's If the economy collapsed, no matter how many victories he won on the battlefield, he could not avoid the final outcome of failure. He believed that the kingdom could still persist in this war. Indeed, the kingdom could still gather the last wealth to support this war. But the problem After investing all the last wealth in this war, even if it wins on the battlefield, the kingdom will face a long-term economic depression, and there will be no funds to restore people's livelihood and stabilize social order...
The Royal Court believes that it is appropriate to cease the war and sign a peace agreement at this time. Our kingdom has occupied the territory of three principalities and needs time to stabilize and strengthen its rule, restore and develop the local economy, and provide the kingdom with a steady stream of wealth. , but it requires investment of time and money. We, the emerging business aristocrats, can reach an agreement with the royal family because we each get what we need. The royal family needs to exclude the expansion of the power of the old noble families, and our commercial nobles need their own business territory to expand the influence of free commercial trade in the territories of these three principalities.
Therefore, our business aristocrats actually have a cooperative relationship with the royal family, not unconditional obedience. The eldest prince misunderstood this and regarded us as his subordinates, using our funds to support the continuation of this war. Because of this, he regards our move to support the royal family in signing a peace agreement as a betrayal of him, and rejects all information and well-intentioned persuasion from us. He thought that his willfulness could make His Majesty change his mind, but he did not understand that this war could no longer continue. This was not a result that could be undone by his seclusion... "
This gossip is really exciting. Claude asked in confusion: "Actually, you still have many ways to pass the information to the prince, such as asking His Majesty to go and talk to the prince in person, or sending a suitable person to ask for an interview. The eldest prince can do all these things..."
"This is the capriciousness and childishness of the eldest prince. When your majesty went there, the eldest prince claimed that he was seriously ill and was afraid of infecting your majesty. He refused to come out to see you, so your majesty had no choice but to return to the palace. Select the right person to ask for an interview, and just talk about the affairs on the front line. The eldest prince became furious and drove the people away. Many people knew that the eldest prince and his majesty were trying to vent their anger and avoided them, and no one wanted to get involved.
His Majesty has not thought about replacing the frontline commander-in-chief to handle the frontline affairs after the armistice, but that is not the problem. It is easy to find candidates, but no one can suppress the interference of the kingdom's established noble families in the three principalities like the eldest prince. New Territory Affairs. Of the sixteen legions currently on the front line, two-thirds of the top legions are members of noble officers. If the eldest prince had not come back to visit the front line in person, someone else might have gotten into petty entanglements with the top legionnaires. , delaying the layout of our commercial nobles and royal family in the new territory... "
Captain Durrioro sighed and told Claude these inside stories. Anyone who encounters an irresponsible and willful boss like the eldest prince will have a headache.
"But what's the use of you looking for me?" Claude was confused. He just wanted to save Major Skerry, but he didn't expect to cause such a lot of trouble. If you think about it carefully, it is nothing more than the royal family, the old aristocratic families, and the emerging business aristocrats fighting for their own post-war profits, but it has nothing to do with him. He is just a small captain and does not want to be involved.
"And my pharmacy teacher, Mrs. Maria, once wrote to me and told me that her relationship with the eldest prince was not harmonious, so she did not ask the eldest prince to give me some care during the military. The eldest prince only called her in name. As an aunt, in fact, the age difference between the two of them is not much, so the eldest prince is very reluctant to treat each other as an elder, and she usually tries to avoid contact with the eldest prince..." Claude said, he believed that the business aristocrats should be very happy in these situations. clear.
"We are all familiar with the situation you mentioned." Captain Durrioro nodded: "But at present, Baroness Maria is the most suitable candidate."
He waved his hand to stop Claude's questions: "It's not that our friends in the royal capital have never visited Baroness Maria, but she refused to go to persuade the eldest prince. Just like Baroness Maria's usual style, She was not willing to get involved in these national affairs, nor was she willing to see the turmoil of discord between father and son in the royal family.
However, as the royal palace pharmacist, Baroness Maria is the only one who can freely enter and leave the prince's residence because the prince claimed to be ill. She can see the prince easily. According to our investigation, there are many noble officers around the eldest prince. They support the eldest prince to be tough to the end and force his majesty to make concessions.
The eldest prince was influenced by these noble officers, so he was unwilling to compromise easily. He did not understand the true wishes of the soldiers on the front line, and thought that all officers and soldiers were like him, insisting on revenge against the Principality of Karrnath, and three legions were annihilated. The shame. But you also know the facts. After four and a half years of war, the frontline officers and soldiers are very war-weary. The signing of the armistice and peace agreement is the biggest good news for everyone.
We hoped to let the eldest prince know the true situation on the front line, but because he stayed behind closed doors and was encouraged by the noble officers around him, only he was withheld this information. It is not a good idea to send people to persuade. Whether the eldest prince believes it or not is another matter. The important thing is that our people cannot see the eldest prince, and the situation we mentioned can easily be regarded by the eldest prince as having ulterior motives and shirk responsibility. Maybe he is happy to see Unlucky for us...
We found you because you are the most suitable candidate. First of all, you want to save Major Skerry and clear his grievances. This requires the eldest prince to return to the front line to bring order to the chaos and stop the aristocratic officers from misbehaving. Second, your identity can convince the eldest prince of what you said, that you are the talent he is paying attention to, and obtain the knighthood awarded by him. Moreover, you are a subordinate of Major Skerry and participated in all the battles of the 1st Ranger Battalion. Therefore, it is justifiable for you to plead grievance for Major Skerry when he evacuated the castle of Earl Crelaws and was arrested.
Third, your pharmacy teacher is Baroness Maria. She is currently the only person who can enter and leave the Grand Prince's residence. You don’t need Baroness Maria to speak and plead for you, you just need her to leave the letter you wrote to the eldest prince. As long as the eldest prince sees your letter, which only talks about the injustice of Major Skerry, then the eldest prince will know the true situation on the front line, and he will no longer insist on carrying the war to the end... "
"I need to think about it." Claude frowned and thought. The business aristocrats had a good idea indeed. They asked Claude to write a letter to the eldest prince to reflect the true situation on the front line, because it has nothing to do with the so-called overall situation of the country and is not involved. The distribution of interests between the business aristocracy and the royal family made it easier for the eldest prince to believe the facts reported by Claude.
Captain Durrioro looked at Claude and nodded: "I hope you can think about it for a shorter time, because friends above revealed that some staff officers at the frontline command want to use Major Skerry's incident to drag you into trouble. Then involve Lieutenant Colonel Leadk from you. Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant Colonel for accepting the appointment of the prince was appointed as the deputy head of the United Military Work Inspection Office to integrate the military industry of the three counties in the south. Involved in the military industry in the three southern counties.
In addition, after you write the letter, it is best to send someone to deliver it. Never use military mail, because military mail is in the hands of those noble officers. Not only will the letter you send be subject to their inspection, but it will also be easily 'lost' by them. It cannot be sent to the recipient..."