Claude closed the report written by Colonel Bockard and was speechless for a long time. Unexpectedly, the Kingdom of Overas, which was once the dominant power in the eastern region of Farea, would now be reduced to this. From the lines of the report, one can imagine the tragic situation in the kingdom itself. A civil war for the throne brought serious disasters to the people of the kingdom and the trauma of war that could not be healed for decades. Especially since the new king who came to power is not a wise king, for the Kingdom of Overas, greater hardships are yet to come...
With a "bang", General Albert hit the conference table with a heavy punch. He had just finished reading the report.
"I should have known this, I should have known this..." General Albert muttered angrily...
Claude could only shake his head: "Alan, we have no choice. I know what you want to say, but in fact, we have no choice at all in our directly-administered war zone. Neither Prince Hansback nor Prince Widelek are suitable. As for the object of allegiance, we could only choose the one that would cause the least harm to the Kingdom's overseas territories. This was also the main reason why our war zone was able to defeat the Kingdom of Hicks and win this colonial war. We had a clear conscience.
As for how the kingdom will treat our directly governed war zones, that is a matter for the future. However, I believe that after more than three months have passed, the news of our victory in the colonial war in the territorial theater should have spread to the Farea continent, and soon the kingdom itself will know that we have defeated the Kingdom of Hicks. Then in two or three months, the kingdom’s envoy will arrive, and by then we will know how the kingdom will treat us people... "
"Yes, Claude is right." General Bolognik said: "If we had taken refuge with Prince Hansbach at that time, we would have become traitors who betrayed the kingdom's overseas territories. That's why we had no choice but to surrender to the powerful Prince Derek expressed his loyalty, even though we knew that he was not a qualified successor. Now all we have to do is stick to our posts and wait for the arrival of the kingdom’s envoy. In any case, we have lived up to Marshal Michelci’s entrustment and Trust has protected the overseas territories for the Kingdom. As soldiers, we have a clear conscience."
Walking out of the gate of the theater headquarters, Claude ordered his adjutant, Major Mason Hughes: "Take two people to Colonel Boquear and tell him that I will host a banquet at home for him and his family tomorrow night. .. ... "
During the time when Lanhu City was under siege, the high-end villa area where Field Manor was located was one of the small areas in Lanhu City that was not affected by the war, so Claude could still host a banquet at home to welcome his friends. . It was just that after my mother came back from taking refuge in the mountains, she was a little frightened when she saw the rubbish-heap-like ruins of the old city in Lanhu City. She began to talk about returning to the kingdom, thinking that she could live a stable life in Bailu City...
Claude really doesn't want to tell his mother the truth in person, but when the Bockard family arrives tomorrow night, his mother will know what real stability is and what a tragic war disaster is.
In order to commend Colonel Bockar for his trip to the kingdom, General Bolognik asked General Skerry to allocate a large plot of land for him in the central square of the re-planned Lanhu City as a place for his family to re-establish an overseas territory. The family land of the trading company and obtained an interest-free loan of 30,000 gold crowns from the Overseas Minsheng Bank rewarded him and his family for their carelessness and bringing back more than 60,000 refugees from the Kingdom to enrich the humanitarian spirit of the overseas territories.
At six o'clock in the evening of the next day, the carriage sent by Claude to meet them brought back the Boquear family. This was the first time Claude met Bockaar's father, Uncle Lubiwell Boardman, the most famous businessman in White Deer City in the past, after several years. There was also Bokhar's wife, a petite woman, and his two sons, aged ten and seven.
The happiest person should be Claude's mother. She welcomed the arrival of her husband's former friend Mr. Lubiwell. What surprised my mother was that Mr. Lubiwell's appearance had become a little older, his hair was basically white, and he had a large bald patch in the middle. He could no longer see the high-spirited and confident businessman he once was.
The dinner party became an inquiry class for the curious baby of the mother. Following Mr. Lubiwell’s narration, the mother learned that her hometown, Bailu City, had been devastated by the war, and the entire city was in ruins. From fifteen to forty-five years old, of men were forcibly enlisted in the army and never returned. All the supplies in Mr. Lubwell's family business were robbed by the soldiers, and he had no choice but to take his family to seek refuge in Similok County.
But the entire three southwestern provinces are under the control of Prince Hansback. No matter where they go, they will inevitably be endlessly taxed and expropriated. After finally waiting for Prince Hansback to evacuate White Deer City, the three southwest counties were once again recovered by the kingdom. As a result, what came was not the long-awaited peace and stable development, but punishments and fines. As a trading house that has been repeatedly confiscated of supplies by the Grand Prince's troops, the robberies they encountered were all accused of actively sponsoring the rebel army, and they needed to pay more fines to avoid the crime...
For Mr. Lubiwell, he has forgotten how he got through those years. He no longer cares about the loss of the property stored in his family. The only requirement is to protect the lives of his family, relatives and employees of the commercial bank. Because he has seen too many tragedies in which families were broken up and people died due to lack of money to pay fines, and he does not want these tragedies to happen to people he knows and is close to.
Fortunately, his family business has built a large network of relationships in the three southwest counties over the years, and can always avoid the conspiracies and traps against him. Just when he felt like he couldn't hold on any longer, his son Bok al came back. This was also the reason why he agreed to transfer the family business and followed Bock Al without hesitation to move his family, relatives, and the employees of the business to overseas territories directly under the jurisdiction of the country.
The mother then gave up the idea of returning to the Kingdom and White Deer City. She warmly invited Mr. Rubywell and his family to live in Field Manor before the house in Lanhu City was built. Now, except for the eldest son, whose whereabouts are unknown, the other three children are all in the direct jurisdiction, and there are two grandchildren. The mother no longer makes troubles and struggles to return to Bailu City.
After dinner, Claude, Bockard, and his father, Mr. Lubiwell, went to the study on the second floor. Bockard had omitted a large part of the report to the theater command, and it was safer to say some private words here.
"Prince Wedelek won't be able to stay on the throne for long." Bock'al said in shock: "Many nobles in the capital are dissatisfied with him, especially the old noble families, who think he is incompetent, stupid, and a bastard in governing the country. Dictatorship and unwillingness to delegate power. In the long run, the country will no longer be a country. There are already many nobles and people of insight secretly working together to push him off the throne."
"This is really ridiculous. At first, they opposed the eldest prince coming to power and becoming king. They said they were worried that the eldest prince would only raise troops to fight and lead the kingdom to a path of violent war. So they pushed Prince Wedelek to the front. They finally got their wish by reducing the entire kingdom to rubble. Now they are regretting it, thinking that the new king is incompetent, so who are they going to push to the throne?" Claude sneered.
Bockal shook his head: "No, Claude, you are mistaken. Those who support Prince Widrik's ascension are actually the emerging business aristocrats. The old aristocratic families originally maintained a neutral attitude, or were only slightly biased towards Prince Widrik. . This is mainly because the eldest prince regards the old aristocratic family as his enemy, and he wants to eliminate the power and influence of the old aristocratic family from the royal team, and touches their cheese. For the sake of profit, they have to stand against the eldest prince.
But after Prince Wedelek came to power, the established aristocratic families found that they had lost more profits, because Prince Wedelek relied on emerging business aristocrats, and they could help Prince Wedelek get money for him to enjoy. After that, A decadent and luxurious life of debauchery and drunkenness. The old aristocratic families hope that the kingdom can settle down as soon as possible instead of remaining in turmoil.
In this civil war in the kingdom, the biggest losers are the emerging business aristocrats. Although these emerging business aristocrats have always claimed to promote free commerce and trade in the kingdom, to put it bluntly, they are just competing for food with the established aristocratic families. What they want is to monopolize the entire kingdom. Gains from business trade and economic development. Therefore, they are natural enemies of the established aristocratic families.
In the kingdom itself, the established aristocratic families can be said to have a monopoly on the kingdom's military industry, and their influence extends throughout the royal family. Over two hundred years of development, various tentacles have penetrated into various local counties in the kingdom, controlling the specialty trade and financial exchanges in various places. The emerging business aristocracy demanded to break this local business monopoly, but they encountered obstacles at every turn.
So after five years of fighting in the eastern region, the kingdom handed over the territory of the three newly occupied principalities to the emerging business aristocrats. I think this was because the late King Sterling X wanted to support the emerging business aristocrats so that they could become rivals to the established aristocrats. The power of aristocratic families allows the royal family to have both sides of the conflict between the two forces, gain more rights and interests, and reduce its dependence on the established aristocratic families.
This is also the reason why the eldest prince tried his best to reduce the power of the old nobles in the king's team. It is a pity that the late king Sterling X did not persist and died prematurely. However, the emerging business aristocracy was not satisfied with the small commercial interests in the newly occupied territory, and provoked Prince Wedelek to compete for the throne. Forcing the eldest prince to leave and raise troops in the newly occupied territory.
Then the emerging business aristocrats discovered that they had reaped the consequences and suffered huge losses. All the efforts and business plans they had put into the newly occupied territories were wiped out by the eldest prince's troops, and all their capital was lost. However, Prince Widrik's father-in-law is Marshal Siegfried, the commander of the Red Dragon Legion. As a member of an old aristocratic family, he had to come forward to support Prince Widrik, so that he came back to life and once again had the wife and the eldest prince. Qualifications for the throne.
The subsequent civil war in the kingdom was actually a confrontation between the forces of the established noble families and the eldest prince. No one expected that this civil war in the kingdom would destroy the entire kingdom. After the news came that the eldest prince had evacuated White Deer City and was assassinated, Prince Wedelek happily ascended the throne, thinking that no one was qualified to compete with him for the throne. From then on, he began to act arbitrarily, did not listen to advice, and relied on emerging talents. The merchant nobles traveled all over the kingdom to collect money for him.
Do you know why the kingdom has not settled down yet? Claude, this is all the fault of the emerging business aristocrats. What I saw and heard in the royal capital and on the road confirmed the crimes of these emerging business nobles. The unrest in the various local counties in the kingdom, the people's livelihood, bandits, and refugees are all man-made disasters caused by them.
They were appointed as special envoys for liquidation and accountability by the foolish Prince Wedelek, our loyal new king Sterling XI. They showed off their power and commanded all the local counties in the kingdom, and brought all the kingdoms that supported the great prince during the civil war in the kingdom. The residents were all labeled as rebels, and whether they were voluntary or forced, even if they were forced to join the army, the outcome was the same. Their property was confiscated, they were sentenced to hard labor, and a large number of people were forced to leave their hometowns and become refugees and refugees.
On the one hand, what these new business aristocrats did was to make up for their property losses in the newly occupied territories; on the other hand, they were plundering private wealth for Stirling XI to enjoy; and on the third hand, they were cutting off the ties of the old aristocratic families. Private business power and influence, so that their own power can control the commercial and trade exchanges in various local counties in the kingdom. Nowadays, the old aristocratic families in the royal capital are incompatible with these emerging business aristocrats, and the contradiction is very big..."
"Are these what you think about yourself or are others telling you?" Luo Dede interrupted Bok'ar's eloquence and asked suddenly.
"Uh..." Bock'ar was stunned for a moment, and then replied after thinking for a while: "Some of them were revealed when others talked to me, some of them were realized by me when I looked back, and most of them were learned during my trip to the royal capital. I summarized what I saw and heard during the trip..."
Claude nodded. What Bockaar said should be what he wanted to say, rather than becoming a pawn and lobbyist in the hands of others.
"Who do you think will become our new king if Prince Wedelek steps down?" Claude asked.
Bockaar answered firmly: "I think it must be His Royal Highness the Fourth Prince Frederic."
"Why is it him?" Claude asked with interest: "The five princes and princesses of the late King Sterling X have long commented that the eldest prince is steady, the second prince is romantic, the third princess is unruly, and the fourth prince is cowardly. The fifth princess is greedy. Now that the stable eldest prince is gone, and the romantic second prince is about to step down, the only ones who can compete are the third princess, the fourth prince and the fifth princess. From all aspects, the third princess and the fifth princess should I hope you have more hope, one is unruly and the other greedy, no matter how you look at it, they are more competitive than the cowardly fourth prince."
Bokoal replied with a smile: "The third princess Adelina has no chance at all, because she married the Marquis of Ruelheim, a representative of the emerging commercial aristocracy. It is impossible for the old aristocratic family to dethrone Prince Wedelek from the throne. He also pushed the third princess, Her Royal Highness Adelina, to the stage. There was almost no difference in doing so.
The fourth prince, His Royal Highness Frederic, does not have this problem. His wife is the daughter of the Lady Maria you asked me to visit, and Lady Maria’s husband is Viscount Katf, the deputy commander of the Kingdom’s Guards Corps. The lieutenant general of the kingdom is considered to be a member of an established noble family. In addition, His Royal Highness Frederic, the fourth prince, has a peaceful personality and does not like war. If he becomes king, he will definitely calm the turbulent situation in the country and vigorously develop people's livelihood and the economy of various local counties.
The first time I went to visit Lady Maria at her residence, Lady Marya and Viscount Cutoff talked to me about very common topics. Lady Mary asked about the current situation of you and your sister Anna, and Viscount Cutoff was concerned about What matters most is the combat power of the Rock Legion and the Thunder Legion in this colonial war and the directly-administered theater. I would like to know the details of the battle, and at the same time feel deeply sorry for their inability to help our territorial theater obtain support from the kingdom.
But the second time I was summoned by the invitation they sent me. It was a party held in their mansion, and all the attendees were officers of the Imperial Guards Corps and above. Then I saw the fourth prince, His Royal Highness Frederic, appearing at the venue and taking the lead in a dance with his wife, Princess Christie, the daughter of Lady Maria.
Viscount Cutoff introduced me to the fourth prince, who expressed his admiration and condolences for our territorial war zone's persistence in this colonial war until now and its continuous victory. But since he was just an empty prince and unable to help our direct territorial war zone, he felt sad for this. He said that he usually stayed at home reading and writing, and could not speak in front of his brother Sterling XI, because Prince Wedelek did not like his younger brother...
When leaving the party, Viscount Katf expressed in a very vague way that the kingdom may undergo drastic changes in the situation in a while. He regretted that the two legions in our direct territorial theater were too far away from the kingdom's mainland, otherwise his army could be Our son-in-law, His Royal Highness the Fourth Prince Frederic, and his daughter have been entrusted to us, and we believe that we can ensure their safety.
I thought he was joking and said that he could allow the Fourth Prince Frederic and his wife to return to the overseas territories with me, and our war zone would ensure their safety. Viscount Carterf smiled and said nothing. When I set off from the royal capital and returned to the three southwest counties, I suddenly thought of these words, and I suddenly understood in my heart that he was not entrusting his son-in-law and daughter to us, but was trying to promote the fourth prince, His Royal Highness Frederic, to the throne. Asked whether our direct-administered war zone supports it... "
Claude smiled bitterly. Whether or not the direct-administered war zone supports it is useless. They can't fly across this ocean of silence. Viscount Katf was not asking about the views of the war zone, but he still regarded the directly-administered war zone as a part of the Kingdom of Ovilas, and he would give a routine notice to let everyone know something in order to avoid another setback.
Prince Hansback destroyed both of the kingdom's ocean-going fleets. Now the kingdom's mainland and overseas territories cannot carry out large-scale navigation. Even if the territory's war zone supports the fourth prince, His Royal Highness Frederic, it is impossible to send troops forward. Go, unless you first master the reorganization of the captured combined fleet...