Chapter 112: The Truth Has Emerged

Even when far away from the Territory, one still needed to handle important documents from the Territory every so often. Although the cost was somewhat high, the combination of the Diqila Scrolls and Messaging Paper was really convenient to use! This even gave George the illusion that he was back in the era of fax machines.

However, precisely because of the high cost of Dragon Blood Ink and the limit on the number of words transmitted, only documents that were very important and could not be delayed were sent over. Civil officials in the Territory could handle unimportant matters on their own, and matters that were not urgent could wait until George returned to the Territory to be processed. This made the affairs George needed to handle less than two-thirds of what he dealt with when he was in the Territory.

From this, one could see the benefits of establishing a relatively stable and complete civil service system. The return on the extra salaries paid for this far exceeded Viscount Bolerum’s imagination. At the same time, it provided a fiercely competitive but tangible path for advancement for the lower-middle class Commoners. The mobility of the social class helped create a vibrant society, and people would only be motivated to show initiative if they saw hope.

As for the situation where the civil official class might become too big to control? The lives of Commoner civil officials were completely in the hands of the Lord, coupled with the screening effects of Magic. Unless the rulers for several generations in a row were mentally retarded, there was no chance of such a situation occurring. A more likely possibility was that other Nobles would take over; presumably, even a Liege Lord could not tolerate having a fool as a vassal.

As for the location for handling these documents—Viscount Bolerum would always vacate his study for George to use. If time permitted, he would also sit by the coffee table in the study with great interest and watch George work. This had also become a tacit understanding formed between the father and son over many years.

“Hmph!” Looking at the content of the document in front of him, George sneered twice and thought, ‘Hoarding salt caused dissatisfaction among the merchants, but there is no need to pay attention to their reactions. These guys clearly saw the business opportunities in the North and wanted to do the same themselves. It was just that we took the lead and controlled the supply. Do they really think that if there is a profitable path, we won’t take it ourselves and will instead let them have it?’

Capital always seeks profit! Marx said: With a fifty percent profit, the bourgeoisie gets excited; with a one hundred percent profit, the bourgeoisie will definitely be used; for a two hundred percent profit, the bourgeoisie dares to trample on all human laws; for a three hundred percent profit, the bourgeoisie dares to commit any crime, even risking the gallows.

Similarly, the worst root of human nature is always to bully the weak and fear the strong. Don’t think that they are just protesting this time; if George showed any concession in this decision, then they would probably prepare for the next step of encroachment after getting the news. Those guys wished they could turn the visible government into a night watchman serving them, while they controlled everything themselves. Rather than waiting for their strength to grow before making a determined move, it would be better not to give them this opportunity from the beginning. In this way, the actual price paid would be much smaller.

‘They are truly a bunch of guys so blinded by greed that their brains are twisted; do they think the iron fist of autocracy is just for show? It seems necessary to find a time to teach these guys a lesson. I just gave them a relatively good trade environment and didn’t squeeze them like other places did. As a result, these ingrates dared to push their luck. In other territories, they might not dare to act like this; these merchants really have cheap bones.’ George immediately made a decision in his heart to start making arrangements in this regard when he returned to the Territory. At the same time, he wrote the words “Ignore it” in the reply column.

“George, why do you look so unhappy! Is there trouble in the Territory again?” Viscount Bolerum said, raising his head and putting down the book “The Deeds of Esplandian” in his hand.

“It’s just some restless clowns; I will tell you the details later, Father. But please don’t worry; compared to the real problem at hand, this is just a speck of dust.” George also put down the Quill Pen in his hand and started chatting with Viscount Bolerum. At the same time, he thought in his heart, ‘Let’s treat this as a change of pace!’

“Cough! Cough!” Viscount Bolerum, feeling a little uncomfortable in his throat, reached out and picked up the teacup beside him to moisten his throat. Then, with a very ungraceful stretch, he said: “Don’t look at me now as if I have a high position and great power in Nohan. But when it really comes to the critical moment that determines the fate of the country, even His Grace the Duke cannot act arbitrarily, and the role I can actually play is even smaller.”

George also understood the trouble of political work in this kind of feudal environment. If there were too many vassals, sometimes even internal affairs would become like diplomacy. Although sometimes His Grace the Duke could forcefully pass a certain policy, for certain reasons, everyone would not openly oppose it while secretly dragging their feet, which was inevitable. As for how to make everyone genuinely support the actions of the ruler, that was also a matter that tested political art.

“Father, has the Round Table Conference still not reached any preliminary consensus?” George frowned, feeling that the situation was not good.

Viscount Bolerum stretched out his right hand and rubbed his forehead with his thumb and forefinger for a while. Then he shook his head and said: “We can’t say there is no progress at all. As far as the current situation is concerned, at least no one will openly propose the marriage with the Kingdom of Lucia anymore. But as for what the next step should be, everyone has their own plans and can’t make up their minds!”

“Isn’t that already very obvious progress? Father, why are you still sighing! Anyway, the war won’t start for a while, so we don’t actually need to limit ourselves to a specific time to be ready. As long as we can be faster than the Kingdom of Coruz and the Kingdom of Lucia, won’t that be enough?” George’s words were both reasonable and unreasonable, purely to give Viscount Bolerum some comfort. He wanted him to relax his nerves, which had been too tight during this period, and not to worry too much about this matter.

Although it was said that one just needed to complete war preparations faster than the Kingdom of Coruz and the Kingdom of Lucia, the preparation situation of those two countries was like flowers in a mirror or the moon in the water—hard to see clearly. With the experience of this period, George did not have much hope for the Duchy’s intelligence System.

Besides, as the saying goes, “When the cannons roar, gold pours in.” If a war really started, no amount of preparation would be excessive. The more sufficient the preparation, the greater the chance of winning the war, and the longer the time, the more calmly one could prepare. In a certain sense, the Duchy of Nohan was racing against time, and the bet on winning or losing might very well be the national destiny for the next few decades.

Therefore, the previous words, when heard by smart people, could not be taken as true. Viscount Bolerum also understood the underlying meaning of George’s words; he didn’t want himself to worry too much about this aspect. But actually, with this precious son planning behind him, he didn’t spend much mental effort on serious matters. What really exhausted his energy was the tug-of-war helping His Grace the Duke with various Nobles.

Viscount Bolerum thought it would be better to discuss some things with his precious son. On one hand, although this kid was young, he saw things clearly and had many crafty ideas. On the other hand, he didn’t want him to think wildly and cause trouble without knowing the truth; after all, in Viscount Bolerum’s heart, no matter how mature George appeared, he was still a child. Children were prone to causing trouble, and if they didn’t cause trouble usually, they might cause big trouble.

Although in the past he felt he should shield his son from the wind and rain, he rarely revealed these things to him unless George asked about them. As for the affairs in the Territory, even if there were some mistakes, he could completely handle them. Now it seemed that when he wasn’t paying attention, he had already sneaked into the storm.

“Speaking of which, it’s because of you; otherwise, the Round Table Conference wouldn’t have reached an agreement so quickly.” Although he had made a decision, Viscount Bolerum still kept him in suspense.

Hearing Viscount Bolerum say this, George immediately thought of the reason. He stood up directly from his seat and said with some excitement: “Is it that Sir Orff and Lord Berke have made key breakthroughs? Which one found the problem?”

One had to know that although George spoke with great logic in front of Viscount Bolerum before, these were ideas he figured out based on the materials he read before crossing over, and it was hard to say whether they were suitable for this world. In other words, this was all armchair strategy, and George didn’t have complete confidence in his heart. Now that there was specific news, of course he wanted to know if his judgment was correct.

“It’s not just one of them finding a problem, but both events have had very important progress.” Viscount Bolerum was very satisfied with George’s performance just now and said with a smile.

George pouted and said: “I didn’t expect those bureaucrats to be so efficient.”

“Snap!” Viscount Bolerum suddenly stood up, then walked to the desk in two or three steps. Then he waved his hand and flicked a knuckle right on George’s forehead. The whole action had no difficult moves, but it was connected smoothly and very fast. After doing this, Viscount Bolerum shook his right hand, which had just knocked George’s head, and said: “How are you talking! Don’t forget that your old dad is also one of those bureaucrats. Besides, the group of people under my management. Except for some who stick to the rules and don’t have any new ideas, they do work diligently.”

If Sir Val’s movements were natural and effortless, Viscount Bolerum’s strength was still within George’s estimation. They were both Formal Knights, but there were many categories within this!

‘To put it plainly, aren’t these all yes-men? Those guys who follow the principle of “doing more means making more mistakes, doing less means making fewer mistakes, and not doing anything means making no mistakes” for things not in the regulations are all like this. Such government staff can indeed ensure its stable operation from a certain perspective, just like the Tianchao before I crossed over. It does indeed increase the contradiction between the government and the Commoner class, but fortunately, there are no so-called “Democracy” people here fanning the flames. That’s right too, the Duchy has much more to manage than our single Territory, so the methods are naturally different. Why am I thinking about all this, I’m really worrying for nothing!’ Hearing his father’s rebuttal, this series of thoughts emerged in George’s mind. The forehead that was just knocked painfully didn’t even affect this.

Viscount Bolerum, who didn’t get a response from George, found that George was staring blankly. He couldn’t help but wonder in his heart, ‘I didn’t hit him that hard just now! Did I knock him silly?’

This was completely worrying too much; one had to know that the ability of Professionals to withstand blows was quite high. And George could be said to be an old turtle with an iron shell; that hit just now really had no effect at all.

Viscount Bolerum immediately waved his hand in front of George and asked with some concern: “Are you okay! Don’t scare your old dad.”

“I’m fine, Father, I just thought of something after hearing your words!” Being said this by Viscount Bolerum, George finally recovered from his wandering mind. At the same time, he mocked himself, ‘Damn, I’ve been a commoner for too long and almost became a senior keyboard politician. I’ve been in this world for so many years, but my heart is still affected so much. It seems my mental cultivation is still far from enough!’

Viscount Bolerum trusted his son’s brain very much: “Oh! So you have a new idea?”

“What do you take me for! It’s not that easy to come up with new ideas. I just have some feelings about the difference between the officials in Karada and the officials in our Territory. Father, you should tell me quickly what problem was found out!” George started talking nonsense because he couldn’t tell the truth. Fortunately, he had done this kind of thing so often that it had become second nature, and he didn’t let Viscount Bolerum see any flaws.

“Since you mentioned those two aspects of suspicious points in front of me last time, I immediately arranged for my people to investigate whether it was true. But contrary to your expectations! These two matters are far from as simple as the previous investigations.” Viscount Bolerum said, turning around and returning to the chair beside the coffee table to sit down.

He took another sip of water and continued: “Then let’s talk about Sir Orff’s duel with Sir Mario of the Duchy of Tutka first! On the surface, this duel seemed to have nothing to do with the Kingdom of Coruz and the Kingdom of Lucia. But in reality, the reason why the two of them dueled was due to jealousy. And the heroine in this, Alexandrina Bagshaw Boltwood, is the daughter of the Minister of the Kingdom of Lucia stationed in Nohan. It was because of her instigation and flirting that the two Knights drew their swords against each other for so-called love. Fortunately, the two of them still had some brains and didn’t make it a fight to the death, otherwise, if a life was lost, it would have been really big trouble.”

“Father, please forgive me for interrupting. Sir Orff is young and energetic and unmarried, so it’s normal for him to be jealous over a woman. But I have inquired about that Sir Mario from the Duchy of Tutka before. That man is nearly fifty years old and has a wife, children, and a big family; how could he get involved in this kind of thing?” George reached out to interrupt Viscount Bolerum’s narration and voiced the doubt in his heart.

“Who knows! Anyway, what we care about is whether those two countries participated in it. We don’t need to pry into other people’s private family matters.” Viscount Bolerum’s performance made George feel heartfelt joy, ‘As expected of Father! He really distinguishes between public and private. Most importantly, he isn’t like those few, who are clearly so old but just as gossipy.’

But the next words made the image he had worked so hard to build in George’s mind collapse instantly: “Of course, this is also because Sir Orff won that duel and didn’t lose the face of our Duchy of Nohan. Otherwise, I would have to figure out the cause and effect and then ask a familiar Bard to turn it into a joke and spread it everywhere.”

George only felt a large herd of alpacas galloping past his heart, ‘Give me back my emotion and pride!’

“By the way, what is going on with Lord Berke?” In order to prevent Viscount Bolerum from seeing any flaws, George quickly asked.

Viscount Bolerum said with some regret: “The aide who gave Lord Berke advice has gone missing. However, we questioned his family and checked the places he used to frequent, and found that he had a lot of contact with certain mysterious foreigners. Although we can’t determine who instructed him yet, it can also prove that this is not simple.”

“That is to say, the reason why the Round Table Conference reached a consensus is because all the existing evidence points to the Kingdom of Lucia.” George touched his chin and asked.

“Exactly, before we were almost tricked by those guys! Fortunately, things are now developing in the direction we envisioned, which has to be said to be the blessing of the Gods.” Viscount Bolerum seemed to breathe a sigh of relief when saying this.

George comforted him at this time: “Looking at this matter, although many Nobles were calculated and deceived, no one was found to have been truly bought and turned traitor. This can be said to be a blessing in misfortune.”

“From the current point of view, that is true! But I don’t believe that there are no bought existences among those Court Nobility. It’s just that they haven’t been exposed yet.” Viscount Bolerum’s words were very certain, and it could be seen that he seemed to have a target of suspicion.

George pretended not to see Viscount Bolerum’s dignified expression and said: “I just saw that your throat seems to be uncomfortable! Yesterday I bought a jar of honey from outside; I’ll arrange for someone to mix it with water for you to take every day. It’s autumn and it’s a bit dry, so you need to take care of yourself. Father—”