Chapter 398: The Situation Changes
Because Willford Leader proved with his own blood who was the real coup d'état, Yus's court meeting could only end in an awkward atmosphere. The officials present were deeply shocked by the scene of his heroic sacrifice, the original one-sided situation was reversed, and the people present behaved differently, some scolded the second prince angrily, some cried, some did not say a word, and some were at a loss.
The young second prince was also taken aback, frightened, and didn't know how to end it. Fortunately, there was a politically sophisticated prime minister in charge, and he quickly stood up and completely denied Willford Lead's words.
The impact of Wilford Lead's generosity was enormous, but it was not lethal enough, and if he acted quickly, he could have done so to undo the substantial damage that could have been done. However, what gave the prime minister a headache was that as soon as the planned coup d'état succeeded, it was immediately announced that the Yuss Empire was willing to become a believer in the God of Light could only be postponed, otherwise it would be tantamount to taking Weifu Lid's words: the second prince actually seized power with the support of the Holy See. Yuss's court infighting and who becomes the emperor are all internal matters of the Yuss family, which is actually indifferent to many nobles, but if there is a shadow of the Holy See in this, or if the Holy See is directly involved, then the nature is completely different, and all nobles may have to reconsider the matter of taking sides.
Therefore, as soon as the court meeting ended, the prime minister immediately met with Cardinal Raphael, who was still staying in his official residence and waiting for the results, and explained the current situation and his thoughts to Raphael in detail, and the disappointment was able to get the other party's understanding.
Raphael, who was aware of the situation, frowned, he was an experienced politician and knew very well that as long as the Grand Prince Lawrence did not die for a day, the Yus coup did not achieve ultimate success. So after some deliberation, the two sides reached a new agreement, the Holy See will next fully cooperate with Yous to hunt down the eldest prince, as long as the eldest prince dies, the second prince Black will have no rivals, and he can do whatever he wants, even if it is to accept the papal baptism and the guidance of the Holy See. To this end, Raphael sent all the Templars involved in the operation, and also selected some masters from the Church Guard to join Yus's men, making sure that the Grand Prince could not get in touch with the Northern Legion.
The prime minister, who had Raphael's understanding and support, breathed a sigh of relief and began to devote all his energies to taking over the vast imperial power left behind by Vettels' death. After the end of the meeting, he ordered all the officials attending the meeting not to leave, and to be locked up and examined by the Guards until all suspicions were eliminated.
Two days later, before the suspicion of rebellion among the officials was clarified, the prime minister announced on behalf of the imperial court that the eldest prince had been deposed from the crown prince for treason and murder of his father, and that the second prince, Blake, would inherit the throne of Yous in the order of succession, and ascend the throne immediately in the name of the country not being left without a master for a day.
The enthronement ceremony was so simple that it didn't even have time to announce it to the world, and the ministers declared their allegiance to the second prince under the supervision of the heavily armed guards, and some of the loyal ministers who were influenced by Weifu Lide refused to bow their heads, and were immediately declared traitors on the spot, imprisoned, and sentenced at a later date
Under this brutal and effective method, Yus's coup d'état was ostensibly successful, but because the eldest prince had absconded, as long as he did not die, the attitude of officials and nobles outside the imperial capital would waver.
In order to stabilize the situation of the entire empire and gain the support of the local real power, several fast horses rushed to various places with secret letters stamped with the emperor's seal.
Ten days later, the head of the Fabre family, the first local power faction in charge of the Empire's Central and Southern Legion, entered the imperial capital with his son Arman, and swore allegiance to the new emperor at the court meeting.
His Majesty Blake was overjoyed, and announced on the spot that the title of old Fabre would be promoted from viscount to marquis, and he was appointed deputy minister of the army, and his son Arman was also promoted to viscount, and the rank of lieutenant general was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general of the empire, and succeeded his father as the commander of the corps of the central and southern legions of the empire.
In addition to their father and son, all the heroes who participated in the coup d'état were rewarded and promoted, the most notable of which were three:
Prime Minister Phelps, who has been enthroned as a duke, is almost untitled, but considering the young age of the new monarch, he appointed him as an auxiliary minister to assist the emperor in handling court affairs.
Andrei Georges, the former commander of the Guards Legion, was made a Marquis for his meritorious service in counterinsurgency, with a rank higher than his father's, with the rank of lieutenant general, in charge of the Guards Legion, and the former commander of the Guards Regiment was sent to the military headquarters to take up an idle position.
Huo Yining, the former deputy head of the palace guard regiment, was named an earl for his meritorious service in quelling the rebellion and was in charge of the guard regiment.
The historian Freeman was made an earl and was in charge of the House of Astrology and the Royal School of Administration.
The coup d'état and the Fabre father and son's promotion to the rank of knight succeeded in attracting a group of local powerhouses who were otherwise wavering. A large number of powerful local factions, including the Campbell family, who were in charge of the Southwest Army, pledged their allegiance to the new emperor. In order to show their loyalty, the heads of these families went to Boulder City to worship the new monarch in person, and unsurprisingly they were all rewarded with the title of knight. Among them, the head of the Campbell family, the veteran general Campbell, was appointed secretary of the military department, and the previous military minister, Dangery Williams, resigned from the post of military secretary on the day of Wilford Lead's suicide. Although the new Emperor did not take any action against the Marquis Williams, one of the old Emperor's right-hand men on the same level as Willford Lead, in order to maintain the stability of the Imperial Army, he was placed under house arrest and anyone who came into contact with him was kept under close surveillance.
However, there are exceptions to these local powerful factions, that is, the Robert family in charge of the Southeast Army, and the Robert family did not even show their faces during the entire process of the new monarch's ascension to the throne. Moreover, fifteen days after the coup d'état, the Southeast Army suddenly sent troops to the garrison of the Lorraine family, a large grain producer, and nominally claimed that they were sending troops to protect the Lorraine family's grain reserves at the invitation of the Lorraine family. But anyone with a discerning eye knows in their hearts what a huge army that has occupied the granary wants to do.
In order to deal with the ill-intentioned Robert family, the prime minister, after consulting with the military department, ordered the Central South Army to move eastward to approach the defense area of the Southeast Army to put pressure on the other side, and at the same time, the Guards Army also sent two wings to the southeast in the name of military exercises. In order to cooperate with Yus's actions, the border garrisons of the Hig Empire were also frequently moved. Under this pressure, the Southeastern Army had to retreat its troops stationed in the territory of the House of Lorraine, while sending messengers to express their loyalty to the new emperor.
Although the misdeeds of the Robert family made the imperial court jump for a while, it was not what they were most concerned about, what they were most concerned about now was the attitude of the Northern Legion, which was responsible for the fighting power of the empire, and according to the Prime Minister's plan, the representative of the Northern Legion would soon come.