The Duke has been in a very good mood lately. Even the accidental injury to his beloved thoroughbred leg did not make him angry, much to the delight of the fearful servant, until the Duke waved his hand to let him go. When he got up, he secretly looked at the Duke and saw a newspaper in his hand, with two very eye-catching headlines, one was that the xx economist pointed out that the high tax rate on agricultural imports was not conducive to the development of agriculture in the country, and the other was that Mr. Brown proposed to unify the minimum standards of voters in all districts.

Although the servant did not understand the specific meaning, he had probably heard some news after staying under the Duke for a long time. This was the handiwork of the merchant capitalists who had just joined the Tories, and it was not conducive to the interests of the old faction, led by the Duke. The servant peeked at the Duke again, and was surprised to find that the Duke's expression was very relaxed. The servant didn't dare to look at it anymore, and secretly muttered in his heart, could this be because he was so angry that he was insane?

The Duke was certainly not insane. He would have been furious if he had seen such reports last month, but now he was no longer alarmed by the anger of threats, but had everything under control. Brown, who was caught by him and opposed him everywhere in the party and gradually threatened his authority, and Kentera Jr., who was in opposition to him, had to bow his head obediently. Brown became the sponsor of the proposal for a unified voter standard, as agreed. If this proposal passes, given that some cities, such as port cities, do not have enough land, they will inevitably use personal assets rather than land as the minimum standard for voters, which will favor the emerging capitalists, and the importance of land will be further reduced. It seems that the situation is not in his favor, but Brown, who has been caught, has promised to persuade some of his friends and collaborators to change his tune when the proposal is opposed. The same is true with regard to the issue of import duties on agricultural products.

Although the Duke still insisted on the glory of the old aristocracy, his political sense of the years told him that the merchant capitalists were gradually rising, and this force could not be ignored. He began by suppressing the powerful figures of this faction, rejecting their proposals, and letting them know that they could no longer occupy the main position of the Tories on their own, nor that they could use the power of the Tory to their own advantage by joining the Tories. Then they would secretly reconcile the contradictions between the two factions of the Tories and give these new forces a small amount of benefits, such as a reduction in import taxes on the raw materials necessary for industry, and a dual-track system of land and property minimum standards for the electorate, so that the new Tories should be able to understand who to turn to.

The invention invested by Kentra Jr. is also quite a good bargaining chip. The Duke would give the merchants who were the first to make a wise choice to join him, and of course, he was the patent holder behind the scenes, and those merchants could only earn a small bid-ask spread as an operator, but a few percent of the profit was tempting enough. In this way, the combination of grace and power could bring together most of the emerging forces that had joined the Tory Party. In this way, whether the old aristocracy is in power, or the emerging power is gradually becoming stronger, even if it is a major change of blood in the party, he is still an absolute authority that will not fall.

Thinking of this, the Duke smiled slightly. Perhaps, when he has entered the twilight of his life, his brilliance can go further.

Council Chamber.

Comfortable chairs from the East line the sides of the long table. On the long table is a candlestick, and the mellow aroma slowly emanates from the candle flame. The dark velvet curtains are pulled up and sunlight flows in through the windows. There is a blurred line at the junction of the two rays, which falls right in the center of the long table, as if some invisible boundary has materialized.

One side of the long table was already filled with elegantly dressed aristocrats, gorgeous wigs, groomed neat and playful mustaches, and proudly erect beer bellies, and it was difficult to distinguish the identity of each person at first glance. The Duke sat in the upper hand position. In his opinion, the tense meetings in the past were just a formality, and his henchmen who had already received the notice were also confident. Suddenly, there was a sound of footsteps at the door, and the Duke's gaze swept over.

The leader is the duke's old acquaintance, who is also an old nobleman, he has been suppressed by the duke because of his slightly worse background and relatively young age, and the addition of new forces made him see an opportunity. He chose to bring these people under his command. Brown stood behind him to the left. Brown was not in that position here with his background and position, but he was very capable, and his reputation among the big merchant bankers was exceptionally high, and he had tied many of them to his side when many of the old-school aristocrats disdained to be in the company of the upstarts. This position symbolizes that he has been unusually reused as a confidant.

Who would have thought that this Brown, who had betrayed his surname, had already surrendered to him. The Duke gave Brown a meaningful look. Brown made eye contact with him, and lowered his eyes slightly. It's a gesture of surrender.

The Duke smiled with satisfaction in his heart, and greeted his old acquaintance as usual with a gesture that was not rude but implied to be arrogant. "Long time no see, hope you can enjoy today's meeting. ”

The other party responded to him with the same gesture. "Thank you for your kindness, in fact I have enjoyed every time and this time will be no exception. ”

This routine encounter was much shorter than before, and both men were too lazy to bother talking. The meeting began when Mr. Brown was seated.

In the afternoon, Mr. Brown presented a proposal for a reform of electoral criteria.

Less than two minutes after Mr. Brown spoke, the Duke's heart sank, and he keenly felt that Mr. Brown had deceived him. Prior to this, in good faith, Mr. Brown had secretly submitted their proposed proposal to the Duke. This would allow the Duke to prepare a rebuttal argument against the proposal in advance. Of course, the outcome of such a meeting had been largely decided beforehand, and the result had been negotiated on the basis of a private exchange of interests, and the vote was a mere formality, but Mr. Brown's sincerity made the Duke even more satisfied. But now, the proposal that Mr. Brown has given him is not as consistent as it is being shown!

The Duke has also been through the storm for a long time, and although he was put on a table, he didn't show it on his face. He suppressed the anger that surged up in his heart, and his brain raced. If the defection is fake, then what does Mr. Brown want to do today? What is the ultimate goal? Is he to find a backer who can protect him, not to ignore his threats, and to get the proposal passed? Or do you want to negotiate with him again when the proposal has the upper hand?

Mr. Brown's proposal to unify voter minimums with property is more resistant. But what Mr. Brown actually showed was a two-track system, statistically showing that the Tories would have more of an advantage over the Whigs in most cities. The content is detailed and in-depth, and the words are beautiful. If this weren't for the opponent's proposal, the Duke couldn't help but applaud. But at the thought that this is the opponent's scheme, those advantages turn into intolerable disadvantages.

The duke gave him a look, and a nobleman behind him stood up. "It's just ridiculous. The Whigs will also make statistics on this kind of electoral qualifications, and they will certainly strongly oppose it when they come to the conclusions. Rather than wasting a place on a proposal, it is better to put forward a more modest and larger proposal. ”

Another nobleman beside him stood up after him, his tone much softer than his. "I have some questions about the methodology. If the content is true, then this proposal is valuable. The stakes are high, and we should be cautious and double-check whether the method is scientific and whether the data obtained is true. ”

The Duke nodded with satisfaction. One vehemently opposed, the other mildly skeptical, singing and probing each other's thoughts.

Someone on the other side immediately stood up and refuted the objections in equally vehement terms. "You may only do what the Whigs would agree to, but I have never forgotten that I am a member of the Tory Party. The nobleman who was the first to stand up and speak had a pale face as pale as a dough. "Please do not slander at will. The man ignored him and continued to patiently explain the mild suspicions. "We have synthesized the opinions of all parties to formulate this investigation plan, in order not to delay the time to speak, I have not elaborated on it just now, if you have any doubts about it, I can explain it to you from the beginning. ”

The Duke listened for a while, and the attitude of the other party remained to refute the staunch opponents mercilessly, but not to be in a hurry to let the proposal pass at once, and to give a gentle explanation to the less tough objections.

The duke's heart was much more settled. Judging by the attitude of the other party, Mr. Brown should want to negotiate with him in an advantageous position. It's normal for Mr. Brown not to believe him. In fact, the Duke did not intend to fulfill the agreement. Even if Mr. Brown did what he said today, he still wanted to completely defeat the unstable factor that had always been against him.

The Duke did not trust Mr. Brown 100%, he had estimated in advance that if Mr. Brown's defection was false, his side could also have a slight advantage. However, there was a certain gap between the reality and his imagination, and Mr. Brown had obviously made sufficient preparations in advance, and when neither side wanted to tear their faces, the two sides of the negotiation had been at a stalemate on this proposal for a long time, and in the end there was no result.

The Duke returned home with a gloomy face, and shut himself up in his study for a long time. While the servant hesitated to tell him about dinner, the Duke came out of the study and handed the servant an invitation. "Delivered to the residence of the Earl of Kentera. ”

The servant respectfully took the invitation and left, turning to leave.

The Duke rubbed his swollen forehead. He had thought that the next phase of the implementation plan would be brought forward. 166 Reading Network