"That's right, Riley, but I haven't received any requests from the Foreign Office to attend?"

"Your Excellency, I applied for a request to attend the meeting at the first time, but when I got to the administrative office of my Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I was turned into a request by Director Ifei! After the request is sent to the General Affairs Office, it will be turned into a suggestion and handed it to you. Riley said indignantly.

"Really? I'll look for it. Aditra opened a drawer in her desk, took out a pile of papers, and rummaged through them, "Ah, indeed, well, yes, it's you, Riley, it's very well written, it seems that I will pay more attention to the advice of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the future." ”

"Your Excellency, this important matter has been postponed again and again, and eventually inevitably developed to the point where it is almost impossible to control. I am heartbroken by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs! I just can't stay any longer! ”

"Are you referring to the fall of the Iron Guard and the fall of the Axe Pass?"

When Abijal visited the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Prime Minister Aidit also welcomed visitors.

"Of course, Your Excellency," Riley sighed, "I was shocked when I received this news!" I was shocked by the speed with which the situation deteriorated, and I was also shocked by the procrastination of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on this matter! ”

"Well, but by that time, there's nothing we can do, can we?" Edith spoke.

"Indeed, according to calculations, we will not be able to catch up with the support anyway, and the city of King Grande will definitely fall. So I'm going to ask them to come up with a follow-up plan for a real, effective strategy to take after the fall of King Grande! The Foreign Secretary spread his hands.

"Well, very far-sighted, Riley, did you submit it?"

"No, Your Excellency, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs believes that once the royal city falls, the regime of the kingdom is likely to change, and they say that they will wait until the political situation in the south of the kingdom is clear, and then provide assistance in royal affairs! Such a proposal was rejected by me! As a result, they came up with three more plans, and they were all shit! I don't approve of any of them! Therefore, the matter was also postponed! ”

The Foreign Secretary's tough tone aroused the Prime Minister's interest: "Mind if I ask, which are the three?" ”

Riley rubbed his eyes and spoke:

"First, expand the scale of Lu Jun, urgently recruit soldiers, and after the initial training is completed, the fleet will be transported to the south of the kingdom, and the remnants of the kingdom will jointly form an anti-demon defense line.

Second, increase the size of the Sea Monarch, increase the size of the fleet, increase the overall firepower, and fight the Demon King in the northern part of the kingdom so that he cannot take care of each other, so as to support the remnants of the kingdom. ”

Hearing these two, Eddie nodded his head: "These two are good, I think they are quite reliable!" You can even adopt it at the same time~! ”

"Your Excellency, it is impossible for us to choose these two at the same time, because there is not so much money and manpower to carry it out, but if we only choose one, then Minister Haijun and Minister Lu Jun will definitely fight for this!"

Edith was a little embarrassed: "Uh, too, what about the third one?" ”

"Send troops directly and attack the demon territory." "Oh, this won't work, the demons are too strong."

After the two were silent for more than ten seconds, Prime Minister Edith spoke again and said: "Riley, I already know your dissatisfaction with the status quo. In the past few months, it is true that the strategy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not been very efficient, and there have even been serious mistakes, but there are objective reasons for all this, and you should not deny the ability of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs because of this, and I think you should trust your colleagues in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs more. ”

The Foreign Secretary looked at this scene a little speechlessly, and responded very excitedly: "Your Excellency, I not only question their ability, but also doubt their attitude, they have hidden too many secrets!" Not to mention that I am the Minister of Foreign Affairs! But the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not up to me, but to the group of civilian officials! I really don't know if it's me leading them! Or do they lead me!? ”

"Don't be stupid, Riley~" Edith shook his head and asked seriously, "When did you come into being, you are the illusion of a leader?" ”

"Uh, Your Excellency?"

"Riley, you see, we are only party spokesmen elected by the people, and the people demand more personal morality from us than we actually do, after all, even for two consecutive terms, we will only be in this position for ten years at most. What's more, at the current pace of transition, most of the time it is less than five years. In such a situation, the cabinet members do not have sufficient professional knowledge, let alone sufficient experience, and in the case of frequent changes of guards, it is quite fatal to just take over the work left by the previous term. Therefore, the policies of the principality can only be formulated by the civil servants and then handed over to the cabinet for implementation! Edith shook his head and said, "In the eyes of the people, we, the brightly dressed cabinet officials, are the coachmen who drive the carriage of the principality. But in fact, the process of the carriage is not under our control, and the horses that pull the carriage forward --- the civil officials are. ”

"But, Your Excellency, the Prime Minister, the civil servants of the administrative department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have no account of what they are doing, and I have no information about what I want to know, unless they think I ought to know. I don't know anything about how the policy will be handled and how things will develop in the future. Under such circumstances, do you want me to sit on the sidelines and let the civil servants take charge of the affairs? The Foreign Secretary went on to explain.

"Yes, Riley, there will inevitably be bumps in the carriage, and it will even make you think, 'Are you going the wrong way?' Such doubts. But we can only let them go, and we can't interfere, otherwise it is likely to cause the carriage to be overturned, you understand? Whether it is us or the civil officials, the most fundamental core work is to stabilize the carriage and let it run as smoothly as possible! You can rest assured that everyone's goal is the same. ”

"Even if it's pulling a wagon and heading to hell?" "But at least not yet, isn't it?"

Edith propped his elbows on the table, clasped his hands into ten, and said very sincerely: "Riley, as the youngest member of the cabinet, your future is very bright, if you stay and successfully complete this term, or even two, your resume will become very important." In the future, when you are sent to the local area, you will get a lot of power, and when the time comes, you will be able to do what you want to achieve your political ambitions. ”

Riley was silent for a long time, and then he spoke, "Okay, I'll stay and try to accept it all." Thank you, Prime Minister. ”

Edith breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, "Great! If only you could understand. ”

"Your Excellency, since I have decided to stay, can I discuss with you the content of the afternoon meeting?"

"Say, I'll listen."

"It's still related to the Kingdom of Grande, it's that order, the amount is not very large, but considering that it is a parity order, the amount of grain delivered is relatively large, and there are still a few months before the autumn harvest, in this case, isn't it a little unwise to concentrate on extracting from South Ilsun Island? Moreover, there are rumors that there is still chaos caused by poor harvests? Riley asked with some solemnity.

"Oh, I guess word of this has already gotten, Riley." Edith picked up the newspaper, flipped to the sixth page, and pointed to the headline: "The newspaper says that because of the poor harvest and the forced requisition of grain, the situation on the island has developed from a small-scale tax resistance to a full-scale riot, and the local monarch is currently trying to suppress it." ”

"Uh, is the situation so serious?!" Riley was shocked.

"Scared a lot, huh? Heck, when I first started reading it, I was also shocked, but fortunately, I used to be a newspaper editor and knew a little about this aspect of Taoism. The editor-in-charge of this weekly newspaper is also too exaggerated, a full-scale riot? If there was such a thing, Lu Junbu would have come over to ask for war with a roar. Edith said, putting the newspaper down.

"Your Excellency, are you convinced that the contents of this newspaper are exaggerated? South Ilsun, the immediate fief of the current King of the Duchy --- William V, if something goes wrong... ”

"What could go wrong? Riley, there are currently nearly 50,000 monarchs stationed on the island, plus 5,000 Duchy Guards under the king, plus at least 3,000 mercenaries. Do you think those mud legs can defeat such a powerful team? Take 10,000 steps back and say okay, even if they occupy the whole island, what's the use? The fleet is in our hands, they simply cannot leave the islands. ”

Hearing this, Riley thought about it carefully and put his mind at ease. After all, as long as the Jun team is okay, other problems are not a problem.

"Well, Your Excellency, there is one more point, why do you have to South Ilsun? Even if there is no riot, a bad harvest is always a fact, right? In this case, is there any hidden reason for the allocation of grain? ”

"Hehe, Riley, as you just said, this is the fiefdom of William V of the Duchy, and the wool mill he currently runs is planning to expand. This requires bigger factories, more pastures, and enough workers, all of which can only be given by bankrupt and landless farmers. ”

"Well, therefore, the cabinet acquiesced in this matter and used it to further damage the prestige of the royal family?"

"You're starting to get into shape, Riley."

South Ilsund, the small town of Kelint, the site of the makeshift command post, was so empty that there was nothing but a bed, a table and chairs.

Imt. Piyson sat in a bored chair, confused about the future. The reason is that he has been a 'dead man' since a week ago, at least legally.

For nearly a decade, he and the rest of the islanders had a terrible life, and their lives were getting harder and harder under the rule of the faint king. A large number of peasants were crushed and exploited by the tax collectors under clever pretenses, and those who had some ability fled, while the rest had to face higher and higher taxes and lower grain prices year by year.

Even in good harvest years, there were farmers who went bankrupt because of insolvency, and yeoman farmers were almost non-existent, and they mortgaged their land to the banks early on to pay off their debts. If you have connections, you go to be a tenant farmer for others, although the work is heavier, but in general, life goes on. Those who enter the factory are very miserable. People who entered the factory were treated like livestock, from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., with no days off, and if they took leave, one day off was worth two days' wages.