I will be crowned king

"Did you give Whisper's head to the War Department?"

"It's a kind of gesture. Of course, I know that after this is done, many people will definitely say that I am showing weakness. I don't dare to resist, so I have to please them and plead for the generosity of the War Department."

"Indeed... you have to know that many people have already paid a lot of money to help you fight against the Army Department."

"Are you going to help me fight against the War Department or... force me to fight against the War Department for them?"

"At this point, don't you think it's the same thing?"

"I don't think so at all...especially after meeting that Monsieur Maurice Périgord."

"Is it……"

In the silent prayer room of Clovis Cathedral, Archbishop Luther, standing behind the main altar, held a doctrinal classic and looked at Anson Bach sitting in the audience as if he was preaching, and calmly let out a long chant.

"You may not know, but I have guessed more than once about the reason why you insisted on leaving Beluga Port and returning to Clovis."

Putting down the classics in his hand, Archbishop Luther deliberately avoided the topic started by Anson and talked about another unrelated matter: "Run, Roland, Cecil, Bernard... Of course, including us... The Lantz family, so many wealthy and noble people, hope that you can stay there to ensure that the interests of all of us are safe."

"Even if there are a few officers in your Storm Legion who insist on adhering to principles, most of the soldiers are still very realistic; you can give them treatment that they could not even imagine in the past. For money, land and shares in those factories, you will It’s absolutely no problem for them to stay and fight for you.”

"But you are still back, and unlike in the past, you are no longer willing to be a vassal of a certain force, or even want to be in a disadvantaged position in the alliance. You are completely prepared to be an enemy of everyone... To put it bluntly, this It bothers me a little bit.”

"In the eyes of outsiders, you are part of the Franz family. In the eyes of those who know part of the actual situation, you are a collaborator who is willing to do anything as long as the price is right; but to our enemies, you are a Seriously unstable elements."

"You can stay in the new world, so that no matter what you do, no one will stop you, or at least choose to acquiesce; you can also come back, and be a collaborator with no ambitions, as you were in the past. .”

"But you didn't do that. Instead, you chose a path destined to make all meat unhappy... Why?"

The archbishop spoke slowly, but never moved his eyes away, telling Anson that it would be inappropriate not to answer the other party's question head-on.

"There is no reason, I just feel that even if we continue to stay in the new world, the significance and role that the Storm Legion and I can play will not be great."

Slightly relieved, Anson shrugged and said: "In addition, if I choose to stay, I will inevitably have a conflict with Louis Bernard over the issue of who is the leader of the Free Confederacy. If it is not handled well, it will probably lead to the split of the entire Free Confederacy. .”

"You think this is not good, so you choose to leave?" Archbishop Luther asked, "Even if you give up the results you have worked hard for two years?"

"I think the key to the problem is what was the purpose of doing this in the first place."

Anson gave the answer straightforwardly: "Assist the Rune family to move to the new world, attract the attention of the empire and consume the other party's national power, and gain greater advantages for Clovis on the local battlefield. If an armistice agreement can be reached, then It couldn’t be better.”

"Judging from the results, I have achieved both goals, and they have been achieved very well...Although there did appear to be some small flaws that no one wants to see, at least the results are good."

"As for staying in the new world... first of all, that was not my original intention from the beginning. Secondly, since the purpose has been achieved and my own interests are not damaged at the same time, why can't I leave?"

"Well, so in your eyes, completing the set goals has a higher priority than maximizing profits." The Archbishop seemed to be muttering to himself:

"It's very interesting. This is not the same as the person in my impression... I originally thought that you must give priority to interests. Anyone who blocks you from obtaining greater benefits, whether friend or foe, will become the target you must eliminate."

"I really didn't expect that I would be this kind of person in your heart."

Anson raised his eyebrows: "Can you tell me the reason why you ask this? No offense, but I feel like I am participating in an interview."

"Interview, interesting statement."

Slowly walking to the bench in front of Anson, the Archbishop sat sideways and said, "Then you might as well think so first, it will also facilitate our subsequent communication."

"You mean..."

"No, no, no, this is just a hypothesis; after all, I couldn't have expected that you would hand over the body of 'Whisper' to the Ministry of War, let alone that you would come to me after that." The Archbishop waved his hand. :

"So let's... let's say I have a job for you, one... that will definitely be in your interest and will even get you a lot of benefits and get you out of a lot of troublesome work."

"Of course, with such generous treatment and many privileges, you must first make sure you have the qualifications in this area, especially some very important qualifications; the interview... is only the initial step, but because it is so important, I have to carry it out myself. ,can you accept?"

I... Anson opened his mouth but hesitated. Looking at the meaningful gaze of the elder in front of him, he suddenly had the urge to directly use mind reading on the other person - of course that was impossible.

The other party already knows the purpose of his visit, but he still refuses to answer the question directly, which means that if his answer cannot satisfy him, then he will never get a satisfactory answer.

"...Can I ask first, what exactly is the content of this job?"

"I'm afraid this won't work, but..." The Archbishop paused, and after thinking for a moment, he gave the answer: "Let's assume for the moment that we let you serve as the top person in charge of the Army Department, that is, the Chief of General Staff?"

Um? !

Anson, whose eyes widened for a moment, suddenly lost his composure. He almost threw himself from the chair and pushed the Archbishop to the ground.

The Kingdom of Clovis was founded by force. There was only one nominal leader and marshal of the army, and that was the king himself; the chief of general staff of the Army Department... was the person whose status was second only to the king, or who commanded more than 100,000 standing legions on behalf of the king.

The pinnacle of all military personnel in the entire Kingdom of Clovis, theoretically the position second only to His Majesty.

"I said, this is just a hypothesis, a pure hypothesis." The Archbishop hid back, as if to avoid Anson's "cull":

"After all... I am just a bishop. I cannot interfere with the secular world, and I have no right to make decisions for His Majesty Carlos II and choose who to serve as the Chief of Staff of the Army Department."

"Uh... But if I remember correctly, the position of Chief of General Staff seems to be related to one's origin and years of service." Anson smiled:

"Strictly speaking, even if my school status is included, my service years are less than ten years; and to compete for the position of Chief of General Staff, it should be at least twenty years..."

"That's just a tradition. The laws of the Kingdom of Clovis have never stipulated that the chief of general staff must serve for twenty years." The archbishop shook his head:

"Theoretically, as long as His Majesty wants, he can appoint any officer or even... any soldier to serve as the chief of general staff."

"In addition, I just said that this is just an assumption to facilitate our subsequent communication. I have not promised or hinted to you that after passing this interview, you will have the opportunity to become the Chief of General Staff of the Army Department, or that you will not be the Chief of General Staff at all. This Chief of Staff thing, everything we’re going to say next, has nothing to do with any of that.”

"……clear."

Looking at the Archbishop's eyes that were about to express his thoughts directly, Anson could only nod his head and sat on the chair very obediently, waiting for the next interview.

"Obviously, I cannot and will not reveal any questions about this to you, but there are some things that must be clarified in advance." After a few coughs, the Archbishop's expression became serious again:

"Anson Bach, everything you have done in the past has fully proved your ability and decisiveness in executing orders; and everything that happened in the new world is enough to prove that you also have a considerable degree of ambition."

"I'm not blaming anything, on the contrary, I'm...well, we all appreciate this; since the new world can't give you a platform for further development, your magnanimous motherland Clovis will certainly not let her loyal soldiers Suffering injustice.”

"Therefore, I would like to ask a very critical question now. Dear Anson Bach, do you think the current relationship between the War Department and the Privy Council is what His Majesty wants to see?"

Anson was silent for a while, and finally said in a tentative tone:

"Do I have to answer yes or no?"

"Of course not, I said this was an interview... hypothetical." The Archbishop shook his head again, his eyes never leaving him for a moment:

"Since it is an interview, of course what I want to do is to understand your true thoughts and attitudes, not the answers; let me emphasize, what we want is the attitude, not the answers."

Anson understood. The Archbishop obviously wanted him to express his position - of course, not a meaningless act like expressing loyalty, but whose position he stood on.

The Storm Legion will definitely become a new force in Clovis City. Who will this force represent, which group and class it will become the spokesperson for, which group's interests it will protect, and who it will treat as its enemy... This is what Luther... Franz wanted to know.

The only thing that made Anson a little confused was why the other party came to look for him; even if he wanted to choose an emerging force within the army, wouldn't his son and successor Ludwig Franz be more suitable?

But he didn't think much about this issue. At this point, there was no need to discuss meaningless things like "why me".

"...As a soldier of His Majesty, I dare not speculate on his personal thoughts, but I personally think that the current way of getting along between the Privy Council and the Ministry of War is very unhealthy." Anson said cautiously:

"To put it simply, both sides occupy part of the scope of rights that should belong to the other party. This makes the boundaries and edges between each other very blurred, and it is natural for conflicts to arise."

"oh?"

Luther Franz's curiosity seemed to be aroused: "Can you be more specific?"

"Then let's use the police on Whitehall Street as an example." Anson nodded slightly: "In the past, the Guards were part of the army, but they were directly responsible to His Majesty the King himself."

"This was originally a good system, which gave the Guards a relatively independent status; although it also led to various abuses of power, it is not completely impossible to transform into a 'police'. "

"However, in the subsequent reforms, the Privy Council was too afraid of the armed threat of the Guards, which was beyond their control, and even set up the newly established Whitehall Street Police as a security force with a lower status than the Privy Council and under the full authority of the Privy Council. Department, to a certain extent, allowed the Privy Council to have their own weapons."

"This not only gave the Privy Council a false sense of security, but also greatly damaged the dignity and scope of power of the Army. It was tantamount to depriving them of the authority that originally belonged to them. Even as a result of the Clovis Rebellion, the Guards Totally rejected.”

"I am not saying this to clarify the Guards. After all, I myself am one of the victims. But those who did this have obviously forgotten the status and significance of the Guards in the army; they have been denied, resulting in The blow was quite heavy.”

The Archbishop nodded slightly: "Then you mean to return the management authority of the Whitehall Street Police to the Ministry of War?"

"This is absolutely not possible - not to mention that they have completely become a subordinate department of the Privy Council. With the current situation, if the Ministry of War is allowed to control the security of Clovis City, the already precarious situation will collapse in an instant!" Anson immediately vetoed:

"My suggestion is that it is best for the Whitehall Street Police to become independent from the Privy Council system as soon as possible and become a specialized department responsible to His Majesty himself. Their responsibilities should not be limited to public security, but should be closely related to the review or the court. Such departments are linked to each other and have law enforcement powers at least on the same level as the Privy Council; this can not only legitimately prevent the Army from using the excuse of "maintaining public order" to forcefully enter the city, but also remove the Privy Council's false sense of security, allowing the double-reverse forces to truly possess The basis for negotiation.”

"In addition... the long-term monopoly of many positions in the Privy Council and the War Department is also a problem. In my opinion, the source of the contradiction between the two parties is this monopoly on positions. It not only divides the spheres of influence of both parties, but also weakens the authority of the king. .”

"I see, I finally understand." The Archbishop nodded slightly:

"I don't know if my understanding is correct, but dear Anson, from your tone, it seems that you are preparing to completely overthrow the current Privy Council and the Ministry of War, and let the entire upper-level forces of Clovis..."

"...Shuffle the cards completely?"