in the name of the queen

Chapter 224 The Art of Compromise

The audience was silent.

Everyone was stunned.

Sif and Roland knew the result in advance, so they were naturally not surprised.

Athos and others did not understand the high-level policies of the empire. They had never thought that the knighthood nominated by the Queen would be completely rejected. They were all dumbfounded.

Athos was so excited that he almost stood up, but calmed down as soon as his butt left his seat.

The Queen and the Governor were both here, so it was not his turn to yell and calm down.

He squinted his eyes and saw Roland's equally "shocked" expression from the corner of his eye, which made him even more frustrated.

Porthos's fleshy face turned red. He was about to stand up and say something when he suddenly realized that Athos had just stood up and sat down again, so he had to suppress his anger.

Officials who had nothing to do with each other chatted quietly or exchanged emotions with their eyes. Although the official who had been reported and rejected for a knighthood tried to remain calm, his inner disappointment was written all over his face.

Power can be given, but the corresponding status must be suppressed with reasonable reasons.

So what if Tony is in charge of government affairs? He can't hold the position of deputy governor, and his title is even lower. It's far behind.

This can not only restrain the expansion of the city-state faction's power, but also reassure the veterans.

Just when Tony was worried, the Mirror Queen, who had been silent, spoke.

However, all this is not stable. As long as the prosperous situation changes, various contradictions will be exposed.

Royal knights are not bad, at least they represent the approval of the queen and the governor.

The city-state faction is silently making a fortune, which shows that the governor attaches great importance to him. But even though he was being reused, Roland was also careful to guard against them.

In addition to these two factions, people from various Rodinian countries who were inspired by Roland's slogan of "employing people only for their talents" became the fourth faction.

Sitting on the left side of the first row, Tony, the Executive Deputy Director of the Interior Department (former executive officer of the Val City State), narrowed his eyes and looked at the faces of the people in the conference hall with great interest, thoughtfully.

Roland personally served as a senior official in the newly established Suig province, and the senior official was served by the former deputy executive officer of the Vaal city-state.

The local faction was promoted fastest, but had a weak foundation and received key support from the governor.

After all, the small country is gone. If the country is gone, it's hard to say whether the earl can be saved.

No one can calm down about this kind of thing.

The more Tony tasted it, the more he felt that Roland's arrangement was thoughtful.

After all, he joined midway and was once the leader of the independent faction of the Vaal City State. It was not easy for Roland to reuse him.

The governor-general is now on the rise, and its base is constantly expanding. Civil servants can be promoted, generals can win battles, businessmen can make money, and they can get government support for opening factories. Even farmers who work on the land enjoy tax exemptions during disaster years.

Tony is content.

The barons of the Sussex Empire were very valuable. They not only had privileges and status, but also had real territories.

Although the city-state faction did not win the baron reward, they gained a few more royal knights and gained the status of the actual ruler of the new province.

The overseas faction was granted many titles and enjoyed unlimited fame, but his base did not expand. Instead, he lost part of his original territory because he was in charge of government affairs.

Roland is carefully dividing the power cake of different groups.

I would rather be a baron in a big country than a count in a small country.

Although he is responsible for a lot of things, his official position is relatively low after all, and he did not get the baron reward this time.

There is only a title, no territory, and it cannot be hereditary. This kind of title is jokingly called an empty title.

Tony thought for a long time, and the only solution he could think of was for the Queen to confer a group of non-territory titles first.

As for the newcomer group, we can only say that the future is promising.

Of course Governor Roland would not condescend to govern a province in person, he would do so in name only. The actual people in power in Suyige Province are people from the old Var city-state faction.

The gold content of short-term barons is much lower than that of hereditary barons with territories.

When people's hearts are broken, the originally united team is also broken up.

Tony smelled something unusual.

The cake is getting bigger and bigger, and any conflicts are just small problems.

Of course, the biggest winner in this commendation meeting is the overseas faction, which has the largest number of knights.

The empire is too big, and many baronies are larger than the earls of small kingdoms.

If the first prize becomes a consolation prize, who can accept it?
If it is not handled properly, the people's hearts that have finally been united may be dispersed.

The three former overseas provinces had mature bureaucracies. Although these officials also had internal disputes, they were generally considered to be a faction, known as the overseas faction.

The local faction is the second winner. They suffer from the fact that the starting point of most people is too low. Although they rise quickly, they still need time to accumulate.

After the city-state of Vaal was divided, a large number of officials from the old city-state joined the governor-general and formed a team with Tony as the leader, forming a new faction, the city-state faction.

In addition to these officials, the officials who followed the governor and the queen from the mainland, although not connected in tandem, also formed their own faction, known as the native faction.

The Governor is trying to maintain a balance.

To be precise, the New People are not a mature political faction. They have no leaders, unified goals and courses of action. They are more like a group than a faction.

Tony was a little worried and a little curious. How will Roland deal with the current situation?
The Governor should be able to guess this outcome. Does he have a plan?
Putting himself in his shoes, Tony really couldn't think of a solution.

"You are free to express your opinions."

This sentence sounded to the officials as if the Queen gave them permission to spray.

How can I bear this?

Porthos was the first to stand up.

It had been three months since he'd been a loudmouth in a formal meeting, and he was almost fainting.

Now that he was being ordered to vent, of course he wouldn't be polite.

"This is bullying, and it's betrayal, naked betrayal!"

As soon as Porthos said this, everyone else was stunned. Wait, isn’t this tone a bit high? He was given such a big label when he came up, and he had already finished speaking. How could others follow?
Bordeaux's words were astonishing, and the whole audience was silent.

This is the effect he wants.

After clearing his throat, senior official Selin officially started the legal trolling mode.

"Everyone, I would like to ask you, what is the relationship between the nobles and His Majesty?"

Everyone knows this question.

"Your Majesty is the lord of the nobles."

Porthos nodded with satisfaction and cast a grateful look at the person who answered.

"Subordinates should be loyal to their master, do their best to share the master's worries, assist the master in ruling the territory, and help the master achieve his intended goals."

"What is the law?"

Porthos swallowed the vulgar adjective "shit" as he spoke. When he was thinking about what words to use to describe it accurately, Roland said it for him.

"The law is a tool to maintain rule."

Porthos's eyes lit up.

As expected of a governor, his words are so accurate.

"Yes, the laws of the empire must safeguard the interests of His Majesty the Emperor. The nobles must consciously safeguard the interests of their lord."

"But what did the gentlemen of the imperial capital do? They played word games and racked their brains to find clauses in the law that were unfavorable to His Majesty. This is betrayal!"

Roland showed a satisfied smile to Bordos.

You are right, this is betrayal.

There are so many legal provisions. Except for serious crimes such as murder and arson, which are indisputable, legal provisions involving politics are often vague, leaving room for manipulation.

If the gentlemen of the House of Lords want this report to be passed, there are a hundred ways.

They could declare Suyige Province to be part of the mainland and grant rewards to nobles.

They could declare the Suyige area to be a colony, and they could also grant rewards.

However, they did not do this. Instead, they tried every means to dig out the obscure regulations that were about to become moldy from the corners of the heraldry law and dismissed the report.

No matter how high-sounding the reason for rejection is, it is still rejection. No matter how absurd the reason for approval is, it is still approval.

The local aristocratic men's buttocks are a bit crooked.

After getting Roland's approval, Bordos went all out and sprayed the local nobles with blood, and he was justified.

Bordeaux's eloquence is impressive.

Following his analysis, the officials present all understood the true face of the old local nobles.

However, although it is fun to spray, it has no practical significance.

After scolding you, you still have to face reality, what should you do?
The officials present scolded the old nobles for being more knowledgeable than the other and that it would not work if they were asked to come up with ideas.

After the queen slowly said, "What are your countermeasures?" everyone wilted.

The Queen turned her gaze to Athos and motioned for him to speak.

Athos was depressed and didn't want to say a word at first, but he had to answer the Queen's question. After thinking for a few seconds, he sighed sadly:
"Your Majesty, I suggest that you first create a landless baron, at least to resolve your aristocratic status."

People are always willing to compromise.

If it were given directly to the landless baron Athos, he would definitely not be happy. He would even think that the queen and the governor were too stingy.

But after the knighthood report was rejected, he was able to accept it.

This is basically the bottom line for the recipient.

First solve the level (title), and then find a way to solve the actual interests (territory).

The Queen looked stern and did not express her position immediately, but continued to ask other people.

Several baronets agreed with Athos.

I can't eat any more meat, so I might as well drink some soup.

The Queen finally turned her gaze to Xif and asked softly: "Mr. Xif, what do you think?"

Sif stood up and glanced across the audience. Her clear voice was particularly beautiful, but what she said almost made the officials' blood freeze.

"I disagree."

The officials and generals who were waiting for the title of baronet were all the Queen's confidants and knew that Sif was the Queen.

If Sif doesn't agree, then the Queen doesn't agree.

They bowed their heads one after another, but their hearts were bleeding.

Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that the Queen could be so unkind.

Thinking that in the past few months, they have consciously given up entertainment activities, restrained themselves, and often took the initiative to work overtime. All their plans have come to nothing, and their mentality is on the verge of explosion.

Although they were wronged, they did not dare to resist.

How dare they confront the Queen's authority head-on.

However, they all gave up their pursuit of progress and planned to have fun after the meeting and continue to live their previous unrestrained lives.

Seeing the frustration and loss of these officials from the corner of her eye, the corners of Sif's lips rose slightly.

Officials' responses are calculated.

Raise your expectations first, then hit it right to the bottom, and finally give a satisfactory result, which will bring more joy than just giving the highest expectations.

Is this the PUA Roland was talking about?
His words are always so interesting.

Earl Sif coughed lightly and said slowly: "I plan to divide several baronies from my territory, the Earl of Tyrone, to make up for everyone's losses. Please approve it."

(End of this chapter)