The massacre of serfs that broke out in late December in the border town of Coleborit in Gade province caught the attention of high-level officials on both sides, as Boseman predicted. As winter approaches, both Elena and Ankenrein have neither the intention nor the ability to provoke a new border conflict over this incident. However, this does not mean that the two sides have not responded to the matter in a follow-up.

"What kind of head does this kid named Sterling Boseman have? Does he think we don't have enough dead? Knowing that the other side cares about those mud legs, he is not satisfied with secretly killing some on the border, do you have to bring this matter to the table? Isn't this just fucking messing up for me? ”

In the Hall of Judgment on the top floor of the Tower of Adjudicators, Emperor Paul Gibson scolded Emperor Paul Gibson as he looked at the report on the table, while beside him, Imperial Prime Minister Emile Owen and Grand Duke Henry Claflin of the Golden Lion stood straight and silent.

"I feel how difficult the state affairs are, I can't bear to see the villain jumping off the beam and ruining my country——"

Paul Gibson picked up the copy of justification written by Sterling Boseman himself at the back of the report, and laughed as he read it. He kept the report in front of Henry Claflin.

"Look, this is the good thing you raised! Worried about the country and the people, I can't wait to lead the troops into Elena tomorrow, and find that Gastens to face to face, so as to save the country and save the people! ”

"Your Majesty is angry—"

Henry Claflin bowed deeply, and then picked up the report, but did not read it, "Although this is an unplanned event, it also gives us a good excuse to test the bottom line of the other side. Even if Gastens wants to take advantage of this to get angry, we can deduce that this is the reckless impulse of the kid below, and not our subjective intention. I really can't hide it, and if I hand over Bosman and the soldiers who were on the mission at that time, I should be able to buy peace with my life. With the good and the bad, it does not have much impact on the overall situation of our country. ”

"Indeed, Your Majesty," added the emir, "it has been a week since the border massacre, and there has been no movement on the other side except for a message sent to the other side. Their border guards were just a few dozen meters away from the checkpoint where Bosman had committed the massacre. At that time, there was no reaction from the other side, and not even a single shot was fired. Judging from our estimates, we don't seem to want to be too vocal about this matter, or use the topic to play. ”

"A letter?"

Paul Gibson snorted, walked over to his desk, picked up a piece of paper, and read it word for word.

"All serfs in the world are one family, killing serfs is killing my brother, I hope to do it myself, don't miss the life of the country!"

After reading it, Paul Gibson shook the letter twice in his hand, "You call this thing a letter?" I think it's better to call it an ultimatum, right? It's like stepping on my face and slapping me, how can you bear it?! ”

"Your Majesty—" Henry Claflin bowed his hand again, "the letter was only a letter, and though it was stern, it did not make any specific request, nor did it call for the prisoner to be handed over. There's a lot of room for manoeuvre. Moreover, according to Filas Navre, their intelligence showed that there was no sign of readiness within Elena because of this incident, and that those people were still building houses and roads, just like before. ”

Paul Gibson stopped talking, snorted heavily, and sat down.

"Tell me, Emir, what to do."

"Your Majesty," Emil Owen thought for a few seconds, and then proposed the plan that had been prepared long ago, "to remove Boseman from his military position, to fine him forty times, to remove his baronesial title, and to inform Elena of this disposition." At the same time, we can make appropriate concessions in trade negotiations with Elena and reduce the tax rate on the steam engines they plan to export. ”

"What do you think, Claflin Aiqing?"

Paul Gibson did not respond to Emile Irving's suggestion, but looked at Claflin.

"Your Majesty, I agree with the opinion of Prime Minister Emir. However, with regard to the current issue of serfs fleeing the border, I believe that it should be strictly controlled. At present, the aristocrats in many places have reported that the local serfs do not listen very much, and that there are frequent escapes and riots, and if we are too weak in handling this matter, it is very likely to intensify the mood of the serf movement in the country, and we have to guard against it. ”

"Your Majesty, this matter is actually not difficult to do", Emile Owen once again gave up, "to control the escape of serfs to the border, we can focus on the secondary cities that are relatively far away from the border, solve it internally, prevent them from escaping to the border cities, and also reduce the occurrence of sensitive events like the Bosman massacre." At the same time, it is not advisable to publicize Bosman's handling too much, as long as the other party is satisfied, so as not to chill the morale of the soldiers. ”

Paul Gibson nodded, but did not say anything about the advice of the two ministers, but talked about Bosman.

"Although Boseman is reckless, his heart is towards us Ankenrein, and it would be a pity if he was killed by forty rods."

Hearing this, Emile Owen immediately understood what the emperor meant. Obviously, what Bosman did was exactly what His Majesty the Emperor wanted, killing the fugitive slaves could not only deter those serfs who wanted to escape, but also test the bottom line of the opposite side, and would not implicate the emperor himself. No wonder Paul Gibson, who was angry just now, never mentioned how to deal with Bosman. It turns out that the roots are here.

Thinking of this, the Emile thought for a moment and turned his head to Henry Claflin.

"Grand Duke of the Golden Lion, I think this Bosman is only forty rods, which is too cheap for him. I have heard that although Ronninger has calmed down recently, there are riots all over the place, and the situation is not optimistic. If you send him over there, maybe one day someone will be killed, which can be regarded as an explanation. ”

Henry Clavelin listened to Emir's words, shook his eyes, and immediately understood. Although the emir paid lip service to Bosman's sentence too light, his suggestion was clear and derogatory. After Ronninger was pacified, the repressive army there was cleaning up the local rebels, with a lot of discretion, and they were dealing with some old local aristocrats, and the oil and water were very rich. As for the riots and riots that the emir spoke of, as long as the commander was not too stupid, he was not worried. When the emir mentioned this, it was obvious that he was pandering to His Majesty the Emperor's mind and wanted to protect Bosman.

"Also, if there are only forty rods, it is indeed difficult to convince the people, and it is difficult to keep him at the border of Elena, and it is difficult to ensure that there will be some kind of chaos. Now the situation in Ronninger's suppression of the army is serious, and there are many dead and wounded. Send him to gamble on his life, and then demote him to the next level, punish him for three years, and still beat him with a scepter of forty, which should be able to set an example and eradicate future troubles! ”

"Grand Duke of the Golden Lion, I've heard of this scepter, and if you don't say hello, twenty canes can kill people. Greetings, a hundred rods are just an itch on the skin. Your men must be kept under strict guard, and Boseman must not be allowed to find a relationship, escape this punishment, and fall into our majesty! ”

As soon as Emile heard Henry's reply, he knew he understood what he meant. In order not to let His Majesty the Emperor misunderstand, he added these two sentences, which were clearly supervision, but actually reminded the emperor that these forty military staffs, as long as they were handled properly, would not hurt Bosman in the slightest.

"Okay, so be it, this kind of person still has to be dealt with strictly!"

Paul Gibson, apparently satisfied with Emir's suggestion, nodded, thought for a moment, and added.

"If the other side is held accountable, Bosman's people, we still have to pay it. Archduke Claflin, be prepared for that as well. ”

"That's nature."

Henry Claflin nodded in response, then fell silent. His Majesty the Emperor sat at his desk, looking at the report from the First Legion on the table, and muttered for a long time.

"As for the fugitive slaves, let it be done as the emir suggests. These things, if they die, they will die, don't mess with us. ”

——————————

Shortly after the Bosman massacre was discussed at Anken Rein's leadership, the Elena Council put the matter on the table again.

"There is now a strong demand for the rescue of Ankenrein's fellow serfs in the base, and many people hope that we will severely punish Sterling Boseman for slaughtering more than 600 serfs. There are also those who want us to send troops to Ankenrein and liberate Ankenrein completely. ”

Speaking of this, Binpo Bobruv closed his notebook, "After all, the latter is still a minority, the middle and high-level and the old people in the base area know our current situation, and most of the people who advocate sending troops are newcomers who joined the base area after the war, and they also think that you are the Grand Magister, and they feel that it is easy to send troops, so they are a little radical." ”

This is understandable, but it cannot be followed blindly. Until the enemy knows that I am indeed not a Magister, every minute and every second of my time must be used to move quickly. Our window of time is precious, and every little more we reserve now will have a better chance of winning in the future. ”

Gastens nodded and looked at Ivan again.

"The voice of the people is okay for the time being, and if we guide it, it should become the driving force for our economic construction. The minds of the army must be taken into account, Ivan, you talk about it. ”

"Okay", Ivan sat up straight and opened the notebook, "The grassroots command system of the dual-track system of instructors and company commanders that we advanced in the early stage is very useful, and the ideological dynamics of the soldiers are well collected. Most of the fighters were disgusted by the massacre of the enemy and hoped that we would do something about it. However, the vast majority of these fighters accept and admit that now our main task is development. As long as a very small number of fighters advocate immediate military action. ”

"Well, it's good that our minds are stable, we definitely have to take action on this matter, but large-scale military operations are impossible. It is necessary to continue to strengthen the guidance of the thinking of the soldiers, always pay attention to the changes in their emotions, and the thinking of the military system must be stable. ”

Ivan nodded and asked again.

"Boss, how are we going to get it? I can't swallow this breath myself, and killing nearly 600 serfs in front of our soldiers is a heinous crime! Are you going to kill that Bosman? ”

"We will discuss this matter privately in the Military Council," Gastens said, looking at several members of the council present, "and I ask for your understanding that it is a matter of military secrecy." ”

The members of the non-military system nodded one after another, they have specialized in the arts, and the work pressure of the base area has been very high recently, and they don't want to cause chaos.

"What's the attitude of Anken Rein's side?" , Gastens threw the question to Zinke again.

"They plan to send Boseman to Ronninger to suppress the local military and civilians, demoting him to one rank and forty rods. It is said that His Majesty the Emperor admired him and did not want to kill him. ”

"That scepter forty is probably just for show, and this matter should be made in a column in the "Fluorite" published by Anken Rein, to popularize the emperor's mind, and to let Anken Rein's revolutionary brothers know what their emperor is."

"Understood."

Zink nodded, jotting down a few notes in his notebook.

"This matter is here for the time being, the letter sent to the emperor before, as you know, is actually an empty city plan, and it seems that the other side has not seen through it. After the Bosman massacre, it is estimated that there will be fewer serfs fleeing the border, but now that the population of our base area is also large, it should not be a problem to meet the next stage of development. By the beginning of spring next year, we must do a good job in ensuring food security, and we will strive to put the complete industrial and agricultural system of the entire base area into operation within one year. ”

Gastens said as the other committee members took notes, and after he finished speaking, he looked at everyone, confirmed that there was nothing else, and then announced the adjournment of the meeting. After the meeting, he called Ivan.

"Boss, what should I do? How are you going to kill that Bosman? ”

Ivan was clearly waiting for Gastens, and Eddie Warren, who was in charge of the militia, walked behind the two and listened intently to Gastens' answer.

"I already have an idea about this", Gastens walked quickly, "how are the Alpha troops training?" Are there any fighters that work? ”

As soon as he heard about the Alpha troops, Ivan instantly understood. He clapped his hands vigorously, his joy overflowing, "Yes, Alpha troops! I just thought they might come in handy. After three months of training, they have been performing very well, and more than half of them have met or even exceeded the requirements. ”

"How much?" Gastens was also a little surprised, he decided on the formation of the Alpha unit, but he himself was surprised by the speed of growth of this unit. You know, for these uneducated peasants, it is not so easy to become a qualified Alpha Force warrior.

"Yes, sir, give the order!"

Ivan was excited and eager to try. Gastens chuckled twice at the look he looked.

"Don't worry, this matter, we have to give full play to its maximum effect!"