Pol let out a sigh of relief, sat down on the sofa, and muttered for a long time, pounding his fingers on the table as he groaned, and said, "I think it's better to wait first, after all, this little trick can't shake the core of our power." Clifford is now in the favor of the King and the Great Prince, and is the initiator of the New Deal, so let's not look for trouble at this time. Now, what we need to do is think about how to deal with this situation. ”

Lincoln nodded lightly, he agreed with Pol's opinion, now is not the time to move Clifford, it is not worth it, the top priority is to think about how to keep his power in this chaotic change, frowned and thought for a long time, before he said lightly: "Since the king convened the imperial council to announce the reform, the new policy has been the desire of the people and the trend of history, and all people of insight think that only by doing this can they save the country, and the powerful countries in the Hill continent also do this." This tide is very strong, and we cannot be people who go against the tide, otherwise we will only be suppressed by political opponents and suffer great losses. ”

Pol squinted, didn't speak, just nodded slightly, he agreed with Lincoln's point of view, I have to say, this Clifford is really a character, just with his own three-inch tongue can stir up the whole situation, but unfortunately, this person can't be used by me, said: "Then you say, what should we do?" ”

"The best thing we can do is to go with the flow." Lincoln did not hesitate at all, and said categorically: "Now that the overall situation is like this, if we go against the trend, we will definitely suffer, and if we move with the trend, we may be able to get some benefits." Didn't the King's New Deal include judicial independence and a cabinet? Why don't we make a fuss about this? ”

"You mean to put me in a bid for a seat in the Cabinet?" Pol said thoughtfully: "But what is the use of only getting a cabinet seat if you don't have military power?" How could it be as good as it is now, in Vienna County I can say a lot. ”

"Your Excellency the Doge." Lincoln said with some hatred: "Why should you fight for it yourself? It would be nice if you could have someone who listens to you and take control of the county of Vienna yourself. Anyway, with the independence of the judiciary, the king has no way to convict you, and his measure has really helped us a lot. ”

Pol laughed, very happily, Frederick VII, Clifford, you two old and young, have joined forces to calculate me, and I will let you lift a stone and shoot yourself in the foot today, and say, "Well, you said it very well." I don't think this person needs to find someone else, just you. You are well prepared. ”

As for his good friend Taylor, he no longer fully trusts it, because he found out that Taylor has been very close to the eldest prince recently, not to mention that Cliffors is a student of Taylor, and Taylor introduced him to the king.

"Thank you, Lord Governor." Lincoln hurriedly stood up, bowed to Pol, he sincerely thanked Pol for giving him this opportunity, and said: "My lord, the new policy calls for local autonomy, and we must do it as soon as possible." In this way, you can win over the local heroes to support you, and you will be passive when it is late. Believe me, as long as you keep the army and finances firmly in your hands, they will not dare to do anything to you, even if they form a council. This also has the advantage of showing that you support the New Deal, that you are at the forefront of the historical trend, that you can win the support of public opinion, and that it will be good for you to control the cabinet in the future. ”

"That's a good point." Pol stood up, took a cane, and while tapping the ground with it, he said lightly: "Local self-government? Hmph, I think it's also the old king who fooled those places that are powerful, and the financial power is not in his hands, so what kind of autonomy does he have? We can only do some trivial things such as persuading people to go to school, persuading people to do good, and maintaining law and order, and it is really cost-effective to use this power to favor the support of local wealthy families, and it can save us a lot of things. In his opinion, Clifford's strategy is not under Lincoln, it would be nice if it could be used by him, but it's a pity that he defected to the eldest prince - that was his nemesis.

"Your Excellency, your analysis is too correct, I think it's better for us to start this matter early, if it's too late, when they make trouble, we will do it again, then it will become something that people fight for, not what we give, and we won't be able to leave the favor." Lincoln said with some eagerness, he has found out some rumors, since the news that the king is going to implement a new policy, some people in the local area have been ready to move, but they have not yet formed a coalition, no one dares to come forward first, if they see the situation clearly, and unite to make trouble, then the governor will be in a passive situation, give it, become forced by others, not only can not fall well, but also damage the prestige, if you don't give it, it will become a trend against the times, obstructing the road to prosperity and strength of the Rhine Kingdom, and it will be very passive politically, It is easy to be pinched by political opponents.

Pol knocked on the floor twice more, and he also realized that this matter was without further ado, he had always been a decisive person, especially when it came to power competition, and said: "I will leave this matter to you, just to increase your prestige in the cabinet." ”

"Yes, Lord Doge, Lincoln will not let you down." Lincoln bent down and said very respectfully, a smile on his lips, for it was always a pleasure to see himself ascending the steps, wasn't it?

After Lincoln left, Pol was sulking again, carefully considering the current situation in his mind, and finally decided to discuss with the second prince.

"Someone. Prepare the car. Pol leaned on his crutches and said as he walked, "I'm going to see the second prince." ”

Inside the Second Prince's Mansion. The second prince entertained the angry Pol very eagerly, poured him a glass of wine, and said with a smile: "Okay, old friend, don't be angry. The new army is something you have trained yourself, and a little trick from Gates alone won't change anything. The more he withholds the salary, the more the people in the army will be angry with him, and you can take the opportunity to control the army. ”

Pol didn't think so, this is just an idealized state, the world is cruel, it's realistic, no matter who it is, it won't be because you're good to him, but it's good, when those officers see that they can't get money with Polgan, and it's difficult to get ahead, no matter how deep their relationship with Pol is, they will be separated from him, sitting on the sofa like a mountain of meat, and saying angrily: "Second prince, it's not a way to go on like this." We must fight back, otherwise others will think that we are weak, and once this happens, the enemy will bully us even more rampantly, and some wall grass will also change the door, which will greatly weaken our strength. ”