king.

Chapter 765 Conflicts abound
When the dust settled, Hudson immediately returned to Xueyue Territory with his family. The imperial capital had become a place of trouble, and the sooner they left, the better.

The royal family seemed to have made a profit in this political deal, but in fact they were badly cheated by him.

After a period of time, when the royal family is negotiating with the conservative camp in the court, they will find out what kind of people his Ha people are.

Except for the spies planted by the royal family, who were eliminated in advance by Hudson, all the people planted by the other major factions were entrusted with important tasks by Hudson.

If you want to be in a high position, you must perform. It is too difficult to rely solely on your own abilities, and you must rely on the power of the team behind the scenes.

The reason why the Hudson faction was able to grow rapidly was partly due to Hudson's reputation and partly because all the major factions increased their investment in spies.

All major factions hope that these spies can play a key role at critical moments in the future.

Unexpectedly, Hudson chose to retire at the peak of his career.

It is naturally a better choice to solve the serious problem without having to fall out.

The lurking personnel did not play a role and could not return to their original camp immediately.

Hudson just retired, not died.

Even after leaving the court, he still has the ability to clean up the mess.

The royal family took over all his power in the court, along with all the potential risks.

It would be fine if the royal family had made preparations in advance, otherwise the consequences would be quite terrible if there was a backlash in the future.

Hudson was no help in this regard.

These guys are the backbone of the Ha faction. If their identities are exposed, their faction will become an empty shell.

Hudson's real power is not in the court at all.

The group of cronies he cultivated were all busy farming and developing their fiefdoms, so they had no time to develop their careers in the court.

The emerging nobles were unable to compete with the established nobles. In addition to their own lack of strength, the absence of elite figures in the court was also an important factor.

Once everyone's territory development is on the right track, these people will shift their strategic focus to the court.

Compared with the empty fat in the court, the support of local governors is hardcore.

It is a pity that these guys are willing to support the Hudson faction because their fame and wealth were all earned by following Hudson on the battlefield.

It was labeled as Hudson from the beginning, and it is only natural to follow suit and cheer as long as it does not involve its own interests.

It is not easy for the royal family to deal with these guys.

Even though he knew it, Hudson would never meddle in it.

The royal family already has a lot of troubles, so they don’t mind adding one more.

Compared with external troubles, internal hidden dangers are the most difficult to solve.

Even now, there are many factions within the royal family. The monarch is too young to take power, and there are many people with their own ideas.

The reason why Caesar V was able to sit firmly on the throne was not because of the support of the royal family, but because a group of powerful people in the empire wanted a weak monarch.

Everyone was under the banner of supporting orthodoxy, and Caesar IV wanted his son to inherit the throne, which established Caesar V's right of succession.

In order to ensure his son's smooth succession to the throne, Caesar IV did not hesitate to forcibly promote Hudson to the position of assistant minister.

As it turned out, his plan was successful.

Hudson did make great contributions in helping Caesar V to ascend the throne.

Although he didn't do anything on the surface, Hudson secretly visited a number of powerful people in the royal family and even had a heart-to-heart talk with the powerful saints in the royal family.

The process was not smooth, but overall the result was good.

Even if some people had different opinions, after Hudson's ideological work, they still expressed their willingness to support orthodoxy.

When it comes to loyalty to the emperor, Hudson's performance is absolutely perfect.

Apart from him, no one else would do such a thing that would offend someone to death.

Of course, if other people really did this, there would probably be grass growing over their graves by now.

The fact that the royal family readily accepted the conditions and sent him away from the capital was also related to his previous impulsive behavior.

After all, an impulsive marshal who threatened to kill anyone who opposed him really made them feel insecure.

Temporarily suppressing a contradiction does not mean that it disappears.

Caesar V succeeded to the throne smoothly, and there was no hope of being replaced, but conflicts of interest among the major factions still existed.

Looking at this transaction, we can see that, in name, the Ha people followed the royal family, but in reality they were divided into several factions.

Unless Caesar V came of age and took power, it would be difficult to unite the major factions.

……

Grand Ducal Palace.

“Franz, the establishment of the principality is now left to you.

As an adult, you need to learn to face difficulties alone and find ways to solve them! "

Hudson said, patting his eldest son on the shoulder.

There is nothing to hide. Since the royal family has authorized him to establish a principality, it should enter a semi-independent state as agreed to appease the various factions in the court.

Once the principality was established, a barrier was created between Hudson and the Empire.

As the monarch of a vassal state, he certainly cannot take charge of the government and can no longer threaten everyone's interests.

Compared to an empire, a duchy is of a much lower standard, but it is still a country after all.

Prior preparation work is definitely indispensable.

It was indeed a bit hasty to let Franz take charge of the matter, but he couldn't raise his son in vain.

There is a high probability that you cannot be counted on to take care of you in your old age, so the only thing you can do is to help with the work.

As the future heir to the principality, all the work he is doing now is for himself.

"Father, isn't this too fast?

Preparing to establish a country was too stressful for me, as I had absolutely no experience at all.

If you mess up, and it gets out, it will damage your reputation!"

Franz said nervously.

As Hudson's son, he was destined to bear pressure since birth.

Relatively speaking, Franz had a good mentality and didn't want to compete with Hudson.

But when doing things, there are still many concerns, for fear of messing up and attracting criticism.

"Since I asked you to take responsibility, it proves that this matter is not as important as you think.

Don't hesitate to do it. Even if we mess things up, we can bear the consequences!"

Hudson said nonchalantly.

Franz didn't know how to do it, but the people below knew.

Minor flaws are fine, but when it comes to big issues, the people below will definitely be cautious.

If something went wrong at the founding ceremony and if someone was held accountable, the worst consequence for Franz would be a beating, but they would lose their jobs and future.

……

The Snow Moon Principality was in the process of preparation, and the political landscape of the imperial capital was also slowly changing.

After absorbing the power of the Ha family, the royal camp gained great momentum.

Unfortunately, the conservative camp occupying the most core position in the court did not buy their account at all.

Hudson was able to call the shots in the court before because others were willing to cooperate with him.

Now that the hidden dangers have been eliminated, the conservative camp is naturally unwilling to continue to tolerate it.

Compared to the uncertain Hudson, the conservative camp obviously has a much deeper understanding of the royal family.

Faced with competitors who have figured out the bottom line, the conservative camp will naturally not be polite.

Seeing that the royal camp was unwilling to be left out and intended to expand its influence in the court, they immediately took drastic measures.

First, the officials from the royal camp were transferred from core positions, then they were assigned a bunch of difficult tasks, and then they were evaluated and made things difficult for them.

Things are far from over. Once the political struggle begins, there will be no mercy.

Now officials from the conservative camp have begun to dig up old accounts and investigate evidence of violations of law and regulations by officials from the royal camp, in an attempt to drive them out of the court in one fell swoop.

The royal camp, unwilling to accept defeat, also launched a tit-for-tat counterattack.

However, the conservative camp occupied the six ministers, and many actions of the royal family had to be approved by them first according to the rules.

A direct rejection would not be so extreme, but delaying time and slowing down the process within the rules is what they are good at.

Less than three months after Hudson left the court, the growing royal camp was completely at a disadvantage in a new round of political struggle.

The shocking changes shocked countless onlookers.

The outside world has no idea how many games have taken place behind the scenes; everyone only sees the royal camp’s poor performance in the political struggle.

"Something is wrong. The enemy seems to have known our plan in advance and has accurately hit our weak spots every time."

Madeleine couldn't help but complain.

Deep down, she had made up her mind. As long as she found the traitor in the team, she would let him know that being a traitor would cost him a price.

She had already investigated privately, but unfortunately her subordinates were all transferred from her and not her own confidants, so everyone looked like a suspect.

"Compared with the possible leakage of information, stabilizing people's hearts is the most important thing.

It's only been a short while, but everyone's behavior seems to have completely changed.

When they were under Marshal Hudson, they were all capable officials of the country. As long as the government orders were issued, they would be able to complete them without compromise.

The conservative camp wanted to cause trouble at first, but they didn't know where to start, and almost divided the court into two.

I have said that the people below are unstable, so don't be rash and start a war internally.

Now the wish of some people has come true, and your trusted followers have indeed been placed here, but the people below are disheartened.

There are now more than one or two officials who have been flirting with other factions in private. I guess they are all looking for a way out!"

Count Andres fired first.

As an old minister left over from the era of Caesar IV, his position in the royal camp was very embarrassing because he was not a member of the royal family.

Although he seemed to have entered the decision-making level, his voice was very limited. He raised objections many times, but they were rejected by several royal leaders.

He could only endure it before, but now that trouble has arisen, there is no need to be polite.

The old ministers represented by him had long been dissatisfied with their awkward position in the camp, and they hated the fact that members of the royal family monopolized the highest decision-making level.

"Count Andres, calm down for now!
No one wants to see the situation deteriorate. The internal adjustments made earlier were mainly to better integrate the factional forces.

I just didn't expect that everyone would be so sensitive. Just a slight adjustment would trigger such a serious backlash.

However, this is also an inevitable pain. If you want to integrate your strength, you must take this step.

Most of those who jumped out to make trouble were Marshal Hudson's direct subordinates. They were suddenly abandoned and had complaints in their hearts.

It is completely understandable that they secretly collude with other factions out of revenge.

Knowing that someone has become a traitor, we can consider taking advantage of the situation and deliberately release some half-true and half-false news.

The game of court is about long-term victory; temporary gains and losses are nothing.

I guess those angry guys are regretting it now. We lost face, but they lost their position.

If they want to return to power, they have no better choice than to rely on us.

Even if you want to join another camp, they won't give up their position!"

The Grand Duke of Newfoundland soothed and warned.

After all, he had been a prime minister, and by this time he had already discovered that something was wrong.

The outside world believes that Hudson is good at employing people, but judging from the current actual situation, the abilities of Hudson's members are only at the average bureaucratic level.

There is not a single particularly outstanding talent.

On the surface, it was their actions that caused panic among the people below and made them lose focus on their official duties.

But as a person in a higher position, he is very clear about the resentment of the people below. It is definitely not just caused by this source, but there are more people who are secretly instigating.

Just from the intelligence collected, we discovered abnormalities among many officials.

However, court struggles are no joke, and matters that lack sufficient evidence cannot be brought to the table.

It is difficult for the royal family to gain the right to speak in the court with its own strength, so it is necessary to win over more people for support.

The old ministers left by Caesar IV must be appeased first. If these people defect, the outside world will have even less confidence in them.

Once the inherent perception is formed, the number of people willing to join the royal family will decrease.

If we want to change the passive situation, we may have to wait until Caesar V takes power before we can reverse the situation.

After hearing the hidden meaning of the Grand Duke of Newfoundland, Count Andres simply kept silent.

If these people quit their jobs and leave, it would indeed bring political disaster to the royal family, but it would also ruin their own careers.

As a confidant promoted by Caesar IV, the heavy mark on him cannot be wiped off. If he joins another camp, it will be difficult for him to be fully trusted, and he will also be branded as a traitor.

“Let’s not discuss those annoying things for now.

Marshal Hudson is planning to formally establish the Snow Moon Principality on February 2 next year and has sent an invitation letter, hoping that Your Majesty can go there to witness it.

But Your Majesty is young, and it would be too risky to travel long distances.

This kind of thing requires us to act as ministers. Grand Duke Madeleine, please go on behalf of His Majesty!"

Grand Duke Efiero on the side suddenly changed the subject.

Hudson's establishment of the Snow Moon Principality was also a hot topic in the Alpha Empire, and the public's interpretation of this matter was also varied.

As one of the protagonists of the topic, the royal family was severely criticized in this matter.

No one knew what went wrong, but the causes and consequences of the establishment of the Xueyue Principality were directly exposed.

It is generally believed by the outside world that Hudson insisted on upholding orthodoxy, which offended the ambitious "long-term monarch faction" in the royal family and is now being ostracized.

After all, holding the military and political power of an empire is much more comfortable than serving as the monarch of a newborn principality.

Without gaining an inch of land, and without obtaining any additional privileges, the only difference between the Xueyue Principality and the Xueyue Territory is a title.

Whether or not a duchy was established would have little impact on Hudson. He was already a grand duke anyway, so even the coronation process would be unnecessary if a duchy was established.

The legal basis for his rule over the Snow Moon Territory originated from the enthronement of Caesar IV the Great. He did not need to be crowned and swear an oath of sovereignty, and the Snow Moon Principality did not have complete national sovereignty.

The future new monarch must be enthroned by the emperor before it can have legal effect.

“Grand Duke Efiero, this is inappropriate!

How could Your Majesty be absent from such a major event as the establishment of the Principality?
If the news gets out, how will the international community view us?

Your Majesty is young, but he is still the emperor of the empire and needs to fulfill his obligations.

As for the safety issue, let Marshal Hudson send a giant dragon to pick him up, and invite a few venerable people from the royal family to accompany him."

Grand Duchess Madeleine responded bluntly.

As the empire's regent, he was always treated as a junior in royal meetings.

Arranging tasks at will without any prior communication had already touched her bottom line.

"Madelaine, this is not the time to act on impulse. If you don't want to go, you can ask someone else to go. How can you joke with His Majesty?"

Archduke Efiero scolded unhappily.

It was obvious that he really regarded Madeleine as his junior. His reprimand came from the bottom of his heart, but the effect was somewhat counterproductive.

When Caesar IV was in power, he also cared for his descendants in this way.

After enduring for a few years, Caesar IV, who had grown stronger, drove them back home.

I definitely have regrets, but character problems are not something that can be changed just because I want to.

Moreover, in his opinion, the tragedy that followed Caesar IV was caused by his willful behavior.

If these old guys were still assisting in the court, power would never fall into the wrong hands.

If Alpha I could firmly control the court, he would not have any inappropriate thoughts, and the untimely death of Caesar IV could have been avoided.

"Humph!"

After a cold shout, Grand Duchess Madeleine slammed the door and walked out.

She was in no mood to debate with these royal old curs. She might as well do something else with that free time.

If she wasn't worried about being exposed, she would have created an accident and sent all these annoying guys away.

As if she thought of something, a smile suddenly appeared on the corner of her mouth.

She hasn't wasted these days.

Hudson was in a hurry to leave the court, as she had already noticed something was wrong.

After a series of investigations, some problems were discovered.

There are so many hidden problems in the Alpha Empire that they need to be solved urgently.

But the rulers of the empire are all old, and they only care about maintaining stability.

In their view, the problems in the empire were minor. There was no force in the entire continent that did not have problems internally.

No matter how serious the current problem is, it will not be as serious as when the orc army approaches.

Since we were able to survive such a dangerous situation back then, the minor problems we are facing now are not worth mentioning.

Her intuition told her that these problems were her chance. No matter how hard the empire's rulers tried to cover up the problems, the contradictions would eventually explode.

She couldn't even deal with the old guys in the royal family, let alone those in the court.

If you can't confront them head-on, then just keep quiet, slowly accumulate strength under the protection of the royal family, and wait for the opportunity.

After the conflict was triggered, the court was bound to be reshuffled.

The important military and political figures who held power in the court had to pay the price for the situation getting out of control, so their positions were vacated.

The biggest problem now is that the power she has is limited, and it is difficult for her to take advantage of this wave of power dividends.

(End of this chapter)