June 10, 1707, Duchy of Valstad, Fort Midknight

The unprecedented referendum has ended, ballot boxes in towns and villages on the peninsula have been taken back by the Statistics Bureau, and the results of the referendum will be announced in a month's time.

On July 13, despite the scorching sun, the enthusiasm of the people could not be stopped.

On this day, Fort Midknight's town hall was crowded with people and the front row was crowded with reporters from major newspapers, including journalists from foreign newspapers, and the first democratically elected emperor in history was about to be born, and everyone was waiting for this historic moment.

At noon, the clock struck and the door to the balcony on the third floor of the town hall was pushed open, flanked by two guards dressed in grenadier uniforms.

With the support of the mayor of Fort Midknight, a slack-skinned old minister walked out slowly, tremblingly took out a piece of parchment from his bosom, this person was the head of the statistical bureau of the Duchy of Valstad, a highly decorated old minister, who had assisted three generations of the Duke of Valstad, and the people expressed their respect for him with warm applause.

"Please be quiet!" The mayor raised his palm and pressed down, "Otherwise, everyone won't be able to hear clearly." ”

The old minister coughed and cleared his throat, and then read in an incredibly loud voice of his age:

"Ahem! More than a month ago, the choice of Emperor Valstad, confirmed by the seven electors, the Duke of Salantos Midnet, decided to confirm by referendum whether to change the state of government to an imperial system!

Your Majesty has the utmost respect for the will of the people of the peninsula, and she allows all the people to vote instead of the House of State and the Senate of the nobility, which is an unprecedented feat of any country on the continent!

This is a difficult task, and now our country, which spans the entire peninsula and has a registered population of about 47 million people, is not possible to take care of it all, but to allow as many voters as possible to participate in the referendum, according to His Majesty's wishes.

I would like to thank my colleagues in the Bureau of Statistics for their unremitting efforts, they left their family affairs and worked tirelessly for more than a month, so that our ballot boxes were successfully stationed in the whole territory of the peninsula, and every polling station was guarded by notary officials, and the counting of votes was monitored by the supervisory committee composed of officers, clergy, nobles, chambers of commerce, representatives of the people, and foreign friends, so as to maintain the fairness of the referendum. ”

The crowd outside the town hall quickly fell silent, and countless pairs of expectant eyes focused on the old minister.

"The results of the referendum on the imperial reform and the selection of the emperor, 14887109 voted in favor and 3570510 voted against, and there is no doubt that the number of people in favor is much more than 50%, and I have the honor to solemnly announce that the Duchy of Valstad has been restructured into the Valstad Empire, and the Duke of Salantos Midknight has been crowned emperor, and the coronation ceremony will be held at a later date!"

The people under the balcony were boiling, the flags were waving, the sky was full of petals, the excited crowd cheered, and some people picked up the strangers around them and danced.

As people from afar also wanted to squeeze into the front row, the situation gradually spiraled out of control, and the reporters in the front row were almost squeezed into the cracks in the fence.

Someone shouted in despair: "Stop squeezing! It's going to kill you! "It's a pity that no one paid attention. Many people broke their ribs, one foreign journalist was even killed on the spot after being pushed alive into an iron fence, and the slightly shorter and thinner people were pushed down and trampled by the excited crowd, and the number of casualties increased.

There was chaos, which was what the thieves wanted to see, taking advantage of the crowd, cutting people's pockets with knives and stealing countless wallets, and the gendarmes in charge of maintaining order could only do it from a distance, they had no control over the situation, and the previous demonstrations were nothing more troublesome than the cheering, frantic crowds.

The head of the National Bureau of Statistics held up the parchment, showed the numbers to the crowd, and shouted: "Rejoice!" For the sake of our Majesty the Empress! ”

"Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Cheers echoed through the downtown square and gradually spread to the streets, and the news was printed in newspapers and quickly spread throughout the peninsula, creating a sea of jubilation.

The revelry lasted for a whole week, a wealthy merchant paid a fortune to the homeless people of the city, the barkeeper of Fort Midknight was all happy, and the money earned for months was worth the same amount of money as the streets were filled with drunks, the sanitation department was busy cleaning up the vomit on the floor, and the nurses wearing masks were pulling away the body of a person who had died of overindulgence.

Not only the decent people, but also the wicked were reveling, but fortunately, the city department had already responded, a large number of guards and gendarmes were sent in en mass to maintain order, the prison was full of thieves and robbers, and the city government had to vacate more houses as temporary detention centers.

Although there was some confusion, there were also good things: all the inhabitants of the peninsula were confident in the future of the empire, and the vote made the people at the bottom really feel that the emperor cared about the interests of the people.

Thanks to the empress's new policies, many tenant farmers had their own land, the landlords were compensated accordingly and moved into the cities, the meritorious nobles were given money and medals, the merchants were given knighthoods, the small workshop owners were given low-interest loans, and most people were satisfied with the new imperial policy, except for the criminals, because the empress imposed heavy penalties on the offenders, in her words: "In troubled times, they should be punished."

There are also people on the left who criticize the empress for being cruel and inhumane in her treatment of prisoners, and say that she is an arbitrary tyrant and that many new laws are implemented without a vote in Parliament.

But it is undeniable that social order is really improving, and the once fearsome and criminal neighborhoods are now able to walk at night, and despite the mixed reputation, the political achievements are there, many former opponents have become loyal fans of the Empress, and the Valstad nation has never been united.

Seeing this, the hostile forces from outside wisely remained neutral for the time being, and the scene of immediate war in the early days of the empire did not appear, and with the excellent actions of the privateer fleet, the merchant ships broke through the blockade, the freedom of trade was restored, and the industry and commerce of the peninsula flourished.

On September 5 of that year, the first commendation meeting of the Valstad Empire was held, and the emperor's confidants and favorites were promoted one after another, and the original old-fashioned title was replaced by a new imperial title.

The Emperor's husband, Langford Onassis, received a new title, Duke of Santa Casrella, as Chancellor of the Empire.

Simon Gallieni, the emperor's mentor, was also made an earl and became a vassal of the empire.

Field Marshal Leopold became Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Army, Field Marshal Lanfield became Field Marshal of the Imperial Guard, and General Neule became Generalissimo of the Imperial Court.

The Elector, Marquis Dali Einfurt, became a cabinet minister, rose to the rank of field marshal, and his wife Janine was given the title of baroness.

The commander of the lancers, General Ivan, was promoted to the rank of marshal at the same time, and now commands three cavalry divisions. In addition to this, dozens of high-ranking officers were promoted.

The Queen's coronation is scheduled for September 30 and will bring together celebrities from all walks of life.