"It's not a shame to lose to such a genius." Marquis Joshua's words sounded like relief, but the next sentence raised Steg's heart, "Now back to the original question, what is your motive for risking a court-martial, without a letter of appointment authorized by the Cabinet and without a declaration of war signed by me?" ”

The king's sharp questioning made Steg tremble for a moment, and he looked down and did not dare to meet his gaze, gritting his teeth and replying, "All this is my fault!" It was I who was driven by stupid ambition and was eager to win merit and get ahead through military adventures! Governor Mayer was deceived by me, and General Manfred opposed my adventurous plans, but I did not take his opinion seriously, it was my own selfishness in the final analysis! Many officers and soldiers have shed their blood and died as a result, but I don't mind taking their lives for fame...... I deeply regret my despicable deeds! ”

"That's all?" Marquis Joshua's sharp gaze stabbed at Stig like a blade, "It's dramatic that you attributed this military adventure to your own vanity and ambition, but that's the whole truth?" What else do you have to add? ”

"Your Majesty, this is the case, I am willing to confess my guilt and be punished!" Stig replied stiffly.

"You are selfish, but your greatest selfishness is to try to take all the fault on yourself!" The Marquis of Joshua suddenly sank his face, and the king's anger was like thunder: "You regard shielding sinners as a noble and righteous act, you only have the interests of a small circle in your eyes but ignore the rise and fall of the country, you only have the same party and no loyalty to the king in your heart, you are not worthy of your military uniform!" ”

Stig's knees trembled, and he couldn't help but kneel, and his psychological defense was on the verge of collapse.

"Don't think I'm blind or deaf, I know all the good things you do behind your back!" Marquis Joshua opened the desk drawer and unfolded a stack of papers, "What's going on with the Mochizuki Mountain Gold Mine?" Is it really unclear to you whether Mayer's military adventure was for the sake of defending national interests or for personal gain? ”

Steger's lips trembled, and he tried to defend himself, but he couldn't say a word.

Weinberg couldn't help but take a breath, and now he finally understood why the two bigwigs of "Hagner" showed up in the waiting hall of the palace. Three days have passed since the border clashes, and the Canaan Intelligence Service has had plenty of time to get to the bottom of the story. The Marquis of Joshua is like a spider in the center of the intelligence network, and he does not need to leave the palace to keep track of what is happening in all directions.

When the Marquis mentioned the gold mine of Mochizuki Mountain, Madame Judy couldn't sit still, and whispered softly in her husband's ear, looking as if she was pleading.

Marquis Joshua sighed, stopped pressuring Steig, and waved his hand for the guards to escort him down.

The atmosphere in the study was gloomy, and no one dared to pant loudly. The Marquis played with his amber pipe in deep thought, and suddenly sneered.

"This farce reminds me of an old proverb, 'The nobles are the servants of the sovereign, but the servants of the nobility are not the servants of the sovereign', I thought that the feudal lordship had been completely smashed and thrown into the dustbin of history, I really did not expect that there are still people who want to summon the soul of that barbaric old era to this day!"

Mrs. Judy seemed to hear her husband's words, and bit her lip tightly, and her pretty face turned slightly white.

Weinberg fully understood Joshua VIII's indignation, and he was more concerned that his authority as monarch would be challenged by the domestic elite than the offense from across the border. A frontier general who does not obey the monarch's command and acts on his own can degenerate into a warlord at any time, and if he is not severely punished to set an example, the king's throne will be coveted next.

Marquis Joshua re-lit his pipe, took a deep puff of the mellow Kitlander tobacco, calmed down, and turned to look at Weinberg: "My Prime Minister, as you can see, this border conflict has far-reaching implications, many interests are involved, the situation is complicated, and the consequences of failure to respond will be incalculable, and we need to rely on your wisdom to get out of this situation." ”

"Your Majesty's wisdom is a hundred times better than mine, and I can only make some superficial analysis of the current situation based on my own experience, which is only for Your Majesty's reference." Weinberg gestured humblely, but did not mind making his opinion public, "Your Majesty, no matter who is at fault, it will not change the reality that our relations with the Far Easterners have become tense, and there are only two diplomatic options - either to increase the number of troops in the Medes, maintain military pressure on the Far East, and seize the initiative in the war; Either they advocate peace and seek to resolve conflicts through negotiations. ”

"If we make a posture of preparing for war, whether we really cross the border or not, it will arouse the vigilance of the Korrasburg authorities, and they have to increase the garrison forces in the southern Xinjiang region, and at the same time the Koras government will have to deal with the threat from the west, the Yashan Empire authorities will definitely seize this opportunity to send troops to the Far East, the two countries will send troops from the east and west at the same time, and the Khoras Kingdom, which has just become independent and has a shallow foundation, does not have enough troops to maintain a two-front battle, and has only the option of retreating to the northern plateau. Most of the cultivated land and the vast majority of the population in the Far East are located in the western and southern river plains, and without the essence of the land and the urban population, the Kolas government will completely lose the possibility of growing into a regional power, if not immediately collapsed. ”

"So what do I have to gain from this war, and what will I lose?" Marquis Joshua asked with interest.

"The good thing is to hit a potential competitor hard and push the border to southern Xinjiang; The downside is the loss of an ally that is currently of great use, and the loss of a large area of land west of Krasbourg to the Assanian Empire, in other words, the Empire will regain its influence in the Far East and be adjacent to us again. Weinberg smiled wryly, "If the kingdom of Kolas is compared to a young and vigorous calf, the empire is like a cunning tiger, and it is self-evident who is the more dangerous neighbor. ”

Joshua nodded thoughtfully, and then asked the Prime Minister, "How will Fizhen and Hailan react?" ”

"It depends on the dynamics of the colonial war, and it is unlikely that the Assanian Empire will cooperate with us in launching a large-scale military campaign against the Far East until Jotunheim ends the dispute, during which Fizhen and Hailan will need to import grain from the Far East, as Sir Geoffries, Fizhen's ambassador to Bethlehem, said, they want Canaan to live in peace with the Far East more than we do, and on the contrary, as long as we make a move to increase our troops in Media, Fizhen and Hailan will inevitably regard it as a measure to harm their interests and counter it."

"In other words, if we cooperate with the Empire to carve up the Far East, we will inevitably force Fizhen and Hailan to the side of the hostile camp, which is equivalent to doing the Empire a great favor, so that it can have a greater chance of winning in Jotunheim and recovering its territory in the Far East by the way." The Marquis of Joshua frowned.