The noble parliament of Novgorod was crowded at this time, and the usual seats were filled today. The reason is simple, in addition to those current noble councillors, retired senators are also present at today's meeting.

The joy of defeating the Teutonic Knights could only make the small citizens of the city who did not know anything happy for a few days, but for them it was miserable, first of all, the economy, the financial deficit caused by Alexander was filled by them, and now the nobles had to rely on their own industries to make up for the loopholes, and secondly, the military, with a weapon scrap rate of up to 60%. The noble parliamentarians were almost certain that Alexander had deliberately retaliated before leaving, and now Novgorod's armament could not even organize a reconstituted corps. In addition to the poor relatives of Rus' who coveted the mecha technology of nothing, the Swedes overseas were very ambiguous about Novgorod, especially the Swedes, whose warships were often on the borders of Novgorod's territorial waters, which immediately aroused the alarm of the Noble Council, which took the opportunity to invade Novgorod shortly after the Noble Council expelled Alexander.

They don't want to make the same mistakes this time!

"What should I do! It's really ・・・・・・."

"Still apportioned? The old man has been retired for 20 years, how can there be oil and water for you to squeeze? ”

"Not long ago, the damned Swedes came again, this time simply ignoring our warnings. It would be dangerous to go on like this. ”

"Alas~ Why did you drive Alexander away again, if you invite him back again this time, I won't be able to pull off my old face."

"This time it was the man who took the initiative to leave! I think he deliberately tried to get Novgoroda into the water. ”

・・・・・・

The discursive parliamentarians, some indignant, some worried, a few idle chatter, all in all, the normally solemn House of Nobles was now as noisy as a bazaar.

Since Alexander left, everyone has found that everything has become a mess.

And at this moment-

"Ahem, ahem!"

The deliberate coughing sound immediately attracted everyone's attention, and the councillors who were still gossiping immediately closed their mouths at this time, and at the top of the stairs, as soon as the thin old man appeared, everyone quickly restrained their expressions and solemnly responded.

"Gui'an, gentlemen."

"Gui'an, Likarov." Even the older generation of former parliamentarians paid him the highest respect. After all, this man was and still has maintained influence, there is no doubt about this, he is the elder of the elders, and this time it was the decision made by this old man to summon everyone to come.

"I haven't seen you in years." Likarov looked at the former parliamentarians and smiled slightly, and saluted them: "Although it is rude, today's matter is very important, and we old and young people need to decide together." ”

"You're welcome, Likarov." The former parliamentarians also hurriedly returned the salute, although they belonged to the patriarchs, but when they were parliamentarians, Lykarov was a generation older than them, they naturally did not dare to be on an equal footing with him, and not only qualifications, but also the ability of this man was also undoubted, if it wasn't for the fact that he was already old, how could they feel that the group of dragons was leaderless.

"What else is the matter?" Everyone was a little curious, basically everyone had something busy on their hands, and at this time, it was obvious that there was something very important to announce when all the dignitaries were gathered.

And Likarov nodded lightly and said, "Very good, then I won't beat around the bush." The old man's expression was restricted, and his thin body seemed to contain infinite energy, and Likarov solemnly announced to everyone:

"In the present situation, Novgorod cannot continue this anarchy, and I and Secretary Solzhenitsyn have decided after consultation that we are ready to appoint the Grand Duke directly without elections." As soon as Rykarov's words were finished, the house exploded.

"Appointment without an election?"

"What are you kidding?"

"Is it April Fool's Day? Or is there something wrong with my ears! ”

"If you want me to say that we don't need any grand dukes at all, our republic doesn't need the threat of tyrants!"

The parliamentarians reacted violently, especially the current ones, while the former parliamentarians appeared calm and watched from the sidelines, while Secretary Likarov was watching the reactions of the parliamentarians in front of him with the same eyes.

Can you tell us your reasoning? You know, even Alexander, who was so domineering in the mouths of young people, was elected to office, even if it was a formality, for the republic, this could never be abolished. One of the councillors asked with disgust.

And Licalov's attitude was also very tough, I saw him looking down at everyone and said slowly: "It is true that this is against the law, but the existence of the law is to maintain the survival of the republic, if this cannot be preserved, at least I think everyone should have it!" Without a strong call to leadership, it would have been impossible for the now weakened Novgorod to face multiple crises at the same time. ”

"A strong call? But obviously, someone like Alexander's is a mistake at all, isn't it? Look at the mess he left us. Now that the present problem can be dealt with with by the concerted efforts of the parliamentarians, I do not feel the need to go into the heat of electing the Grand Duke. "All of this is now directed at one person, and that is Alexander, whom Solzhenitsyn once supported, who in the past ten years has ostensibly governed Novgorod in good order, but he has extended his hand to the lifeblood of the republic, and when he leaves his hand, all the evils are immediately apparent. They were already anxious enough, and Lykarov thought that they needed a grand duke to torture them.

However, Lykarov said patiently: "Whether you admit it or not, I still want to emphasize that Alexander's monopoly is completely due to the inaction of the upper and lower councilors, and it is clear that a leader is needed, but many councillors unknowingly end up becoming Alexander's eagle dogs." The title of Grand Duke must not be abolished! ”

His words were so unpleasant that many of the councillors' faces changed when they heard them, but they could not refute it, they really couldn't fight Alexander at all. It was even played around.

"Actually, Novgorod is a city-state republic, but nominally we are still part of the Rus' kingdom, and if we don't delineate the Grand Duke early, we will give other principalities a pretext for interference. Don't forget that we also paid a great price to overthrow the hereditary duke to get to where we are today, and if we don't have a clear understanding, I'm afraid you won't be able to gather here in the future. Although Novgorod retained the traditional title of Grand Duke, in reality it was only a change in the name of the consul.

But if the Grand Duke is abolished now, it will be equivalent to removing this fig leaf, and then the other principalities may really take the opportunity to deal with Novgorod. Realizing this, the faces of the parliamentarians immediately changed.

But they are still a little undecided about the choice of the Grand Duke.

"But ・・・・・・ who is the right one to be the Grand Duke? We don't want a second Alexander to come to power! ”

"Yes, at least not gentiles."

Although the parliamentarians have the intention of compromise, some principles are still unwilling to change.

At this moment, the door behind him was pushed open, and a man slowly walked in.

"What if it's the Knight King? Don't you think it's an honor for the prince of the new Roman Empire to be the Grand Duke of you and me? Scanning the dumbfounded crowd, Solzhenitsyn, who walked into the House with Constance Dante, asked with a slight sneer, and for a while, the entire House of Nobles became silent. (To be continued.) )