“Otto. Luoxi is an ally of Graycastle, he shouldn't suffer such a fate, not to mention that this time it's disrupting the Eastern Territory, what about next time? Maybe they'll cross the border and invade us on a large scale!” Brian said loudly, “Your Majesty, please give the order! No matter how far away the enemy is, the First Army will crush them for you!”
“A large-scale invasion?” Barov raised his eyebrows, “If the Dawn's army can enter Graycastle openly, what do we need you for?”
“Lord Chief, I'm just giving an example—”
“Non-existent examples are not convincing,” Barov interrupted, “And most importantly, why resort to war when things can be resolved through diplomacy? Don't forget His Majesty's primary goal this year. Do you think the eldest son of a Radiant City noble family is more important than His Majesty's ceremony!”
Brian was speechless.
“Alright... everyone take a break,” Roland clapped his hands, “Let's have something to eat, then we'll continue the discussion.”
With the clapping, the attendants at the door immediately pushed a row of carts into the reception hall. The officials then ate snacks, went to the toilet, and the tense atmosphere eased.
This scene had occurred many times during the three-day long meeting. Ever since receiving intelligence from the Northern Garrison and the undercover agent Hill. Fox, Roland had summoned the relevant officials to the castle to discuss the next steps.
It was clear that his subordinates were already subtly divided into factions. The City Hall faction, led by Barov, tended towards a conservative approach. They preferred to focus on the kingdom, even the Western Territory, expanding the population and strength step by step until the unification of the Graycastle zhèngquan was completed. Retaliating against Ampere. Moore, the Lord of Dawn, was inevitable, but not now.
The First Army, represented by Brian, and the members of the General Staff tended to be more radical, although their cohesion was not as strong as that of the City Hall. The former was probably influenced by the "new ideas" he advocated when training the army, such as defending against the enemy outside the borders and destroying them before they could discover us. They insisted on taking action to teach the Dawn royal family a lesson and rescue Otto. Luoxi who was being persecuted; the latter was largely motivated by rewards and titles, and only stood on the same side as the First Army. After all, without a war, they would have no room to play.
In addition, some members of the General Staff came from Longsong Stronghold, and their understanding of various aspects of Neverwinter City was far less than that of the City Hall. When presenting arguments and reasoning, they were often refuted to the point of being full of loopholes, and their voices were even weaker.
As a result, Brian's statements were easily countered by Barov several times. When it came to eloquence, the difference between the two was too great. It was already good that he could express his ideas in front of a group of ministers. After all, the Musket Battalion Commander was not very old, and he was once an ordinary villager in Border Town. He lacked experience and knowledge, as could be seen from the report on the Snow Mountain defense battle.
Only Roland remained silent. From the current situation, the radical faction was basically being beaten by the conservative forces. It had to be said that in three years, Barov's growth exceeded his expectations. Perhaps the old Chief had been fully tempered under the former Minister of Finance, and all he lacked was an opportunity.
The only thing that surprised Roland was that Edith had not expressed her opinion during the three-day meeting, but had remained silent.
If there was anyone in the hall who could compete with Barov, it would only be this Pearl of the North.
In order to prevent the two from hindering each other and increasing internal strife, Roland officially established a new department in the City Hall, called the Ministry of Defense, which was specifically responsible for external military affairs, and also incorporated the General Staff, making it a subordinate organization. The Ministry of Defense was in charge of external affairs, and the Security Bureau was in charge of internal affairs, basically establishing the framework of Graycastle's violent machine.
Of course, Roland still served as the minister concurrently. Before that, Edith was just Barov's assistant, staying in the City Hall to learn how to handle affairs. Although she performed well, this was when she truly joined. If she was promoted too quickly after joining, not to mention that there would be nothing left to reward her with in the future, it would also easily give those newcomers the wrong impression that "I can do it too."
After all, it was no longer a time when manpower was scarce, and anyone with a little talent could serve as a major
official.
So Edith was currently a clerk in the Ministry of Defense, and like the staff officers, she was under Roland's management.
Roland knew that this seemingly starting-from-scratch arrangement would not dampen her confidence. Someone like the Pearl of the North should be able to guess his thoughts—although she had left the Chief's office, she no longer had the obstacle of promotion. Therefore, this was the perfect occasion for her to shine, and he shouldn't let Barov dominate the entire scene.
This was really unusual.
He glanced at Edith's seat and found that she looked leisurely, slowly sipping the chaotic drink in her cup, as if Barov's aggressive aura had nothing to do with her.
She was indeed a strange woman.
Roland shrugged and reached out to Juan, who was beside him, “Let me see today's minutes.”
“Okay,” Juan put down the quill and handed over a hardcover book, “It's all inside.”
After three days of discussion, everyone basically reached a consensus on the content of the intelligence.
Hill. Fox, who sent the secret letter, arranged the three things in order of importance as usual, meaning that disrupting the Eastern Territory was the most alarming, and Otto's imprisonment was not so important. Therefore, the eldest son of the Luoxi family should not be in mortal danger in the short term. Ampere. Moore had just ascended the throne and still needed the support of the three major families of Radiant City.
Even if the Lord of Dawn wanted to replace him, the process would not be too fast. Everyone believed that it would take at least one to two years. Otto might suffer a lot, but it would not be difficult for him to survive.
Secondly, the news of the unstable situation in the Holy City was corroborated by the report of the Northern Garrison, and it could basically be confirmed as a fact. However, even the Radiant City side had reacted, perhaps meaning that the Moore royal family had taken a fancy to the church. Not only did the two sides have a feud, but everyone knew that Hermes stored the wealth accumulated by the church for hundreds of years. If they could take the opportunity to eat it, it would undoubtedly be a very tempting choice.
Finally, disrupting the Eastern Territory should refer to secretly instigating and providing support to rebels. Apart from this, the neighboring country could do very little—no one believed that Ampere would lead troops into Graycastle territory, which would be tantamount to courting death. However, this matter happened within Graycastle, and even the smallest rebellion would bring losses to the kingdom. Therefore, it was reasonable for Hill to put this news in the first important position.
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