Public trial?You deserve it too!

"Could it be that my previous guess was wrong? In fact, Leicht is also a piece of barbecued pork? The old emperor didn't have any preference for Augustus at all. He really just threw it out as bait? I gave Leicht just because I was afraid of this guy. Too stupid to be fooled by the big nobles to deal with yourself?"

The boy was a little bit tangled and took out the power map he drew. Looking at it horizontally and vertically, he felt that Ludwig seemed more like the image of the crown prince who could satisfy the old emperor. He had nothing to do with the big nobles, and his subordinates were all capable of doing practical things. People, most of them are civilians, or military nobles and so on, clean and messy.

"This is unreasonable. Why does he think that kind of barbecued pork can secure the throne? You know, he wants to clean up the nobles first. Under such turmoil, he must need someone who can master carrots and sticks." The emperor succeeded him to keep this situation going, otherwise it would be nothing more than two generations before a new big noble appeared."

If it is absolutely the best choice for Augustus to break up and then stand up, then the emperor will obviously not bet all his future on it, otherwise if Augustus pulls his hips like he is now, who else will he pass the throne to? ?

According to Claude's idea, Joachim is really a good choice. He has brains and is ruthless enough. After the old emperor and the prime minister killed the nobles with their own hands, he will definitely be able to stabilize the political environment of the empire at that time. It is a bit troublesome to win over a group, suppress a group, and quickly fill the power vacuum, but you can take a shortcut.

For example, let the Imperial Intelligence Agency transfer to the KGB at that time. In this case, it is really possible for the central government to quickly govern those places, and Joachim himself has shaped himself to support the small nobles and civilians, and wantonly promote them. Younger generations do not pose a problem of lower loyalty.

But the problem is that the old emperor really didn't show any sympathy when he attacked his second son, and everything that could be deprived was wiped out. Maybe there is still a little bit of Joachim's intelligence network still running silently, but often Thinking about it in the dark, maybe it was the old emperor's intention to let this kind of person blinded by power watch the struggle between powers, but he can only stay out of it. The so-called torture is nothing more than that.

In other words, in the heart of the old emperor, Ludwig was the person he was most satisfied with regarding his successor.

And Claude's deduction is stuck here now. No matter what the situation is, it is extremely unreasonable for the old emperor to choose Ludwig as the backup crown prince, because after the old emperor and the old prime minister withdrew from the stage, he There is neither the means to gain a firm foothold, nor the person who can support him to gain a firm foothold. Jung cannot do it. As for himself, it is estimated that in the emperor's mind, Claude should not have anything to do with any politics.

"No, I can't explain it."

The boy shook his head and gave up his thoughts again.

[Could it be that the old emperor is going to pave the way completely?After all, with Ludwig's personality, it is indeed suitable for a clean court, that is, most people are capable of doing things and have good personal morality. 】

"Then how many people does he have to kill? Kill all the nobles? It's not enough. As long as the empire is still there and the class of nobles is still there, there will be no nobles who don't want to climb up. Ludwig can't hold it back. Although he hates the nobles, But if you ask him to kill all those who want to become great nobles, he can't do it."

Claude shook his head.

"The old emperor can't do this either, because Ludwig's influence started late. Don't look at the fire cooking oil and flowers blooming like brocades. In fact, there is no foundation. Now you let him find a way to manage the Provence province that has been cleaned up. He No one can pull it out and push it up, if you face the cleaned up empire in the future, what can you ask him to do?"

"What's more, the current problem of the empire is internal and external troubles. Although it is not serious enough to cause collapse, these problems are still gradually expanding. The old emperor must first settle down if he wants to fight against the outside world, so he attacked the big nobles. The idea is correct. After all, a united empire is enough to fight against those alien races, as well as the church and the business alliance. As long as he can deal with these people, there will be two more generations of emperors who can work hard to govern, and things like national wars can be done. opened."

Claude talked about the idea of ​​the old emperor he deduced. He was actually planning to take such a path, but he felt that the old emperor's methods were a bit slow, so he was thinking of a way to see if he could speed up the progress.

However, there is only one question that can't be bypassed: the future heir of the empire.

It’s really not that Claude looked down on Ludwig. If Ludwig was the second emperor who worked hard to rule, it would be perfect—he doesn’t like luxury, hates the privileged class, loves the army, and cares about civilians. This kind of emperor If there are two capable ministers and generals under his command, it will be a proper template for a Mingjun in a flourishing age.

"But the problem is that Ludwig is the old emperor's son, not his grandson."

Claude still felt very weird looking at the crown prince's name which was always empty and not filled by himself.

All beings are children: Chapter 94 Chapter 88 Who is the chess piece and who is the chess player

Claude was in his dormitory, packing up all his things, and the carriage he called was just outside the school gate, and he was going to take everything back to his house.

His first academic year at the Imperial Military University was over, and the perfect final grades also proved the learning ability of both him and the system. Everyone was talking about the terrifying "photographic memory" of this knight genius in awe.

The results of the other three were quite satisfactory. Irwin and Randolph were a little partial as usual, but Georgi's scores were above average in every subject, which seemed very average.

The other three have already left. Georgie wanted to visit his hometown, so he packed up early and set foot on the journey back to his hometown. Erwin and Randolph simply didn't pack up. Anyway, next time Just come and replace it with a new one, so I patted my ass and went home.Only Claude was left alone, unhurriedly packing up his belongings.

This year's stage of talking about war on paper has come to an end, and the next thing is the beginning of the nightmare prepared for them by the college they chose-the reason why the Department of Warfare uses the survival rate instead of the graduation rate as the summary of graduates is of course because Its high-intensity battlefield tour.

In the spring of next year, they will be stationed in the northern border of the empire for three months, assisting the local knights to ensure the local spring plowing, and in the summer, they will go to the eastern front.Although there will be no summer offensive next year, the elves will always attack. Especially in summer, they will send out much more hunters than other times, trying to find out whether the empire plans to make a big one.

In autumn, they will return to the northern border again to ensure the local autumn harvest and prevent the possible large-scale southward migration of orcs. Until the next spring when the ice and snow melt and the roads and ports are completely unblocked, they will enter the Imperial North Sea Fleet and serve until autumn. Returning to the imperial capital, preparing the graduation thesis, and making a decision whether to drop out of school or choose his future service area.

When this high-intensity rush plan was just released to everyone along with the report card, it really surprised Claude. It's no wonder that the empire's hammer elves in the east can fight so well. Well, it turns out that the core military officers of the empire are all trained in this way.

Although according to the arrangement of the academy, he will leave the imperial capital for about a year and a half, but Claude is completely indifferent. After all, it is not his top priority to seize the heir apparent. Ludwig and Jung are in the court. Unexpectedly, he stabilized his footing. Albert, the head of the dead face of the Ministry of Finance, took the initiative to befriend the third prince. However, considering the other party's background as a commoner, it is not surprising that he is so aggressive.

However, this also made the eldest prince a bit wary for a while. After all, Albert has another identity - the prime minister's proud disciple. Although the prime minister of Lauenburg has a more gentle attitude towards the great nobles, the other party is not really disliked at all. As a matter of fact, the suppression of them still appears and disappears from time to time, but compared to the emperor's methods, it is obviously much more normal.

Now that Albert is openly befriending Ludwig, who has already played the banner of boycotting the nobility, this makes the first prince and his henchmen have no choice but to think about it, and the fear in their hearts has also increased.

However, Claude had other guesses in his mind. Maybe this Albert came over under the emperor's signal, because the prime minister is the emperor's hardcore, so this student has no reason, and the other party does represent For the civilian class, suppressing the nobles is like eating and drinking water for him, and the necessities of life belong to it.

This is in line with Claude's previous reasoning. Obviously, the old emperor is still more optimistic about Ludwig than Augustus, who has not yet been able to turn the corner, and is really doing it for his little son. Cultivate the party members who will govern in the future.

But these evidences still didn't answer Claude's question, they just made him understand that the direction he was thinking before was correct, so now he just needs to figure out why the old emperor is more optimistic about the innocent Ludwig than the ruthless and genuine Ludwig. Joachim, who knows the art of the emperor, Claude can directly push out all the things the old emperor will do next.

"Don't worry about it for a while. In this situation, it's the same with me and without me. I'm happy that Ludwig was sent to the throne by his father in a daze. Augustus suddenly became enlightened and violently blasted into the big nobles. I'm also happy, it's all beneficial to me anyway, so there's no need to get involved, it won't be worth it if you expose yourself."

Claude happily packed up the dormitory, and he probably won't be able to relax in the future. He should be transferred to live in Ludwig's manor. After all, he still has the identity of Leticia's guardian knight. Because I can't perform my duties because of my studies, I'm on vacation now, so of course I have to be with this little princess all the time.

[Speaking of which, I have never understood that your previous actions can basically be called unscrupulous, that is, relying on the simplicity of Adelin and Ludwig to get over it, but how can you be sure that anyone Can't find traces of you in these things? 】

Claude's work didn't stop at all, obviously he had considered this issue long ago.

"The answer is very simple, because in all these events, the risks I take are not proportional to the benefits I get."

【Get the allegiance of Dania, get the love of Draculina, the knights of Wallachia obey you, Ludwig and Jung respect you very much, even the two little princesses are sincere to you , Do you call this "payment is not proportional to income"? 】

"Sometimes, knowing the truth too much will make you unable to see things correctly." Claude folded his mattress, covered it with something, and placed it on his bed. "You have walked side by side with me to this day. Of course you know who these people are loyal to, but the question is, in the eyes of others, is it really me that these people are loyal to?"

Claude patted the dust off his hands, sat on the bed, and happily explained to the system.

"You have to understand that anyone who reviews this matter must be a wise man, and if you want to see the strangeness of me in it, then the eyes are at least above the passing line of the staff, that is to say, you can doubt me. , the bottom is at Jung’s level—don’t look at this guy’s strong and upright personality, if he really wants to play tricks, it’s a bit tricky, otherwise he can integrate Ludwig’s subordinates into a monolithic one?”

"As a wise person of this level, including me, the biggest problem is that it is easy to be dark under the lights, that is, to be blinded by one's own habits." Claude pointed to himself. "For example, I didn't notice my attitude towards the nobles before, and I needed Christina to remind me that these wise men couldn't notice my attitude towards this matter."

There was a sneer on the corner of the teenager's mouth.

"That is, they always think from the perspective of chess players! This is where they are most easily used!"

[I don't understand, generally speaking, isn't such a person the most difficult to deal with?People with the world in their hearts and people with their families in mind, even if the abilities and talents of both parties are equal, the achievements of the former must be far higher than the latter, right?Is there anything wrong with thinking as a chess player? 】

"You see, even if you don't think there's anything wrong, they won't notice." Claude cleared his throat, "Let me ask you, as a chess player, do you think he will pay more attention to the pieces or Chess player?"

[Of course it is a chess player, because he needs to understand the opponent to defeat the opponent, and chess pieces are always things that can be replaced and discarded by both sides at any time. It is meaningless to pay attention to this. 】

"That's right, so the best way for me to hide myself is to step onto the chessboard as a pawn!"

There was a silent sarcasm in Claude's words.

"As a chess player, of course, he is well versed in the principle of only looking at who acts and who benefits. Then Ludwig was rescued. From their point of view, who acts and who benefits?"

【You act, and the beneficiaries... Ludwig, Dania, and you. 】

"That's right, the first beneficiary is Ludwig. He successfully sent away his elder brother and received his political inheritance. From a supporter who seized the heir apparent, he became a strong competitor. By."

[The second... is Dania. She has truly obtained the right to inherit the Duchy of Saxony, and even if she simply looks at her act of saving her, as long as the second prince is not in power, the other two will definitely reward her heavily no matter who is in power. 】

"So you see, what kind of risk did I take in this matter? A young genius, risking being crushed to death silently at any time, narrowly escaped death and passed the letter to Ludwig. I What kind of gains have I got? The identity of a long knight captain. But the problem is that as long as I show my strength and age, any force, as long as they can get this bargaining chip, will definitely accept my allegiance. Why did I have to take such a risk to get such a position?"

【Didn't you still gain the trust of Ludwig? 】

"Hahahahaha."

Claude laughed.

"Have you stayed with Ludwig for a long time, and you no longer know what the royal family is? In the eyes of outsiders, is the trust of a prince really so easy to get? Let me tell you a joke, the royal family treats you 'Ultimate trust' - no one dares to judge the shelf life of this kind of thing."

"Anyone who can notice me in the inventory can't take this kind of illusory thing as income, even I don't take this trust seriously, otherwise I don't need to save Adelin, Back then, I cared a lot about his status as an instructor, and I wanted to rely on that connection to gain a firm foothold."

Claude shrugged: "I really didn't expect Ludwig to have such a personality, but it's great to save me so much effort."

【So... in the eyes of a chess player, your efforts are indeed not directly proportional to your gains. 】

"That's right, they think that they will only do things that have positive benefits, and judge others by themselves. Obviously, the chess player on the opposite side will do the same, isn't it, so I can't be a chess player, I can only be a chess piece .”

"But this is not the most important point. After all, suspicion is their nature, so one piece of evidence is not enough. What can paralyze them the most is the Provence incident later, because I was involved in this incident. It is the reason why these wise men notice my 'strangeness', but after they analyze it in depth, they will find that although it seems that I am the winner, I won too abruptly."

Claude pointed to the nobility appointment letter he had just framed.

"All the nobles in the entire province were killed, and Provence became the direct subordinate of the emperor. It was originally a piece of clean soil, but a baron like me suddenly appeared, as if eating in a wife's cake Coming out is as scary as a wife—who the hell is this guy?"

"Then they will find out the Wallachians and Lina, and then suddenly realize that this matter is a deal between the emperor and Ludwig. No one from the third prince can take over the Provence he brought down, so it is handed over to the emperor. In exchange, the emperor no longer cared about the affairs of the Wallachia people, and completely handed over the subjugated princess to Ludwig, and the empire would bear the burden of wrangling with the Theocracy, and forcefully dismissed the other party's questions about Wallachia. Take the responsibility and go back."

"As for Claude? That poor chess piece is just a target, a tool man to appease the princess of the kingdom. Even the leaders are all Wallachians. Is he really a nobleman of the empire? It's really impressive. Do you wonder if all his fief income will be handed over to Dragulina?"

The boy said this sentence with a sense of joke in his tone, but the system was silent and could not utter a word.

"So, I am a chess piece, a chess piece that can be replaced and discarded. The reason why I have not been out of the game is because I am full of chivalry, easy to use, brainless and mentally handicapped, and I am very gifted as a knight. It seems that there is no way to abduct this chess piece, after all, it is already Leticia's guardian knight."

"They will sigh, Ludwig has a useful chess piece, and then turn their heads to think hard, how to break the wrist or make friends with the third prince?"

Claude spread his hands.

"No, that's why no one doubted me after I did so many things before. A person who is capable of playing chess will be so poor that he doesn't even have a chess piece, and he will go out and take risks by himself? Who believes it, no one believes it , I don’t believe it myself.”

【Pieces will not have the ability to counterattack the chess player. Is it actually this arrogance that you use? 】

"That's right, that's why I always tell you about the plan. On the one hand, I want to have a good time, and on the other hand, I also want to see if I have any dark places under the lights, but you seem to be a little bad, and you can barely keep up with the theory. Me, let alone help me check for leaks and fill in vacancies."

【...I know, I will try my best to help you in the future,】

All Beings Are Children: Chapter 95 Chapter 89 Letitia

"What's the matter, Your Highness Leticia, are you tired?"

Claude gently held Letitia's swaying arm, and asked in a friendly voice, the words were gentle and caring enough for Gorman to poke his ears after hearing it.

Then the Mr. Cavalier interrupted all the girl's reluctance with brute force, and helped her reposition, completely ignoring that the little princess had been staring at him with teary eyes for a long time, with "Please let go" written all over her face. Over" three words.

"Your Highness, it was you who said you wanted to start knight training, and it was you who asked me to start training you. As your guardian knight, of course I will not refuse any of your requests, but as your instructor, even if you want If I give up halfway, I will be relieved of my post after today's training is all over."

Claude's face was as gentle and sunny as ever, but what he said was no less than the devil's verdict to Letitia, so the little princess could only continue to hold the sword with tears in her eyes, tasting This bitter fruit that I planted.

In short, I regret it now, very regretful.

Not to Claude's surprise, the day after he returned to the house, Christina's carriage arrived on Brunhilde Street, and she enjoyed a common people's lunch with Lina and the Adelin couple. After that, the princess returned to the manor on the outskirts of the city with the two guardian knights, and handed Claude to her sister, His Royal Highness Letitia.

This little princess is obviously very curious and admired by her guardian knight. After all, she is the person her father and sister have praised, so out of her own hobby and trust in Claude's ability, Letitia During the previous meal time, he had already expressed his desire to become a knight to his father.

Ludwig felt that there was nothing wrong with this. Anyway, Claude happened to be on vacation, and it was not suitable to go out in winter, and because he had been attacked once, he always felt insecure about letting his daughters go out. Now that Letitia, who was originally a little restless, was willing to stay in the manor for training, which was really great.

So Leticia expressed her wish to Claude with the fantasy of being a princess, hoping that he would be her knight instructor.

Of course, Claude obeyed the order, ruthlessly broke the fantasy of the princess born from the knight novel, and pulled Leticia directly from the cloud of punishing evil and promoting good and promoting justice to a very down-to-earth physical fitness train.From running, exercising, to food and clothing, Claude perfectly shattered Leticia's yearning for knights instantly.

"Knight Claude, have you always trained like this?"

Letitia knew that no amount of expression could change Claude's decision. Looking at the sun that was already tilted to the west, she could only pray that the day would end soon, and then in order to divert her attention, she reluctantly used the The brain that can think a little bit starts to talk to the smiling devil beside him.

"Of course, Your Highness Letitia, in fact, my training time is much earlier, but out of physical considerations, before the age of 12, I usually focus on cultivating habits and willpower. Hard practice like this every day is also the result of my training. It started when I was your age."

Claude didn't blush and his heart didn't beat, as if he had an attitude that 90.00% of a genius could be achieved through sweat, which made Leticia feel a little ashamed.

"Yes, is that so?"

"But Your Highness is a girl, and I haven't done physical exercise before, so I will reduce the amount of training at the beginning." Claude smiled, and put his hands on the girl's hands and waist, "For example, It’s enough to practice the sword-raising posture so far.”

As soon as the words fell, the hilt of the sword in the girl's hand slackened, and was grabbed by the boy, and Leticia fell limply into the boy's arms.

"Woo—so tired—"

Even the speaking voice had a weary little curly tail.

"It's time to rest, my princess."

The girl didn't even have the strength to put her arms around the knight's neck, she curled up in the strong arms, her eyes half-closed.

"It's so hard...and a bit icy..."

Without saying a word, Claude hugged the girl with one hand, tore off his breastplate with the other, and then hugged the girl in a princess hug posture, with his warm chest tightly pressed against Leticia's back.

Like a sled dog finding a snow nest that he was satisfied with, the little princess fell asleep in this warm embrace in a daze. Claude glanced at Leticy, who had already put an unconscious smile on the corner of her mouth. Ya, and gently handed her over to Margaret, the head maid in the manor.

"Hmm...why did you become a little bit human again?"

The change in the environment immediately made Leticia half-dream and half-awake again, but obviously this change was not enough to make her shake off the temptation to sleep, so she just said something like a dream, and then fell asleep again.

Claude subconsciously glanced at the head maid with a flushed face, and found that the other party's eyes were also subconsciously looking at him. The two eyes crossed each other's chest, and then one looked back in frustration. One turned his head with pity and guilt.

"I didn't expect that there would be no men's breasts..."*2

Margaret held Letitia in her arms and turned to leave. Claude was a little embarrassed and relieved. He swore that he just turned his gaze just out of a male subconscious. Anyway, he looked directly at a person. He even commented on the size of a lady's breasts, which was enough for the other party to come up and slap him.

Claude sighed, turned and walked towards the training ground, he had to get back the breastplate and sword that were left there.

But now probably the other party will no longer have any fantasies about knights, right?Claude yawned while thinking, teasing the cat or something, it is better to leave it to the spare time after work, teasing the cat every day, the suggested name is Chocolate and Vanilla.

But soon Claude knew that, unlike Lina, a fragile and obedient kitten, Her Highness Leticia was a completely different species.

"Knight Claude! Let's go for a morning jog together."

The boy watched the energetic little princess break through the wooden door of his room, with a dull expression——

You really are a sled dog!

"Your Highness, don't you feel a little tired?"

"Hey? I feel much better after I slept. Although my arms are still a little sore, but running exercises my legs." Leticia bounced to Claude's bed, "Get up Lah, this is what my sister told me, the habit of exercising starts with running in the morning, let's go quickly."