Section XXI Meetings

When Ashrufat accompanied the little queen into the conference room, he was not surprised to find that the meeting had already begun. In fact, before he entered the door, he could faintly hear the fierce quarrel outside the door.

To be on the safe side, Ashrufar straightened his helmet once more before entering the door at the back of the house, especially lowering the armor from the inside of the helmet to cover most of his face. As a result, Ashrufat estimated that no one inside would recognize him. He did this because he feared that his appearance (the scar on the bridge of his nose was very conspicuous) had been relayed to the Duke of Byron, making it possible for the other party to recognize him.

But when he followed the little girl into the door, he immediately realized how lucky he was to do what he had just done. Because there was actually a person he knew in the conference room.

It was the old man who had been in the same car with Ashrufat, whose name was Cross. Two days earlier, he had seen Cross riding a horse, running through the streets of Eagle City with a whole team of horses. From this point of view, this guy named Cross was obviously a rich and powerful person, but Ashrufat really didn't expect this person to appear in the Imperial Council.

Although the meeting had already begun, when the little girl came in, all the ministers present at the meeting finally stopped arguing and saluted the little queen.

The little girl took her seat right where she was supposed to be. Although it is said that these ministers have just bowed, a closer look at their subsequent behavior shows that it is purely a ceremonial - or rather customary - action. They didn't care about the queen's seat, but immediately returned to the quarrel they had just had. The voices in the hall became louder and louder, and even the tone between the words became rough.

Ashruphat straightened up and stood behind the little girl. This was where he should have been—although it was his first time, but as the saying goes, even if you haven't eaten pork, you've seen a pig walk. However, his posture made him one of the least noticeable people in the room. Who would have the time to pay attention to the appearance of a guard, and besides, his appearance was difficult to see because of the concealment of his visor.

The little girl didn't mean to interject at all. Although he couldn't see the little girl's expression clearly from Ashrufat's position, he believed that the little girl must have an impatient and bored look. This kind of meeting should be a meaningless waste of time for her. In fact, it is also the case, such a minor little queen is just used as a rubber stamp by the ministers. Her only point was to sit in and wait until they reached an agreement at the end of the argument before issuing orders in her name.

After listening for a while, Ashrufat finally understood what the ministers were arguing about. They were arguing over a diplomatic issue – a big deal in the case of the Seven Kingdoms – a major civil war broke out in Shem, and the Belu people, who had been part of Shem, staged a major uprising aimed at gaining national independence. At the same time as the war broke out, the envoys of the Belu people went to various countries to hope that they would recognize the new nation.

Of course, the Shem messenger arrived at once, stressing that it was a "doomed rebellion" and asking the countries to abandon their attempts to establish diplomatic relations with the Beru. Combined, the two become a major diplomatic choice.

For Gruni, things are relatively simple, because neither Shem nor the Beru have a border with Gruni - there is also a Tiberius in between—so in this civil war, Gruni really has only two choices, either agree to the Belu people's demands or agree to the Sham's demands. Of course, there is a third option, which is to remain silent and patiently wait for the outcome of the war to decide on the next move, but the Yan Zhugong at the meeting did not seem to consider this option at all.

"The independence of the Belu people cannot succeed! If we establish diplomatic relations with them, we will be infuriating Shem. We will pay the price for this choice, adding an enemy to the nations! Instead, we will be able to get the goodwill of Shem, and even be able to enter into an alliance that will be beneficial to us. ”

"The Belu people have been planning for a long time this time, and suddenly attacked, who says there is no possibility? If we give up this opportunity, it will be equivalent to giving up an opportunity to expand our influence. Moreover, this nascent country will undoubtedly be extremely hostile to us. ”

"You must know that the Belu people have not yet successfully coordinated internally, and they have a total of six famous families, and they are fighting for leadership in turn. This must have been an adventurous attempt by one of the families! Other than that, even if they agreed internally, it wouldn't be of much use. Their people are poor and have little money, and they cannot afford to support a long war. ”

"Shem's situation isn't much better. A few years ago, it was hit hard by the invasion of the greenskins, and the losses were extremely heavy. And their regent Queen Mother is still messing around there. Now that the military is weakened and the finances are in shambles, I am afraid that this time they are in even worse shape. ”

Around the conference table, the ministers were divided into two distinct factions, and they were at loggerheads with each other. Although Ashrufat said that he didn't know most of the people present, as time went on, watching them arguing with each other, naming and scolding each other, he slowly knew who these ministers were.

The old man who met with Eshurufat during the trip and took a half-day mail train together, who called himself Cross, was none other than Gruny's general, Rafa. He and the other three stood together to form the "pro-Shamite" at this royal council. And the other one who looks like a "dignified old man next door" is the long-famous Duke Byron of Esseurut. This duke, along with four other ministers, constituted the "pro-Beru". The strength of the two sides is equal, and it has actually become a state of contention.

If it were a normal meeting, the king would have intervened to coordinate such a situation among the ministers. But the problem is that the queen is just a teenager now, and no one in the whole meeting has expectations or respect for her. Of course, the little girl also kept silent and listened, and did not try to speak.

It's not a way to keep arguing like this, and at this time, a minister finally came out to play a round. This one was called Partheni, and his position was Foreign Secretary. His previous position was on the side of the Duke of Byron, but he never spoke, and only used his standing position to express his position.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I think it's better to take a different approach to this question. Partani said. "It has been a full month between the official raising of the Belu army and the receipt of their diplomatic documents. It is not surprising that their envoys could not move at full speed on the road, and it did take almost a month to rush and have problems with the reception of officials. And the situation on the battlefield is ever-changing, and I am afraid that at this time, the outcome of the war has already come out, or at least the situation is clearer. Will the Belu succeed and will the Shem take the matter down in time...... As we discuss now, this war may already have a result. ”

No one spoke, because it made sense.

"As for the situation in Shem, I have heard about it for a long time. Long before the arrival of the Belu emissaries, I had sent the relevant personnel to the southwestern mountains of Shem, the territory of the Berus. He carried a scroll of communication magic. If I'm not mistaken, in just a day or two, he'll be giving us first-hand information...... I believe that our court master, Skadra, will inform you as soon as he sees this information. ”

Ashruphat discovered a very strange thing. General Rafa (the one who called himself Cross) listened carefully to the Foreign Secretary's words, clearly considering the other side's point of view. Especially after he said that he had dispatched relevant intelligence personnel, the general even nodded unconsciously, obviously agreeing with the other party's judgment. But on the other hand, the Duke of Byron never looked at the Foreign Secretary from beginning to end, and he had a slight sneer on his face, and he tapped his fingers lightly on the table with his boring fingers. That look was completely in Ashrufat's eyes, which made him subconsciously know that this regent had already known something.

"Very well, since Mistress Partani has said so......," Rafa seemed to agree, "it shouldn't make any difference if this matter is delayed for a day or two." ”

With the exception of Duke Byron, others expressed the same opinion. Most people looked at Foreign Secretary Partani with approval and appreciation, and his previous actions were indeed extremely wise and decisive.

The Duke of Byron, however, only smiled, neither agreeing nor objecting.

"Okay, let's move on to the next topic......" As the presiding officer of the meeting, Duke Byron waited until his voice had subsided, and then spoke. "On the issue of military spending, finance and taxation. ”

This is simply a wave of unevenness. Because the ministers, who had relaxed just now, quickly bounced up like clockwork. Everyone showed a serious expression. It can be seen that this topic is the most important topic today. On the contrary, the diplomatic choice, which seemed to have caused a great deal of controversy, was instead a topic that was intervened on the fly.

But just before the topic began, there was a shout from outside.

"Urgent news!"

......

A few minutes later, Ashruphat saw Skadra, the head of the court, walk into the conference room with papers. This is exactly the urgent information that Foreign Secretary Partani has just mentioned. Although this task was assigned by the Foreign Secretary, the recipient of the magical communication was the magician stationed in the palace, directly under Skaderra. So the first to receive this information was not the foreign secretary, but the head of the court, Skadra. Of course, that's what magic communication is all about.

After a brief salute to the Queen and the Ministers, Skadera presented the document to the Little Queen with both hands.

Whether it was Rafa or Byron, both of them frowned visibly.

"There won't be so much trouble circulating it," said Duke Byron before the little girl took the papers. "Lord Skadra, you might as well read it to everyone. We still have a lot to discuss. ”

Ashrufat clearly saw that Skadra hesitated, but since the little queen did not react, he finally opened the file and began to read it.

Skadera didn't read very quickly, but he pronounced the words clearly, so everyone could hear them clearly.

The intelligence information is very detailed, and the civil war in Shem is carefully described. Although almost everyone believes that the mountainous lands occupied by the Belu people are not rich territory, they are at an absolute disadvantage in terms of land, wealth and population. But in fact it is quite the opposite. As soon as the war began, one by one, powerful mercenary groups joined the side of the Beru. In a very short time, the Belu had raised a large army that even surpassed Shem.