Eagle's Glory

At night, these things will be loaded into the carriage, and then leave the city of Paris, and after a long journey, come to its real owner.

That young man will truly determine the fate of Bianka and all of them in the future.　　

130. Planning of the Principality

While Edmond Dantès was conscientiously acting for his Majesty in Paris, his sovereign was also conscientiously performing his duties.

Ever since he and Father Faria reached a consensus on the distribution of the next affairs, Aigron began to devote himself to performing the government affairs of the principality.

At the beginning, he asked the priest to provide him with regular weekly reports and lists of various affairs, so as to learn the various government affairs of the principality. He even attended the meeting of the principality's cabinet in person, but he only listened and did not speak .

After all, he was a clever man, and he had the heart to learn, so as time went by, with the help of Father Faria, he gradually became familiar with these matters.

In addition to copying the experience of Father Faria, he also made a little innovation. He made a list of various matters according to his own priorities, and then asked people to supervise the most urgent matters at any time. Report the progress to yourself at any time.

Compared with Father Faria, Aigron has one advantage—he has a young and healthy body, so he can personally supervise on the spot, and no one can fool him just by word games.

Today, Egron brought Grand Duchess Haide to a large construction site on the outskirts of Ioannina to supervise the progress of the project.

This is the newly planned aqueduct outside the city, and it has also been listed by Aigron as the current top priority.

As an ancient city, the city of Ioannina had similar facilities in ancient times, but due to various natural and man-made disasters over the years, many facilities were slowly destroyed or abandoned, especially when Ali Pasha rebelled and the Greek War of Independence broke out Afterwards, this place encountered wars that lasted for more than ten years, and the related facilities naturally became more dilapidated.

These diversion canals not only benefit the surrounding farmers, but also solve the increasingly severe drinking water problem in Ioannina. Naturally, they have become the most important priority for Aegron.

According to Father Faria's plan, several engineers have already drawn up the design drawings, and the relevant human and material resources have also been deployed. After Aigron took over, he made the decision to start work, and he also spared time To supervise in person, in order to reflect their own importance.

Aigron and Haide came to the site in person, which naturally made the person in charge here panic, but neither of them likes to put on a show, and they don't want to cause the construction site to fall into chaos because of themselves, so they just pack lightly.

Under the leadership of the person in charge, they came to a high ground not far away, from which they could overlook the scene of the entire construction site.

It was summer at this time, and the weather was quite sultry. Although there was wind on the high ground, it was still a bit unbearable. Aigron couldn't help but took off his coat and unbuttoned the top button of his shirt to cool himself off.

This is the case in Aiglon on the high ground, and the migrant workers working below are naturally hotter. They are sweating profusely under the scorching sun, and some of them directly take off their shirts and work shirtless.

Like Aigron, Haidee also held a telescope on the high ground to look at the scenes on the construction site.

When she saw this scene, she was a little bit shy and put away the binoculars.

Then, she blushed slightly, and turned to look at Aigron.

"Your Majesty! How many people are here?"

"There are thousands of people here. If you count other places, the manpower used in the whole project is close to 1."

Egron answered casually while fiddling with the telescope,

"1 people!" Hai Dai couldn't help being a little stunned, obviously frightened by the number, "It must cost a lot of money to recruit so many people at the same time, right?"

Aegron was stunned for a moment, then put down the binoculars and looked at Haidee.

It seems that Teresa's education in person was very successful, and Haidee has begun to learn to look at problems from the perspective of a monarch.

"It does cost a lot of money, but there is no way. If we don't do it now, Ioannina will be overwhelmed sooner or later." Then, Aigron replied, "Besides, we still have some criminals and prisoners in our hands. They can be used cheaply, and later it will not be so easy."

"That's right." Haiide nodded, "It's reasonable to ask them to use their labor to compensate us for the money we spent on feeding them!"

After speaking, Haidee picked up the binoculars again and looked around.

After all, Haiidee is still young, and there are not many opportunities to go out of the city, so she pays more attention to the surrounding scenery than inspecting the construction site. The sound of gunpowder explosion and the smoke rising from the explosion of gunpowder from time to time , it brought her a different kind of lively experience.

But for Aigron, there are a lot of things to consider.

His attitude towards the principality he created is also changing.

At the beginning, he just regarded this place as the territory he snatched, an accidental landing place during the journey, or a transit station. He only planned to stay here for a while before leaving, so he didn't bother to care about the life and death here; but Seeing that Father Faria had worked so hard for the Principality and even exhausted his own vitality, he began to slowly change his mind.

He didn't want the priest's painstaking efforts to be in vain, and he also hoped that the principality would be able to maintain long-term stability in the future and become a "ancestral property" of the Bonaparte family.

Compared with France, where the situation changes from time to time, this quiet and remote small country in the Balkan Peninsula can't be regarded as the family's last retreat?

When he thought about the original glorious Habsburg family, on the original historical line, it finally fell into the empty royal family without an inch of territory and could only be an exile royal family, he couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

Perhaps as Teresa approached her due date, he gradually became conscious of becoming a father, or even an "ancestor" of others.

He couldn't tell anyone about these things, he could only bury them in his heart.

So he began to devote energy and began to focus on building this new Principality.

Of course, even if you want to build, you can't act indiscriminately. You must prioritize, otherwise it will only be counterproductive.

His resources are limited, the Principality is a small country, and its manpower and material resources are quite shabby. Although he has some money himself, it is no problem for him to become a rich man with that little money. If he wants to build a country, it will be a drop in the bucket.

In addition, due to years of wars in the Principality, it can be said that it is now full of waste, and its financial revenue is also quite meager.

Therefore, from a practical point of view, he must control the scale of construction, so as not to let the only remaining resources of the principality be consumed.

This is a paradox - if he doesn't want to do any construction, just when a conqueror replaces the previous ruler, let the people here continue the previous life intact, then the people don't feel that there is anything wrong, they Life has always been painful, and Aigron will not make them more painful. They will continue to live silently and endure the new ruler; but once Aigron wants to do something for their future, he must Mobilizing them to engage in construction requires mobilizing labor, consuming a large amount of stored materials, and spending a lot of money—then he will definitely reduce the quality of life of the people in the Principality during the initial period, and make the principality’s already insufficient materials Power is even worse.

On balance, Egron could only make the most logical choice—first concentrate the vast majority of manpower and material resources that can be used to build the city of Ioannina and the surrounding area, and build it into the absolute center of the Principality ——The diversion canal project outside the city is the most important part of his whole plan.

Firstly, building the capital can improve the cohesion of the principality's ruling class; secondly, after the capital's resources absolutely crush the surrounding areas, he will have a stronger ability to suppress, and then he can levy labor and taxes on a larger scale, Instead of worrying about stirring up rebellion and resistance.

Next, he intends to expand the port, develop foreign commerce, and expand the kingdom's tax base.

Next, after the principality's financial strength is more substantial, it can gradually develop other places according to the plan.

This is a fairly long-term plan, and when it is carried out, Aigron is probably no longer in Ioannina, but even so, he still hopes that this plan can be carried out smoothly.

He is the de facto ruler of the Principality of Ioannina, and naturally has certain obligations for the future of the Principality.

These conclusions are all the results of Egron, Father Faria and several other senior counselors after many meetings and discussions, and he does not intend to tell Haiide all of them.

Haiidee just needs to be her titular monarch—she certainly doesn't care about these details anyway.

"Your Majesty, what are you thinking about?" Perhaps sensing that he was thinking, Haiide couldn't help asking.

"I'm thinking about how to make our principality more stable and stable." Aigron replied casually, "The existing structure can only guarantee temporary peace, but it cannot stimulate its vitality. Instead, it only temporarily suppresses all potential dissatisfaction through violence. It's just that if we don't remove the obstacles sooner or later, sooner or later, the pent-up anger will overwhelm this country forever."

Haidee blinked her eyes, looking at Aigron with half understanding.

"You... what do you mean?"

"Haidee, are you devout to the Lord?" Eggron asked suddenly.

"of course!"

A flash of panic flashed in Haidee's eyes, and she quickly answered loudly. "Your Majesty, ever since I was baptized, I have been thanking the Lord for the grace bestowed on me, and I have never forgotten that I am the Lord's people...Please believe in my piety!"

It's no wonder she reacted so strongly, because Aigron's question touched her sensitive nerves.

As a convert, what she fears and hates the most is that others question the piety of her faith—after all, her identity as an Orthodox Christian is the basic condition for her to become the Grand Duchess of the Principality of Ioannina, if she does not convert If so, neither Greece nor the Russian Empire would be able to recognize the existence of her monarch.

And Aigron's inquiry made her feel even more frightened. She was afraid that His Majesty would doubt her loyalty, so she immediately expressed her loyalty without thinking.

Eggron saw her panic, so he reached out and stroked Haidee's hair tenderly.

"Haidee, don't be nervous. I don't care if you are really pious. Although I often claim to be ordered by the Lord, my loyalty to the Lord is absolutely no more than you."

Hearing these words, Haiide's heart skipped a beat. The little girl subconsciously raised her head to look at the sky, fearing that some thunder would threaten the blasphemous king.

Fortunately nothing happened.

Seeing Haidee's timid look, Eggron couldn't help laughing.

He continued to rub Haidee's hair, so as to reassure the little girl.

"I ask you this question to remind you that you are a converted ex-Muslim, and in our country, there are still a large group of unconverted believers. That's right—the superstructure of our Principality, all We are Christians, and there is a large group of greek peasants guarding us around the capital, but in general, we are caught in a sea of ​​msl believers. They accept the rule of us pagans now because they have gone through many years of war, I just want peace as soon as possible, and I don't care who rules them; but if time passes, sooner or later someone will feel that we Christians are not qualified to rule them, and they are so many that they can shake our rule at any time."

Hearing that Egron put herself as a member of "us", Haidee felt a little happy-this proves that His Majesty will never doubt the loyalty of herself, a reformed believer.

However, she also felt a little apprehensive about Aigron raising the issue.

"Then what do you think should be done?"

Aigron didn't answer her immediately, but continued to look at the crowded fertile fields under the high ground.

"Haidee, you know, it's 1828, and 2000 years ago, there were no Christians in the world, but 1000 years later, there were Christians everywhere; likewise, 300 years ago, there were no Christians in the world ysl religion, but after another 1000 years, people here have become msl... time changes, everything can be changed, just like you were born a msl, but eventually became a christian, we see I have not lived through its past changes, so I have to bring about new changes myself - if I don't do this, our principality will not fit into Europe."

Haidee listened silently to Eggron's words. After this period of education, it's not that this young girl doesn't understand anything.

"You mean... are you going to convert the people on a large scale?" She asked in a low voice.

"Do you mind?" Aegron asked back.

"No! I don't mind." Haidee replied without thinking. "As long as it's your wish, I think it's fine. Besides, I'm a Christian now. Since you are my subjects, you should be like me... "

Aegron couldn't help laughing.

"Haidee, you have the courage, and you have the appearance of a king! However, we can't be in a hurry, and we don't need to be in a hurry. When we first took over this country, I already issued a notice announcing respect for a certain person's religious belief. No doubt I intend to renege on my promise, but I can't be that quick, and I can't be that obvious, I want to do it gradually, and by the time someone finds out, it's too late!"

After a pause, Eggron explained to Haide in a low voice, "Haidee, I have publicly declared that I agree with civil rights and the republic, and it will not be long before all Europeans will know what I have said. In this case, I cannot It's like a butcher and a tyrant, so I want to grant citizenship to everyone in the principality, and try to solve the problem as softly as possible. Let's start with education. All educated people must swear allegiance to you and your Christian successors. "

"Successors..." Haidee muttered to herself.

The word was too far away for her, but it seemed to be very close.　　

131. Rights and disputes

Egron could tell that although Haidee had initially possessed the self-awareness of a monarch, she still didn't understand specific things at all.

However, this was originally the result of his deliberate creation, so he was not dissatisfied with it.

Now Haidee is completely attached to him and obeys his orders, so he can rule the kingdom as he pleases, without worrying about her ambitions and causing trouble for himself for no reason.

It was noon, and the weather was getting hotter and hotter. Even standing on the high ground, Aegron felt the heat was unbearable—he looked at Haiidee and found that there was a lot of sweat on her forehead.

This was also normal. Aigron felt so hot even after taking off his coat and only wearing a shirt. Naturally, Haidee in a long skirt would feel even more uncomfortable.

"Let's go down and rest—" he ordered Haidee.

"Yeah." Haiidee would not question his order, but just nodded, and then picked up a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from her head.

When the two of them walked off the construction site, the person in charge of this construction site immediately greeted them.

"Is our lunch ready?" Aggron asked.

"It's ready, Your Majesty." The person in charge quickly replied, "Just, please forgive me, the conditions here are limited. Even if we have tried our best to prepare, I'm afraid it will make you feel crude."

"It doesn't matter, we are here for inspection, not for ostentation, and your energy should not be on the reception, but on your own duties." Aigron replied casually, "I am quite satisfied with the progress here , please continue to work hard and strictly abide by the progress of the plan."

"Okay, Your Majesty!" After being praised by Aigron, the person in charge was overjoyed, and repeatedly assured Aigron, "Please rest assured, we will guarantee the progress!"

After finishing speaking, he was going to take the two "Your Majesties" Aigron and Haide to have dinner together.

However, to everyone's surprise, Haiidee suddenly stopped, and then looked at the people who were still working under the scorching sun.

"When do they rest?" she asked the person in charge.

"Well..." The person in charge pondered for a moment, then looked at Aigron.

Although both of them are Your Majesty, anyone with a normal IQ knows which one to please, and which one should prevail.

Aigron gestured that he knew everything about Haidee.

After getting Egron's permission, the person in charge replied to Haiide, "Your Majesty, they start work at eight o'clock in the morning and end at six o'clock in the afternoon. If they sometimes need to catch up with the progress, they will be later."

"Don't you take a break for lunch?" asked Haidee.

"Yes, but they are eating on the construction site, and it's not time now." The person in charge quickly replied, "After eating, they will continue to work until the end of work."

"That's too tiring..." Haiidee looked at the people who were still working, and whispered. "They still have to work hard in this weather, won't they get sick?"

The person in charge suddenly became embarrassed, and then secretly glanced at Aigron.

Aigron has ordered many times to ensure the progress of the plan, and to keep a tight grip on the time. Since he spurs the subordinates, the subordinates will naturally increase their implementation, making the labor intensity very strict.

Of course Aigron knew that his actions would lead to the death of some people, but for him, the conscripts this time were mainly prisoners and captives. He didn't feel bad about dying at all. not give a damn about--

If he wants to save money and time, he has to pay the corresponding price, and he is willing to pay.

"It's indeed a hard job, but their hard work is worth it." Aigron spoke in a timely manner, dispelling the embarrassment of the person in charge, "Haidee, you may not see anything now, but when When our whole project is completed, your people will benefit greatly from it, and future generations will be grateful to them."

——Of course not grateful, who will remember the dead buried in mass graves around the construction site?They will only remember Aegron who ordered the construction of these aqueducts, or at most the engineers who designed them, all the time and all over the world.

However, these words were enough to fool Haidee. She blinked her eyes and stopped asking.

"Okay, let's go, don't delay the work of people here." Aigron made a gesture.

Haiidee took one last look at the construction site, which was still in full swing, with sympathy in her eyes, but she didn't say anything else, and left with Aigron.

Since it was a construction site, of course the living conditions would not be very good. It was just a few pergolas built on a flat ground. The largest pergola received Egron and Haidee for lunch.

The person in charge brought the two His Majesties to the dining table—it was obvious that they had indeed tried their best to receive His Majesty. Although the dishes on the table were not luxurious, they were quite rich, including chicken and beef, inferior table wine, and I don't know where to get the fresh milk, and some fruits picked from around are all placed on the table.

After wandering around here all morning, Aigron was a little hungry, so he picked up the tableware and prepared to start work, but Haiidee didn't eat immediately, but asked the person in charge again.

"The workers here, what do they usually eat? Are they the same as us?"