Officials of the Muxi Kingdom were recently surprised to find that there was always a strange old man standing next to King Todd, no matter when discussing matters or reporting.
He was wearing a simple but close-fitting dress, his mustache was neatly groomed, and his demeanor and temperament were impressive.
No matter what the occasion, the old man named Emerson never expressed an opinion on anything from beginning to end, and never showed any expression of approval or disapproval. He just stood there observing and listening.
After inquiring in many ways, people finally learned the identity of this old man - the former Interior Minister of Yinhuan.
However, what King Tod granted the old man was an unheard of position - Chief Privy Councilor.
In the king's imagination, the Privy Council was called the king's advisory body, but in fact it played the role of the administrative center.
Under the direct control of the king, the Privy Council formulates laws, has the highest judicial power, and presides over the highest court. The chief privy officer is the assistant to the king's first seat and only acts in accordance with the king's will.
But what puzzled Todd was that after Emerson was appointed chief privy officer, he only participated in meetings and activities but did not take any substantive action.
Todd asked the old man more than once if he had any suggestions for the future development direction of the kingdom.
The other party always replies with this sentence - Your Majesty, I am untying the knot on the thread, please wait a little longer.
Fortunately, the wait did not last long.
On the tenth day after Emerson took office, the old man walked into the king's room holding a roll of paper.
Watching Emerson lay out one piece of white paper on the ground, the curious Todd came closer and looked at it carefully for a while.
The names of countless people are written in densely packed small characters on the white paper. There is also a long paragraph of notes below the names. The names of the people are connected by horizontal lines, and various relationships are written above the horizontal lines.
Todd read out one of the introductions: "Elijah, a native of the Eastern Holy City, currently serves as a professor of civil architecture, bridge engineering and painting art at Muxi College. He studied at Taylor Royal College for seven years, and later went away to study.
Leave the capital..."
Todd looked at Elijah's connection diagram again. There were many familiar names connected to him, such as Master Terrence, Ulysses, Dion...and these people were named by a large circle called the Jade Society.
It was wrapped.
Emerson pointed to the content on the paper and said to Todd: "There is a saying that the strongest fortress often collapses from the inside. As a monarch, the first thing is to understand your subjects.
.”
"As you can see, these are all people with positions or power in Muxi Kingdom." Emerson found a soft cushion, sat cross-legged on it, pointed to a personal name on the picture and said: "
They have different experiences, origins, and common alliances in interpersonal relationships and common interests."
Emerson tapped a few names with a pen, namely Rachel, Terrence, Cumberland and Mary, and said: "In Duixi City, from the perspective of the balance of power and the will of the factions, they are roughly divided into four groups:
Each faction, for the sake of simple distinction, I call them the heterogeneous faction, the scholar faction, the military faction and the old aristocratic faction respectively."
"The so-called Alien Sect, as the name suggests, is an alliance of aliens. Due to long-term oppression and cruelty, this faction appears to be extremely united. Their number is the smallest in the entire Duixi City, but due to the advantage of their supernatural powers, their influence has spread over the kingdom.
Zhongya
The leader of the highest faction is Rachel. For some reason, she has a particularly bad attitude towards the Scholars. Perhaps it is because her tribe has been subjected to human experiments and superpower cultivation by the Presbyterian Church in the name of academics, which is why she is today.
The disgust of the day.”
"The Scholars Faction is perhaps the fastest-growing force in the Muxi Kingdom. Those who have joined the Jade Society, including the teachers and students of Muxi College, the total number of people in this faction has been conservatively estimated to have exceeded one
Thousands of people! Thousands of scholars! Your Majesty, this is really a rare spectacle. It’s no wonder that more and more people call Muxi City
It is an academic city! The alliance of scholars is relatively loose. Due to differences in disciplines, directions, and theories, the faction can be subdivided into dozens of small factions. The leader of the faction is Terrence, the academic leader of Tyro Royal Academy.
Students are found in every country on the mainland. Because he has experienced the tragedy caused by the church, he is more inclined to fight for the right to academic freedom."
"The military faction, the leader of the faction is the loud voice of Cumberland. It has the largest number of people in Duxi City. Anyone who is an army or a guard belongs to this faction. Even in a sense, I belong here. In Cumberland
Under the leadership of that guy Lan, there is no doubt about the loyalty of the military faction, but it is inevitable that people from other factions will be interspersed in the faction."
"Finally...the old aristocracy..."
Emerson pointed the pen at Queen Mary's name, was stunned for a while, and finally whispered: "Mary... As the former queen of the Silver Ring Kingdom, she has many connections with the fleeing nobles of the Silver Ring Kingdom, both in terms of personal connections and social interactions.
She was very close. But, Your Majesty, don’t worry, she didn’t do anything excessive.
On the contrary, she also tried her best to persuade the old nobles to invest gold, silver and other properties in Muxi City's industries, such as commercial streets, wool workshops, glass factories, ports, etc. None of the old nobles listened to her advice.
All the exceptions have made a lot of money. I heard that she is planning a textile factory recently..."
"The old aristocratic faction may be the smallest faction, and their organization is the loosest. They mostly communicate through cocktail parties, dinners, etc. But they are also the richest among the four factions, whether they are engaged in business, trade, transportation and manufacturing.
, you can see their footprints.”
Todd listened to Emerson's introduction and opened his mouth in disbelief.
An old man who had just entered Muxi City was able to understand the entire kingdom's interpersonal network in just half a month.
Emerson looked at the king's expression and guessed what the other person was thinking. He did not take credit or shirk the blame: "Most of this information came from Huggins and the security bureau. At the beginning, he refused to tell
I, later I found Cumberland for help, and then I convinced him."
Todd nodded, agreeing with this statement.
"After talking about the characters and factions in Muxi City, next we need to talk about the political system of the kingdom."
Emerson lay on the ground, used a pencil to draw a large circle in the center of the white paper, then drew several small circles below, and finally drew countless dots below the small circles. He put the paper in front of Todd and said
: "The picture I am drawing now represents the power structure of most countries on the continent. The largest circle represents the king or emperor, the smaller circles represent the nobles who have obtained fiefs, and the smaller dots represent those who are attached to the noble families.
A fief lord, such as a baronet or a knight."
Looking at Todd's thoughtful look, Emerson continued to explain: "Each lord can divide his territory into several blocks and seal them to his subordinates, thus forming a kind of equilateral triangle ladder network.
.But this power structure raises a question-the power of the king
His power is often limited to the royal city. Once he leaves the capital, although it is still his territory in name, he has no jurisdiction. Whether it is going out to send troops or confiscating supplies, he must negotiate with the vassal lords.
Even a humble request."
"So, every king's dream is to confiscate fiefs and centralize royal power. Your Majesty, by abolishing noble fiefs and retaining only knightly titles, you have completely completed the process of centralization and ended the custom of enfeoffment. From a certain point of view,
In a sense, you have become the first king on this continent to achieve centralized power!"
Emerson smiled and said: "At first, when I heard that you took the initiative to decentralize power, my first reaction was that you were crazy. How many monarchs have dreamed of something, but you actually gave it up after getting it. Of course... after talking to you
After our conversation, I finally understood your hard work."
"So, combined with the factional structure and power situation of the Muxi Kingdom I mentioned before. What I am considering now are two things: First, how to draw a clear line between royal power and civil rights, that is, which powers can be separated and which
Power must be possessed by the king? Second, how should these separated powers be balanced among the four factions through positions and appointments, so as to speed up the development of the kingdom without hindering the progress due to factional conflicts?