"Knock! knock!"

Pei Di's face was calm, the fingers of his left hand tapped the edge of the table rhythmically, and the ruby ring on his thumb emitted a bright red light when his fingers swayed, and he whispered: "If you want to completely end the rule of the aristocracy and eliminate the problems left over from the era of aristocratic rule, it is not a matter of just a few months or years to succeed. ”

"That's what remains of the reforms. Cowlier looked at Peidi and said cautiously: "Because we didn't have so many officials to appoint at the beginning of the reform, we retained some local lords who took the initiative to support the reform. ”

"Yes, these people do not regard them as officials of the kingdom, they still run the local government as before, and for this reason they have caused a lot of conflicts with the neighboring areas, and we have to spend a lot of energy every day just dealing with the conflicts of the local officials. Seke-Marat opened a stack of papers in front of him and said:

"According to the documents issued by the Prime Minister's government, the most priority for local governments now is the conflict between local governments and to maintain a relatively stable situation, but..." ”

After saying this, Seke-Marat picked up a document and stood up, and walked respectfully to Pedi's side.

Pedy looked at the thick stack of papers in the old sir's hand and pointed to the table in front of him, and Seke-Marat put down the papers and said, "Here is the detailed report. ”

However, Pedi was not interested in the documents presented by Seker-Marne, and he gently pushed them open, "I go through these documents every day in Kawalburg. He stared at Seke-Marat's old face, "You thought you were here to see your ruling mansion before you returned to Crewe, and... Listen to your?"

"I'm very sorry, Your Majesty. ”

"Sit back in your place. Pedi pointed to the seat where Saike-Marat had just begun.

Seke-Mara turned his head to look at Cowlier, but he didn't give him any hints, and he had to return to his seat with heavy steps.

"The corruption of the bureaucracy, the problem of urban crime, and the local problems left over from the original reform are the three biggest problems that our government is facing now. Pedy pressed his left hand on top of the stack of papers presented by Seker-Marat, looked around to the left and right, and said, "I should be right when I say that, right?

"Yes, Your Majesty, this is the problem that Harrence Lords are currently facing. Saike-Marat didn't know the king's intentions at all, so he could only answer truthfully, "We have come up with a series of plans specifically for these issues, but in the end they have been delayed because of various problems. ”

"Sir, I'm not here to hear explanations. Pedi tapped lightly on the conference table and held out his left hand, and the Knight of Rory Greda saw this, and immediately took out the cigar he had brought with him and put it in Pedy's hand.

The fire on the tip of the cigar grew brighter and brighter as Pedi smoked continuously, and as the smoke began to surround him, he pointed to Saike-Mara and asked, "What's the biggest problem?"

"Corruption-corruption!" Seke-Marat replied without hesitation, and then explained, "The kingdom has just undergone reforms, ending more than two hundred years of aristocratic rule, but we do not have a sound enough bureaucratic system to manage the country. ”

"There are so many things that city governments are responsible for, so much that I don't know what to say. However, when the city government was established, the prime minister's government issued a special 'official management regulations', which strictly prohibit any local government from recruiting staff of any nature without permission!"

This was done to prevent the local government from being infiltrated and controlled by the local aristocracy. "Cowlier knew that the 'Regulations on the Administration of Officials' were formulated and promulgated by Pedi himself, so he quickly interjected a sentence to explain.

"According to the investigation report of the Prime Minister's government, although the formation of regional governments cannot be said to be smooth, there are no problems. Hanina stared at Seke-Marat, "What, is there something wrong with this?"

"No, there's nothing wrong with that. Seke-Marat hurriedly reassured, and then immediately said: "But we are short of manpower, very short! City government officials, including me, the chief of affairs, there are less than a hundred people in total, and we need to manage the Harrence Territory, which has a population of more than a million!"

"So, you're trying to say that the officials are too tired, or that they can't do it?" asked Hannina subconsciously.

"It's that they have too much power and that there's no regulator. "Less than a hundred officials hold the resources of the entire Harrens Territory, you can imagine... This is simply greater than the rights of the local lords in the past!"

After hearing this, Pedi leaned back in his chair and subconsciously straightened up, and the elf advisor next to him, Drahiel, raised his eyebrows and looked at Pedi, leaned over and whispered in his ear: "It sounds like the internal situation in the Kingdom of Krulia is a bit bad!"

"And...", Syke-Marat glanced at Drahir and continued, "The previous reforms of the kingdom only abolished the rule of the lords, but did not deprive them of their titles... Now, we call these forces 'clan' forces, and when these people stay with our bureaucracy, they naturally form a deformed freak, a freak that I don't even know how to describe myself!"

"Sir Marat, Your Majesty is in front of you, and you should weigh your words. Collier first scolded, "What do you mean by a freak? Are you describing the nobles of the kingdom and the officials under you?"

"You mean that the government officials of the kingdom and the local nobles colluded to divide the Harrence Territory?" Officer Hanina's sense of smell immediately sniffed out the question in Seke-Marat's words.

As Cowlier and Baron Hannina spoke, everyone's eyes fell on Seke-Marat for a moment, but Seke-Marat looked at the king who was sitting at the top of the list.

Soon, everyone in the room looked at their king again.

But Pedi didn't say anything, he ignored everyone's gaze and gulped down his cigar.

After a long time, Pedi pointed at Seke-Marat, "You just said that you have come up with many methods before... Can you say it and listen to it?"

"It turns out that these are all useless solutions. Saike-Marat shook his head, "My methods are all aimed at local governments, but it has nothing to do with our local government that caused all this..."

"Sir Marat, wording!!" Cowlier interrupted Seker-Marat again.

"Let him continue, I am here to listen to the truth in today's meeting. Pedi put the cigar on the ashtray, leaned forward slightly, put his arms flat on the table, crossed his fingers, stared at Seke-Mara and said, "You just have to say what you want to say." ”

Saike-Marat's eyelids fluttered involuntarily after hearing the king's words, he raised his head slightly and wanted to make eye contact with the king, but in the end he didn't have the courage to look at the king's chest, and said respectfully: "Most of our low-level officials were born into declining aristocratic families, urban middle classes, and even knowledgeable low-level commoners, and they have to deal with the nobles and wealthy merchants of the kingdom. ”

"Although, the Prime Minister's government stipulates that the aristocracy is no longer directly in the upper echelons of the government... But the problem is that we need too many officials, so high-ranking positions can only be appointed to highly educated nobles. Saike-Marat's voice became louder and louder, as if he had returned to the old man who was not afraid of anyone and was bent on avenging his son, "Although the prime minister's government has come up with a replacement of officials... Well, it is to appoint foreign officials to prevent the local government from becoming a puppet of the aristocracy, but..."

"The Prime Minister's government's idea proved to be very good and did work in the beginning, but in less than three months, most of the officials were knocked down by the mountains of golden krona. As he said this, he suddenly raised his head and looked at the king, "Your Majesty, you would not have imagined that the merchants would bribe me with a large number of crowns... It was a room full of gold, and people couldn't open their eyes. ”

Collier laughed, "Someone is richer than you, have they forgotten who you are?"

"Yes, I resisted the temptation, but—" Seke-Marat's high-pitched voice echoed through the room, "what would I have done if I had accepted the money?"

The old sir's words seemed to be asking himself, and he thought he was questioning.

But no one in the room answered his question, and everyone was lost in thought because of his sudden question.

"After talking for a long time, what do you want to say? Do you want to say that our reform some time ago was wrong?" Collier tapped the table with his palm, "Say your plan, and complain less." ”

The dull sound of "knock knock" echoed through the room.

The sound was too small to be heard, but everyone looked in the direction it was coming from, for it was the voice of their king.

Pedi tapped his left hand on the table, and as everyone looked at him, he took a deep breath and said, "I knew very well that there would be some inevitable problems at the beginning of the reform, but I didn't expect that there would be so many problems... It seems that I am thinking too simply. ”

Although Pedi heard some deception from Seke-Marat's words, such as about the appointment of noble officials, he had no intention of holding him accountable. From accepting Crewe three years ago to now, Pedi has long been accustomed to deception and lies, he will not be as angry as he was at the beginning, he has long since learned to look farther ahead.

"Sir Marat. Pedi looked at the old man sitting up straight at the end of the conference table, "Since you have analyzed the problem so completely, Ken must have found a solution, right?"

Seke-Marat subconsciously tried to stand up, but Pedi motioned for him to sit down.

"In the document at the bottom of the document I just gave you...", Seke-Marat said, pointing to the stack of papers on the table in front of Pedi, "The kingdom now rules the entire eastern part of the Iran Continent, and has the most important trade authority on the continent... Moreover, in the past 100 years, thanks to the development of handicrafts from the top down and the study of magic, our people are no longer oppressed by geography and population, and we have conquered one primitive region after another, and the population has increased exponentially. ”

"Why did aristocratic rule decline? It is because this mode of rule has long been no longer applicable to the current population explosion, and the population of nearly 10 million people is not at all able to rule by an open aristocratic management style without law and order. ”

"So, we abandoned aristocracy. Baron Hannina interjected.

"Yes, we have rejected the rule of the aristocracy. Seke-Marat nodded in agreement, but then changed his words and said, "But the way of governance after the reform has not changed much from the way of aristocratic rule in the past, and many local governments are still continuing the original way of aristocratic rule, but the object of their service has changed..."

The old knight suddenly looked at his king, "The duty to the family has shifted to the responsibility to the whole country, but instead of any benefit, this change has turned the local government, which was still orderly, into chaos." ”

"I'm not denying our reforms, and I'm not denying the establishment of 'local governments'... In fact, with the current way of management, theoretically speaking, it should be the most suitable for the kingdom, but why is there still a problem? Personally, I think it is because our government institutions are not rigorous and perfect enough. "We need a top-down, more rigorous, more complete system of government with strong regulatory departments and a clear division of labor." ”

"I think I heard your last sentence somewhere?" Collier whispered thoughtfully as he leaned back in his chair.

"I said this at the Prime Minister's briefing four months ago. Seke-Mara immediately replied: "My proposal was approved on the spot, and it ended up being a template for building a local government... But in fact, none of the government agencies I work for now live up to this standard... At that time, the formation of a local government was more like carving up a piece of sweet cake. ”

"We're not without gains, though. "At least we have the government framework in place, and now we need to add more materials to it." ”

"You want to establish a hierarchical management structure?" Pei Di patted the document he was flipping through, "It's like the previous top-down management model of the aristocratic partition?"

Pei Di said this very softly, but it sounded like thunder in everyone's ears.

Collier, Hanina, and Morinda all subconsciously kept their mouths shut, while Draxier frowned at the conversation between the monarch and the courtiers.

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