In June 854, west of Roseville, east of the Red Leaf Hills, the border province of Dongling. The provincial capital is Abu Mose.

Dongling Provincial Chief Executive Yarrow Ross stood on the third floor of the Chief Executive's residence, frowning as he watched the crowd marching outside. East Ridge Provincial Police Chief Blandley Lanning stood beside him and whispered.

"This gathering was jointly initiated by the Dongling Provincial Peasant Association and the trade union, with the purpose of asking for the merger of Elena as you can see. As a result of our current investigation, we have not been able to find anyone from Elena's Anti-Investigation Bureau, but everyone is suspicious—"

"It's useless to doubt," Yarrow Rose sighed softly, the wrinkles on his face thickened. Transferred from the Governor of Enspan Province to Dongling Province, he thought that he could get rid of Elena, but he didn't expect that in just a few years, this power that had only a small territory had grown into a behemoth that could swallow up the old Ankenrein at any time.

"What we have to think about now is how to explain to the above, how to explain to the people below. Since His Majesty entered politics, he has disarmed his troops and released Manan Mountain, except for the army and the guards of the eastern glacier defense line, the entire central and western regions have only retained the security forces of two legions, and they are no longer even equipped with heavy weapons such as steam cannons. Under these circumstances, it is impossible for us to confront the West, let alone use knives and guns against the people and the masses who marched like the former Third Republic. The only way we can do that is to find a way to appease them. ”

"What if you appease them, but you can't agree to their requests?"

Brandley Lanning touched the mustache on his lips and carefully worded his words. He was once a member of the communist group founded by Daisy Richardson, but because of the government's strict crackdown on communism, he abandoned his faith and returned to his normal life. After graduating from Roseville, his father placed him in the position of chief of the East Ridge Provincial Police Department, allowing him to work with peace of mind. At his age, being in charge of the police work in a province was already jealous, and now that the work is in difficulty, he must be even more careful not to be caught.

"What they want is nothing more than higher wages, more vacations, better social security, and lower taxes. They always compare these people to Elena, but they don't know that we don't have Elena's financial strength at all. The woolen textiles exported by our province to Elena are cheap, but the imported steam equipment is very expensive. Elena must also settle with their goddess coins, and the difference between income and expenditure is not so easy to make up. ”

"How about I arrest a few of them and scare them?"

Brandley tried to come up with an idea. In the previous mass movements, most of them were based on this routine, the masses gathered and marched, and the commanders negotiated and expressed their attitudes, and if it did not work, they used the police station to arrest the matter.

"Well, there's no way but this, I'll have someone talk to them, it's really not good, there's no other way."

Yarrow Rose got up and left the balcony. Although the new emperor and the noble council passed a series of reforms, including the abolition of serfdom and the improvement of workers' treatment, the customs and traditions of various places could not be broken for a while. In the central part of Ankenrein, the farmland is dense, and the fields that can be newly cultivated are very limited. And in the east, the weather is cold, the land is barren, and not many people want to go there. The emancipated serfs had a free status, but they were rarely able to own their own land. Ankenrein's rule was based on the large landlords and the aristocratic class, and this ruling structure determined that Ankenrein could not fight the local tyrants and divide the land like Elena. With no new land, the serfs who had been granted free status had nowhere to go, and had to sign long-term or short-term contracts with their original employers to become de facto tenant farmers. Although as sharecroppers, their lives have improved a lot compared to before. But compared to their neighbors, the treatment is still much worse.

As for the workers, Elena's planned economy and universal welfare system, based on their very competitive export of steam equipment, worked very well. The workers of Anken Rein had to play a painful game with the entrepreneurs, and every increase in their remuneration meant a decline in the income of the entrepreneurs. The process of each struggle was extremely difficult, and every time the progress made was minimal. In the same way, although their lives are much better than before, they are also dissatisfied with their situation compared to Elena, especially the workers of Sailing Province, who have just joined Elena, and the workers living east of the Red Leaf Hills.

With the passage of time, the demands of the workers and peasants gradually converged and formed a joint force. They want to be incorporated into Elena and enjoy Elena's treatment. As for ism, in their view, what can make life better is good ism. Elena's communism is clearly better than the semi-capitalist state of Anken Rein now.

"Give me all the quiet!!! Whoever fucks messing around again, I'll all be caught back and locked up! Do you hear that?! ”

Police Chief Brandley Lanning stood on a small two-story building on the west side of the chief executive's residence, watching his men push through the crowd. Most of them carried old-fashioned steam rifles, wore helmets, and carried shields. And the crowd opposite them, in addition to the propaganda slogans held high, only loud slogans remained. The policemen who rushed into the crowd were like lions entering a flock of sheep, pushing out large open spaces in the streets. Many of the marchers began to disperse, but more marchers moved forward in the direction of the police. They joined hands in a wall, pushing and scolding the police, but they never gave up their claims.

"In this world, there are often two kinds of people who are willing to initiate revolution, the first type of people live at the bottom of society, if they don't make a revolution, they won't have anything to eat, and if they don't make a revolution, they will die. The second type of people have no worries about food and clothing, but they know that the revolution is the right thing, the right thing, so they will push for the revolution. In our view, both are the driving force and source of the revolution, but they must also be treated differently. Those who die without revolution tend to have a stronger will to revolution—"

For some reason, Bradley recalled Gastens five years ago when he and Gastens were discussing an issue together. After such a long time, the lives of people who were discussing problems in a classroom have made a huge difference. By now, Blandley has forgotten many of the details of the original communist group, but he still remembers Gastens's words.

It is not the revolution that chooses the people, but the people who choose the revolution.

The street was getting louder, and Bradley rubbed his eyes, and before he could see what was happening, he heard gunshots. His heart tightened, and he hurriedly looked, only to find that the street was already in chaos. Someone is running, someone is screaming, someone is attacking the police, someone is dodging bullets. The cries, shouts, and gunshots mingled to an uncontrollable climax.

"Director, it's a fight, what should I do!"

The attendant pushed the door in, his face flustered. Bradley was stunned and gave an answer.

"Control the order, since the shots have been fired, don't hesitate to press down their rebound! If it doesn't make sense, then use blood to teach! ”

Brandley, who gave the order, inadvertently forgot a small fact. The second half of the sentence he just used also comes from Gastens. Whether he wants it or not, that person has left an unchangeable, irresistible shadow in his life that will accompany him for the rest of his life.

As police chief, Brandley's orders were still within reach, and soon, the gunfire in the streets intensified, and the crowd began to recede like a tide, leaving behind corpses and wounded. Heavily armed police officers began to sweep the streets and arrest the perpetrators, and the streets, which had just been full of marchers, became unusually deserted in an instant.

Standing on the balcony of the small building, Brandley looked at the empty streets, listened to the moans of the wounded lying on the ground, and looked at the people who were huddled in the corners and lingered, and his heart was faintly nervous. He always felt as if he had done something wrong.

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No sooner had Gary Gibson pushed open the door to the Peace Hall of the Council of Nobles than he heard a heated argument. He turned back and motioned for the servant who wanted to open the door for him to return to his place, and reflexively closed the door. Dürer Conton, who was presiding over the meeting, saw him, stood up and saluted, and took the others with him.

"Your Majesty."

"Your Majesty."

Gary Gibson nodded and looked around. After the signing of the constitutional contract, Ankenrui, who ceded the six provinces west of the Momiji Hills, was greatly damaged by his vitality, and although the seven dukes of the original noble council were still there, there were only four voices left who were qualified to speak and decide things. Düree Conton, who presided over the meeting, had a territory south of Roseville, and his power still existed. The three giants of the Mage Tower act in unison, and the capital power is strong. Ranny Dubontyre, Grand Duke of Fort Cliff, had a territory on the east coast and was once a neighbor of Ronninger, but Charlie Ronin fled to Roseville after the rebellion, and after the Roninger rebellion was quelled, he regained most of his territory. The Grand Duke of Glacier Bay, Pierre Toledano, has an outlet to the sea that freezes for nine months a year, so he is called the Grand Duke of Glacier Bay. These people, as well as Henry Claflin, Grand Duke of the Golden Lion, Denbach Lebrun, Grand Duke of Bronze Shield, Biska Arest, Grand Duke of Nine Leaves, and Anyat Boyer, Grand Duke of the White Winged Eagle, are all the members of the current noble council.

"Guys," Gary Gibson walked toward his place. Ten members of the noble council, plus his one vote is exactly eleven votes. At all times, the chief of this huge conference room will always be reserved for him.

"I'm here this time to ask you what you think of the incident in Abu Moze and how to deal with it?"

"We were discussing and there was a bit of a divergence of opinions. The members of the Mage Tower believe that this kind of thing must not be allowed to happen again, and must be severely punished, and the mastermind must be tried and executed in public. All the people who were killed and injured must be compensated to calm the anger of the people and ease social conflicts. ”

"You say there is a disagreement, but what is the disagreement?" , Gary Gibson sat down in his place and looked at all the councillors. Although he was the youngest emperor in Ankenrein's history, several policies he promoted since taking office were well received, and the members of the noble council still respected him very much.

"We feel that the situation in Dongling Province is not good, and this is not the first time that there has been an independence march. If you are so used to it, something will happen sooner or later. ”

Durree Conton looked at Ranny Dubontyre, Grand Duke of Fort Cliff, and continued, "Although there is no clear evidence, we believe that Elena must have been instrumental in the marches in the province of East Ridge. They want to eat Dongling Province and force us to move the capital. This is a cannibalization plan, and they cannot be allowed to succeed. ”

"What are we going to do to keep them from getting away with it?"

Gary Gibson spread his hands, "We set the policy three years ago, and the arms confrontation will not be fruitful, but will only widen the economic gap between the two countries. In the past three years, we have given up our investment in armaments, developed people's livelihood, and improved our economy a lot. If we re-expand the army, let's not talk about whether we can fight against Elena's current army, let's just say that we ourselves are willing to go back to the time when we were frugal and frugal, right? ”

Several lawmakers looked at Gary Gibson and fell silent.

"Well, I know you're secretly stockpiling troops in case you need them. The weakening of the national military means the rise of local armaments. I don't know much about the other three Grand Dukes, except for the Mage Tower, I am afraid that there are more than 300,000 soldiers under his command, right? The Thorn Bird Steam Rifle you bought from the Alonte Empire is almost equipped, right? Why, do you think your arms are thick enough to compete with Elena? ”

What Gary Gibson said was not highly classified. Everyone present knew their respective Xiao Jiujiu, but they all knew it. The weakening of imperial power meant the weakening of centralism, and the accumulation of troops by the various Grand Dukes was effectively dividing the Republic of Ankenrein. However, when Gary Gibson brought this matter to the table, everyone still didn't want to admit it.

"Well, I know you don't want to admit it, but that's the way it is, denying it won't solve the problem. If you think you can defeat Elena with the weapons you bought from the Alonte Empire, then you can do whatever it takes. If you don't think so, then it's better to think about how not to give Elena an excuse to get deeply involved in Eastridge Province. I don't think you will be unaware of the extent to which our good neighbor, Gastens, who claims to have everything for the sake of the workers and peasants, wants to take our half into their territory as well. ”

"Your Majesty," Rob Hedland saluted gently, "confrontation is not the only option, as you said, perhaps cooperation, is better for our development. After all, Elena did not completely block the development of enterprises and companies. As long as we are not involved in heavy industry and equipment manufacturing, they also allow small and medium-sized light industry entrepreneurs to exist. ”

"So, you mean, you're willing to give up your current status as a big capitalist and become a small business owner?"

Gary Gibson looked at Rob Hedland, his voice was not loud and his tone was flat. But his question made everyone re-aware of their current situation.

Elena, who is determined to exterminate the capitalists, and these aristocrats, warlords and capitalists, cannot coexist by nature. So, what are the remaining options?