Although the aristocracy always wanted to squeeze the commoners out of parliament, the power of tradition should not be underestimated.

At least during the Council of the Nobles, the nobles had to pinch their noses, hold back their noble nature, and deign to sit in the same room with the leaders of the burghers, and sometimes even shake hands with the burghers, and have intimate conversations. The country was founded by the nobility, and I don't know why the ancestors made it possible for commoners to be temporarily included in the parliament during the assembly of the nobles. But then again, the nobles did not interfere much in the formation of these citizen leaders, some were veterans, some were guild presidents, and some were large landowners in the countryside. These people are either famous or leaders in certain industries, and although they have little to do with governing the country, they can be relied on if the country is in turmoil. Rhodok once established a short-lived civic republic, driving the old nobles and soldiers far away, but in less than a few years, the nobles made a comeback, which shows that the burghers are inherently unfit to rule. Some people are born to rule, and some people are born to rule, and the aristocracy probably thinks so. Of course, some burghers criticized this argument as nothing more than a trick of the nobility, who believed that the nobility, if they had any possibility, wanted the rule to pass through the bloodline, rather than to those who had talent.

Citizen leaders came from all over East Wikia, totaling more than a hundred people. As a result of the war and the obstruction of the aristocracy, the Civic Assembly continued to weaken, and the citizens became less and less hopeful about the Civic Assembly. Fifty years ago, the king had a time when he wanted to rely on the burgher leaders to check and balance the aristocracy, and at that time, the burgher leaders could nominate six to nine boyars each year, and although these boyars were not allowed to enter the army, and could only serve as mayors, tribunes, and canal officers in the towns, the townspeople did have their own boyars for a while. After the king was completely overthrown by the nobles, the opinion of the burgher leaders ceased to matter. Since the Council of Nobles originated from the Assembly of the Nobles of Chanda, the nobles gradually transformed the gathering of the leaders of the citizens according to the model of the Council of Chanda, and now. Citizen leaders can no longer produce boyars, but can only be nominated for one out of every thirty. In other words, thirty civic leaders can nominate one person to become a boyar if they are unanimous. The effect is the same as that of a big boyar. If the citizens were to elect their own boyars, it would require 180 civic leaders to be unanimous. This is completely impossible, firstly, the number of burgher leaders has never exceeded one hundred and fifty, and secondly, many of the burgher leaders can only attend the noble assembly once every few years, mainly to visit Ivangelod, make some friends, and then return to their hometown.

The civic leaders come from various cities, and most of them are Wikibians. There are also Varan, Kujit, Salander, Creel, and even Burke. With the exception of the Valans, all other foreigners need to have lived in Eastern Wikia for at least ten years in order to qualify as a civic leader. It's almost impossible to please these people at the same time. At the annual town council, abbots and ambitious citizens take turns trying to convince at least thirty people to support them. But there are very few people who succeed. The Valans, for example, like to hear these commoners angrily scold the Burks and all foreigners, and they hope that the boyar they recommend will be a guy who barbecues the Burkes every day; The burghers of the Berks, on the other hand, were afraid of the xenophobic Valans and Wikiians, and they hoped that the boyals they recommended would be able to treat all foreigners peacefully, and even hoped that foreigners would be treated the same as Wikibians as long as they arrived in Wikia. The Kugit wanted to expel the Salanders, and the Salanders wanted to drive out the Kugit because their business was often in conflict. The Creelians lobbied the princes for conversion. They say that the Eastern Church is wrong, which makes them never vote for any abbot. Many of the civic leaders were illiterate, so most of them used pottery shards or arrowheads to represent their opinions. The aristocrats even deliberately led the townspeople into conflict with each other, so that it was impossible for the town council to get a valid nomination for a certain guy.

"Wikibians call the town hall meetings earwax meetings because they're too divided to condense any strength." I inquired around. To Copernicus, he said, "Many of the civic leaders also knew what was going on, and they only voted indiscriminately for the first two days. After giving away the pottery shards and arrowheads in his hand, he wandered around the city of Ivangelod and then set off for his hometown. ”

"How many civic leaders are there this year?" Copernicus asked me.

"There are probably more than one hundred and twenty."

"If they all choose you. You can become a boyar directly. ”

"How is that possible?" I shook my head, "I asked a council veteran, and they said that there has never been a case where all the citizen leaders voted for one person. Last year a man from Salander brought in three beautiful girls, and whoever threw him a piece of pottery could sleep with any of them. In this way, he also got more than fifty pottery shards, which is equivalent to only one big boyar supporting him. ”

"And this kind of thing?"

"That's right. The Salander later scolded the civic leaders for not having credibility, because according to the number of the three girls recorded, he should have taken all the votes. There was also a Berke who promised him an arrow or a pottery shard, and he would get twelve gold coins without trimming, but many people took the gold coins and still refused to vote for him, especially the Valans, who took the gold coins and called the Burkes stupid. I found it a little funny, and continued, "After that, the nobles probably thought it was too ugly, so they stipulated that they could only communicate with the leaders of the citizens in the manner of the Zen masters, and not with gold coins and women. This makes town hall meetings even more boring, and in the first few days, civic leaders throw their pottery shards and walk away. This morning, a few civic leaders left the scene. ”

Copernicus nodded his head to indicate that he understood.

It was so difficult to please the citizens that it cost far more than a grand boyard or a bishop. This has left fewer and fewer people willing to spend money on it, and the opinions of civic leaders have been increasingly ignored, and in fact, their lack of cooperation with each other has left them with no opinion as a group.

Back at our quarters, Copernicus asked Cruzedel to fetch a wooden board, a box of wax blocks, and an iron pen, and then gave Iyu a bag of gold coins and told him to go to the recorder of the town council and ask for a list of the participants in the town council. Iyu muttered downstairs as he counted the gold coins. It is said that Copernicus must have had a bubble of water in his head.

While waiting for Iyu, Copernicus softened the wax blocks over a fire and spread the melted wax evenly on the boards, layer after layer. It wasn't until the pen scratched it that the scratches were visible. An hour later, Iyu brought back a large wooden board, the one at the door of the Citizens' Assembly, and it was the original!

"Why did you remove the planks in front of people's houses?!" Copernicus was stunned.

"I gave half of the money to the guy," said Iyu nonchalantly, "and he happily helped me make the list." I gave the remaining half, and he asked me how long it would take, and I said half a day at most. He stopped writing and asked me to take the wooden sign and carry it away. I'll just take it back early tomorrow morning. He also told me not to be too public, not to carry this brand to gamble, ** or something, so as not to make others think badly. ”

Copernicus: "''''"

Me: "'''"

Copernicus was in a trance for a moment before he muttered, "Okay." Well'''"

So he studied the list cards.

Most of the people called Sergei and Ivan are Vykians, otherwise they are Valans; The one called Alp is supposed to be a Salander; The one called Hadi is either a Creelian or a Salander, and the one called Zargar is definitely a Creelian; Signage micro-branch? Burkes undoubtedly '''

On the wax tablet, Copernicus wrote the names of the various ethnic groups. The name of each civic leader, after judging the nation, he will record them as a scratch in the corresponding place.

The final count was 87 Varans or Viecians, 9 Burkes, 3 Salanders, and 3 Kuguits. Nine Creelians.

"There were more than twenty foreigners," said Copernicus, "and they were much more enlightened than the Rhodocs, who did not even allow Swadias into parliament." ”

"Do you want me to curry favor with these foreigners? Then I'll be beaten up by those eighty or so Wikibians. ”

"You don't have to please." Copernicus looked at the list and said, "Just don't go to extremes." I listened in the morning to a soldier who wanted to gain supporters. He wanted to purify Eastern Vekia, preferably not even the Valans, and all the foreigners. As a result, even the most hated burgher leader of the Burkes couldn't stand him and booed him away. There was also a village priest who wanted the Council of Vikia to merge with the Council of Burke, and then with the Council of Rhodok, so that there would be no state, no war, foreigners would come if they wanted, and Wikibians would go if they wanted, and he also said that since all life is the equal people of creation, then it is better to eat only grain and fruits, and not meat. As a result, he was thrown into the mud by several Valans and left crying. ”

"You can't please both at the same time. These guys are very shrewd, if you play tricks and want to take care of this and that, no one will support you in the end. ”

"You don't have to satisfy them all," Copernicus counted the numbers, "you just have to make them more unhappy." ”

"What do you mean?"

"If there is such a Wikijan, he doesn't like foreigners coming to Vikia as if they were in their own home, and he doesn't like the Valans to dance with knives and guns when they see Burkes. Then you have to think about how to please him. "In fact, most of these burghers were either guild presidents, landlords, or merchants, and they hated the competition of foreigners, but without them they would have suffered many of their own businesses." What they could accept was to maintain their privileges over foreigners, but not to exterminate the Berks and Salanders. If such a person exists, you should please him. ”

"It seems mediocre."

"Mediocrity is sometimes a sharp weapon." Copernicus saw that I didn't believe it, so he asked me, "If there are only two people who go to seek the support of the citizens, one is a veteran of Wiki, and he says that he will kill all the Burks, Salanders, and Kugits, and send all the Varans to the mines, and the other is a Varan, and he says that only foreigners will be expelled, and the status of the Varans is the same as that of the Wikibians." So who will the civic leaders elect? ”

"It won't be just two people."

"What if?"

"Citizen leaders will throw them out."

"What if you had to choose between the two of them?"

"That's the Valans." I was a little reluctant, because Copernicus said that such a situation does not exist, "There are too many 'ifs' in your inference, how can there be such a coincidence." ”

"I mean, if everyone else goes to extremes, the less extreme wins. So you should be gentle and tolerant of both sides to please these citizens. Maybe 30 people can recommend you? Copernicus explained, "In Rhodoc, the parliament only existed for a few years. Their elected tribunes. At first, they were all some extreme guys, but in the end, none of them supported a certain faction in a clear way, and in the end. They have all become centrists with ambiguous attitudes. At first, Garcia shouted in parliament to kill all the Swadians, and everyone cheered for him to draw their swords, but after a few years, he could not even be elected as the consul of Viruga. After he failed a few times, he learned to speak of himself as a good old man with a gentle personality and who could be considerate of anyone. This was the reason why he was finally elected Grand Duke and the reason why he hated Parliament. He felt that the speeches made in the parliament were meaningless and flattering, but a stage for the stupidity of the aristocracy. You know what happened later, Garcia dissolved the parliament. Ruined the Navy. So, in Vecchia, you can dislike the council, but you can use tricks to your advantage. ”

"It's a waste of time, I might as well visit some of the Big Boyars."

"It takes gold, horses, and beautiful women to please the boyars. Which one do you have? All it takes to please the citizens is your tongue, walk into the hall with it, why not. "If you stay in Vicchia later, then the citizens who have an impression of you will become your friends, and if you are going to leave later, then "although I hate to say so." It's okay if you promise them anything, because you don't have to be responsible for what you say. Do you understand? ”

"Well, where do we start."

"I'll prepare a manuscript." Copernicus said, "You memorize it at night." ”

The night was painful every time I yawned. Copernicus would glare at me and cheer me up. Two Kugit smoked hookahs and snored loudly on the carpet on one side. In the dream, Iyu was making fun of Elon and talking about his dreams. After that, there was no movement, probably waking up. I didn't look over there, I remembered Elon, and I thought it was a trivial matter to memorize this speech, and I knew what the plague was like.

After Copernicus had double-checked that what I had memorized was correct, I finally fell asleep and slept until noon.

I woke up just in time to see Iyu returning, and told Copernicus that four or five more citizen leaders had gone in the morning.

"Why didn't you wake me up in the morning?" I asked Copernicus, "I should have gone early in the morning." ”

"People are in the best spirits in the morning and are very resistant to what others say. In the afternoon, when you are mentally exhausted and prone to credulity and compromise, you get up and have a bite to eat, and we will set off immediately. ”

At noon, I ate a plate of red sausages drizzled with creamy mushrooms, plus a large jar of bread wine and two sour radish, and I was very filling. Copernicus sat on the side and explained to me some techniques and things to be aware of.

When we went out in the afternoon, Cruzedel stayed with us, Iyu stayed at home, and when we walked out the door, he sat cross-legged and smoked a hookah, thinking about things.

Upon arriving at the venue, a Berkite was arguing that the ancestors of the Berks were the ancestors of the Wikibians, that the two sides should treat each other as brothers, and that the Berkish district should be disbanded and that the Berks and Wikibians should live together. This fellow Burke was still cheering for him at first, but later on, he was booing him, although the Berks wanted to live with the Wikibians on an equal footing, but this did not mean that the Berks wanted to become Wikibians.

After the Burkes, there was a Valan. Then there was an impassioned plan to slaughter the Burks, a very detailed plan, and the Valan, who traveled all over the towns of East Vekia, said that he had a manual of the Burks' dwellings, and that he would follow the manual to catch the Burks. As a result, the leader of the burghers rolled up his sleeves and punched him, and was finally pulled away by two soldiers.

The recorder was still maintaining order, and he struck a gavel many times in a row, and the crowd finally stopped shouting.

There was another person in front of me, a nervous old man, who began to tremble when he came on stage, and after a while he foamed at the mouth and was dragged away. Several troublemakers of the burghers cheered and shouted, "Well said! "Cast the pottery shard to the old man.

The recorder banged the gavel for a while, and then Copernicus walked up to him and handed him a letter that the Romanovs had written to me. The recorder didn't even look at it, threw the letter into a basket, turned around and asked Copernicus what my name was, and Copernicus answered him.

"Victor of Little East Lake City. Soldier, Boyar, nominated by Bishop Philippe. ”

The two identities behind me stunned the citizens below for a moment, they thought I was too young to be a soldier. But when they heard that Philip had nominated me, they started talking.

I took a breath and recalled what Copernicus had told me: stand in the middle, be impartial, and let the extreme guys help you win your support.

Then I began to recite the manuscript written by Copernicus at length:

For the Burkes? We must be vigilant, but we can't be tied up because of this, business still has to be done, there are natives in the riverland, and they can't even speak a few words of Burke. Is such a person also considered a foreigner?

The Vycchians and the Valans were originally a family. What is the difference between a citizen and a citizen? Which conflict between the burghers was not provoked by the aristocracy? Even when it comes to the status of the Valans, there are always nobles who come out to incite the Wikibians to take revenge on them in order to strike at their own Valans.

As for the Salanders and the Kujits, if according to the law of Vekia they did something wrong. Then they should be punished, and if they did not make a mistake, then they should be forgiven.

Creel had to build his own monasteries every day, which the Eastern Church could not bear. What about repair? Or won't you let it be repaired? In fact, such a problem needs to be considered from many aspects. Vekia is an Eastern Church State, but Creel is not. To put it another way, Vicchia allowed Creel to build a temple. So can Creel allow Vekia to build a church in Creel? The question is not so simple, and it needs to be further explored.

```

Later, I didn't even know what I was going to say.

From time to time, the leaders of the citizens below booed me, but sometimes they were more confused: as soon as I said that the Creelians were trying to subvert the faith, a crowd of fanatical citizens cheered, but I also said that there was nothing wrong with the Creelians praying at home. So the Creelians laughed again; I said that the Berkish Wikians were not to blame for the aggression of their fellow citizens, that a Valanite threw a shoe at me, and that after the laughter of the citizens was over, I said that the Berkish should not have its own internal laws, that laws should be subordinate to the laws of Parliament; I said I support the Salanders. Because they are the salt bags of the Wiki people, and without the Salanders, it is difficult for the Wiki to be self-sufficient in salt, and then I said that the Kugit should be protected, because the good horses of the Kugit are a necessity for the cavalry of the Parliament.

Finally, someone couldn't help but scold: "This sycophant, he is perfunctory to us!" ”

But he didn't get much of a response, because in Copernicus's manuscript, sycophants were slapped on the bodies of every citizen.

The recorder yawned incessantly, reminding me that the time was long gone.

Finally, I finally finished memorizing the manuscript and bowed to the citizens to say goodbye. No one stood up and cheered, no one came to beat me, but there were quite a few people whispering about it.

I stood aside and waited for the results.

"Victor!" A skinhead businessman from Wiki asked me, "It's unlikely, but you became a boyar, a tribune, and you will protect Wikibians more?" ”

"Yes. Being kind to foreigners does not mean that you want foreign Burkes. There really should be a difference between a native and a foreigner. But many years later, the Burkes have long since become Wikibians, so it should be treated fairly. For now, Wikibians need to be protected. ”

"I heard that you served in the army as a Valan," said one of the Creelians, "I have heard rumors that the Varans have fled to Creel, and is this an aggression that you condone with it?" ”

"I don't know. After the rebellion of the Duchy of Valan, I retired. ”

"How could you not know."

"I've long since left the principality."

"What do you think of the Valans' invasion of Creel, is it in line with your wishes?"

"''," I thought for a moment, and finally said, "I spurn this behavior. Creelians and Wikibians should live together peacefully, not at war. The Duchy of Valan was exterminated by the righteous Creelians. ”

A group of Varans shouted and cursed.

I stared at my clay pot to see if anyone had given me a piece of pottery.

Eventually, an old man Burke, who had been listening to me, threw his pottery shard in, followed by a Salander, then two Wikibians. For a while, I could almost see the shards of pottery falling into my pot. As the pottery shards were thrown, a large number of civic leaders left the boring place with ease, and I heard someone say, 'Finally, there is a guy who doesn't speak harshly.'" I found that few of the young civic leaders voted for me, and most of the people who supported me were middle-aged or even elderly leaders, who probably knew that their support was not very useful, so they preferred to choose someone who listened to me well.

After no one voted, the recorder dumped a jar of pottery shards on the table and counted them one by one.

I felt my heart beating violently.

"Twenty-seven votes." The recorder announced. "The nomination is invalid."

Damn it!

The recorder struck the gavel, ready to announce that the next person would be let in.

Copernicus glanced at me and pointed to the Valans, who were fur merchants in fur coats, who were looking at me gloomily.

I walked towards them.

"Victor of Little East Lake City, it's time for you to go." The recorder yabbed dissatisfiedly, "You're done with what you were going to say. ”

I walked straight to the side of the Valans.

"You should choose me."

"Pick a lackey who speaks to the Burkes?"

"I served in Giovanni's army, and I'm a lackey of the Burkes?"

"What you're saying is disgusting. The bones of the Valans are broken clean in your back. ”

"At least I let Burke choose me. You, on the other hand, do not support a single Valanite. ”

The surrounding citizen leaders looked at us curiously.

"Victor!" The recorder urged again.

"You're playing tricks here, there's no honor at all. You should show your true colors, and let us listen to you scold the Burkes, and then we will choose you. ”

One of the Wikibians on one side turned his head and said, "He's right, Victor." You should seek our support. ”

"It's yours, do you want to lose the honor, or do you want to win?" I asked the Valans.

"You have no honor, and you have lost." The Varan merchant said harshly, "You're an idiot. ”

I'm running out of patience, I know I can't convince these stubborn Valans.

"I'm Victor the Valan!" I yelled at them and turned to leave. "You should see what I've done, not what I've said."

I walked over to Copernicus.

"Let's go, at least we have nothing to lose." Copernicus comforted me.

"That's right, let's go."

It seems that it is time to visit the nobles.

As we walked outside, the recorder's voice rang out, "Are you sure?" ”

When my good Copernicus turned his head to look, three Varans and a Vecchia left the pottery shard on the table without care, and then left together. As I passed, several people gave me a sideways look, didn't say anything to me, and left the hall.

The recorder tossed the pottery shard into a box on the side.

"Victor of Little East Lake City, the town council nomination is valid."

Bang bang, he knocked on the table three times.