More than 400 kilometers south of Ramask Province, we arrived at Melinda Province, another province of the former Kandela Empire.
Like the Ramask Province, the Melinda Province also announced its separation from the central leadership of the Candela Empire very early.
However, unlike the Lamasque Province, the Melinda Province was not thrown into chaos due to worker riots and was forced to break away from control. Instead, the Governor-General of the Melinda Province declared on its own that it was not subject to the orders of the Candela Empire Parliament.
Although independence was not officially declared, it almost meant the same thing.
Now that Wimbledon, the capital of the Candela Empire, has fallen into the hands of the Malo Empire's army, the Candela Empire can almost be declared destroyed, and the Melinda Province has not directly turned to the arms of the Malo Empire like the northern provinces. Instead, it announced a shift to autonomy.
Among the original thirty-seven provinces of the Candela Empire, the performance of Melinda Province can be regarded as very loyal to the imperial royal family in the eyes of many people.
It's just that there has been no more expression from the Melinda Provincial Governor's Palace, but no one knows the true intentions of the former Governor, Duke Willand.
After the fall of Wimbledon and the province of Melinda declaring its autonomy, the Governor-General of Melinda Province has been committed to stabilizing the situation within the province and has not had more contact with the outside world.
Thanks to the efforts of Duke Willand, Melinda Province has always been relatively stable, and it can be regarded as a relatively peaceful paradise within the Candela Empire.
On this day, the Governor's Mansion of Melinda Province welcomed a guest.
"Your Majesty, Prime Minister, I am very pleased to see you again." Duke Willand opened his arms and embraced the visitor warmly, with a smile on his face, showing that he was really happy for the visitor's arrival.
Grand Duke Rostov, Prime Minister of the Candela Empire, hugged Count Willand vigorously and also showed a smile full of relief.
"Nice to meet you too, Duke Willand."
After letting go of his hand, Grand Duke Rostov looked at Duke Willand up and down, and sighed with emotion: "Melinda Province can maintain the current stable situation. Duke Willand, you have worked really hard during this period. "
Duke Willand smiled slightly: "As the lord here, this is my duty."
Upon hearing the title "Lord", Grand Duke Rostov raised his eyebrows and then calmed down. He smiled and said: "Being able to do this at such a time is not in vain. Your Majesty often praises Duke Willand in front of me as one of the few loyal ministers in the empire who can be relied on."
"Your Majesty?" Duke Willand's expression moved and he smiled, but he did not answer the topic at all. He turned to look at the other middle-aged man next to Grand Duke Rostov. "President Montiel. Is the cooperation you and I discussed the day before yesterday related to the Prime Minister?"
"That's right." Reese Montiel, president of the Melinda Branch of the New Aircraft Chamber of Commerce, smiled and nodded. "I came with the Prime Minister today because I hope to discuss a new cooperation project with you, the Governor. I wonder if you, the Governor, are interested?"
Duke Willand looked at Grand Duke Rostov, then at President Montiel, smiled and shook his head: "If I say I'm not interested now, how will you two react?"
Of course, this is just a joke.
After saying this, Duke Willand invited the two of them in and sat down respectively.
"Prime Minister, I heard before... that after His Majesty left Wimbledon, he went to the Principality of Standing. I didn't believe it at the time, but now it seems that this is true?" After taking a sip of tea, Duke Willand said Be the first to speak.
"Yes. His Majesty went to the Principality of Standing with the intention of seeking help from the New Flying Chamber of Commerce." Grand Duke Rostov said bluntly. "Now. Your Majesty has reached a preliminary cooperation agreement with Freya Guizhang. This time I came with President Montiel because I want to discuss with you how to cooperate in the Melinda Province."
"Cooperation?" Duke Willand turned to look at President Montiel. "President Montiel, the Xinfei Chamber of Commerce has been cooperating with the Governor's Mansion to stabilize the situation within the province during the recent period. I am very grateful. But the cooperation we are talking about now..."
President Montier smiled, took out a thick document from the bag he carried with him, and handed it to Duke Willand.
"Your Majesty the Duke. This is the plan for this cooperation. Please take a look."
Duke Weiland nodded. This was the consistent style of the Xinfei Chamber of Commerce, and it also convinced him that this so-called cooperation was indeed agreed to after consideration by the Xinfei Chamber of Commerce. It was not a private discussion between Grand Duke Rostov and President Montier.
Picking up the plan and glancing at it, Duke Willand was immediately shocked by the two sentences at the beginning of the plan.
"Abolish the imperial system and replace it with the United States of Candela, which is composed of various provinces?" Duke Willand looked up at Grand Duke Rostov and President Montiel in surprise. "What does this... mean?"
President Montiel gestured to Grand Duke Rostov with his eyes.
Grand Duke Rostov coughed lightly and explained: "This so-called Federal Republic of Candela actually allows every province in the empire to be autonomous while also uniting to form a brand new country. The existing empire The unity and strength of the past can also achieve a high degree of autonomy for each province, allowing each province to have its own power... "
Under Grand Duke Rostov's detailed explanation, Duke Willand finally had a general understanding of what the so-called Federal Republic of Candela was all about.
"So... Your Majesty really doesn't intend to restore the glory of the empire and become the supreme emperor again?"
Grand Duke Rostov smiled bitterly: "Duke Willand, do you think... there is such hope now?"
Duke Willand was silent for a moment and shook his head.
"impossible."
"That's it." Grand Duke Rostov sighed: "If possible, of course His Majesty would like to restore the glory of the empire, but His Majesty is wise after all. He can clearly recognize the current reality and knows that this idea is fundamentally It’s impossible. So we settle for the next best thing and hope to at least preserve the original integrity of the empire.”
Duke Willand was silent for a while, sighed deeply, shook his head, but said nothing more, and continued to look at the plan in his hand.
After a while, he suddenly frowned again, raised his head and asked, "Does the United States of America need a president?"
"After all, it is a country in name only, and it always needs a unified leader to represent the will of the entire United States of America." Grand Duke Rostov explained with a smile.
"So your Majesty is interested in this position?" Duke Willand asked again.
"No, Your Majesty has decided to give up after what he has experienced recently and is unwilling to participate in these things anymore. The one who is interested in this position is His Royal Highness Prince Frank."
"Prince Frank?" Duke Willand nodded to express his understanding.
If His Majesty the Emperor went to seek help from the Xinfei Chamber of Commerce to restore the basic territory of the Candela Empire at great loss of face, but had no idea about the possible establishment of the United States of Candela Federation, Duke Willand would never believe it.
Now His Majesty the Emperor has chosen to retreat behind the scenes, but let Prince Frank come to the front. This is a very wise choice and can be recognized by more people.
After looking through the plan for a while, Duke Willand pondered in silence for a while, and said to President Montiel in a deep voice: "President Montiel, I see the shadow of President Xu in this plan."
President Montiel laughed: "Yes, when discussing this plan, we asked the President for a lot of opinions."
"What about President Xu's final opinion on this plan?"
"The President's original words are... I only propose such a model. As for whether the people of the Candela Empire are willing to accept it, that is their business." President Montiel imitated Xu Yi's tone and expression.
"So, President Xu didn't make his position clear?"
"If the president hadn't supported this model, he wouldn't have put forward so many detailed opinions, right?" President Montiel said. "The president has not paid attention to matters on Sainz's continent for many years. Only this time he was very concerned about it. He even held many video conferences with the senior officials of the Chamber of Commerce and put forward his opinions in person."
"That's it..." Duke Weiland nodded and pondered for a while, then turned to Grand Duke Rostov and said: "I now have a general understanding of your purpose. But Prime Minister, I can't give you any answer now, Because I don’t see the possibility of this plan being successful at the moment.”
"With the help of the New Flying Chamber of Commerce, do you think it's impossible?" Grand Duke Rostov said in surprise.
"If the New Flying Chamber of Commerce is willing to give its full help, it is certainly possible, but now..." Duke Willand looked at President Montiel and shook his head. "I can't see the sincerity of the Xinfei Chamber of Commerce for the time being."
Grand Duke Rostov frowned, and just as he was about to speak, President Montiel had already taken the lead, laughed loudly, and responded: "The Governor is right. The tenet that we businessmen have always followed is to hand over money with one hand. Delivered with one hand. Now that we haven’t produced enough valuable evidence, we naturally can’t expect the Governor to believe it so easily, Prime Minister, are you right?”
Grand Duke Rostov frowned and looked at President Montiel, thought for a while, and nodded slightly.
President Montiel continued: "But please rest assured, Governor-General, our New Flying Chamber of Commerce will not do anything meaningless. Since we have invited the Governor-General to cooperate together, of course we will not talk in vain. Next, we will have I believe the Governor will believe our sincerity after seeing some corresponding actions."
Duke Willand nodded honestly and politely: "I'm looking forward to it very much."
President Montiel and Grand Duke Rostov exchanged a look, stood up together, said goodbye and left. (~^~)