After listening to the Grand Duke's intentions. Lin Daiyu said, "Since you think highly of me, a scholar,
I will do my best for you. "
The Grand Duchess smiled and said, "You are willing to serve.
His Majesty is magnanimous and uses talents, regardless of whether they are men or women. Naturally, he will not treat them unfairly. "
She took out the edict of conferment and pushed it in front of Lin Daiyu.
Lin Daiyu, however, gently pushed back the decree of conferment.
The Grand Duchess reminded, "Anna,
His Majesty has long known about your background. The group of envoys lives next to the palace. "
Lin Daiyu said calmly, "Since His Majesty and Your Excellency know about my background,
You should know that I left my hometown.
I came to the west alone.
I only want my heart to be complete and my thoughts to be clear.
I don't want to be rich and famous. I am willing to help His Majesty today, only for His Majesty to start the imperial examination.
Abolish the tariff.
It is indeed beneficial to the people's livelihood. "
After all, compared to the imperial examination,
It was indeed more conducive to selecting talents. Allan I selected and assigned consuls.
Preparing for the abolition of the tariff.
If the tariff could really be abolished,
The people would be more free.
Their lives would be better.
"But,
To talk about things as they are and to do my best for this matter.
It doesn't mean that I will serve His Majesty from now on. "
Hathaway stared at her.
After a while, she smiled. "No wonder brother said … forget it. I will report this edict of conferment to brother.
You are welcome to change your mind at any time. "
The sky outside the window was half bright. Hathaway's figure swayed as she went out.
Lin Daiyu did her best to be polite and sent her out. When she came back, she was in a daze. She thought about the news from the east sent by Xue Baoqin and the edict passed down by the Grand Duchess. Her heart was in a mess, and she couldn't help but sigh.
The progress of this civil war was extremely fast.
Allan I, who had harvested a lot of wealth from the Church, organized the army, recruited mercenaries, and obtained the support of most of the nobles and peasants. Compared to his supporters, the rebellious nobles were actually a minority.
Thus, in just half a year, Allan I had more or less suppressed the few nobles who opposed the consul sent by the royal family.
The Royal Faction used a rather cruel method to wipe out the families of several lords who had a rather bad reputation. The nobles who had been doing a lot of petty tricks suddenly quieted down. The nobles who had given up on rebelling by force seemed to have admitted defeat — at least on the surface. They were even more enthusiastic about exchanging land and enfeoffment. For a moment, they actually fought to show their loyalty to the royal family.
In the same year, the checkpoint tax system was officially abolished.
Most of Luster's fiefs welcomed the consul appointed by the royal family, and these consul went with their own team. Most of these teams had been selected early in Bona through an examination.
As soon as the royal family arrived, they announced the dismissal of a large number of officials hired by the feudal lords and replaced them with their own team.
The number of civil officials needed to govern Luster was not a small number. However, there were frequent vacancies in various places.
In order to meet the needs of a large number of administrators, Allan I officially announced the establishment of a civil official system, learning from the Eastern model. Civil officials would be selected through examinations in various places, and the best would be admitted. The selected ones would be approved by the royal family, and the consul would apply and be assigned to various places.
Based on examinations, not on birth, not on relationships, it caused a sensation in all of Luster. A large number of literate young people and even middle-aged people poured into the examination field.
Some of the more well-off families began to encourage and provide for the education of the younger generation.
Allan I announced to the world that heroes were only judged by their achievements, and nothing else.
This caused a great uproar, and the church schools in various places, after submitting to Allan I and the arrival of the priests personally appointed by him, quietly reduced the content of theology and increased the content of science. Together with the elementary schools built by the bourgeoisie, they contributed to Allan I's civil official system.
Lin Daiyu's "Duel" played a catalyst role in this civil war.
"Duel" was short, but it had an unexpected dagger-like power. It spread rapidly through Bona--like a pestilence--the "plague" of the "Duel" among the upper and lower classes.
In the lower classes, this story, this novel, first circulated among farmers, small merchants, craftsmen, millers, and so on, and then quickly became the favorite of the entire third class.
First, it was "The Social Monastery", then "Duel". In the hearts of these lowly people, the status of this female writer suddenly rose much higher than before.
In the upper class, people whispered that this writer was the deputy of the Archduchess. She had no title and no share, but her position was low and high. Hathaway respected her opinion and could be called the deputy minister.
It was unreasonable for a woman, even a woman of a different race, to be valued so highly. However, the Archduchess was already a well-deserved Prime Minister of the Empire, with countless officials under her command.
With this pearl in front of them, many noble women became much more willful, and did not pay attention to the etiquette before the banquet.
Because the civil service examination did not limit men and women, even some women participated in the examination. There were quite a few female officials.
Allan I did not say a word about this, showing a tacit attitude. The royal family was now in a strong position, so people could only pinch their noses and accept it.
Lin Daiyu's criticism suddenly decreased a lot.
The newspaper that had originally criticized her became mute overnight, talking about the wind in the east and the moon in the west. They only forgot how they had criticized this female writer.
The Eastern diplomatic mission did not speak well, and they were closely watched by the royal family. In the diplomatic mission, there were many Wang, Jia, Xue, and Shi families who turned a blind eye. The nominal leader of the diplomatic mission, Wang Ye, attended the banquets of the upper class every day, but he had never met this female writer, and he did not know that Anna Lin was one of the wanted criminals of the dynasty.
"The prices have dropped." Lin Daiyu browsed through the recent expenses and was quite pleased. Then she relaxed, rubbed her eyebrows, took off her coat, and ordered the maid to bring a blanket.
When the maid brought the blanket over, she had already fallen asleep on the sofa, looking tired.
When she woke up from this nap, the sky outside had already darkened.
She was woken up by the sound of the wind and hurried voices.
Outside the window, the sky was dark, and the wind was strong. The attendant received the order and came, "Miss Anna, Duke Hathaway invites you over!"
White light flashed across the dark sky, instantly lighting up the horizon. The wind was blowing, and the rain was about to pour.
"The armies of the various countries have declared that I am tyrannical and have already sent troops to the borders. The gates of the countries are open, but I only found out about it today. "
In the palace, the emperor had his hands behind his back, and his face was as gloomy as the sky, "What do the officials think?"
In the palace, many of the emperor's trusted officials stood at the bottom of the steps, looking at each other. Hathaway stood to the right of the emperor, and Lin Daiyu was also called over. She stood behind the screen behind Hathaway, and when she heard this, she could not help but be surprised.
The internal troubles had not been resolved, and some parts of Luster's country were still in a civil war. The nobles seemed to be subservient, but there were many small tricks in private. Although the tariffs had been lowered, the "bandits" along the way had risen, and all of them were equipped with the power of knights. Some of the consuls in the territories had almost just been sent over, but they died "accidentally", and the consumption was especially fast.
In such a situation, there were foreign troubles again, and it was not good.
"Your Majesty, it must be the nobles at the border who colluded with foreign countries and took advantage of the civil war to lead the wolf into the house! Your Majesty, please immediately send troops to fight back! "The military minister said.
The economic minister hurriedly objected, "No! Just the civil war alone, Your Majesty hired troops, bought firearms, trained soldiers, and transported an endless supply of food to all parts of the country. You have already used up most of the money from the church. How can you have money to fight foreign wars? If you want me to say, everyone is relatives. Your Majesty is too ruthless, and I am afraid that it will force everyone to rebel. Now, the treasury really can't take out any money. Since they are using Your Majesty's tyranny as a banner, why don't Your Majesty take a step back in the country and let everyone be harmonious? Outside, let them make a fortune. After the foreign enemies have retreated, we can recuperate, and when we have money, it won't be too late to clean up the country, right? "
The military minister sneered, "Cede territory and ask for peace? Submit to humiliation? You make it sound so easy! The foreign enemies are like tigers and wolves, why would they care about kinship? They say that they are relatives, but they did not spit out the land that they swallowed Luster in the previous years of war! The nobles of the Tai Xi countries are all related, and they are all relatives. If they just pat their butts and run away, which country would they not be nobles? The commoners of our country have suffered, and Your Majesty's ambition of unifying Luster has become a bubble! "
The ministers were divided into two factions, and they quarreled.
The Emperor had a headache from their quarrel, and looked at the Archduchess, "Hathaway, what do you think?"
Hathaway pondered for a while and said, "Your Majesty, why do you have to ask this subject? His Majesty must have made up his mind long ago for him to only gather the officials at this hour today. "
The Emperor paced back and forth. The ministers quarreled until their faces and necks turned red.
After a while, the Emperor growled, "Enough, all of you shut up!"
The ministers were so frightened that they kept quiet. The room was so quiet that only the torrential rain outside the window could be heard.
The matter was urgent, and they did not have time to light all the lights in the room. Although the palace was big, the light was dim.
In the dark room, Allan I's face was half hidden in the darkness, "I have already made a decision. Go to the frontlines and send someone to replace Eugene. Tell Eugene that he did well. Tell him to change places and continue fighting. "
The military minister was overjoyed and hurriedly left to carry out the order.
The economics minister shouted, "Your Majesty!"
Allan I said, "I have already made up my mind, there is no need for you to say anything. It's fine if it's just a small fight in the past. This time, if I don't fight this battle and take a step back, not only will the foreign countries think that Luster is weak and easy to bully and want to take advantage of me, but domestic, all our previous efforts will be wasted. "
Hathaway said, "Then brother, how will the military expenses be paid?"
The Emperor said, "Pass down the order, increase the tax."
Hathaway hesitated.
The Emperor said, "There is no need to hesitate. As long as we can hold on until we win this battle and free up our hands to clean up the country, it will be enough. "
"As long as we win this battle …"
In the same year, before the smoke of the civil war had completely subsided, the allied forces of various countries had already deployed their troops to Luster's border.
In the country, the Emperor ordered a three-level meeting to be held.
Luster's three-level meeting was a rare meeting where the three levels could sit together and talk calmly. It was usually held when Luster encountered major political and economic difficulties. The royal family would ask the people for help before making a major decision. However, the three-level meeting had not been held for hundreds of years, and it existed in name only.
Allan I ordered that Luster's districts should elect their own representatives for the three-level meeting, representing the churches, nobles, and civilians in the district to come to Bona.
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