The noise of the aristocracy was distracting.

Victoria? Wilde sat beside Crown Prince Wales, her cold face expressionless, her gaze swept over the nobles gathered in the castle's long hall, and there was a subtle hint of disdain hidden in her eyes.

These wine bags are rice bags.

They were dressed in splendid robes, they spoke in this castle, they were of noble blood, their names were louder than the other, and they spoke here as if they were deciding the fate of the kingdom, but their impassioned speeches could be summed up in one word: profit.

A righteous voice echoed in the long hall: "...... The Carré family supports the restoration of the Kingdom Road, and we are willing to contribute a hundred strong laborers, and my nephew will personally lead the team......"

"What a sacrifice! One hundred! Someone next to him shouted, "I'm afraid there are more than a hundred people who raise horses for you, right?" ”

"The men and food of the Carré family are on the eastern front, and we have given everything we can for this kingdom - but Earl Grey Mountain, don't you even have five hundred mules?"

"I don't agree with the rebuilding of the Kingdom Road - although the Duke Regent has a strong point, the Kingdom Road can bring great benefits in the long run, but now that we are at war, we have rashly used a lot of manpower and materials to build the road, what if it affects the situation of the war? I think we just need to rebuild the main road in the east-west direction, so that it can be easier to transport troops to the front......"

"I'm against it!"

……

The arguity of the nobles is really upsetting.

Wales? Moen sat at the top like a puppet, and when the noise in the long hall was almost out of control, the titular heir to the king finally couldn't help but speak: "Gentlemen, ladies, let's put the argument aside - the construction of the Kingdom Road can be discussed slowly, after all, it is winter, we can discuss the town council and the commercial system first......"

The Welsh voice calmed the debate in the long hall for a while, but his new proposal soon led to a new round of controversy - the nobles and nobles of all sizes praised the Duke Regent and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince for their long-term vision and their wise proposals, and then one by one they strongly recommended that these new systems be introduced in someone else's domain.

If not Victoria? Wild and Franklin? Sitting here, I'm afraid they won't just argue like this.

Such an argument is destined to come to fruition, and the noise in the long hall reaches its peak once again, Wales? Moen had to speak again before Victoria? Wild finally stood up.

"That's enough."

The Queen of the North said in a cold voice, and along with her words, the entire castle was instantly approaching freezing from the inside out.

"Hopefully this cold air will calm you down." After a few moments, Victoria retracted her vast magic, and as the temperature in the hall gradually recovered, her gaze swept over the silent nobles.

These are the powerful nobles, large and small, who control half of the extraordinary power, land, and wealth of this country, and they are short-sighted, they are selfish, and they can only drag the kingdom back when they hold together - but even as a regent, she can only warn these people.

"We're not here to fight," Victoria said after a ten-second silence, "Town councils and business restructuring are the way to go, but I understand everyone's concerns – so it won't be imposed on any of you." The pilot of the town councils, selected from the northern domains and royal fiefdoms, was restructured commercially, and was under the responsibility of the Duchy of the Western Frontier of the Archduke of Franklin. ”

With a hint of bookish elegance? Franklin bowed slightly in response to Victoria's words.

The nobles in the long hall were silent for a moment, and then one by one they showed a sigh of relief - but they did not dare to show it too obvious and exaggerated, so they could only try to make a reserved and humble smile, and use a mess of praise and salutation to disguise their true thoughts-their disguise skills can be described as superb, the flowing humility and heartfelt praise all reflect their qualifications as nobles, but Victoria? Wild had seen through these masks since he was a girl.

Maintaining a frozen face was already the greatest courtesy she could show to these people.

She sat down, and the Bardwin on the side? The Duke of Franklin stood up, and continued, "All new policies will not be mandatory, but I would like to make one thing clear in advance - please remember that one of the virtues of nobility is to remember your oath, so do not forget your decision today." Those who oppose the construction of new factories on their own territory here today must unconditionally pay a ransom of 30% to the royal family if they want to build factories in the future, in order to redeem the right to build factories that you have given up today; Whoever refuses to allow roads to connect his realm here today, any road built by the kingdom in the future will bypass you, unless you buy the road as you have bought the right to build a factory; Those who refuse to sign trade agreements here today will not be allowed to form a new chamber of commerce or company for ten years – unless you redeem the right to restructure commerce. ”

With a calm countenance, the Duke of the Westside stated these conditions one by one, and his tone and expression quickly confused and uneasy the nobles who had just begun to rejoice.

They knew what was being discussed here today—a whole bunch of deviant and sensational things, strange rules from the South, where the Duke Regent demanded that the nobles give up some of their privileges, that they submit to the royal family, that they should open new factories in their own domains, that they should set up town councils that threatened the lord's rule, that they would build roads, that they would start companies...... These things are taken out one by one, and they are all outright threats and deprivations.

However, the Duke of the Westside called them "rights", and declared that every nobleman who raised objections today had renounced these "rights", and even said that one day if someone wanted to build a factory, open a company, or build a road, they would have to spend money to redeem these "rights"?

This bizarre and absurd statement is really incomprehensible.

The people in the long hall were silent in confusion, and discussed in a low voice in confusion, some people seemed to react slightly, and some people seemed to be frightened by the attitude of the Duke of the West, they cautiously summoned their attendants, wrote down a note and handed it to the duke, but more people just spread their hands and shook their heads—

Who would want this "right"? The right to cut flesh from the body?

The noisy meeting was over, and the nobles scattered away, and soon only two regents and a nominal crown prince were left in the great long hall, except for the attendants and guards.

"This is the first time I've seen you angry," said Victoria, looking at Duke Berdwin, with a slight sigh, "and you thought you would never lose your temper on such an occasion." ”

"I'm really angry, but I'm serious," said Bardwin, seated in his chair with a tired look on his face, "It can confuse some people, at least they think more, and others ...... They will be able to contribute at least somehow to the kingdom's treasury one day. ”

Victoria frowned: "How many people are shaken?" ”

"Less than a ten percent of the people," said Duke Bardwin, shaking his head as he recalled the number of people who handed the note, "are mostly nobles who are far from the Kingdom Road and whose territory itself is not very rich, and there are landless royal nobles, who have no worries about wealth and privilege, but who fear the loss of royal protection, and who have expressed their willingness to learn more about our new policy in private." ”

"Yicheng ......" Victoria snorted coldly, but there was a thick helplessness in the cold snort, "It's a lot." ”

The queen of the north will also encounter helplessness - which makes Bai Dewen feel a lot of emotion.

"As we expected, there are many difficulties," he sighed, and said to Victoria, "We have adjusted the areas of change as much as possible, and removed those items that have the greatest impact on the nobility on the ground, but we still have attracted such strong resistance, counting the two meetings yesterday and the day before yesterday, and the whole three days of discussion, only five articles were adopted, and all of them are insignificant......

"As I said at the beginning, no matter how much you adjust, it will be the same result - it makes no difference between taking one gold coin from those people's pockets and a hundred gold coins, because they don't want to lose even a copper plate," Victoria shook her head, "and you want to build factories on their land, build roads, and set up officials, and that's what moves them." ”

Wales that has never spoken? Moen spoke suddenly, "At least we can start with the royal fiefdoms - and some of your realms. ”

"Our ......," Bai Dewen showed a wry smile, "We personally understand the necessity of this, but those marquises, earls, and viscounts under our name probably don't think so...... Even with our own initiative, the difficulty of implementing change within the Principality remains enormous. ”

Divide the territories and divide them into one country.

Victoria? Wilder suddenly thought of what Gawain had said to himself when he was evaluating the kingdom's aristocracy before he left the South, and thought of the "new aristocracy" system in the South.

The counts and viscounts over there...... But there is not such a great power.

She shook her head, brushing aside some of the bad associations, and looked at Wales: "I'm surprised that you can support these new policies so much, I didn't really have the royal fiefdom in mind. ”

"I know, it's your ...... to the Moen family," Wales shook his head, pressing the words "last bit of respect" back to his heart, "I can see the significance of these New Deals, and I know they're good for the country." ”

"Actually, those who oppose at the meeting, those who resist, and refuse to express their stance can't be seen," Victoria looked at the empty long hall and said slowly, "Even if they can't see the role of new factories, new chambers of commerce, and civilian schools, at least they can see the rise of Cecil...... But they still have to oppose it, or they still refuse to express their position. ”

Bodewen? Franklin sighed: "It's not that they don't see the benefits of doing this for the kingdom, they just don't want to pay for it, and their thinking is simple: why can't it be someone else, why can't you build a factory on someone else's territory - yes, everyone thinks so." ”

"Think of something good," said Victoria suddenly and softly after a moment of silence, "at least the coronation of the new king is supported." ”

Bodewen? Franklin smiled a slightly mockingly, "Yes, it's a small thing to get them to support the king than to build a factory on their territory. ”

After saying this, the Duke of the West, who was obviously in a bad mood, stood up, he looked at the exit of the long hall, and after a few seconds of silence, he said slowly: "The plan of the town council is very likely to fail, this reform is too radical, we can put it on hold, and so can the school - but there must be a new factory, at all costs, otherwise we will be choked by the Cecil forever." ”

Bodewen? Franklin left.

Victoria looked at the back of the Duke of the West's departure, and did not speak for a long time.

Wales? Moen's voice broke the silence of the scene: "Duchess Wild, Gawain that day? Is it true that Duke Cecil has no interest in the throne of Ansu to you? ”

Victoria nodded: "That's exactly what he said. ”

"Oh...... "Wales? Moen nodded calmly, then slowly stood up as well, "Then I'll leave first, you can do your own thing." ”

Victoria was finally the only one left in the long hall.

The queen of the north looked at this empty place, at this place that had not so long been filled with noise and strife, standing for a long time.

A vague sigh rang out in the long hall, and her figure disappeared from the throne with flying snowflakes.

The snowflakes of the magic condensed fluttered away, and the last few crystalline snowflakes landed on the portrait of Francis II hanging behind the throne, melting into water and slowly dripping.