There is one thing that Claude has always wondered about, and that is what happened to the so-called eldest prince Hansback who claimed to go back to his hometown to recuperate and stay in seclusion? According to common sense, the eldest prince has heavy responsibilities and has hundreds of thousands of people under his command.
With a million-strong army, even if he returned to the royal capital and stayed behind closed doors, he should still be in control of the dynamics of the army, and information communication was indispensable. It was impossible for him to ignore matters like Major Skerry, but it was Captain Durrioro who found him
I want to let the eldest prince know about such changes in the army through Lady Maria. Isn't this very suspicious...
Captain Durrioro shook his head and smiled bitterly. He told Claude that no one forced the eldest prince, and no one put him under house arrest in the mansion. The problem was that the eldest prince was angry with Sterling X because of the armistice negotiations.
The eldest prince insisted on fighting to the end, but the kingdom no longer had the confidence to continue the war. Nearly 1.6 million troops were fighting fiercely on the front line, and every day was an astronomical cost, let alone the war.
It lasted for more than four years, and all the wealth accumulated during the kingdom's first twenty years of peace had been completely consumed.
The Prime Minister of the Kingdom, Duke Krius, came to the palace overnight to explain the facts to Prince Hansback and explain clearly to the Prince the difficulties faced by the Kingdom. The war can no longer continue, and the Kingdom now hopes to end the situation as soon as possible.
, occupying the territory of three principalities is enough to explain the past. After the armistice, it is necessary to restore people's livelihood as soon as possible, provide compensation for the disabled, and rebuild the place. These expenses will be the largest expenditures of the kingdom in the future.
The eldest prince, Hansback, hopes that the royal court can bite the bullet and persist a little longer, and wait until he leads the army to destroy the Principality of Karrnath before negotiating peace with the Kingdom of Nasseri. However, the eldest prince cannot guarantee that the Principality of Karrnath will be destroyed as soon as possible.
, he himself estimated that it would take at least more than a year to capture the Beibu Gulf and destroy the Principality of Karrnath. The kingdom could not hold on for such a long time, and Sterling X rejected the eldest prince's request.
The angry Prince Hansbach felt that he had no face to go back to the front line to meet the kings who wanted to avenge the three annihilated legions. He confined himself in his mansion like a self-exile and refused all information about the outside world. All
Information about frontline military affairs could not even get through his door, and was pushed to the Ministry of War by his personal followers. Because of this, those noble officers found an opportunity to use the incident of Major Skerry to suppress
Those civilian officers who were promoted and put into important positions during the war...
Claude stared at Captain Durioro with suspicion, and Captain Durioro smiled bitterly: "I know you think I am suspicious, why do I tell you these things? Because we business aristocrats think that big
The prince must come back to clean up the current situation. Within the kingdom, the old aristocratic families are very powerful. Not only do they monopolize the military industry, they even control the trade routes to the mainland of Nubisia. We, the emerging businesses,
The nobles could only get a small share of the profits from their base.
This war is the best opportunity for us business nobles to expand the influence of free commercial trade. The territories of the three principalities are a new source of wealth. Don't look at the war that destroyed everything and beat the three principalities to pieces.
But there are unlimited business opportunities in rebuilding places and restoring people's livelihood. We have reached an agreement with the royal family to exclude the expansion of the power of the old noble families in this new kingdom territory and prevent them from extending their hands into this territory.
Come.
It turns out that the plan has been implemented smoothly, and the eldest prince has been very cooperative, and the progress is very satisfactory. But now, in order to vent his anger, the eldest prince has abandoned all of this and stayed behind closed doors. It’s not like there are no business nobles in the royal capital.
I thought about visiting and persuading them, but they didn't even get through the door. The eldest prince's servants threw their gifts out the door without any dignity, so that they were rejected. The reason was very clear to everyone. The eldest prince was so deep.
I hate that the business aristocrats did not support his position and went back on their word, siding with His Majesty and supporting the end of this war..."
Captain Durrioro stood up and walked around the room. Some things he said must be made clear: "Actually, in the hearts of our business aristocrats, Prince Hansbach is not a good successor to the throne. He
He is a good soldier and an excellent commander, but he cannot become a qualified king."
Claude became interested: "Why do you think so?"
"It's very simple. The long-term military career has allowed the eldest prince to develop a straight-forward military character. He is generous and generous, and is deeply loved by soldiers. This is his strength. But at the same time, the eldest prince despises negotiations and compromises in politics and ignores them.
The development of the kingdom's business and economy. Indeed, mastering the barrel of a gun can bring stability to the kingdom, but he forgot the famous saying of the late King Sterling IX that politics is an art of compromise. And what the eldest prince hates most is fighting with
Enemies compromise, whether internal or external to the kingdom.
Regarding the children of His Majesty Sterling X, the king has this saying: the eldest prince is stable, the second prince is romantic, the third princess is unruly, the fourth prince is cowardly, and the fifth princess is stingy. It sounds like the eldest prince is the most reliable.
, but this is not the case. It is easy to describe him as stable, but in fact the eldest prince is the most willful one, and even a little childish. But this childishness is not directed at others, but towards his father, Sterling X.
If something goes against the wishes of the eldest prince, the eldest prince will get childish with His Majesty, such as staying behind closed doors to discuss military and national affairs or ignoring important military affairs. Such things have never happened before. In the end, it all ended with Sterling X bowing his head and admitting defeat.
…”
Claude was dumbfounded when he heard this. This was completely inconsistent with the Prince Hansback in his impression. But it was understandable after thinking about it. After all, he and the Prince had only met a few times. Based on what he saw before him,
It is difficult to truly understand a person through impressions...
Captain Durrioro shook his head and sighed: "The eldest prince always thinks from the perspective of a soldier. He believes that war can solve all problems. But he does not understand that what supports the war is the economy. Once the kingdom's
If the economy collapsed, no matter how many victories he won on the battlefield, he could not avoid the final outcome of defeat. He believed that the kingdom could still persist in this war. Indeed, the kingdom could still gather the last wealth to support this war. But there was a problem.
After investing all the last wealth in this war, even if it wins on the battlefield, the kingdom will face a long-term economic depression and will have no funds to restore people's livelihood and stabilize social order...
The Royal Court believes that it is appropriate to cease the war and sign a peace agreement at this time. Our kingdom has occupied the territory of three principalities and needs time to stabilize and strengthen its rule, restore and develop the local economy, and provide the kingdom with a steady stream of wealth.
, but this requires investment of time and money. If we, the emerging business aristocrats, can reach an agreement with the royal family, we are actually getting what we need. The royal family needs to exclude the expansion of the power of the old aristocratic families, and we business aristocrats need our own business territory.
Expand the influence of free commercial trade in the territories of these three principalities.
Therefore, we business aristocrats actually have a cooperative relationship with the royal family, not unconditional obedience. The eldest prince misunderstood this, regarded us as his subordinates, and used our funds to support the continuation of this war. Because
In this way, he regarded our support for the royal family's armistice and signing of a peace agreement as a betrayal of him, and rejected all information and well-intentioned persuasion from us. He thought that his willfulness could make His Majesty change his mind, but he did not understand that this war was real.
He can no longer hold on, and this is not something that can be undone by staying behind closed doors..."
This gossip was really exciting, and Claude asked in confusion: "Actually, you still have many ways to pass the information to the eldest prince, such as asking His Majesty to go and talk to the eldest prince in person, or sending a suitable person to ask for an interview.
The eldest prince can do all these things..."
"This is the capriciousness and childishness of the eldest prince. When your majesty went there, the eldest prince claimed that he was seriously ill and was afraid of infecting your majesty. He refused to come out to see you, so your majesty had no choice but to return to the palace. He chose the right people to ask for an interview, and he only needed to talk about frontline affairs.
The eldest prince became furious and drove the people away. Many people knew that the eldest prince and his majesty were trying to vent their anger and avoided them, and no one wanted to get involved.
His Majesty has not thought about replacing the frontline commander-in-chief to handle the frontline affairs after the armistice, but that is not the problem. It is easy to find candidates, but no one can suppress the interference of the kingdom's established noble families in the three principalities like the eldest prince.
New Territory Affairs. Currently, of the sixteen legions on the front line, two-thirds of the top legions are members of noble officers. If the eldest prince hadn’t come back to visit the front line in person, someone else would have gotten into a fight with those legion top brass.
The entanglements have delayed the layout of our commercial aristocracy and royal family in the new territory..."
Captain Durrioro sighed and told Claude these inside stories. Anyone who encounters an irresponsible and willful boss like the eldest prince will have a headache.
"But what's the use of you looking for me?" Claude was puzzled. He just wanted to save Major Skerry, but he didn't expect to cause such a lot of trouble. Think about it carefully, it's nothing more than the royal family, an old aristocratic family.
, there are also emerging business aristocrats fighting for their own post-war gains, but this is none of his business. He is just a small captain and does not want to be involved.
"And my pharmacy teacher, Mrs. Maria, once wrote to me and told me that her relationship with the eldest prince was not harmonious, so she did not ask the eldest prince to give me some care during the military. The eldest prince only called her in name.
As an aunt, in fact, the age difference between the two of them is not much, so the eldest prince is very reluctant to treat each other as an elder, and she usually tries to avoid contact with the eldest prince..." Claude said that he believed that the business nobles should all be in these situations.
Very clear.
"We are all familiar with the situation you mentioned." Captain Durrioro nodded: "But at present, Baroness Maria is the most suitable candidate."
He waved his hand to stop Claude's questions: "It's not that our friends in the royal capital have never visited Baroness Maria, but she refused to go to persuade the eldest prince. Just like Baroness Maria's usual style,
She was not willing to get involved in these national affairs, nor was she willing to see the turmoil of discord between father and son in the royal family.
However, as the Royal Palace Pharmacist, Baroness Maria is the only one who can freely enter and leave the Grand Prince's residence because the Grand Prince claimed to be ill. She can easily see the Grand Prince. According to our investigation, the Grand Prince
There are many people with noble officers around. They support the eldest prince to be tough to the end and force his majesty to make concessions.
The eldest prince was influenced by these noble officers, so he was unwilling to compromise easily. He did not understand the true wishes of the frontline soldiers, and thought that all officers and soldiers were like him, insisting on revenge against the Principality of Karrnath, and three legions were annihilated.
It's a shame. But you also know the fact that after four and a half years of war, the frontline officers and soldiers are very war-weary. The signing of the armistice and peace agreement is the biggest good news for everyone.
We hope to let the eldest prince know the true situation on the front line, but because he stayed behind closed doors and was encouraged by the noble officers around him, only he was concealed from this information. It is not a good idea to send people to persuade the eldest prince.
Whether you believe it or not is another matter. The important thing is that our people cannot see the eldest prince, and the situation we mentioned can easily be considered by the eldest prince as having ulterior motives and shirk responsibility. Maybe he is happy to see us unlucky...
We found you because you are the most suitable candidate. First, you want to save Major Skerry and clear his grievances. This requires the eldest prince to return to the front line to bring order to the chaos and stop the aristocratic officers from misbehaving. Second, your
Your identity can make the great prince believe what you said. You are the talent he is paying attention to, and you have received the knighthood medal awarded by him. Moreover, you are a subordinate of Major Skerry and participated in all the battles of the 1st Ranger Battalion, so Major Skerry
It is justifiable for you to plead grievance for Count Crelaus when he evacuates his castle and is arrested.
Third, your pharmacy teacher is Baroness Maria. She is currently the only person who can enter and leave the Grand Prince's residence. You don't need Baroness Maria to speak and plead for you. You only need her to leave the letter you wrote to the Grand Prince.
Just read it. As long as the eldest prince sees your letter, which only contains information about Major Skerry being wronged, then the eldest prince will know the true situation on the front line, and he will no longer insist on carrying the war to the end...
"
"I need to think about it." Claude frowned and thought. The business aristocrats had indeed a good idea. They asked Claude to write a letter to the eldest prince to reflect the true situation on the front line, because it has nothing to do with the so-called overall situation of the country and is not involved.
The distribution of interests between the business aristocracy and the royal family made it easier for the eldest prince to believe the facts reported by Claude.
Captain Durrioro looked at Claude and nodded: "I hope you can think about it for a shorter time, because friends above revealed that some staff officers at the frontline command want to use Major Skerry's incident to drag you into trouble.
Involved in the military industry in the three southern counties.
In addition, after you write the letter, it is best to send someone to deliver it. Never use the military mail, because the military mail is in the hands of those noble officers. Not only will the letter you send be subject to their inspection, but it will also be easily 'lost' by them.