I will be crowned king

In the gorgeous and solemn palace corridor, Sophia, who had just received permission, went to meet Queen Anne in the prayer hall according to the agreed time.

Two royal attendants led the way, and behind them were fully-armed royal guards who acted as guards of honor; any maids, palace nobles, or officials from the Privy Council who met on the roadside would immediately stop three steps away from her and salute. Then he said, "Good afternoon, Your Excellency."

Your Excellency...Your Excellency...

This unfamiliar title made the girl at a loss. Even at the grand "Honorary Governor Ceremony", when most people complimented themselves, they were either "Your Majesty Governor" or "Honorable Franz". Miss".

But now, they all changed their names to call themselves... Your Excellency.

Sophia raised her chin slightly and tried hard to control the trembling corners of her mouth.

"Your Excellency, Secretary of War, we are here."

The two attendants turned around, lowered their heads respectfully to avoid looking directly at the girl, and said in a smooth and slightly flattering tone: "Your Majesty has been waiting for a long time, and specially ordered us to prepare afternoon tea for His Excellency the Minister; Ruoxiang We had a great conversation, and dinner and your temporary room have been prepared.”

"Okay, I know."

Sophia, who was trying to remain calm, could clearly feel her voice trembling.

Watching the attendants and guards leave, she finally breathed a sigh of relief - she had longed for this kind of life where she was valued and even in the center of attention at all times, but after getting it, she always felt like she was being tied up. A puppet without strings cannot move as he pleases.

Pushing the door and walking into the prayer hall, there is the coffin of Carlos II under the cold statue of the Ring of Order, with the black and red King Unicorn flag covering it. Under the weak candlelight, it is announced to the world that the King of Clovis has been concealed. The true God calls, and the soul returns to heaven.

Anne Herred was sitting at the desk next to the coffin, wearing a long black dress and headscarf in mourning, looking at the drafts and reporting documents submitted by the Privy Council and the Cabinet with a serious expression.

However, judging from the scrolls and documents that have been piled up on the table and even around, it is obvious that her work efficiency is not very satisfactory.

It’s no wonder...even though I have had the experience of observing the emperor’s governance since childhood, the political models of Clovis and the empire are very different. In addition, the current situation in Clovis is difficult, and even if it is Sophia herself, she is not sure she can handle it. What's more, the queen who has been a decoration and vase for so long has never had to worry about these?

"Oh, you're here."

Anne, who was paying full attention, accidentally heard the sound of the door closing. She finally put down her pen with relief and smiled at the girl: "Fortunately, I thought they couldn't find you and could only wait until tonight to see you again."

"Where is it? Your Majesty summons you. How dare your ministers disobey?"

Sophia, whose lips were raised, gave an exaggerated salute. She paused for a while before walking forward: "But I am indeed a little surprised. You should be very busy now and have no time to pay attention to me, the Minister of War."

"You are right. Now I am so busy that I can't even tell the difference between day and night. If I am tired, I will fall asleep as long as I relax a little." The queen couldn't help but smile bitterly:

"The Ring of Order is above. I have never seen Carlos so busy in my memory. He spends most of the day... it has nothing to do with government affairs anyway! When I was a child, I also heard about Clovis. There are rumors that the King of China has always entrusted state affairs to his servants and ministers and never personally intervened!"

"Then you must know by now how wrong this rumor is?" Sophia couldn't help but tease:

"Indeed... Compared with previous kings, His Majesty Carlos is probably the least diligent one, but he is also a king who has developed royal secret agents to the extreme, and at the same time actively attracts reformist legislators to power, and promotes middle and lower-level officers; so even if he does not He often participates in cabinet meetings, but in terms of his understanding of the kingdom and the loyalty of the Privy Council and cabinet ministers, he is probably one of the best."

As she said that, the girl couldn't help but glance at the coffin next to her; she had just heard these things from her father; in her eyes before, this was just a lucky and heartless scum...well, a king.

"It is precisely because he can ensure the absolute loyalty of the cabinet, the Privy Council and the army to him that he will let these people fight with each other and balance them without intervening too much, and still allow his will to be fully executed."

"I see……"

Following the direction of the girl's gaze, Queen Anne's expression was also slightly absent - being able to be 100% convinced of the loyalty of her subjects and holding the entire kingdom firmly in the palm of her hand like a plaything, this guy... was even more capable than she thought. fear.

But she obviously can't do the same thing; if she pushes all matters to the cabinet and the Privy Council, it won't take long before she will be completely eliminated.

The only way to ensure that this would not happen was to hold on to the army; if her childhood memories left a deep impression on her, it was that a monarch with an army would not be despised by his vassals.

And the only army that Queen Anne can control now is...

"By the way, Brigadier General Anson Bach, what is he doing recently?"

……………………

"Loyalty is not a responsibility; loyalty should be an idea, a belief, and a moral character that you should have when you are born into this world and have left behind the ignorance and immaturity of childhood!"

"I believe that the Clovis people possess this kind of beautiful character, just as I believe that the Imperial people will regard it as the most noble spirit."

"It is so natural, as if flowing in our veins and beating with our hearts; for a child born in a traditional Clovis family in the countryside, on the streets of a town, you don't need anyone to remind or teach you. You know you should be loyal to your king, don’t you?”

"And we Clovis people are even better than the Empire in this regard, and better than anywhere in the world of order; we believe in the beautiful concept of loyalty, but we are only loyal to one person, rather than succumbing to them casually like the Empire. , even loyalty has to be divided into levels by birth!"

"Those industrial owners, manor owners, workshops and shops... they can squeeze our blood and sweat, but they cannot buy our loyalty - the Clovis people are only loyal to his king!"

In the shotgun club bar filled with the smell of smoke and sweat, Anson stood on the bar and impassionedly recited the speech that the clerk had just revised half an hour ago, waving his arms to the crowded junior officers below:

"But such a beautiful quality has been abandoned by the senior officials of the Army Department in the past."

"They closed the door, relied on nepotism, formed small groups that excluded dissidents, and then used demagogic slogans to propagandize among the soldiers, making everyone believe that as long as they launched a mutiny, the Kingdom of Clovis could change for the better."

"Of course, if the result is really as they described, I, Anson Bach, am willing to become the traitor in their mouth; because a real soldier should not shout loudly even if he has grievances in his heart and is not understood. That is by no means a crime of aggression. What the Lowe soldiers did!”

"But we have all seen the facts now: there was a chaotic mutiny, the citizens resented us, the nobles despised us, the king was assassinated, and Her Majesty the Queen was asked to personally come forward to settle the matter, and the whole city was in scorched earth."

"Then did we succeed? No! Even the selfish careerists who launched this mutiny died at the hands of the Old Gods who took advantage of them."

"This is the consequences of forgetting loyalty. This is the fate of traitors!"

……………………

"Is it?"

The queen's expression was quite surprised: "He finally became the hero who saved Clovis, and won the favor of so many nobles and royal family, but he went to talk to low-ranking officers... I thought he would use this time to talk to those powerful people. touch."

"After all, Bach is just a small family. If you plan to establish a foothold in Clovis City in the future, it will be very difficult without enough connections, right?"

"This... His Majesty taught me that I must give him some advice after I go back." Sophia agreed, and then changed the subject:

"It's just a new Ministry of War. A large number of former senior officials of the Ministry of War have been purged. If you want to get the Ministry of War back to work as soon as possible, you really need to assemble a group of trustworthy officers who are loyal to the royal family as soon as possible."

"So that's it."

Queen Anne nodded and praised smoothly: "As expected of Carlos, he personally praised the loyal general during his lifetime. He is indeed a model of loyalty to the royal family!"

"It's just... isn't this type of coordination work something Major General Ludwig is better at?"

"Brother...Major General Ludwig?"

Sophia's face showed a flash of disdain, but she held it back:

"I'm afraid it's different from what you think. He is better at handling certain... higher-level, strategic matters. For such more detailed hard work, as the Secretary of War, I am still more inclined to recommend Anson. Responsible."

"Oh, I understand." Queen Anne nodded slightly, her eyes thoughtful.

Although it was well hidden, she was still aware of the small gap between the girl in front of her and Ludwig.

In fact, she had noticed it as early as the mutiny, but at that time, the queen thought that there were some words that Ludwig was unable to say himself and could only be left to his sister. Coupled with the original personality differences between the siblings, it seemed It seemed like there was some conflict between the two.

Now it seems that the seemingly powerful Franz family is not as united as it seems after Archbishop Luther retires from behind the scenes...

……………………

"...And the haze of division still permeates the heads of all armies!"

Anson paused slightly, then gradually slowed down and lowered his voice: "Why? In fact, all of us know the answer, because the Army does not have a core, a firm belief, and a flag that can unite everyone."

"Everyone knows the importance of loyalty, but there is no definition or example of what kind of behavior counts as loyalty, and what punishment should be meted out for behavior that violates loyalty."

"I dare not claim to be the most loyal soldier in the Royal Army, but now I am willing to stand up to set an example and serve as everyone's supervision; I also welcome everyone who agrees with this concept and believes that soldiers should be unconditionally loyal to the kingdom to come forward and join I."

"We must take action to defend justice, maintain the dignity of every army soldier, and build an army that truly fights for the interests and future of the kingdom, an army that truly understands what loyalty is."

"Discrimination between regions, treatment based on different origins, corruption for personal gain, and slogans confusing right and wrong should all stop!"

…………………………

"Speaking of which, although I once promised that the officers and soldiers who mutinied would not punish them excessively, if everyone is spared easily, the people of Clovis City will also be dissatisfied, right?"

Queen Anne suddenly said: "Of course the death penalty can be exempted, but is it too light to just deprive some officers of their positions?"

"Your Majesty is wise."

As if he had expected that the queen would regret it: "As for the punishment of the rebels who participated in the mutiny, especially the final siege of the Osteria Palace, I have entrusted Anson to prepare a draft and am preparing to show it to you. "

"Considering that His Majesty has made such a promise, in order not to affect the credibility of the royal family, we are going to change the punishment to 'atonement' - the mutiny had a very bad impact on the people of Clovis City, so they should be allowed to pay for their mistakes. remedy."

"It just so happens that the heavy snowfall this winter has prevented food from outside the province from entering Clovis City. We can arrange for those people to clear the snow on the railway tracks and help transport food from other provinces into the city."

"This will not only serve as a punishment, but will also not excessively weaken the legion's combat effectiveness; in addition, moving the army away from the periphery of the city can also effectively alleviate the conflicts between the rebels and the citizens."

"Sounds like a good plan."

Queen Anne's eyes lit up: "This plan was made by... Brigadier General Anson?"

"Yes, what's wrong, Your Majesty?"

"Nothing." The queen shook her head, but the smile on her face remained:

"My Minister of War seems to trust her general..."

……………………

“On the 30th day of December in the year one hundred and two of the Saints calendar, I, Anson Bach, a soldier of Clovis, hereby declare that I will completely end all disunity in the army in the past, and let the banner of loyalty once again become The faith of all soldiers!"

"I hereby promise that I will fight for the highest interests of the kingdom together with my fellow travelers until I give up my life!"

As he said this, Anson hit his chest hard with his right fist, "Bang!", then suddenly raised it, half-raised to his side slightly above his head, with the center of his fist pointing outward:

“I declare that today, ‘Red Heart’…

……Officially established! "