"This is unfair. I cannot let my people suffer emotional and physical torture. I cannot let the soldiers on the front line sacrifice in vain. The cloud of hunger must be dispelled..."
Based on the assassinations of George III and Prince Govington, and in order to reduce the corresponding expenses, the new King Rawls gave a speech in the garden of Thordrak Palace. At the same time, nobles and wealthy businessmen were invited to participate. After his speech, in
A charity banquet will be held in this nearly 2,000-acre garden to raise funds for frontline soldiers and people in need.
Standing in the crowd, Audrey, wearing a black dress, held a handbag and listened to the new king's speech. Her eyelids were lowered, and there was deep sadness in her green eyes. Several charitable foundations where she works work every day.
I received a lot of messages asking for help, especially the Loen Poverty Relief Fund, which was established just before the war started.
Those women who came from middle-class families to volunteer at the foundation were greatly affected. Once someone got sick or was injured in the Fusac attack, they could barely maintain food and clothing. And those families who could barely provide food and clothing even if they were lucky enough to not have food and clothing.
People who are sick or injured have fallen into the abyss due to rising food prices, with no hope left.
The arrival of the war directly lifted the prosperous fig leaf called "City of Ten Thousand Capitals" covering Backlund. At least three million people in the city of more than five million people were struggling for food.
But what makes Audrey even more sad is the greed of the nobles and businessmen in this regard. They have obviously obtained three or four times the income from food, but they are still not satisfied. They want five times, six times or even more.
.
She raised her head slightly and cast her gaze at the young king not far away. As the daughter of Earl Hall, she was naturally very aware of the new king's recent moves and hoped that his ideas would be realized. But in recent days, Susie heard that
Judging from the news, the nobles who were friendly with the grain merchants had no intention of giving in. Even her father had no way to do this for the time being.
Even though the rumor that one can be awarded a title by donating grain has spread among the upper class, it seems that not many grain merchants are interested, or they are waiting for greater profits. As for the provision of penalties for not selling grain,
Not many people believed it, thinking that this was just the new king threatening them.
Moreover, even if it is such a regulation, they have ways to get around it. In the past few days, Audrey and Susie have heard this statement more than once, and there is even more than one way.
"When my people fall under the bullets of the enemy because they are protecting their homeland, that is great and worthwhile. They will inevitably enter the kingdom of God where they believe in their own gods. But when my people fall because of hunger,
, that makes me ashamed, makes me feel ashamed!
"Today, as your king, I will solemnly promise to my people that I will punish those grain merchants who only pursue profits and watch the people starve to death. Any grain sold higher than the maximum price set by the government, even if
If it is a grain of wheat, it will be punished a hundred times or even a thousand times; any grain company that has grain in its hands but does not sell it will be punished accordingly until all the grain is confiscated..."
In the garden, after hearing these words, the nobles who had good relations with the grain merchants all changed their expressions. Even if they had a way to circumvent these regulations, there were still many prerequisites. The most basic one was the attitude of the new king.
If it is just a simple rule, even if the rule comes from the king or the war cabinet, especially the former, as long as it is not expressed publicly, the violation will be violated. After many people are involved, the possibility of being punished is very small.
But after the new king publicly expressed his stance to the people, it meant that the king did not leave himself any room in this matter. Either he would lose his majesty and completely become a puppet on the throne, or he would be desperate to deal with them ruthlessly.
Without war, the latter would be difficult to achieve, but the king and the Augustus family, who now have complete control of military power, can really overturn the table!
Therefore, even Earl Hall and Prime Minister Jerome Spencer did not look good, which meant that the conflict broke out directly and they had no chance of mediation.
"...more specific measures will be posted directly in the square, and can be freely viewed and disseminated later..."
The people across the country in Loen who were listening to the king's speech were immediately boiling. Even if the police around to maintain order shouted desperately, it would be difficult to suppress the people who had been building up their emotions for a long time. They had no doubt that if the local governments did not follow the instructions in the king's speech,
If you do that, the angry people will never tolerate it anymore.
The king's speech was equivalent to handing a lit torch to a pile of wood and coal, so that the flames would burst out at any time and burn everything in front of them.
…
As Rawls's speech ended, the Lieutenant General held a charity banquet in the garden according to the procedure. However, after that speech, most people lost interest and could only barely maintain a smiling face, so the subsequent procedures progressed quite quickly.
, there was almost no delay. After the fund-raising ended, the dance started for half an hour, and most of the guests left early for various reasons.
When the Earl of the Palace, who was hosting the ball, ran to Rawls with sweat on his forehead and asked for instructions, he just smiled and nodded to express his understanding. Anyway, the goal has been achieved, and the rest does not matter.
Looking at Prime Minister Jerome Spencer, who looked more like a boxer in front of him, Rawls held the wine glass and said with a smile:
"Mr. Prime Minister, do you think I am too radical?"
"There are some, but now I think it's not bad." Jerome took a big sip of champagne, not looking like the head of the Loen government at all. "Sometimes the whip is heavier, and it is more effective on some lazy donkeys."
"It's a very good metaphor." Rawls raised his eyebrows, "Maxi is a small country. If you don't do some things faster, you won't have a chance. But Loen is different. If you go too fast, problems will easily occur, so
We need more attention from Mr. Prime Minister.”
He naturally knew that he could wait for a while to gain more people's recognition and not let so many nobles stand against him. But there was not much need. He could also achieve it after the war was won. He believed in himself.
can maintain the current situation.
After he was promoted to "Balancer" and acquired the "Hand of Order" trait, the entire Kingdom of Loen was within the scope of his order. Although he was unable to monitor the entire country, he could still sense if any major problems broke out.
of.
Besides, if we don’t clean up some nobles, how can we reward those who have made meritorious service on the front line?
The banquet soon came to an end, and Rawls put down his wine glass and returned to the palace to visit his wife Delina. Not long after the banquet started, she felt a little uncomfortable and left early.
"Ms. Soraya, how is Delina?"
In the corridor, Rawls happened to meet Ms. Soraya who had come from Marsi. She is now Delina's doctor, the real "physician".
Soraya, who is in her thirties and has plump beauty, bowed slightly:
"Your Majesty, the Queen is in good condition now. As for feeling uncomfortable just now, this is a common thing during pregnancy. Princess Caroline and Miss Audrey Hall are chatting with her in the bedroom."
"Well, thank you very much, Ms. Soraya." Rawls frowned slightly, then opened his brows, said with a smile, and walked to Delina's bedroom.
The bedroom door was open, and Delina, Caroline, and Audrey were talking in the attached small living room.
“Tuk tuk tuk”
Rawls knocked on the door and said with a smile:
"Three beautiful ladies, can I come in?"
"Okay, you don't have to be so polite." Seeing Audrey about to get up, he quickly waved his hand and pointed at Caroline, "Look at Caroline, don't you have no intention of getting up at all?"
Caroline ignored Rawls, rolled her eyes at him, and directly pulled Audrey, who had stood up, back to the sofa. She was not completely rude, and pulled Audrey from Delina's left side to her side.
.
Rawls shrugged his shoulders, walked over and sat on the sofa on the left, took Delina's hand, and asked softly:
"How do you feel now?"
"I'm fine, I just felt a little uncomfortable just now. I feel fine before I get back here." Delina shook off Rawls' hand, obviously unwilling to show affection in front of her sister and friends, especially when they looked at the two of them.
His gaze and expression showed a hint of blush on his face.
"That's good."
Despite saying this, Rawls still seized the opportunity, his eyes became dark, revealing an ancient meaning, and he glanced at Delina's abdomen. This was a new ability he had recently gained after realizing the part of the power he had inherited in his body.
.
A new path was named the "chaos" path by him.
As soon as he raised his head, he saw Caroline rolling her eyes at him again, her blue eyes full of teasing. After he announced that he would allow female members of Augustus to freely convert to the Night Goddess, he had always disliked the Storm Doctrine.
Caroline immediately converted, relying on Delina's identity as sister, her personality became more "lively".
Audrey looked at this scene with a smile, but she did not dare to directly exchange eyes with Rawls. She still had great concerns about the mystery of the new king. However, she was not worried about being suspected, which was very consistent.
Her consistent performance and reputation.
"Delina, Caroline is only one year younger than you. Isn't it time to think about her future?" Rawls raised the corner of his mouth.
"No, no, I haven't thought about it yet, and my mother didn't say anything..." Caroline jumped up, as if she felt that this reason was not enough, she sat back again and hugged Audrey's arm, "
I just promised Audrey that I would help her charity foundation."
"This is not a problem." Rawls looked at Audrey, "I remember that the Church of the Night encourages women to go out to work, even after marriage."
"Yes." Audrey smiled and nodded.
"Audrey!" Caroline's voice rose a little higher.
She wanted to say something more, but Delina interrupted her directly.
"Caroline."
When Delina shouted, Caroline immediately sat up straight and pouted her lips, looking aggrieved as if she wanted to be angry but didn't dare.
"Audrey works at a charity foundation? Can you tell me what's going on outside?" Rawls rubbed the armrest of the sofa.
"It's not very good. Now food prices have risen too fast. Some middle-class families have given up bread and chosen potatoes because of illness and injury, but more people can't even afford potatoes."
Audrey gave a few examples at random, and both Delina and Caroline couldn't help but have red eyes.
After she finished speaking, Rawls nodded seriously:
"It's worse than I thought. The situation of Luen and Ma Xi is still different. Well, the Earl of the Palace told me before that this charity raised nearly half a million pounds. I will let the royal family's charity
The fund will cooperate with your Loen Poverty Relief Charity Foundation to strive to save more people."
Just as Audrey was about to thank her, Caroline raised her hand and said:
"I want to participate too."
"Caroline!" Delina pulled Caroline.
"Let her go, Delina, you can also join." Rolls pointed at Caroline with his chin, "This is very important to the image of the royal family, to you and me, but don't worry too much, there are many things
Just tell Caroline to do it."
The last sentence made both Audrey and Delina smile, but only Caroline was dissatisfied.
…
On Sunia Island, in a rarely visited elf ruins in the primeval forest, tents have been set up. As evening approaches, only two patrollers are left.
In the tent, Alger Wilson sat cross-legged on the ground, frowning, not knowing when the mission mentioned by Mr. Fool would come. This week, before setting foot on Sunia Island, he was given a volume called
"Book of Natural Disasters" was later taken away by Mr. "Fool" and asked to search for elven ruins on the island, and then he would get a new mission.
That volume of "Book of Natural Disasters" was obviously an elf relic, and it reminded him of the myth of Silver City mentioned by "The Sun", in which the Elf King had a subordinate god named "Queen of Natural Disasters".
He suspected that with the gradual recovery of Mr. Fool, he was no longer satisfied with the position of "God of the Sea" and wanted to further erode the authority of the Lord of Storms, so he aimed at the elves and the "Queen of Natural Disasters".
At this moment, Alger suddenly heard the distant song of spring coming. The song was ethereal and ethereal, like a lady singing softly and slowly, telling her inner worries.
Alger unconsciously recalled the past, his mother who had passed away many years ago, and his childhood when he was bullied. Unspeakable sadness surged uncontrollably in his heart, preventing him from waking up immediately.
Instead, he waited several seconds before he woke up.
coming!
He frowned deeply and continued to listen. But this time, he heard nothing, and the melodious singing seemed to never appear.
Alger's heartbeat gradually increased, he grabbed his thick jacket, put it on, and walked out of the tent.