In Roland's impression, "like to surprise people" and "like to surprise people" are the few things that Li Lin and the crown prince have in common. These two people are very fond of making a big news out of the cold, almost to the point that whenever they encounter an emergency, people always subconsciously wonder if these two goods are tossing or something, which can be called a moment of brightness. It's just that the purpose and attitude of these two people to use the raid are completely different.

Li Lin, who is proficient in power politics and deeply understands moderation, only regards "surprise attacks" and "surprise attacks" as a means or auxiliary strategies outside of conventional strategy and tactics, and is by no means an end. Even if a strategic attack plan with the nature of gambling on the fortunes of the country is formulated, the surprise attack is still only a part of the overall strategy and serves the overall strategy of the country. And the raids of the crown prince Louis...... In addition to cracking down on political opponents, it is difficult to say how much of it is to satisfy the bear child mentality of "making a big news to scare you to death" unique to the rebellious period.

An adult with the heart of a bear child, or a crown prince who holds military power and has the first succession to the throne, what such a person will do, it is difficult for ordinary people to predict, but it is not difficult for a real wise man to guess.

Li Lin once accurately predicted: once the principality is defeated on the battlefield, and at the same time Albion is no longer able to interfere in continental affairs, Charlemagne is already in the most advantageous position. In order to test the army's loyalty to him and satisfy the psychological need to "challenge the consortium", the crown prince Louis is likely to launch a short-term war against the consortium under the pretext of something "not very rude and not large-scale". Roland agrees.

But even though he knew the Crown Prince's reckless, aggressive, and irresponsible character, and knew that sooner or later this person would behave perversely, Roland was still troubled and surprised by the Crown Prince's behavior of sending troops to attack the consortium's transport fleet.

Any sensible person who encounters such a thing will agree with Roland's feelings: "I really cannot understand that this man is already in the supreme position, if he is not mad or completely irrational." How could such an adventure be provoked so easily?"

Roland judged the actions of the Crown Prince Louis from the pragmatic point of view of a constitutional democrat, and the actions of a powerful man with excessive self-esteem and perverse behavior were not within his comprehension. After witnessing the Crown Prince's response at Versailles, his incomprehension escalated into unhappiness and fear.

In the face of many doubts and gloating eyes, the crown prince, standing in the center of the Hall of Mirrors, delivered an impassioned speech.

"Something happened the other day, with sacrifice, bloodshed, and shameless betrayal. Because of the shameless slander of those who betrayed. I was thought to be mentally destructive, so incapable of judging and dealing with the problem rationally. Here, I can tell you unequivocally that I am normal, and for the sake of the Divine Faith, my noble Father, my Fatherland, and my subjects, I cannot sit idly by and watch some despicable people who drink their blood in human skin continue to endanger these priceless beings, and I must act. ”

As soon as he heard the righteous speech of the crown prince, thinking that this was the crown prince of a country, Richelieu felt that his head was about to explode.

(Where is this the crown prince.) If he were my son, I would have beaten him from morning till night. ）

Silently weaving disrespectful comments, Richelieu peeked out of the corner of his eye at Charles IV, who sat on the throne, and the old king frowned, and his tired voice echoed in the hall.

"Wu'er, do you know that what you just said is actually an accusation against the important ministers of the state. ”

Charles IV waved his hand as if to drive away a swarm of flies.

The words spoken by the crown prince had been repeated in his ear more than a hundred times. Except for the crown prince himself and the important ministers who hated the consortium. The queen also spared no effort to encourage her husband to eliminate the consortium as soon as possible. The president of the consortium seems to have a talent for stirring up women's hostility, as far as His Majesty knows. The noblewomen who surrounded the queen were more zealous anti-consortium officials than their husbands, sons, and brothers.

No matter how many of these people there were, how strong their patriotism, how strong their determination to oppose the corporations, and how touching their reasons, in the eyes of the king and the prime minister, this is the nonsense of a bunch of selfish second-class goods. As annoying as the "buzzing" of flies.

The economic operation of the entire country is completely dependent on the operation of the consortium, and it is simply to pinch one's own neck while fighting with other countries. Not to mention, in the face of the elven camp that dreamed of starting a war of independence, Charlemagne lacked overwhelming strength.

When it comes to strength, logic and emotion are not to be discussed.

This is a trumpy truth. If you don't even understand this...... The position of the crown prince was too heavy for him after all.

"Of course, the retainer understands that as the crown prince, it is natural that the safety of the kingdom and His Majesty should be the first priority. Even if he will bear criticism and responsibility for this, Erchen will not hesitate to do so. ”

A sneer twisted into the corner of Dauphin Louis's mouth.

Once upon a time, his father, who sat on the throne, degenerated from a target of imitation and chaser to an eye-catching existence that was not even as good as waste. In the mind of the crown prince, all the problems were caused by the "old waste" with the crown in front of him. If he hadn't blindly connived at the consortium, how could things have developed like this, and now he is doing his best to eradicate the consortium, a cancer attached to Charlemagne's kingdom, and almost forcing the other party into a corner. This old thing, with the titles of "father" and "king", not only does not help his own son, but also keeps pulling his hind legs, and even wants to use his son as a sacrifice to compromise with the consortium.

(How far does he want to disgrace me before he willingly wants to disgrace me......!!!)

Humiliation and unhappiness were tumbling in his body, and under the clamor of black emotions, he knew that as soon as he said it, many things, including the relationship between father and son, could no longer be restored, and the high-pitched voice of Prince Louis still resounded in the Hall of Mirrors.

"I have received reliable information that a certain business organization in my country, ostensibly operating in the name of engaging in commerce, is actually an evil association composed of pointy-eared heretics who deserve to go to hell, in vain to subvert our country and the entire human camp!"

"I think you should know very well who you have testified against ,—— what kind of crime. ”

The king's voice was low and powerful, and his eyes, which were always cloudy and tired, shot a cold light like substance, and he felt as if he was being pressed by that gaze cutting the back of his neck, and for a moment, Dauphin Louis couldn't help but look away. In the end, he persevered. The same cold glare at the king.

"If there is no conclusive evidence, how dare the sons and daughters falsely accuse the 'pillars of the country' to His Majesty and the important ministers?"

“...... All right. ”

Charles IV closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, there was no longer the terrifying brilliance he had before, and the voice that had lost its temperature announced:

"The Princes are already very tired, and neither am I, this state is not suitable for dealing with major issues that determine the fate of the country. That's it for today. We'll talk about it in a day. ”

After all, without waiting for the master of ceremonies to chant titles such as "ruler over all mankind, ruler of the whole world, guardian of order and law in the vast land, sacrosanct", etc., Charles Xavier de Bourbon, who was called "beautiful man" in his youth, stepped down from the throne with the help of his attendants under the astonished eyes of the princes and nobles.

Looking at the rickety back that disappeared behind the main entrance, the pleasure of revenge kept coming up, and Prince Louis clenched his slippery and sticky fists, his lips raised triumphantly.

Behind him, the second prince, Bernard, had a wooden face, and a flame of ecstasy danced in his lake-blue eyes.

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The style is simple and unpretentious in the office. The cardinal sat at the table and did nothing, like a sculpture.

He seemed to be thinking about something, but in reality, he wasn't thinking about anything, just in a bad mood...... To be more precise, the Prime Minister's mood at the moment is like a bear waking up from hibernation, if he has a gun or a wand in his hand. I'm afraid the office is full of bullet holes and debris. Anyone who is smart knows that this is not a good time to get close to the Prime Minister. Ignoring the danger, someone sat on the other end of the desk and silently flipped through the papers.

Closing the folder, Roland let out a sigh of relief.

"Done?"

Richelieu lifted his chin, and Roland nodded.

"What did you find?"

"The event itself does have traces of inducing operations, it's just ...... The on-site personnel played beyond expectations and should have been prepared to bear half of the fleet's losses. In the end, the fleet was completely safe, and the fleet was almost completely annihilated. Even that guy couldn't have predicted such an outcome. ”

"You have a pretty high opinion of the commander of the transport fleet. ”

Richelieu sighed as he twisted the short whiskers of his jaw.

How can it not be highly evaluated, 5 transports sank 10 cruisers, even with a technical superiority, this is incredible. Even a scheming Richelieu could not remain calm about it. After seeing the surviving crew's account of the battle, the Prime Minister's first reaction was to shout "How is that possible?!", and after a while, he flipped through the report again, muttering "How did that lucky boy do it?"

For Roland, the answer to the question is obvious.

The analysis of the enemy's psychology is the first point in the use of troops, and the commander of the transport fleet fully understands and implements this basic concept. Taking advantage of Count Beauharne's mentality of "fighting in a dignified manner", he led the opponent into a trap step by step, and finally used the magic stroke of hot air to fight back in one fell swoop.

This is a familiar technique...... The commander was mostly Parsifal, the man who had been thinking about being a salary thief and retiring early more and more like a fleet admiral. Thinking about the way he commanded the fleet in a military uniform and holding black tea, it was really both appropriate and inconsistent.

"On the tactical level, we can talk about it in detail later. Now the whole point is to get it figured, that guy...... What the hell does Li Lin want to do?"

The shrewd cardinal could never have imagined that the crown prince would use the existence of "the true face of the consortium" and "the elven camp" as a trump card to bring the dead back to life. Now, whether it is to deny or affirm these messages, Charlemagne will be passive—to deny it is to deceive himself, and it will be even more difficult for the crown prince to refute it if he presents evidence, and to affirm it is to have a showdown with the elven camp, which Pointed Ears and their consuls are waiting for.

The mess in front of him alone was enough of a headache, and Richelieu almost shuddered at the thought of the Dauphin's source of information.

Richelieu knows too well how many pounds and taels the crown prince and his "elites" are, and in terms of intelligence warfare, his subordinates can beat those waste snacks in fancy ways, and now this group of hot-headed weak intelligence breaks through the consortium's supervision system and finds out the truth about the consortium? Is this the death of Stasi, or is the intelligence agency of the elven camp collectively deranged?

There is only one truth.

The prisoners who leaked the information of the consortium and led the crown prince to attack the consortium's transport fleet and make it possible to turn the tables at the Imperial Council were the consortium and the elven camp themselves.

The Elven faction's goal was a war of independence that was needed by many parties, and they had been planning for decades to achieve this goal. Seeing that all the external conditions are in place one by one, all that is missing is an excuse to start the army. Induce the crown prince to attack the consortium. And then waging war in the name of "revolting against oppression" – such a script is exactly what they need and has full possibilities for realization.

But one thing doesn't make sense.

Just to get a pretext for war, this kind of script is too crude and flawed. Li Lin should also know that Charlemagne still has the emergency measures to "depose the crown prince on the grounds of insanity", as long as he determines that the crown prince is crazy. Naturally, what the madman said has no credibility, and the so-called "elven camp" and "Alfheim" are all delusions. The elves' excuse for starting a war is not tenable, after all, for the sake of future strategy, they still value appearance, and it is too ugly to take the words of "madmen" and even start a war......

Knowing this, or leaking the information, what kind of strategy is hidden behind this unreasonable action?

"I think Li Lin is playing a game of 'wolf's coming. ”

Roland clasped his hands. Staring at the papers on the table.

"The wolf is coming?"

"The children who herd the sheep repeatedly lied and teased the adults, and when the wolf really came, no one believed the children's cries. In this incident, Li Lin probably planned to reverse this psychology. ”

The story of "The Wolf" was originally to teach children the importance of honesty and trustworthiness, and on the other hand, it also revealed the feasibility of intelligence operations to cause thinking paralysis.

kept repeatedly provoking the topic of the "elf camp", and the public, as the audience, was paralyzed by the false alarms of "the wolf is coming" again and again, and in the end, no one took it as a thing anymore, and the "elf camp" became an absurd joke......

"But wouldn't that be a departure from the original purpose of 'finding a suitable reason to start a war?'"

"It is precisely for the sake of being able to obtain the name of righteousness. That's what he did. ”

Roland said unwaveringly.

"The elven camp is squeezed out by most of the intelligent species, and has to be transferred to an abnormal country similar to the underground organizational structure. Even if the banner of 'crusade against the public enemy' appears. Most people still cast a suspicious and unkind look at them. This is the result of more than a thousand years of repeated demonizing propaganda, and it is not so easy to change. But the constant repetition of the trick of 'the wolf is coming' will make people unconsciously accept the existence of the elf camp, further highlight Charlemagne's threat in the propaganda, and mix in some 'the elf camp is at least better than Charlemagne,' in order to hit Charlemagne, the impression that it is not a big deal to accept the elves, then when they actually do it. All nations except Charlemagne and Emily would have cheered – a situation that had only been welcomed by governments until now, and after the war of propaganda, the government, the army, and the people were unified. ”

In fact, the Castile, Ostoria, and St. István crowns would now cheer for Alfheim, and even the most conservative and religious Castile hated Charlemagne far more than the pointy-eared heretics. When everyone agrees that "the world is bitter Charlemagne for a long time". I'm afraid that as soon as the elf camp moves, there will be a scene of "the king is there, the wind is invincible, the old and weak, the women and children are eating pot pulp to welcome the king".

As always, meticulous and thoughtful calculations.

"The only problem is time. ”

Richelieu knocked on the table and reminded Roland.

"Even if everything goes well, it will take at least a year or more to achieve the effect you described, and I'm afraid they don't have that kind of patience and time. Moreover, as I said before, as long as the crown prince is deposed and imprisoned, and a gag order is issued, the source of manipulation rumors is lost, and the plan will still be meaningless. ”

"That's what makes me feel weird. Li Lin would not be unaware of this, and should have prepared some kind of coping strategy. But in the current situation, there is only one way to break the predicament—"

The words were cut off suddenly, and Roland and Richelieu looked at each other's terrified faces at the same time, speechless.

When political means are exhausted and no progress can be made, the first thing that comes to mind, and at the same time the only very game-breaking means left, is violence. (To be continued......)