Chapter Five Hundred and Fifty-Fourth Prime Minister Blanket's Intention
Chapter 554 Prime Minister Blancart’s purpose of coming
The pier of Bailu City was filled with a warm welcome atmosphere, with military bands, honor guards, onlookers, waving flags, red carpets, the long-awaited naval fleet generals, the Kingdom's Prime Minister and local officials. This welcome ceremony was somewhat
The unexpected grandness made Claude really confused as to what was going on...
I still know the smiling Prime Minister of the Kingdom, Claude, Marquis de Blancat. I have to admit that this guy is an old fox and difficult to deal with. He is a loyal supporter of His Majesty the King and is deeply trusted. It’s just that Claude came to the king in the first place.
It caused great embarrassment to the king and the queen. It was Prime Minister Blancart who mediated and allowed both parties to step down. Logically speaking, Claude should be a very taboo figure in the royal family, so why did this old fox come to greet him with such fanfare?
What do you want to do?
Anyone can do the superficial work. Claude got off the ship and embraced Prime Minister Blancart warmly, acting very intimate, like an old friend he hadn't seen for twenty years. Then he inspected the guard of honor and came to greet him.
The naval admirals and local officials shook hands and said hello one by one, and finally gave a speech to the gathered onlookers. After talking nonsense, they shouted the slogan "Long live His Majesty the King" before ending.
Next is the handover ceremony of the armored battleships. This is the third batch of six armored battleships transferred to the Kingdom's Navy Department, and it is also the last batch. The previous two batches have delivered six armored destroyers and four armored ocean-going armed transport ships. Now it is time to
What was handed over were two armored cruisers and four armored destroyers. After the handover ceremony was completed, it meant that the arms business between the overseas autonomous territories and the kingdom had been completed.
The six armored warships to be transferred to the Royal Navy have been refitted and renovated, and the armored shells have also been repainted. The warships in the overseas autonomous territories are all black and gray, while these six armored warships have been painted silver and white.
, from the appearance, it looks very noble and beautiful.
Liang, the generals who came to receive the admiralty expressed their satisfaction. Once you enter the cabin, you will find that the iron walls inside are all packed with walnut boards and are very luxurious, similar to the iron walls of the cabins of the armored battleships in the Dominion Military District.
White paint is completely different…
"Why are your naval guns different from ours?" Prime Minister Blancart boarded the battleship for a tour and asked Claude this question. Of the six armored battleships handed over to the Kingdom's Navy Department, they were the only ones with the Dominion Military Region.
The obvious difference between the battleships is the naval guns. The armored battleships in the Dominion Military District have fully enclosed naval guns, while the six armored battleships transferred to the Kingdom's Navy Department are equipped with semi-open front-loaded heavy artillery guns.
seat.
"This is the request of your Navy Department." Claude explained: "If you use the same naval guns as ours, then all your artillery shells will need to be purchased from our Dominion Military District. So after inspection, your Navy Department believes that it is better to
It is better to equip this kind of old-fashioned heavy artillery. At least you will be able to ensure the supply of ammunition. After the naval guns are improved in the future, you can re-equip the warships with the latest artillery..."
There are many things that need not be said clearly. For example, among the first batch of four armored destroyers transferred to the Kingdom's Navy Department, one was directly pulled to the dock and dismantled into pieces for the warship designers of the Kingdom's Navy Department to study and draw. It is said that the Kingdom has already
Four or five spies from other countries who were carrying structural drawings of battleships were caught, and even a noble officer from the Admiralty was implicated. His Majesty the King was very angry about this.
Claude said it very politely, but in fact it was his idea. The armored battleships could be provided to the kingdom after modification, but the new naval guns could not be provided. They were all dismantled and replaced with the heavy muzzle-loading cannons on the kingdom's sail battleships.
The receiving general of the First Kingdom's Navy also expressed some protest, but General Murield told them that if they wanted the same naval gun, all the shells must be purchased from the Dominion Military Region, and each shell cost ten gold crowns.
So the objection is gone.
Anyway, the first armored warship built by the Dominion Military Region was also equipped with this kind of heavy muzzle-loading gun, and the paper was there. And the agreement reached with the Kingdom for the sixteen armored warships did not mention what kind of artillery was used.
This advantage must be taken advantage of. Show the blueprint and tell the Kingdom's Navy Ministry that the new naval guns are rear-mounted. If you want them, you have to spend real money to buy them. If nothing else, the purchase price of the cannon shells alone will make the Kingdom
The Admiralty was daunted...
You must know that just to train the gunner well, a naval gun needs to fire nearly a hundred rounds to become perfect. There are more than a dozen naval guns on an armored warship, and the total cost of these shells alone is
This gave the generals of the Kingdom's Navy a headache. So in the end they decided to keep it as is, at least they could provide their own ammunition for this heavy muzzle-loading artillery.
Prime Minister Blancart just said this, and the handover ceremony was quickly completed. Trained sailors and officers from the Kingdom's Navy Department boarded six warships and raised the Stirling royal emblem and flag of the Kingdom of Ovelas.
The navy's flag indicated that these six armored warships were under the command of the Kingdom's Navy Department. Onlookers on the shore let out bursts of cheers, and many people waved handkerchiefs and small colorful flags at the armored warships.
.....
"Marshal Your Excellency, let's get in the car and take you somewhere." Prime Minister Blancart motioned for Claude to ride in a carriage with him.
Claude entered the carriage, and his adjutant, Captain Fahsselin, got into the driver's seat in front of the carriage and sat next to the coachman. The big man Germi led a squadron of guards on horseback to escort him on both sides.
The carriage ran on the flat bluestone streets, and Claude admired the street scenes on both sides through the glass of the carriage window. Unlike the ruins he saw when he passed by last time, White Deer City has been rebuilt, and there are no longer those low wooden boards.
There are shacks built of stones and new two- and three-story shops on both sides of the street. They are neat and beautiful. It can be seen that Bailu City has restored a bit of its old scene.
"Would you like a glass of fruit wine?" Prime Minister Blancart took out a bottle of fruit wine and two silver wine glasses from a small wine cabinet next to his seat.
"Thank you, I'm not thirsty." Claude said, "Where are we going?"
"Your home." Prime Minister Blancart said: "Your Majesty specially allocated funds to build this for you, and also sent three famous architects from the royal capital. After a year of construction, you came back as soon as it was completed.
So it’s such a coincidence…”
Claude was stunned: "My home?"
What came to mind was the familiar big red brick house. But wasn't the big red brick house destroyed during the Kingdom's civil war? Claude scanned it for Mr. Morsan when he passed through White Deer City and returned to the overseas dominion a few years ago.
Passing the tomb, the big red brick house that I saw was in ruins. It is said that it was destroyed by many shells during the civil war in the kingdom. Even the doors, windows and frames were taken away by refugees to build shacks.
Claude once thought about rebuilding the big red brick house, but at that time Bailu City was in dilapidated state, lacking manpower and material resources, and even qualified construction engineers could not be found. Claude had no choice but to give up this idea and returned to
Overseas Dominions.
Now listening to what Prime Minister Blancart said, Claude remembered the report sent to him by Steward Swenson. In September of the previous year, his mother and Kaifani returned to White Deer City and started a lawsuit with Queen Christie.
To get back the 5,000 acres of Field Forest Farm that had been annexed by the Norman Forest Farm. In the end, His Majesty King Frederic I came forward and exchanged the ownership of the 5,000 acres of Field Forest Farm for a mansion in the royal capital and a manor on the outskirts of the royal capital.
, settled the lawsuit.
Claude rubbed the corners of his eyebrows and found that there were too many things on his mind, and he couldn't remember anything about this big red brick house. He forgot whether Butler Swenson reported on this big red brick house last time.
I only remember that His Majesty the King conferred an honorary Viscount title on his dead father, which moved my mother to tears, and then took Kaifni and his two children to the royal capital without looking back.
Claude patted his forehead again. The latest report about his mother and Kaifni was probably from two months ago. It seemed that his mother and Kaifni had a quarrel and separated over something unknown. His mother lived in the palace in the royal capital, and Kaifeni
Fenni lived in the manor in the suburbs with her two children. Butler Swenson, the guard Sergeant Kuster, and the old servants all followed Caifuni and her son to the manor. There was no one on the mother's side, so what did she do?
I don’t even know here...
Claude was worried too much about things in the Dominion Military Region and didn't pay much attention to the report about his mother and Kaifni. He only remembered that his mother and Kaifni seemed to have a conflict over the 30% profit sharing of the tobacco factory.
. It seems that because her mother overspent on the entertainment expenses in the royal palace, she asked Kaifani to transfer the tobacco proceeds to her. Kaifani was unwilling, quarreled, and separated. Kaifani took her two children to live in the manor out of anger.
"You should go back to the capital to have a look." Prime Minister Blancart seemed to know what Claude was thinking. He shook his head and said, "The quarrel between your mother and your wife has become a bit big, and it has become a problem in the capital."
A hot topic and the favorite object of gossip among the citizens. If His Majesty the King had not come forward, your wife and children would have even been kicked out of the manor by your mother."
"Huh?" Claude felt like he had a headache: "Why did they quarrel? And they even got into it in front of His Majesty the King..."
"As Prime Minister, I cannot gossip about these noble families behind their backs." Prime Minister Blancart said seriously: "You can just send someone to the royal capital to inquire and you will know the reason. By the way, you have a big brother, right?
He returned to your mother..."
Albert? How many years has he been missing? Where did he come from? Claude always thought that his cheap brother was long dead. When his father committed suicide by jumping off a building, this guy found a prostitute and gave up the inheritance of the family property.
He signed the note to himself, and then disappeared from White Deer City without any trace of responsibility. That is to say, when my mother was in the Dominion, she would sometimes mention him and say with tears that Albert didn't know whether he was alive or dead.
Anyway, Claude, his sister Anna and brother Blovik didn't miss their elder brother at all, they all regarded him as dead. At that time, Albert was not like an elder brother, and he regarded his three younger brothers and sisters as his own.
A thorn in his side, he was afraid that they would snatch his father's property from him. As a result, once his father got into trouble, he never came home again. After his father committed suicide by jumping off a building because of debts, he simply left Bailu City without knowing where to go.
The carriage stopped, and the adjutant, Captain Fahsselin, opened the door. Claude stopped the random thoughts in his mind, got out of the carriage, and saw the magnificent mansion building at a glance.
This building was built on the original site of the big red brick house. It is completely different from the original appearance. It is larger than the big red brick house and looks like a palace. It has four floors, five attics, pointed roofs and cornices, and the facade is
There is a row of white stone pillars and a dozen granite steps. There is also a fountain in the middle of the small square where the carriage is parked in front of the main entrance, surrounded by large square lawns.
It seemed to occupy the area of the original neighbor's house and the street. Claude looked at the squares of grass around him and recalled the impression of the original big red brick house and the neighbor's houses in the surrounding streets.
"Let's see if it's the same as the original one." Prime Minister Blancart said with a smile: "Of course, we can't completely restore His Majesty the Marshal's home, but we still try our best to make it consistent with the original one, so as not to let His Excellency the Marshal
Losing the feeling of home when I was a child..."
Claude smiled bitterly: "I am very grateful for your majesty's love and for asking you, Prime Minister, to bother me. It's just that my home is a Hogo-style red brick apartment building, not such a palace-style mansion building. Back then,
My father is just an administrative official in a small town. Do you think it is possible for him to own such a luxurious mansion as his home?"
"No way..." Prime Minister Blancart was a little confused: "But when our architect showed the renderings of this mansion building to your mother, your mother said that the original home was this
It looks like it's just a little worn out..."
"My mother said that?" Claude was stunned, but he immediately understood. Needless to say, it must be that his mother disliked the big red brick house back then for being too outdated and shameless, so she said it in such a palace-like manner.
Mansion building, but I don’t understand that the more I do this, the more people will laugh at me.
"Come in and have a look." Prime Minister Blancart invited.
How should I put it, this mansion is indeed very luxurious, even more beautiful than the white palace building in Norman Forest Farm. The hall on the first floor is enough to hold a dance party attended by nearly a hundred people, the second floor is the guest room, and the third and fourth floors are the main entrance.
There are five lofts above the living room, which is twice the size of the loft where Claude lived. It is also equipped with a complete bathroom and shower room.
Prime Minister Blancart said that running this mansion requires a butler, four servants, a gardener, a groom, and two cooks. The total monthly labor costs are six gold crowns. The butler only sends the bill to the royal capital.
After calling Claude's mother, she has not received a reply. Now the housekeepers and servants here have not received their wages for two months.
Because this mansion building was built with private funds from His Majesty the King, currently the local administrative office can only allocate a small amount of maintenance fees to keep the housekeepers and servants fed and clothed, and people have to be sent to the royal capital to discuss salary expenses with Claude's mother.
After all, such a beautiful mansion will soon fall into disrepair if no one takes care of it. At that time, it will be a slap in the face of His Majesty the King.
Claude had no choice but to admit this scapegoat. He called the butler and told him that he would open an account at the Overseas Minsheng Bank in Bailu City and deposit one hundred gold crowns into it every year. As the butler's servants, their salary expenses would be
Living welfare allowance. The extra money is used to maintain the mansion. If there are large expenses, you can write a letter and report to yourself. As long as the accounts are clear, there will be no problem.
Then Claude paid the housekeeper and servants three months' salary and welfare subsidies, and arranged for his men to live in this palace-style mansion. Under the cheerful and attentive reception of the housekeeper and servants, Claude and Prime Minister Blancart enjoyed
After having a nice dinner, I went to the study on the third floor and asked my adjutant, Captain Fahsselin, to deliver two bottles of good fruit wine, and then I got back to business.
"...As the Prime Minister of the Kingdom, you came to Bailu City to see me. I believe you are not here to introduce me to my new home, nor to let me know about the current situation of my mother and wife in the Royal Capital. What do you want to say?
Just say it straight, you know I hate nonsense and I hate guessing." Claude lit a cigar and got straight to the point.
Prime Minister Blancart played with the cigar that Claude threw to him: "Okay, I heard that you came back this time to attack the Kingdom of Hicks? Is it true..."
Damn it, Claude wanted to curse. He had already received the news when he arrived at the royal capital of the kingdom. The prime minister of the kingdom came specially to meet with him. Needless to say, it must have been revealed by some general from the military region headquarters. You must know
Claude's intention to attack the Kingdom of Hicks was discussed at a meeting of senior officers in the military region, explaining why he wanted to attack the Kingdom of Hicks. This meeting was confidential to the people below, and there was no general.
None of the military ranks can participate in this military meeting.
Obviously, one of these promoted generals must be a die-hard loyalist to the kingdom. Just like Marshal Bolognik, he only swears to obey the orders of the kingdom. He has just finished a meeting here, and the royal capital has received news that Crowe
De wondered whether even the minutes of the meeting were sent to the royal capital.
Claude took two deep puffs of cigarette: "Why, do you suspect that I am deceiving you? Don't worry, I don't want to attack the royal capital. I am not a careerist, and I don't want to become a traitor to the kingdom. When I come back this time, I really want to attack Xi
The Kingdom of Kes takes action, but they haven’t ended the war with the kingdom yet. As an army of an overseas autonomous territory, it is only natural to fight them.”
"We are just curious, not suspicious of your intentions." Prime Minister Blancart said: "The staff of the Kingdom's Army Department organized a sand table simulation and believed that there are only two ways to attack the Hicks Kingdom, one is by land and the other is by sea. Land
There are two kingdoms separated by the sea, and this road is impassable, so the only way is to go through the sea
Transport troops by road for the landing battle. They think your plan is to let the Thunder Legion board the ship and go by sea, but that is the mainland of the Kingdom of Hicks. If you can fight with just one legion, it will only end in death. So Your Majesty asked me to come over.
I advise you not to be so impulsive..."
Claude laughed: "I know exactly what I want to do. In fact, I am very sure that I will win. But now I have to consider some situations and will not immediately send troops to attack the Hicks Kingdom.