I will be crowned king

"Let me take responsibility, Mrs. Wang...I mean, did your Majesty really say that?"

Sitting behind a desk full of documents, Ludwig looked tired and looked at Roman who walked in front of him in disbelief: "I thought everything was settled!"

"Obviously, no." Roman said expressionlessly: "To be more precise, the most basic work should have been completed, but all subsequent handover work will be entrusted to the Privy Council, that is, to you."

"In the words of His Majesty Nicholas I, this will be the first and most important task at the beginning of the establishment of the Prime Minister's Office. Whether it can be successfully completed will involve the friendship between Clovis and the Free Confederacy, as well as His Majesty himself. face."

As he spoke, the adjutant glanced at the pile of documents on the table, intentionally or unintentionally. That document was specially placed in the most conspicuous position and was also the most gorgeous in appearance:

"According to my king Jun's decree——

Appointed Major General Ludwig Franz to establish the Chancellery and serve as the executive, with full authority to take charge of the affairs under the jurisdiction of the Privy Council in order to deal with the current critical situation in Clovis and solve problems for the kingdom and His Majesty;

This appointment shall take effect immediately from the second day of the issuance of the order - Privy Council of the Kingdom of Clovis. "

In the end, Ludwig accepted the Privy Council's invitation and took the initiative to accept the title of "Consul" without informing Sophia.

Of course he understood that this was a conspiracy of the Privy Council, a means to bribe himself and split the power of the Franz family - from rehabilitating Anson Bach to winning over the generals of the Standing Army, all the efforts made by their small group were actually It was to replace the previous War Ministry and establish a military government belonging to the Franz family.

The question is, what is the purpose of establishing a military government?

For Ludwig, the answer was simple. Of course, it was to override the Privy Council, become Clovis's de facto ruler, and win the biggest cake in this chaos of mutiny and rebellion.

So now the Privy Council has come up with another solution: If Ludwig had the opportunity to legitimately obtain Clovis' greatest real power without evading the Privy Council, would that mean there would be no need to establish a military government?

The answer Ludwig gave was... You're absolutely right.

It was not because he was coveting the bargaining chip given by the other party, but because Ludwig really found that he had no way out - now Anson's military rank had surpassed his own, and he had also obtained the important position of chief of the royal bodyguards, plus Sophia's justifiable name. As Secretary of War, it really doesn't make much sense for him to continue to stay in the War Department.

Even to avoid a conflict with his sister, he had to leave the Army Department temporarily; in comparison, the position of "governing" was really a very good choice.

Moreover, the price offered by the Privy Council and the Queen Mother Anne is indeed attractive: nominally, his power to govern is limited to receiving bills submitted by the Privy Council, and then he personally forwards them to the cabinet and the king for approval, and then promulgates and implements them after obtaining permission—— It seems to be the job of a postman and messenger.

In fact, this is not the case at all: which bill to deliver, when to deliver it, whether to implement the approved bill, and how to implement it...all are decided by him as the "governing person".

Not only that, in addition to being the largest authority in Clovis, the Privy Council also has a large number of committees and officials responsible for orders. In the past, the control rights of these committees and officials were not clear, and were often controlled by their respective factions and officials. Determined by birth origin - for example, the Railway Commission is basically under the control of the reformists, and departments such as customs and taxation have always been the territory of conservatives.

Today, the administrative machinery of the Kingdom of Clovis finally has a real nominal leader - the Prime Minister's Office.

Two hundred middle- and low-level officials from personnel, taxation, intelligence, courts, foreign affairs... various departments under the Privy Council, and 48 representatives of the Privy Council committees were attracted by Ludwig as "secretaries" and became his The first batch of officials directly under the administration.

Not only that, Ludwig first applied for subsidies for these two hundred officials as a "consul".

Yes, except for the officials of the Ministry of War who can receive military pay on a regular basis, more than 70% of the officials in the Kingdom of Clovis do not have such things as "salary" and "allowance" at all.

The Privy Council is the largest authority in Clovis. Every time the king wants to do something, he needs to issue a bill, and a special committee must be established for each bill. However, the distinguished committee members are in a high position and will not do things themselves. Therefore, some people must be hired to do the work; and the cost of hiring will of course be determined by the appropriation budget of the bill.

The direct result of this is that the officials under the committee with a large budget can live well, while those with a small budget cannot make ends meet; at the same time, the income is unstable. After all, no one knows how long a certain bill will last and whether the committee may be disbanded; Of course, the congressmen have nothing to worry about. Officials like them will lose their jobs on the spot.

Ludwig solved this problem for them - applying for a subsidy approved by the Privy Council meant that they could use this voucher to receive the most basic monthly income regardless of whether the Prime Minister's Office still existed.

Not only that, in accordance with the rules that extra subsidies are required for attendance during the army camp, Ludwig designed a maximum monthly working hour limit for the Chancellor's Office. If the upper limit was exceeded in that month, the excess amount could be paid twice as much, which he paid out of his own pocket.

The money was not much, but it allowed Ludwig to gain the unconditional loyalty of more than 200 of the most professional officials in the Kingdom of Clovis; in the Privy Council, where the powerful regarded them as tools to be called around, the newly appointed The government is willing to give them a minimum of respect.

Yes, this method was exactly the same as Anson's method to win over the officers of the Storm Legion; it was just that Ludwig was much richer than a certain commander-in-chief, and there was no need to set up a spoils distribution system. They just spent money directly.

It should be said that Anson's win over the Shotgun Club and the establishment of "Red Heart" gave Ludwig a lot of inspiration; instead of completely counting on those who hold real power to be willing to cooperate, it is better to form a force that is completely loyal to him and gradually take control from the middle and lower levels. overall situation.

"...In other words, Queen Mother Anne does not want the Free Confederate Mission to have too many public contacts with her and His Majesty Nicholas, but she does not want to cause any losses." Holding the document handed over by Adjutant Roman , Ludwig murmured to himself:,

"Indeed... although the Free Confederation is very important, the empire will definitely not be happy to see this result. If everything is made clear, they will definitely be obstructed."

After a moment of silence, he suddenly looked up at Roman: "What is the main point of dispute between the two parties now?"

"Under the auspices of the Queen Mother, most of the negotiations have been completed, and what has been handed over to the Prime Minister's Office are the follow-up handover work, but..." the adjutant bowed and pointed at the document:

"There are still some conflicts between the two parties as to whether the New World Company enjoys the same rights as all the chambers of commerce and private banks in Clovis - in short, the New World Bank, the most important part of the New World Company, has a considerable part of its equity anchored in the colonies. In the Governor’s name.”

"These shares account for about 20%, and they are already the second largest shareholder of the bank; but due to the independence of the Free Confederation, New World Company also broke away from Clovis' control along with Beluga Port, and the shares naturally no longer exist. ; Now that the two sides have re-established diplomatic relations, the shares and rights of New World Bank have been put on the table again."

"I see..." Ludwig nodded: "I remember Anson once mentioned that the New World Bank controls almost all taxation and raw material acquisition and sales operations of the Free Confederation."

"Not only that, he also owns a large amount of real estate under his name - mainly factories, manors, mines and forests." Roman added:

"With 20% of the shares, it is no exaggeration to say that the annual profit shared is probably equivalent to at least one-tenth of the tax revenue of the Free Confederation."

"No wonder they refused to agree to return it, and no wonder Queen Anne cared so much about this!"

Ludwig understood immediately: It was obvious that the respected Queen Mother wanted to get this share back, certainly not to Sophia, who was still nominally the colonial governor, but to herself!

The dividend is equivalent to ten percent of the Free Federation's tax revenue for the whole year... This is definitely a huge sum of money. The Free Federation, which has swallowed this money, will definitely not be able to return it easily, so the negotiating party will be stuck with the other party in terms of the rights of the New World Company. neck: It should make the other party feel uncomfortable, but it should not cause the negotiation to break down or make the relatively harmonious atmosphere too stiff.

Since the Queen Mother didn't want to ruin her friendship with Little Baekeland, the job of offending people would of course be left to Ludwig, the governor.

After figuring out the cause of the matter, the next step is of course the solution: How to make the Free Federation willingly hand over this share without causing the relationship between the two parties to break down on the spot?

The most direct way is of course for both parties to negotiate openly, using the 20% of the shares as a bargaining chip to bargain with each other; after all, the Free Confederation is currently the weaker party in the bilateral alliance, and it certainly does not dare to refuse directly; in the end, it may not be possible to all Fight for it, but you can get some part of it, at least it can be used for business.

However, this approach is completely inconsistent with Ludwig's style - either do nothing or do the best. Through this negotiation, everyone can see the courage and strength of the Prime Minister's Office.

In this case, there is no question of any percentage. These shares should nominally belong to the Governor of Clovis Colony, and he will...

…Wait, colonial governor?

Ludwig suddenly realized something and was stunned for more than ten seconds before he regained his consciousness: "Roman, if I remember correctly, Anson Bach...does he also have part of the New World Company's shares in his hands?"

"You remember correctly." The adjutant nodded slightly:

"And it's not just a part. Our Anson Bach... is now a lieutenant general. He is one of the manipulators behind the New World Company. During the colonial rebellion war and the Holy War, this so-called New World Bank was the logistics department of his Storm Legion. , there is no such thing as equity."

"Of course, our lieutenant general did an impeccable job with the accounts. He only 'acquired' a few shares by reselling the loot before leaving, and it was still a non-core stock that could only pay dividends and cannot participate in actual management."

"The reason why his Storm Legion is so loyal to him is because he used these dividends to establish a special fund. From himself to ordinary soldiers, they can receive subsidies of different proportions and amounts from the fund."

"I see……"

Of course Ludwig understood what he meant: "You mean, if I use accounting to investigate the income issue of him, the commander of the colonial garrison, there will probably be no results, right?"

"In the end, it is very likely that you will be backlashed, Lord Ruling." Roman nodded: "I have dealt with Anson's deputy commander Fabian twice, and I roughly understand that the person in charge of the Storm Legion's accounts is Lieutenant Commander Carl Bain. The school and Anson's clerk, Alan Dawn, unless we can bribe these two people, we will never be able to get the real core accounts of the Storm Legion."

"Without even accounts, it's impossible to determine how much wealth the Storm Legion actually plundered in the New World. Even if their monthly income per lieutenant is more than five times the normal allowance, you can't find any loopholes in the shares of the New World Company."

"But he knew about the 20 percent share."

Ludwig suddenly raised the corner of his mouth: "As the actual operator of the colony, Anson Bach...he can't deny that this 20% share belongs to the colonial governor."

"Since it exists, it must be made clear what these shares were used for, and where are the dividends that should belong to the Kingdom of Clovis - if he doesn't know, it is a serious malfeasance!"

"Indeed..." Roman nodded slightly: "But what if he can tell it and let the Free Confederation pay the dividend?"

"Then...it depends on how close the relationship between the Free Federation and him, the commander-in-chief of the Storm Legion, is." Ludwig sneered:

"Because of him, the Free Confederation lost one-tenth of its tax revenue that year... If you were another shareholder of the New World Company, or the leader of the Free Confederation, you would be willing to see this happen without taking any action. ?"

Roman was silent for a moment and did not speak.

But Ludwig didn't care, he had already found a way to deal with Ansen Bach - this guy was too closely bound to the Free Confederacy, and an alliance with him would obviously further strengthen his power, so he had to find some way, Destroy the friendship between him and the New World, and even make both parties turn against each other.

And as long as this important financial support is lost, the Storm Legion, Shotgun Club, "Red Heart"...

How long can their loyalty to Anson Bach last?