Yes, Madam Prime Minister

Page 266

The second largest business is handling the estates of magicians.

Most magicians have some wealth, but most of their biological children are not magicians. However, generally speaking, their daughters-in-law or sons-in-law are mostly magicians.

Otherwise, how did military nobles come about, passed down through generations? The probability of having magical talent is only one percent.

Here's a joke: Back when summoning mages were lords and elemental mages were vassals, the lord's most important job was dealing with the vassals' funerals. If things went wrong, it could cause a huge mess.

Now that we live in an era of civil service, it is naturally the government that handles these kinds of matters.

For someone like Ursel, a top figure in the magical world, with numerous children and disciples, it was practically a matter of national importance.

After leaving Ussel's house, Ronan returned to his daily work, teaching his son and, incidentally, giving lessons to the candidates for his daughter-in-law.

Astrid, meanwhile, kept flipping through the not-so-thick notebook.

After a week of meticulously copying notes, which she had almost worn out, she finally came to a conclusion.

To achieve the six-in-one system, you need to go to Seris.

Astrid, being the decisive type, went straight to the palace to ask Ronan when he would retire.

Then she was stopped by a female guard.

No matter what, the Inner Court Secretariat still holds many documents concerning various aspects of the country. These documents are not particularly confidential, but anyone with a keen eye can definitely glean information from just a few. Therefore, non-staff members are prohibited from entering or leaving, and even those belonging to the Inner Court Secretariat are subject to body searches.

"Can you hurry up?" Astrid urged. She was in a bad mood, but she wouldn't throw a tantrum and force her way in. She was a person who knew the rules, otherwise Ronan wouldn't have been so indulgent towards her all these years.

"Sir, don't rush me," the female guard in charge of the body search said with a smile.

They were quite familiar with Astrid. As for why she was called a knight, it was because Astrid had some academic achievements in magic, and Ronan, through his machinations, had her knighted based on those achievements. She even held a position in the Mage Order and received a salary. In terms of wealth, she ranked second among Ronan's children, with only Ina being richer than her. This was because Ina was skilled at running errands for Ambrina, buying things, then inflating prices and taking a cut. Lucien, despite being the crown prince, was actually penniless, but he didn't need to spend any money.

Soon, Astrid arrived at Ronan's side, and a group of girls couldn't help but look at her, the kingdom's most famous illegitimate daughter.

"I'll be leaving for a bit," Ronan said to the potential daughters-in-law, then went to the other side with his daughter.

Astrid got straight to the point, "When are you retiring?"

"Hmm, are you in such a hurry?" Ronan asked in surprise.

“It’s urgent, but not that urgent,” Astrid replied.

"That's settled then," Ronan replied casually.

Astrid gritted her teeth in anger at Ronan's attitude. "I said, why don't we just become that dog emperor? His strength is just so-so."

Ronan didn't speak, he just smiled.

“Okay, I know that’s impossible,” Astrid said. Of course she knew it was impossible. Assassinating foreign leaders was against the rules. Once someone started it, it would never end. Not using assassination was an unspoken agreement between major powers. Of course, it was common for major powers to kill leaders of smaller countries.

“How about I go to Seris myself?” Astrid suggested.

Ronan chuckled. "Sure, let me cut off both your legs first, then you can use a wheelchair. I have no objection."

"Ugh," Astrid said irritably. "This damn war, can't it just start already?" She knew that Ronan would only leave after he had truly defeated the other countries and established his hegemony over the Western Continent.

And this may require several more wars.

“There’s nothing we can do about war,” Ronan said.

Preparing for several years, mobilizing for several months, and then fighting for several days—that's how war often works. Only Mingbaozong, a strong contender for the top spot on the list of the most incompetent rulers in another world, could pull off something like making a decision one day and then setting off with a large army the next.

The intermittent wars that have raged on the Western Continent for the past four years are actually the result of more than a decade of planning by various countries. The situation going forward will likely be characterized by a few years of fighting followed by a few years of rest, with the conflict repeating itself.

Having already gained the upper hand, Ronan believed that the Kingdom of Phos would grow stronger with each battle, while the Empire would grow weaker and weaker until it collapsed.

The day Ambrina was crowned was the day Ronan retired.

Chapter 602 Correction, A Test for the Son, The Troubled Youngest Son

After seeing Astrid off, I attended a class.

Ronan left and went to where Lucien was taking his magic class. He watched for a short while before Lucien's magic class ended.

Ronan and Lucien's magic teachers nodded to each other in greeting, then came over to their son. "Not bad, son. Your strength is much greater than mine and your mother's when we were sixteen." He was still at the first rank when he was sixteen, as was Ambrina, while little Lucien was already at the second rank.

“But I’m afraid I’ll find it very difficult to surpass you in magical rank throughout my life,” Little Lucien said.

After Oran, not only all the kings, but all the royal families, only Lawrence reached the seventh rank. The rest did not even reach the sixth rank, and the highest was the fifth rank.

Of all the royals now, only Isabel seems to have any hope.

The Freigo family's special summoning magic is really not easy to improve.

"Moreover, magical strength is enough for me; what's truly important is the ability to govern a country, but this..." Little Lucien hesitated, for he had once thought governing a country was very simple.

From childhood to adulthood, he saw his mother as someone who didn't manage affairs. Apart from high-ranking military officials, she couldn't even name many other officials. His father wasn't someone who liked to play power games either; he devoted most of his energy to construction.

Therefore, in Lucien Jr.'s view, the king's problem lay in controlling military power and developing infrastructure.

But after only half a year of internship, he discovered that this was not the case.

Having military power makes development and construction not the real problem.

Rulers typically face two dilemmas: first, choosing between a bad policy and an even worse one; and second, choosing between a high-risk policy and an even higher-risk one. Both are choices that must be made.

As for those things that most people think are probably good, there's no need for you, the king, to make the decision. The bureaucrats have already finalized the plan and basically reached a consensus. All that's needed is for you, the king, to give the order.

After all that, it turns out the king was just here to do bad things and take the blame.

“You can speak freely if you have any difficulties,” Ronan said. “You know, and you should know, that your mother will abdicate soon, so you don’t need to worry about the things that the other princes have to worry about.”

Even in the Western Continent, the saying "the most ruthless are those in the imperial family" still applies. The crown prince has to be extremely careful. However, Ronan's situation is special. Ambrina has no interest in power. If it weren't for the current situation, she might be preparing to pass the throne to her son now and travel the world with her husband.

Lucien hesitated for a moment, then told Ronan what he had just been thinking.

"Ha, I thought it was something serious." Ronan chuckled. "The reason you're facing these difficulties is because you haven't encountered your own treacherous ministers and henchmen yet. You have to face the problems yourself. Even great men need treacherous ministers and henchmen, let alone you?"

“But, Mother…” Lucien felt that Ambrina had no treacherous officials or henchmen.

Ronan laughed again, pointing to the tip of his nose. "The treacherous minister by your mother's side is me, and your mother's henchman is the former prime minister. A so-called treacherous minister is someone who knows how to guess the superior's intentions and is willing and able to take the blame, while a henchman is someone who has his own opinions and dares to fight with others."

"It's not that difficult, it's just that you don't have it right now."

"On the contrary, if you think it's easy to seize military power and carry out construction, that's really outrageous."

"Throughout history, which monarch who could grasp military power and also carry out construction was not a legendary figure remembered by all? Your grandfather was a master of political maneuvering. In the capital and the central government, he was the supreme king, but outside the capital, who was he? What could he do with the bureaucrats, nobles, and churches?"

"You have this misconception because you think your mother seized military power very easily, while I seem to have accomplished various construction projects without much effort."

"Although it's normal for a son to think that his parents are nothing special, you still need to correct this misconception. Here's what I'll do: I'll arrange a test for you."

“Next month, we will invade the newly established Kingdom of Belgium. You will choose three people from among the trainee secretaries, and I will arrange for a few more experienced people from the Rhine region to assist you. At that time, you will serve as the provisional governor of the conquered territory.”

Ronan said.

In fact, even if Lucien hadn't said those words today, he would still have arranged this test.

"Um, who should I choose?" Lucien asked.

"You asked me what to do? Of course, you can choose for yourself. Consider this a mini-test before the official exam," Ronan said. His tone wasn't stern, but he was actually quite angry, feeling a bit disappointed in Lu Xi'an. He wasn't angry at all about Lu Xi'an's outrageous remarks earlier; it was fine for a child to have naive ideas. But right now, Lu Xi'an's hesitant and indecisive demeanor was making him very unhappy. How could someone who ruled a country, even a ruler who maintained the status quo, act like this?

Seemingly sensing his father's disappointment, Lucien suddenly raised his voice and answered loudly, "I understand."

"That's settled then. I'm taking a break to visit your brother. You should prepare yourself well."

After saying that, Ronan left.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Lü Xi'an's heart sank suddenly, as if he had been violently shocked by ice water.

Ronan was doing it on purpose, of course; he needed to put some pressure on them.

After leaving this area, Ronan went to the gardens in the north of the palace, where he met Ambrina and her youngest son, Louis.

Of the three children, Ambrina's favorite is her youngest son, Louis. Louis is nine years old this year and his magical talent was only discovered last year, which can be said to be very late, and his talent is not very high.

However, he was practically a miniature Ronan, a handsome young man with a lively and talkative personality. He was kind to everyone, unlike Lucien who was extremely cold to people in the court, or Ina who caused a lot of trouble. Therefore, everyone in the court liked him very much.

Of course, Ambrina's affection for her youngest son wasn't due to these reasons. Rather, it was because Louis was musically talented and had a fondness for fine food. He was the only person in the palace who could discuss music with Ambrina. As for the other musicians who were occasionally summoned to the palace, they were either too tactless, directly criticizing Ambrina's compositions without giving her any face, or they were too fond of flattery, claiming that Ambrina's wrong notes gave the music a completely new soul, shamelessly so.

Louis, though talented, was still a bit lacking in skill, yet he spoke his mind freely, which gave Ambrina a great sense of accomplishment as a teacher.

At that moment, Louis shrank back in fear when he saw his father, Ronan. He didn't know why, even though his father had never said a harsh word to him since he was a child, the older he got, the more afraid he became of his father, Ronan.

"Son, what do you plan to do in the future?" Ronan asked.

Louis stepped back behind Ambrina and replied, "To be a musician."

Ronan raised an eyebrow and smiled, asking, "And then, while you're performing at someone else's house, you casually flirt with their young lady?"

Ambrina frowned as she looked at her son, and Louis's expression changed drastically.

Chapter 603 The Underlying Reasons, Using the Pretext to Make a Scene: I Was Just Playing Around

Ronan jokingly said that his son Louis, who was only nine years old, did not actually do that. He only met two noble ladies, one eight years old and the other eleven years old, at the royal banquet during the New Year. In the following months, he secretly dated the two of them several times, of course, separately.

To do something like this at such a young age, and to be two-timing.

Ronan looked at his son for a while, but Louis remained silent. He had no choice but to speak, "What, you're not going to tell me yourself? Fine, I'll tell you what you did..."

In front of Ambrina, Ronan recounted the story of his youngest son.

Upon hearing this, Ambrina relaxed. "You scared me to death! It was just a secret date with a little girl. Why are you making such a fuss, Ronan?"

“Anli, this in itself isn’t important. What’s important is that if he continues like this in a few years, it might cause trouble. The Duchy of Rhine will eventually fall to him, and theoretically, he’ll never go there to give orders. The Rhine region will always maintain the model of being divided into three autonomous regions. What if this kid gets some noble family’s daughter pregnant one day and has to marry her? Do you think the other family might have some inappropriate thoughts?”

Ronan said that this was the problem he was worried about.

Ambrina's expression turned slightly more serious. "That is a problem."

Louis's eyes lit up. "Then I can just not take the title of duke, right?"

“You have to,” Ronan said.

After the Rhine region was brought under the rule of the Kingdom of Phos, there was no real turmoil, only some sporadic resistance activities. This was due to two reasons. First, the Kingdom of Phos carried out construction in the region, which improved the living standards of the lower classes. Workers and peasants were very pragmatic, or rather, they had no energy to consider anything other than practical problems.

Another reason is that the local feudal system was preserved to a certain extent. It was cleansed, but not completely. Many nobles who were not doing well before and had no power or influence became officials in the new government. The highest leader of the autonomous region still came from the families of the original three princes. Ronan only forced the original three princes to abdicate.

In general, the Rhine region is currently in a transitional period. To prevent those three families from having any inappropriate ideas, Ronan nominally created a duke who was one rank higher than them.

Why not let Crown Prince Lucien receive this title? Because Ronan didn't really want to create a union, following the traditional practice of the Western Continent where one person holds multiple titles. Instead, he planned to gradually transform the feudal system in the Rhine region into a civil service system, truly turning it into the three "states" of the Kingdom of Fass, while abolishing the Duchy of the Rhine.

Louis was the first and will be the only Duke of the Rhine; he was a transitional figure during a period of transition.

Ambrina was well aware of this.

“Well, actually I’m just playing around with them.” Louis spoke up then, and he really dared to say it. “I don’t like them that much, Dad. Don’t worry, I would never kill anyone with them. I like Aunt Alice’s type.”

Naturally slender, with a face that has a touch of oriental charm, and most importantly, possessing a cool and capable temperament, she is also a person who has read a lot of books and has artistic cultivation.

Aunt Alice is his goddess.

Those noble ladies were merely infatuated with Prince Louis's good looks; it was low-class, only fit to be used as practice.

Ambrina completely ignored her son's nonsense. "So, Ronan, what are your thoughts?"

She had already sensed that her husband was just using this as an excuse to bring up the matter, even if their younger son wasn't so irresponsible.

"I haven't played with my son in a long time" is just an excuse.

“Let’s get engaged first, so no one has any inappropriate thoughts. Once we’re engaged, this kid can do whatever he wants,” Ronan proposed.

"That's a good idea," Ambrina thought.

Indeed, Anri is a doting mother to her youngest son, a playful big kid, but at the same time, she is also a professional queen with a strong work ethic.

"I don't want to! I don't want to!" Louis immediately started throwing a tantrum. "Why can my brother choose from dozens of different women, but I can't? I quit! I quit!"

Ronan lifted his youngest son up like a kitten, and Louis fell silent instantly, as if his fate had been seized by the scruff of his neck.

Setting his youngest son down, Ronan said with a smile, "You can choose as well: the princess of Weyland, the duchess of Venaya, or the princess of Ross. Pick one."

Realizing his father wasn't angry, Louis relaxed slightly and resumed, "The princess of Weyland? She's called a princess? Isn't she just a female pirate born of a pirate? Venaya? She's the daughter of a swindler. Absolutely not. And the Rus'? Aren't they snow-eating barbarians? Can a princess from that place be called a princess? She's not even as good as a village girl."

Ronan couldn't help but sneer, "You're quite picky. You're a prince without the right to inherit the throne, and your abilities are so poor. Do you think others would even look at you? If you weren't my and your mother's son, you'd only be fit to dig coal in the mountains."

“Father, that’s not fair. With my handsome face that I perfectly inherited from you, plus my talents, is it so hard for me to be a kept man?” Louis said, using the Seres word for kept man, which he had also learned in Chinese. “I’m not bragging, but I can have a different man every day of the year, and I never repeat the same one.”

“Alright, Lu, your dad is talking to you about serious business.” Ambrina stopped her youngest son’s rambling, comical performance.

“Then I’ll choose the Wieland. But let me make this clear, I don’t want one with freckles, they’re awful,” Louis replied seriously.

Ronan was amused and echoed his son's words, saying, "You can't control what other people's daughters look like."

“Then let him get a divorce, find a beautiful woman, and have a child. I’m not in a hurry,” Louis said.

"You really dare to say that, son," Ronan said, both amused and exasperated.

“I didn’t know before, but I just found out. I’m very valuable. The second son of the king is nothing, but the title of duke is different,” Louis said, becoming arrogant as he spoke. “What is a prince with no right of succession? With this, it’s different. I can marry whoever I want. Even the emperor would dream of marrying his daughter to me.”