in the name of the queen.

Chapter 231 The seventh day of missing him
Hearing the voice of the political secretary standing at the door reminding her to attend the work meeting, Xif sighed softly in her heart, closed her notebook, and walked out of the room with her head held high.

When she walked out of the room, she left her girlish feelings and longing in the room, and walked towards the conference hall with seven parts majesty and three parts kindness.

She was the deputy governor, so she was naturally responsible for the work in the jurisdiction during Roland's absence.

Of course she can pretend to be the queen and attend, but the queen's aloof image needs to be maintained, not to mention that the queen does not personally govern, and it is inappropriate to always convene ministers for meetings.

The onlookers in the imperial capital cannot be made to think that the Queen is an idiot who does not understand politics.

This is advice from Roland.

So she has become accustomed to letting the magic mirror play the role of queen. She accompanies Roland everywhere.

It's a pity that she can't accompany Roland this time.

As Roland said, Magic Mirror's pure political level simply cannot control the complex situation in the four overseas provinces. She wasn't worried about the others either. When Roland went out, she could only take charge personally.

Only she and Roland know the overall strategic layout of the governor-general's jurisdiction, and only they can make decisions on the fly when encountering emergencies.

Roland's plan is for Sif to command an army and cooperate with the Jin Yuan wanderers to cause trouble at the border, attract Marco's attention, and encourage the resistance forces in Jin Yuan.

Unless necessary, the troops under the governor's jurisdiction are not allowed to enter the Kingdom of Jin Yuan, so as not to surprise the friendly countries.

There was only one situation where she had to lead an army to invade the Golden Kite Kingdom, that is, Roland and Alina successfully landed at the southern seaport and headed north.

Sif didn't agree with this plan in her heart.

Too risky.

If the Jinyuan people are unwilling to accept Alina, just with the thousands of entourage, it will be considered a blessing from the gods to leave alive.

But the risk had to be taken.

The southern part of the Golden Kwan Kingdom is the foundation of the Alina family. The difficulty of gathering people to respond here is much lower than directly crossing the Black Forest to attack the northern part of the Golden Kwan Kingdom.

Attacking a strong defense line and several times the number of enemies with a weak force is probably due to a problem with the commander's thinking.

The Vladimir Empire has a tendency to form an alliance with the Kingdom of Pruden and the Kingdom of Tyrol, and Sif also needs strong allies.

The Wende Empire was surrounded by the Three Kingdoms and had too much time to take care of itself. Even if it formed an alliance, it would not be able to help.

The civil war in Thalia is raging, and it has actually split into several countries. In addition, they are not good at fighting, so this kind of alliance will be a hindrance.

The Weimar Confederation was only one step away from becoming food on the dinner plate. It could be co-opted, but annexation would be better.

Countries such as Nubia are far away from the center of the Rodinian continent and can be wooed but will not be of much help.

If the Jin Yuan Kingdom is lost again, it will be completely passive diplomatically and will be embattled on all sides.

For the Sussex Empire, the worst case scenario would be to return to the mainland and watch the mainland countries fight to the death, but for her, this would mean a complete failure.

She would rather be stained with blood than return to the country as a loser and become a puppet.

Therefore, Jin Yuan Kingdom must be won, and Alina is their only chance.

She felt a little uneasy about having Roland accompany Alina, so she insisted on letting Lisa go along.

She knew very well in her heart that Lisa was different from Alina.

Lisa and Roland grew up together. There may be a love between men and women, but family ties definitely prevail.

She might be able to accept just being Roland's sister.

It doesn't matter if you can't.

After all, she did not have a prominent background, and Sif had a good relationship with her. As long as she was sincere enough, she would probably be able to accept being Roland's lover rather than his official wife.

Alina is different. She comes from a famous family. Her father was once the ruler of the country. As long as she succeeds in returning to the country this time, she will definitely regain power.

Jin Yuan is romantic and passionate, and God knows what she can do to express her gratitude to Roland.

Someone must keep an eye on Roland and guard against the dirty cats of Jin Yuan Kingdom.

If Roland couldn't bear to be outside, Sif would rather be Lisa.

Lisa can share, but Alina can rob people. Of course she knows which one is more harmful.

In this era, the most common love template for powerful men is to marry a noble wife who understands each other, and then have several lovely and charming lovers.

Sif has long been accustomed to this kind of thing.

If Roland is like this too.
Don’t keep thinking about personal things while working, have meetings!
With some worry, Sif walked to the conference hall and held the first working meeting since Roland led the special operations team to leave.

Sitting at the head of the conference hall and listening to the ministers' work reports, Sif looked a little dazed and distracted.

When Athos finished reporting his work concisely and waited for Sif to express his position, he found that the earl was in a daze.

Athos knows the ways of the world and can probably guess why Sif is in a daze.

He coughed lightly to remind Sif that it was meeting time, and reported what he had just reported more concisely.

Sif gave him a look of thanks, her eyes still blank.

What did the high-ranking officer Athos just say?

She was distracted twice in a row, and she was really embarrassed to ask Athos to say it again.

If she said something three times, other ministers might think she was targeting Athos.

Even if no one was thinking nonsense, it would be a bit rude to ask Athos to say it three times in a row.

Sif thought deeply.

Athos thought she was thinking of countermeasures, but in fact she was trying to remember what he had just said.

A minute later, Sif never thought of what Athos had just said, but she thought of how to answer.

"Sir Athos, what do you think we should do?"

Sif was still distracted and didn't even notice that there was something wrong with her previous address.

Athos bowed his head slightly.

Even though the ministers present were all confidants and basically knew that the earl was the queen, this was obviously a leak.

Athos was somewhat worried about Sif's mental state.

When a monarch makes a mistake, his subordinates will naturally try their best to make amends.

He smiled and reminded: "My lord, you can indeed use "Qing" to address your vassals, but this formal title will make your vassals feel uneasy."

Sif also reacted.

She was now presiding over the meeting as earl and lieutenant-governor, not as queen.

These red tapes are indeed troublesome, but they cannot go wrong. If Teacher Mary heard that she had just said the title "Sir Athos" as an earl, she would definitely be so angry that her face would turn red.

Athos and the others were not only her vassals, but also imperial officials. When they serve directly in the imperial government, their first allegiance should be to the emperor.

At least during working hours.

What Sif called her just now went too far.

Sif, who is an earl, has violated the territory of Sif, who is a queen, and has crossed the line.

If it were true, the cabinet could even impeach her on this ground.

Fortunately she is the Queen herself.

Sif smiled sheepishly and nodded to Athos to express her gratitude.

Athos not only reminded Sif to pay attention to her identity, but also reminded other ministers not to talk nonsense.

Athos is a baron under Sif. Although calling him "Miss XX" is a bit excessive, strictly speaking, it can be excused. The matter ends here.

The old fox Athos acted as if nothing was wrong and put forward suggestions on how to deal with Sif's request.

As a senior official in three overseas provinces, he has been following Earl Sif and Governor Roland for so long, so he naturally understands their operating styles very well.

There is no need to hide your clumsiness in front of these two great leaders, and don't be pretentious. If you have talent, show it to your heart's content.

What he just reported was the plan to build a new factory area on the outskirts of Hanseatic City.

Of course, he didn't just make suggestions, he also prepared the construction plan for the entire factory area. Steam engine factories, textile factories, coal chemical plants, paper mills and glass factories are among the listed ones.

If it were a modern society, if so many high-pollution projects were to be launched collectively, environmentalists would definitely knock them to the ground and beat them up. But in 1792, there was no concept of environmental protection.

There is not much pollution, so how can we talk about environmental protection?

This time Sif finally became serious and listened to the report with concentration.

She approved of Athos' overall plan, and her only objection was that the paper mill was built around the Rodinia River.

The factory needs water, so it is not a big problem to build it next to a river, but it cannot be this river.

"Building a factory like this will affect shipping and trade. Change the location, build a new city here, build the factory nearby, and then build a road to connect the two cities."

Sif walked to the map hanging on the wall behind the conference hall and pointed at it.

Only part of the river she chose was in the Hanseatic province, and its downstream flowed through the Kingdom of Pruden.

Building a factory here is fine, but it can easily cause international disputes.

Athos wanted to warn him, but Sif's next words shut him up.

"If the Prudens have a problem, let them talk to the guns."

Although the Kingdom of Pruden is a powerful country that has emerged in recent years, and its strength far exceeds that of the Kingdom of Oden, there is still a clear gap compared with giants like Sussex.

Even if they had objections, they would not go to war with the Sussex Empire over this bit of industrial sewage.

The Kingdom of Pruden is in a military conflict with the Wende Empire. Both sides have paid thousands of casualties in several minor conflicts. The situation can deteriorate at any time, and there is no time to care about it.

Athos thought silently in his mind that the Kingdom of Pruden and the Vladimir Empire were closely related and must have been included in the enemy list by Her Majesty the Queen.

He knew that Governor Roland led the fleet to sea a week ago. Although he didn't know what the mission was, he could vaguely guess.

The Golden Kite Wanderers were originally dull-eyed and dejected, but recently they spoke with a bit of elation, presumably because of some happy event.

Governor Roland's trip to sea was probably related to this matter.

Guess, Athos would never ask more questions.

The master is in control of the overall situation, and his subordinates are not needed. They can just do their own thing.

After Athos finished his report, other ministers reported their work in turn. Sif basically agreed with their attached implementation plan, but put forward guiding opinions on some details.

Her understatement made several ministers sweat.

Some people lacked ability, and some people wanted to seek personal gain for themselves. Although they were hidden very secretly, Sif could see it at a glance.

Seeing the trembling looks of these ministers, Sif smiled and said with relief: "Don't be nervous, everyone. I believe in your abilities and your loyalty. Do your best and let the meeting end."

You can be selfish without damaging the overall situation. After all, everyone has to support their families. But don't go too far, and don't treat her like a fool.

Her gentle gaze swept across the audience and met every minister. There is encouragement and warning in the gentle eyes.

Several ministers who were hiding their selfish motives were so frightened that they kept wiping their sweat after Sif looked away.

Fortunately, Sif didn't like to talk nonsense in meetings, otherwise they would hardly be able to sit still.

The last item of the meeting was for Raikkonen, who was in charge of supervision, to report on the illegal and criminal status of the officials.

Raikkonen's debriefing was quick.

He made a list of suspects according to categories such as economic crimes, official crimes, criminal crimes, etc. and handed it directly to Sif, so there was no need to read them one by one.

He also attached the disposal plan for Sif's reference. The handling opinions he put forward were basically in accordance with laws and precedents and were well-founded.

Sif kept drawing circles on the paper to show her approval, but the last few lines of names made her frown.

"After the food tax exemption policy was implemented, they still collected taxes privately under the banner of the Queen?"

"Yes."

"How come it's only been three years?" Xif narrowed her eyes with killing intent.

Raikkonen knew that Sif was angry, and he could even guess what Sif was going to say next, but his duty was to supervise and he must act in accordance with the law.

He explained calmly: "The crime of abuse of power plus the crime of malfeasance is serious. It should indeed start in three years."

"This is not abuse of power or dereliction of duty. This is bullying the emperor, an indisputable capital crime."

Sif casually helped these tax collectors avoid three years in prison, and thoughtfully helped them arrange the gallows.

"Her Majesty the Queen is kind-hearted and provides tax exemptions for farmers who are suffering from disasters this year. These bastards are not collecting taxes privately, but are destroying farmers' support for Her Majesty."

She turned her gaze to Athos and asked softly: "Athos, am I right?"

"Your Majesty the Earl is right. It is indeed a capital crime to deceive the emperor, but wouldn't the impact of executing more than 40 tax officials at one time be a bit bad?"

Although tax officials are low-level officials, they are also members of the bureaucracy.

He certainly did not want Her Majesty to set a precedent of sentencing officials to death, so he tried to make a mild suggestion.

"Your Majesty, deceiving the emperor is indeed a capital crime, but in judicial practice, this crime is rarely directly sentenced to death. I suggest that these worms be removed from the official ranks, and the penalty is doubled, so that they serve at least six years. It can act as a deterrent.”

Although Athos was not familiar with the tax collectors, he still tried to reduce their sentences.

Other officials also came to their senses and quickly joined the plea.

They didn't dare to defend these worms, but they also didn't want to watch the tax collector swinging on the gallows. They had to persuade them anyway.

The earl always listens to advice. With so many people speaking out, the attack should not be too broad.

Some begged for mercy, while others just looked on with cold eyes.

Tony, the Undersecretary of the Interior, was as motionless as a wooden stake made of clay.

Jace, the newly appointed captain of the personal guard, had an expressionless face, but felt a little disdainful in his heart.

He knew very well what these officials were thinking.

Of course he doesn't bother to take advantage of the poor. The family business is doing well, and with his introduction, it has opened up overseas markets, so there is no shortage of money.

He firmly supported the Queen's decision, but he always knew what was going on and did not want to speak here.

Xif clearly saw the officials' careful thoughts.

Although there are many people asking for mercy, this is a matter of principle and cannot be compromised.

Roland said that killing a chicken can deter a group of monkeys. These tax collectors are chickens and the senior officials in the conference hall are monkeys.

This chicken must be killed.

Sif's cold gaze made all those who begged for mercy feel cold.

They didn't dare to say anything anymore because they had an unspeakable feeling in their hearts.

I originally thought it was because the Governor was murderous and Her Majesty the Queen was gentle and easy to talk to, but now it seemed that Governor Roland was fortunate to be suppressing Her Majesty the Queen.

Just a few days after the governor left, she was about to kill dozens of low-level officials. This was too scary.

Governor Roland, you'd better come back as soon as possible!
After finally getting through to the end of the meeting, the ministers were finally relieved as they watched Sif leave.

The sense of oppression that Sif brought to them was no less than that of Roland.

She has intelligent eyes that see everything, and no selfishness can escape her.

She didn't punish anyone present, but she made everyone tremble.

After the meeting, Athos looked at the wonderful expressions of the ministers and admired Sif a little more.

Although Her Majesty the Queen is young and sometimes acts impulsively and even a little immature, she is really good at judging people.

Never play tricks in front of her.

Those stupid tax officials used their own blood to help Her Majesty the Queen complete the warning and died unjustly.

Under everyone's awed gazes, Xif returned to the room, opened her notebook, thought for a moment, and wrote a line of beautiful cursive calligraphy.

"On the seventh day of Roland's absence, I missed him."

(End of this chapter)